Ethan spent the next two hours fully engaged in hunting monsters, with his Undead Knights following his every mental command like a divine order, killing every monster that came in front of them.
Finally, Ethan reached Level 4.
During this time, he learned many things about his skills and profession.
The first thing he did was study everything about the only active skill he possessed, [Summon Undead Knight], and his summons, trying to understand the extent of their capabilities.
As the name suggested, the entities summoned were undead; they felt nothing, no emotions, no sensations.
They didn't possess minds of their own, only faint traces of battle instincts.
This meant that if Ethan simply commanded them to attack, they would only slash or stab mechanically.
They wouldn't look for weak points or exploit weaknesses.
Their attacks were straightforward and easily readable.
This was what the skill meant when it stated that the summons possessed only a very small battle instinct.
However, this weakness could be compensated for through Ethan's commands.
Ethan had complete control over his summons, able to manipulate them purely through his will and mental commands.
Using this control, he discovered that even though the undead knights had only basic battle instincts, he could enhance their combat efficiency by giving them a set of prerecorded instructions as commands.
It was similar to programming; as long as he provided a defined sequence of instructions, they would follow them precisely.
He could effectively program the undead knights' reactions to various situations in battle, from how they moved to how they executed attacks.
Even though each undead knight was an individual entity, they were all linked together through a shared mental connection.
This meant that programming the reactions for one undead knight automatically applied the same instructions to the entire group.
"Maybe once the [Summon Undead Knight] skill reaches a certain level, the summons' battle instincts will improve," Ethan muttered as he used his replenished spiritual energy to summon six more undead knights at level 4, bringing the total number of summoned undead knights to nineteen.
He then commanded fifteen of the undead knights to attack a nearby group of level 5 monsters, while keeping three behind as guards, just to be safe.
Another thing about the [Summon Undead Knight] skill was that the level of the summons increased along with his own.
At the same time, the cost of summoning an undead knight also gradually rose.
A further advantage of this skill was that even though his [Undead Graveyard] was limited, that didn't mean he couldn't summon more undead than the storage limit.
He could still summon undead knights indefinitely, as long as he had enough Spiritual Energy.
It was just that, beyond the limit of his [Undead Graveyard], the remaining undead knights would disappear back to the other side.
Using all nineteen undead knights, Ethan spent another hour hunting monsters and finally reached level 5.
[You have reached Level: 5]
[Your [Summon Undead Knight] skill has reached Level: 5]
[Your [Undead Graveyard] size has increased by 1]
Ethan's body released a faint light, and in the next moment, a ball of blue light manifested before him.
It began to transform, taking the shape of an upright circular plate like a wheel of fortune, with dozens of slots, only a handful of which shone brightly.
[You have triggered the [Wheel of Skills Card]]
[You have a chance to awaken a profession-specific skill]
"Profession-specific skill, huh?"
Every fifth level, awakeners have a chance to trigger the [Wheel of Skills Card].
Activating the [Wheel of Skills Card], awakeners can spin it for a chance to awaken a brand new skill.
The type of skill, whether profession specific or non-profession specific, is random, as is the nature of the skill.
The one Ethan triggered happened to be the profession specific [Wheel of Skills].
"Let's see," Ethan said mentally, giving his consent.
The Wheel of Skills began to spin, not too fast, not too slow, turning for several seconds before gradually slowing down.
Just then, Ethan felt a warm sensation surge through his body before vanishing in an instant.
[Your Trait [Black Halo] is taking effect]
Suddenly, the Wheel of Skills stopped abruptly at one of the brightly glowing slots, and in the next instant, an influx of information poured into his mind.
[You have acquired the Active Skill [Mourning Rain]]
[Mourning Rain(Level: 1): Summons a decaying rain from the Realm of Souls. Any being that comes into contact with it will suffer blurred senses, confusion, and disorientation for 15 seconds. The effectiveness of this skill varies from target to target, depending on skill level and the target's resistance.]
"It's an area of effect debuff skill… well, should I even call it a debuff skill since it doesn't actually weaken the target?" Ethan muttered as he checked the skill's level.
"It seems I have to train the skill to bring it up to my level," Ethan sighed.
After going deeper into the dungeon, he came across a horde of level 5 and level 6 monsters mixed together, creatures shaped like rats but with green skin and a pair of long, sharp fangs.
Each stood about three feet tall.
The monsters weren't much of a problem.
They were fast, but their attack power was low.
However, there were dozens of them, and their long fangs looked dangerous.
Ethan felt a surge of excitement.
This was the first time he had faced such a large group of monsters all at once.
Up until now, he had only fought them in groups of two or three.
He decided this was the perfect time to test his new skill.
[Mourning Rain: Skill Activated]
As soon as he activated the skill, the sky began to darken as greenish white clouds materialized out of nowhere, covering the entire area.
A moment later, droplets of blackish white rain began to fall, not a heavy downpour, but a steady, eerie drizzle.
The rat monsters didn't sense any immediate danger from the sudden rainfall.
But when the droplets touched their skin, black spots began to appear.
In the next instant, they felt a wave of dread and tried to flee, only to find themselves surrounded by nineteen Undead Knights closing in from all sides.
The slaughter began.
[Experience increased]
[Experience increased]
[Experience increased]
...
..
.
The notifications kept popping up one after another.
Thirty seconds later, the effects of [Mourning Rain] skill faded, but Ethan immediately reactivated the skill, and the massacre continued.
Since the skill was still level 1, its activation cost was very low.
With Ethan's spiritual energy reserves being twice that of a normal awakener, he could cast the skill dozens of times without issue.
[Your skill [Mourning Rain] has reached Level: 2]
After repeatedly using the skill a couple of dozen times, its level increased, and its effects grew stronger.
Skills are vital for awakeners, but their level is even more important.
If a skill's level doesn't match the awakener's own level, it cannot be used effectively.
In such cases, the skill's power diminishes drastically, making it almost useless against creatures or awakeners of similar level.
If [Mourning Rain] skill had been level 5 like Ethan himself, then against those level 5 rat monsters, it would have completely disoriented them, messing up their senses, driving them insane, and even forcing them to attack one another uncontrollably.
It had been three hours since Ethan entered the dungeon, and he had only just reached level 5.
He continued hunting as he ventured deeper and deeper into the forest-like dungeon.
The deeper he went, the stronger and more numerous the monsters became.
Ethan fought efficiently and steadily grew stronger.
The monsters in this dungeon weren't particularly powerful.
It was a normal-type dungeon, with no boss monsters or elite variants, making it perfect for new awakeners to experience battle and practice leveling up.
It was also ideal for testing their combat ability in the early stages of growth.
Ethan, however, didn't really know how his combat ability compared to others in his batch.
Firstly, because he mainly fought using his summons, and secondly, because he had no idea how his skills measured up against those of other professions.
His profession was a newly appearing one, and there were no rules stating that all professions, regardless of class, should have the same set of skills.
Even two awakeners with the same profession could possess completely different set of skills and attributes.
And even if they shared the same skill, its effects could vary depending on the profession itself.
It was a different story with non-profession-specific skills.
Those could be awakened by anyone, and their effects were often identical.
...
[A/N: If you enjoyed the chapter, please consider adding it to your library and supporting it with some Power Stones. Arigato!]