Chapter 47: The Power of Subclass and Two Birds, One Stone

“What’s he going to choose as a subclass?”

At level 200, a player can choose a subclass, and the difference it made was massive — mainly due to the new skills it unlocked.

The narrator wondered what subclass Kang Juho would pick.

“Chances are high he’ll go for a warrior subclass…”

In the game, your subclass didn’t need to align with your main class. A magician could choose to become a warrior, and vice versa.

But doing so would be inefficient.

A magician’s main stat was Wisdom, while a warrior’s was Strength or Stamina.

Mixing them would spread stats too thin.

Most players chose subclasses that complemented their main class and stats.

Since Kang Juho’s main class was Battle Blacksmith, a warrior-type subclass would be ideal.

“If he chooses warrior, he’ll get a 15% boost to resistances.”

No matter the warrior path — Guardian or Berserker — if it was a warrior-type, the class synergy bonus gave +15% to all resistances.

That boost would make Kang Juho’s tanking ability even stronger, letting him face more powerful monsters.

“Wow… imagine him with that and the Two Birds, One Stone equipment…”

Just imagining it gave the narrator chills.

***

SHRAAAK!

Juho’s Hammer of Fury exploded again, sending out shockwaves that instantly took down a group of distant goblins.

The last goblin, who had survived the earlier hits, finally died from the hammer’s final blow.

With the battle done, Kim Seokju walked over.

“We can probably start taking on trolls now, right?”

“You think so?”

“If you’ve got 50 trolls to kill, I think that’ll give you a 70% EXP boost.”

After non-stop goblin massacres, both Kang Juho and Kim Seokju were now Level 199, just 70% away from 200.

“Alright, let’s head for the trolls.”

Kang Juho opened his inventory while moving.

‘I’ve gotten a lot of loot.’

His inventory was packed with goblin drops.

Now, with trolls — known for their high-value materials — they’d earn even more.

He expected to make a decent profit, though not enough to be carefree.

‘Maybe I can get a new hammer and helmet with this.’

He closed his inventory, thinking:

‘Just need to hang in there for 4 more days’.

Three more days after today, and the auction house would finally open.

Once it did, gold would no longer be an issue. He could get top-tier gear easily.

Arriving at the troll territory, he spotted a group of three trolls nearby.

‘Six minutes is enough.’

He checked his buff timer and marched forward.

Soon, the trolls noticed him, and the smallest one started lumbering toward him.

‘Let’s see how many hits it takes to kill it.’

Trolls weren’t just regenerative — they also had massive HP.

Even with an extra hit on his skill, five waves of his hammer might not be enough.

The troll swung its wooden club. Instead of dodging, Kang Juho raised his shield to check the damage.

Even with the block, his HP dropped by 1,500.

‘This is manageable.’

Trolls usually roamed in small groups, so even if he had to face three at once, he could endure it.

Having gauged their strength, Juho launched his counterattack.

Thunk!

“Graaaargh!”

The troll screamed as the hammer exploded on it. Juho kept dodging and attacking, and after the eighth hammer strike—

“Grooogh…”

The troll fell.

“9 hits…”

He studied the corpse.

‘Looks like Hammer of Death triggered.’

That skill caused a healing block debuff, making even trolls unable to regenerate.

He wasn’t sure when it had triggered, but it clearly worked.

Looking at the next two trolls, Juho thought:

‘I should get help from Seokju and avoid unnecessary hits.’

Even if he could survive, getting hit wasted time due to healing delays.

“Seokju, root them!”

As the two trolls approached, Juho called out.

Until now, Kim Seokju only gave buffs, but now Juho needed active CC support.

“Multi-Chain!”

Chains bound the two trolls, and Juho shouted:

“Hammer of Fury!”

He charged at the left troll and swung.

SHRAAAK!

The explosion triggered a chain reaction, causing the chains to blow up as well.

The trolls screamed.

The fifth and final wave rippled out, and Juho dashed at the right troll, who had taken more damage.

“GRAGHH!”

Though they recovered from stun, it was too late.

The right troll died after two more hits.

Only one troll remained.

Juho continued the battle.

That troll took seven hits before going down — either because the healing block came late, or its HP was simply higher.

After healing up, Juho checked his EXP.

Just as Seokju said, he was on track to hit level 200 once the quest was done.

He healed, received buffs, and moved to the next troll group.

***

The battles continued until…

[LEVEL UP!]

Kang Juho reached Level 200.

“Seokju, one sec!”

He called out, healed using potions, and opened his inventory.

<Two Birds, One Stone [Heroic]>

• Requirement: Level 200
• Durability: 100%
• Magic Defense: 2500
• Strength +400
• Basic attack +1

It was finally time to equip it.

Juho unequipped his Ruby Ring (which gave +5000 HP) and equipped Two Birds, One Stone.

Then he opened his character window:

Name: Kang Juho
Nation: Paraville Kingdom
Class: Battle Blacksmith
Level: 200
EXP: 0%
HP: 70,500
Mana: 1,800

Satiety: 75%
Strength: 1082 (+1010)
Agility: 133 (+120)
Stamina: 1410 (+420)
Wisdom: 90 (+80)
Bonus Stats: 5

The buff had just expired, so Juho could now see his true base stats.

‘With buffs…’

The average level was 199.5.

Buffs would boost his stats by 200 (5 buffs = +1000 stats).

Grinning, Juho allocated the bonus stat points to Stamina and closed the window.

“Seokju, hit me with buffs.”

He turned to the next troll group. Four more trolls — enough for Seokju to hit Level 200 as well.

‘Wonder how fast I’ll kill them now…’

With +400 Strength and an extra basic attack, his damage output had more than doubled.

‘Also… how will Hammer of Fury behave now?’

He was curious about more than just damage.

The “Relentless” skill now triggered twice per attack.

Would two shockwaves go out per strike? And would that consume two uses?

Soon, a new troll group spotted Juho. As usual, the smallest one came running.

“Hammer of Fury!”

Before, he waited — but now, with massive damage, he didn’t need to hold back.

He activated his skill immediately.

The troll raised its club, but Juho’s hammer was faster.

! SHRAAAK! SHRAAAK!

Two waves exploded out from a single swing.

Juho checked the remaining uses of the skill.

“…14 left?!”

He was shocked.

‘So it doesn’t consume two charges?’

“Insane!”

Goosebumps prickled down his spine. Grinning, he swung again.

! SHRAAAK! SHRAAAK!

! SHRAAAK! SHRAAAK!

With the third attack, two distant trolls collapsed, as if on cue.

When the fourth hammer landed, the last one also dropped.

“Nice. Really nice.”

The difference before and after equipping Two Birds, One Stone was night and day.

It felt like he was playing a completely new character.

There was still 1 charge of Hammer of Fury left.

Not just that — he had made 4 normal attacks earlier.

With his Relentless skill triggering twice per hit, his cooldown had reduced by 72 seconds.

Factoring in movement time, he could use the skill again immediately.

A nearby troll group spotted him.

Juho ran forward and initiated combat.

! SHRAAAK! SHRAAAK!

“Hammer of Fury!”

As expected, just one more attack, and the cooldown reset.

Juho unleashed another flurry of hammer strikes:

! SHRAAAK! SHRAAAK!

! SHRAAAK! SHRAAAK!

Just like before, the shockwaves instantly killed the two observing trolls.

! SHRAAAK! SHRAAAK!

The final troll — the one engaged in melee — also dropped.

Two charges of the skill remained, but Juho stopped.

“Hyung, I leveled up too!”

Kim Seokju had finally reached Level 200.

Their hunting run was complete.