Chapter 358: The Half-Elf Archer's Mecha Dream
Utan, who had been with Cheng since Metal Slug, had changed dramatically from his initial state. This was because Cheng Tian always remembered to summon him during missions, so even with only 60% of the settlement value, Utan was already vastly different from when he first appeared.
Utan's main focus for stat allocation was mental attributes. After all, with Cheng Tian's rapid growth, Utan had shifted from an auxiliary attacker to a support role, and he still lacked a crucial point of leverage.
And this crucial point of leverage was actually already in Cheng Tian's hands.
As for Bazett, due to her special Heroic Spirit contract, she received 100% of Cheng Tian's main quest settlement attribute points and skill points, also gaining 15 attribute points and 6 skill points.
Cheng Tian very decisively suggested that she put all her attribute points into Agility.
The very obedient guard sister immediately followed suit, and her Agility attribute directly reached its current maximum value of 50 points.
With the help of equipment, Bazett's strength could burst forth at any time, and with the aid of maxed-out Agility, both the accuracy of her punches and the timing of using her Counter-Force sword later would be significantly improved.
As for skill points, Cheng Tian's suggestion was to invest all 6 skill points into the A-rank skill "Designated Sealing Enforcer." Since A-rank skills require double skill points from Lv1, she only had enough to level the skill to Lv4.
Bazett still accepted everything, obediently completing the skill upgrade.
If it had been before the Ys Origin dungeon, Cheng Tian would have been more inclined to use the B-rank skill "Heir of the Red Branch" for crafting the Counter-Force sword. But now, with the ability to obtain Clelia Ore through the Challenge Tower, there was clearly no need to invest extra resources there.
Cheng Tian's suggestion to Bazett, in a sense, was equivalent to finding a powerful ally for himself.
Cheng Tian, with his Heart Priest profession, was essentially a hybrid of a priest and a mage, belonging to a magic-user-like profession, which perfectly benefited from Bazett's damage effects.
And with the investment of 6 skill points, the final damage amplification of "Designated Sealing Enforcer" at Lv4 for magic-user-like professions also increased from 20% to 40%.
As for the additional effect of this skill, it possessed an unexpectedly rustic beauty... [Designated Sealing Enforcer — A-rank / Lv4, (preamble omitted). All your physical strikes and Counter-Force sword strikes will cause an additional MP burning effect on the target. The magnitude of the MP burning effect is related to attack speed and intensity. High attack speed burns a minimum of 3.2 MP (10% of Mental attribute), and high intensity burns a maximum of 32 MP (100% of Mental attribute). This effect will be amplified by this skill. (Lv4 Additional Enhancement)]
Normal attacks burn mana, where did you come from, Anti-Mage?
When Cheng saw this additional enhancement, he broke out in a cold sweat.
Undoubtedly, this Designated Sealing Enforcer skill was truly designed to be the bane of mages. Bazett, who already had a 50-point max Agility bonus and could burst to max Strength at any time, was perfectly capable of high-frequency, high-damage physical strikes!
If he could somehow get her a skill like "Stand: Star Platinum," "Extreme Flow: Instant Rupture Fist," "Hundred Rending Kicks," or even "Shun Goku Satsu"—skills with high attack speed and high damage—then after such a combo, either the mana bar or the health bar would surely be emptied first!
Cheng Tian felt it was very necessary to go back and test the judgment of this skill.
Did it need to hit the target's body to be effective, or did hitting a barrier, shield, or force field also have a mana-burning effect?
After confirming that Bazett, like a player, still had an empty skill slot, Cheng Tian decided to find a skill for Bazett that offered instantaneous high attack speed.
He simply wanted to see what that unscrupulous priest would look like after taking a mana-burning combo from Bazett.
Since he cut off one of Bazett's arms, then him helping to cut off three of the opponent's legs should be quite reasonable, right?
A dangerous glint already appeared on Cheng Tian's face.
However, this skill enhancement for Bazett also gave Cheng a reminder: he might have encountered few opponents with mana-burning abilities due to his limited experience. If he encountered a highly targeted opponent proficient in mana burning in the future, he would indeed need some countermeasures.
"Wait a little longer, something crucial is still missing."
Seeing Cheng Tian's gaze, Utan tapped a few times on the small computer in his hand, then a synthetic voice spoke.
Utan had allocated a small amount of attribute points to Strength and most to Mental, but his skill points were almost unused, as if he was waiting for something.
Knowing that this atavistic red-haired individual had his own ideas, Cheng Tian chose not to interfere.
Eileen's settlement also came out. Although defecting from her original faction generally lowered her rating, Eileen still managed to get an A- rating, earning 7 free attribute points and 3 free skill points.
At the same time, the Elf Unit also appeared in her settlement list and could be brought out of the dungeon... but this, in turn, made Eileen start to hesitate.
Her dilemma was whether or not she should try to acquire a C-rank Mecha piloting-related skill.
She met the Agility attribute requirement to pilot the Elf Unit, but without a "Mecha Combat" dungeon modifier, her lack of piloting ability meant she could only display the Elf Unit as an ornament, or simply transfer it to Cheng.
Rationally speaking, continuing to specialize in her Windwalker path was the wise choice. As long as her attributes, weapons, and skills were in place, it wasn't impossible to shoot through a mecha with arrows... but mechas were really cool!
After this main quest, Eileen, whose 'Steel Soul' had been activated to some extent, was a bit carried away.
But when she explained her situation to Cheng Tian, she received this answer.
"First, you need to understand that without the 'Mecha Combat' modifier, a mecha is just a mecha; it's essentially a vehicle. You can't use a vehicle to cast your wind-element shooting skills. Learning mecha piloting skills would be too wasteful."
Upon hearing this answer, Eileen's two half-elf ears, slightly rounder than those of pure-blood elves, immediately drooped. Then she was embraced by the goddess Fina, who, despite being a love rival, was not as hostile as expected.
And Cheng Tian, as expected, received a glare from the goddess.
"However..."
Cheng Tian suddenly changed the subject.
"As far as I know, mechas with magic attributes, especially wind attributes, are not exactly unique."
Lifting her head from the goddess's rather impressive valley, Eileen, who was clearly feigning tears, looked at Cheng with burning eyes, and Cheng began to search his mind, counting on his fingers.
"There's the Wind Elemental Lord Cybaster, the Magic Knight Wind God Windam, the Bagua Robot Wind Lancer, and more broadly, even the Jagd Doga could count... Oh, right!"
Cheng Tian suddenly remembered a machine that might be most suitable for Eileen.
"And the Wind Madou King! That machine uses a bow!"
Cheng first let out an excited yell, then stood frozen in place.
Because he thought of a crucial question involving the essence of space... Did the Madou King (Magical Warrior) have a game adaptation?