I Don't Agree to the Terms
Chapter 102 - 82: Trial Completed, Taking Nature as the Surname_3

Chapter 102: Chapter 82: Trial Completed, Taking Nature as the Surname_3

The prophecy section is simply too voluminous; he’s almost on par with a Prophetic Mage.

If it were before, he would focus on Marks with prophecy secondary and Divine Arts tertiary, but now that the inheritance is nearly a problem, a different approach is needed.

"How’s it going? What surname did you choose?" Mafas asked.

"Nature!" Gu Shanhai replied.

This left the other five somewhat disappointed. In their eyes, he should have chosen one of the first four surnames, as that would have made the related Druid Divine Skills even more potent.

However, they didn’t say much and respected Gu Shanhai’s choice.

"Next, you should concentrate on meditation and quickly coalesce your first mark. After that, it’s learning the Druid Divine Arts," Mafas said.

"I understand. I will do my best," Gu Shanhai said, though he had no intention of following the other’s arrangement. His plan was to focus on Marks first, followed by prophecy.

Divine Arts... he had no plans to learn at this stage, for the simple reason that once he left this world, Divine Arts would be weakened, and more importantly, they required spell materials for casting.

Take, for example, the resistance enhancement given to him by Kurus Brass. This spell required a modular cloak to cast, so he didn’t plan to use Divine Arts until he learned how to cast without materials.

Marks, on the other hand, were more like a passive ability; once congealed, they could be enhanced, whereas prophecy matched well with his abilities.

That’s why he had chosen to be a Marked Druid.

"It’s good you understand. I know you might prefer to specialize in Marks, but if you want to survive in the wilderness, Divine Arts are essential."

"Once you can cast your 0-circle Divine Arts proficiently, you can come to learn other Druid Divine Arts to complete your repertoire."

"After that, if you want to learn shape-shifting, summoning, or other Divine Arts, that’s possible too."

Mafas spoke straightforwardly, without dictating how Gu Shanhai must learn.

"Of course, Marks are the core, without enough Marks, you cannot cast higher circle spells."

Marks are the leveling system for Marked Druids, just as blood purity is for Dragon Vein Druids.

So, if Divine Arts are like spells, then Marks are like Cultivation Techniques.

After giving Gu Shanhai some advice, Mafas let him rest.

Upon Gu Shanhai’s return, they arranged a wooden hut for him, which was fully equipped with tables, chairs, beds, and bedding.

Gu Shanhai didn’t refuse and laid down to begin sorting through the inheritance. Until now, his organization had been cursory, but now, with nobody around, he started in earnest.

Marks were divided into five levels, normally acquired one by one. For players, this was a complete professional talent tree, continually unlocking and upgrading, with various additional effects.

For example, the first level included Blood, Agility, Stamina, Clarity, Insight, and Dignity, correlated with Strength, Agility, Constitution, Spirit, Perception, and Charm.

After acquisition, these would gradually enhance these five attributes and a unique charm attribute, forming the most basic Marks.

As for how to obtain Marks, naturally, it involved deep meditation on nature to sketch out these six Marks.

Of course, the additional attributes weren’t fixed and would grow with meditation.

The first layer of natural Marks ensured a Marked Druid’s survival in the wilderness, which by now, might be deemed superfluous.

Mafas and his peers had physical requirements for apprentices because they might not pass the trials of the Elemental Realm. For someone like Gu Shanhai who had passed the tests, there were no such demands. In the ancient High Magic Era, there were various powerful creatures, thus the wilderness was perilous.

But now, contrary to the ancient era, while Druids have weakened, the once powerful creatures are either trapped in secret realms unable to leave or extinct, making it relatively safe.

Then there was prophecy, different from the talent tree of Marks, more like a skill tree.

"Damn it... this thing is actually a prophetic spell. Why didn’t I notice before..." Gu Shanhai muttered in annoyance.

Since it belonged to spells, and not Divine Arts, one needed to learn it himself. No wonder it had declined. Aside from the Internal Organ Divination complement, he could now only learn the zero-circle prophetic cantrips.

There were three: Detect Poison, Detect Magic, and Read Magic. Initially, these were rather useless, as Druid Divine Skills also included them, even more so for zero-circle Divine Skills such as Water Creation Skill, Enhancement of Resistance, etc., and they were easier to learn through feeling nature deeply.

However, there was a plethora of Level 1 prophetic spells later on, yet upon closer inspection, they seemed less like prophecy and more like sensory spells, such as Detect Secret Door, Determine Lineage, Urban Positioning, Spontaneous Search, etc. Of course, these spells were indeed of the prophetic category.

"It’s normal for Druids to abandon prophetic spells..."

Comparing these to Level 1 Druid Divine Skills like Giant Bear Claw, Shadow Cloak, Koutao Fishman Skin, Traveler’s Mount, and Water Escape skills, they weren’t just easier to use than prophetic skills but also more comprehensive, vastly outmatching them in quantity.

Not to mention that aside from those original inheritances, Marked Druids had also exchanged plentiful Divine Skills with other factions, thus being even richer now.

If it wasn’t for Gu Shanhai’s unique bonus to prophetic skills and the likelihood of Divine Arts weakening after leaving this world, such as the failure to successfully summon, he would have chosen Divine Arts.

Of course, there were many crafts to study, like after congealing his first Mark, he could gain an animal companion. The Marks flow allowed him to choose a magical creature surviving in Deer Plain. There were also skills like resisting natural temptations, immunity to poison, and others.

For players, these were professional talents, only granted after completing class-specific quests.

Then there was Herbalism, Potion-making, Wilderness Survival, etc., all essential courses to study independently. For players, these were passive skills or derivative professions fitting their classes.

And if Gu Shanhai wanted them, he’d have to learn them on his own.

Receiving an inheritance was just the beginning; it required a lot of time to grow.

Fortunately, the Marks flow was unpopular, so Gu Shanhai didn’t have to worry; after all, he was the last of his kind now.