Chapter 172 - 171: Level 3 and Skill Selection

Chapter 172: Chapter 171: Level 3 and Skill Selection

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As the options popped up before him, Gu Su’s eyes lit up.

This time, his understanding of the game was nothing like when he’d hit Level 2. Back then, he’d still had the mindset of a simple game worker, unsure of how to handle anything.

He no longer assumed that the only choices available after an Undead Mage leveled up were Undead Skills.

The truth was, there were other skills to choose from.

The Soul Summoning Technique was the starting skill for all players of the Undead Series.

After that came the choice of paths: the Bone, Corpse, Poison, and Curse Series, as well as the Soul, Lethal, and Enslavement Series, which hadn’t appeared before.

One or two initial skills from these series would appear with every level-up, and this would continue until Gu Su either learned the basics of all of them or reached Level 10.

In addition to these, Gu Su could also choose other Public Skills when he leveled up.

These Public Skills were essentially the starting point for non-Undead Mage paths, holding a status equivalent to the Soul Summoning Technique for an Undead Mage.

However, the chances of these Public Skills appearing varied.

Take Attacking Technique, for example. It’s a Public Skill related to physical combat and command. For players on the Undead path, a Death Knight has a 60% chance of it appearing as an option, while an Undead Mage only has a 20% chance.

Another example is Light Magic. It’s also a Public Skill, but an Undead Mage only has a 2% chance of it appearing, while a Death Knight’s chance is a mere 0.2%.

Even if this Public Skill could be combined with some Undead Series skills to create unique special abilities, it didn’t change the hopeless odds.

Of course, missing out on a skill during one level-up wasn’t the end of the world. It might appear again on the next level-up. And if not, it could still be learned through other means. There was no need to worry.

And that was precisely the situation this time.

Among the four skills, two were starting skills for Undead Series branches, while the other two were Public Skills that had randomly appeared.

[Banshee Scream: Active Skill, upgradeable. Consumes 1 Mana. Unleashes a scream that deals 10 damage to the enemy and reduces the Morale and Luck of all living enemy creatures by 1.]

[Soul Extraction: Active Skill, upgradeable. Consumes 1 Mana. Extracts a Soul from a corpse (depending on the time since death, you may only extract a Soul Fragment).]

[Witchcraft: Passive Skill, upgradeable. Increases the power of all offensive Magic by 5%.]

[War Machine: Passive Skill, upgradeable. Enhances the effectiveness of war machines (increases the Attack Power, Defense Power, and damage of Crossbow Wagons; increases the damage of Catapults; increases the healing effect of Emergency Tents; grants bonus Attack Power to ranged units when an Ammunition Wagon is present).]

Looking at the four skills that had popped up, Gu Su knew his luck was pretty good.

Of the two starting skills for the Undead branches, Banshee Scream was the entry point to the Lethal Series, which eventually led to skills like Death Ripple, Banshee’s Wail, Death Finger, and Great Dissociation Technique.

This school of skills was all about direct, no-nonsense killing, capable of wiping out groups of enemies in an instant.

Soul Extraction was the starting skill for the Soul Series branch, followed by skills like Soul Transfer, Spiritual Body Damage, Soul Transformation, and the Soul-Extracting Technique. This was a category of skills focused on targeting and control.

This school of skills focused on influencing and controlling souls—after all, Undead Mages were masters of the soul.

Witchcraft was simple enough to understand; it strengthened the Attack Power of offensive Magic.

However, it was a Public Skill, marking the start of a whole line of witchcraft enhancements.

From what Gu Su understood, this would later lead to branches like Magic Insight, Magic Regeneration, and Mysterious Training.

Even further down the line, it could combine with the Undead Series to create special skills like Skeleton Protection.

It was a promising skill path.

Among the four options, the Public Skill War Machine was particularly difficult to roll. This was true for all classes; it had only a 2% chance of appearing.

Of course, not everyone was eager to learn it.

War Machine led to branches like Ballistics, Ejection Science, and Emergency Tent.

Ballistics was designed for Catapults and Archers, while Ejection Science was for Artillery, Crossbow Wagons, Crossbowmen, and Firearms Soldiers.

When combined with the Undead Series, two special branches would unlock: Plague Tent and Corpse Transport Vehicle.

The first was a twisted version of the Treatment Tent, and the second was a variation of the Catapult.

Gu Su didn’t know much about the finer details.

But he was certain of one thing: both paths would require a massive number of corpses.

Looking at the four skills before him, Gu Su hesitated. For a moment, he wasn’t sure which one would be the best choice.

’Normally, I should choose one of the two Undead Series branches. After all, the starting skills are crucial for learning various kinds of Undead Magic and conducting undead-related research later on. But the chance of War Machine appearing is incredibly low.’

Most importantly, Gu Su had just used the Oil Sprayer, and its effectiveness at killing enemies had been exhilarating.

This made Gu Su realize something. While his undead were fine for offense, siege cannons were the undisputed king of direct firepower.

Right now, Gu Su only had a single notable weapon, the Oil Sprayer, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t acquire other artillery in the future.

And as long as he had artillery, Gu Su would need an ability like War Machine to make it truly effective.

’When I think about its potential, and then consider how rare the War Machine Public Skill is... there’s nothing to hesitate about.’

"I choose War Machine!"

As Gu Su made his choice, his mind went blank. It felt as if something was being poured directly into his consciousness.

Standing on the Oil Sprayer’s platform, Gu Su could now almost see the trajectory of an artillery shell. The arc depended on his position and the optimal way to fire the projectile.

Gu Su paid it no mind, however, because at that moment, his personal Attribute Panel appeared before him.

[Name: Gu Su]

[Class: Undead Mage]

[Level: 3 (3/10)]

[Title: None]

[Talent: Graveyard Demon (Earth Attribute)]

[Attributes: Power 1.1, Agility 1.0, Constitution 2.3, Spirit 3.9]

[Active Skills: Soul Summoning Technique (Level 3), Subordinate Corpse Explosion (Level 1)]

[Passive Skills: Basic Science (Level 3 + 2), Basic Language (Level 2), Undead Knowledge (Level 2), Basic Survival (Level 2), War Machine (Level 1)]

[Experience: 711/800]