On the arena.
The battle between Gazef and Brain grew ever more intense, with flashes of light repeatedly flaring over their bodies as Martial Arts were activated.
At the same time,
messages kept popping up on Aaron's status panel.
"Skill 'Weakness Perception' discovered. Requirement: basic warrior-type class. Current conditions not met—"
"'Genius' class activated. Conversion successful. Requirements met. Consume 1 skill point to learn?"
"Skill 'Instant Counter' discovered. Requirement: basic warrior-type class. Current conditions not met—"
"'Genius' class activated. Conversion successful. Requirements met. Consume 1 skill point to learn?"
...…
"Skill 'Ability Boost' discovered. Requirement: basic warrior-type class. Current conditions not met—"
"'Genius' class activated. Conversion successful. Requirements met. Consume 1 skill point to learn?"
Bang! Bang!
The sound of weapons clashing echoed through the arena.
"Amazing!"
"So strong! No wonder they were able to easily defeat that whole string of opponents before."
"To fight the genius swordsman Brain to a standstill like this… that guy Gazef is really strong."
"Hey, hey, I can't even see their movements clearly anymore."
"...…"
The stands, which had been relatively quiet at first, turned completely heated as Gazef and Brain's dazzling offense and defense unfolded.
Aaron was just as stirred, but his attention was no longer on the arena; it was fixed on the information appearing on his status panel.
"Learning skills by watching others use them, then spending skill points to acquire them… that's a way of obtaining skills he really didn't expect."
Aaron's eyes flickered slightly.
He had originally thought he would have to study on his own, just like the natives of this world, in order to gain skills.
Right now,
what truly excited him inside was that the general class "Genius" was matching his expectations—and even surpassing his initial guesses.
Staring at the prompts on the status panel, Aaron weighed which skills to take. After all, he only had three skill points.
Hm?
Suddenly, Aaron noticed a particular line on the panel.
"Skill 'Quick Slash' discovered. Requirement: intermediate class 'Sword Saint.' Current conditions not met—"
"Prerequisite class 'Genius (Warrior)' already obtained. Consume 3 skill points to learn?"
Aaron narrowed his eyes slightly at this message.
Intermediate class "Sword Saint"?
Instinctively, he glanced at the arena. This skill seemed to come from Brain, who currently had the upper hand.
If memory served, Brain had three classes: Warrior (basic), Sword Expert (intermediate), and Sword Saint (intermediate).
This prompt on the status panel was clearly thanks to Brain.
What Aaron was pondering now, however, was not the intermediate class "Sword Saint" itself, but another matter he had been neglecting.
In YGGDRASIL, players first obtained a given class and then learned skills from that class. In this other world, the situation was exactly the opposite.
People here had to master the skills of a class first in order to gain that class. In other words, there were no formal prerequisites.
For example, the high-tier class "Ninja," which in the game required a minimum of level 60 to learn, had no level requirement at all in the other world.
As long as one learned the skills belonging to the Ninja class, they would gain that class. The ninja sisters in the adamantite-ranked adventurer team Blue Roses were precisely such a case.
If he learned the skill "Quick Slash" now, could he indirectly obtain the intermediate class "Sword Saint"?
If that worked,
Aaron would have discovered another way to acquire classes.
And compared to touching different weapons and equipment to trigger class prompts, gaining classes through acquiring their skills was clearly superior and far more precise.
Especially when it came to building his class structure.
For intermediate classes, this was already a huge advantage. For high-tier classes, the process would suddenly become much easier.
As for special classes…
That thought flashed through Aaron's mind, and he shook his head slightly.
Forget special classes. Even among the natives of this world, those who had mastered high-tier classes were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.
Special classes, while also counted as high-tier, were fundamentally different from high-tier, intermediate, and basic classes. In YGGDRASIL, they could only be obtained by fulfilling strict prerequisites.
There was virtually no way to cheese that.
In the game, all level-100 players might possess multiple high-tier classes, but most could only ever obtain a single special class.
That showed just how harsh the requirements were.
"Ah!!"
"Whoa! Go, Brain!"
"...…"
The renewed surge of cheers snapped Aaron back to his senses, and he looked down at the arena.
Without him realizing it,
Gazef had fallen into a clear disadvantage under Brain's fierce and relentless assault. From the way things looked, Brain was about to claim victory.
Aaron held his breath, staring unblinkingly at the arena. He wanted to see whether the outcome of this match would be the same as in his memories.
Under this high-frequency exchange,
Gazef's retreating foot seemed to slip, and he suddenly staggered.
Right then,
Brain stepped in quickly, clearly intending to finish the fight in that instant.
However,
in the very next moment, Brain's body froze, and then he was sent flying backward uncontrollably, crashing down onto the arena floor.
The fervent cheers on-site stopped short.
With Aaron's current abilities, there was no way he could see what had happened in that brief instant. There certainly were not many in the stands who could.
However,
Aaron's gaze slid to the status panel.
"Skill 'Fourfold Slash of Light' discovered. Requirement: warrior-type class. Current conditions not met—"
"'Genius' class activated. Conversion successful. Requirements met. Consume 1 skill point to learn?"
Aaron's eyes relaxed slightly. It seemed things had gone exactly as history recorded.
In this Royal Tournament, Gazef had used the skill he had developed himself, "Fourfold Slash of Light," to seize final victory.
Whooo—
Clap, clap, clap!!
After a brief silence, the entire arena erupted into thunderous cheers and applause.
"Gazef!!!"
"Gazef!!!"
"Gazef!!!"
"...…"
Shouts echoed into the sky.
Aaron swept his gaze over the flushed, excited faces around him, then exhaled softly. Looking at his status panel, he said to himself, "Learn the skill 'Quick Slash.'"
He wanted to test whether he could indirectly gain a class through class-specific skills.
Besides,
because the general class "Genius" could not provide any stat bonuses, he now needed to acquire a combat class.
With the ability of "Genius" to convert into basic classes, he could afford a bit of risk on an intermediate class.