Abyss Domination Volume 1 Chapter 52

Chapter 52 — Multiprofession

Translator: SaltyTank

Editor: AyaSnow

  Despite their short stature, kobolds were by no means weak. Perhaps because their ancestry was really a distant branch of a draconic bloodline, an advanced kobold warrior's Strength could range from 13 to 15. If Soran had not worn his armor, their attacks might even have damaged his bones.

  He did not gather the loot, but instead opted to bandage his wounds first. There was no need to rush anyway.

  Although Soran had brought several potions, it was a waste to use one in this situation. A low-grade potion which could heal 8 to 10 HP cost around 60 Silver Derahls. Given his new ability Rebirth, which was obtained after reaching 20 Constitution, the wounds would almost be completely healed by tomorrow after bandaging; his muscles and tendons were unharmed after all.

  "Elementary Rebirth (Gifted Ability): Your Constitution is no longer within the realm of typical humans; attacks which used to be fatal will only inflict serious damage instead. Your strong vitality grants you the ability to recover from any injuries, regardless of their severity, over time. Although you still cannot regrow limbs like trolls, it may be possible someday. HP Regeneration +1 per hour."

  This was the description of Elementary Rebirth, the lowest tier of the Rebirth ability. 

  Now that Soran was a Level 6 rogue, his maximum HP had increased to 63. If he did not lose any limbs or body parts, as long as he still survived, even if only barely, he would still completely recover in three days at most. This ability must not be underestimated; even though the recovery rate was not high enough to show its effect in battle, it allowed one to recover swiftly afterwards. Many close-quarter combatants relied on the skill to survive and recover from normally unrecoverable injuries, continuing to use it all the way until they reached the Realm of Legends.

  Trolls were monsters which had a minimum of 25 Constitution. If their regeneration ability could not be suppressed, they could regrow their heads after being beheaded; they were almost like biomonsters.

  Regrowing body parts and recovering immediately after drinking potions was not possible in this world; even the divine spells of priests could not achieve such a thing. High-grade recovery divine spells often burned through the caster's stamina and caused them to become weakened for a period of time. Revival spells were not things which could be used casually either. They were all Level 9 divine spells, not to mention that the deities of death would have to allow your soul to return in order for the spell to succeed. If not, reaching the Realm of Legends would not have been so difficult.

  Soran looked through his log; the battle just now netted him around 900 Slaughter EXP. Kobold commoners were worth roughly 15 EXP each, kobold warriors were worth 50 EXP each, and the crimson-scaled kobold sorcerer alone was worth 300 EXP. After all, spellcasters were more dangerous and thus gave more EXP.

  He rested for a while, then began assigning the newly acquired skill points. He spent 7 points on Sneak to raise it to 110, then spent the rest on Literacy. He had already increased his Literacy to 8 through reading, and he now had exactly 25 points in the skill, reaching the minimum requirement to multiprofession in Wizard.

  The choices for multiprofessioning were limited for Soran. His Strength was too low for Warrior, while his Wisdom was lacking for becoming a priest. Once the Time of Troubles began, divine spells would become garbage anyway, as they could not be cast due to the fall of the deities. Becoming a sorcerer with just 16 Charisma was undesirable as well. The only suitable profession which could be effectively used in combat was Wizard. 

  One had to meet the minimum requirements before he could multiprofession. Warrior had a Strength requirement, Priest required the person to have considerable Wisdom and faith in a deity, while Wizard required 25 points in Literacy. If he had the basic profession Sage, it would not be a problem to become a wizard, but he only had the basic profession Commoner, which was why he had to raise his Literacy to 25.

  It was actually a viable option for Soran to multiprofession in Wizard, but he was still struggling due to the drawbacks of doing so. The Slaughter EXP required to level up in the early levels would be increased by at least 50.

  If he had a lot of Slaughter EXP, he would not have cared about it, but things were different currently. It was difficult to acquire Slaughter EXP, as shown in the previous battle. He only received 900 Slaughter EXP after slaying so many kobolds, but that alone was not enough for him to even begin multiprofessioning.

  He understood clearly the strengths of becoming a wizard, which was why he considered the option in the first place. If not, multiprofessioning was a poor decision, as one would end up unproficient in everything. 

  Using Soran's profession layout during the game, he once had the professions Level 10 Commoner (Max)/Level 10 Rogue/Level 10 Lurker. As Lurker was an advanced profession of Rogue, it technically did not count as multiprofessioning; though the principles were the same, with the new profession starting from Level 1, the multiprofessioning penalties did not apply. To reach these levels, it cost him around 2,000,000 Slaughter EXP, and it cost him even more to reach the Realm of Legends and awaken to the Legendary Ability Shadow Realm.

  With the same amount of EXP, he could only level up two basic professions to Level 14. Level 14 warriors could not endure over ten of his attacks, while Level 14 wizards might not even have the time to finish their chant before he could kill them with Shadowstep. 

  In fact, it was difficult to say which path was better; each had its own strengths and weaknesses. Multiprofessioning allowed one to cope with various situations, the multiple professions complementing one another's strengths and weaknesses. It also allowed the person to use a wide range of skills and abilities, not to mention the extra free attribute points available from leveling up. The drawback, though, was that it would take more time and effort for them to acquire Legendary Skills. Even though they could achieve similar effects through combining the skills of different professions, they would still be inferior to those who did not multiprofession in certain aspects.

  Many players chose to multiprofession for the extra free attribute points, giving up the powerful Legendary Skills as a consequence. For example, the Legendary Rogue Skill Shadow Realm was an unparalleled skill for the purpose of sneaking around, despite having plenty of skill prerequisites. It allowed the user to enter the Plane of Shadows. If one chose to multiprofession, these Legendary skills could not be obtained easily. Unless one managed to kill a deity or two and obtained a huge amount of Slaughter EXP, it would take a relatively long time to get Legendary skills.

  On the other hand, those who focused on one profession and its advanced classes had to rely on teammates as they lacked versatility, comparatively speaking. They would be at a disadvantage when their profession was incompatible with the terrain or enemies, which was why they needed support from others in these situations. The benefit of this path, though, was that they could obtain Legendary Skills earlier; they did not need to spend time learning the abilities and skills of other professions after all.

  Profession level reflected one's strength, but that was not all. Many professions required the user to learn special abilities on their own, which also affected the combat prowess of the user. Those who had the same levels could differ in strength, depending on the skills they had.

  In the end, it was hard to tell which path was better; those who made it to the Realm of Legends were few to begin with.

  Legendary multiprofession players could adapt to most situations, while Legendary players who focused on one profession excelled in one or two aspects. As an example, Level 40 wizards could destroy an entire continent if they wanted to. 

  In fact, many of those who pursued the path of multiprofessioning focused on one main profession as well, and the other professions were used to support their main profession. A popular example would be maining Rogue while having Warrior as a side profession to improve their close-quarters combat ability.

  Multiprofessioning was rather time consuming. If Soran decided to multiprofession in Wizard, he would have to invest plenty of Slaughter EXP into the profession while spending time to study and learn the professional abilities. This would require a lot of time and effort. At the very least, he would have to learn three or more spellcasting-related abilities in order to be comparable in strength to other wizards. During the period of time when he was focusing on improving his combat strength as a wizard, his Rogue profession would be set aside. Having the profession without the abilities was not an option; it would be useless in combat if his spells dealt a lot less damage than his simple melee attacks.

  The true value of multiprofessioning laid in its flexible skill and spell combinations. For example, using Greater Invisibility together with Backstab was a deadly combination. If the professions were incompatible with one another, it was a complete waste of time and effort. The user would also be limiting his own strength, as mortals who did not have shards of divinity could only accommodate a limited amount of power within their bodies. Slaughter EXP was difficult to earn to begin with, let alone shards of divinity.

  Soran had killed five or so dragons and liches in order to obtain the 2,000,000 EXP needed to reach the Realm of Legends. Of course, the EXP was split among his teammates back then, but he was now alone, meaning all the EXP gained from killing monsters belonged to him.

  As a matter of fact, many would not have died on their path to the Realm of Legends if Slaughter EXP was easier to obtain. Apart from the extremely fortunate few who managed to slay deities or obtain shards of divinity, those who made it to the Realm of Legends had experienced countless hardships; it was not an exaggeration to say it was a path full of blood, sweat, and tears.

  Since they had experienced too much during their journeys, those who made it with their own strength were all masters in combat. Their challenge rating was comparable to the powerful NPC wizards; trying to kill them was almost like besieging a Legendary-grade wizard tower.

  (Author's Note: This chapter is a short intro to multiprofessioning; it's fine as long as you have a grasp of the basics. There will be more explanations in future chapters.)

Chapter end