Chapter 148: Li En's Combat System

Paladin? Isn't that just a Smite Evil launcher?

Class jokes are never in short supply, but the Paladin version is somewhat special.

"Worship the deity for divine spells? Forget it, I have Smite Evil, that's enough."

Most Paladin class jokes revolve around Smite Evil, and they are jokes the Paladins themselves tacitly accept.

Because in most cases, compared to casting flashy divine spells obtained from the deity, landing one extra Smite Evil strike often yields better results.

And this is largely due to the deity's "stinginess."

Unlike Clerics, who are regarded as the deity's underground agents, the relationship between Paladins and deities is often quite subtle; most follow the "Pure Good" path of general morality, where faith in the deity is secondary in many situations.

If Clerics are the deity's servants or children, Paladins are more like mercenaries and hired hands who share similar interests; the divine power they share is clearly thin ("I reward you only if you do well"), and in most cases, combat does not rely on divine spells.

A Paladin is first a Knight, then imbued with Holy Power; self-mockery as a Smite Evil (Divine Smite) launcher is completely justified.

The divine spells of the vast majority of ordinary Paladins cap at Fifth Circle, and unlike other spellcasters whose spell levels are tied to rank, the progression of Paladins awakening divine spells is quite slow.

Most Paladins only gain Second Circle divine spells at Third Rank, and Third Circle only at Fourth or Fifth Rank.

And by the Great Knight stage, the direct attack effect of Third Circle divine spells is often still inferior to landing one extra Smite Evil strike.

This is also the reason why over ninety percent of Paladins are either Judgement Knights or Guardian Knights.

Only a very few with extraordinary talents will walk the path of the Devotion Knight (Divine Spell Knight).

It is also because divine spells are too rare and precious that the Paladins' divine spells, passed down after trials, often possess extremely subtle and special properties.

"Blessing makes my Smite Evil more accurate and deadly, Command makes opponents stand still and take my Smite Evil, Pious Shield and Heroism let me tank opponent damage while outputting Smite Evil, Thundering Slash lets me continue Smite Evil with a different elemental damage type when opponents resist Smite Evil's Radiant damage."

With Su Er's legacy, Li En has some understanding of the First Circle Paladin divine spells he might awaken after ascending to Second Rank.

However, his understanding is filled with "Su Er's bias." You can't say it's wrong; in fact, in most cases, it is a quite precise and practical judgment, but stating it out loud always gives outsiders a stranger prejudice against Paladins.

For ordinary Paladins, the opportunity to awaken divine spells is quite precious; often, only upon advancement or serving the deity (the Church) can they obtain a few.

It is very likely that an entire squad of Paladins cannot gather a complete list of divine spells.

And for a Sworn Paladin like Li En, opportunities to acquire divine spells are even fewer; only upon advancement or achieving a major breakthrough by fulfilling an oath is acquisition possible.

An oath, in a sense, is a "contract" with the World and Pure Good (regarded as the aggregation of all beings' desire for goodness), and can also be viewed as a form of service to a higher dimension to obtain a return gift.

However, the order of the World and Pure Good is too sublime; consequently, the feedback to mortals is even less, practically offering fewer divine spells as rewards than deities do.

In a sense, Li En should also thank Su Er's gift, which allowed him to get a few First Circle divine spells for free when obtaining his class.

Otherwise, he would have to rely on luck to awaken "Protection from Evil" and "Detect Evil," even though these are said to be the essential divine spells that are easiest to awaken.

At this moment, as Li En allowed the Radiant energy to enter his body and fuse with his Holy Power, he naturally became a true Second Rank Paladin.

"Only one divine spell." This was expected; the Judgement-type Paladins already have a shortage of divine spells, and without a deity to worship (a generous top donor), the divine spells awakened by a Pure Oath Knight are basically the minimum guaranteed quantity.

"But it's actually Command. Not bad, really not bad." This spell isn't strong, but it fits Li En's combat style perfectly, and he is very satisfied.

Contemplating the new divine spell appearing in his mind, Li En gained some insight.

【Command, First Circle Divine Spell: Force a creature to execute a one-word command. Duration is extremely short (maximum five seconds, minimum one second).】

This is a language-based divine spell similar to Dragon Speech; Li En even suspects it originates from Dragon Speech itself. Li En increasingly feels that supernatural power acquired through one's own awakening often has a high degree of compatibility with one's existing power.

"The most common and useful one-word commands require the opponent to understand instantly and without misunderstanding."

"The experience summarized by the seniors is 'Come', 'Fall', 'Flee', 'Stop'... In actual combat, if you can get one extra free hit, it's a huge profit."

This spell, combined with Li En's combat style ("Stop! Allow me to ambush, you are not allowed to move!"), should produce quite good results.

Li En doesn't expect too much right now; Paladin divine spells are basically used for support; those who can afford to use divine spells for direct attacks are called Clerics.

Of course, the above restrictions are not absolute; on one hand, there exist further advanced and rare class advancements (a Sworn Knight can be viewed as one of the standard Paladins' advancements, but most advanced Paladins are provided by some great existence).

On the other hand, when the software gets stuck, you can try a hardware upgrade by taking a different path.

"I'm starting to understand Larry's choice; it turns out her evolution target is the Crystal Poison Spider."

A true powerhouse is a combination of Mind, Body, and Technique; a single class ability is just one link in this construction.

Larry is obviously a Judgement Knight, and one of the rare types who uses multiple one-handed weapons.

The reason this is rare boils down to the underlying design that "Paladins are Smite Evil launchers"; with the same Holy Power and the same number of Smite Evil strikes, two-handed weapons naturally deal higher damage.

Two-handed swords and two-handed polearms can hit a large area, turning Smite Evil into an area attack, whereas a single rapier's Smite Evil can only strike a single target or penetrate with a stab, obviously dealing lower output.

This isn't a matter of striking a few more times; for ordinary Paladins, the consumption of Smite Evil is not low.

"... She really can be a Warrior, right?"

After Larry's combat system takes shape, she should wear a layer of Crystal Armor over her regular armor and use multiple rapiers to thrust rapidly, constantly inflicting wounds on enemies.

The Crystal Poison is the core of her combat system; it will continuously seep into those wounds, causing the opponent to crystallize, which is much harder to deal with than ordinary poison.

She could completely become a pure Warrior; even an Agility-type Melee Ranger might have originally been designed for the Warrior path, but due to certain (political) reasons, she took the Knight path.

As for the other Paladin, Dimon, he is probably considering these things too early; two kitchen knives are just his cook's combat habit. He has also been trying to find a path for evolution recently, and Su Er left him some paths that might be compatible.

And thinking about the combat systems of these peers is also because Li En has reached the point where he must consider these things.

Mind, Body, and Technique can construct a powerhouse; now Li En's chips are already quite numerous.

A Second Rank Paladin, First Rank Mage, and First Rank Dragon Speech Sorcerer's stats are really not bad; Li En has long been on the true path of the Extraordinary. How exactly to integrate his combat methods and make these powers work synergistically...

"Li En, you can learn to fight like a dragon."

This was the answer Li En received after asking Kuk; he gave an affirmative answer.

Li En thought this was an adjective he needed to realize himself, but Kuk directly gave a more precise answer.

"Evil Dragons are actually near-perfect combat creatures; they are heavy armor units while also being dual-wielders of magic and martial arts. Most dragons are melee-focused units; their spells and Dragon Speech are mostly used for support."

"Those who have truly fought Evil Dragons know that the close-range combos of dragon wings, claws, fangs, and tail are extremely lethal; several people in the party can die in an instant."

Contrary to the cognition of most locals, what Kuk says is the most painful thing about Evil Dragons is not Dragon Breath or Dragon Speech magic; those are precious combat resources for the Dragon race and must be used sparingly.

In most cases, the perfect dragon body, composed of thick dragon hide, high magic resistance, and a massive physique with an absurd weight, is the dragon's most powerful weapon.

They are truly super-large heavy combat machines, and their actual combat speed is extremely fast; facing ordinary opponents, they are even too lazy to cast spells, and can finish them off with a few strikes after closing in.

"Your meaning is that I will build my own Spellblade combat system based on my Dragonborn abilities, with a heavy armor unit like a Paladin as the core."

"Similar, but you can rely more on your own Bloodline abilities; that is also part of you. Do not resist it."

Lord Lord Lord Kuku also saw that Li En had actually always been somewhat afraid of his Dragon Bloodline ability. He always felt that the more he used it, the more he might truly become a dragon and cease to be himself.

"I mentioned before, right? You actually don't need to obsess over the Speed Boots. The mobility weakness you need might resolve itself."

"Uh, I thought you meant solving it with a Mage's means, like a Circle Two Mage's Mist Step (short-range teleportation) or something."

As far as Li En knew, some Paladins also had Mist Step; it seemed one could acquire such abilities through certain rare class advancements and rituals.

Although it wasn't as good as Mages using it (no spellcasting ability bonus), it could still greatly compensate for the weakness of short legs. A Paladin who couldn't hit with a Banish Slash was essentially non-existent!

"No, at that time I had no confidence you would become a Circle Two Mage in the short term. Mist Step is also the most difficult spell in Circle Two, requires casting while wearing armor, and has a very short movement distance." Lord Lord Lord Kuku wasn't explaining; he was persuading Li En not to count on this path in the short term.

He should spend his time and energy on places where he could get positive feedback more easily.

For a pure Paladin to acquire Mist Step wasn't impossible; there were dedicated paths, but the cost was not small. Lord Lord Lord Kuku did not recommend Li En pursue it now.

"... I am talking about Dragon Wings. Your next Dragon Bloodline ability should be it." Lord Lord Lord Kuku directly revealed his trump card.

Dragon Bloodline Warlocks were not uncommon. Dragonborn awakening Dragon Bloodline abilities was also quite similar to them. A Dragon Bloodline Warlock of a certain level basically all had Dragon Wings; this was an extremely useful racial talent.

"Is growing chicken wings useful? I am heavy armor." Li En thought for a moment. Unlike ordinary Dragon Bloodline Warlocks, could he even fly?

"Read the Book of the Great Dragons more. Those are magical wings."

Given the weight of a Great Dragon, with the length of Dragon Wings, using physical strength alone, it would be impossible to fly.

Dragon Wings were originally filled with magical power. If Great Dragons could carry themselves, they could certainly carry your suit of iron skin.

Lord Lord Lord Kuku patiently helped Li En resolve his doubts, especially regarding knowledge involving Great Dragons; he truly knew it inside out.

The core Lord Lord Lord Kuku designed for him was that since Li En was a Dragonborn, he was destined to keep awakening Dragon Bloodline abilities. He might as well adopt a combat mindset like a Great Dragon, seeking practical combat components suitable for himself.

For example, the synergy between Dragon Claws and Wu Seng and Druid abilities, the Dragon Tail could be used as an unconventional weapon and learned as a whip technique, the fusion of Dragon Breath and Evocation spellcasting, and so on.

With such a Dragon-type master designing a combat system for Li En, it would allow him to more clearly acquire the needed supernatural power.

Under normal circumstances, researching even one wrong Circle Two spell could take two months. Li En simply couldn't afford to waste time; he needed to turn every ounce of power into real combat effectiveness that could take effect.

Lord Lord Lord Kuku said a lot, even deducing the mid-term for him: various professions at Tier Three and having awakened more Dragon Bloodlines and Dragon Speech, making Li En listen and remember even if he didn't understand.

And this also seemed to imply that his time was running short.

When night fell, it had already become the last two days of the dream where he could spend time with them.

Tonight was also the appointed time.

"Bai" was already waiting in the hall.

Seeing Li En and Lord Lord Lord Kuku, the pure white girl revealed a smile from the bottom of her heart.

"Tomorrow at noon is the appointed time. I will lead the Beast Cult to attack the Main Brain Nest."

(End of this chapter)