Class Awakening: Working Hard Can Evolve My Classes

Zeke stood straight, holding his sword tightly as he stared at the creature before him. It was an incredibly tall, brown monster with stocky legs. It raised its head, revealing its small, rounded ears and beady black eyes that seemed harmless at first glance. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

But when it saw him appear, the creature’s gaze instantly turned into a sharp glare, its body rising from the ground like a long trunk being pulled back up. When the creature finally managed to stand straight, its mouth opened wide, letting out a bestial roar that shook the surrounding trees.

"ROAR!"

Zeke remained calm as he sized up the monster in front of him. A moment later, he recognized the monster, its description flashing by his mind. A monster hailing from bear race, known as the Long Bear. It was a destructive-type Tier II Monster that was mostly present in forest dungeons.

The Long Bear’s most remarkable trait was its tall body, reaching up to 8 meters in length. Supported by its incredible height, it possessed a wide exaggerated reach, allowing it to claw its target even from a wide distance.

Attuned with the metal element, its claws were sharp enough to cut through even the most durable of irons, splitting them apart like butter. Safe to say, if a human were to be swiped by its claws, they wouldn’t even feel the pain of dying.

But like many monsters, the Long Bear had more than ten unique weaknesses he could take advantage of.

’Long Bears are slow... they have weak eyesight... they have a vital spot near the neck... three below the waist...’

Related information ran through Zeke’s mind in instant. Truthfully, his composure right now was surprising even himself. His mind was fully concentrated in the monster in front of him, not allowing the slightest mistake to slip by.

In a short few seconds, he had already formed a plan to take down the Long Bear.

’Let’s do this!’

Zeke took a deep breath and assumed the Starpoint stance.

He held the sword apart from his body, pointing it towards the Long Bear. When the Long Bear finally grasped the overall situation, it lowered its body and immediately tan towards him, swiping its claws when it reached a certain distance.

Woosh!

Zeke wasn’t surprised, having already predicted its actions.

The Long Bear was slower than even a Rank 1.2 Ranker. Hence, its attacks left a generous 3.4-second dodging window. Even if one was caught off guard by its attack, they could still dodge it, granted they don’t freeze even for a fraction of that time.

Just before the claw could reach him, Zeke took a step back, dodging the Long Bear’s attack with ease.

Then, his eyes sharpened—

’Now!’

He took a step forward and activated Lethal Strike.

When the Long Bear attacked, it always used all of its strength. This was a behavioral pattern that savage monsters usually possess. They were incapable of controlling their power. When they land, they kill their prey instantly. But when they miss, they leave their body completely open.

Knowing this, Zeke allowed the Long Bear to close the distance between the two of them. Hebaited the Long Bear to attack—and dodged it at the last moment. Now that the Long Bear was completely wide open, he thrusted his sword.

Woosh!

The Starpoint stance was an aggressive form that focused on controlling distance, favoring swift, precise thrusts over heavy overhead swings. Against the Long Bear’s wide reach, Zeke chose this stance to target its vital points while maintaining a safe distance simultaneously.

Imbued with both Lethal Strike and Soul Sword Manifestation, when the sword made a perfect landing on one of its vital points, the Long Bear froze like it had lost its senses. Pain shot up to its mind and body at the same time, killing its sense.

’Again!’

Capitalizing on its distraction, Zeke attacked once more.

He pulled his sword back, then thrusted towards another vital point, extending the Long Bear’s stunned state. Due to the Long Bear’s anatomy, striking its vital points would leave it stunned for a second or two, enough for Zeke to exploit.

Woosh! Woosh!

When Lethal Strikes’ cooldown was off, Zeke switched to the Starbringer stance, bringing his sword over his shoulder. He took a deeo breath and exerted all the muscles in his body. He ctivated Lethal Strike once more and swung.

’Die!’

While the Long Bear was still in a frozen state, it could only watch as Zeke performed the last decisive strike to end its life. Throughout the whole thing, Zeke’s eyes were as frigid as ice, as if everything was within his calculations.

Woosh!

—Rip!

A ripping sound echoed in the endless forest. The Long Bear finally snapped out of its frozen state at the exact moment the sword landed, marking its death. It let out a gruesome wail as its body was split apart in half.

"Uwooo..."

Thud!

As it died, the upper-half part of its body fell on Zeke’s foot, rolling over the ground. He glanced down, seeing its lifeless eyes. Once he confirmed that the Long Bear was dead, a huge breath of relief escaped from his throat.

Perhaps it wasn’t obvious, but Zeke was quite nervous. He even had to put away his emotions to maintain absolute focus. He only allowed his mind to think about where to attack, and his body to follow where his mind pointed.

As surprising as it sounds, this was his first time fighting a monster.

When he recognized the Long Bear’s identity and recalled its weakness, he trusted his knowledge and ability to deliver. And, it worked, exceeding his expectations.

’It was splendid.’

Zeke made an audible gulp, recalling his actions. His lips involuntarily curled up, seemingly proud of himself. But when he realized what he was doing, he quickly snapped back to reality, feeling a sense of shame.

He subconsciously looked around him, checking if there was somebody else who saw.

’Right... that fight just now should’ve made a lot of noise. I need to get out of here.’

Zeke suddenly realized. He looked at where the treasure was located in his Herta ID. It was close to his current position. He quickly walked up to his left and found an shining blue amulet hidden behind the tree.

He picked up the amulet and scanned it again with his Herta ID.

[Treasure Name: Sea God Amulet.]

[Treasure Rarity: Five stars (Max).]

[Total Treasure Value: 500.]

"... Maybe it’s a lucky encounter, after all?"

Zeke couldn’t help but be dumbfounded. But knowing his situation, he quickly hid the Sea God Amulet and ran away from the area. His first fight against a monster ended in a resounding victory, giving him a boost of confidence.