Chapter 134: Cursed Knight Lv.5: Triggered—'Valkyrie”

Words : 1279 Updated : Sep 21st, 2025

From within the dense woodland, this location would've been near impossible to find—at least not in any reasonable amount of time. The directions that Hobgoblin Agu had given Lyle were vague at best. He had only mumbled something about a "gap in the forest" and "sorta like a hill." Not exactly helpful. But from the sky? That was another story. Up above, Lyle could clearly spot the peculiar terrain: a jagged fracture through the forest canopy that ran like a scar on the earth. That had to be it. Swoosh! Lyle pushed more mana into his flight spell, his speed picking up as the wind rushed against him. To increase duration or velocity, he had to burn through raw mana. Fortunately, he had mana to burn. After about an hour of high-speed aerial travel, Lyle finally arrived above the anomaly: a massive rift in the forest floor nestled atop a hill-like elevation. The terrain was oddly sparse in foliage for such a deep jungle location, perfectly matching Agu's shoddy description. Lyle didn't bother lingering in the air. He shot past the rift, found a relatively open spot, and dropped to the ground. "Time to level up," he murmured, surveying the overgrown terrain. His recent scuffle with Hamusuke had made something painfully clear—his current power level wasn't as far above his enemies as he thought. Sure, he'd steamrolled the guy, but that had more to do with three things: 1. His opponents' poor threat assessment. Otherworlders loved to poke first and analyze later. 2. His ridiculous arsenal. Between rare scrolls, passive buffs, and multi-classing perks, Lyle could mix and match combat styles like a madman at a buffet. 3. His job class synergies. The higher-ranked professions had traits that let him break fights wide open with sheer versatility. But once those advantages were gone or neutralized, and the battle dragged on? His weaknesses showed. His robe sleeves shifted as he moved, revealing two scrolls in his hands. He crushed them. Hum— A shimmer of white magic pulsed in the air. Two flaming archangels burst forth, wings outstretched, floating on either side of him like divine bodyguards. With those final scrolls spent, his entire emergency stockpile was now officially empty. "You two. Patrol the perimeter. Kill anything with a heartbeat that doesn't look friendly." Whump. Whump. Wings beat. The angels took to the skies, circling the clearing. Their radiant aura was enough to send beasts and monsters alike fleeing with tails between their legs. Lyle finally relaxed. Time to get serious. He took a deep breath, then opened his status panel. He'd delayed leveling up for two reasons: first, uncertainty. What if his calculations were wrong? And second—what if this triggered something... big? The last time he evolved into a Magic Swordsman, his mana had gone haywire, practically exploding out of him. But now? [EXP: 31201 / 10000] "Level up." [Cursed Knight Lv.4] [EXP: 21201 / 20000] "Still enough. Level up again." [Cursed Knight Lv.5] [EXP: 1201 / 30000] As soon as he hit Lv.5, Lyle felt the surge. His body hummed with power. But that wasn't what had him holding his breath. Silence. No change? He stiffened slightly. Had he miscalculated after all? Wait— Something shifted. He could hear the leaves brushing against one another. Insects chirping in the distance. The scents in the air—dirt, bark, life—became vivid, sharp, as if someone had turned up the volume on reality. Despite the noise, it all felt... quiet. Buzz— His status panel trembled. [Special Job Unlock Conditions Triggered.] [Condition not met...] [Condition met] [Condition not met...] [Condition met] [... ... ...] A rapid flurry of messages flashed by. Lyle's eyes twitched. The 'Genius' class was flickering between Priestess and Cleric, constantly switching like a broken light. The flashing sped up—until it hit a critical threshold. Thud— [Class Structure Confirmed] [Special Job Triggered: Valkyrie] [Accept Job?] Lyle's eyes lit up. "It worked!" he whispered in triumph. He hadn't slogged through all this for nothing. No hesitation—he confirmed immediately. BOOM! A wave of cursed energy erupted from his body, a thick black fog pouring out and spreading like a plague. Plants withered in its path. The sheer malice in the air was enough to make his hellhound companion whimper and backpedal in fear. Then— A flicker. Radiant light—soft and pearlescent—burst forth from within the darkness. And the black mist didn't disappear. It transformed. The curse energy melted into holy light. Lyle could hear faint whispers within it—moaning, lamenting, like a crowd of angry spirits begging for release. But the divine light cut through the noise. It didn't banish the darkness—it redeemed it. Shrrrk— The curse energy vanished completely, absorbed by the glowing light that now wrapped around Lyle. It dissolved into sparkling motes, merging into his skin. Just before the light faded, he saw it. A figure. Rushing toward him—no face, no features, just the silhouette of something strong... and holy. [Special Job Achieved] [Class: Valkyrie] [Rank: Special Class] [Abilities] [Passives: Weapon Specialization – Tier I: Each level allows selection between Slash, Blunt, and Pierce weapons. Selected type gains enhanced mastery. Aura of Courage: All melee attacks carry holy damage. First melee hit against any enemy is always a critical. Divine Body: Reduces the effects of all negative status conditions by 50%. Dark Resistance I: Reduces 20% of all dark-elemental damage. Holy Resistance I: Reduces 20% of all holy-elemental damage.] [Actives: Guided Vow of Redemption: If you fail a saving throw against an attack-based skill, you may ignore that failure once every 10 days.] [Class Skills: Lv.1 – Purging Javelin Lv.3 – Unholy Impact Shield Lv.5 – Spirit of the Fallen] (Note: Each level increases HP, MP, Physical Attack, Physical Defense, Magical Attack, Magical Defense, and Agility by +20.) [Class Summary: A devout warrior... or perhaps a holy fanatic. You believe you're carrying out some divine will—or maybe you're just chasing your own obsessive ambitions.] Lyle flexed his fingers. His body felt... different. Not just stronger. Different. The Valkyrie class info hovered in front of his eyes. He read it line by line. Then again. Then a third time. Finally, he let out a breath and grinned. "Damn, this job's stacked." Four passives, one active, three unique class skills, and full stat bonuses? No wonder YGGDRASIL only allowed one special class per player. This thing was practically a walking cheat code. Buzz— [Weapon Specialization Passive Triggered. Choose a Physical Damage Type] "Hm?" Lyle glanced at the new prompt. He'd reached Lv.1 in the class already, so it was time to make a choice. [Weapon Specialization Options – Tier I: Blunt: +20% Blunt Weapon Damage, +10% Critical Chance Slash: +20% Slashing Weapon Damage, +10% Area Damage Pierce: +20% Piercing Weapon Damage, +10% Armor Penetration] Looking at the options, Lyle suddenly understood why Deadend—the notoriously min-maxed player in YGGDRASIL—had chosen "Omni" specialization despite its underwhelming growth. "...Ugh." Lyle sucked in air through his teeth. He wanted all three. "These boosts are insane..." He used to think the Sword Saint class was strong with its modest +10% slash boost, but this? This was on another level. Of course, you couldn't pick all three. That way lay mediocrity. Thankfully, he'd already invested in Sword Saint's slash bonuses. Best to stack the buffs. [Weapon Specialization: Slash +30%, AoE +10%] Once selected, he noticed something strange. His previous "Slash Damage Boost" passive had vanished—merged seamlessly into the new Valkyrie passive. "Huh... so passives can merge?" Lyle murmured, eyebrows raised. He also saw his resistances stack—Cursed Knight and Valkyrie combined to give a neat 40% dark resistance. "...Nice."

Chapter 134: Cursed Knight Lv.5: Triggered—'Valkyrie”

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