"Ice Bullet!"
A concentrated ball of ice the size of a baseball ball flew towards the goblin warrior's head. The impact made it shriek in pain, but it was not enough to kill it. Two more Ice Bullets collided with the goblin's body before it died, turning into particles of light.
< Gained Exp Points: 240 >
Current Exp: 4320 / 91,207
< Shepherd Lvl 28 >
Current Job Exp: 2400 / 91,207
'So this is what casting magic is like,' William mused. 'Amazing!'
William was so excited to test out his newly acquired Job Classes that he went straight to his room along with his Mama Ella to challenge the Goblin Crypt. After doing a few rounds of casting his Ice Bullet, the young boy finally got the hang of using his new ability.
However, after the excitement faded, he discovered something problematic.
"How come my experience points in my Ice Mage class aren't increasing? What gives?" William muttered. "System, hello, can you help?"
< What would the host like to know? >
"Ah, it's about my Ice Mage Subclass. It's not getting any experience points. Can you tell me why this is happening?"
After William increased his job level to ten, the requirement to activate the other functions of the CPU Core became accessible to him. The AI was unlocked and was able to answer most of William's questions.
Although the communication wasn't as lively as that of a living person, William was still happy because the system had done a good job in answering some of his questions for the past nine years.
< Host, you will need to set how the experience points are distributed. Right now, the experience points setting is set to default. This means that all the job experience goes straight to your main class which is Shepherd Job Class.>
"I see." William nodded in understanding. "How can I change the settings?"
< You just need to tell me what kind of distribution you wanted for the two job classes. You have two options. The first option is to split the experience points equally (50/50) to both Shepherd and Ice Mage Job Classes. >
< The second option is to pool all your experience points in your Subclass Ice Mage in order to increase its level at a faster rate. >
"I understand. For now, pool all the experience points in my Ice Mage Job Class," William ordered.
< Order Received. >
< Experience Points Settings has been successfully changed. >
"Thank you, System," William said with a smile.
Although William thanked the system, he didn't get any reply from it. The system only responded to inquiries and commands, and William had already gotten used to its character.
William was currently on the Seventh Floor of the Goblin Crypt. On this floor, Goblin Warriors, Goblin Marksmen, and Goblin Vanguards thrived. These three types of goblins were the stronger versions of the goblins that roamed the first five levels of the Goblin Crypt.
A few years ago, William thought that he would be able to increase his level exponentially by going deeper into the dungeon. This was a mistake on his part because the deeper he explored, the fiercer the monsters became.
Not only that, most of the goblins formed a pack of five to six individuals which made hunting them harder. William was forced to return to the upper floors because it was too dangerous for him and Ella to fight at that level of difficulty.
As the years went by, the two became better at fighting side by side. They were also able to memorize the "fight patterns" of the goblins, which made their hunt easier. It was only when William reached the age of eight years old that they managed to reach the Ninth Floor of the dungeon.
When he turned nine years old, he managed to step on the tenth floor. However, William didn't dare to enter the gates of the Boss Room. He didn't know if he would be able to activate the ring inside the Boss' Domain to escape if they discovered that the Boss was too powerful for the two of them.
William had the mindset that it was better to be overleveled than underleveled when fighting a boss monster. This was why he spent his days fighting on the seventh up to the tenth floor every time he dove into the dungeon.
He also made a surprising discovery in regards to the passage of time inside the dungeon. A day inside the Goblin Crypt is equivalent to an hour in the outside world. Each day, William was only able to stay for three days inside the dungeon before he was forcefully thrown out by an unknown power.
Because of this, William made it a point to maximize his exploration time and stayed in the dungeon for three days each time he activated the Ring of Conquest.
After a day of exploration, William was able to raise his Ice Mage Class to level 7. He also gained additional status points which made him very happy.
-----
Current Exp: 10,535 / 91,207
< Ice Mage Lvl 7 >
Current Job Exp: 185 / 6,197
-----
Among the skills that appeared in the Ice Mage Skill Tree, William chose two skills to prioritize first. One of them was Mana Regeneration, which increased the speed of mana recovery. William didn't bat an eye and raised the skill to its max level, which was level ten.
< Mana Regeneration 10 / 10 >
(Passive)
-- Increases Mana Regeneration by 100%
The other skill William chose was Ice Armor.
< Ice Armor 10 / 10 >
( 5 Mana Points )
-- Surround yourself in a barrier of ice that reduces damage from melee and projectile attacks by 30%.
-- Enemies within a one meter radius of the Ice Armor are applied with the chilled status.
-- Chilled Status decreases their movement and action speed by 30%
-- If Ice Armor gets in contact with enemies with the Hydro Status there is a 60% chance for the inflicted part to become frozen.
-- Increase Resistance against Cold by 50%
-- Skill Duration: 30 Minutes
For William, safety was his primary goal. If there is a skill that would increase his chances of survival, he would prioritize it instead of a powerful offensive skill.
With the Ice Armor, Ella became a force to reckon with. As the years went by, Ella also grew stronger alongside her baby William.
Ella had reached level 28 as an Angorian Goat. As a common goat, her base stats were quite low, and was only a match for a single Goblin Warrior.
< Strength: 20 >
< Agility: 48 >
< Vitality: 12 >
< Intelligence: 12 >
< Dexterity: 7 >
However, her pitiful stats had received an unprecedented powerup due to William's four skills namely, Bestow, Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, Leader of the Herd, and Way of the Shepherd.
The Bestow skill gives Ella +10 to all stats.
The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing gives the herd under William's control an additional +10 to all stats.
Leader of the Herd is similar to the Bestow Skill. Once William appointed someone as the leader of his herd, the target gains an additional +10 to all stats.
But, that is not all. The Way of the Shepherd gives another twenty percent increase to the stats of all the herd under William's control, which made Ella a beast that could trample a dozen goblins with ease.
Her final stats with all of William's skills applied to her were...
< Strength: 20 (+40) >
< Agility: 48 (+46) >
< Vitality: 12 (+38) >
< Intelligence: 12 (+38) >
< Dexterity: 7 (+37) >
Ella's boosted stats made her as powerful as a Troll Warrior with steroids. Simply put, she was a goat that could hit as hard as a wrecking ball.
She was a CHEAT born from William's desire to get stronger.
You can even say that William had done everything in his power to ensure that his Mama Ella wouldn't get hurt during their battles. With the addition of the Ice Armor, William could simply drink tea and eat apple pies, while his Mama Ella cleared floor seven up to floor ten with ease.