My career aspirations have come true.

Chapter 20 Gale Release, Instantaneous Speed

After a blur, Lin Ze found himself back in front of the portal.

Zheng Hong, Tang Wangshu, and Zhuang Yi were standing around him, their faces showing barely concealed excitement.

"I'm lucky, I actually got a skill card."

Zheng Hong's mouth was practically agape with a wide grin.

The team's progress in clearing the first eight floors of the Blackthorn Tower wasn't high, and the chance of getting cards as rewards was very low. This hastily assembled team actually got a skill card on their very first run. Their luck was truly incredible.

Settlement rewards are stored in the team's shared space, which can be viewed by all team members.

【Name】：Rapid Liberation

[Type]: Skill

[Quality]: Average

[Note]: Using this will grant you the 'Rapid Release' skill.

"It's Rapid Release!" Zheng Hong's eyes lit up. "Although this skill is only at the common level, it's very practical and quite valuable."

Like Swift Step, Rapid Liberation is a skill that enhances movement speed.

The former focuses on instantaneous bursts of speed with a very short duration, while the latter, although offering a lower enhancement to movement speed, boasts a longer duration.

"Does any of you need this skill card?" Zheng Hong asked the other three.

Rapid Liberation is a universal skill that many professions can learn.

"I'll pass," Zhuang Yi was the first to shake his head.

He already has Swift Step, so there's no need for him to learn a similar skill, nor does he have the energy for it.

Tang Wangshu also shook his head and refused, saying that if it was necessary to enhance agility skills, the talisman master had a better option.

"I want it," Lin Ze suddenly said.

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Yi glanced at him in surprise, almost blurting out, "Don't you also have Swift Step?"

But then he thought that Lin Ze might be interested in the instantaneous burst of power that allowed for rapid release, so he didn't ask any more questions.

Without much thought, Zheng Hong said, "Skill cards are very valuable, accounting for well over 30% of this settlement reward. If you want this card, you can't share the rest of the loot, and you'll have to give others an extra portion of the loot after the next dungeon settlement. Is that alright?"

"No problem," Lin Ze agreed without hesitation.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Hong readily tossed the skill card to Lin Ze, and then distributed the potential points and Blackthorn Iron belonging to Tang Wangshu and Zhuang Yi to the two of them.

"Blackthorn iron has extremely high hardness and is a high-quality material for forging weapons. You can sell it or use your military merits to have the legion's weaponsmiths help you forge equipment."

After giving a word of advice, Zheng Hong stretched and smiled with relief.

"It was a great time teaming up with you guys today. How about we meet here again at the same time tomorrow and continue our dungeon run?"

"No problem," Zhuang Yi quickly agreed.

Lin Ze and Tang Wangshu naturally had no objections.

Zheng Hong is indeed a very good teammate. He is experienced and has a good character. It is very comfortable to work with someone like him.

"Everyone, go back and get some rest. See you tomorrow."

Zheng Hong waved goodbye and turned to leave with light steps.

Lin Ze and the other two then took the elevator back to the ground floor and parted ways at the building entrance.

"Bye-Bye."

"See you tomorrow."

As Lin Ze's figure gradually walked away, Zhuang Yi couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.

"Lin Ze's strength has improved so quickly."

Tang Wangshu, who was standing to the side, nodded in deep agreement.

Before the graduation assessment, she thought the title of top graduate was hers for the taking, and that even Zhuang Yi and Pei Xuan would be no match for her.

Who would have thought that Lin Ze, a dark horse, would emerge out of nowhere and take away the position of the top graduate?

Even so, she still didn't think she was inferior to Lin Ze, and felt that with her family's resources and her own talent, she would surpass Lin Ze sooner or later.

It wasn't until she witnessed Lin Ze's power firsthand that she realized the gap between herself and Lin Ze hadn't narrowed; in fact, it was widening.

This left her with very mixed feelings.

"I need to work even harder."

"I'll go back and beg my sister to take me through a few more dungeons."

Tang Wangshu quickly rallied, greeted Zhuang Yi, and strode away.

Zhuang Yi stood there in a daze for a while, then turned around and went back into the training building.

He didn't have Tang Wangshu's family background, nor Lin Ze's talent; he could only rely on hard work to catch up with them.

......

Back in apartment 403, Lin Ze closed the door behind him and immediately took out the skill card.

The cards are only the size of a palm, with shimmering gold patterns on the borders that subtly form strange characters whose meanings are incomprehensible, exuding an ancient charm.

The front depicts a human silhouette enveloped in a gale.

"This is the product of the collision between my novel's setting and this world..."

After examining the card for a while without being able to figure it out, Lin Ze shook his head and stopped worrying about it, then decisively used the card.

The reason he gave up other loot to get this skill card was simply because Rapid Liberation could be combined with Swift Step to create the superior-grade skill "Swift Instant".

This is a powerful skill that combines the burst speed of Rapid Release with the duration of Wind Walk, and also provides immunity to slowing effects.

Even among excellent-grade skills, it belongs to the very top-tier group.

In this world, only he knows the skill synthesis route.

"Lv3 Wind Walk plus Lv2 Swiftness Release are prerequisites for synthesis."

One of the prerequisites for changing to the Extreme Slaughter Sword class is reaching the maximum level in any speed-related skill.

Although the experience required to reach the maximum level in Swift Step is far greater than that of Gale Step, the attribute boost gained after successfully changing jobs is greater, and there is also a chance to obtain more powerful skills.

In the long run, the benefits of choosing speed and instantaneity are undoubtedly higher.

You have mastered the skill 'Rapid Liberation Lv1', Agility +0.2, Constitution +0.1.

Lin Ze opened the panel and looked at the bottom.

He gained over 200 potential points on the seventh and eighth floors of the Blackthorn Tower, bringing his total to 536 potential points.

After a moment's thought, Lin Ze decided to upgrade his Draw Sword Slash first.

Anyway, there are still four chances to enter the dungeon this month, which is enough to synthesize the Swift Instant.

Upgrading the Draw Sword skill first will provide a more immediate boost to your strength, allowing you to defeat more monsters in later dungeon challenges.

Your skill "Draw Sword Slash" has been upgraded to Lv3, Strength +0.3, Agility +0.5, Constitution +0.1.

After doing all this, Lin Ze looked at the panel again.

Name: Lin Ze

[Class]: Sword Master

[Level]: 2

【属性】：力量6.0、敏捷7.1、体质4.2、精神2.9（+0.6）、感知3.4

【技能】：拔刀斩Lv3（0/1000）、疾风步Lv2（18/300）、疾速解放Lv1（0/100）......

[Talents]: Sword Mind Clarity, Sword Mastery, Lightning Reflexes, Avatar...

Potential Points: 47

[Equipment Slots (2 slots)]: Standard Longsword, Healing Potion

The interface has changed considerably compared to before entering the dungeon.

The attribute increase alone exceeds 2 points, not to mention the skill upgrades.

"My skill levels are all relatively low, so the improvement will be more obvious the first time I enter a dungeon. I guess I won't have such good luck again."

"But once I've used up all four dungeon attempts this month, even if I can't level up to level 3, I should be close enough."

A joyful smile appeared on Lin Ze's face.

The standard for a level 3 professional is that at least one attribute must reach 8. His agility only needs to increase by 0.9 to meet the standard, which is not much different.

In the following days, challenge dungeons and hunt at night. Once you condense your first soul crystal and trigger the soul baptism, you will definitely be able to break through to level 3.

This kind of life, full of hope, is so fulfilling.