Adventurer of Many Professions

A loud 'bang' echoed through the sewer as Raymond punched a mutant rat, almost killing it with one blow. It was left struggling for breath, barely clinging to life.

He pulled out a White Stone from his pocket and placed it on the ground to illuminate the area, ensuring he could find the rat again. Then, he stepped back, taking precise steps.

After about a hundred meters, he stopped, glanced back, and nodded. "Almost there," he murmured.

With expert control over his distance, Raymond reached into his quiver, pulled out a heavy arrow, and set his bow. Drawing the string back effortlessly, he aimed at the mutant rat, still a hundred meters away.

'Whoosh!'

The arrow shot forward, making a rapid sound as it flew through the air.

'Bang!'

The mutant rat's head exploded, killed in one shot.

Raymond stood tall, watching the result. His heart raced as the familiar notification flashed across his panel.

"Complete the requirements for the [Archer] awakening: Use a bow and arrow to kill ten monsters at a distance of at least 100 meters, with a single strike."

"Awakening profession: Archer."

Raymond's smile widened. "Finally."@@novelbin@@

His vision and arm strength were both greatly improved now that he had awakened as an archer. However, his previous awakenings as a hunter and warrior meant that the physical benefits from these professions wouldn't help much now.

But what did improve were his archery skills.

He glanced at the longbow he was holding. As strong as the shot had been, Raymond realized something: the bow had been too tightly gripped, and the arrowhead had been slightly too high.

It was fine for targets within 120 meters, but for anything farther, he knew he might miss. He chuckled to himself, thinking how his previous arrow; despite hitting the rat in the head, would have been more accurate if he'd used a smaller armor-piercing arrow. Even with that, he would've easily hit the rat's vital part and killed it in one shot.

Next time, he'd be even more precise.

After awakening as an 'Archer', Raymond didn't leave the sewer right away. He had a plan to make the most of his new abilities.

Previously, he had to beat a mutant rat nearly to death before killing it from a distance, which felt inefficient. But now, with his bow and arrow in hand, he was ready for real hunting.

In the shadows, a pair of pale green eyes glowed, watching him. Without hesitation, Raymond drew a long arrow, set it on his bow, and pulled back the string. No aiming was necessary. His skill with the bow was so precise that any shot could end the rat's life instantly.

As he moved deeper into the sewer, a large number of mutant rats appeared. Though they rushed toward him, Raymond remained calm. He shot off a few arrows before they got too close. As soon as they neared, Raymond slung his bow over his back and switched to close combat.

The rats couldn't touch him. While hunters are skilled with daggers, their melee abilities aren't as strong as a fighter's, and Raymond knew this. But something felt different this time.

As the rats surrounded him, Raymond's reflexes seemed sharper. He moved with such precision that he could sense attacks coming from every direction, adjusting his position in the nick of time. His instincts guided him, and the rats were no match for him.

When the fight was over, Raymond stood among the mutant rat corpses, deep in thought. "Could this improvement be from my battle with the 'crazy baboon'?" he wondered.

Back then, in the heat of that life-or-death battle, Raymond had relied on his combat instincts to dodge the baboon's deadly attacks. As the baboon's speed gradually increased, Raymond's instincts had been pushed to their limit, and over time, he became faster, more aware, and more reactive.

The realization hit him: while others might gain new skills through practice, he had elevated his combat instincts to a whole new level.

"Looks like I have some talent after all," Raymond mused with a grin.

He'd always depended on the panel and skill points to learn skills quickly. It was the fastest way to grow stronger in the early stages, but now, he wondered if he could rely on his natural talents to unlock more abilities.

Given all the skills and professions he had already mastered, Raymond felt stronger than many bronze-level adventurers. Still, he realized there were now even more professions to awaken, and his skill points were running low.

With so many skills to learn and develop, he couldn't help but think, 'I need more skill points.'

Raymond knew he was facing a dilemma. On top of everything else, just the two skills 'Rage' and 'Blood Rage' alone required 11 skill points to unlock!

Originally, Raymond had planned to find a way to contact President Beno of the Alchemist Association after crafting his weapon from the black iron ore. He wanted to learn 'Enchanting' and enchant his weapon.

The magic weapons were extremely valuable because they could store and absorb a large amount of magic power. When the user activated a skill, half of the magic required would be drawn from the magic weapon itself, making it easier for the user to fight longer and harder.

For example, if Raymond used his 'Taunt' skill, which normally consumed 240 magic points, with an enchanted weapon, only 120 points would come from his own magic pool, while the rest would come from the weapon's magic reserves.

In essence, an enchanted weapon could double a person's magic power!

But there was a catch. Raymond had initially been interested in learning 'Enchanting' but dismissed it because the cost was far too high. Now that he could craft potions and weapons for income, things were starting to look up. With his newfound skills, he was on the brink of becoming quite wealthy.

The most exciting part? After awakening as an 'Archer', Raymond's magic power had increased by another hundred points. That meant he could refine one more bottle of 'Primary Magic Recovery Potion' each day! If he kept making and selling weapons to Old Pierre, even the cheapest ones could sell for several gold coins!

Despite the tempting idea of enchanting his weapon, Raymond quickly reconsidered.

Although weapons crafted by 'crafstmen' like himself didn't require inspection from the 'Alchemist Association', he had to maintain the identity of a "craftsman" who had only recently awakened. If he started making magic weapons too quickly, someone might get suspicious. It wouldn't take much for the 'Alchemist Association' to come knocking, wondering how a new 'craftsman' had learned 'Enchanting' so fast.

"I already make enough money every day," Raymond muttered to himself, "There's no need to risk exposing my other professions for a few extra coins."

With that, he shook his head and let go of the idea. There were more important skills to learn, and he already had enough money for 'Enchanting' if he ever decided to go down that road.

Looking at the pile of silver coins he had gathered over the past few days, plus the stash he had accumulated before, he had nearly fifty gold coins now.

"Maybe it's time to visit the dwarf craftsman and figure out how to meet President Beno for 'Enchanting'... when the time is right," he thought, feeling a sense of satisfaction.

However, as his gaze swept over the mutant rat corpses on the ground, Raymond sighed. "Unfortunately, I can't exchange these mutant rats for silver coins," he muttered. "I've already used a bow and arrow to shoot them from a distance, so there's no way to cover it up in the report."

There was no point in risking the exposure of his multi-professional identity just to make a few extra silver coins.

Raymond opened his panel to check his progress:

"Name: Raymond Kelton."

"Age: 15."

"Magic value: 933.5/933.5."

"Occupations: Fighter, Warrior, Craftsman, Magician, Swordsman, Hunter, Pharmacist, Archer."

"Skills: Bone Crushing, Taunt [Upgradable], Wind Slash, Camouflage, Forging [Upgradable], Primary Mana Recovery Potion."

"Skill points: 1. Cumulative value: 15%."

Looking at the panel, Raymond couldn't help but smile. His magic value was full, and he had earned a skill point.

The reason he'd stayed behind to hunt mutant rats after awakening as an archer was to gather that precious skill point.

"Sadly, each mutant rat only gives me 2.5% of the accumulated value. If I hadn't had 55% from before, it would have taken much longer to collect this skill point," Raymond thought with a slight shake of his head.

He gathered the arrows he had shot into the dead mutant rats, one by one, using the White Stone to illuminate the dark corners. With everything packed, he sighed, "Time to go back."

The stench of the sewer and the piles of mutant rat corpses behind him reminded Raymond that, no matter how many rats he killed, the sewer would always be filled with more. It was an endless cycle. Read the latest on My Virtual Library Empire

As he headed back, he passed by groups of adventurers, all weighed down with bulging leather bags, evidence of a successful hunt. But their faces were far from happy.

"These mutant rats are so easy to kill, but this place is just... miserable. I really don't want to come back here," one adventurer muttered.

Another grumbled, "I got bitten by a mutant rat, drank an antidote, and now I'm still stuck here. This mission is a waste of time!"

"With the bandits outside, who's going to risk going out? I heard they're so strong that even silver-level adventurers are avoiding them," said a third adventurer.

Raymond overheard them with a small smile. He couldn't blame them, this place was filthy, and the mutant rats weren't much of a challenge. But he did wish the robbers would be caught soon. The longer they roamed, the more they messed with his plans to make money.

During his hunt, Raymond had tried to approach some of the archers in the group to see if he could pick up any new skills. Unfortunately, none of them had mastered anything useful. They might have had 'Eagle Eye', but that was already on his panel.

With a shrug, Raymond decided not to linger and made his way out of the sewer.