I’m fed up with hunting, it’s boring.”
Following his own growth, Weed was at the point where he was bored of most battles. He couldn’t raise Perseverance or Toughness in a fight where he had to do his best. For the ultimate hunting efficiency, there were things he needed to sacrifice out of necessity.
The underground prison was said to have monsters everywhere. Since he expected that the fighting would go on continuously, he couldn’t rely on a skill that consumed Mana.
“Dirtman, turn the ground around me into mud.”
The earth spirit was summoned in the blink of an eye. It was fresh since Weed had made it himself, took little Mana besides the summoning, and it was an obedient spirit. In his current state of very accelerated Mana recovery, he could use as many spirits as he wanted.
“I came because I received the command of Weed-nim, the most handsome man in the Versailles Continent. I will make the earth into mud right away.”
Other spirits were arrogant and wasted a lot of time in responding to a summoning. Even with high intimacy with the Elementalist, it was rare for them to be obedient. However, Dirtman popped out as soon as it was called.
The ground the knights were charging on soon transformed into a mire that came up to the ankles. The armor wearing knights scattered and struggled on the place that had become bog-like.
“What’s that spirit?”
“Is it an earth spirit? It appeared so quickly!”
That was the surprised reaction of the people who saw Dirtman.
“Hooray for Weed-nim, the being of absolute charisma! I have completed thy command. Do you have any more work for me? Please call me for anything.”
Weed spoke as if being generous. “You may fight with us too.”
“Thank you, Master. I shall not forget this kindness. I will treasure it deep inside my earth.”
Dirtman raised a mound of dirt and attacked the Dark Knights. There wasn’t much damage to speak of since it was dirt, but rocks were cleverly hidden inside so the Dark Knights had no choice but to fight it. Dirtman also didn’t use much Mana, considering it was a spirit. Since Weed currently had overflowing Mana, there was no need to be stingy.
“Dirtman, you may use as much of my Mana as you want.”
“I am honored, Master.”
BOOOOM!
Lines of dirt flew into the sky like arrows.
Weed ran into the bog that where the Dark Knights were in mud up to their thighs and being harassed. The ground before his feet became firm, so there was no discomfort to walking.
“The foe of the Embinyu Church!”
“It’s good you came; I shall rip you apart.”
Even while being very preoccupied due to the mire, the Dark Knights swung their swords at Weed.
They were big knights, but their heights were about the same as Weed’s because their legs were sunken in the mud.
The Dark Knights madly swung their dirtied swords. The sword Weed swung rang out with a beautiful sound as it flowed on the swords of the Dark Knights in succession.
Claaaaassh!
As if a blizzard was being split, a path was cut through the flock of Dark Knights.
“Bone Cutter!”
“Sharpness Blade!”
“Illusion Sword!”
The swords of the Dark Knights shined as spells were cast. A damage amplifying skill that cut through the opponent’s bones! A skill that penetrated by concentrating strength into sharpness! The Dark Knights even used a skill that divided a sword, turning it into five.
The Dark Knights surrounded Weed and unleashed their attacks. Weed turned violently . He avoided the Bone Cutter that would deal a fatal wound if he took a direct blow to his bare body, and he twisted to the side to avoid the sword that came straight his way. After narrowly dodging them, the sword that was divided into five attacked him.
Weed’s eyes flashed. ‘There’s always a weak point to skills like this.’
The decisive disadvantage that strength and damage would be dispersed!
“Sword Dance.”
Weed agiley moved his feet as he swung his sword to parry all five of the attacks.
“Arghh!”
It seemed the Dark Knights felt great shame that their attacks had failed. That was because even though they had put away their high pride to try a combined attack, they hadn’t been able to kill Weed.
“Bone Cutter!”
“Keep attacking!”
Among the Dark Knights, Weed sped about like a bog eel. After leaping into their midst, he used his enemies so they couldn’t use their skills and moved in a range that was close enough for their skin to touch.
‘Close combat can be called the ultimate fight.’
Swordsmen used their skills from the very beginning. They unleashed their swordsmanship without hesitation, and even used long-ranged attack skills like lunges. With flashy effects, they displayed as much might. The Swordsman was a profession that had more awesome damage the more high leveled they became. There was a reason why they took the center stage in hunting.
On the other hand, Weed believed in the single Sculpting Blade and made do with his body for most of his fighting. With the least Mana consumption, he had grown through close combat, which could improve his skills and Toughness. Though the knights were quick and sharp, he was experienced and could avoid them fairly well.
‘And… they’re much slower than the sahyungs or master’s sword.’
One could roughly predict where an attack would land just by looking at the foot movements. Weed stored the placement of the Dark Knights and their attack directions in his head and moved amongst them.
‘If you’re fast and smooth, you won’t fall apart even when fighting greater numbers.’
His sword flowed and burrowed in while parrying.
The Sword Mastery skill that had risen to Intermediate 7 became Weed’s foundation in battle. As his Sword Mastery skill was higher than the Dark Knights’, there were many cases where his opponent’s attack skills were nulled when he beat them at a precise strike point.
“Triple!”
Weed used only the bare minimum of skills as he sliced past the Dark Knights as if sweeping through. He hid his Sculpting Blade, which could be called his patented move, in order to avoid the attention of the onlookers. That was because not showing a considerable portion of his skills would be helpful in a nasty situation. Sculpting Blade was effective when facing a monster that was much stronger than a normal one and it was particularly optimal for tearing apart Knights or Warriors.
“Ack!”
“He got through.”
The Dark Knights groaned heavily, but they didn’t fall. That was because they had immense defense and Health from wearing full plate armor, the reason why knights were so tricky to face. However, the damage didn’t end with small wounds, due to Weed’s sword, the Daemon Sword that was said to have cleaved the devil.