## Chapter 62: Tier 2 Skills
I don't know how much time has passed. All I know is that the Durability of the Blue Leather Gloves on my hands, as well as my original Normal Leather Gloves, has dropped to zero. The ones I'm wearing now dropped from a Hungry Dead not long ago. The Normal Hat on my head and the previously tattered Traitor's Hat have also long since given up, and now my head has no Armor at all. Fortunately, a pair of Leather Boots and a Round Shield dropped later, so my Defense has increased instead of decreased.
The Weapon in my hand has now been replaced with a Normal Long Dagger, with 3-9 Attack, slightly higher than the original Saber. The slight drawback is that its Durability is only [low]. As for the Golden Leather Armor, I replaced it in time when its Durability only had 3 points left. The White Superior Leather Armor I put on again is now also scrapped, but it doesn't matter. Last time I killed a Fallen Shaman Elite, a piece of Blue Cloth Armor dropped. I haven't used it yet. Although its Defense is a bit lower than Leather Armor, it has the advantage of adding 2 Vitality and 4 Mana, so it's acceptable.
Besides that, there are some miscellaneous Items in my Inventory, some good, some Junk, but none of that is important anymore.
Because, I finally Leveled Up to level 12.
"Ah..."
My eyes were bloodshot, and I Roared hoarsely, tears streaming uncontrollably. The Pain, loneliness, boredom, numbness, helplessness, and even Despair of these past days, along with the excitement and joy of this moment, too many Feelings/Emotions were mixed together, all vented out in this single cry.
"Wuwu..."
After Roaring, I finally couldn't help but burst into tears. At this moment, besides this method, I really didn't know how to vent the mixed feelings in my heart. If it weren't for this Level Up, which caused my Feelings/Emotions to erupt instantly, I was truly afraid that the Negative Emotions accumulated in my heart would drive me mad soon.
If learning Poison Creeper and Werewolf Transformation gave me the ability to protect myself, and killing Bishibosh allowed me to find Confidence, then now, obtaining Tier 2 Skills is the beginning of me becoming Powerful, the true capital to stand firm in Sanctuary.
"Swish swish..."
Poison Creeper wrapped around me, occasionally rubbing against me with its slimy Body, as if comforting me. The Raven, which was a bit of a rogue and liked to slack off, also stood obediently on my shoulder, occasionally gently pecking at my Hair with its dark, hard beak. As Summons connected to my Will, they could sense the strong emotional fluctuations in my heart to varying Degrees.
After a long while, my crying gradually stopped. The Emotions that had been suppressed in my heart for many days, making me irritable, annoyed, and even hateful, were swept away with this release. My bound Soul was liberated. I held the Long Dagger In Front of me, looking at my Appearance reflected on it. Although my Gaze was still gloomy, the feeling of brutality, haze, and numbness was gone. How many days had it been? Since I noticed my Gaze gradually changing, how many days had I lacked the courage to look at myself reflected on a Weapon!!
After examining it for a long time, I rubbed my red eyes, turned my head happily, and looked at Poison Creeper and the Raven who had been by my side.
"Were you worried about me? It's okay, I'm much better now."
I touched the Poison Creeper coiled around me. The sticky slime didn't seem as disgusting as I had imagined. Then I flicked the Raven's smooth, black little Brain.
"Little guy, seeing as you behaved well today, I won't make you cannon fodder anymore."
"Caw caw..."
This Lazy Crow seemed very unhappy with my Action. It shook its Brain desperately, then cawed a few times smugly, flew up from my shoulder, and flapped its wings noisily.
After comforting these two little guys, I took a deep breath and opened my Skill Bar.
There are 5 Skills in each Skill Tier. Since level 6, I had been saving my Skill Points. Now at level 12, I have accumulated 6 Skill Points, which is more than enough to learn these 5 Skills.
I allocated points to all the Tier 2 Skills in one go, then desperately suppressed the excitement in my heart, examining these Tier 2 Skills one by one.
Werebear Transformation (Level 8)
Strength +46% (Level 1 25%, +3% per Level)
Life +131% (Level 1 %, +8% per Level, +55% Transformation bonus)
Defense +60% (Level 1 25%, +5% per Level)
Damage +90% (Level 1 %, +10% per Level)
Attack Speed -15% (Constant)
Duration 2[missing number] seconds (40 seconds + 180 seconds Transformation bonus)
Powerful. As expected of a Tier 2 Skill, the attribute bonus is much higher than Werewolf Transformation. However, Werewolf Transformation also has its advantages. At critical moments, I still need to choose based on the situation.
Molten Boulder (Level 8): Summon a rolling Flame Boulder that crushes Enemies into Ashes along its path. It finally explodes into fragments of Flame, creating a brief small sea of fire within a 10-meter Radius. Mana Cost 15.
Polar Storm (Level 8): Unleashes a series of Freeze torrents, scorching Enemies with Frost Power. The range of the Freeze torrents is 5 meters, consuming at least 4 Mana. It can be continuously cast, consuming 6 Mana per second for continuous casting.
Oak Sage (Level 8): Can increase Life Points for you and your recognized Companions. Life 185, Radius 30 meters, Life +65%. Mana Cost 22.
Summon Dire Wolf (Level 8): Summon a Dire Wolf with Teleportation ability to fight for you. Life 71, Maximum Summon Quantity: 5. Mana Cost 15.
MLGB, these are too overpowered. I was Dumbfounded looking at these overpowered Skills, grinning so wide my mouth wouldn't close.
However, these Skills are just the basics. To truly unleash their Power, I still need to train. After all, this is different from the Game. In the Game, Skills are simply programs with fixed modes. But here, they can be changed as I wish. There's nothing you can't do, only things you can't think of. Of course, you also need the ability to change them. I couldn't help but recall what Akara told me.
"On the Soul Imprint of each Class, there are 30 Skills. These Skills can be learned and upgraded using Skill Points once you reach a certain level. However, have you ever wondered why it's these 30 Skills and not others?
Because the 30 Skills within each Class are the essence condensed over thousands of years on Sanctuary. They are the foundation of foundations. All other Skills are derived from these 30 Skills. If you think many of these Skills seem useless, that's just telling others that you yourself are too useless.
However, don't think that once you learn these Skills, you can just follow the book and everything will be fine. Although these Skills are indeed the essence condensed over thousands of years in Sanctuary, they are ultimately just the basics. The Skills themselves are rough, like unpolished Gem ore. Their greatest use is simply to allow the person who masters them to comprehend something of their own. You need to continuously gain Proficiency and insight from these Skills, and then discover the most suitable way to use them."
Akara was indeed right. There are no useless Skills, only useless people. To put it plainly, the three Skill lines of the Druid: Elemental focuses on Magic Control, Shape-shifting focuses on Combat Technique, and Summon focuses on Mind Communication. None of them are weak. The key is just to what Degree you can master them.
Creating new Skills from these is still too far off for me. My current Goal is to become as familiar with these Skills as possible, then improve them, rationalizing and maximizing their Power as much as possible.
For example, Molten Boulder. I just tried casting it once. The Speed of the Boulder rolling is only about 3-5 meters per second. In Sanctuary, anyone with slightly higher Dexterity can dodge it. It seems not very useful. But what if I could control the time of its explosion? It would definitely have an unexpected effect. For instance, when my Target dodges to the side, watches the Boulder pass by, and thinks they've dodged it, the Boulder suddenly explodes, causing huge Damage to them. Or, if it's a melee group fight, I could directly control this Boulder to explode in my hand. Among the surrounding Enemies, who could dodge it? (One of the Laws of Sanctuary: Skills you cast cannot harm yourself, otherwise I would have been poisoned when I touched Poison Creeper just now.)
And Polar Storm also has a lot of room for improvement. However, I can only do these things after I have mastered these Skills. Thinking too much now is useless.
As for the Shape-shifting Skill Werebear Transformation, it has high Attack and high Defense. The only drawback is that the Attack Speed is reduced, and there's no movement Speed bonus, making it unable to deal with faster Enemies.
Oak Sage, needless to say, is a good Item. But I also need to control it well and not let it wander around, otherwise I won't even know if it gets killed. It costs 22 Mana to Summon once, which is almost one-third of my current total Mana.
Summon Dire Wolf: This is actually one of my favorite Skills. In fact, I think it's even more overpowered than Feral Rage.
Why? The Dire Wolf's Attack, Defense, and Life are all inferior to Feral Rage?
Looking at the description, it seems many people overlook the part about having Teleportation ability. Perhaps in the Game, this Dire Wolf's Teleportation ability isn't very useful, but this is Reality! This is Teleportation that a Sorceress can only learn at level 36!
Before Transmigration, as an avid Player, although my Technique wasn't great, I had undoubtedly seen many Game Techniques. Among the more famous ones, also developed by Blizzard, were StarCraft and Warcraft. Both had a type of Tactics called Airdrop Encirclement!
That's right, it's a method where several Soldiers are dropped around the Enemy in an instant, trapping them, making them lose their ability to move, and then surrounding and killing them. If I can control the Dire Wolf's Teleportation, then from now on, as long as they are within the Dire Wolf's Teleportation range, those high-Dexterity, high-movement Enemies will no longer pose a threat. Even if the Enemy is too Powerful to achieve a true encirclement, stopping them for a moment is definitely possible. Coupled with Poison Creeper's Skill to Bind Enemies with a certain Chance, it's simply the favorite of the Sneaky Style!
This is also why I consider the Dire Wolf more important than Feral Rage. As long as its potential can be fully utilized, a low-Tier Skill is not necessarily worse than an Advanced Skill. Moreover, can't my current Summons also Mutate and Level Up? If all five wolves Mutate by then, they might not be much worse than Feral Rage.