Varocia : From Gamer to Mentor

Not long after Lenna and Edith resumed their grinding, Edith's [Berserk] skill swiftly reached Level 10, the maximum level, lowering her HP threshold down to 40%.

The math was not mathing; the threshold should have been 41%, but it seemed that leveling from 9 to 10 decreased it by 2%.

Olgan asked Edith for confirmation, and she nodded, explaining that it indeed jumped from 42% down to 40%.

"Olgan, you came up with this training method?" Aqualia, who had been silently observing, suddenly inquired.

"Yeah, but it's nothing worth praising for. I believe if Edith researched the skill a little more, she would've figured it out too," Olgan replied.

He thought it was just rare for them to encounter a passive skill that activated based on current HP. While there might be other passive skills triggered by specific conditions, they likely wouldn't be as straightforward as [Rage] or [Berserk].

Simultaneously, his [Guidance] leveled up to Level 5, and his own Level increased to 15. He decided to allocate his newly gained Attribute Point to INT, bringing his total INT to 80.

He had yet to try [Mentor Touch] on Edith for [Berserk] because she kept phasing in and out of her berserk state, refreshing it each time.

However, since she was affected by the negative effects from [Guidance], he tried to use it on her.

It worked!

He continued to apply [Mentor Touch] on her whenever the cooldown expired, managing to cast it six times, which raised his EXP to only 12%. It seemed the increase depended on the type of debuff affecting his student. Dispelling debuffs caused by himself might have been the reason he only gained 2% EXP per cast.

In high spirits, Edith walked towards him, followed by Lenna, who, for some reason, appeared slightly dejected, though she tried to mask it.

Aqualia also seemed to notice Lenna's demeanor but chose not to comment.

Noticing Olgan glance behind her, Edith tilted her head, peering back, but all she saw was the same calm, cool Lenna, devoid of emotion.

Turning back to Olgan, she asked, "What's wrong?"

Olgan glanced at Lenna, who shook her head, prompting him to feign ignorance. "Nothing's wrong; I was just lost in thought, trying to figure out how to train your [Berserk Cleave]."

Completely distracted, Edith's face lit up with a smile. "Yes! I want to ask for your advice on [Berserk Cleave]. How do you think we should… uh, grind for it?"

This is a tough question. How indeed? Olgan found himself in a dilemma, unsure how to exploit it like [Rage] or [Berserk].

As he racked his brain, he asked Edith to show him [Berserk Cleave] first.

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Skill: Berserk Cleave (Active)

Level: 1 (00.00% EXP)

Type: Weapon Enchantment

Condition: Two-handed melee weapon.

Description: Drain 5% of one own HP to enchant your weapon with blood, dealing bonus fixed damage to opponent's HP.

Current Max HP: 575

Current Bonus Damage: 28 HP fixed damage.

Cooldown: 10 seconds

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"575 Max HP... did you level up and put them all into VIT?" he asked.

Edith nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I'm now Level 12! I never dreamed I could level up this fast! It's all thanks to you!" Her bright smile and sparkling eyes made him feel a bit embarrassed.

"Alright, let's figure out how to grind this," he said, clapping his hands to gather their attention.

"How do we begin?" Edith looked incredibly excited, practically bouncing on her toes.

Olgan pondered for a moment before suggesting, "Use your [Berserk Cleave] on me and Lenna to see if there's a difference in the EXP gained."

She paused, realization dawning. "You mean to test whether the target's level affects the amount of EXP, right?"

He smiled and nodded. "That's right."

"Alright, Lenna, prepare yourself!" Edith unsheathed her blade, gripping it with both hands as she got ready to strike.

Lenna nodded, bracing for the attack.

Edith activated [Berserk Cleave] and lightly tapped Lenna's exposed arm, ensuring she only dealt 28 fixed damage so that external factors from a normal attack wouldn't skew the EXP calculation.

She glanced at her Skill Panel and said, "My [Berserk Cleave]'s EXP is now at 0.21%."

"Alright, use it on me this time."

After waiting for the 10-second cooldown, she lightly tapped her sword against Olgan.

He felt the sting of losing 28 HP, making him wish he could increase his VIT the next time he leveled up.

"How is it?" he asked, wincing slightly.

"My EXP is now 0.42%," she replied.

"So, the target of the attack doesn't affect the amount of EXP gained…" He began to ponder, deep in thought about how to exploit this information.

"You're currently wearing something that increases your HP, right?" he suddenly asked.

"Yes," she confirmed.

"How much does it give?"

"It adds 100 HP."

Damn, that's a lot! I want one! he thought, momentarily distracted.

"Remove that item and try [Berserk Cleave] on Lenna again," he instructed.

Edith nodded and removed her necklace, adorned with a vibrant red gem full of vitality.

He mentally calculated. "5% of 475 is... 23.75? But it always rounds down, so it should deal 23 fixed damage."

As he mulled it over, Edith tapped her sword against Lenna again and reported, "My EXP is now at 0.55%."

Her eyes sparkled as she realized, "It seems the main factor for the EXP increase is my Max HP!"

He nodded in agreement but soon frowned. "No, that might not be the case."

The three girls exchanged confused glances, and Edith asked, "Then what is the case?"

Adopting a contemplative posture, Olgan explained, "I think it should be related to the amount of HP you drained from yourself."

Edith listened intently as he continued, "Since the skill requires you to drain 5% of your own HP to deal damage, it makes more sense that the EXP gained would correlate with the amount of HP you sacrifice, not how much HP you have"

"That... makes sense, but isn't this impossible to grind then? There's no way we can influence the 5% HP drained unless I increase my Max HP. This is already my limit; I'd need to equip at least 2nd Ascension equipments to raise it further, and that’s just not possible" Edith said, her tone turning dejected.

Olgan smiled, trying to uplift her spirits. "Don't be discouraged just yet. There might be a way to do it without increasing your Max HP."

"How?" she asked, intrigued.

"I'm not sure yet, but I think my ideas might be worth a try." He grinned at her, his mind already racing with possibilities.