My Skills Can Evolve Infinitely in a Game-Like World

Chapter 3: Arcanist

"Yes. Yes. Don’t worry."

"I’ll make sure to take care of myself."

"Yes, I won’t indulge in myself anymore. I’ll be careful."

Aurelius felt his throat grow dry from the continuous talking.

It took several minutes before he finally managed to get the maid to willingly leave.

Still, recalling the look she had given him, as though she were suggesting that he had done it on purpose, Aurelius couldn’t help but curse secretly.

’It’s all your fault, damn it! How can you enter a man’s room without at least knocking on the door?’

As for the fact that the maid claimed to have knocked several times without receiving an answer and thus grew worried?

Aurelius conveniently chose to ignore that "unimportant" detail.

It took several seconds for him to calm down.

Perhaps because of the previous desperate situation, Aurelius found his own emotions growing out of control.

It was only when he regulated them—and confirmed that he was wearing clothes—that he sat on the bed again.

The previous emotions on his face immediately vanished. His expression grew serious.

’Player Panel,’ he called inside his mind as the familiar interface emerged.

...

[Name: Aurelius Sol]

[Template: NPC (Common), Player]

[Title: None]

[Class: Arcanist]

[Rank: 1 / Level: 0/20 (0/100)]

[Base Stats:] Strength: 14, Agility: 15, Intelligence: 19, Vitality: 13, Luck: 10, Spirit: 190/190

[Abilities: Spirit Bullet, Synthesis, Awakener’s Physique Lv. 3]

[Talents: Arcanist’s Heart]

[Reputation: 0]

[Skill Points: 0]

[EXP: 0]

...

The only differences compared to before were the enhancement of his Base Stats and the upgrade of Awakener’s Physique.

However, the reason Aurelius specifically summoned the panel was not to admire these.

Rather, he felt he had to deal with the matters at hand.

With that thought, his gaze landed on the very top of the panel, where the column Template could be seen.

Reading the words "NPC" and "Player", combined with the earlier prompts, Aurelius’ thoughts inevitably wandered.

’Is this world a game? Did I not reincarnate to another world, but instead travel into a game?’

He closed his eyes and sifted through his memories.

Yet no matter how hard he tried to recall, he found no mention of Players or any other strange individuals.

’Even if this world is a game, there are currently no Players,’ he concluded.

This realization made him breathe a sigh of relief.

No matter what, as long as there were no "natural disasters" like the Players, it didn’t matter whether he was in a game or not.

To him, this world was real after all.

Aurelius’ solemn face gradually brightened as he thought of this.

He stared into the panel with a newfound outlook and was finally in the mood to check the rest of the displayed information.

First of all, he stared at the Class itself.

Arcanist.

This was the reward given by the Tutorial Mission, and in a sense, it could be considered what had saved his life.

Common. Elite. Rare. Epic—these were the Ranks of Classes currently known to Aurelius.

Mythical was not included in them.

But based on its imposing name, it was not difficult to tell that it was stronger than any of these.

Perhaps far stronger than one would expect.

Aurelius had great expectations for this Class.

As he focused on the [Class] column, the accompanying description popped up.

...

[Arcanist (Mythical): Awakeners of this Class have the goal of gathering and analyzing all knowledge while unveiling its deepest mysteries. Existing in ancient times, they touched upon the Taboo and faced ruin.]

...

The description was short yet touched on several matters. Aurelius felt as though he had personally experienced the might of the ancient Arcanist.

But moments later, he shook his head.

The ancient Arcanist and the accompanying mysteries were none of his business for the time being.

Understanding this, he continued examining the panel.

He didn’t jump to the Class abilities, but first looked toward Arcanist’s Heart—the Arcanist Class’s designated Talent.

The difference between Talents and skills was relatively clear.

The former were passive and were always in effect, while the latter required conscious activation.

Because of this, upgrading one’s Talent was far more difficult.

The Talent’s description shimmered into existence.

...

[Arcanist’s Heart Lv. 1 (Talent): Having walked their own path of magic, Arcanists have permanently transformed their Mana into Spirit.]

[Effects:]

[The Player’s Spirit is directly related to the Intelligence Stat (1 INT = 10 Spirit).]

[Because of this change, an Arcanist is capable of mastering other Classes’ locked skills and Talents.]

[INT +6, AGI +2]

...

Compared to the mysterious but useless Arcanist description, this one was far more exciting.

The Base Stat increase was welcome but actually negligible.

What Aurelius really valued was the potential to obtain the skills and Talents of other Classes.

Every Class awakened its own skills.

Even those who could be learned through other means had certain requirements, most frequently in regard to Base Stats and the Awakener’s Class.

This made sense. It was impossible for a Mage to master the Berserk skill of Barbarians, and vice versa.

Yet, the Arcanist Class seemed able to break this ironclad law.

With the Arcanist’s Heart at their disposal, an Arcanist could actually bypass these restrictions!

Aurelius immediately grasped this Talent’s potential.

Being able to learn a single skill was valuable but not earth-shattering. However, ignoring restrictions altogether was a different matter.

What if an Arcanist learned dozens, hundreds, or even tens of thousands of skills?

Wouldn’t they effectively become a real God?

It took several moments for Aurelius to suppress his excitement, as his mind drifted to the bright future ahead.

Taking a slow breath and forcing himself to relax, he shifted his attention back to the panel.

...

[Spirit Bullet Lv. 1: The user can cast a bullet made of Spirit. The damage dealt depends on the user’s Intelligence, as well as the point hit.]

...

[Synthesis Lv. 1: The user can choose to synthesize multiple Talents or skills. By fusing two or more of them, the user will obtain an entirely new Talent or skill.]

[The created Talent/skill’s function, power, and requirements depend on: 1) Luck. 2) Fused items. 3) Synthesis skill Level.]