Chapter Fifty-Five: The Radiant Sun—King of Strikers!

“This is…” Artoria looked down at her clothes and the water gun in her hand, a trace of confusion clouding her expression. She felt as if nothing was out of the ordinary, that her appearance was perfectly normal, and yet an uneasy dread lingered in her heart—as if something fundamental had changed within her.

“Oh, it’s a swimsuit!” Zhao Tianhe said with a laugh. “Well? Didn’t I tell you I’d do it? Hahaha~~”

“Hm? I see…” Artoria paused for a moment, suddenly recalling what Zhao Tianhe had said to her earlier. Only then did the unease in her heart begin to subside.

“I never expected this was possible—a single Heroic Spirit can possess multiple forms.” Zhao Tianhe eyed Artoria’s status panel. “You can switch back at any time. Give it a try. It’s really just like having an extra class system.”

Additional Class System: Radiant Archer King, Lv. 0, Experience 0/10,000

Class Talent: For each level gained, Agility +2, Spirit +2, Constitution +1, Skill Point +1

Gunslinger (Water), Lv. 1
An advanced skill evolved from the hidden talent ‘Walking on Water.’
Movement speed cap increases by (5 × Skill Level); effect doubles in aquatic environments.
Agility attribute increases by (5 × Skill Level); effect doubles in aquatic environments.

Holy Bullet (Water), Lv. 1
Transforms the holy power of the Sword of the Lake into liquid energy and fires it, dealing hybrid Light and Force damage equal to (Spirit × Skill Level).
Can generate up to (2 × Skill Level) rounds per second; in aquatic environments, generation doubles. Maximum ammo storage: (10 × Skill Level).
The Holy Sword can still be used, dealing the same damage. (The strongest archer has no blind spots—including melee.)

This skill can be actively used, consuming 10 mana to generate an additional (2 × Skill Level) rounds. No cooldown.

“This is quite the impressive class system. It’ll be especially useful in the lake environment on the second floor.” As Artoria moved swiftly atop the water, her speed left afterimages in her wake. Her unique gait was more of a glide than a run, and each step carried her nearly two meters.

“The weapon is of excellent quality. Holding down automatic fire unleashes ten shots per second, and if fired manually, it can reach around twenty shots a second.” Artoria raised her water gun, her finger rapidly squeezing the trigger as golden streams arced across the ground in the distance, gouging out numerous craters.

“Still, upgrading these skills requires materials…” Artoria sighed as she eyed her newly acquired class system.

“At this stage, you need one Silver Archer Chess Piece and three Conches to level up… Just enough for one level! Since I don’t have any other archers and no one else can use the conch materials, might as well.” Zhao Tianhe glanced at the skill panel and immediately leveled up.

The Silver Archer Chess Piece had dropped from a D+ grade boss in the Withered Fire Swamp, while the three conches had been collected over the past few days in the Shipwreck Catacombs.

On Artoria’s suggestion, Zhao Tianhe chose to improve Holy Bullet, as the extra movement speed and attributes from Walking on Water weren’t as urgently needed. Boosting offensive power took priority.

Unlike the aggressive Holy Sword class, this archer system focused equally on survival and attack—a balanced approach, favoring caution. In the absence of survival pressure, prioritizing offense was best.

“This will make clearing the second floor much easier. More importantly, the summoning durations for the two classes are counted separately!” Zhao Tianhe’s eyes widened with joy as he checked the summoning timers, tears brimming in his eyes.

This meant he could summon Artoria in her Holy Sword class for one hour and thirteen minutes (thanks to extended summoning time from prolonged feeding), and then summon her as the Archer King for another hour.

Whenever Artoria switched classes, her summoning time would automatically switch as well; she didn’t need to exhaust one class’s time before calling forth the other.

The three of them left the Shipwreck Catacombs. Naturally, Zhao Tianhe took the rare opportunity to stroll the food stalls with Artoria in her swimsuit, while Jeros went off to amuse himself elsewhere.

“Come to think of it, I can still switch spirit attire just like before.” Artoria, clearly curious about her current state, changed her swimsuit mid-stride from a plain white bikini to a larger black-and-white striped athletic suit, even swapping her sandals for sneakers. “How does this look?”

“Not bad at all. Seems more suited for sports,” Zhao Tianhe replied honestly. “But how should we distribute experience going forward? The Archer King is clearly more effective in the lake environment on the second floor.”

“Let’s focus on leveling the Archer King first,” Artoria said with a smile, switching her attire back to the original white bikini.

“Wow, is that a new kind of magical outfit? I’ve never seen anything like it!” A tall elven woman in a straw hat and a blue-and-white bikini approached, her face alight with amazement.

“No, I’m a Heroic Spirit.” Artoria nodded politely.

“I see… Well, it doesn’t matter. Miss, you’re absolutely stunning, and your aura is perfect for my new collection. Would you be willing to model for my swimsuit show in two days? The pay would be…” The elf smiled as she made her offer.

“Sorry, we—” Zhao Tianhe began, but Artoria stopped him.

After Artoria finished negotiating the schedule, pay, and job details with the elf—whose name turned out to be Branniel—and they went their separate ways, Zhao Tianhe couldn’t help but ask, “Isn’t that a bit soon?”

“It’s fine, isn’t it? The second floor won’t spawn any bosses for a few days, and the Holy Sword form is more than enough. Besides…” Artoria looked at Zhao Tianhe and patted his shoulder. “I know money’s tight for you. Eire’s swimsuit probably wasn’t cheap, and my food expenses are… well, all I have to do is put on her swimsuit and walk the runway. She made it sound pretty easy.”

“True. Normally, I’d expect models to need some training—like learning how to walk properly or something?” Zhao Tianhe was puzzled, but didn’t dwell on it.

Having a valid reason to indulge for once, Artoria didn’t hold back. She sampled every snack at the beach stalls, had a meal at a restaurant, and before fading away, reminded Zhao Tianhe she wanted stew for dinner.

“Seventy silver coins…” Zhao Tianhe clutched his chest, feeling as though even breathing hurt. “At least the day after tomorrow, Artoria’s show will bring in five gold coins. And since her Archer King form is so strong in water battles, maybe we should challenge a B-rank aquatic dungeon? I’ll check with Jeros when we get back. I really can’t afford this anymore…”