NOVEL WEB Chapter 18: Mentor (2)
Olgan's eyelids twitched as he absorbed the implications of the title [Weight of Decisions]. It felt like a cruel taunt, designed solely to rub salt into his wounds! Unless he achieved a Legendary Class during his further Ascension, this title would be utterly useless!
Yet, there was a silver lining: it confirmed the existence of a tier beyond Legendary.
While this was a useless information for the current him, it was still a little consolation for having a useless skill, or title in this case.
In most games, the tier above Legendary was often named Mythical. I wonder whether it's true here as well. He thought and then shifted his focus. He examined his own Class, which offered a solid array of bonuses, particularly the 4 additional Inventory Slots.
Tapping on the X buttons, he dismissed all the holograms except for the final one—his Skill Panel.
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Skill: Guidance (Passive)
Level: 1 (00.00% EXP)
Description: Your insight and experience will contribute to your students' growth. Increase the Skill EXP gains of your students as long as they understand and find your teaching useful.
Warning: Students under the effect of Guidance will have all of their attribute decrease by 1% every 10 minutes. These decreased attributes could be gradually regained over the course of 12 hours of resting.
Skill EXP gains: +10% + (2% of INT)% = +11%
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Skill: Mentor Touch (Active)
Level: 1 (00.00% EXP)
Type: Single Target
Description: Your voice carries a soothing resonance that calms your students, effectively dispelling basic negative effects imposed by external factors. (Notes: This Skill is only effective on individuals who genuinely respect you as their Mentor)
Cast Range: 5 + (10% of INT) + (10% of WIS) + (10% of PER) = 13 meters
Cooldown: 1 hour
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Skill: Natural Mentor (Passive)
Level: 1 (MAX)
Description: You are a natural born Mentor who mastered the art of teaching even before you chose to walk the path of teaching. Increase the Skill EXP gains of your students as long as they understand and find your teaching useful. (Notes: This skill could only be obtained by having taught someone a Skill and playing a pivotal role in raising that Skill to Level 10 while you were still in the Novice Class.)
Skill EXP gains: +50%
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Scanning the details of the first skill, [Guidance], Olgan found it to be quite beneficial. For any RPG player, ways to enhance EXP gains were always welcome. Although this skill wouldn't boost his own EXP, it was certainly fitting for a Mentor.
However, the challenge lay in ensuring his students grasped the lessons. If they asked for swordsmanship, he'd be at a loss, unable to provide any instruction.
The warning made him pause; he silently offered a prayer for his future students. Remembering his school days, he mused that all his teachers on Earth seemed to possess a similar passive skill.
The fixed EXP increase of 10%, plus a bonus from his INT, didn't seem much at first, but considering it was only a Level 1 Skill, it's still quite an increase. Also, there were many factors at play when teaching someone. Take [Rage], for instance—using the "exploit" with [Guidance] could make the grind significantly easier.
Speaking of [Rage], now [Berserk], had reverted to Level 1, he'd need to "force" Edith to train it again. Her [Berserk] Skill would likely soar to Max Level before their return to Magect Dukedom, paralleling his own [Guidance] progression. A win-win situation for both.
Next, he turned to [Mentor Touch], his interest piqued. If anyone asked him which support-type skill was the best, he'd quickly assert that Dispel-type skills reigned supreme. Healing was useful, but in his view, it couldn't compare to dispel. Of course, personal preference varied, and he wouldn't judge.
The limitation to only basic negative effects, however, was concerning. He'd need to find a moment to test it, though he doubted he could ask his students to endure negative effects for the sake of experimentation. With a cooldown of an hour, it seemed wiser to reserve it for emergencies rather than testing it now. But not experimenting it would mean this skill would stagnate at Level 1.
Maybe it could temporarily dispel the negative effects of [Berserk]? Does [Berserk] count as internal or external factors? He recalled that Edith's warning state triggered after an hour. As long as they kept her HP just below 50%, losing 10% of her PER, WIS, and INT for 24 hours shouldn't pose a problem. He decided to consult both Edith and Lenna later. As much as he wanted to test it, he will respect their choice if they were to refuse.
Wait.. why am I only thinking about the others' negative effects? Couldn't I grind it by dispelling [Guidance]'s negative effect? Shaking his head, disappointed in himself. Also, he reminded himself that experimenting on [Berserk] would still yield valuable insights, provided no one was harmed.
As for the last skill, [Natural Mentor], what a surprise! A bonus of 50% Skill EXP gains was astonishing. Combining this with [Guidance] would yield an impressive total increase of 61% EXP! The only downside was that it maxed out at Level 1, but that felt like nitpicking.
Overall, he felt satisfied with the Mentor class. While it might seem underwhelming compared to Berserker, he reminded himself that they were fundamentally different types. Besides, Berserker came with significant drawbacks. A standard combat-oriented Class at the 1st Ascension should naturally be weaker than a Berserker in close combat, much less a support-type Class like him.
Yet, gazing at his modest skill set made him thought of the Classes he had previously ignored.
Right, I still have a Class Reset Scroll… As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he shook it away.
Stepping down from the altar, he made his way toward the beaming Edith and calm Olex. As he moved, he felt his body growing stronger and lighter, resulted from the increased attributes.
Since Edith had managed to train [Rage] as a Novice Class, perhaps he could ask her to teach him other basic skills, like magic. With his current INT and WIS, learning a foundational magic-related skill shouldn't be too difficult, right?