Leonel settled his breathing. Since he had to go, he would go.
Numerous gazes flooded toward Leonel. Compared to the interest the previous candidate had, the curiosity toward Leonel was several levels greater. This could only be expected, after all, Leonel was the beneficiary of a Minor Opening. He was definitely among those who would last to the very end of these Trials.
At the same time, he was a target. As for the reasons why… only those who entered the Merlin Trials before would be aware.
The skill tree appeared before Leonel the moment his platform connected to the large stage. Seeing it upfront and personal like this, Leonel realized there was a lot he had missed before.
The skill tree actually had three 'roots'. These roots were the starter Basic Skills that didn't have any prerequisites to unlock. Among these roots, there was the weaponry root, the physical root and finally the special skill root.
From what Leonel could tell, the weaponry root were all related to his bow. The physical root was related to movement techniques, use of Force, defensive techniques, and another broad range of matters. It seemed to have the greatest variety. Finally, the special skill root seemed to be universal in its use, meaning that Leonel's special skill tree was likely the same as everyone elses.
The special skill root was indeed unique. The more Leonel looked at it, the less it seemed to conform to the previous rules he had come to know.
For one, it took more than just skill points to unlock them. You seemed to need to pair them with rewards for trials that had been cleared. In addition, there were sometimes less stringent prerequisites and sometimes more.
For example, the Silver Skill 'Force Burst' could explosively increase the strength of Force attacks for a time. However, it required the unlocking the Bronze Skill 'Force Burst' three separate times.
However, there were also some Gold Skills that had no prerequisites whatsoever. It didn't seem to have much rhyme or logic to it.
That said, Leonel took a mental note of this. He didn't believe it was without reason.
Leonel turned his attention back to the weaponry root.
Leonel's weaponry root was a Basic Skill named 'Single Shot'. Much like the demon's 'Single-handed Bash' it allowed him to fire one arrow every three seconds.
<Skill Point Remaing: 3>
The voice suddenly snapped Leonel out of his thoughts. He was pleasantly surprised for a moment before understanding. This must be his advantage as a beneficiary of a Minor Opening.
The jealous gazes he was receiving pretty much confirmed this. Some even seemed to be urging him to hurry up. After all, Leonel had been standing for a while.
But, Leonel turned a blind eye to these people. Since there wasn't a time limit, he would imprint this skill tree in its entirety into his Dreamscape.
'Wait…'
Leonel's eyes suddenly flashed as his mind nearly exploded with blinding arcs of lightning.
He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of this before. If he imprinted his skills into his Dreamscape, in the midst of battle, would his ability be able to deduce the perfect response every time?
Originally, he had only wanted to imprint this skill tree into his mind so he could deduce the optimal path for skill unlocks, but he realized there was much more benefits to this than he thought.
'Outside these trial grounds, I don't have 'skills' that I put into use. It's too freeform, so it's difficult to use my Dreamscape…'
This was the real reason Leonel never thought of using his Dreamscape like this. Real life wasn't a game, you couldn't just breakdown a person's abilities into 'skills' they could use at any given time… or… could you?
If Leonel broke down all of his techniques and abilities into their simplest forms, then arranged them into his Dreamscape, what would happen then?
'Let's use these Trial grounds as a test…'
This environment was perfect for Leonel to test whether or not his idea was viable. In here, he really could only use skills provided by Merlin. What better place would there be to test whether or not this new application of Dreamscape would work?
If this worked, this would fix another big problem Leonel was having as well. To now, he had yet to be capable of fluidly linking all the spear legacies he was gaining. But… what if he could arrange all his spear skills into his Dreamscape as well?!
Leonel's breathing hitched slightly. If this worked, his ability which had always been lacking in direct combat might allow him to become a true monster…
However, Leonel knew he couldn't get ahead of himself. In order to use his Dreamscape in this way, he had to raise his battle sense to obscene levels. Only by being able to read his opponent would he be able to perfect the suggestions of his Dreamscape.
'Experience… It all comes down to experience…'
Leonel's gaze turned bright. These Merlin Trials would be perfect for him.
The moment he made this decision, he blocked out the entire world. He didn't care about the impatience of those waiting for him, his heart had slowed to a crawl.
<Basic Skill 'Single Shot' Chosen>
<Basic Skill 'Quick Reload' Chosen>
<Basic Skill 'Stacked Shot' Chosen>
<Skill Points Remaining: 0>
<Trial Commencing>
The moment the voice descended, a quiver of arrows descended before Leonel.
<Basic Quiver>
<Capacity: 10 arrows>
<Reload Time: 60 sec>
<Reload Capacity: 1 arrow>
Leonel understood immediately. This basic quiver gave him 10 arrows and a single arrow would be replenished every minute. It seemed that his advantage in weapons didn't extend to his arrows, but this was fine too. He had enough advantages already.
His gaze turned serious as the shield around the metallic beast disappeared. It was the very same beast the demon faced and it was likely the invisible barrier the demon cracked was now revitalized.
Leonel felt that Little Blackstar and Tolly's movements were restricted the moment the trial began, but he wasn't surprised. On the special skill tree, he had already seen numerous skills related to familiars. It seemed he wouldn't be able to make use of them until he unlocked them.
But, this was fine. For now, Leonel didn't think he needed them just yet.
He brandished his bow, nocking his first arrow.