"Yeah." Having made up his mind on what path he'd take this time around, Valyr felt both determination and excitement, wanting to see how far he'd go as a mage till the very end.

Of course, just like how he'd come to the conclusion that choosing to become a blacksmith again would be a bad idea for his current self, he had a lot of reasons as to why he thought becoming a mage was the best option.

For one, mages were notoriously known throughout almost every VRMMORPG as the go-to class if one wanted to earn lots of money. Considering the skills and knowledge they picked up as they grew stronger, it was easy for them to pick up either alchemy or runecrafting as a subclass, both of which were professions that allowed one to earn money on the same level blacksmithing could potentially achieve.

Then again, even if a mage decided not to pursue the route of picking up a profession on the side, their AoE damage skills still allowed them to earn a similar level of wealth, giving them the ability to kill multiple enemies at the same time.

Aside from that, with the fact that he could now prepare for the final battle from both the player and NPC side, it went without saying that he needed to have both great finances and a great reputation as a player if he wanted others to follow his commands.

With that, becoming a mage was the easiest path to take if he wanted to fulfill both criteria at the same time. After all, all he needed to do just that was to dish out as much damage as possible in every scenario that greeted him.

'Well, there's also the fact that it would be a nice change of pace to the combat style I've gotten used to,' thought Valyr to himself, briefly thinking back to the combat style he cultivated in his other identity.

Even though it was to be expected for a blacksmith to rely on weapons if they wanted to reach higher levels of power, Valyr's combat style gradually evolved to extend beyond the spearmanship he grew to pride himself upon.

With spearmanship as the foundation, he would use both magic and the various energies he had control over as support while fighting, giving himself all the confidence he needed to fight against enemies on his own.

On the other hand, there wasn't really much reason for him to trek a similar path now that he was a player.

After all, unlike when he started out in Veldanyr, he had a lot of people he could potentially rely on while progressing through the game, the classes and roles they chose filling all of the gaps and shortcomings his skills in his other identity filled.

With that, it was possible for him to focus most of his attention on pure damage and firepower, slowly turning himself into what others would usually call a glass cannon.

But of course, he had no plans to become an actual glass cannon. He'd still make the time to shore up shortcomings here and there with various skills.

Other than those reasons, the reason why he chose to become a mage was because he wanted to maximize the synergy brought about by [Soul Fusion], which was one of the reasons he chose not to tread the path of a blacksmith.

'If my train of thought is correct, with the abilities I would gain as a mage, I'd be able to push [Four Paths Azure Magic Arts] and [Four Paths Azure Elemental Arts] to a higher level,' inwardly muttered Valyr to himself with a bit of excitement in his tone.

'Man… only now that I think about becoming a mage do I realized I haven't been using those magic spells to their fullest potential.'

'Well, at least I now have the ability to change that from now on.'

"Alright then." Closing his eyes for a bit as he consolidated all of his thoughts, Valyr soon pushed them to the side as another question came to mind. "Now that I've made up my mind on my class…"

"What should I do next?"

Faintly rubbing his chin as he pondered over the question, the young man faintly glanced at the gate that led to the outskirts of the village, prompting him to think that it would be a nice idea to grind XP to improve his level.

Though, after thinking about it for a bit more, he decided not to do so. After all, with how many people there were still entering the world of Greater Beyond for the first time, he'd have to fight against other players for a limited number of monsters.

'Plus, I'd be able to do just that once Thomas and I meet up later,' thought Valyr to himself, faintly nodding soon after.

Continuing to mull over the question, Valyr soon thought that it would be a good idea to obtain a few basic skills as a mage, specifically the skills that allowed one to truly call one's self a mage. ꞦἈNôΒЕᶊ

However, just like the previous idea he had, he decided not to do it either.

'Yeah… I'd also be able to do that once Thomas and I meet up later,' echoed Valyr within his mind once more, a bitter smile adorning his face as he thought about how much money he currently have.

'So, grinding XP isn't possible. Nor is getting skills,' said Valyr to himself in his mind. 'Naturally, that also means buying equipment for myself would also be out of the question.'

'Hmm… what should I do to give myself a head start, then?'

'Wait a second…' Fortunately, just as he thought he ran out of options, Valyr's perspective began to expand beyond what he as a player was currently capable of.

Because of that, it did not take him too long to come up with an idea that only caused him to become more excited than what he started.

In fact, by the time he was finished polishing the rough plan he had in mind, he unintentionally let out a peal of laughter from how good the plan was.

'If all of it goes according to how I imagine it…'

'Then I might just be able to give myself a massive head start.'

'…Let's get started, then.' With a grin on his face, Valyr made his way to one of the more secluded areas of the village once more.

Then, after making sure neither NPCs nor players would see what he was doing, he went ahead and activated one of his new skills for the first time.

"[Soul Shift]."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!

Report chapter

Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter