SSS Awakening: I Can Class Change at will

Fire began forming in both their hands simultaneously, the flames slowly rising in heat intensity and concentrated power until they reached optimal destructive potential. Then they released the attacks onto their enemies, raining elemental devastation with absolutely no mercy or hesitation.

BOOM! WHOOSH!

Explosions and flames erupted across the battlefield as Moon and Selene worked in tandem.

From her position, Yara maintained constant pressure on the heretics with her sharp arrows. Her shots weren't designed to kill immediately, she was smart enough to recognize that wounding and disrupting enemy positioning was often more valuable than attempting killshots which were hard to come by.

Thwip! Thwip!

Arrows forced Heretics to dodge awkwardly, disrupted their attempts to coordinate together in formations, and created openings that Moon and Selene exploited without hesitation.

But the Heretic leader wasn't foolish. After watching five of his warriors die to Moon's area-effect magic, he immediately recognized the vulnerability and began shouting urgent commands.

"Vor'keth! Nal'shara keth!"

The remaining eight Heretics immediately began spreading apart, abandoning their clustered formation in favor of dispersed positioning that made them much harder to target with area attacks.

More critically, they began closing distance rapidly toward the Savi warriors who were engaging in melee combat. By positioning themselves in close proximity to Moon's allies, they created a dilemma—if Moon threw his explosive spells now, he'd inevitably catch Yara's warriors in the blast radius alongside his intended targets.

Moon's brows furrowed with irritation as he recognized the clever counter-strategy.

'Smart. They're using our own people as shields against my powerful Ignite skill.'

The Heretics pressed their advantage aggressively, weaving between Savi warriors and maintaining close combat distances that neutralized Moon's ranged magical power.

Seeing this, Moon made a rapid adjustment. "Yara! Tell your warriors to disengage and move away—create distance from the Heretics!" Moon shouted clearly, as he began to gather his mana once more.

Yara immediately translated the command into speech while simultaneously loosing another arrow to provide covering fire.

"val sha nor'vash kel!"

The four Savi warriors understood instantly despite being engaged in active combat. They began executing fighting retreats, maintaining defensive stances while backing away from their opponents to create distance.

The Heretics recognized what was happening and tried to close distance even faster, understanding that allowing gaps to form would expose them to the devastating flames once again.

But during that critical transition period, the few seconds while Heretics advanced and Savi warriors retreated, two of the enemy warriors moved slightly slower than their companions, their positioning becoming temporarily isolated.

Moon and Selene didn't waste the opportunity.

Moon's lightning crackled across the gap, striking one Heretic directly in the chest. The warrior convulsed and collapsed, his heart stopped by the electrical surge.

Lightening was a better alternative for single targets, it was quicker to cast and cost less mana when used in moderation.

[You have killed a level 24 Savi Heretic.]

[You have gained 380 Lives.]

Simultaneously, Selene's combined wind-and-fire attack engulfed the second isolated warrior, the superheated vortex cooking him alive from the inside out.

Now only six Heretics remained, including their leader, facing the seven of Moon's team.

The advantage in numbers had turned in Moon's favor almost instantly. Moon made another tactical decision, he dismissed his staff back to spatial storage and instead summoned his combat dagger, the blade materializing in his grip.

Although he'd lost the temporary Assassin class and the Dagger Art skill that came with it when the twenty-four hour duration expired, Moon still retained some muscle memory from the little proficiency he'd gained during that time. The knowledge hadn't vanished, he simply no longer had the system-enhanced guidance.

'I wonder if my proficiency will continue increasing if I simply use the techniques without having the active skill,' Moon thought curiously. He'd never tested whether skills could be developed purely through practice after losing system support.

Now seemed like an excellent time to experiment, given their numerical advantage.

The Heretic leader recognized the change in momentum and made his own desperate decision. Rather than continuing defensive tactics, he pointed directly at Moon and screamed a command.

"KRATH'VEL NAL! SHA'NETH VOR!"

All six remaining Heretics immediately charged directly toward Moon, abandoning any pretense of defensive positioning. They'd correctly identified him as the primary threat. Kill Moon, no matter the consequences.

Moon gripped his dagger properly, settling into the combat stance Dagger Art had instilled in him before.

He wasn't afraid of them at all. In fact, with their reduced numbers and desperate tactics, they were perfect test subjects for experimenting with his theory about skill retention.

"It seems like you're in a hurry to be chopped up," Moon said with a cold smirk as he settled into his own combat stance.

The Heretics closed the distance rapidly, with murder burning in their eyes, and their weapons ready to ear Moon into pieces. Moon moved forward to meet them head-on, while the Savi warriors rushed in simultaneously from the flanks, refusing to leave Moon fighting alone against superior numbers.

Moon wasn't foolish enough to rely purely on blade work despite his desire to test dagger techniques. He actively used his multiple elements to create advantages, raising earth barriers to disrupt the heretics movement and force one-on-one engagements, using water and wind to distract and disorient opponents, creating openings for his blade strikes.

His dagger barely inflicted damage initially, the physical attacks lacked the raw power of his magical attacks, and without the Dagger Art skill's damage bonuses, his strikes were merely competent rather than dangerous.

But Moon enjoyed the experience, fighting at close quarters gave him a feeling of thrill that casting spells from safe distances simply couldn't replicate. The immediate danger, the split-second decisions, the physical exertion, it was nothing short of intoxicating.

The Savi warriors approached rapidly and engaged four of the six Heretics directly, easing the pressure on Moon immediately. This allowed him to focus exclusively on perfecting his dagger techniques rather than juggling magic and blade work simultaneously.

Observing that his damage output remained disappointingly low due to wielding the dagger without any special skill enhancement, Moon decided to apply his own twist to it.

He began coating the blade's edge with concentrated fire element, super heating the metal until it glowed orange-red. The flames made the weapon both hotter and functionally sharper, allowing it to cut through blue flesh far more effectively.