Imagining Captain Claus as a hypothetical target—if one wanted to injure a Swordsman of the Transcendent rank at the silver level, it would take at least eight to fifteen silver coins.
It’s not that Annan feels shortchanged, rather, he thought it was a huge bargain.
However, the problem lies in... that many silver coins are indeed inconvenient to carry.
The Silver Baron does not support the use of gold coins or paper money for transactions, substituting for the service of casting Divine Arts with silver coins.
And the main issue is that the range of Resonating Object is still not long enough.
The range of Resonating Object was directly related to Annan’s perception, yet even at his current level, Annan could only project Resonating Object to about fifty meters.
It was simply too short.
Another problem was the common issue of wizards from the Disabling School...
Annan seriously lacked AOE.
Old Bread’s expression was like that of an African chieftain, who, after being outshone by a newbie, had to earnestly think about how to help the newbie assemble a team and equipment with a bitter face.
After seriously mulling over with a troubled face for a while, he formally suggested to Annan:
"Since you’re not lacking in control abilities... I recommend you the Divine Arts ’Silver Blade Strike’ and ’Silver Flame Assault’.
"’Silver Blade Strike’ is a fairly common and practical high-ranking Divine Art. It is also a standard Divine Art for the Silver Knights. It requires a silver weapon, or a weapon that has been blessed by the Hand of Silver—sacrificing the weapon in one breath, or completely depleting the Hand of Silver effect, to strike with a powerful silver sword aura on the next attack.
"Most importantly, because this Divine Art uses your weapon as a medium, if your swordsmanship is excellent or has special effects, it will also have similar properties; the greater your own strength, the more powerful it will become, and the faster; your perception attribute, because it can enhance the effect of the Hand of Silver, can influence it; and you can also consume a large number of silver coins and silverware to create a superior ’Sharp Object’ to enhance the power of this strike.
"It’s quite powerful and can be used for strong attacks. Its maximum projection distance is roughly three times the range of the ’Resonating Object’ with the same perception, and it can lock onto enemies within your own perception range, which is basically enough.
"This Divine Art is not expensive for you, it can be purchased for only 30 marks of imprint."
"Indeed, that’s quite cheap."
Annan was somewhat tempted.
A skill that could receive enhancements in multiple fields, if one happened to be able to amplify it comprehensively, the enhancement would not be as simple as 1+1 equals 2.
Moreover, this was precisely the powerful single-target lethal ability that Annan needed.
"As for ’Ritual: Silver Flame Assault’... this is actually a Divine Art that only a cardinal can purchase because its power is too great, almost becoming taboo. But I think you should have the authority as well. And I think although you are very young, you are quite sensible," said Grandpa Daryl with a very serious expression, "This Divine Art is very powerful—its consumption is also great.
"To activate it once, it requires at least five hundred silver coins—that’s the minimum. For every additional five hundred, the power can be increased by one level, and it can be further enhanced by up to five levels."
"... So, you’re saying it takes a maximum of three thousand silver coins to activate it once?"
Annan heard this with some trepidation.
Daryl nodded: "And if you need to keep the Divine Art going, you’ll need to keep consuming silver coins."
"...I feel that if you’re recommending such a Divine Art to me, it must have some irreplaceable advantages."
Annan cursed under his breath very tactfully.
But Daryl seemed to have not caught on and just nodded earnestly: "That’s right."
"Its greatest value lies in its casting distance,"
the old baker replied calmly, "The reason I strongly recommend you purchase it is because the original version of this ritual can be cast within a five-kilometer radius. It can generate a silver celestial fire strike that arrives instantly and reaches extremely high temperatures within a cylindrical area of approximately five meters in diameter and a height ranging from two to two hundred eighty meters of your choice."
"This divine art will last for five seconds, and the temperature is enough to melt solid city walls; plus, it deals extra damage to enemies—the metals irradiated by this celestial fire will turn into molten silver, instantly destroying the enemy’s armor and weapons. If you continue to invest an equal amount of silver coins, it can maintain such temperature or even move sideways."
Daryl rambled on, "Of course, I would recommend you purchase the optimized version, ’Daryl’s Silver Flame Assault.’ After my improvements, it can be safely released within twenty kilometers, with the area expanded to a diameter of thirteen meters, and the location being more precise. It can be precisely positioned for release through a ’silver coin imprint’ and even supports timed release. Of course, the temperature has been slightly lowered, but the effect of dissolving metals is still there."
"Just the original divine art alone costs two hundred imprints. But for my improved version, I can give you a discount due to my certain level of authority, only charging you one hundred eighty imprints, and I’ll include a ’silver coin imprint’ worth three imprints for free..."
"... Is there any further discount?"
After a long silence, Annan squeezed out this sentence.
For some reason, he felt that this baker looked familiar, as if he had seen him before crossing over. But he couldn’t recall why the baker seemed recognizable...
Daryl spoke seriously, "I have already deducted a lot, Annan. I think you are aware of the significance of this divine art—it requires a large amount of silver coins, but its ’difficult to carry’ downside is compensated by the increased casting distance."
"Its inherent power is enough to destroy the vast majority of enemies; what’s most important is that it is almost a kill shot against Gold-rank and Bronze-rank Transcendents—while liquid silver can still carry the Curse Binding of Silver-rank Transcendents, the Curse Bindings of Gold-rank and Bronze-rank Transcendents will immediately escape."
"They will remain in an activated Curse Binding state until they find a new vessel. If the curse energy is exhausted before they find a new vessel, their souls will be rapidly eroded by external curses."
"Using the lower-grade version activated by five hundred silver coins, the ritual can also break ancient traps, forcefully open metal doors. Or you can use this divine art to convert a large amount of metal into silver, then use it in conjunction with your Hand of Silver... isn’t it particularly useful?"
"... I’ll buy it, I’ll buy it."
Annan was increasingly tempted and reluctantly agreed.
This was indeed the divine art that Annan needed.
A long-range siege divine art—as a melee wizard, what he lacked most was an ultra-long-range artillery spell.
Even though "Daryl’s Silver Flame Assault" had reduced pure power, its versatility had indeed been markedly improved.
Coupled with Annan’s own "Frost-covered Force Field" spell, it could be used to weaken the enemy’s defensive capabilities. Its loss in power could also be compensated...
The most valuable aspect was that it could also combine with Annan’s other divine arts into combos. With some luck, maybe the silver dissolved by this divine art alone could cover the silver coins spent on casting it—though this silver could only be consumed by the "Hand of Silver," using one silver coin twice effectively meant a 100% profit, which rounded up is like spending no money at all.
"As for passive abilities... do you have any ideas about your development direction?"
Annan answered definitively, "I want to get beefy!"
"I mean tankier! Or rather... to let me fight more safely, without worrying about sneak attacks, snipers, and area-of-effect skills targeting me!"
Annan didn’t want to be an ADC who dies suddenly.
As a melee wizard, he had to bulk up so that the enemies would despair.
Hitting me wouldn’t hurt; when I charge in, they can’t run away, and they can’t escape, trying to attack my teammates, they can’t shake me off, but if they ignore my attacks, they would quickly die...
Annan also hoped that one day, he would legitimately be able to proclaim, "Annan, go wherever you want."