130 Inheritor Skills (1/2)
'Jack, we're almost there. We'll be landing in that over there to keep Ayden hidden.' Rydel's mental message reached Jack and they both nodded as the roc started to descend.
It was around six in the evening when they landed. After about an hour of walking, they would enter Ponlinne, a small city near the border between the Zuran Empire and the Reinolt Kingdom.
”What about your bird?”
”She'll stay here in the valley but I can call her any moment to pick us up if something happens.” Rydel brushed her feathers one last time before Ayden let loose a loud caw and took off for a cave at the end of the valley. ”Well, time to go.”
Both adventurers started their walk toward Ponlinne.
With his mask back on, Jack asked, ”So, is there anything I should know about Ponlinne? Anything or anyone to watch out for?”
Itching his five o'clock shadow, Rydel sighed, ”It's about time I mention Commander Pire. He was a general who fought against Zariff personally during the last big skirmish on the border. He's a lv. 37 swordsman, but he's known for his powerful swordsmanship. The chief only survived because of his freakish defenses.”
”And why do I need to know about him for this trip?”
”Because he's the one in charge of Ponlinne,” answered Rydel. ”He doesn't come from a strong family, but he's one of the four commanders of the Zuran Empire's forces. If there weren't two other nations that had branched off from them, the Zuran Empire would have taken Reinolt a long time ago.”
”That's the strength of a kingdom from Ancient Kartonia. They probably have some people above lv. 40.” Jack scratched his head, trying to think about how the Reinolt Kingdom could eventually defeat such an enemy.
”You're not wrong. The strongest members of the Zuran Empire are the twelve lieutenant-commanders, four commanders, three generals, and the king and queen. All of the lieutenant-commanders are lv. 35 and the commanders are the strongest soldiers under lv. 40,” explained Rydel. ”It's rumored that the generals are over lv. 40 and that the king and queen are at least lv. 45.”
Jack was shocked by the power difference and had to ask, ”How in Halmut's beard has the Reinolt Kingdom survived so far?!”
”Do you remember that mysterious voice that ended our battle with the syndicate members?”
Jack scratched his head and chuckled, ”Umm… not exactly.”
With a loud sigh, Rydel continued, ”In Reinolt, the king somehow got protection from someone over lv. 50. I have no clue how, but I know it's true. That guy one-shotted the giant, lv. 48 cetus and was the sole reason why the Reinolt Kingdom isn't attacked by anyone above lv. 40. If the Zuran Empire did that, they would be forcing the man to act. They tried it one, but that mysterious voice annihilated an entire army and a general in minutes. Make sense?”
”Seems like it pretty a complicated. So, the Zuran Empire is stronger but the Reinolt Kingdom has the most powerful expert? Sounds like a screwed up dynamic, considering the mysterious voice may just leave one day,” reasoned Jack.
”Well, you're not wrong. That's why Reinolt needs to grow quickly, but Arnole did his job well at dividing the Reinolt Kingdom's powerful groups,” said Rydel. ”Now that they're all working together, they might stand a chance in the future, if they can keep holding off the Zuran armies that is.”
”Okay.” Jack nodded and refocused himself. He didn't want to get too distracted since he came to Ponlinne with a goal in mind.
Jack took advantage of their walking time by going through his achievements and skills list. After everything that had happened with the cetuses and Arnole publically turning against Reinolt, Jack's two event achievements were completed and claimed. A new event took their place, [Revive Slivia: in progress.]
Now, Jack had gained one hundred and seventy-five skill points from completing his two events with great results! Thanks to the capture of so many cetuses and the low casualty rate from fighting people and beasts higher level than them, he was highly rewarded by the system. This proved that events always gave more rewards than anything else. With a total of one hundred and eighty-eight skill points to spend, Jack examined his skill list carefully.
To his surprise, there was a new category button inside his skills list. It was labeled [Inheritor Skills] and caught Jack's interest. He immediately selected it, assuming it must be part of the system upgrade from his pledge to Daruun.
'Are these what I think they are?' A smile appeared on Jack's face. He had always found it weird that he couldn't learn any direct skills or techniques within his Achievement System, only general skills to enhance. 'With these, my problems are solved.'
There Jack found a list of each of inheritor's different skills. Maynard, Rydel, and Zariff all had their own tab and their own skill list.
He found Maynard's Bloody Cross, Rydel's Eagle Eye, and Zariff's Aura Armor skills and many more. Jack was over the moon. Looking closely, they all had different costs. By the looks of it, the more powerful skills had the highest costs while the weaker ones were cheaper.
Without thinking about it, Jack instantly selected Maynard's Sudden Death skill.