VICE excitedly sprinted through the gates of the Bowman Instructional Academy, still dirty from his adventures. The guards didn't even blink, why would they? Being unclean was standard after a hunt outside.
He quickly found his instructor overseeing target practice. He was about to call out to him, but stopped himself as he remembered something important.
The NPCs here might as well be real people. He needed to wait for an appropriate time to show that his strength reached the required level. If he rushed in interrupting his instructor, what would be waiting for him was not praise but a harsh chastising!
He checked the time, and seeing that there was significant time remaining in the practice session, he planned to come back later when his instructor had time.
"Vice!" The Instructor called out, noticing some changes in him. "Don't just stand there awkwardly, get in line and join in!"
VICE saluted. "Sir yes sir!" He got in line and joined the others in practice.
A practice session wasn't as simple as hitting still targets.
By the time VICE joined, they had all finished with Training Dummy A's and were now hunting Training Dummy B's. These "training dummies" were all monsters that the instructors had captured and forcefully restrained or otherwise contained.
In reality, "Training Dummy B" was:
[Anomalous Armored Ent - Level 47]
They were contained within a field purposely devoid of dirt, the ground all stone. They could dodge, they could shift their wooden armor to protect their vitals, but their shackles ensured they could never escape.
VICE lined up a shot and waited. Just shooting at random, even if he managed to hit, would be meaningless. He would not do any damage shooting into its armor.
Keeping the shot lined up began to ache his muscles.
"Piercing Shot!" Someone next to VICE called out his skill. As soon as VICE heard that, he shot directly towards one of the armored plates of the monster.
With the powerful shot coming towards him, the Ent quickly shifted one of its own plates to defend itself. It perfectly blocked the Piercing Shot, but because it did so, it was left open to VICE's hit.
"Auuuuugh." It made a low, rumbling, yet almost instrumental sound as it got struck. The damage was minimal, for the arrow merely made its way an inch into the wood and stayed there, yet meaningful considering the massive level gap between the two.
As training progressed, he managed to get in only two similar shots before they were all exterminated.
Training Dummy C was less imposing at first glance.
They were led to a wide, netted enclosure open to the sky, within which several creatures flitted about.
VICE scanned the enemy.
[Corrupted Sewer Bat - Level 32]
They weren't shackled like the Ent. Instead, barriers ensured they could never leave the airspace, no matter how fast or high they flew.
VICE narrowed his eyes, tracking one as it dipped and climbed erratically. Shooting grounded targets was one thing. Leading a flying target, especially when dozens of arrows were already filling the air, was another entirely.
He swiftly let out a shot.
The monster quickly caught a small breeze as it shifted upwards, causing him to miss. He took a second to analyze his mistake, then tried again.
He quickly let out a shot predicting where the monster would fly, but then swiftly nocked and shot a second shot where the monster could dodge. As predicted, it dodged the first, only to fly itself into the second.
The arrow struck in the wing, yet the impact was superficial enough that the arrow quickly fell off.
VICE smiled. That was more than enough.
When training finished, Telwin turned to VICE specifically, a slight smile crossing his weathered features. "You came in a rush earlier. With that performance, you have proven your new physical condition. Now, let me show you how to truly become an archer."
…
[Class Advancement Opportunity Detected]
[Would you like to advance your class to: "Bowman Basics"?]
VICE accepted without hesitation. Power flowed through him as the system recognized his new status. He quickly distributed his three skill points, one on Arrow Blow, Double Jump, and Archery Mastery.
"Thank you, Master Telwin!" VICE bowed hastily. "I need to meet my party now!"
"Go, young archer."
Following Lumi's directions, VICE navigated through Macres and out toward the Golem Temple. The journey felt different now. His movements were more fluid and his awareness was sharper.
This change was something he had been slowly feeling as he leveled up, but it wasn't as blatantly noticeable as it was now.
He felt supernatural.
His sight was better. His endurance was superior. His speed, coordination, even the way his muscles felt when exerting strength. Everything felt different. It was a body much stronger than his own in real life. It was perfect.
He was stronger, faster, better!
He grinned. I could get used to this.
When he finally spotted the party decimating a group of Dark Stone Golems, he couldn't help but grin.
"VICE!" Lena spotted him first, waving enthusiastically while simultaneously firing an Energy Bolt into a golem's core. "You made it! And you smell terrible!"
"Long story." VICE replied, immediately nocking an arrow. "Where do you need me?"
"Target any golems that look like they are at low health." Lumi called out, not missing a beat in his casting. He turned to Lena to change her position, "Lena, join me in weakening foes rather than finishing them."
"Arrow Blow!" VICE's first arrow as a proper archer struck true, piercing straight through a weakened golem's core. The satisfaction was immediate.
[EXP +17]
"Holy fuck." VICE breathed. "This is what real damage feels like."
Now that there were six, the party turned into a symphony of destruction. It was like an anomaly was playing a violin, and an orchestra appeared to play instruments alongside him. And the sound produced by the orchestra was a symphony of annihilation radiating utter death and despair.
At least, that's what was going through Lena's mind.
Ryan and ToraX worked in perfect tandem. One of them kept aggro while the other repositioned, creating endless lines of golems for Lumi and Lena to devastate. And HazyNova and VICE acted as finishers, one melee, one ranged.
"Arrow blow!" VICE called out, three arrows flying simultaneously to strike three different cores.
[EXP +18] [EXP +17] [EXP +19]
"OH MY GOSH!" VICE beamed. "I'm blatant! I'm so blatant! I'm blatantly OP! Don't tell the devs about this one!"
"Look at him go!" ToraX laughed, striking a golem that had gotten too close. "That's how it feels to finally have a class! You feel superhuman!"
"I dunno." Lena shrugged. "I feel like this in real life. Except I'm casting spells. Wizard gang!"
"Well, you're a mage!" ToraX laughed as he responded. "What's your strength and dex at anyways?"
"Five and five!" Lena cheerfully responded.
"?" The non-magicians who heard that were slightly surprised. It made sense, and also didn't.
It made sense because she was a magician. Out of the three base stats in the game, of course a magician would want intelligence.
However, they themselves required not just both strength and dexterity, but even some skills had intelligence requirements. ToraX even had to go out of his way to get a pocketbook that provided an additional two intelligence in order to use one of his skills.
After a Dark Golem crumbled, from the rubble came some brown leather. HazyNova swiftly leaped over, examining the object.
[Brown Leather Hat]
[Required Level: 20]
[Required Class: N/A]
[Defense: 15]
[MP +5]
[Remaining upgrade slots: 7/7]
"Damn!" He exclaimed, especially excited when he hovered over the 15 Defense. "Fifteen whole defense in a hat! We dropped some level 20 gear. Nice!"
"Damn, nice!" ToraX exclaimed too, and even HazyNova couldn't help but whistle a bit in excitement.
Just as they began to gather around, when Lena saw the stats, she fell confused. "Isn't this trash?"
"Huh?" She received many confused looks.
"How?" Ryan asked her, confused. "Look, my helmet is only 10 Defense and nothing else. And it only manages to have that much since warrior is a required class."
Lena blinked. "That's even worse! Get a better helmet!"
She pointed at her hat. "This gives 14 Defense, +35 Max HP, and 7 Int!" She traced her finger down her body. "Like, all my equipment is like that!"
After a few silent moments. "What the fuck!" ToraX couldn't help but exclaim. He didn't even mean any disrespect, he was just profusely baffled. "You have more defense and health than me!"
"Teehee~" Lena lightly giggled. "Maybe I should tank instead, eh?"
"Damage taken isn't as simple as a defense calculation." Lumi finally took the chance to butt in. Seeing that Lena was flexing her stats, he took the opportunity. "How you get hit matters. The fact that you all have shields and proper defensive stances when getting hit still makes you warriors take less damage."
He then let out a sly grin. "By the way… my armor stats are the same as Lena."