Chương 209: Chapter 206 - Revolutionizing Skills

Mudriff was in a different training room, desperately trying to recapture that magical moment. It wasn't exactly completely voluntary, the elven [Warrior] had been physically removed by the much stronger seventh realm Lattick when he tried to barge into the control room and beg Ryan for another session. Now it was just Anjalith, Midriff, Ryan and Grevich. All of whom were intensely curious about the whole thing. What it might mean for them, and the rest of the world.

Anjalith's eyes were shining now, the longing replaced with excited hope.

"Everything you've done might change the entire way all of us adventurers look at things. It verifies that we shouldn't be necessarily picking the highest rarity class." Ryan shook his head.

"I think it's just become more of a balance game. The increased likelihood of Epic rarity skills is still a huge deal in terms of an adventurer's future potential. If you're confident in learning your other Trial skills, I think the benefit of a potential Epic skill still wins in the end. I also think the Trial System doesn't offer classes unless it fits you in some way." It just made class decisions more complex for the rest of the world.

As it stood, people were having to balance with rarity, versatility, and specialization of a class. Now they were going to have to take into account what you think you wanted as well. Not something he really had to worry about. No, the most important thing that had been figured out here was that it wasn't just about acting out like your class was defined. You couldn't just act like what everyone thought an [Assassin] would be like, you yourself had to figure out what kind of [Assassin] you wanted to be.

A crossing of class, skills and purpose, one could say. And Ryan still hadn't explicitly told anyone that you could resonate with generic Common classes either. Though he had heavily implied that aligning with your generic class would still help your skill development anyway. Lattick eyed Ryan.

"I know plenty of stuck adventurers in the higher realm that might have changed their minds if they knew the whole truth back when they were fourthers. The most common advice is still to try acting out like your class in as many different lenses as possible. There are countless adventurers doing this right now." It was a subtle question aimed towards him. Lattick wanted to know what Ryan was going to do about the information they had learned. He was still thinking about it so he gave a non-answer.

"It's not like there aren't theories about stuff like this online. If I keep teaching more people it wouldn't take long before it's shared everywhere. Besides, one example isn't proof of anything." Also, they don't have my class or [A Glimpse of Perspective]. Nobody is going to be as effective as I am. Ryan thought to himself. Anjalith nodded, stepping up to offer herself as a test subject.

"True. It could be that you got lucky with Mudriff, a couple more test runs should prove your viability." Lattick put a firm hand on the eager fourther's shoulder, he smiled unkindly at her.

"I think I've been patient enough. You've shown a skill activation is possible with your methods, but you've also said you think you can pull off a class resonance. How about it?" The seventh realm adventurer was finally putting his foot down and pulling rank, stomping Anjalith's hopes of going next. Ryan just grinned. You have no idea. I've already succeeded getting a light resonance from Mudriff. Let's see if I can get one from a seventh realm with a Rare class. … Some time later…

They were in a continuous revolving door of discussions and experimentation. As much as he mostly focused on Lattick, he still had time to worth with Anjalith as well, switching back and forth, observing, discussing, brainstorming and figuring things out as they went with [A Glimpse of Perspective]. It was in that exciting initial rush of challenge and stimulation that he had a weird feeling of familiarity. He had been here before. It reminded him of when he was training King Theskar's Royal Confidants.

Only here he was training people that were trying to catch his every word. They weren't royal knights with massive egos that argued at every corner. After awhile they settled and got comfortable with one another, making jokes and sharing stories without any worries. It gave Ryan a burst of motivation as he too analyzed just how his new skill worked. It became rapidly clear that [A Glimpse of Perspective] was a precursor of the [Class Change] skill.

Specifically designed to understand the way different classes would look at the world. He was figuring out that it was partly what his class was doing when he saw class resonances from the [Secretary] and the [Mystical Shapeshifter]. With it, Ryan could see how the class functioned and even how Lattick himself saw things without being prompted.

"[Martial Scout] is a ridiculous class so there's no wonder you were struggling with it. Why don't we try think of 'Martial' as a system of physical actions designed for optimal movement—hmm no? Oh I get it, you actually like the idea of a scout that can hold his own in combat with [Warriors]. How about we try out a scenario of you getting ambushed versus you ambushing someone else? See which one you resonate with the most."

There was an exhilaration with figuring out about new classes and how people might relate to them that was fresh and exciting. Lattick's face lit up as he got into the rhythm of things. Anjalith was doing a complex sword routine with her eyes in focus. Mudriff was rushing ahead, stubborn as a mule but no longer defeated. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

There in the middle of the control room, watching the three adventurers do their best to progress, Ryan felt an intense state of focus and clarity. He directed Grevich what to say and adjusted everything in moments. It was only after one of the adventurers had decided to return that he realized what had happened. For the first time in his life, Ryan felt like he had entered the flow state without having to move his body in a rhythmic routine. He felt it too, a resounding purpose that he had experienced once before.

A class, calling out to him, the concepts settling in on himself. A teacher, a guide, a whimsical bastard that liked to tease— Ryan froze. He was in the control room with Anjalith and Grevich. The fourther recognized the change in his behavior first.

"Is something wrong?" Ryan had almost forgotten about it. The one class that had truly sang out to him in the Manager's Abode. The one he would have loved to take if it was another time. It was calling out to him like an old friend. The [Adventurer's Guide]. Ryan had never thought about the idea of teaching someone to have been so appealing to him before. At the time he had thought the 'adventurer' part of the class was what had called out to him the most.

But now in this moment, while having those around him actually respect and listen to what he was saying, he understood that he wanted both. Perhaps it was King Theskar's influence. The King guided the rulers of future civilizations, Ryan wanted to guide future adventurers. Perhaps the King's noble dignity and pride had influenced him after all. Even knowing that he couldn't help himself. He suddenly had an intense, irrational desire to go back to The Realm and put on the class crystal.

It was still in his bag with the other crystals, hopefully hidden from view by keeping it packed with a bunch of other random gear that he had stocked up on in the Fifth Trial.

"Ryan? Are you there?" The second time he was called, he snapped himself out of it.

"Huh? Yeah I'm fine let's get back into it. You said you think learning your Rare skill might be faster? Let's try it." Ryan was shaken and they could tell. He realized he had started to make plans on how to smuggle his aura crystal into one of the Sector One portals so he could bring it back to Earth. It wasn't even that he needed the class to guide other people. He just wanted to resonate with the [Adventurer's Guide] more than anything else.

It was a problem some people talked about where they 'fell into their class', where they acted like their class and resonated with it for so long that the person became indistinguishable from the class itself. Except he hadn't actually had the class before. What would happen if I took the class? Was this what the [Conceptual Metamorph] was warning me about? Ryan remembered the warning.

'With me, you'll have to master many, many different perspectives. When you do, you might find out that you aren't able to move on.' For the first time in his life, Ryan wanted to be something other than an adventurer challenging the Trials and doing stupid things with his teammates. Teaching. Who would have thought? … They continued until the sun set and almost rose again. The adventurers were tireless about the whole thing, moving like excited children that had just found a new form of entertainment.

It was not a perfect result, but the things they did gleam was more than enough to keep them motivated for as long as their bodies gave out. Anjalith gained a precursor skill from her Rare one. Lattick did not hide anything about his past and told Ryan everything and anything about himself. With every adjustment to the scenario, the seventh realm felt ever so closer to that impossible class resonance. Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end.

As much as a certain assistant was excited as the other adventurers, he wasn't an adventurer. Ryan sighed and tried to make the point again.

"Grevich, I think you should take a break." The assistant of Raidco's Mastery had as much enthusiasm as the other adventurers, perhaps moreso considering that he was now in the best place to truly implement these things from the very start. Though enthusiasm couldn't replace physical stamina forever. After thousands of voice recordings, a constant watch over adventurers moving at speed and paying stark attention to what Ryan was focusing on, any ordinary human would have collapsed by now.

Grevich's voice had taken a gravelly scratchy tone.

"I have had many sleepless nights before. Something like this is no bother." Apparently the voice worked especially well for Anjalith. They had used that excuse to keep going an hour ago. Ryan however, had enough of it.

"Yeah, but we aren't in a rush, right? If this was a limited time thing then sure I get it, but we've got years to get this right." Everyone in the room was looking at him.

"We—" Grevich cleared his raspy throat.

"Now that we've confirmed that your tests are repeatable with at least one other adventurer, we should discuss how you want to proceed." All four of the adventurers were staring at him. From the start Ryan had requested that all of his recordings be private and accessible to Grevich only. Plus he'd gotten a verbal agreement with the others to keep whatever they'd learned a secret.

It was then that Ryan realized that perhaps half the reason why they were so eager to get as much done as possible was because he was the limited resource here. As much as they understood the theory of what he said, none of them seemed to have an intuitive understanding of their own classes as well as he did. Lattick had asked the question earlier but Ryan hadn't given a definitive answer then. Do I share this with the rest of the world or keep it a secret? He had been thinking about the question for the past day.

"I don't think it's a good idea to keep it a secret and keep the other adventurers from progressing overall. A good unified document would work best. But it's also a pain being famous and having to wear a hoodie everywhere. Grevich, any chance you can publish the stuff we've learned here today under your name?" Grevich thought about it for a moment. The assistant—now a little more familiar with Ryan cracked a smile.

"Allow me to get this straight, you are asking me if I would be okay with taking sole credit for what might be the biggest revolution in understanding skills and classes since people figured out that they needed to act like their class?"

"Well when you say it like that then—""Then the answer is no." Ryan blinked.

"Wait what?" The assistant smiled, perhaps enjoying putting Ryan on the back foot for once.

"Trial skill development is my life's work. I would be spitting on decades of research if my magnum opus ended up being something where I took someone else's credit." Ryan scratched his neck.

"Well, do you know anyone that would gladly take credit for other people's work?" Grevich gave him an incomprehensible look, Ryan raised his hands and gave him a grin back.

"I'm joking, I'm joking. I guess I'll have to find a way to post this anonymously online." He'd have to give the work to Milock and hope his friend could do a good job with making a convincing document go viral… it seemed like half of what Milo was doing was figuring out how to get better at spamming propaganda online anyway. Grevich clearly didn't like that idea." If I may. I can do a multi-author preprint where all of us are listed as collaborators and I as an observer and editor.

I can work with a couple more adventurers and add them in if you wish to increase obscurity." Ryan scoffed. Clearly the skill assistant not only had morals but he had standards. Grevich had probably—and rightly assumed that his friend wouldn't be able to release a proper, well-written research paper.

"Fine, yeah. I think he already works too much as it is." There was a lull in the conversation, one which was interrupted by Grevich's morals.

"Out of professionalism. I must tell you that you will likely make far, far more money keeping this a secret and working with high realm adventurers until the nuances are finally leaked. Are you certain you wish to go through with this?" For once, Ryan didn't have to think much about it. He simply smiled.

"Yeah. I don't have time to teach every single adventurer out there. Besides, The Realm needs stronger adventurers in the long run." What was money in the face of that? … That thought lasted until Lattick wired him fifty thousand realmcoins. For a simple promise that Ryan would be there next week when Lattick would be free to come back to the San Kingsgrove again. —— When Ryan entered the hotel he was elated—was ready to brag to his friend, only to find that Milock was passed out on his desk.

Ryan narrowed his eyes and wrote on his friend's notepad.

'If you don't catch at least eight hours of sleep today, I'm breaking your laptop.' Then, still with adrenaline of being disgustingly rich, used [Return to The Realm]. There Ryan was greeted by two angry birds. One very angry crow and one very angry chick. Gamielle had her hands on her hips.

"And where have you been all this time?" Cerul crowed in agreement. Both to suck up to Gamielle and because Ryan had actually ditched them for nearly an entire day without saying anything. He didn't really feel guilty about any of it." I'm sorry. I was busy changing the way the world is going to approach classes and skills."