Ascension from Dual Professions

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Heart of Balance

Jon’s gaze swept over one brilliant icon after another as he considered what kind of turning point they might offer.

’First, I’ll rule out the ones that just give flat attribute bonuses... What I need now is a mechanics-based talent, preferably one that can restore health...’

He forced his eyes away from the initial talents favored by top players—the ones with clear-cut progression paths—and toward the more niche options.

’[Eternal Life]: Increases total Life Recovery by 20%... No, that won’t work. With my current Constitution, it’s practically useless...’

’[Child of Blood]: Restore Life by consuming blood. That’s no good either... I can’t even move, so there’s no way to drink any blood...’

’[Mountain’s Carapace]: Restore health when hit... [Netherworld Embrace]: Requires being in a Negative Energy zone... Damn it, none of these will work... Which one should I pick?’

Jon frantically scanned the initial talent selection screen. Beside it, on his status bar, the number in the Life Value column continued to fall.

31, 29, 27...

As his health dwindled, Jon felt his hands and feet turn icy cold, his mind growing dim.

Death was closing in.

He was in a real world, so death wouldn’t be as simple as his health hitting zero. The palpitations, the convulsions, the loss of control that came with dying—he couldn’t escape any of it.

’Faster... faster...’

Jon’s breathing grew ragged, his gaze losing focus.

But a stubborn determination deep inside kept him going, forcing him to keep scanning.

He didn’t want to die. He had to live!

Just as his health dropped to 25, about to breach the dangerous 10% threshold of his total Life, an icon leaped into his vision: a heart formed from intertwined red and blue Energy!

[Heart of Balance].

Like a flashbang detonating in the darkness, Jon’s eyes blazed with a final, desperate burst of clarity!

’You’re the one!’

With a mere thought, he touched it and confirmed his selection.

[Initial Talent ”Heart of Balance” has been selected.]

[Please select your initial profession.]

Just as Jon had hoped, after picking a talent came the choice of a profession!

He really could have dual talents and Dual Professions. The same would apply to the three major thresholds later on: Standard, Advanced, and Ascension!

But his attention wasn’t on that right now.

As [Heart of Balance] was selected as his second initial talent, Jon felt something drain from his body, while something else surged to fill the void.

His consciousness, which had already begun to drift away, was yanked back.

When he looked at his status bar again, his health had returned to a relatively stable state.

[Life Value: 87/210, Magic Power Value: 87/150, Qi Value: 16/65, Willpower Value: 55/55]

Jon couldn’t help but sigh in amazement.

’As expected of the so-called most unbalanced talent, [Heart of Balance]... It really is incredible...’

[Heart of Balance: Life Value and Magic Power Value will maintain a dynamic equilibrium.]

At first glance, it seemed like an unremarkable talent. It didn’t provide any attribute bonuses; it was just a mechanism to trade health for mana and vice-versa. To most players, it was nothing more than a gimmick.

It wasn’t until the third year after *Yino*’s launch, with the release of the new expansion *Elemental War* and the unlocking of the Advanced Level, that the talent was finally taken seriously. A maverick Mage player burst onto the scene, storming into the top 100 of the PVP Hall of Fame and soundly defeating a host of long-established experts.

During matches against this player, everyone was driven to the brink of insanity when they realized he was basically unkillable.

Neither bombardments of Magic nor flurries of Blade Fury could take him down quickly.

Even though he was a Mage, a class not known for its durability, he could stand firm like a reef amidst the relentless assault of top players. He would calmly absorb every attack and then, at his leisure, launch a counterattack that would wear his opponents down to nothing.

And the reason for all this came down to [Heart of Balance].

After major guilds and top players invested resources into studying it, the Mystery of this talent was finally revealed to the world.

The description, ”Life Value and Magic Power Value will maintain a dynamic equilibrium,” wasn’t just a simple numerical exchange. It was actually classified as a recovery effect!

And since it was classified as recovery, it could benefit from bonuses provided by related professions, equipment, Skills, and talents.

After choosing this talent and stacking Attributes like ”Healing Bonus” and ”Recovery Bonus,” a single point of Life Value could be worth several points of Magic Power Value, and the same held true when converting Magic Power into Life!

As long as the user wasn’t hit with a ”Recovery Reduction” debuff and the opponent’s attack didn’t exceed the one-shot-kill threshold, it was like having several times their normal Life Value and Magic Power Value!

Of course, that Mage had also had some lucky breaks, giving him exceptionally high health and mana caps and a superior conversion ratio. That was how he managed to break into the Hall of Fame on raw numbers alone.

However, once the mechanics were figured out, this player, whose technical skills were never that strong to begin with, faded back into obscurity.

After all, Skills and equipment with ”Recovery Reduction” effects were a dime a dozen. If someone really wanted to counter the build, it was incredibly easy.

But because of this, the [Heart of Balance] and its corresponding [Undying Little Strong] build flourished, becoming a unique playstyle in *Yino*. A group of players with outstanding practical combat ability emerged, to the point that nearly every player learned a ”Recovery Reduction” type Skill to counter them, and bosses in later versions were often designed with similar abilities.

Being targeted by the entire player base and the game’s bosses was proof enough of just how ”unbalanced” this talent truly was.

For Jon, this talent was both a desperately needed lifeline and an ability with deep, untapped potential.

As a player who had been building a ”blood bull”—a super-tanky character—it would be far easier for him to stack high health than it was for that Mage!

And the yet-to-be-chosen second profession meant infinite possibilities!

More attribute growth, more class talents, more Skills...

He could absolutely have his cake and eat it too!

High health and high mana, high attack and high defense—growth across the board!

It was no exaggeration to say his future was limitless!

Now, with his health recovering from a rock-bottom 10% to over a third, his injuries had also healed significantly.

The most visible change was on the body-part status diagram below his health bar, where large patches of red had faded to a much safer yellow. Though some parts still throbbed with a dull ache, it was a massive improvement.

The [Bleeding] status vanished as some of his wounds closed, and the deadly [Weakened] debuff was replaced by [Exhausted (All Attributes checks reduced by 20%)].

Now, trying to escape from under the wolf’s corpse was no longer a pipe dream.

He curled his legs, hunched his shoulders, and slowly wriggled out from under the carcass. With a final shove, he kicked the dead wolf away, freeing himself completely.

After all that, Jon rolled over and collapsed onto the snow, letting himself relax completely as the pure joy of surviving a near-death crisis washed over him.

”Ha, ha... Hahaha...”

’I actually made it... I cheated death...’

Jon stared up at the sky. Straight, snow-white birch trees pierced the heavens, and crystalline snowflakes drifted down, creating a dreamlike scene.

But this was no illusion. It was a real world.

From the fragmented memories of the body’s original owner, he already knew where he was.

White Birch Territory in Heta County, a remote borderland of the Harvia Empire. This was his exact starting location from the game *Yino*!

Was this a case of the game reflecting reality, or reality imitating the game?

He had no way of knowing.

Because he was already here.

In this world called ”Yino.”

It had everything a game world should have: a wide variety of races, multiple competing factions, and spectacular Major Events.

Conflict, war, and trade followed in the players’ footsteps to every corner of the continent.

Love, hate, vengeance, and betrayal occurred every moment, wherever intelligent life existed.

Every player could find their own preferred way to play here.

And he, Jon, was no exception.

If he didn’t love it, how could he have spent years in this game with his friends, making priceless memories?

But...

”Yino Goddess... do you really like me *that* much? Did you have to drag me all the way here? Why not bring those other bastards along to keep me company?”

”I’m just an Ordinary player, you know...”

The snow continued its silent descent, and the whistling of the wind filled his ears.

Jon laughed helplessly. He lifted an arm, feeling the sharp sting of real pain.

”Whatever. I’m already here. Finding a way back is a problem for another day...”

”First, I need to get out of this forest and get my bearings...”