'Til Kingdom Comes - The Banished Prince Vol 3: The Prophecy

Professions

I saw two professions on the screen panel before me and it stated as Ranger as my primary profession while the other was Assassin as my secondary one. Could someone have more than one profession like me as well but it seemed quite common since Eagle himself was proficient at long range and melee attacks as well.

I clicked on the Ranger tab and discovered a whole flurry of information that could be reduced to bite-sized information for easy reading.

Rangers are an extremely versatile profession, able to support combat operations by delivering precise long-range fire on selected targets while denying the enemy freedom of movement.

Their roles vary as they can set traps to ambush unsuspecting foes, spam a variety of interrupts to neutralize casters, spread conditions with numerous bow attacks and preparations, or simply focus on ranged damage per second with either their bow.

Rangers have great survivability, using a bow as their primary weapon will not only keep them at a safe distance, but Rangers also have decent armour versus physical damage and a high inherent armour bonus versus elemental damage.

Rangers may also use numerous stances to block incoming attacks and increase both run and attack speed. Rangers have a unique ability to summon nature spirits that influence both friend and foe alike.

Wow...! I never thought that being a Ranger would have these traits since I only knew how to wield a bow and a short sword before this. So an archer is a basic profession and it could be upgraded to be a Ranger with wider abilities.

That's pretty neat and I never knew that the system had chosen me to have this as my primary profession. After reading the basic information on being a Ranger, I saw an option as my primary attribute termed as Expertise.

As for the Assassins tab, I had the information screen as follows:

The Assassin walks the shadows, a deadly viper ready to strike at the heart when the enemy least expects it, nowhere and everywhere all at once.

Many look down upon the Assassin as soulless killers; in truth, Assassin profession is an honourable and necessary role, exacting justice to those who believe themselves above the laws of nature and society and are swift to remove a threat before most realize its existence.

Assassins are masters of their chosen weapon, the dagger, and are expert at inflicting Critical Strikes that cause massive damage. They are swift melee strikers who are meant to get in and get out, inflicting massive damage quickly with multiple hits.

The Assassin is trained to efficiently link attacks together in a chain that does not give the enemy a chance to hit back. They have mastered the ability to move as shadows—Assassins wear only lightweight armour and prefer to avoid damage by not being there when the enemy's strike lands.

Their other magical skills include hexes that lower the target's defences and protect the Assassin from harm.

After I had read and understood the roles of these two professions, I suddenly realised they my two professions were leaning towards the Shadow unit members.

The best person who would give the best answers to my queries would be Eagle and his core members of the Shadow units that were here initially during the early stages of this town when it was a mere settlement during that time.

"Ceres, does this mean I am considered as a Shadow unit member as well like Eagle? The profession shown here is almost identical to his and his fellow core members."

"I believe it seemed so, Audemars. The professions are normally affiliated to the one closest to you and therefore the system was able to link up and pair with you the most compatible partner."

"Besides, pitting you side by side with Eagle makes you a bit inferior to him based on battle experience as Eagle himself is a battle-hardened Shadow unit."

"You may have seen him in action before but he is a very calculative person. He would not rush in blindly and he would be able to access the next few movements of the assailants."

I was surprised when Ceres mentioned about Eagle and I can't help to think if he had a system just like me.

"No, Audemars. Eagle does not have a system but he is quite efficient to be termed as a high-grade Assassin."

"He is highly adept to deal with two or more assailants at any one time and his prowess was considered the highest among the test of the Shadow unit."

"That's the reason he is the current leader and that puts you either fifth to seventh ranking behind Eagle."

Wow... No wonder Eagle had been Itching to go into battle at every opportunity he could. Since I do have these two professions then I would be able to spar with him when the time comes... With blunt weapons, of course...!

"Yes, Audemars. You could even set up 2 more guilds for Rangers and Assassins here in this town along with the Adventurers guild. There would be more members of the public they would be readily available and eager to be part of the guild."

"Besides, one word of advise, once you had set up the two guilds, it would be high time to give out the remunerations to the core members as well as the rest of the Shadow unit members to be fair."

"I hope you would abide by my suggestions so as not to create any unrest or with any of those who are loyal to you."

"Even if they are following blind faith with Eagle as their leader, you can speak to him personally and make him understand."

"A savings book would be a good start and a stack of gold coins would suffice for each member of the Shadows."

I thought about this for some time before I decided that it was a piece of sound advice given by Ceres, the guidance system who would be of great help to create a good pathway for the harmonious Shadow units.

=*=

I looked back at my information screen and studied note about the Ranger and Assassin. The more I turn the pages of the panel, the more information that I learn about myself and my professions. If I were to tell Heather, I think she would be bounding with joy to learn how OP her husband had become. Hahaha.

Next, I moved my hand over the option and pressed on it and it brought up another window of information and I saw that the ranger's primary attribute is extremely useful.

Many bow attacks cost a significant amount of energy, and with a ranger's small energy pool and mere three pips of energy regeneration, the pool can quickly dry.

Does this mean I have to have lots of mana in order to pull this off perfectly?

Right at the bottom screen, I saw another option where I could press on it to get more information. As I raised my hands once more and hover over it, another window popped up and it shows bow attack,

The next set of information was a bit too much for me to handle since there's so much to know about each normal skills of a bow attack. I only knew that how to shoot using a bow and arrow but the information that lies deep within it was astounding.

_Active Skills (Ranger)_

Dodge — I could move 33% faster between 5 to 12 seconds and have 27 to 75% of blocking projectile attacks. These skills end when I initiate an attack. Uses 5 mana points.

Expert Focus — I would take at least 24 seconds to prepare and requires lesser mana points. I would also be able to deal between 1 to 10 points of damage. Uses 5 mana points.

Point Blank Shot — A half range bow attack that deals between 10 to 40 points of damage. Uses 5 mana points.

_Active Skills (Assassin)_

Black Lotus Strike — Deals 10 to 31 points of damage and gains 5 to 13 points of health back of enemies were hexed. Uses 10 mana points.

Critical Strike — Deals 10 to 30 points of damage while gaining 1 to 5 points of health points. Uses 10 mana points.

Twisting Fangs — Deals 10 to 20 points of damage for up to 20 seconds of an attack. Uses 10 mana points.

I saw how ridiculous an expert focus could be since it would take such a long time to hold my stance before I could unleash the arrow. Besides, it's the same duration as one would load a crossbow...!

A point-blank shot was much better at half drawn and closer range too. But in terms of switching from bows to melee weapons at such a close range, I would prefer the latter.

I won't definitely be caught having an assailant just a bow's length, would I? I would be courting death for chrissake...!

"These are active skill, Audemars. You may need to activate them in order to use them. There are passive skills and it would be beneficial to you since it doesn't require any mana skills and also spells they you can cast on yourself or to those around you such as allies or foes."

"Each of the active skills when activated would consume 5 to 10 mana points each and currently you have about 20 mana points which enabled you to utilise just 2 to 4 of these skills before you deplete your mana pool."

"Remember, an Assassin strikes and then leaves the battleground and starts an offensive long-range attack. You are not advised to stay at the battlefront for long. Eagle would be able to advise on that."

"Your regeneration of mana pool is different from the Priest and Priestess and could either retain slowly by resting or by drinking up potions, which I think you might consider an Alchemist to be able to develop some for you."

"Your current healing and rejuvenation internal skills during your unlocking when you meditate earlier was just a start. You may need weeks and months to develop a high mana pool but in your case, as a Ranger and Assassin, the ability to gain a large mana pool would be halved since you are not an Elementalist or any other professions that use mana as your primary source of power."

Ceres had given me quite a mouthful of information and I slowly understand as I am more of a physical long-range and melee specialist. In that case, my agility and health points would be more important to develop at this stage and rely on mana only during active skills.

I searched the information label and found more things to discover and read the remaining attributes as Marksmanship and Wilderness Survival. That's pretty easy to understand.

I saw another option for semi-passive skills and saw a whole lot stiffer that I could digest and there were some unique skills that really piqued my interest. Furthermore, I was simply thinking that these semi-passive skills were simply overpowered.

_Semi passive Skills (Ranger)_

Arching Shot — Bow Attack that deals between 10 to 25 points of damage and it cannot be blocked by the intended target.

Body Shot — Bow Attack that deals between 5 to 20 points of damage and would earn extra damage points if the foe's armours are cracked.

Cross Fire — Bow Attack that deals between 5 to 20 points of damage and enemy are unable to block of they are near any allies.

_Semi passive Skills (Assassin)_

Blades Of Steel — Deals 5 to 16 damage per attack and stackable up to three times per succession.

Desperate Strike — Deals 15 to 60 points of damage if your health drops below 75%

Jagged Strike — Inflicts bleeding conditions for up to 20 seconds.

There are also shout commands included too and I was delighted to find it along with the set of skills.

_Shouts (Ranger/Assassin)_

Dodge This — The next attack of mine would last between 16 to 20 seconds and the enemy is unable to block the attacks. It would deal between 14 to 20 points of damage.

Fall Back — Allies within earshot would gain back 5 to 15 health points per second up to 10 seconds and be able to move 33% faster.

Go For Their Eyes — Allies within earshot would have 30 to 75% to land a critical attack within 10 seconds.

After I had done reading and rereading the information that was spread before my eyes, I believed that Ceres was trying to help me out rather than burden me with all these statistics.

"Audemars, the system had undergone a lot of cleanups after you had been unlocked. Preciously, you would also have other non-combat professions and they ranged from horticulture, farming, cooking, gem enhancement, weapon and armours upgrades et cetera."

"Now since after the cleanup, you could perform any of these tasks without any worries since you are more inclined to be a combatant unit rather than a non-combatant unit."

"Whatever civilian professions that you had taken part, would not be reflected inside the system anymore and thus you would not be burdened on such matters anymore."

Ceres explained to me about how tight the system was right now and I could not imagine how stressful I would be when I open up the system information and found that I had to buck up and ensure that I had levelled up certain civilian professions.

Even farming and horticulture?!?!

What was I doing in the past with the system? Become a farmer and a florist or something and carry grains and flowers to war with me? Hahaha.