Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 148 Rean's Combat System

Paladin? Isn't that just a Demon-Slaying Slash launcher?

There's never a shortage of jokes about professions, but this version of Paladins is a bit special.
"To worship gods for divine arts? Forget it, I have the Evil-Slaying Slash enough."

Most of the jokes about Paladins are related to the Evil Slash, and they themselves accept these jokes.

Because in most cases, it's more effective to deliver an extra strike of the Evil-Slaying Slash than to obtain fancy divine magic from the gods yourself.

And this is largely due to the "stinginess" of the gods.

Unlike priests, who are seen as underground descents of gods, paladins often have a rather delicate relationship with gods. They mostly follow a path of "pure good" in a generalized moral sense, and faith in the gods is often secondary.

If priests are servants and children of the gods, then paladins are more like mercenaries and like-minded henchmen. The divine power they share is significantly less (I will only reward you if you do a good job), and in most cases, their battles do not rely on divine magic.

The paladin, first a knight, then imbued with holy power, jokingly calls himself the launcher of the Evil-Slaying Slash (Holy Slash), which is perfectly fine.

Most ordinary paladins' divine spells are capped at the fifth level, and unlike other spellcasters whose rank and spell level are linked, paladins' progress in awakening divine spells is quite slow.

Most paladins only acquire second-level divine spells at the third rank, and third-level spells at the fourth or fifth rank.

Even at the Great Knight stage, the direct attack effect of the Third Ring Divine Spell is often still not as good as an extra strike of the Evil-Slaying Slash.

This is why over 90% of paladins are either Judgment Paladins or Guardian Paladins.

Only a very few exceptionally gifted individuals will choose the path of the Sacrifice Knight (Divine Knight).

Because divine spells are so rare and precious, the paladin divine spells that have been tested and passed down often have extremely subtle and unique properties.
"Blessing makes my Evil Slash more accurate and ruthless, Command makes the opponent stand still and take the hit of my Evil Slash, Devout Shield and Heroic Spirit allow me to withstand the opponent's damage and continue to use Evil Slash, and Thunder Slash allows the opponent to switch to a different elemental damage to continue using Evil Slash when they are not affected by the Radiant damage of Evil Slash."

With the legacy of Sull, Rean had some understanding of the first-circle paladin divine spells that might be awakened after advancing to the second rank.

However, his understanding was filled with "Sul's prejudice". You can't say he was wrong, and in most cases he was quite accurate and realistic in his judgment, but saying it out loud always gave outsiders a stranger prejudice against paladins.

For ordinary paladins, the opportunity to awaken divine magic is extremely precious, and usually only a few can be obtained when advancing in rank or serving the gods (church).

It's quite possible that even a whole squad of paladins wouldn't be able to put together a complete list of divine spells.

For a Pledged Paladin like Rean, the opportunity to acquire divine spells is even smaller; they can only obtain them by advancing in rank or making significant breakthroughs in fulfilling their oaths.

A vow, in a sense, is a "covenant" with the world and pure goodness (which is seen as the aggregate of all beings' desire for goodness). It can also be seen as a service to a higher dimension in order to obtain a reward.

However, the world and the order of pure goodness are too sublime, and thus give back less to mortals, even less in practice than the gods give back to divine magic.

In a sense, Rean should also thank Sull for his gift, which allowed him to get a few first-level divine spells for free when he acquired his profession.

Otherwise, he would have to rely on luck to awaken "Protect from Evil" and "Detect Evil," even though these are said to be the most essential divine arts to awaken.

At this moment, as Rean allowed the energy of Radiance to enter his body and merge with the Holy Power, he naturally became a true second-tier Holy Knight.

"Only one divine spell." This was to be expected. The Judgment Paladin, who is already weak in divine spells, does not have a god to worship (the generous top contributor). Pure Oath Knights basically have a minimum number of divine spells they can awaken.

"But it's actually a command spell, not bad, really not bad." This divine spell isn't strong, but it fits Rean's fighting style perfectly, and he's very satisfied.

Rean seemed to have gained some insights as he contemplated the newly emerging divine technique in his mind.

[Command, First-Order Divine Spell: Forces a creature to execute a command within one word, for a very short duration (maximum five seconds, minimum one second).]

This is a language-based divine art similar to Dragon's Word, and Rean even suspects that it originated from Dragon's Word. Rean increasingly feels that this kind of supernatural power obtained through one's own awakening often has a high degree of compatibility with one's existing power.

"The most common and useful word commands should be able to be understood instantly by the opponent without being misunderstood."

"The experience summarized by our predecessors is 'come,' 'fall,' 'escape,' and 'stop.' In actual combat, every extra free strike you can make is a huge gain."

This divine spell, combined with Rean's fighting style (Stop! Let me ambush you, don't move!), should have a pretty good effect.

Rean doesn't have high expectations right now. Paladins mostly use their divine spells for support. Those who are extravagant enough to use divine spells for direct attacks are called priests.

Of course, these limitations are not absolute. On the one hand, there are even more advanced and rarer advanced classes (Oath Knight can be regarded as one of the advancements of regular Paladin, but most advanced Paladins are also provided by some great being).

On the other hand, when the software gets stuck, you can try upgrading the hardware as an alternative.
"I understand Larry's choice now; it turns out her evolution goal was the Crystal Poison Spider."

A true strong person is a combination of mind, soul, and body; individual professional skills are merely one part of this structure.

Larry is clearly a Judgment Knight, and one of the few among them who uses multiple one-handed weapons.

The reason why they are so rare is ultimately due to the underlying design of "the paladin is a launcher of the Evil Slash". With the same holy power, the same number of Evil Slashes can be unleashed, so naturally, two-handed weapons will deal more damage.

Two-handed swords and two-handed polearms can attack large groups of enemies at once, and the Evil-Slaying Slash has become an area-of-effect attack. The Evil-Slaying Slash of a single rapier can only strike a single target and is a penetrating stab, with significantly lower power output.

This isn't about landing a few more hits; for an ordinary paladin, the cost of the Evil Slash is quite high.

"She could really be a warrior."

Once Larry's combat system is fully developed, she should wear an additional layer of crystal armor over her regular armor and use a multi-handed rapier to rapidly thrust and inflict wounds on her enemies. Crystal poison is the core of her combat system; it will continuously seep into those wounds, causing the opponent to crystallize, which is far more difficult to deal with than ordinary venom.

She could have easily become a pure warrior, or even an agile melee ranger. Perhaps she was originally designed to be a warrior, but due to certain (political) reasons, she ended up on the path of a knight.

As for the other paladin, Dimon, he was probably thinking about these things too early. The two kitchen knives were just his cooking habits in combat. He had also been trying to find a path to evolution recently, and Sull had left him some paths that might be suitable.

Rean is considering the combat systems of his peers because he has reached a point where he must take these things into account.

Only through mental and physical techniques can one build a strong person, and Rean now has quite a few bargaining chips.

The stats of a second-tier paladin, a first-tier mage, and a first-tier dragon speech warlock are already quite good. Rean has long since embarked on the true path of transcendence. The question is how to integrate his combat style and make these powers work synergistically.
"Rean, you can learn to fight like a dragon."

This is something Rean asked Kuku, and he gave an affirmative answer.

Rean thought it was an adjective that he needed to figure out for himself, but Kuku gave a more precise answer.

"Bad dragons are actually near-perfect combat creatures. They are heavily armored units and are skilled in both magic and martial arts. Most dragons are melee-focused units, while their spells and dragon language are mostly used for support."

"Anyone who has truly fought a dragon knows that close-range combos from its wings, claws, teeth, and tail are extremely deadly; several members of the team can die in an instant."

Contrary to the perception of most locals, what Kuku said about the most painful thing about the evil dragon was not its dragon breath and dragon language magic, which were also valuable combat resources for the dragon race and had to be used sparingly.

In most cases, the perfect dragon body, composed of thick dragon hide, high magic resistance, and an absurdly large size and weight, is the most powerful weapon of dragons.

They are true super-large heavy combat machines with extremely fast combat speed. When facing ordinary opponents, they don't even bother to cast spells; they can finish them off in a few close-range attacks.

"You mean, I'm building my own magical warrior combat system based on dragonborn abilities and with heavily armored units like paladins as the core?"

"Similar. But you can rely more on your bloodline abilities, which are also part of you, so don't resist them."

Kuku also noticed that Rean was actually somewhat afraid of his dragon vein abilities. He always felt that the more he used them, the more likely he would become a dragon and no longer be himself.

"As I mentioned before, you don't really need to worry too much about acceleration boots. The lack of mobility you need will likely resolve itself."

"Uh, I thought you meant to solve it using mage techniques, like a second-ring mage's Shadow Step (short-distance teleportation) or something."

As far as Rean knows, some paladins also possess the ability to use the Shadow Step, and it seems that this ability can be acquired through some rare job advancements and rituals.

Although it's not as good as being used by mages (due to the spellcasting ability bonus), it can greatly compensate for the weakness of short legs. Paladins who can't hit the Evil Slash are practically non-existent!
“No, back then I wasn’t sure you could become a second-circle mage in a short time. The Shadow Step is the most difficult spell in the second circle. You have to wear armor to cast the spell, and the movement distance is quite short.” Kuku wasn’t explaining, but rather advising Rean not to count on this path in the short term.

He should spend his time and energy on places where he can more easily get positive feedback.

It's not impossible for a pure paladin to acquire the Mysterious Step; there are specific ways to do so, but the cost is considerable, and Kuku doesn't recommend that Rean try it now.

"I was talking about Dragon Wings. Your next Dragon Vein ability should be it." Kuku directly revealed his trump card.

Dragonvein sorcerers are not uncommon, and the awakened dragonvein abilities of dragonborn are quite similar. Most dragonvein sorcerers of a certain level have dragon wings, which is an extremely useful racial talent.

"What good are chicken wings? I'm heavily armored." Rean thought for a moment. Unlike ordinary dragon vein sorcerers, could he even fly?
"You should take a look at the Book of Dragons; it contains magical wings."

Given the weight of a dragon and the length of its wings, it would be impossible for it to fly using only physical force.

Dragon wings are inherently filled with magical power; even a giant dragon can carry it, but it can't lift your iron-clad body.

Kuku patiently answered Rean's questions, especially regarding knowledge about dragons, which he truly knew by heart.

Kuku's core design for him is based on the fact that since Rean is a dragonborn, he is destined to awaken the dragon vein's abilities throughout his life. Therefore, he should adopt a dragon-like fighting style and find suitable combat accessories for himself.

For example, the synergy between dragon claws and the abilities of monks and druids; the ability to use a dragon tail as a unique weapon and learn whip techniques; and the fusion of dragon breath and evocation spells, etc.

Having a dragon master designing a combat system for Rean allows him to more clearly acquire the extraordinary power he needs.

Under normal circumstances, it might take two months to research a second-circle spell incorrectly, which Rean simply cannot afford. He needs to transform every bit of his power into effective combat power.

Kuku talked a lot, even helping him deduce the situation in the middle stage, with each profession reaching the third tier and awakening more dragon veins and dragon words, which Rean could not understand but remembered.

This seems to suggest that his time is running out.

As night fell, it was the last two days of my dream with him.

Tonight is also the time of our appointment.

"Bai" was already waiting in the hall.

Upon seeing Rean and Kuku, the pure white-clad girl revealed a genuine smile.

"Tomorrow at noon, at the appointed time, I will lead the Beast Order to attack the mainframe's lair."

(End of this chapter)