“We did it!”
The entrance to the second area of the maze was successfully cleared before nightfall, thanks to the efforts of the adventurers.
The third area was far bigger with monsters and traps waiting.
“Can Weed-nim take the lead from this point?”
LeBoy asked carefully.
The adventurers led the exploration, but they were ready to become supports.
They wished to see the skills of Weed, the best adventurer in the history of Royal Road!
“Mmm…”
Weed was not entirely confident that he could outdo the best adventurer group in the Versailles Continent.
‘A maze… Mazes cause a lot of problems, but to my surprise, the solutions were often in simple places.’
In other cases, doors never opened without the possession of an item that acted as the key.
‘I could step forward and solve this, but is there a need for me to do that with over a thousand adventurers here?’
There was a time and place to act out.
It was a waste of talent to leave these adventurers of various exploration skills and experiences.
Weed wet his lips with the attentive gazes of the adventurers.
“Your accomplishments brought us this far. I have faith in all of you, so I will wait as long as it takes.”
“…!”
“I expected nothing less!”
A few words of acknowledgement.
Though it is small, some put their lives on the line for the ones that put faith in them.
“I understand. I will do it.”
“Me too.”
The adventurers blazed up for competition.
They set out on to clearing the third area and ran the risk of danger. Weed returned to the monster eradication forces that patrolled between Central and the Northern Continent.
The archers and mages catching their breath during their meal were dazzled.
“He’s back already…”
“I want to go back to school now.”
“This is worse than overtime at work.”
“Ooof, my back.”
Weed could not slack on the job given the broadcast that was monitoring him all day long.
Two straight days!
After that, the adventurers succeeded in clearing the maze.
– Haruna: This place was maze Zode! I found the Half-elf Vishur right now. She has been turned into a dried-up tree.
Weed returned to the maze through Yurin’s Paint Teleportation instantaneously.
Over a thousand adventurers were put into this maze, and over two hundred lost their lives due to a risky but swift exploration. However, they died honorably with a smile on their faces.
“I heard that there is an unbelievable special for today?”
“You got it. The adventurers that set out to stop the Black Dragon Kaybern. The very adventurers who are in search of the Half-elf hero Vishur succeeded in exploring the maze in Averian Forest.”
“I heard the continent’s best adventurers went on with the exploration.”
“As you have seen through the live cast, the brave adventurers overcoming the traps and the monsters inevitably caused the viewers to grin in anticipation.”
“Alright, then. Here is Weed who has just arrived at the maze.”
Maze Zode’s exploration, without a doubt, was being broadcasted live on the major broadcast stations.
Weed was led by the adventurers until he found the sword scars on the wall.
“What are these?”
“We’ve been doing some research ourselves, but we don’t know yet. It is definitely not a map, and neither the archaeologists nor glyph analysisits returned anything.”
“Hmm. The sharp traces seems to be just simple sword swings.”
Weed saw that the sword traces were visible on both walls, the floor and the ceiling.
He stood there for a good minute or two and got lost in his thoughts, then abruptly shifted his hands onto the Loa sword.
*Slaaaang!*
With a sound of purity, the sword slipped out of the sheath.
“Let me look around for a bit.”
“What? Oh, yes, of course.”
The adventurers were clueless, but they stepped back.
“Is it right around here?”
Weed stood at where the sword path began and started to swing his sword.
It was a difficult task to execute a complete sword technique based solely on the traces on the walls, floor and ceiling.
Without an incredible spatial understanding and swordsmanship, it was impossible to pull off.
*Swish-Sheeek!*
Weed’s sword followed through a beautiful trajectory like it was dancing.
Of course, he had no clue to the stance of the sword technique, but his body synced itself to the flow of the sword.
*Blink!*
< You have learned the sword technique of Half-elf Vishur.
You have learned the secret technique, Sword of Regeneration.
This sword technique, born from observing nature has excellent abilities in defense and recovery.
When active, maximum health points are increased by 250%.
Physical recovery is enhanced in locations imbued with the power of nature.
Defense is increased by the influence of the nearby plants.
With each skill level, health points of the user and allies recover 20% faster to a maximum of 800%.
All effects are doubled for elves. >
The secret sword technique was an unexpected gain.
‘Now it becomes a lot easier to withstand boss monsters. When things go bad, I can spread out the Sword of Regeneration and buy time. With that being said, that’s not my style.’
Even so, he thought there were many uses for it.
If he was to drop in the middle of a massive horde of monsters, he could hold his ground with the Sword of Regeneration.
It would give him time to stack lots of corpses for an explosion or summon the undead!
‘It is an excellent sword technique for devious plans.’
Weed couldn’t be any happier.
“T-That sword technique was truly beautiful.”
Adventurer Chase blurted out in surprise.
The nearby adventurers had their jaws dropped with blank stares as if they had just witnessed something unreal.
Weed replied like it was no big deal.
“It called the Sword of Regeneration.”
“Sword of Regeneration? Is that a skill?”
“Yes. The secret of the sword technique was right here.”
Weed’s words fed straight through broadcast and brought a massive, hurricane-like impact.
“Secret Sword Technique. That is insane.”
“Coordinates are there. I am picking that up ASAP.”
“Wow… He discovered the secret sword technique and learned it instantaneously.”
“Did it take like 5 minutes total?
“See it. Observe it. Obtain it.”
“That is swag. That’s Weed level!”
However, the following scenes on the screen turned the viewers miserable.
In maze Zode, there was a cluster of adventurers which each had a name for themselves in Versailles Continent.
The average level was over 300, and the users in 400’s became the center. There were adventurers in the 500’s as well.
Those adventurers’ eyes popped out after hearing the secret sword technique and immediately tried to imitate him.
“So, this is like…”
“Uh-hm. Why is it so difficult?”
The adventurers awkwardly swung their swords and wobbled.
It was near impossible to recreate the sword technique just by observing the markings on the walls like Weed did.
One moment of distraction and the sword will lose its way. Moreover, it was no ordinary technique balancing shift in the lower body, waist and shoulders.
“To do this in a single try just by looking…He’s a monster.”
“That makes no sense. He’s just so gifted.”
“No wonder he beat even Bard Ray.”
The adventurers couldn’t do anything other than to look at him with envious eyes in agreement.
“Let us hurry.”
Weed moved on gracefully, and his mundane response became a sensation on the live broadcast.
“For Weed-nim, Sword of Regeneration could be just that…” “That man right there is the God of War. Do not forget. Write it down.” “Wasn’t he already powerful enough with his Undead Summoning? Seriously, he has the highest combat level…” “The higher the level, the easier it is for the holy knight to beat the necromancers. It’s ultimately just based on effectiveness. The stronger the power of dark magic and the undead, the more holiness the knights can bring out.”
Honestly, the holy knights were waiting for a mission to taking down Weed.
Holy knights receive god’s blessing and additional stats when they defeated evil powers.
The effects of holiness were immense, allowing them to take down undead two tiers higher than themselves.
“So, who is the holy knight that can win against Weed?” “That’s the loophole.” “There is none…” “Just exactly which holy knight will charge at Weed? Wow… He has my sincerest respect for his courage.” “Penetrating through the army of skeletons, just to encounter zombies… Behind all that are Durahan, screaming ghosts, death knights, doom knights and even the bone dragon. After defeating all that, the final boss is Weed.”
Jean did an interview too. “We are necromancers, but he is Weed. Even in this very moment, he is becoming more powerful.” “He is hunting non-stop after Kaybern’s appearance. He is never satisfied with his mediocre level. I bet that in the future, he will be capable of summoning the legendary undead.” “Well, the funny thing is that he is now a warrior. This continent is fortunate that he didn’t continue to level as a necromancer.”
Weed continued to walk and scouted the surroundings, but no more sword markings were found. ‘Hmm. That’s a shame.’ Difficult mazes often had hidden treasures or secrets. Now that a secret sword technique was uncovered, there wasn’t anything else left. “Over here.”
At the end of the maze led by the adventurer, was the half breed of human and elf, the Half-elf Vishur, who was transformed into a dense, dry tree.
“Not even the priest’s restoration spell could wake her. We are thinking that it may need some kind of treasure or clue.”
Haruna explained the situation, but Weed had a lead of his own in his head.
‘That’s simple. The Sword of Regeneration that I picked up in this maze would be the key.’
There was no need to think of alternatives when he had a solution that required just a little bit of thought.
“I think I know how to proceed.”
Weed drew his sword and began wielding it around.
He was going to recreate the sword technique inscribed on the walls.
It wasn’t easy remembering the path of the sword, but he took a look around just before.
Like musicians recreating the scores in their head, he did the same with the flow of the sword.
A gentle sword technique that cut through the wind.
Despite only have done it once, the movements became more natural with harmony in strength and speed.
It was a level of skill reached with not just battles against monsters, but also consistent training of sword movement.
Blink!
– Sword of Regeneration ranked up to Novice level 2.
The attack power of the sword technique is enhanced.
Health points of the user and allies are recovered 20% faster.
Skill proficiency is increasing at a rapid rate.
– Insight is increased by 5.
Sword of Regeneration was a skill and a sword technique.
Executing the sword technique consisting of a set of movements raised the skill level.
Weed noticed Vishur in the form of a tree slowly coming to life and continued the sword technique.
The sword technique was cast the second and third time, the sword path becoming even more elegant.
Blink!
It was still at a novice level and didn’t have significant meaning, but indeed the skill was leveling up rapidly.
Half-elf Vishur regained her health points and slowly opened her eyes.
(To be continued…)