Chapter 634: Heart of Agility!

Marcus could only stand on the sidelines, reduced to cheering for Wind God Supreme Assassin as the battle raged before him.

Unfortunately, his skill, Ascendant’s Domain, was still on cooldown from his earlier alchemy session. Otherwise, he might have been able to lend Gale a hand by giving him a stat boost. Not that Gale seemed to need much help. The battle unfolding in front of Marcus was already intense enough to make his heart race, with explosions thundering across the battlefield and debris flying in every direction.

Marcus would have loved to jump in himself, but there was simply no opening.

Ten minutes later, however, the situation had clearly changed. The Seven-Soul Devil, which had erupted with terrifying power earlier after being driven into a fury, was finally beginning to falter. Its momentum was collapsing under Gale’s relentless assault, and it was rapidly losing ground.

Then the Divine Beast Wind God Supreme Dragon suddenly swept its enormous tail across the battlefield, annihilating all five of the Seven-Soul Devil’s clones in a single strike. With a thunderous roar, the dragon surged forward and charged straight toward the demon’s true body.

"Whoa!"

Marcus had heard about how monstrously powerful Gale’s Divine Beast was, but seeing it fight with his own eyes was another matter entirely. Those five clones had looked formidable only moments ago, yet the Wind God Supreme Dragon had torn through them as effortlessly as if they had been made of paper.

For the first time, panic flickered across the Seven-Soul Devil’s face.

"Chain Combo, Tempest Gale Stab!"

Gale immediately seized the opening. His twin daggers, wrapped in shrieking wind, slammed into the Seven-Soul Devil with brutal, relentless force. His attack speed was so absurdly fast that Marcus’s eyes could no longer follow the individual strikes. All he could see was a swirling vortex of wind surrounding the demon assassin as blades struck from every direction, each blow arriving before the previous one had even fully registered.

"Now that’s what I’m talking about!"

Gale was practically howling with delight as his chain combo tore into one of the Demon Lord’s Eight Guardians. The more he fought, the more excited he became, and somehow that battle-crazed enthusiasm only made his attacks even fiercer.

The Seven-Soul Devil had no choice but to endure the barrage.

One hit, then another, and another.

The strikes came so quickly that there was hardly any opportunity to breathe between them. By the time the forty-nine-hit combo finally ended, the damage from Gale’s assault, combined with everything the Seven-Soul Devil had already suffered, had reduced its health by half.

Gale, meanwhile, had barely fallen below two-thirds of his own health.

And he still had his Divine Beast fighting beside him.

The difference between the two sides was painfully obvious.

The instant Gale’s combo ended, the Wind God Supreme Dragon was already prepared to strike. Its massive body coiled with power before it let out another mighty roar.

"Wind Dragon Dance!"

Its wind-infused tail lashed toward the Seven-Soul Devil with terrifying force. If the attack landed cleanly, it would be enough to strip away at least another fifth of the demon’s remaining health.

Unfortunately, the Seven-Soul Devil was not some helpless punching bag.

"Dark Demon Phantom Body!"

Just before the dragon’s tail could connect, the Seven-Soul Devil’s body suddenly became hazy, its entire form turning as indistinct as a black shadow.

The enormous tail passed straight through it.

A large, glaring 0 appeared above the demon’s head.

At the same time, the Seven-Soul Devil took advantage of the brief invulnerability granted by Dark Demon Phantom Body. Its health had already fallen to half, and rather than waste time trying to settle its score with Marcus, it immediately retreated.

With a sharp whoosh, it shot into the distance, clearly unwilling to continue exchanging blows with Gale.

"Coward! Get back here!"

Gale roared furiously and immediately charged after the fleeing demon, the Wind God Supreme Dragon following close behind.

The man clearly had no intention of letting his prey escape.

"Wait..."

He suddenly stopped.

"I almost forgot!"

Fortunately, Gale had not completely lost himself to bloodlust today. After taking two steps toward the fleeing Seven-Soul Devil, he reluctantly stopped and cast one last regretful glance at its rapidly disappearing figure before turning around and directing his Divine Beast back toward Marcus.

As he flew over, Gale suddenly asked, his voice filled with urgency, "Kid, you wouldn’t happen to have maxed out your innate Agility and awakened the talent skill ’Heart of Agility,’ would you?"

His voice carried a strange mixture of excitement, envy, and disbelief.

After all, Wind God Supreme Assassin Gale himself might have been born with maxed-out Luck, but even he had never awakened Heart of Agility, a talent skill so powerful that it could make an assassin’s eyes turn green with envy.

"Yeah."

Marcus nodded. His heart had already begun to beat faster.

’Could it be?’

Was the skill he had never been able to activate, Heart of Agility, finally about to show its true power?

"Are you kidding me?!"

Gale’s expression immediately twisted.

"What a waste!"

He exploded in outrage. "You idiot! You have a talent skill that powerful, and instead of changing into an assassin-type class, you went and became a knight?! What the hell were you thinking?!"

He looked as though Marcus had personally committed some unforgivable crime against the entire assassin profession.

Then Gale continued, sounding more like a furious mentor disappointed in his pupil than anything else. "Kid, you’re really making me angry. Fine! I’ll class-change you into an assassin-type class right now!"

A system notification immediately rang in Marcus’s ears.

Ding!

[Player Stonehaven, because you possess the unactivated talent skill "Heart of Agility" and have not class-changed into an assassin-type class, you have triggered a hidden event with Wind God Supreme Assassin Gale. The deeply aggrieved Gale will activate your talent skill and grant you an assassin-type class change]

’Assassin-type class change...’

Was that really necessary? Marcus had never wanted to become an assassin.

He liked being a knight. In his eyes, it was one of the most promising and badass classes in existence, excellent at standing at the front of a battle, taking hits, protecting his allies, and smashing monsters head-on. More importantly, he genuinely liked the class. It suited him perfectly.

Of course, he absolutely wanted to activate Heart of Agility, that part was non-negotiable. But before Marcus could explain himself, Gale had already continued talking.

"Kid, what kind of assassin class do you want? Combat type, support type, or thief type? Pick whichever one you like."

Gale paused only long enough to think, then began muttering to himself.

"Combat assassins include Tempered Assassins, Shadowfiend Dual Blades, Burst Assassins, and so on. Support types have trappers like Hunters, summoners like Summon Assassins, stealth specialists like Phantom Assassins... Then there are thief types, such as Phantom Rogues, Illusory Twin Blades, Thousand-Faced Shadows..."

The names came pouring out of his mouth one after another.

He rattled off more than a dozen assassin classes in a single breath, barely pausing between them.

Finally, Gale gave Marcus a proud smirk.

"Most of those are hidden classes, by the way. Pretty generous of me, huh? Pick whichever one you want. I can class-change you on the spot."

"That’s... insane."

Marcus stared at Wind God Supreme Assassin Gale in disbelief.

’Holy crap.’

More than a dozen assassin classes, offered as casually as if Gale were handing out ordinary pieces of equipment?

This guy really was ridiculously powerful.

Marcus could not help wondering whether Gale was exaggerating.

"What? Kid, you don’t believe me?"

Gale’s expression immediately darkened when he noticed Marcus’s hesitation.

"I’ll have you know that I’m the greatest assassin on the entire Dreamland Continent! The Demon Clan’s Shadowfall Seven-Soul Devil, the Ghost Race’s Phantom Corpse Ripper, the Arcane-Beast Race’s Illusory Thousand-Faced Demon, the Half-Beast Race’s Lightning Golden Leopard Stab... Those so-called assassin experts run the moment they see me! Changing your class is nothing!"

Gale’s chest puffed out with pride.

"Y-yes, of course..."

Marcus immediately adopted his most respectful expression.

"This junior was blind and foolish. Please don’t take offense, Elder."

Gale’s expression finally began to soften.

Then Marcus carefully added, "However, Elder... I don’t actually want to change into an assassin."

"Not change classes?! Why the hell not?!"

Gale’s expression instantly changed again.

"Kid, are you trying to piss me off?! You have the ’Heart of Agility’ talent skill!"

He was fired up all over again. Marcus could only sigh inwardly.

’This guy is way too intense.’

For a moment, Marcus genuinely wondered whether Gale was going to eat him alive if he refused.

Still, if activating Heart of Agility required him to deal with this hot-tempered old man, then he had no choice but to be patient.

So Marcus carefully explained, "Elder, I really do like being a knight. I think my current class is quite good, and I don’t want to give it up."

"Oh! Right!"

Gale suddenly smacked his forehead and burst out laughing.

"So that’s what it is. My mistake!"

He laughed for a moment before suddenly adopting a proud, almost haughty expression again.

"Kid, you’re lucky you happened to run into me. I forgot to mention something important. With your ’Heart of Agility’ talent skill and my unique class-change ability, your existing knight class won’t be affected at all."

Marcus blinked.

"What?"

"That’s right."

Gale nodded confidently. "Your primary class can become two classes. Your original knight class will remain, and I’ll give you an assassin class alongside it."

"A primary class with two classes?!"

Marcus could not hide his surprise.

"Yep!"

Gale grinned smugly.

"Unlike your secondary class, Mountain Roarer, which can only exist as a sub-class and is restricted by your knight class, this is completely different. Your primary class will contain two classes, and they’ll develop in parallel. The more power you gain, the more benefits you’ll receive from both."

Marcus’s eyes widened.

Gale had apparently already checked his status, because he continued without waiting for a response.

"Your knight class is the legendary Temple Knight, isn’t it? A prestigious class that has been lost from the Dreamland Continent for ages. I wouldn’t dream of overwriting something like that."

"That’s incredible..."

Marcus’s mind was already racing. A primary class with two classes. He was so stunned by the possibilities that he almost missed Gale’s explanation about the Temple Knight.

Think about it.

The Mountain Roarer class that King of the Mountains, Liam Windrunner, had given him was only a secondary class, unlocked through a Bodhi Stone. It was still a sub-class, meaning its development and potential were ultimately restricted by his knight class.

But this was completely different. A primary class containing two classes meant genuine parallel development.

And the possibilities were ridiculous.

His knight class already gave him powerful defensive capabilities and the ability to stand at the forefront of battle. If he added an assassin class on top of that, he could gain the assassin’s exceptional evasion, overwhelming single-target damage, high critical-hit rate, and terrifying speed.

Knight defense combined with assassin burst damage. The ability to stand toe-to-toe with powerful enemies while possessing the speed and killing power of an assassin.

’Damn.’

Just how broken would that combination become? The more Marcus thought about it, the harder it became to suppress his excitement.

This was exactly the kind of combination he had always dreamed about.

For a moment, he was almost dizzy. Dizzy with happiness.

"Kid, are you going to class-change or not?!"

Seeing Marcus stare blankly into space for so long, Gale finally lost patience and shouted at him again.

"Yes! Yes, I’ll do it!"

Marcus immediately snapped back to reality. There was no way he was going to refuse. Only a fool would turn down an opportunity like this.

"Good!"

Gale nodded in satisfaction.

"Kid, which assassin class do you want?"