Chapter 31: Threefold Reversal of Life (Mastery)
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“About enough, I’d say...”
A weak, listless voice echoed through the Public Security Bureau’s training grounds. Danica stared half-dead at the young man before her, who was rubbing his chest.
Suddenly, she asked suspiciously, “You don’t happen to have some sort of unusual fetish, do you?”
“You think I’m Cole, Captain?”
“I’d actually prefer you to be him. At least he doesn’t pester me every day.”
As she spoke, Danica could not help rolling her eyes.
For the past few days, Leon had been coming to her every day under the pretext of improving his strength and challenging her to spar. She had no way to refuse him.
Because whenever she did, the boy would hound her incessantly.
And if he had only wanted one sparring match a day, that would have been one thing. But Leon wanted several matches every day. She had no idea where he got all that energy.
With the help of [Slow Recovery] and [Calm Mind], Leon could recover his stamina not long after every sparring session.
Combined with Danica’s truly terrifying strength, he was gaining experience at an astonishing rate.
Looking at [Threefold Rebirth (Proficiency 4/1000)] on the panel before him, a hint of delight appeared on Leon’s face.
Seeing that expression, Danica narrowed her eyes slightly.
Could this boy really be like Cole?
Just as that thought crossed her mind, Leon’s entire body began to glow white. Clearly, he had activated Threefold Rebirth.
Danica was startled. “Again?! Don’t you need to rest?!”
But as she spoke, her brows gradually knitted together.
Leon felt different from before.
Having achieved his objective, Leon naturally had no intention of continuing to drag Danica into another sparring match. He immediately waved his hand.
“No, no, Captain. You can go back.”
Hearing this, Danica tossed him a final remark. “You said it yourself. Don’t pester me again.”
With that, she fled as though escaping for her life. In the blink of an eye, Leon was the only person left in the training grounds.
Leon paid no attention to Danica’s reaction. He merely stood there, silently experiencing the power of the second stage of Threefold Rebirth.
My strength and defense have both increased somewhat, while the energy consumption has dropped considerably. If I don’t fight, I can even maintain it indefinitely.
Most importantly...
I can now use energy to repair my wounds.
At that thought, Leon could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Although Threefold Rebirth at the Proficiency level was still nowhere near capable of the feats his master could perform—such as repairing even a shattered heart—most nonfatal flesh wounds no longer posed any threat to him.
However, the more severe the wound, the more energy it took to mend.
With his current energy level of 20.2, Leon still could not squander it recklessly.
So I can set Threefold Rebirth aside for now. What I need to do next is raise my class level as quickly as possible. It would be even better if I could take on several more classes that increase physical strength.
Over the past few days, Leon had only managed to raise Qi Refiner of the Three-One Sect by one level. He had not successfully taken on any new classes.
He had tried shooting at targets, but to no avail. Apparently, the requirements for becoming a Gunner did not involve target practice.
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Leon suspected that he had to use firearms to kill enemies, but there was no way to verify it.
As for Apprentice Craftsman...
He felt that he might need to find a Craftsman willing to teach him before he could change classes.
With that thought, Leon maintained his state of Threefold Rebirth as he walked out of the training grounds.
There was no denying that maintaining the state for a long period was exhausting. No wonder his senior disciples had eventually given up. Leon could not imagine how his master had managed to persist for decades without fail.
Still, whenever the message [Threefold Rebirth in operation. Skill experience +1] appeared on his panel, Leon felt that enduring a little longer was worthwhile.
After all, the other disciples of the Three-One Sect could not see where the road led. He could.
...
The following morning.
Danica stared strangely at Leon, whose entire body was glowing white.
After a moment of silence, she asked hesitantly, “...Did you figure out the requirements for changing classes?”
Before Leon could answer, Danica hurriedly shook her head. “Never mind. Pretend I didn’t ask.”
Class information was highly confidential. Asking about it outright was clearly inappropriate.
Just then, Higgins came over to them.
When he saw Leon’s appearance, the blond man’s eyes flickered slightly. In the end, however, he said nothing. Instead, he revealed a warm smile.
“Everyone’s here, so let’s go. I’ve already sent the route to your communicators.”
At that, Leon and Danica exchanged a glance before climbing into the back of the pickup truck.
As the engine roared, the modified pickup sped toward the outskirts of the city.
Unlike the clean and orderly streets within the city, the land beyond its walls was terrifyingly desolate. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but endless yellow sand.
Danica, seated opposite Leon, spoke up.
“This is what the swarm did. They eat everything.”
“Grass, trees... Once they’ve devoured all that, they start eating the ore.”
“That’s why Pioneer City has been trying to exterminate those insects.”
Fire crystal was an important resource on Colony Planet 9527. Naturally, Pioneer City could not simply watch as the insects consumed the resources on which its livelihood depended.
...Even though they were the outsiders.
Just as Leon was about to say something, a faint, dense vibration suddenly reached them.
The expressions of both Leon and Danica changed instantly.
The swarm.
Fortunately, the pickup had been equipped with weapons precisely to deal with situations like this.
Leon and Danica immediately gripped the two machine guns mounted at the rear and entered a state of alert.
Before long, a vast swarm of insects appeared within their field of vision.
Without the slightest hesitation, Leon and Danica pulled the triggers.
Bang, bang, bang—
The rotary machine guns roared to life, spraying deadly bullets toward the swarm as though ammunition were free.
There was no denying that the recoil was tremendous. An ordinary person would never have been able to control such a devastating weapon.
But Leon’s physical strength attribute had now reached 3.0, and he was also operating Threefold Rebirth.
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Not only could he control it with ease, he could even operate both machine guns at once without difficulty.
He had not been firing for long when a message appeared on his class panel.
—
[Class: Gunner]
[Requirements for Taking the Class:
1. Use a firearm to kill five autonomous living creatures. (Complete)]
[Upon Taking the Class:
1. Attribute increase
2. Gain Class Expertise—Basic Firearm Proficiency]
—
So I really do have to kill enemies?
Seeing the requirements for the Gunner class, Leon was not surprised. He immediately chose to take the class.
—
[Class: Gunner]
[Level: 1/5 (0/100)]
[Attribute Bonus: Physical Strength +0.1 per level]
[Class Skills: None]
[Class Expertise: Basic Firearm Proficiency]
[Advancement Paths: Quick-Draw, Firearms Expert...]
—
[Basic Firearm Proficiency: Slightly increases proficiency when using firearm weapons.]
After glancing over the Gunner class information, Leon decided to assign it to the same table as Prisoner.
But immediately afterward, he noticed something.
[Use a firearm to injure an enemy. Class experience +1]
[Use a firearm to injure an enemy. Class experience +1]...
The Gunner class experience was skyrocketing.
In just a few minutes, the Gunner class had already reached level two.
Feeling the several additional points of strength he had gained, Leon could not help grinning.
Unfortunately, under Cole’s superb driving, the swarm gradually disappeared from view, forcing Leon to abandon his experience-farming plan.
After escaping the swarm, the pickup soon arrived at the destination marked on the map.
A small open-pit mine.
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