kscans

Chapter 439 - Skill Explanation [Haru]

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◇Status◇
Title: Acrobat
Name: Haru　 Lv: 100
STR: 100
AGI: 200
DEX: 0
VIT: 0 (+150)
MID: 550 (+400)
LUC: 300

◇Skill◇
・Naraka Gandharva
《Mistlurade》
《Lumina Raygust》
《Exchange Implode》
《Greed's Precept》

・Water Magic Aptitude
《Aqua》
《Flood》
《Water Enchant》

・Active
《Reflect Explode》
《Breath Moment》
《Rocket》
《Floating Leaf》
《Eyes Oculus》

・Passive
《White Dragon's Blessing》
《Attentive Limit》
《Gigant Figure》
《Goma Soten》
《Hare Real》
《Land Insulate》
《Floating Star》
《Trickster of Zenith》
《Dangerous Light, Fast Recovery》
《Cutting Body, Unyielding Advance》
《Luna Nobody, Guardian of the Shimmering Moon》
《Master of Magic》

《Reject Sentence》
《Four-Sided Blessing》

◇Arts◇
【Kesshiki Ittoryu】
《Flying Water》
《Striking Iron》
《Heavenly Snow》
《Withered Flame》
《Seven Stars》
《Blade Thunder》
　Secret Technique: 《Yuikaze》
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HERE IT IS.

I'll be skipping over the stuff he got in the latter half of Chapter 3, like 《Reject Sentence》 and things from the White Throne battle, since they'll be touched on in the main story later. For the rest, I'll briefly touch on the skills the protagonist has already given his half-assed explanations for, including their pre-evolved forms, and just dump all the explanations on you.

This is gonna be long, so brace yourselves.

・《Gandharva》 — Third stage evolution of 《Multiple Weapon Aptitude》.
Its buffs for all equipped items have improved compared to its previous form, but it's still far inferior to specialized builds. The only reason the protagonist, who has this skill tree activated, doesn't suffer from a "lack of firepower" is because of the bug-like situation he's in, having mastered the avatar control techniques related to the Shukuchi of the busted Kesshiki Ittoryu style, on top of using super-heavy weapons and inertia boosts from super-high-speed maneuvers.
It's currently a unique skill tree. Or rather, after the second stage, most aptitude trees evolve into unique branches for each player.

・《Construction》 — Third stage evolution of 《Quick Change》.
An upper-tier unique skill that evolved from the integration of the all-weapon-aptitude-tree exclusive skills 《Blink Switch》 and 《Combo Accelerate》. The already short cooldown from its predecessor was shortened even further, and it gained the ability to 'perfectly wield any weapon for five seconds after switching.' This allows him to use equipment while ignoring all restrictions, including those based on weight and stats. It also comes with a bonus passive where 'the more weapons used during combat, the higher the buff multiplier,' so if he uses around twenty types, it might even surpass a dedicated tree. That might be an exaggeration.
However, the 'effect that fixed a weapon's coordinates at the moment it was summoned away from the body,' which existed in 《Blink Switch》, has been removed. This means the aerial maneuvers he used by stepping on his weapons are no longer possible.

・《Flip Thru Talk》 — The predecessor to 《Mistlurade》.
The machine-gun-hands skill you're familiar with from the Irori fight. When activated, it applies the buff 《Auto-Throw》 to the designated wrist-and-hand area. Touching any weapon or item the user owns outputs a 'throwing action' with a force corresponding to STR & AGI. It has the characteristic of 'aiming via the user's point of view,' which means its trajectory becomes obvious once the trick is figured out. Duration is ten seconds.
It might have been this way from the start, but as the protagonist grew, it was often used carelessly for feints or minor checks. Can't be helped, since it became faster for him to just go flying himself than to throw something.

・《Whirlwind》 — The predecessor to 《Lumina Raygust》.
Applies the buff 《Blessing of the Tempest》 to the player's limbs and held weapons. Defensive power and various elemental resistances are improved from its predecessor, 《Gusty Limb》. It also allows the user to release shockwaves by 'detonating' the tempests cloaking each of their limbs one time each.
This was actually one of the protagonist's favorite skills. It had a low cost, a long duration, and could be used haphazardly with reliable results, so he often relied on it, whether out of trust or just reflex. By the way, even though it cloaks the user in "wind," it's not strictly 'magic,' so a direct hit from a detonation (release) doesn't inflict magic damage.

・《Exchange Voltate》 — The predecessor to 《Exchange Implode》.
Counts the number of weapon changes made with a quick change skill. Upon activation, it applies a buff to the next attack based on the accumulated count. The max count is 100. At max accumulation, it applies the additional buff 《White Vortex Torrent (Fvolt Vortex)》. In addition to a high-multiplier damage buff, it grants durability reduction nullification for a single strike.
A skill with a long name. After unleashing its full power in the battle with Irori, this poor thing didn't get many chances to shine. Despite being a card that's perfectly suited for hype moments and has great synergy with 'finishing moves,' it's a mystery why it wasn't used more.
So it evolved.

・《Greed's Precept》 — Reduces the weight of carried items by 3%.
The protagonist has pretty much forgotten this exists. Poor thing.

・《Water Magic Aptitude》 — One of the five basic elemental magic aptitude trees.
A late-bloomer attribute tree with a wide variety of excellent support magic. Initially, it's weaker in attack power than 'Fire' or 'Wind' and weaker in defense than 'Earth,' but it has the potential to eventually rival them. It has a characteristic where magic casting gets a positive buff in watery areas, but it also has the unfortunate feature of rendering most magic unusable when completely submerged.

・《Aqua》 — The basic magic of the Water Magic Aptitude.
Used normally, it's a splash of water. When used at full power by a mana-maniac, it's a great flood.

・《Flood》 — The beginner-level magic of the Water Magic Aptitude.
Also known as Terra Aqua. An easy-to-use flood skill that instantly summons a large amount of water based on the caster's MID stat. If you unleash this in a party in an enclosed space, you're guaranteed to get an earful.
It's a spell that produces a similar phenomenon to a full-power 《Aqua》, but since it's designed from the start to 'summon a large amount of water,' it's overwhelmingly superior to 《Aqua》 in terms of MP efficiency. It's efficient, but there are plenty of other water aptitude spells that can cause more trouble, making it relatively mediocre.

・《Water Enchant》 — The beginner-level magic of the Water Magic Aptitude.
Enchants a designated weapon with the water attribute. Only one target can be enchanted at a time. The water attribute enchantment has excellent MP efficiency but a slightly more modest damage buff.
A convenient spell that allows for a combination of 'physical & magical' damage by enchanting a weapon attack. However, due to various specs like the MID contest between the caster and target, its standing in Arcadia is so-so. But it's not looked down upon, as it can be a powerful spell depending on the user.
The adorable Sora-Haru slash is in a bug-like realm of its own, so we'll treat it separately.

・《Reflect Explode》 — Third stage evolution of 《Quit Counter》.
A hyper-offensive defensive skill that drastically changed its nature from its predecessor, 《Reflect Blower》. By activating it on a shield or gauntlet-type weapon, it enters a 'standby state.' When it blocks a physical enemy attack, it acts as reactive armor, reflecting a powerful counter-damage explosion. A real surprise attack.
This skill has the property of 'halving the power of the blocked attack, then distributing it to the caster and attacker at a 3:7 ratio.' The damage dealt to the caster is, unbelievably, judged as self-inflicted damage from one's own skill. In other words, it gets caught by the protagonist's special title 'Acrobat' and its self-harm stopper. Absurdly vicious.

・《Breath Moment》 — Second stage evolution of 《Tremble Slide》.
Sends the user's avatar to any location within a five-meter radius at a speed corresponding to AGI. Its cooldown was significantly increased from its predecessor, 《Tremble Slide》, from twenty seconds to over two minutes, making it impossible to use carelessly. However, this increased its value as a trump card for an emergency auto-evade. And it ended up becoming a half-elixir that was never used. The guy's base evasion is just too damn high.

・《Rocket》 — Second stage evolution of 《Ignition》.
An active skill with a self-harm cost. Upon activation, the output is determined by the force of the step-in, and it automatically consumes HP to instantly release super-propulsion from the feet. While it's a broken skill that allows for the first 'official aerial jump' in Arcadia's history, what's truly broken isn't its performance or utility, but its safety. The output percentage corresponds to the percentage of HP consumed, so a 100% step-in naturally obliterates 100% of his HP. Thanks to his special title's self-harm stopper, the protagonist won't instantly die from activating the skill, but when he was still getting used to it, he exploded into pieces countless times after a high-speed, passionate approach to a wall or the ground.
Additionally, its synergy with a certain "Rabbit Leg" was fatally bad, making it a virtually uncontrollable skill. However, thanks to the support of his new equipment, the [Maristake Boots], he succeeded in taming it. It seems he was able to control it with rapid, full-power bursts, spurred by his master's unreasonable demands, but he was on the verge of death as a result, so his personal artisan is truly great.

・《Floating Leaf》 — First stage unique skill.
A special skill that selects and prioritizes one of all kinetic energies acting on one's body, completely changing the body's direction of movement. Furthermore, it reduces the gravity acting on the avatar and nullifies air resistance. In addition, while the effect is active, the load from body weight during movement is minimized, but the actual numerical weight does not change.
Between the aforementioned 《Rocket》 being too compatible with the protagonist and him mastering the special effect of the later-mentioned 《Hare Real》, this former god-tier skill has seen its screen time drastically reduced. In terms of performance alone, it's still in the god-tier category, but for now, it's lying dormant. It did play a part as a piece of the puzzle for the LA in the Iris fight, so it has had its important moments.

・《Fatal Leak》 — The predecessor to 《Eyes Oculus》.
An active skill that visualizes the predicted path of enemy attacks. It remains active as long as a large amount of MP is continuously consumed and can be canceled at the user's will. The future prediction range extends by two seconds for every +50 to the MID stat, and the order of attacks can be judged by the shade of the red prediction lines. The cooldown is twenty minutes after the effect ends, regardless of its duration.
As the story progressed, this became a former-favorite-skill that the protagonist found to be "a real pain in the ass to use." Or rather, it's more accurate to say he didn't want to use it because it was exhausting. This is because his build inexplicably became an MID-focused build, unheard of for a high-speed warrior, which extended the future prediction range so much that his vision was constantly painted bright red. He managed to use it somehow thanks to his inherent 'Memory,' but the reason he was so exhausted in the White Throne battle was mostly because of this. System-chan, who gave him the skill, was probably confused too, but since she was also the one who gave him the [Crimson Rabbit Choker] that caused his MID to skyrocket, she's the root of the problem.
As for the evolved eyes ()...

・《Embodied Protection》 — The predecessor to 《White Dragon's Blessing》.
A skill that applies a minor protagonist buff to the player, slapping the protagonist with the truly baffling text 'a buff is applied to difficult-to-achieve phenomena.'
Unfortunately, the protagonist was already the protagonist from the start, so it's unknown if it ever had any effect.

・《Attentive Limit》 — Second stage evolution of 《Awakening Blow》.
Its nature changed from its predecessor's 'high-multiplier damage buff on the first attack against a target that is not aware of the player' to a more versatile (?) skill where 'the power of the next attack increases in proportion to the time the opponent is not targeting you' during combat.
As you can tell from the fact that it wasn't explained in the main story, it's debatable whether it ever functioned properly. Combined with the fact that he's the type of person you really shouldn't take your eyes off, he was almost always being watched, so the effect rarely activated. And even when it did, he's a high-attack-count type, so he would just waste the minuscule accumulated value, contributing almost nothing to his firepower.
It's just a pure mismatch. Will its day to shine ever come?

・《Gigant Figure》 — Third stage evolution of 《Heavy Attack Manipulator》.
The damage buff for heavy weapons has been further improved from its predecessor, 《Overheavy Attack Manipulator》. It has also been upgraded to a super-useful skill that grants the special effect 'Vibration Strike' upon a clean hit, which provides an armor-piercing ability that ignores a certain percentage of the target's defense.
However, one of the activation conditions is that 'the target weapon must be directly controlled by the caster,' so it doesn't work with thrown attacks. The lawless act of juggling someone with infinite [Gravidon Hammers] (armor-piercing) was not permitted. Not that most of what he does isn't lawless to begin with.

・《Adamant Sky Dash》 — The predecessor to 《Goma Soten》.
A DEX-buffing skill that resulted from its predecessor, 《Idaten》, falling to the allure of muscles. It activates automatically when body movement speed exceeds a certain threshold. It adds the STR value to the DEX value that assists AGI, but the effect amount continuously decreases as long as the speed required for activation is maintained.
Without a doubt, this is a god-tier skill without which the protagonist's avatar would be useless. Which means that its evolution, 《Goma Soten》, is…

・《Hare Real》 — Second stage evolution of 《Rabbit Run》.
Assists the avatar's movement during running and jumping, and also reduces the necessary motions for step-ins while increasing initial speed. When moving at maximum speed, it applies a positive buff to the effect of DEX assisting AGI. After evolving from its predecessor, 《Rabbit Run》, it gained the additional effect of being able to hit the void with a thought-based trigger while airborne. This effect can be activated once with each hand and foot per jump, but it's just a 'hit' and doesn't generate enough output to achieve an aerial jump.
This is a god-of-gods skill that forms the core of his superhuman high-speed mobility, and at the same time, it's a problem-child-of-problem-children skill that continues to plague the protagonist. Because it passively eliminates the need for certain motions during step-ins, it makes delicate avatar control extremely difficult, creating significant challenges in his Kesshiki Ittoryu training and his reconciliation with 《Rocket》.
That said, it's like they say, the naughtier the child, the cuter they are. In fact, this is the skill the protagonist likes the most. There's a thin line between love and hate. A match made in heaven.

・《Land Insulate》 — Fifth stage evolution of 《Jump Maneuver》.
A direct upgrade of its predecessor, 《Fateless Jumper》. It retains the special effect of adding a critical hit chance to jumping actions, while improving stability and acceleration.
The evolved form of the problem-child skill that was exposed on the forums. The effect is a direct upgrade of 《Fateless Jumper》, but the improved "stability" only pertains to 'posture stability after jumping' and is not the kind of effect that makes it easier to land a critical. In other words, its quirky nature is also retained.
The protagonist, who routinely uses the perfect recreation of an ideal movement unconsciously thanks to the application of his 'Memory,' is an outlier. He has probably never failed a single time since acquiring the skill.

・《Floating Star》 — Third stage evolution of 《Boar's Heart》.
A special mobility skill that activates by outputting speed beyond the avatar's limits, without relying on skills or buffs other than passive ones. Its effect is to 'nullify deceleration that doesn't affect movement,' so if he were to jump and then fall while this skill is active, he would become a freak of nature, zipping between heaven and earth while maintaining top speed without any deceleration.
A useful passive that activates quite often, even if it's not always described. It also has a secondary effect that is also not described, where 'speed is maintained even after he stops running'—but since the deceleration nullification only applies to things that don't affect movement, if he stops his feet, he'll just bow to the ground at his preserved speed and fly apart.
There's a scene in the Four Pillar War where he's slowed down while trapped in Uni's 《Regalias, Tree-Calming Royalty》, but that's due to the AGI debuff 'reducing the avatar's high-speed mobility aptitude.' This AGI buff for high-speed mobility includes various effects like reduced air resistance, so when all of those were lowered, his top speed was ultimately shaved down.
I'm not even sure what I'm saying anymore, but let's just go with that.

・《Trickster of Zenith》 — Second stage evolution of 《Trickery Precept》.
A special skill that combines a constantly active passive effect with an active effect that has a cost.
The passive is a direct evolution of its predecessor, 《Trickery Precept》. The sensory nullification of self-inflicted damage remains, and the avatar's dexterity and fall resistance from the DEX buff have been enhanced. The active is the buff 《Trickster of Zenith》, which he unveiled in his fight against Iris. In exchange for being bound by a contract that forces death upon the effect's end, ignoring all protections, it exhibits a peculiar authority that allows the user to change the avatar's control system for 333 seconds.
The official cheat-self-destruct skill that the protagonist is currently refraining from using. By connecting a "thread" to the unconscious body control system, the 'inner self,' and integrating it with the output of the conscious body control system, the 'outer self,' he can perfectly replicate the 'Shukuchi' of Kesshiki Ittoryu.
To be frank, if the current protagonist were to activate this, his simple specs would be about 0.7 of the Sword Saint. On top of that, he would be able to fully unleash his signature bag of tricks, making him infinitely difficult to deal with for a first-time opponent. The result of that was the practical defeat of the [Sword Queen] at the end of the Four Pillar War… but in reality, he's just covering up his sloppiness with flashy three-dimensional maneuvers, and compared to the real [Sword Saint], he's full of flaws. Against a skilled opponent who knows his tricks, he might get his legs swept out from under him and be instantly killed. Or rather, he would definitely be instantly killed. The fact that 'a skilled opponent' means someone at least on par with the Sword Saint Fanboy is another story.

・《Dangerous Light, Fast Recovery》
A passive skill that activates under certain conditions. While HP is in the red zone at less than twenty percent, the automatic MP recovery speed doubles.
A non-unique passive skill that manifested after the Four Pillar War. Many have acquired it. Hearing that the recovery speed doubles might sound like a big deal, but since players' natural recovery rates aren't that great to begin with, it's a mediocre skill that's just 'nice to have'—or it should be. But when combined with the protagonist's decent recovery rate from his un-melee-like MID stat, it creates a modest combo that can sustainably cover some of the consumption of the later-mentioned 《Cutting Body, Unyielding Advance》. Even so, it's still just a good skill, but it has probably earned its place as 'nice to have.'

・《Cutting Body, Unyielding Advance》 — First stage unique skill.
Based on the ratio of total self-inflicted damage to max HP, it reduces the chip damage from weapon clashes by a certain percentage. It also uses MP to cover the excess damage.
A passive skill that supported him in his desperate clash with the [Sword Queen] at the end of the Four Pillar War. Due to its nature, it's often used while 《Crown Crown》 is active, which automatically triggers the aforementioned 《Dangerous Light, Fast Recovery》 in parallel, creating a combo that slightly offsets the MP consumption. Even without that, its performance is a perfect match for the protagonist's fighting style and build in every way, making it one of his favorite skills.

・《Luna Nobody, Guardian of the Shimmering Moon》 — Fourth stage evolution of 《Carry Running》.
A unique skill that evolved from its predecessor, 《Guardian's Cradle》. Its properties are specialized for transporting 'people,' including players, and the buffs related to other heavy objects have disappeared. For a single target, it completely nullifies all loads, including weight, when carrying them. The effect of taking damage on behalf of the target remains, but the reduction rate has been strengthened from fifty percent to seventy percent, and like 《Cutting Body, Unyielding Advance》, it can now be covered by MP instead of HP.
The proper evolution of the princess-carry skill. The burden reduction for the person being carried is also significant, evolving to the point where they feel nothing more than a gentle breeze even when the protagonist spams 《Rocket》. But Nia would probably go down after one 《Rocket》.

・《Mana Efficiency》
Reduces the player's MP consumption and increases automatic recovery.
A universal, must-have passive. Not in the sense that you can't play without it, but in the sense that basically everyone has it. It's a common skill that will eventually pop up for anyone, regardless of whether they're a combat or non-combat class, after playing for a certain period of time.
Its effects are minimal, so it's in the category of 'get it and level it up quickly.'

・《Master of Magic》 — Second stage evolution of 《Mana Efficiency》.
Reduces the player's MP consumption and increases automatic recovery.
The evolved version of the universal, must-have passive. At this point, you're either a 'pretty dedicated player' or an 'MID-maniac who burns through MP like water.' Most veteran players have it, so it's still within the realm of common skills.

・《Four-Sided Blessing》 — Dungeon clear reward.
Increases magic resistance against the 'Fire,' 'Water,' 'Wind,' and 'Earth' attributes from the five basic elements.
This is a must-have skill for combat classes, in the sense that you can't play without it. Not because its effects are immense, but because it's something that permanently boosts your durability with no activation conditions, so everyone should absolutely get it. It interacts with an individual's MID stat, and the final reduction rate is only a few percent, but that few percent can be the difference between life and death in a close fight, so it's not to be underestimated. Anyone who comes to the 'upper' battlefields without this is… well, you can guess.
In other words, a certain acrobat is… you can guess. Repent.