Chapter 683: A Large Batch of Noobs Arrives at the Battlefield

"Judgement..." Taking advantage of this brief moment of respite, Commander Evan carefully perused the skill description. "Unleashes the energy of a Seal upon the enemy, preventing the target from fleeing for 30 seconds. A paladin can only judge one enemy at a time..."

"Uh...? Why does it feel like I cannot even use this skill at all?" Commander Evan furrowed his brows.

"Seal of Righteousness... fills the Paladin with holy energy, causing each melee attack to deal 4 additional points of Holy damage for 30 seconds. Only one Seal effect can be active on a Paladin at a time?" Helen said with a sudden dawning of realization. "Is that how it works...? No wonder when I activated that Seal of the Crusader earlier, this Seal of Righteousness seemed to vanish..."

In this system version of World of Warcraft, because it was not operated via a keyboard and mouse, it was vastly more intricate than the original game. Take the paladin, for instance—a class whose primary damage came almost entirely from auto-attacks. Naturally, it was impossible to simply activate a Seal, cast Judgement, and leave the character to swing away automatically as one would in the original.

Even for basic strikes, they could employ their own swordsmanship and combat techniques. Consequently, at this stage, their understanding of the learned skills remained purely superficial, and some abilities had not been utilized at all.

Given their formidable martial prowess, dispatching a few ordinary monsters posed no challenge whatsoever, and they had been too occupied with leveling up and turning in quests to examine their spellbooks.

"Then doesn't this Seal of Righteousness mean we can imbue our own attacks with magical effects?" another Golden Gryphon Knight remarked in pleasant surprise.

Knights and warriors primarily focused on cultivating their Qi. Generally, their strikes would only carry magical lethality when an allied mage was present to enchant them. Who could have foreseen that in this game, even melee combatants could achieve this independently?

However, they soon discovered that this power of the Holy Light was obtained through faith. Yet, it was clear that the Light in World of Warcraft, much like the concept of freedom in Assassin's Creed, did not represent a specific deity.

Their current, rather rudimentary understanding was that the Holy Light was simply this warm, extraordinary radiance they wielded—one capable of mending wounds with incredible speed, entirely unlike any light found in their own world.

"To think that even this can be an object of faith?" How could such an eccentric belief exist?

It utterly redefined their perception of faith once more. First, it was the creed of freedom in Assassin's Creed, and now, in World of Warcraft, one could revere this Holy Light?

Of course, regardless of the players' personal beliefs, classes like paladins and priests who commanded the Light held a fixed devotion within the game mechanics; thus, even if a player did not believe in the Holy Light, it posed no barrier to playing these classes.

Thus, after stepping out of the Lion's Pride Inn, Commander Evan made his way back into the forest outside the town to pursue his quest, murmuring, "Let's activate the Seal of Righteousness first and see..."

While the main roads offered some safety, the depths of the forest were fraught with diverse perils—packs of wolves, wild beasts, and rogues of the Defias Brotherhood. Before long, Evan encountered a Defias thief donning a red mask, a member of the aforementioned organization: the Defias Brotherhood.

Naturally, it bore absolutely no relation to the Brotherhood in Assassin's Creed; these were a band of ruthless cutthroats, and the moment Evan stepped into their domain, he was ambushed.

His combat prowess was evidently superb; with a slight tilt of his torso, he cleanly evaded the oncoming dagger, and his two-handed greatsword immediately swept outward in a swift arc!

Aware of his foe's agility, he prioritized speed in this strike. The greatsword instantly carved a long, bloody gash across the thief's torso. "Such power?! It has increased by at least thirty percent!"

In this system version of Azeroth, though these monsters might lack overwhelming strength, they possessed genuine human intellect. These humanoid creatures were certainly not mindless entities that would stand still and trade blows with players.

The Defias thief executed a quick roll on the ground and fled deeper into the thickets of the forest.

A rogue's swiftness, needless to say, was not something a heavily armored paladin could hope to outrun.

Right at that moment, a bolt of holy light traversed a vast distance in the blink of an eye, slamming the fleeing thief to the ground, where he instantly went still.

"Hmm?" Evan looked at his own hands in sheer bewilderment. "How was I able to cast Judgement just now?"

Glancing back at the skill description, it read: Unleashes the energy of a Seal upon the enemy...

A Seal...?

"I think I activated the Seal of Righteousness just a moment ago...?" Evan recalled carefully. "And then, Judgement...?"

So that was what it meant to unleash the energy of a Seal upon an enemy!

No wonder it never worked before! You have to activate a Seal first...?

At that moment, a loud shout echoed across the internet cafe: "Everyone... come look! This commander has mastered a core technique of the Paladin!"

"That incredible?!"

"You've mastered a core technique already?!"

"???" At this moment, Boss Fang, who was enthusiastically leveling his Undead Rogue, looked over in surprise. "Are these people really that talented? To master a paladin's core technique so quickly?"

Shouldn't they be at a level where they haven't even learned the true core skill, Seal of Command?

A nearby crowd of elves and assassins stared over, dumbfounded. They watched as the heroic, middle-aged knight excitedly demonstrated his feat, finding another wolf, activating his Seal, and unleashing a brilliant flash of golden light.

With a sharp whimpering cry, the wolf collapsed to the earth, its head battered and bleeding.

"I can now flawlessly execute this powerful combat technique!" Commander Evan shouted, his face flushed with excitement.

"Heavens, is that Judgement?!" several mercenaries nearby exclaimed in awe. "My success rate in executing that combat technique is less than thirty percent! How can you unleash it at will?"

"I've only managed to pull it off once so far!" Helen said in deep frustration. Was her talent truly that poor? "And you actually have a thirty percent success rate?!"

"Is this combat technique really so difficult to cast?" the nearby elves cried out in surprise.

Though they felt that their own skills were mastered instantly upon learning them, they had not expected there to be an ability so arduous to grasp.

"Can this warrior actually use a ranged attack?" the assassins remarked, their faces filled with envy.

"Of course!" Commander Evan replied with pride. "I have just comprehended this formidable combat art. It requires a nuanced technique to manipulate the Holy Light... only then can one unleash this powerful strike known as 'Judgement'!"

Boss Fang's face twitched. It's literally just activating a Seal as a prerequisite before using Judgement...

What on earth possessed me to believe that this lot had actually mastered some profound technique?

With a darkened expression, he sank back into his seat and resumed his game. "..."

"What is a Seal?" another mercenary inquired at that moment, utterly perplexed. "I only have Holy Light... how do you all have Seals and Judgements?"

"You can learn them from the skill trainer..." Helen said. "Did you not go?"

The mercenary stared blankly at the gathered knights. "Where is this skill trainer...?"

"Right there in Northshire Abbey..."

"So there was such a wonderful secret?! I never even noticed!" the mercenary exclaimed. "Good heavens, you are true masters! Your Golden Gryphon Knights certainly live up to your reputation!"

"..."

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