Max checked out his racial bonuses first.
Now that he was tier2, the Agni Astra provided him complete fire resistance for moves up to tier 4.
His intermediate fire resistance had hence evolved into High fire resistance and it came at a perfect time considering that he was about to head into a dungeon named dragon's paradise, when dragons were known to breathe fire.
Apart from his fire resistance improving because of the Agni Astra, his mental manipulation resistance and blood loss resistance also saw improvements.
The only downside that came with these benefits was that his allergy to the sun seemed to have worsened.
Max had already started to dread the sunlight, however with him only losing -1 HP for every second he was exposed to the sun, he still had some small fighting chance even when he was exposed to the sun.
He believed that with his HP pool growing sufficiently large he would one day be able to rid himself off the fully covered robes and roam around like a normal vampire without caring for the sun, but apparently it would not be possible.
It seemed like he and the sun were destined to be enemies for life.
Max had also received a new racial passive.
[ Blood Heal ] ( passive ) - Your skin is now capable of absorbing blood that falls on it directly without you having to consume it.
The consumed blood will automatically be converted to HP and restore Satiety.
' Agh great '. Max groaned in distress. This was a great skill that he would have loved to have under normal circumstances, however, with him being always covered in robes from head to toe and his face being hidden behind a mask, he would never naturally come into contact with blood meaning this skill was basically useless.
' Damn you sun! '. Max cursed, as he reluctantly moved on towards the skill choices.
Max had to admit, the skills in tier 2 were much better than those offered when he passed the tier 1 trial.
Every skill offered was practical and useful and regardless of what Max chose, he would be walking out with a gain.
However, to maximise his gain he needed to think hard about exactly what skills to choose, so that they supplemented his fighting style.
In his heart, Max always admired a fighter like his brother. Someone bold and fearless with countless flashy moves under his belt, but after undergoing the university tournament, Max realised that support skills were nearly as broken as attack skills if used correctly.
Max was an oddball, he was not an offence based class warrior like his brother, and most of his class based skills leaned towards the path of playing a back-end warrior.
Max knew he had to choose netherbeast summoning, as having 25 nether beasts under his command to fulfil various versatile needs from combat to carrying load to being a mount was extremely advantageous for Max.
However, choosing netherbeast summoning made his next choice extremely difficult.
Chain Heal was a broken ability to pass on, if he could sacrifice his HP to help all of his teammates regain theirs, he could effectively replace the role of a healer in the group while also maintaining offensive abilities of a shaman warrior.
But choosing Chain Heal would mean that Max now chose two support based skills in a row, which would affect his development as an individual player.
Max gritted his teeth and thought carefully about Asiva, Sebastian and Anna before deciding that Chain Heal was worth being chosen in the end.
Now that he had effectively dug a hole for himself by going on the path of a support warrior, he knew he had to just choose scan, because having that ability under his belt would not only help him avoid unnecessary conflicts, but also help set up ambushes.
However, choosing scan meant that he only had one last skill choice left to make.
Max wanted the last skill to be attack based and single blade hurricane was an extremely appealing choice, however, although Max was madly in love with the skill and it's attack potential, he knew that fake out just blended in better with his existing moveset.
Max already had sword intent and Overhead slash, if he could somehow mix Fake Out to trick the enemy, he could then use overhead slash to deal critical damage.
Hence, having already went down the rabbit hole, Max buried himself even deeper as now the only way out was by going through.
With all his choices made, Max had successfully cleared the tier 2 promotion.
As he threw a glance at his new status panel even he was impressed for a second as he realised that the huge disparity between his Agility and Dexterity stat was finally starting to show.
He had done stat maximisation and received only two 2.5x tier promotion multipliers yet however even then the difference was huge.
This made Max realise that the path he was walking on was truly the right one, as if it continued to compound this way, he would sooner or later become a tier stronger than all his enemies, while fighting at the same level.
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( Meanwhile Anna )
" Thankyou for this chance, big sister Ruby, I will not squander it " Anna said to Princess Ruby, her elder sister, thanking her profusely for securing a spot for her in the upcoming Dragon's Paradise dungeon.
Anna had been knocked out of the tournament in the round of 64 itself and was feeling very low because all her friends had managed to qualify until the round of 16 and were going to dragon's paradise together.
She was feeling left out and lonely, but now that her elder sister got her an entry slot she was very happy.
" Silly girl, this is the least I can do for you ". Ruby replied with a cheerful smile as Anna's heart melted.
Her sister was truly the most beautiful woman she had ever seen and she looked even happier when she smiled.
" About Max's elder brother … '' Anna tried to say something but Ruby cut her off.
" He's happy isn't he? He has a wife, kids, I don't want to intrude in his world ". Ruby said as tears welled up visibly in her eyes as she said those words.
Anna's heart ached when she saw her sister like this, although countless suitors wanted to date her, it seemed like she had given her heart to a man who had apparently forgotten his promise to come for her.
Anna gritted her teeth, this was not fair in her eyes and she was prepared to actively seek a change by talking to Max about reminding his brother about his long lost promise.
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/// A/N - Please find attached stat panel in the author notes, do comment if you have any doubts ///