Villain in a Fantasy World; I Level Up by Conquering Villainesses-Chapter 40: The power of Knowledge

["Understanding Gomorra."]

Julian took his time to read in-depth as he confirmed that Puck truly was an avid reader as despite this not being a novel, she was not bored at all as she focused and lost herself reading alongside Julian.

Julian read for 3 straight hours and in this time, he finally learned everything that he deemed important about the 9 Classes of Gomorra.

Since his System Snooping Tool could help him with enemy racial traits, he didn’t focus on Races this time as all his focus was on learning deeper about the 9 Classes.

He learned all skills from Level 5 to Level 50 of the 9 Classes in the world, and this was where the knowledge of the book ended.

After his encounter with the Centaur Archer, he focused on the Archer Class first. During the process, realizing what he was reading about, Puck took the initiative to teach him even more about the Archer Class.

"You’ve changed," she said in an excited manner. "You were never the reading type before, now you’re reading".

"This is a good change!" She quipped excitedly, then she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek with a cheeky smile. "Hehe, I love you even more!"

Julian already learned the Level 5 to 15 skills of every Class previously, including the Archer Class, and now he learned the others.

Apart from the skills, the Archer Class Awakening at Level 10 awakens their Qi Sense through sight and focus, enabling them to channel qi into ranged weapons and projectiles even without activating any skill.

This makes Archers dangerous even without skills.

At Level 20, they unlock 2 new skills, Target Lock and Enhanced Dexterity.

When activated, Target Lock enables an Archer to track a single enemy, highly increasing hit probability.

This ability reminded Julian of some of the abilities that the Centaur Archer showed in the battle against the Basilisk.

The range of Target Lock differed but the book didn’t explain it clearly probably due to the author lacking enough knowledge. Fortunately, Julian had Puck who explained everything.

At D Rank, the range of Target Lock is 200 meters, at C Rank 500 meters, at B Rank 1 kilometer, while at A Rank the range is 10 kilometers.

As an A Rank Archer, Puck didn’t know about S Rank.

The other Level 20 Skill, Enhanced Dexterity is a passive skill and its effects is self-explanatory- it enhances an Archer’s dexterity.

At Level 25, Archers unlock 2 new skills, Crippling Arrow and Threat Awareness.

’They really do have danger premonition’. Julian thought when he saw this.

Threat Awareness is a passive skill and it’s self-explanatory.

As for Crippling Arrow, when activated, it gives an Archer’s arrow the ability to heavily damage tendons and joints, slowing movement.

At Level 30, after the second Class Awakening to become a C Rank Adept Archer, an Archer’s qi undergoes qualitative growth, enabling them to manipulate qi along a projectile’s entire flight path, allowing mid-air control and environmental interaction.

According to Puck, mid-air control and environmental interaction at C Rank is still marginal and that true control only comes at B Rank aside skill effects.

Aside the awakening effects, Archers unlock 3 new skills at C Rank, Curved Shot, Longstride, and Qi Trap Arrow.

Curved Shot when activated bends a projectile’s trajectory mid-flight. Unlike a C Rank Archer’s mid control over air and environmental interaction, Curved Shot was much more effective at more qi cost.

Longstride is a passive skill, it greatly increases movement speed and stamina efficiency.

As for Qi Trap Arrow, when activated enables an Archer to fire an arrow that creates a qi snare upon impact.

Julian’s eyes lit up as he finally accounted for all the abilities that the Centaur showed in that battle.

C Rank was a qualitative growth threshold for every Class.

At Level 35, Archers unlock 2 new skills, Rain of Arrows which unleashes a high-arc barrage of qi arrows over a targeted area, and Silent Step, a passive skill that enables an Archer to move while producing little to no sound.

At Level 40, Archers unlock 2 new skills, Phantom Arrow for near-invisible projectiles that are extremely difficult to detect or block, and Camouflage which when activated, enables an Archer to blend seamlessly into natural or urban environments.

At Level 45, Archers unlock 2 new skills, Explosive Arrow which enables an arrow to detonate on impact, and Mark of the Prey, a skill to mark targets and make them take heavily increased damage with each attack.

And then the all-important Level 50 Class Awakening to become a B Rank Marksman, the level and rank that separates the average from the elite.

At B Rank, after the third Class Awakening an Archer’s qi crystallizes into a Sharpshooter Domain, forcing a Class Specialization.

Every Class has 3 different Class Specializations at B Rank, and for the Archer Class they’re Sniper, Ranger, and Artillerist Specialization.

"I’m a Sniper!" Puck gladly revealed.

Each Class Specialization unlocks just 2 new skills, but each of them are game-changing for a B Rank Archer.

A B Rank Archer of the Sniper Specialization unlocks Deadeye Focus, a skill that slows time perception while aiming, and Vital Point Shot, a skill that enables a Sniper to shoot a precise shot that targets organs, weak points, and qi nodes.

’Snipers are terrifying!’ This was Julian’s conclusion.

A B Rank Archer of the Ranger Specialization unlocks Hunter’s Zone, a skill with a lesser range than Target Lock to track all enemies within range, and Suppressing Fire, a deadly barrage of qi arrows that restricts enemy movements and action, and can kill.

A B Rank Archer of the Artillerist Specialization unlocks Siege Arrow, a massive qi-infused arrow that can devastate terrain and structures, and Fragmentation Shot, a single qi arrow that explodes into multiple qi projectiles.

All the skills had their own overpowered utility.

Julian’s eyes gleamed as soon as he learned the pinnacle of knowledge concerning the Archer Class in this book, and instantly he categorized the 3 different Archer Class Specializations into 3 categories.

’Snipers represent extreme range and precision, Rangers represent mobility and control, while Artillerists represent destruction and aerial denial’.

His eyes flickered with slight thrill and excitement at the challenge ahead when he’d inevitably face stronger enemies of different Classes.

Unlike the last time though, he won’t be unprepared. ’Knowledge truly is power’. He thought.

He didn’t just learn about the Archer Class, he learned all the Level 5 to 50 skills of the other 8 Classes in Gomorra, enriching his theoretical knowledge of power in this world.

At the end, Julian felt some lingering regret, he wanted to learn all the skills in this world if possible.

Afterall, his enemies were the strongest beings in this world.

But at the end of the book, the author wrote a line of text that attracted Julian’s attention.

["Beware of an A Rank’s Domain Expansion!"]