Chapter 157: Spear of the Lake

Chapter 157: Chapter 157: Spear of the Lake

[Legend records: In the deepest part of the distant Frost Plain, there lies a serene lake that never freezes, the Lake of Serenity. At its bottom slumbers a mysterious Lake Fairy.]

[After the cataclysm of Ragnarok, a peculiar, burning meteor once fell from the heavens and crashed directly into that very lake.]

[In the hundred years that followed.]

[The Lake Fairy used the special material from the meteorite to personally forge a heavy spear, three meters long. She then left a prophecy for the world: He who can draw this spear shall be crowned the new king of the Frost Plain.]

[In the long ages since, this slumbering Lake Spear has been widely regarded as the absolute symbol of Royal Authority and Power.]

[And you... you may already possess the potential to draw this Heavy Spear.]

After reading this series of background introductions,

Lance let out a long sigh of relief.

So this was the path of fate the Technique had grafted onto him before it collapsed.

If it weren’t for this amazing system panel that could forcibly integrate and analyze all his information, he probably would have gone his whole life without knowing what sort of destiny had been set for him on this bewildering night.

But as he looked at this familiar-feeling backstory,

a strange sense of déjà vu sprouted in Lance’s heart.

’Lake Fairy?’

’Spear of the King?’

’This script looks so familiar, no matter how I look at it.’

’Is it possible that across the long river of history in every Otherworld, the Minstrels responsible for compiling myths and legends all have such a limited imagination?’

But complaints aside,

Lance still felt extremely fortunate.

This path of fate, called the [Spear of the Lake], was clearly a positive one, no matter how he looked at it.

It was as if, in the unseen workings of the world, the system had helped him establish a fated connection with that legendary spear.

From his perspective, Lance felt this was far better than the Ethereal Silent Demon Swordsman script.

’Good thing that damn Technique didn’t saddle me with some bizarre, outrageous path of fate.’

’Like those melodramatic clichés you always see in third-rate plays.’

’Some Knight falls in love with the queen, and the two have a secret affair.’

’In the end, the king catches them in the act.’

’This twisted, socially forbidden love ultimately drives the Knight to madness and regret.’

If he’d accidentally gotten tangled up in that kind of disgusting path of fate, Lance swore that if he ever had the chance to learn the Technique for creating historical projections, he’d go back into that projection every single day and mess with it until it collapsed.

This heavy weapon, known as the "Lake Spear," was probably the killing instrument held by the man in heavy armor from the historical vision just now.

It was just a shame that, as an outsider, his store of Knowledge about this world’s history was far too limited.

The original Lance hadn’t been much of a student either, so for the moment, he couldn’t figure out who that heavily armored man was.

However, Lance was able to deduce some key information from that brief vision.

The man had most likely accomplished the staggering feat of slaying a dragon, and the harsh, icy environment around him very likely pointed to the legendary Northern Frost Plain.

A mythical event with such a distinct landmark should be easy to find the accurate Legend for, as long as he did some proper research tomorrow.

In the future, he might actually be able to follow this wondrous path of fate and get his hands on that Heavy Spear, the symbol of Royal Authority.

But Lance immediately suppressed this desire.

’That’s definitely something I can only dare to consider after I’ve officially taken a Profession, or even become a High Tier Professional.’

’At my low Level, strutting around town with a legendary weapon would be like a dog carrying a thick wad of cash in its mouth. Anyone who saw it would be overcome with the greedy desire to snatch it away.’

He understood the principle of "an innocent man gets into trouble for carrying a treasure" better than anyone.

After summarizing all the complex gains from the historical echo projection in his mind,

he finally had time to look at the other rewards left on his panel.

If the previous part was the panel intercepting the effects of the historical projection on him,

then the system, which had treated it as a dungeon from the start, was naturally not stingy with its rewards.

[Now calculating dungeon clear rewards. Congratulations on clearing the Level 1 dungeon "Elisya’s Little Whim."]

[Reward 1: General Experience Pool Reward]

[Obtained: Status Skills Experience +500 (Can be freely allocated to any buff-type Status Skills)]

[Obtained: Unarmed Combat Experience +500 (Can be freely allocated to any unarmed combat techniques such as fist, foot, or claw styles)]

[Reward 2: Based on your outstanding performance, you are awarded Constitution Attribute +1 (Special Clear Reward)]

’Standard rewards. Just like in a game, the purpose of a dungeon is to drastically speed up a player’s growth.’

’So the rewards are always large and satisfying.’

Without hesitation, he invested all the experience points into [Dragon Hunting Breathing Combat Technique] and [Azure Dragon Extreme Intent Style].

[Azure Dragon Extreme Intent Style Skill Level +500, Level 4 → Level 5]

[Power +1, Agility +1]

The Dragon Hunting Breathing Combat Technique was still 136 experience points short, so Lance used his Skill Experience to top it off.

[Dragon Hunting Breathing Combat Technique Skill Level +136, Level 4 → Level 5 (Max)]

[Power +1, Agility +1, Spirit +1, Perception +1]

It was another powerful 4-Attribute bonus, pushing basically all of his Attributes to the point of the Attribute Lock.

His Perception and Power were even pushed above 10.

However, he also noticed a difference between the two Skills.

[Dragon Hunting Breathing Combat Technique Level 5 (Max) - Cannot be improved]

[Azure Dragon Extreme Intent Style Level 5 (Expert), 113/1625]

’The two Skills have different maximum levels.’

’I had assumed all Skills maxed out at Level 10, but now it seems the limit for a Breathing Combat Technique is only Expert Level?’

’So why can the Azure Dragon Extreme Intent Style’s cap go even higher?’

It all appeared in Lance’s mind like a mystery.

’I have so much I need to catch up on right now, whether it’s history, Legends, or my future Profession path.’

’I’ll have to set aside some time to study up on all this.’

It was all because his growth was too fast. Before he had time to fill in the gaps in his Knowledge, his strength was already snowballing forward.

Lance turned his gaze to the Profession tab.

[3. Trial Requirement: On a full-moon night, engage in high-intensity combat alone with more than 50 Demons for over an hour, and you must remain in the "Guardian" state until dawn or until the guardian duty is successfully completed (Completed)]

Seeing the single word "Completed" displayed in the parentheses, Lance smiled with satisfaction.

It seemed the bloody battle against so many Demons in that historical projection had indeed been judged by the system as meeting the requirements.

The most difficult trial condition was already complete.

With his Attributes all nearing the Attribute Lock, and his Skills starting to break past Level 5, he was just one final step away from breaking through to the Professional Level.