Sir Shawn met Ethan's simple slash by calmly placing his wooden sword in its path.
The impact should have meant something.
For an ordinary fighter, blocking a strike head-on without parrying would have sent a jolt through the arms, rattling the nerves and numbing the fingers.
Yet Sir Shawn did not even flinch.
He stood unmoving, as though Ethan's blade had struck empty air rather than solid wood.
Ethan had not expected the attack to succeed, but the complete lack of response still stung, reminding him of how weak he was compared to the real monsters of the world.
He retreated in a quick hop, widening the distance between them, then rushed in from a different angle.
His sword swept toward Sir Shawn's shoulder joint, the strike aimed not for power, but for an opening.
It changed nothing.
Sir Shawn turned aside the blow with effortless precision; his movements were both smooth and simple, as if he knew where Ethan's sword would strike before it even came.
He was simply too fast and far more experienced.
Even while deliberately suppressing his strength to match Ethan's level, his experience alone made a tremendous difference.
The exchange repeated itself again and again. Strike after strike met the same fate, each one rendered meaningless the moment it was thrown.
More than thirty minutes passed before Sir Shawn finally lowered his sword.
"That's enough for now."
"That skill you just used, was it a combat-type skill that increases your overall attributes?"
In Sir Shawn's eyes, Ethan's skill was unmistakable. He had seen hundreds of similar skills before, and he possessed one himself that temporarily boosted his attributes.
"Yes," Ethan replied simply.
"I understand," Sir Shawn continued. "Your new skill allows you to inherit the skills of your summons and use them as your own. I have heard of similar skills before, but those always have time limits or restrictions on how many skills can be used at once. Yours does not seem to have any such limits. It is an extremely powerful skill, especially for a summoner like you, who can call forth many different types of summons at the same time."
Sir Shawn's expression suddenly changed as he remembered one of Ethan's summons, the one obtained from his Skill Card collection.
"Can you use the [Reflection] skill as well?" Sir Shawn asked slowly.
"I can," Ethan said, nodding once before shaking his head. "But not right now."
"Let me guess. You have to master the skill first before you can use it to its full capacity?" Sir Shawn said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.
"Yes. How did you know?"
"It's quite obvious. I'm sure the skill you just used wasn't at full strength either. Even if it's an unevolved skill, its effects shouldn't appear as weak as they did," Sir Shawn explained while studying Ethan.
"Since it looks like you've decided to fight on the front lines, I'll give you the next best thing, which is proper combat training. While you have the skills part covered with your new ability, your attributes are still not good enough. In fact, they're even worse than those of a low-grade combat professional."
Sir Shawn went silent for a few seconds, thinking, before continuing.
"Compared to your peers, you're growing the fastest, not as an individual fighter, but in the way you acquire skills and level up. It wouldn't be surprising if you became the first awakener in your entire batch to reach the peak of Tier 1. Still, I feel you should slow down a little and take your time."
"What I'm suggesting is this. First, go after the three [Skill Enhancement Cards]. That shouldn't be a problem for you. Just use your summons to speed run them."
"With so many summons, acquiring Skill Enhancement Cards shouldn't be a problem. Once you obtain them, use them wisely. Then head into any dungeon you choose and master the skills you've inherited from your summons. After that, we will begin. You will join other combat professionals in group combat training."
Sir Shawn smiled slightly and added, "To be honest, you are growing at an unnatural pace, especially considering that you acquired a profession-specific skill in just two days. It takes others weeks to obtain even one. That is why most Awakeners, not wanting to fall behind, settle for any skill they can find simply to fill their skill slots."
"You are lucky to have obtained a profession-specific skill in just a few tries."
"A few tries? I only needed one,"
Ethan thought, but he kept the thought to himself.
"Do you know why Awakeners seek to fill their skill slots?" Sir Shawn asked.
"There are two reasons," Ethan replied, raising two fingers. "First, the more skills you possess, the broader your combat versatility becomes."
"Second," he continued, "even the lowest-ranking Awakeners can become significantly stronger if their skills evolve. Everyone, from low-grade to high-ranking professions, has the potential for profession evolution. During evolution, every skill a person possesses undergoes Skill Evolution and Skill Fusion. So even if you don't have profession-specific skills beforehand, after evolution, every single one of your skills will transform into profession-specific ones."
"Correct. That is why even high-grade professionals do not always chase the hardest-to-acquire, profession-specific skills. Regardless of the skills they possess prior to profession evolution, every skill will eventually become profession-specific after evolution," Sir Shawn nodded.
Professions could evolve multiple times, and the first evolution chance came anywhere between level 40 and level 50. Ethan was looking forward to it eagerly.
"Aside from you, only Marcus is this determined to obtain all three profession-exclusive skills, he refuses to accept anything less," Sir Shawn remarked.
"Yeah, I heard he's clearing the [Dwelling of the Snake Lord] dungeon," Ethan nodded.
"He is obsessed with power, you might be the only one in your group who can compete with him in terms of skills. But remember, if no one threatens your position, you will become arrogant," Sir Shawn warned, studying Ethan closely.
"Never become arrogant. I have known many powerful Awakeners who lost their way and their lives because they looked down on others."
"I understand. And for the record, I never look down on anyone," Ethan said firmly.
"Good," Sir Shawn said, satisfied. "Head to the [Ladder of Fortune] dungeon. It has fifteen stages. At each stage, you will face a monster or a group of monsters that are completely random. Clearing each step rewards you, and the further you go, the more valuable the rewards become. Clearing the eighth step grants a [Skill Enhancement Card]."
"Keep in mind, this dungeon is special. You can only raid it three times. So you must reach the eighth step in all three attempts and collect all three Skill Enhancement Cards at once. Otherwise, acquiring them later becomes much harder," Sir Shawn said seriously.
"I am curious. What comes after the eighth step?" Ethan asked.
"No one knows. The highest anyone has ever cleared is the tenth step," Sir Shawn paused, recalling how Ethan had overwhelmed the entire world-type dungeon with hundreds of summons and had cleared the [Dwelling of the Snake Lord] with overwhelming force.
If Ethan applied the same strategy here, could he reach the fifteenth step, a place no one had ever reached?
"The rewards beyond the tenth stage are unknown. No one has ever gone past it. But with your summons and your ability to summon them without limit, you might actually reach the fifteenth stage. If you do, you would be the first in history," Sir Shawn said, his expression wavering between excitement and disbelief.
"Listen to me, Ethan," Sir Shawn grabbed his shoulder. "Go all out from the start. Don't hold back just because you've got a new skill that lets you fight yourself. This is not the dungeon to test your abilities. Use everything at your disposal, summons, any skill, anything that can help you reach the fifteenth step. Whatever lies there must be far more valuable than a Skill Enhancement Card."
Ethan's eyes widened as he observed Sir Shawn's intensity, but he agreed.
If no one could reach the fifteenth step, the rewards must be incredibly valuable.
It always went like this: the greater the effort required, the richer the rewards.
"I will do my best," Ethan said with a nod.
Only then did Sir Shawn's expression finally relax.
"Good luck, I know you can do it," Sir Shawn said, patting his shoulder.
Ethan smiled and nodded again.
It felt good to hear someone say they believed in him.
It felt refreshing and uplifting to know that someone other than himself had faith in him.
"I wonder what kind of rewards are waiting for me at the fifteenth step, and what if I could reach the fifteenth step and claim those rewards three times?"
Ethan suddenly stopped walking, lost in thought.
"If each step gives increasingly valuable rewards, then there must be something far more precious than a Skill Enhancement Card. But what could be more valuable than that? A Wheel of Skills card? Maybe profession-specific Wheel of Skills cards?"
Ethan sighed, though the excitement on his face was impossible to hide.