“Should I just smash it?”
He was even contemplating extreme methods like using Sculpture Destruction. But he stayed his hand as it was too valuable.
“Solution, there must be a solution somewhere.”
If Zahab showed him the secret sword skill during battle, it would help identifying the skill. But such a thing did not happen and he could only rely on the sculpture to gain enlightenment.
Weed stopped all of his hunting and focused on the sculpture. He thought he might need more sculpting skill so he started making sculptures of the monsters in Grapass and of Hwaryeong to increase his Sculpting Mastery.
He wasted 3 hours with no clear solution in sight. The Dark Gamers and the Sculpture Lifeforms were hunting in separate groups nearby, Hwaryeong was offline as it was night. It was only Weed and Seo Yoon.
“Sword skill. I need to understand the sword skill… I am close to mastering the sculpting skill so I can continue as is. But if I can’t learn it because my sword mastery is low, then I might lose my chance to learn this sword skill.”
While Weed was puzzling his head over it, he heard a noise that sent shivers up his spine.
SHEEK.
The sound of a sword coming out of it’s sheath.
Weed turned around to look and saw it was Seo Yoon holding the sword with a cold expression.
“Wh, what’s up with the sword?”
With no Sculpture Lifeforms around, could it be that Seo Yoon was getting ready to attack?! It was an old misconception but there were times when Seo Yoon was really scary. Her voice, due to lack of speaking for so long, was devoid of intonation and she acted without explaining herself most of the time.
Like right now!
Seo Yoon twirled her sword. She was aiming at the sky rather than Weed. Before they knew it, it was the middle of the night with the moon out already.
Seo Yoon’s sword lit up under the moonlight and scattered. She began to move lightly, swirling her sword in movements that were familiar to Weed.
“The movements from the sculpture!”
CHARARARA.
Seo Yoon softly enacted the sword skill. She followed the sculptures’ motions like a dance. Weed analyzed the sculptures’ movement deeply and emulated them as well, but the flow was halted in between.
But Seo Yoon did not follow the order of the sculptures, she followed the motion of the sculpture lit by the moonlight.
HUWOOONG!
Seo Yoon’s blade scattered an intense light. It was like holding a light sword!
You have grasped the secret sword skill, Radiant Sword.
Seo Yoon learned the secret sword skill first. Her body was wrapped in light as if she was under a special blessing. Weed questioned her as soon as it stopped.
“Did you perhaps learned the secret sword skill?”
Nod, nod.
Weed smile exuberantly as he saw Seo Yoon’s head move up and down.
“Great.”
But the pain that was slowly creeping within!
“Hmhm, well, it’s manners for ladies to go first. It’s my turn to learn it now.”
After seeing Seo Yoon’s actions, Weed followed the same movements of the sculptures. With his sword mastery he was able to follow the movements much better. Following the intention of each individual motion, sometimes he put all his weight behind a swing or softly like a gentle wind. Weed felt this was a true sword skill as he emulated the movements.
‘Rather than a specific skill, the sword skill is more like a set of fixed, consecutive movements.’
He was puzzled by how this sword skill would be used in actual battle. Battle situations were completely different when fighting against monsters, flying creatures, shamans, summoners or magicians.
You have grasped the secret sword skill, Radiant Sword.
Radiant Sword: A sword skill created by the sculptor and swordsman Zahab.
A sword skill that is used by gathering light.
Depending on the skill level, it forms light sculptures in the form of animals or monsters.
Monsters captured by the light, fall under an illusion and cannot move.
If the sword skill is halted, the effect disappears.
Moonlight sculpting skill increases the power of the skill.
Class and other skill traits will have more power at night than in the morning.
It’s effective against monsters of a dark nature.
Sword Mastery increased.
“Let’s try hunting.”
Weed, with Seo Yoon, went to the place where the Kellkogs appeared.
“Radiant Sword!”
This was not a sword skill that was instantly activated by consuming mana so the exact movements had to be followed.
“Keeeek?”
The Kellkogs threw their spears but the bright light blinded their eyes and their accuracy fell by a large margin .
A short distance away, Weed finished performing the sword skill. He felt ridiculous moving alone rather than fighting the monsters up front, but looking from the outside it was anything but. Weed swung his sword twice, jumped to gather power and performed a downward strike.
As he struck, sparrows made of light appeared. The sparrows circled Weed, then, beating their wings, they flew toward the monsters and exploded.
KABOOOM!
Threads of light split heaven and earth!
Every time Weed flourished his sword, birds of light flew toward the monsters. The Kellkogs became confused under the illusions and spun around trying to catch the birds. As the sword skill fully unfolded, only item drops remained where the monsters were.
Mastery of Radiant Sword increased.
It drained over 8,000 of Weed’s mana, but equipping various mana recovery items supplemented some of the drain.
“There was this kind of sword skill.”
Weed’s lips trembled. Till now, it was difficult to contend with monsters that shot arrows at long range. It was very frustrating for him to deal with monsters that attacked from long range and escaped quickly. Even if he took out his high elf bow to attack, it was not enough to attack with just one bow.
“I am going to kill all the monsters!”
*****
Kolderim, the knight of the Kallamore Kingdom!
Hermes guild prepared several contingencies to deal with him. One time, Kolderim led his army and pushed on toward the Sistar Fortress in Haven Kingdom. Of course, it was a battle that the Hermes guild was not part of. Rather, it made it easier for the Hermes guild to utterly crush and seize the regional kingdom.
“Even then the knights Kolderim commands are fearsome. We will continue to invest in military power and annihilate them completely.”
The Hermes guild destroyed the Kallamore Kingdom's border force and seized 6 castles, 2 fortresses, and 14 villages. After they heard that Kallamore Kingdom’s Kolderim became the supreme commander of the war, Hermes guild split their main force in two.
“A detachment will turn around and occupy the Yorun Fortress, the main force will meet Kolderim’s army here.”
The army Kolderim was leading was composed of the elite forces of the Kallamore Kingdom. It included 7 contingents of knight orders and over 10 thousand cavalrymen. On the Hermes guild’s side, their main forces dug in and laid traps to make it difficult for the horses to move. They brought in massive numbers of magicians, archers and even catapults to disrupt the knights’ charges.
On the day battle erupted between Kolderim of Kallamore Kingdom and the Hermes guild, all of the stations did a live broadcast and all of the players’ interest was focused there. Depending on the outcome of the battle, the territory between Kallamore Kingdom and Haven Kingdom would shift on the Central continent.
With the various traps that the Hermes guild planted on the plain, the confrontation between the two armies was monotonous. In between, the detachment of the Hermes guild’s army penetrated deeply into the interior of the Kallamore Kingdom. Made up of a large number of cavalrymen, a contingent of gryphons, rangers, and magicians, the force was great enough to easily occupy any moderate castle.
Kolderim had to make a difficult choice. He could not leave the main force of Hermes guild alone and chase after the detachment. To do so allowed the enemy to seize Kallamore Kingdom’s third biggest city.
“We are attacking the Haven Kingdom.”