Bulwark Mastery

*Mastery is born through battle.*

## Summary

Bulwark Mastery is an F-Grade skill that Zac gained from one of his three level 25 skill quests for his Undying Bulwark class. It is one of many possible Mastery skills. The skill provided a guidance system on how to use a shield and fight with it and and a weapon in the other hand. Completing the quest for this skill also granted Zac a Dao Vision of the "Great Protector" from which Zac gained the Seeds of Hardness and Sanctuary.

Gaining those two seeds granted Zac the title of Scion of Dao.

Zac replaced this skill with Armament Mastery during in his time in the Orom World.

## Skill Quest

Bulwark Mastery (Class): Mastery is born through battle. Block 5,000 strikes. Reward: Bulwark Mastery Skill (0/5,000). **Book 2, Page 702**

* There were various ways to block a strike, but the only one that seemed to work was using a shield. **Book 2, Page 708**
* Unfortunately, he only had an old rusty shield he’d pilfered when he’d hunted the imp herald in the tunnels. It only lasted for five blows at the required power before it broke. **Book 2, Page 708**
* However, even though the shield would be useful to him, he didn’t put it in his bag. It belonged to the Marshall Clan, and the man lying next to him had sacrificed his life to protect Thea from an attack. Perhaps she would be unwilling to hand it over. “Just take it,” Thea suddenly said without opening her eyes, making Zac’s brows rise. **Book 3, Page 35**
* He was already quickly climbing on the Hunter Ladder again, even though he mainly focused on progressing the quest for **[Bulwark Mastery]**. **Book 3, Page 176**

## Skill Location

**Heart**

* The moment he blocked the final attack with his shield, he felt a huge surge of energy in his heart. **Book 3, Page 176**
* Just like he expected, a large pocket of space had formed inside his heart, and Zac wasn’t very surprised to see that the fractal looked like a large shield. **Book 3, Page 186**

## Skill Window

[F] Bulwark Mastery - Proficiency: Peak. Mastery is born through battle. Upgradeable. Discord

## Dao Vision

*A two-part vision. First part was of the tomb of the Great Protector. The second was of the Great Protector sacrificing himself to save his world from the death of a Universe.*

* The second was a shield that emitted an immense aura. It was almost shaped like a coffin, and it was mostly unadorned apart from a blue fractal that was the source of the aura. **Book 3, Page 188**
* In front of the tomb was a simple plaque that only said three words. *Eternal and Unbroken*. **Book 3, Page 189**
* The next moment, the chaotic energies and spatial tears slammed into the shield with enough power to rip even the Dao to shreds, but the shield didn’t even shudder. His consciousness slowly faded as he became one with the shield. **Book 3, Page 190**
* But the shield held true, protecting its inhabitants from the endless void. Forever. **Book 3, Page 190**
* When he’d occupied the axe-man, he was only a spectator, but he’d become the Grand Protector for a bit. **Book 3, Page 191**
* He had not gained one new seed, but two of them, from the vision. Even more impressively, he had even gained two stages to the first of them, Hardness. [*Sanctuary was the second.*] **Book 3, Page 192**

## F-Grade Early Proficiency

* Next, he started up **[Bulwark Mastery]**, and as he expected, there was a guidance system showing him how to work the shield. **Book 3, Page 201**
* Interestingly enough, this guidance system didn’t only show him the illuminated paths on how to move his shield, but it also simulated attackers whom he had to block. **Book 3, Page 201**
* It also showed some offensive moves, such as bashing the shield forward, ramming, and pinning down opponents. It even showed how to punch forward and use the lower edge of the shield as a weapon. **Book 3, Page 201**
* Since the skill only was at Early mastery, it didn’t incorporate any of his Daos, and Zac soon stopped training with the skill. **Book 3, Page 201**

## F-Grade Middle Proficiency

* He knew that he would be able to advance **[Bulwark Mastery]** with just a day or so of training since the only thing required to advance the mastery to Middle was to fully learn all the moves. **Book 3, Page 201**

## F-Grade Late Proficiency

* It took him less than an hour to upgrade the skill to Middle mastery, and another ten hours to reach late mastery. But just like with **[Axe Mastery]**, he found that there was something missing to push it toward Peak mastery, so he could only stop there. **Book 4 Page 105**
* Upgrading **[Bulwark Mastery]** did not improve his attributes or allowed him to unleash some new power, but it did help a lot in utilizing his shield and the fractal equivalent in **[Immutable Bulwark]**. It even showed him how to properly fight with a weapon in one hand and a shield in the other. **Book 4 Page 105**
* As he kept fighting, Zac started to enter a rhythm, almost a dance based on the moves he had recently learned from **[Bulwark Mastery]**. His feet moved across the cavern, following a precise pattern as he weaved a trail of carnage with his axe. His shield was quickly becoming an extension of his body, allowing him to control where and when he was attacked by the rabid beasts. **Book 4 Page 117**

## F-Grade Peak Proficiency

* He did, however, spend some time mastering **[Bulwark Mastery]**, and as expected, he had been shown several visions related to cultivators focusing on their shields. There had been some differences between the various cultivators, but the similarities were far greater between the visions related to shields compared to those he got from **[Axe Mastery]**. **Book 5 Page 43**

## Replacement

* The reason for his hesitation was that **[Armament Mastery]** actually took up the same spot as the peak proficiency **[Bulwark Mastery]**, forcing him to give up on the old skill to learn the new. **Chapter 812**

## Commentary

* None of the visions really resonated with him, and it made him wonder just what he should do when evolving. **Book 5 Page 43**
* The other two skills, **[Forester’s Constitution]** and **[Bulwark Mastery]**, had been transformed as well. Previously, they had resembled an axe, a tree, and a shield respectively, but they now looked like abstract skill fractals just like all the others. **Book 6 Page 655**