Ascension from Dual Professions

Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Who is the Hunter, Who is the Prey?

Jon gasped for breath, slowly and cautiously pushing himself to his feet.

A game was a game, but reality was reality.

In a game, as long as a player had even a sliver of health left, they could still move normally, even if they were in a weakened state.

But it wasn’t the same in reality.

Recovering just a few dozen points of Life Value wasn’t enough to mend broken bones. He had to be careful with his movements.

And once he was standing straight, his eyes naturally fell upon the small deer that had been knocked over into the snow after the wolf’s surprise attack.

He instinctively focused his gaze back on his own panel.

Now, on the system menu, no matter how he tried to touch it with his consciousness, the [Inventory] function—a player’s most convenient tool—was unresponsive.

’Is it unusable... or just not unlocked yet...?’

A flicker of light crossed Jon’s eyes. He looked at the deer, his face showing a trace of reluctance, but his expression quickly firmed with resolve.

’Forget it, I’ll look into it later... In my current state, there’s no way I can haul the whole thing back...’

’Besides, the smell of blood here will definitely attract more wild animals. I can’t stay long...’

With barely any hesitation, he made the optimal choice based on his current situation.

’I’ll just take the choicest meat and organs for food. As for this wolf, I’ll have to leave it here...’

Jon looked at the wolf’s corpse, which was already starting to stiffen, but he felt no further reluctance.

A whole wolf was more valuable than the small deer. Its pelt, bones, and fangs would fetch a high price from any Merchant.

But no matter how good the spoils were, you had to be able to carry them back!

He staggered forward, reached for the Mountain-Cutting Saber embedded in the wolf’s corpse, and pulled it out, preparing to deal with the deer carcass.

——

[Mountain-Cutting Saber (Crude - One-handed Blade)]

[Physical Attack: 10-12]

[Durability: 7/10]

”The crude work of a village blacksmith, not even worth mentioning. —A proud Dwarf Blacksmith.”

——

In ”Yino,” the quality grades for equipment and most items were divided into Gray-Crude, White-Ordinary, Green-Excellent, Blue-Rare, Cyan-Perfect, Purple-Epic, and Gold-Legend.

Beyond these seven tiers, there were also [Unique] grade items with special colors, but those were so rare that the average player would never even encounter one.

And the blade in Jon’s hand was undoubtedly of the lowest grade.

’To think he could fight a wolf to the death with this thing. What a total badass...’

He marveled at his predecessor’s bravery, then turned to face the small deer on the other side.

His thick, fur-wrapped leggings made a CRUNCHING sound as he stepped on the snow.

Just as Jon bent down, ready to bring his blade to the deer carcass, his ear twitched slightly.

RUSTLE RUSTLE...

Very light, very quiet.

But as a veteran ”Yino” player with years of experience—a tank used to outsmarting and fighting all kinds of players and monsters—how could he not know that a ”guest” had arrived?

He feigned nonchalance as he straightened up and scanned his surroundings.

Finally, his gaze landed on a birch tree not far away. There, in the snow beneath it, a beast nearly one and a half meters long and covered in pure white fur lay motionless.

The deep snow all around it was a natural camouflage, making it difficult to spot.

If Jon hadn’t originated from this Birch Territory and spent a long time in the surrounding area, he really might not have noticed the creature!

It was a great snow fox, unique to the Shery Mountains—a great target for players to farm money!

A perfect, undamaged snow fox pelt was a luxury item that sold well in every nation!

He had hunted quite a few of these big foxes to make money back in the day.

But now, Jon faced a problem.

Adult great snow foxes were generally level 4 or higher, with over 500 Life Value and exceptionally high agility. Even the lone gray wolf that his predecessor had fought to the death would have been no match for it!

And he was only level 1, and not even at full health!

’If I want to kill this thing, I’d have to hit a weak spot for a lethal blow... but it’s much faster than the wolf. In my current state, it’ll be hard to land a hit...’

’Running isn’t an option either. This thing likes to chase living creatures...’

He kept the figure in the snow locked in his peripheral vision, his heart turning cold.

The beast was extremely vigilant. It paused when he paused, patiently waiting for the right moment to strike, unwilling to take the slightest risk.

And as long as it didn’t attack, it offered no opening to exploit!

’So cunning...’

While maintaining the appearance of ”warily observing his surroundings”—ensuring the snow fox didn’t get spooked while also keeping it in his line of sight—Jon’s mind raced, trying to figure out how to deal with this uninvited guest.

’Maybe... my second class?’

He glanced at the flashing [Please select your initial class] at the very bottom of his character sheet, but then silently dismissed the idea.

Even if he chose a second class now, it wouldn’t give him an immediate boost in combat power. In fact, a rash decision might cost him a much greater future.

And so, another thought that had been temporarily shelved during the crisis resurfaced.

’If my class was preserved, what about my skills?’

Jon’s eyes flickered as he touched the [Skills] button with his mind.

’Huh? It actually opened?’

A familiar flood of data filled his vision again, followed by a page densely packed with icons!

The tension in his chest eased slightly.

He had this.

[Fury Release], [Dragon Blood Fighting Spirit], [Immortal Source Power], [Tyrant Blade · Extinction]...

All the various Skills he had spent years collecting in ”Yino” were here!

Although the vast majority of them were currently locked because his class level had been reset to zero, there were still a few skills in the top row of the skill bar that were available for immediate use, just waiting for him to activate them!

——

[Swift Strike LV.1 (Ordinary): Consumes 10 Qi to launch a quick melee attack, dealing 160% weapon damage. Cooldown: 10 seconds.]

[Readjust Stance LV.1 (Ordinary): Adjust your posture to instantly recover 30 Qi Value. Cooldown: 5 minutes.]

[Weapon Mastery · Apprentice LV.1 (Passive): When attacking with a melee weapon, Hit Rate +2%, Damage +2%.]

——

These were all the unremarkable, Ordinary Skills that a level 1 Warrior Apprentice could use.

What truly put Jon’s mind at ease were the next two Skills!

——

[Frightening Roar LV.1 (Excellent): Consumes 20 Qi. Inflicts ”Fear” status on surrounding enemies, reducing their movement speed by 20% and increasing damage taken by 20%. Cooldown: 3 minutes.]

[Adversity Strike LV.1 (Rare): Consumes 20 Qi. Perform a charged strike, dealing 200% weapon damage + 100% of your lost Life Value as damage. Cooldown: 5 minutes.]

——

One was soft crowd control, the other was a low-health burst. Both were rare, universal skills that weren’t restricted by class, which he had acquired during his adventures on the Yino Continent.

Don’t be fooled by their low rarity or lack of a long-winded description; their practicality was undeniable.

Jon placed all four active Skills into the ’quick-skill bar’ beneath his status bar and touched them with his consciousness.

The feedback he received was a strange sensation.

Although he was a max-level Warrior in the game who could shatter mountains, split stones, punch Giant Dragons, and kick angels with ease, in reality, he was just an ordinary person. That hadn’t changed even after he’d crossed over to this world.

But when he touched these skills, an instinct told him how to act, how to unleash their power.

With this, his chances were even better!

The Warrior Apprentice ”lowered his guard” and bent down to process the deer carcass.

His knife work was crude; bruised blood sprayed everywhere as he hacked into the deer’s meat.

At the same time, on his status bar, his [Qi Value] had slowly recovered to 27 points.

Adding the 30 points from [Readjust Stance], he had enough to unleash a full skill rotation.

Now, it was time to see whether the Hunter was more cunning, or the prey more savage...