Chapter 4: A Common Profession is Triggered! Genius!
2024-11-18 Author: Amnesty L
Nfirea Bale turned to look at the approaching old woman, an embarrassed expression on his face. "Grandma."
"This is no place for your charity."
"During this Royal Tournament, you should be focused on buying and collecting medicinal herbs."
Rigrit spoke with her hands clasped behind her back, an impatient look on her wrinkled face, her tone slightly annoyed.
"Yes, Grandma," Nfirea Bale murmured, reaching up to scratch his short golden hair.
Hearing the brief exchange, Tang Zheng finally understood why this grandmother and grandson, who should have been in the border city of E-Rantel, were here in the Royal Capital.
The thought flashed through his mind.
Tang Zheng did his best to maintain a calm demeanor.
He shouldn't be fooled by the appearance of Nfirea Bale's grandmother, Rigrit. She looked like an unassuming, unnoticeable old woman and barely had a presence in the anime.
However, she was E-Rantel's most famous potion master and a genuine third-tier magic caster.
In terms of level, she had to be above level 15, making her a formidable figure among humans.
At the very least, the current Tang Zheng absolutely could not afford to provoke her.
Rigrit's gaze fell upon Tang Zheng. She first looked at the short sword hanging from his waist, then glanced at his slightly muscular arms.
"Let's go, Nfirea Bale." Rigrit expressionlessly withdrew her gaze, turned, and walked away with her hands behind her back.
"Alright, Grandma."
Nfirea Bale quickly agreed and took a step toward the street. He then paused, hesitated, and turned back to look at Tang Zheng.
"You must be here to watch the battle between Sir Gazef and Sir Brain, right? I hear the spectator seats in the Arena are very expensive."
"Here, take this water pouch. It's easy to choke if you eat rye bread without any water."
As he spoke, Nfirea Bale unfastened a water pouch from his waist and handed it to Tang Zheng.
*This guy... is a bit annoying,* Tang Zheng thought, his cheek twitching. If he didn't already know Nfirea Bale's personality, such sudden kindness from a stranger would easily arouse suspicion.
Moreover, as an orphan, Tang Zheng had always disliked this kind of inexplicable goodwill.
"No..."
Just as Tang Zheng was about to refuse, Nfirea Bale had already forcibly pushed the water pouch into his hand.
A sudden movement!
Tang Zheng's expression changed slightly.
It wasn't because Nfirea Bale had forced the water pouch on him, but because the moment their hands touched, his status panel suddenly displayed a message.
*Bzzzt—*
*Contact with a special dual-basic job holder—Alchemist (Genius), Potion Maker (Genius)—has triggered the acquisition conditions for a common job.*
*Acquire the common job "Genius." Take the job?*
*Note: This is a common job and provides no stat bonuses.*
Seeing the information displayed on the panel, Tang Zheng's arm couldn't help but tremble.
In YGGDRASIL, combat jobs were divided into basic, intermediate, and high-tier/special jobs. Besides these, there were also non-combat common jobs.
They could also be understood as production jobs.
For example, jobs like Potion Master, Alchemist, Blacksmith, Farmer, and Merchant offered no direct help in combat and were considered support roles.
However, in this otherworld, common jobs weren't limited to just production jobs; they also included many jobs that didn't exist in the game at all, such as Slave, Maid, Noble, Prince, King, Princess, and so on.
These common jobs were even worse than production jobs. Jobs like "Prince" and "Noble" were inherent from birth, while those like "Slave" were automatically acquired later in life.
This was the fundamental difference between the people of this world and Players.
Players could actively choose whether to take a job, whereas the people of this world automatically acquired relevant jobs based on their life experiences, even if they didn't want to.
"Take the job!"
With virtually no hesitation, Tang Zheng quickly confirmed it in his mind.
Tang Zheng, who had just been struggling over whether to choose a basic warrior job or a basic spellcaster job, unhesitatingly chose a common job that offered no improvement to his combat ability whatsoever.
This clearly showed just how excited Tang Zheng was at this moment.
While common jobs offered no direct help in improving one's strength, it didn't mean that these jobs, which existed in the otherworld but not in the game, were all useless.
*Job Acquisition Successful—Genius: Lv 1*
*Genius (Common): This job can replace any basic or common job, and can transform into the desired job based on need.*
*Note: Due to its special nature, leveling up this job does not increase base stats, and it does not come with job traits after transformation.*
Tang Zheng suppressed his inner excitement as he looked at the displayed information.
"Are you alright?" Nfirea Bale asked, confused and concerned, seeing Tang Zheng's sudden emotional shift as he tightly gripped his hand.
"Sorry, and thank you." Hearing the question, Tang Zheng snapped back to reality. He quickly released his grip, took the water pouch, and spoke earnestly.
This thanks was truly heartfelt.
"It's alright."
Nfirea Bale didn't seem to notice anything amiss. He nodded at Tang Zheng, then turned and quickly departed.
Watching Nfirea Bale's retreating figure, Tang Zheng took a deep breath, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
He hadn't expected to unexpectedly obtain this ultra-rare common job!
With the "Genius" job, Tang Zheng no longer needed to worry about choosing a basic job. It eliminated a huge problem in terms of his job build.
Most importantly, the room for error in his job build was greatly improved!
As far as Tang Zheng knew, besides himself, there was one other person in this world who possessed the "Genius" job: the Golden Princess of the Re-Estize Kingdom, Lana.
She could also be called the "Princess of Ruin."
Her Princess (Common) job was, in fact, transformed from Genius (Common).
This ultra-rare common job was actually somewhat wasted in the hands of the Golden Princess, or rather, in the hands of the humans of this otherworld.
Only in the hands of a Player could this job's true strength be demonstrated.
At that moment, Tang Zheng suddenly felt a sense of relief, like a taut string had been loosened. The despair he had felt all this time had significantly faded. Although he had only acquired a common job, Tang Zheng suddenly felt much less lost about the future.
"And I've gained another important piece of information."
Tang Zheng's eyes gleamed.
The fact that touching Nfirea Bale had triggered the acquisition conditions for a common job was a genuine surprise to him.
Combined with the fact that touching a weapon could also activate a job, he had now learned two important pieces of information about how to acquire jobs with his innate ability, "Player."
However, judging from the fact he only acquired a common job and not the Alchemist or Potion Master jobs, normal contact with others likely wouldn't trigger job acquisition.
"Was it entirely because Nfirea Bale has the Alchemist (Genius) and Potion Maker (Genius) traits—this dual 'Genius' status—that the common job 'Genius' was unexpectedly triggered?" Tang Zheng mused thoughtfully.
(end of chapter)