Astral Online: Cursed by the Demon Lord to Become the Strongest Beautiful Girl, I Rapidly Grow and Dominate with Cheat Skills Despite Being the Weakest Profession - Chapter 5
Chapter 5: The First Profession
?Level [16] has increased to [17].?
?Strength has increased from [16] to [17].?
?The proficiency of the equipped one-handed sword has increased from [19] to [21].?
?The attack skill [Strike Sword] has been upgraded to [Strike Sword II].?
?The attack skill [Sonic Sword] has been upgraded to [Sonic Sword II].?
?Acquired the support skill [Total Concentration].?
?Acquired the support skill [Slime Killer].?
“Hmm? I’ve leveled up already?”
Hearing the announcement of her second level-up since she started hunting slimes, Sora finally stopped.
In the distance, Shin and Rou, who had just reached level 4 after their hunting session, were looking over with somewhat stunned expressions.
Checking the time, it was already approaching 11:30.
In other words, it had been over two hours since they had met up and entered the starting grassland map for slime hunting.
Since they had discussed wanting to finish up before noon yesterday, Sora realized there was not much time left.
Um, there’s still a lot to do, like setting a job and buying equipment!
In a hurry, she joined Shin and Rou and apologized, deciding to return to the royal capital Yggdrasil to set their jobs.
Upon passing through the grand gate, they found themselves back in the large plaza with the fountain they had seen earlier.
Hmm…?
Sora felt a gaze from the surroundings.
It seemed that her appearance attracted a lot of attention.
Since worrying about it was pointless, Sora ignored it and opened her item menu, selecting the town map she had received as a starting item.
She looked through the list of shops and found the only one dealing with job changes, named ?Temple?, and tapped on it without hesitation.
The shortest route to the selected location was then displayed as a guideline on the ground.
Following the route, Sora, Shin, and Rou set off.
With some spare time during the walk, the three began discussing the jobs they were going to choose.
“Well, what job should I choose?”
“Without a doubt, I’m going to be a Mage.”
“I’ll be a Knight. If we’re doing this as a trio, I think having a profession that can provoke enemies is essential.”
It seemed Shin and Rou had already made their decisions.
As for her, she hasn’t decided on anything specific yet.
If the other two are choosing professions focused on damage and tanking, maybe she should pick a support profession.
For example, an Enchanter could benefit not just the two of them but also her, or an Alchemist could make items to provide support.
“But, I don’t know, nothing feels quite right.”
“Summoner sounds interesting too.”
“There’s also Beast Tamer, so I’ll have to think about it after raising a one-eyed creature.”
“And the biggest issue is that once you change your job, you can’t change it again for a month…”
Moreover, since detailed information sharing on strategy forums, personal blogs, and social media is all regulated, we can only access surface-level information about Astral Online.
For example, any posts about the skills acquired by leveling up a profession are immediately deleted.
So, I must be cautious when choosing my initial job…
While thinking this, the huge building that had been partially visible earlier finally revealed its full form.
A 15-meter-long structure.
That is the only grand temple in the royal capital.
Named ?Urd?, after the well from Norse mythology. [1]
At first glance, it looked like an enormous, terrifyingly pure white castle.
The complete absence of other colors might be to prove the purity of those who serve the gods.
Thinking this, I walked through the large, open doors with Shin and Rou.
Inside, it was a vast, empty space, illuminated only by sunlight streaming through the glass ceiling.
Stone statues resembling gods from this world lined the walls.
And a giant magic circle drawn on the floor emitted a faint light, enhancing the mystical atmosphere.
Upon entering, I couldn’t help but voice my immediate impression.
“Wow, it looks like a temple.”
“It’s not just ‘like a temple’; it is a temple.”
“Sora, you sometimes say the strangest things.”
“Hmph.”
Feeling a bit sulky after receiving wry smiles from the two, I pouted.
In front of the three of us stood a woman in white robes who had not been seen earlier.
She appeared to be in her early twenties.
With her long golden hair tied up and her blue eyes, she was undoubtedly beautiful.
Glancing at her name, it read ?Verdandi?. [2]
With the temple named ?Urd? and now meeting ?Verdandi?, it seemed these two names were derived from the three triad of sisters in Norse mythology. [3]
While pondering this, Verdandi bent at the waist and performed a graceful bow.
“Welcome, I am the High Priestess Verdandi. This is the temple ?Urd?, where adventurers can change their professions. When changing to your desired profession, please stand on the magic circle and follow the guidance of the heavenly voice.”
Verdandi gave a polite and standard explanation, pointing to the magic circle with her right hand.
The “heavenly voice” must be referring to the support system.
Impressed by the fantasy-like phrasing, I decided to ask Verdandi one question that was on my mind.
“Is it okay if all three of us stand on the circle together?”
“Yes, that’s fine. However, be careful not to step off the magic circle, as that will cancel the process.”
“Got it, thank you.”
“This is my job, so there’s no need for thanks.”
Verdandi said this with a graceful gesture, placing her right hand over her mouth and giving a soft, pleasant smile.
It wasn’t the mechanical smile typical of VR game NPCs.
It was a genuinely heartfelt smile, and for a moment, I was mesmerized.
Wow, the NPCs in the latest games express emotions just like real people.
They’re probably using motion capture to convey NPC emotions, but it still doesn’t feel out of place.
Honestly, it creates an illusion of interacting with a real player.
As I was lost in thought, I was suddenly tapped on the shoulder.
Turning around, I saw Shin and Rou looking at me with exasperated expressions.
“Sora, we don’t have time to be chatting with NPCs.”
“Seriously, Sora, you get distracted so easily.”
“Sorry…”
Their criticism was spot-on.
I lowered my head sincerely and followed Shin and Rou to stand on the magic circle.
When I glanced at Verdandi again, she looked somewhat apologetic.
Was she really an NPC…?
As I wondered this, a status screen suddenly appeared in front of me.
The support system activated, displaying a list of professions.
There were numerous professions available.
————————
?Knight?
A profession that acquires frontline skills.
?Thief?
A profession that acquires debuff skills.
?Alchemist?
A profession that acquires skills related to materials.
?Mage?
A profession that acquires magic skills.
?Blacksmith?
A profession that acquires forging skills.
?Ninja?
A profession that acquires stealth-related skills.
?Martial Artist?
A profession that acquires combat skills.
?Priest?
A profession that acquires healing skills.
?Summoner?
A profession that acquires summoning skills.
?Beast Tamer?
A profession that acquires skills to make monsters allies.
?Hunter?
A profession that acquires disruption skills.
?Enchanter?
A profession that acquires enhancement skills.
————————
There are various types of professions available, and the initial setting is completely free.
According to the description, the fee for changing professions after the first time is a flat 20,000 El.
Currently, my funds are about 6,950 El from slime hunting, so if I plan to change professions, I need to always have at least 20,000 El on hand.
Thus, Sora found herself even more troubled.
20,000 El, huh? Choosing the wrong profession could be quite costly.
To avoid spending a large amount of money next month, Sora, while agonizing, stared at the list of professions.
Shin and Rou, having already decided, had exited the magic circle and were chatting about something.
Once again, Sora felt anxious for making the two wait.
Shin is a ?Mage? and Rou is a ?Knight?. That means a midline role is needed…
However, there are many options for midline roles.
There’s the ?Thief? for debuffing, the ?Enchanter? for enhancing allies.
The ?Summoner? and ?Beast Tamer? can simply increase the number of combatants.
Since I want to avoid being limited to potions for healing, the ?Priest? is also hard to dismiss.
Considering balance, these seem to be the professions I should choose from.
After a while of contemplation, Sora made up her mind and touched the ?Enchanter? profession.
Considering the possibility of solo activities in the future, an ?Enchanter? who can apply elemental weaknesses to enemies would not be a waste.
A final confirmation screen appeared to confirm the selected profession.
Without hesitation, Sora pressed Yes.
A brilliant fanfare sounded, and the selected ?Enchanter? was set in the previously empty profession slot.
Then a familiar female voice announced the details of the chosen profession.
—
?Profession: Enchanter has been set.?
?Acquired support skill ?Fire Attribute Enchantment?.?
?Acquired support skill ?Water Attribute Enchantment?.?
?Acquired support skill ?Wind Attribute Enchantment?.?
?Acquired support skill ?Earth Attribute Enchantment?.?
—
As the fanfare ended, I was jolted back to reality and regained my focus, which had drifted far away.
In a panic, I opened the status screen to check, and indeed, the Enchanter profession was set.
“Oh, my first profession in this world…”
“What did Sora choose?”
“I’m curious too. With your level, Sora, I don’t think it will be a problem no matter what you choose.”
“Yeah, I chose Enchanter considering solo play as well.”
“‘Enchanter!?’”
Shin and Rou looked so shocked that they nearly fell over backward.
When I asked them what was going on, they both explained in unison:
“I was just checking, but apparently, the ?Enchanter? profession is useless unless you have skills to identify enemy weaknesses.”
“Currently, skills like Identification or Insight are not known to be obtainable. It seems like ?Alchemist? or ?Thief? might learn them as their profession skills level up…”
“Unfortunately, I’ve never seen such information, and if it did appear, it was likely deleted immediately.”
“Hmm…”
From what I gathered, those who chose this profession before have yet to obtain skills to identify enemy weaknesses and are thus dismissing it as useless.
If you misread an enemy’s attribute, the enchantment is meaningless, and if it’s an unfavorable attribute, the power is halved.
Indeed, seeing the skills, it’s quite harsh that each use consumes 40 MP, especially since even with my MP of 170 after leveling up, it’s still challenging.
Normal players would likely find it difficult to handle.
So, the ?Enchanter? profession, which is currently regarded as very difficult to use by Astral Online players, elicited sympathetic looks from the two.
However, the usual player logic didn’t apply to me right now.
In response to their looks, I grinned with a daring smile.
“Don’t worry, I have the ?Insight? skill.”
“…… What did you just say?”
Maybe they didn’t hear me.
Thinking this, I clearly repeated what I said.
“So, I have the ?Insight? skill.”
When I mentioned that I obtained it simultaneously with the unique skill ?Lucifer? from the Demon Lord’s curse, the two of them made inscrutable faces.
“Don’t talk about skills to anyone other than us. Otherwise, you’ll definitely get into trouble.”
“Between your level and your skills, it’s all surprising. From the perspective of others, you’d definitely be called a cheater.”
“It’s hard to tell if it’s a bug or a feature, but in terms of strength, it’s definitely cheating.”
Even so, there was no way to report this situation to the developers, and it didn’t look like it would be reset like the accounts that had used tools trending on social media the previous night.
It was unclear whether it was being ignored or if it hadn’t been noticed.
In any case, since we couldn’t create a second character, we had no choice but to play with this cheat-like player character.
“Well, I’ll be careful.”
With that, the discussion ended.
Clearing my throat, I checked the time.
“Sorry, it’s almost noon. I think my sister is making lunch, so I need to log out.”
“Ah, right. Since we were planning to check out weapons and such later, it’s fine to push that to the afternoon.”
“Then let’s log out once we leave the temple.”
In this game, you can log out from any safe zone.
Since you start from the same place when you log back in, coordinating times makes reassembly easy.
Promising to meet outside the temple at 1:30 PM, the three of us opened the status screen and pressed the logout button at the bottom.
As a result, Shin and Rou disappeared in a shower of light particles.
Watching this, Sora made up her mind, “I’ll take care of things in the real world and log back in as soon as possible,” and then disappeared as light herself.
TL Notes:
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Ur%C3%B0arbrunnr
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ver%C3%B0andi
In Norse mythology, the Norns held a distinctive and consequential role. They were a trio of female supernatural beings entrusted with the vital task of weaving the destinies of all entities alive. The Norns were commonly represented as a triad of sisters who went by the names Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld.