Chapter 115: New Profession
Dragged into the training room by Scáthach , Eric stood upright in front of her.
After examining Eric for a long time, Scáthach asked, "Did you notice anything?"
Eric : "???"
Her question, without any context, left Eric confused. He couldn't speak carelessly, as making a wrong move could cause trouble. He could only show a puzzled expression.
"Well, I guess you can't feel it," Scáthach sighed. "When you use Shusui, don't you feel anything different?"
Eric fell silent for a while and then said, "I... feel like I'm not really suited for using a sword..."
When he used regular swords before, he hadn't felt anything special. Maybe the weapon level was too low and didn't cultivate a sword spirit. But this time, during the battle with Akainu, he used the great sword Shusui, one of the twenty-one works of the Great Swords, a national treasure of Wano Country. He vaguely felt that the sword spirit didn't match him.
Eric started doubting whether he was cut out to use a sword.
"Mm, looks like you have the basic qualities of a warrior, able to sense whether a weapon suits you or not," Scáthach nodded approvingly.
Behind them, Akame, Chiron, and Tokisaki Kurumi, who had been summoned by Eric , entered the training room.
Akame spoke, "Indeed, Eric isn't really suited for using swords."
Chiron smiled, "This kind of thing should be figured out by him on his own. It makes more sense that way. If we said anything, it might backfire."
Eric was surprised, "Did you guys already notice that I'm not suited for swords?"
"Yeah," Akame nodded, "We noticed during the Magnet Drum Island mission." (See the last few paragraphs of Chapter 23, where Akame was about to say something but stopped.)
Eric was speechless. No wonder they say "outsiders see clearly, while the person involved is confused." He was the last one to realize he wasn't suited for using swords.
Scáthach seriously asked, "So, what are you going to do? Continue using a sword that doesn't suit you, or change your weapon and change your profession?"
'Even if I'm not suited for a sword, with the system boosting me, I can still become a great swordsman. But... I just feel a little reluctant.'
"So, Scáthach , what weapon do you think I should use?"
"You don't even know what kind of weapon you like? That's not good!" Scáthach scolded, "Choose according to your own heart. What do you really like? I can teach you all kinds of weapons. Go ahead and choose what you want, confidently!"
"I," Eric paused dramatically, then loudly replied, "I want to learn how to use a spear! I want to learn the King of Weapons, the spear! Please teach me spear fighting!"
Eric thought about all the heroic figures he saw in TV dramas when he was younger. They all used long spears, and they looked even more majestic and powerful than swords. On horseback, they could face thousands of enemies and were unstoppable!
In his heart, he had always wanted to be a general who could take on a thousand men.
"Very good! Finally, you've come to your senses," Scáthach let out a sigh of relief, "Now, let's get started."
Scáthach threw a red magic spear that appeared in her hand toward Eric .
"This is Gae Bolg, the magic spear that reverses causality."
Eric looked confused. "Ga, Ga what?"
"Pfft!" Kurumi couldn't help but laugh, "Eric -, you're so cute."
"No, my foreign language is not that good... Sorry."
After laughing, Kurumi helped explain, "Gae Bolg, the spear of greed."
"How do you know so much? Did you also go through a phase of having delusions of grandeur?" Eric asked, puzzled.
"Delusions of grandeur... no way!" Kurumi vehemently denied, but she vaguely felt that she did go through such a phase, especially when she saw an eye patch earlier, suddenly developing a strong interest in it.
Although Eric had seen FATE, that was over ten years ago, before he transmigrated here. Plus, with the previous job he had, it had been nearly twenty years since he last looked into it.
He asked, "Reversing causality with a magic spear? What does that mean?"
Scáthach explained, "Reversing causality means that the 'result,' which is the heart of the enemy, determines the 'cause,' which is the long spear's strike. Since the result is already fixed, no matter what defense or evasion is attempted, it's meaningless. This effect is a kind of curse (interference with fate)."
"So, you're saying that as long as I strike, the enemy can't dodge, and I'll always hit their heart?"
"Exactly, that's the idea."
"Then, if I just throw this spear, I'll definitely win?!"
"No, while Gae Bolg can't be dodged, it can still be blocked. If your attack strength can't break through the enemy's defense or block, it won't matter."
"OK, I understand now. So, the weapon is powerful, but it still depends on my own training and strength, right?"
"That's exactly what I want you to understand. Also, this spear isn't for you, it's just lent to you. One day, you will have your own spear. So, shall we begin?"
Scáthach refused Eric 's attempt to get her to hand him the long spear and said something cryptic.
"Begin? Begin what?" Eric asked in return.
"Of course, training! Take this!" Scáthach suddenly threw the spear, startling Eric and making him break into a cold sweat.
Eric immediately used his Thunder Fruit's teleportation ability and flashed to avoid the attack.
"Stop relying solely on the Thunder Fruit's teleportation ability. You can't always depend on your Devil Fruit powers! You need to practice your basic strength, speed, and skills more! That way, you won't be helpless in front of strong enemies."
Scáthach again swung the magic spear, attacking Eric .
[System detected a profession change event. Do you wish to abandon your swordsman class and change to a spearman?]
'Does that mean my swordsmanship stats will be wasted?'
[After switching professions, you may choose to spend 1 achievement point to convert your 4-star swordsmanship attribute into a 4-star spear attribute.]
The system immediately provided Eric with the conversion options, not wasting any of the achievement points he had previously earned.
Faced with the system's suggestion and the choice of spending an achievement point to change his attributes, Eric didn't hesitate and made his decision.
[Congratulations, player, you have transitioned into a "Spearman" with the luck of the Eight-Part Balance, and the strength of Zhao Zilong's dominance!]
'That phrase really makes me mad!'
[Spent 1 achievement point to convert 4-star swordsmanship into 4-star spear skills. Remaining 28 achievement points.]
Eric suddenly received a lot of knowledge and experience about spear fighting, his head throbbing in pain.
Just as Scáthach was about to attack again, she stopped and asked, "What's wrong? Does your head hurt?"
"It's nothing..." Eric gritted his teeth, "Come on! There will always be unexpected situations in a fight, and I can't expect the enemy to go easy on me. Master, just leave me with one life!"
Upon hearing Eric 's response, Scáthach looked at him with newfound respect. Her usually serious face rarely softened, showing a faint blush and Fujitora .
[Scáthach 's affection level greatly increased, Bond level 2 (Close Friend) rises to 3 (Trusted Friend), earned 2 Bond points.]
"Mm, your expression is firm. This is the true courage of a warrior! Not even pain can stop you! I'll go for it!"
Scáthach rushed towards Eric , the long spear sliding in her hands as she thrust it forward. The two's spear blades clashed.
Having just gained spear knowledge and experience, Eric naturally couldn't use the spear perfectly right away, but he didn't appear to be a complete beginner either.
"Good, from the way you held the spear when you first grabbed it, it's obvious you've never used one before, but you still instantly grasped the essentials. Not bad, you seem like you were born to use a spear."
'No, it's just knowledge given by the system.' Eric silently thought to himself.
[Scáthach 's affection level increased, Bond level unchanged.]
'It looks like Scáthach is really happy right now according to the system's notification.'
Under the watchful eyes of the other three, Eric wielded his spear for the first time in combat.
(END CHAPTER)
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