Chapter 6 - Choosing new skills (2/2)

I quickly turned the T.V back off while shaking my head. Nothing noteworthy seems to be going on, just the usual propaganda being hurled at the common news watcher. The Blessed Empire...are we truly blessed? Compared to the United Federation, hunters here have a much higher death rate. The occasional dungeon breaks also cause ma.s.s casualties as response times were usually slow. Though I'm definitely lucky to be where I am, over the years I've to be skeptical of many of the things I hear.

Hunters from the United Federation lead vastly different lives, but from what I've seen in online forums they're happy with the way things work. Of course, there are still many issues, but nowhere near as horrid as all our news networks make it out to be. Even the good things you see online could also be a false depiction though. So I guess I'd have to visit there myself to see how things are in the future

As soon as I finished eating my food and absorbing about 40 [Vitality] and [Strength] cores, I went towards the bed to get some rest. Before sleeping, I made sure to activate [Arctic Armor]

[Noah][Occupation: Hunter]

[Vitality: 30]

[Focus: - ]

[Strength: 30]

[Skill(s): (Fireball-81)(Heal-1)(Arctic Armor- 5)]

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Morning came. It was around 6 am when I woke up. The bed had an outline of frost from where I was sleeping. I checked my panel to see that [Arctic Armor] had its proficiency rise to 61. It became slightly thicker and now looked like there was almost an armor of ice all over my body. I felt extremely comfortable sleeping with the skill activated, my body feeling a cooling sensation throughout

I grabbed a quick shower and cleaned up, and then went to grab some breakfast in the dining area. After finis.h.i.+ng the food, I checked around the hunter shops in the hotel just to see if the skills I had in mind would be there, but I wasn't so lucky. There were a variety of Rank C-F skills, but none that fully fit the guidelines I had in mind

I went out and hailed another driver to bring me to the largest Awakened Center in Outer Bank X. This center was as large as a stadium, with many hunters and normal humans rus.h.i.+ng about. It was already packed early morning, with many things being sold or traded. I first went to trade in the [Core]s I did not absorb in one of the shops, and my account soon had an extra $155,000. Even after I absorbed more than 40 [Core]s, the remaining was still enough to bring me this much from just diving into 2 dungeons. This money brought a smile to my face, even though I knew it would soon be gone

Ignoring everything else, I went to the shop that had a huge sign of [Skill Books]

There were hundreds of skill books laid behind thick gla.s.s with their descriptions written out. On either side of the entrance were two hunters who seemed to be Rank D or above

I went into the shop and sure enough, there were a few books that fit my criteria. The first skill that fit exactly what I wanted was the rank D skill, [Flames of Torment]. The skill allowed you to cast a pillar of flames at a maximum distance of 10 meters and would last as long as energy is applied. The skill neared rank C in power but was neglected by many hunters because of its high energy usage characteristic. It fit perfectly with me. With its high damage, the pillar of flames would continue to be concentrated into a line of fire that burns anything in front of me

The next skill that matched what I was looking for and I actually had enough money to buy was another Rank D skill called [Safeguard]. This was a very peculiar skill that caused headaches for many tanks. Casting this skill greatly boosted your defense, and even fully absorbed all damage from lower-ranking skills. The only downside was its high energy requirement and the fact that you could not move while this skill was active

BOSSES regularly move and attack anything that damages them, if they see their attacks aren't getting through a tank that is standing still, they will simply move to attack other party members that are causing it harm. Tanks who first used this skill caused the death of many spell casters, as they were too late catching up to the monster after being able to move again. You also never want to be a mage with your flimsy defense to cast this skill and standstill, as soon as your mana runs out you will be surrounded and…

Because of all this, a D rank skill book that normally goes for around $100 k, I was able to buy for $60 k. With the [Flames of Torment] being $90 k, I had effectively used almost all the money I made the day prior.

Now, it was time to go back to the [Frozen Wasteland]