Chapter 31：Definite Future

Blacksmith alchemist was a respectful term for blacksmiths who were able to forge magical equipment.

Magical equipment could only be forged by blacksmiths with some type of mysterious craftsmanship. The special craftsmanship had to be paired with potions made by alchemists or special abilities from magicians for a piece of magical equipment to be forged. That was why those blacksmiths were called blacksmith alchemists. However, a blacksmith alchemist could only forge magical equipment such as armor or weapons. Things like jewelry, staves, clothes, leather shoes, and leather armor were not part of a blacksmith's job.

In the past, when Cecilia heard Sean say he was able to forge a piece of magical equipment, she thought it was just a joke. In the month she had been with Sean, Cecilia had never seen him touch a hammer, let alone forge a piece of ordinary equipment. But now, she was able to feel that the Charles' Sword had been strengthened. Cecilia had to believe that Sean was able to forge a piece of magical equipment.

Cecilia inserted the sword back into the scabbard and then whispered, "Sean, it's best if others don't find out about your identity. A blacksmith alchemist will never have any freedom."

Although during the last couple of days, Cecilia had revealed some hints about her identity, she still would not speak about it, and Sean did not ask. He only knew that her identity was not simple. Therefore, Sean was not surprised that Cecilia said those words to him. On the contrary, he was touched. He knew very well that a blacksmith alchemist would be controlled by the aristocrats once they found out, regardless of how skilled the blacksmith alchemist was. It might not have been a big deal for others but, to Sean, losing his freedom would be very unpleasant.

Since Cecilia had reminded Sean like that, it meant she was treating Sean as her relative.

After Sean rubbed her head, he smiled and said, "I will be careful. But you, on the other hand, need to look after this Flame of Crimson. If others find out about this, then it will be very troublesome."

"I understand." Cecilia clasped the embroidered box in her hand, and her face glowed with excitement at the mention of the Flame of Crimson.

It was hard to blame Cecilia for being so excited.

The Flame of Crimson was a rare top-quality gem. The ruby had gone through the process of special refinement before it was injected with the fire element from the Fire Demonic Crystal Core and the magic from the Demonic Crystal. Producing the ruby required alchemists with special skills. The higher the quality of the Demonic Core Crystal, the better the blend of elemental power and magic power. That meant the gem would also be of higher quality.

Gems that could be called the Flame of Crimson had to be created using a Crystal Core that was at least at rank five. Anything below rank five could only be called the Heart of Scarlet.

The Flame of Crimson in Cecilia's hand only emitted magic power. No fire-based fluctuations could be felt from it. That was enough to prove that the fire element in this gem had been perfectly condensed, which was a sign that the Flame of Crimson was a high-quality gem.

However, using such a special magic gem required some special methods. Because Ron did not know what the special methods were, he did not know the origin of the gem. Ron had never suspected the gem might be a Flame of Crimson or a Heart of Scarlet. He had never seen one before, and there were no references to compare the gem to, so naturally he did not have an opportunity to study it.

As for going to the Portoroa Kingdom to ask the archmages about this gem, as long as Ron was not stupid, he would never do such a thing.

Therefore, it was not without reason that this gem had fallen into Sean's hands. He was just lucky that it had happened so easily without any further intervention from him.

After chatting with Cecilia for a little while longer and seeing the eagerness on her face to try the ruby, Sean smiled and let her go test the effects of the Flame of Crimson. Cecilia, whose mind had already drifted elsewhere, ran away with joy when she heard Sean's words. Sean tidied up the place and left the inn to walk to a temple located further inside the city.

The temple was not magnificent, but there was a solemn and respectful force that was emitted from it, which made it feel a lot grander than its appearance suggested.

There was a stone statue around three meters tall inside the temple. On the statue was a carving created with an exquisite technique. The carving was of an old man opening a book. The carving technique paid special attention to the fine details. Each carving position was completed very carefully. However, once the sculpture was completed, it would create an illusion of reality.

The statue was said to be the embodiment of the God of Wisdom who once walked on earth. The temple was the Wisdom Divine Temple. However, on the Miracle Continent, the temple had become a teaching place, as people would learn to read there. Knowledge was no longer dominated by the aristocrats. However, for players in the game, the greatest role of this Wisdom Divine Temple was that it allowed the players to start a new profession as a rank one [Scholar].

Sean had arrived at the temple to start the new rank one profession as a [Scholar].

One of the most attractive aspects of the game "Miracle" was the diversity of professions it contained. Especially the various special and hidden classes that required players to have many professions. However, developing just one profession would take shape relatively early, but in the later stages, it would become a bottleneck that limited the player's development. In the end, the player would have to take into account the development of other professions.

But within all this, special and hidden classes were two completely different concepts.

Rank-three classes and above were divided into three professional development stages. The three stages were the normal development stage, the special development stage, and the hidden development stage.

For example, as long as the [Knight Apprentice] and the [Apprentice Magician] professions reached level 10, the player could become a [Knight] and a [Magician] with the approval from their mentors. That belonged to the normal development stage. The advantage of the stage was that the professions took form very quickly. In the early stages, the professions could form combat power relatively quickly and lay the foundations to a certain extent. However, the disadvantage of the normal development stage was that the abilities of the professions were average. In the later stages, the professions had to be transformed to be developed.

On the other hand, the special development stage indicated superior professions of similar types, which had special development requirements. For example, to be a [Heavily Armed Knight] the players in the development stages were required to be citizens of Portoroa Kingdom. [Physics] types of professions such as a [Warrior] and a [Knight Apprentice] had to reach level five. Of course, some high leveled professions did not require citizenship. For example, the rank four [Elemental Mage] required the players to be a level three [Magician] and a level seven [Elementalist], both of which belonged to the [Spellcasting] profession.

The advantage of the professions in the development stages was that once they were formed, their combat strength would be extremely powerful. Normally, one player was able to hold their ground against two ordinary players with the same level and class. Even if the player met an opponent with a higher level or class, they would be able to battle it out, as long as the opponent did not have a profession in the special development stage or the hidden development stage. However, the disadvantage was that the speed of the professions in the development stages was very slow. Also, during the early phases, players couldn't display the full combat power of their profession in the special development stages.

As for the hidden development stage, only a few lucky players were able to even find the professions in this stage. The advantage of that type of profession was very obvious. It had unparalleled combat power or supportability. However, the disadvantage was also very obvious. The growth rate was a lot slower than the professions in the special development stage because professions in the hidden development stage required different types of professions to be developed.

Like right now, Sean was ready to start a rank-three profession.

A Cursed Seal Swordsman.

It was a rank three profession that required a level seven [Warrior] profession and level three [Scholar] profession. A trial task also had to be completed before starting this new profession. The most unique feature of the profession was that it could use the power of a cursed seal to strengthen the combat power. Once the power of the cursed seal broke out, the combat power would be on par with opponents who had rank-four professions at the special development stage.

Sean had not wanted to learn the profession in the beginning. However, when he was inside the Starfall Forest, he had accidentally activated the Mysterious Sword Skill, which was a passive skill. Then, he found out that the "sword skill" was not only the same as what it had been in the game, but Sean could also master it. Due to this, Sean started to have thoughts on learning a new profession as a swordsman.

However, the [Swordsman] class was part of the normal development stage among the rank three classes. Even though it took shape very early, it was not very powerful. It was completely different from the profession that Sean had originally planned to learn. Therefore, after a few days of careful consideration, which he spent trying to recall the swordsman professions that were considered powerful in the game, Sean finally thought of one. After he confirmed that the ruby Ron had was indeed the Flame of Crimson, Sean remembered there was a powerful swordsman profession of the hidden development stage in the Tindus Domain that he could learn as a new profession.

Therefore, while Cecilia was meditating in their room inside the inn, Sean had arrived at the Wisdom Divine Temple.

The divine temple had never denied entry to people. It had never even required anyone to become a believer or to believe in the God of Wisdom. Of course, if it was required, Sean would not have minded. After all, he only had to make a simple conversation to successfully start a new profession. [Scholar] was a new profession that one could take up only at the Wisdom Divine Temple, and not in the wild or anywhere else. Therefore, no personal attributes or strange requirements were required.

Of course, starting a new profession was different from a part-time profession.

Part-time was a second similar type of profession. For example, Sean was currently a [Warrior]. If he wanted to start the part-time [Knight Apprentice] profession, then his [Warrior] profession had to reach level five. Then, Sean could learn from a knight and become his apprentice. During the process, he had to consume proficiency points before he could successfully start a second similar part-time profession.

Also, part-time professions were not allowed to exceed the main profession. Of course, the profession that was the main profession could be set by the players themselves. It reflected the high degree of freedom for players in the game "Miracle."

Taking on a new profession meant starting on the path towards a second profession.

The [Physics] of mercenaries, [Spellcasting] of scholars, and [Divinity] of clerics were the three professions that the players could start on the path towards. They also required the main profession of the player to be at level five. Also, because a second profession path was opened, the profession side-effect would be more severe than a part-time profession. That was why the growth rate of hidden classes was a lot slower than the special classes.

Also, because there were two different types of professions, the skills bar would be divided into professional skills and non-professional skills. That area created a headache for Sean. However, to maximize his strength, he had to do this.

Sean had realized that he might never be able to fully replicate what he had achieved in the game on his future profession path.