by Park Saenal
The mortar that was the size of a house. It disappeared like a ‘mirage’ after it crushed Kraugel.
“…”
There were no more clouds in the sky. This was the aftermath of being torn by the force of Pounding Mortar. Kraugel was at a loss for words and belatedly realized.
‘I lost.’
Did he lose because Piaro was over level 400? It was nonsense. A level difference in the game was due to the difference in skills. It meant his growth process lagged behind.
‘I completely lost.’
What if they fought again?
‘It will still be the same.’
The current Piaro was different from the past. He was a legend who completely overcame his immaturity after just becoming a farmer and relied on swordsmanship.
‘He is a wall that can’t be overcome.’
Did Kraugel’s heart sink down after realizing this? No.
‘…I can’t overcome him yet.’
People praised Kraugel as a genius. He overcame trials and adversity, believing in this talent alone. Of course, that was a big mistake.
‘One day, I will go beyond him.’
Were there any geniuses who had it easy? Unlike what other people thought, Kraugel was accustomed to defeat and failure. He always faced challenges, because he was always challenging difficult situations. But he didn’t give up. By working hard and overcoming the trials, he trained and raised himself. He would continue doing so in the future.
“Kuk… Kukukuk.”
The straw hat’s destruction exposed the black-haired man with a wounded face.
[Kraugel]
The world’s most prominent name burst out laughing as he laid on the ground.
“Kuhahahahat!”
It was a cool laughing sound that made the listeners happy. He was delighted by the spar that allowed him to realize his own shortcomings.
***
Ruby and Lord were present at the outskirts of the training grounds where Piaro and Kraugel were sparring. Nevertheless, what was the reason why Piaro was able to use his peak technique? It was because he trusted Asmophel.
Kuuuuuuong!
The moment the large mortar slammed against Kraugel and the training ground.
“Hup!”
Asmophel protected Ruby and Lord. He held the two people in their arms to protect them from the earthquake, creating a barrier from the sand storm. There was a wave of energy.
“T-Thank you.”
“Abuuuu!”
Ruby expressed her gratitude while Lord cried out loudly.
“This world might perish, but I will protect both of you.”
Asmophel asserted. His loyalty moved Ruby’s heart. On the other hand, Lord showed no interest in Asmophel.
“Abu! Abuuuu!”
How could a baby be so strong? After forcefully pushing Ruby away, Lord fell to the ground and started to move towards the center of the training ground. The crawling speed made it hard to believe he was a newborn baby.
“Pant… Pant… Umm?”
Piaro was tired from the aftermath of using Pounding Mortar. He was thrilled when he found the approaching Lord.
“Young Lord…! Do you recognize my skills?”
Piaro had a discerning eye. He had glimpsed Lord’s genius early on. He wanted to propose a lifetime of doing field work together, so he coveted Lord’s talent.
‘As expected of the young lord.’
He understood Piaro’s strength through this duel. He wanted Piaro to serve as a mentor and they would work together in the fields! The young Lord would be his best disciple.
‘No, I’m still not good enough!’
The moment that Piaro was full of expectations. The crawling Lord reached Piaro. Then he just passed by Piaro.
“…”
Hwiing~
The wind blew. Piaro was ashamed.
‘This baby…?’
The depressed ground that was hit by the mortar. Kraugel found the baby crawling towards him and was disconcerted. It was so unrealistic that he couldn’t say anything to Lord.
“Abu! Abuuuu! Bubu!”
“…?”
Kraugel couldn’t understand the language of a newborn baby. But he dimly understood the meaning. The blue eyes staring at him. There was clearly envy in the eyes that shone as bright as jewels.
***
[Thunder Bow]
Rating: Unique
Durability: 366/490
Attack Power: 370~601
* Arrows can’t be loaded.
* 100 mana will be consumed per attack.
* The skill ‘Penetrating Flash’ will be generated.
* 10% increase in firing speed.
A heirloom of the Bon family in the Eternal Kingdom.
A bow made from a mixture of magic stones and ure stones, it consumed the user’s mana every time the bowstring is pulled to create a light arrow.
If a common arrow is loaded, it won’t be able to withstand the lightning and will become ashes.
User Restriction: Level 300 or higher. More than 2,000 agility. Advanced Bow Mastery level 5 or higher.
This was the bow dropped by the best archer in the Eternal Kingdom, Ferrell. It was something that many archers would covet. However, Grid didn’t appreciate the Thunder Bow’s performance.
‘How many archers will have such high mana?’
Consuming 100 mana just to shoot one arrow? Even Jishuka, an expert archer, wouldn’t be able to fire more than 40 rounds. Its endurance was poor.
‘The attack power is twice as high as similar bows.’
In the first place, the attack power of the bow itself wasn’t important.
‘The attack power of the arrow is more important.’
Yet arrows couldn’t be loaded? Could this really be called a bow?
“Trash.”
Grid came to this conclusion and dismantled the Thunder Bow. He didn’t hesitate at all. The reason why Grid coveted this bow from the beginning was the ‘ure stone.’
“Then I’m starting.”
Grid approached the blast furnace. The four God Hands kept the furnace temperature high. Their ability to control the bellows was at the level of advanced blacksmiths.
“This should be enough.”
Grid confirmed the temperature and threw the disassembled Thunder Bow into it. It was to dissolve the rush, debris and other foreign matter through smelting in order to extract pure ure stones.
After a while.
[You have succeeded in refining the mineral!]
[3 pieces of ure stone has been acquired.]
Ttiring~
[Ure Stone]
A mineral that is produced only when the great demon Astaroth is present in the human world.
The lightning attribute could be given to an item and it is also good to feed to demonic beasts.
The demonic beast will be very pleased when fed.
Weight: 5
“The concept of the mineral is similar to the fire stones that show up when Hell Gao appears… Eh?”
Grid was immersed in reading the item explanation and suddenly made an absurd expression.
“Feed it to a demonic beast?”
Was he crazy?
“What type of crazy person would feed these precious minerals to a demonic beast?”
It was a really useless function. He had no intention of feeding this to Noe. Grid put the three ure stones in his inventory. He was planning to use it as a mineral when creating new items.
At that moment.
Kuuong!
The large smithy that contained 100 blacksmiths shook greatly. Everything on display on one side of the smith fell to the ground, and the flames in dozens of furnaces shot upwards. The minerals were burned and lost their value.
“E-Earthquake?”
“What are you doing? Go and grab the minerals!”
The smithy instantly became a mess. An earthquake in the middle of a desert city? The blacksmiths were unfamiliar with natural disasters bu
t they showed professionalism, gathering the minerals and turning off the fire.
On the other hand, Grid was angry.
‘It isn’t an earthquake.’
His high insight let him know. The previous shook was due to the aftermath of battle.
“Khan, please deal with the situation here.”
It was good to have someone to trust. Grid entrusted the smithy to Khan and left.
***
Kraugel recovered his stamina to a certain extent.
“Brother, you truly are great. I was able to learn many things. I’m not lying when I say that I admire you.”
“…”
Piaro always wanted to be the strongest. It was the destiny of the strongest to be connected with strong people. But there was something that couldn’t be helped. Kraugel’s talents were beyond prediction, so Piaro had to be prepared.
“Really? Someday you will surpass me.”
He had learned this from the young Lord. The young Lord had gone to Kruagel. The young Lord felt that today’s winner was Piaro, but it would be different in the future. Kraugel asked the jealous Piaro.
“By the way, what is with this child?”
At first glance, this baby wasn’t ordinary. It wasn’t Piaro who answered the puzzled Kraugel.
“My son.”
A heavy voice resonated through the training ground.
“I greet My Lord!”
Piaro, the absolutely strongest man who could look down at the whole world, and the best knight Asmophel, bowed down. It was shocking for Kraugel.
Step, step.
“Abu! Abuuuu!”
Lord smiled brightly. The owner of the voice, Grid, smiled at Kraugel.
“What is the 1st ranked user doing in my land?”
Grid was showing obvious hostility. It was natural. He didn’t feel good because he witnessed a person he didn’t know laughing with his family and friends. Wasn’t he also the culprit because the destruction of the training ground?
“…”
Kraugel couldn’t open his mouth. Piaro spoke on his behalf.
“My Lord, this person is called Kraugel. He is a brother that I have a close friendship with.”
‘Brother…’
Kraugel’s heart warmed. He was touched that Piaro tried to defend him. But this impression didn’t last long. Piaro wasn’t ‘defending’ but ‘reporting.’ Brothers? That was important, but his loyalty came first.
“After not meeting for a long time, he applied for a spar and I accepted, resulting in the training ground being like this. I will dispose of him according to My Lord’s decision.”
“…”
Chapter 351
Chapter 351
“You’re the cause of this?”
Grid received an explanation from Piaro and observed the pit in the ground. The traces left behind of the battle were impressive. He was able to get an indirect glimpse of the 1st ranked Kraugel.
‘He competed against Piaro, who was reborn was a legend.’
In the previous confrontation, Grid was able to consume only half of Piaro’s life. Then what about now?
‘I can only decrease it by 1/4th.’
Piaro had grown.
During the spar with Grid, he had woken up to the true use of farming techniques. Then after the spar, he gained the bonus of increasing his stats and greatly increasing his skills. There was also the bonus of raising his level.
Then a person who managed to compete against Piaro?
‘Even a normal class…’
Kwack.
Grid clenched his fists with all his strength. Strange emotions sprang up, making his chest burn hot. Kraugel noticed his silence and apologized.
“My first impression is bad. I apologize that Reidan suffered damage because of my personal greed. I will pay you back as much as possible.”
The person who actually caused the damage was Piaro. However, Kraugel felt a strong sense of responsibility. He applied for a spar with Piaro and this incident happened, so he thought it was primarily his fault.
Grid made a snide remark at his sincere apology.
“Yes, a good answer deserving of the number one rank. Do you have a lot of money?”
An earthquake had occurred in the aftermath of the battle, causing all of Reidan to shake. Just looking at Reidan’s smithy alone, the overall loss of wealth was quite big.
“Can it be reimbursed by an individual alone? As a close brother to Piaro, shouldn’t you take responsibility?”
“M-My Lord.”
Piaro stuttered. He felt like his lord was more upset than usual.
‘Why?’
Piaro couldn’t figure out Grid’s heart. Asmophel was different. He could read the emotions in Grid’s eyes.
‘Envy and jealousy…’
Asmophel was born as the second son, so he always felt these emotions. Now Grid was displaying it towards Kraugel. They were emotions that couldn’t be understood by Piaro and Kraugel, who were always the best.
“Don’t worry about reimbursement. Instead.”
Shaaaaaah–
A clear blue transparent sword appeared in Grid’s left hand and a black-blue greatsword in his right hand. It was Failure and Grid’s Greatsword.
“Fight me.”
“…?”
Wanting to randomly fight? Kraugel was baffled. He couldn’t understand why things were happening like this. In addition, this was Grid’s city. Everything here belonged to Grid. Piaro wasn’t an exception.
‘Does he mean to isolate me?’
A death penalty was huge. Should Kraugel interpret it as never stepping foot in this city again? Kraugel looked grim while Grid pointed Failure at him.
“Don’t think too deeply about it. I am applying for a fair one-on-one fight.”
A one-on-one match? If so, Kraugel welcomed it. Grid was also a legend. It was a golden opportunity to win against a legend and complete the ‘Sword Saint’ quest. But Kraugel couldn’t justify accepting the fight. Using a complete strange to clear his quest, his ego couldn’t tolerate it.
“Why do you want to fight me?”
Kraugel’s sentences became shorter. It was natural. Grid didn’t show any courtesies to him, so there was no need to be polite.
“You are called the top, or the sky above the sky? I want to see if you’re really such a great person.”
“Do you have the qualifications to get a glimpse of my skills?”
“You’ll find out soon.”
Grid sent a sparring application to Kraugel. This was Reidan, Grid’s domain. Despite Kraugel receiving a big penalty if he died, Grid applied for a duel, demonstrating that he took this fight seriously.
“Sehee… No, Ruby. Use healing on him.”
“Are you going to fight?”
Ruby asked in a testy manner. She was worried about her brother because she had seen Kraugel’s skills. However, she was embarrassed to show her worry, so she looked testy instead. Grid prompted her.
“Hurry.”
“…Be careful.”
Ruby read her brother’s sincerity towards Kraugel and ended up using ‘Hope.’ Hope was the ultimate heal that randomly recovers 10~30% of the target’s maximum health. Kraugel confirmed his rising health and admired it.
‘Saintess…’
Grid’s sister.
Kraugel wondered.
‘Territory, family, subordinates, colleagues, and friends.’
Was it fun to be in such a limited space with the same group of people? Did they need to repeat what they always did in reality in the game? The world of Satisfy. It was so wide that it would take the rest of his life to explore it. As a user of the game, wasn’t it right to travel around alone, not bound by anything, in order to experience new things faster than anyone else?
Sehee used Hope in succession and Kraugel’s health reached the maximum. Kraugel made a decision and shared his quest information with Grid.
[Sword Saint]
Difficulty: SSS
&
nbsp; Win against a legend.
“This confrontation with you might be a help to me. Is it still okay?”
Grid stopped.
Sword saint. Could he give the strongest legendary class to other users? The past Grid would’ve cancelled the fight immediately. But now he was different. He was the leader of Overgeared, a lord, and the father of a child. Eyes were watching him. In particular, he couldn’t take it back with Lord watching.
‘What would Lauel do?’
Grid worried about it for a moment.
“It’s also a good thing if you turn into a sword saint because of me. The 1st ranked user owing me a favor, won’t you pay it back one day?”
He phrased it in such a way that Kraugel owed him a favor, despite Grid being the one to propose the fight in the first place.
“And I don’t think I will lose.”
He expressed his dignity with an expression of unwavering confidence.
Kraugel replied honestly, “Grid, I have seen your capabilities many times on broadcast. That’s why I know it well. You can never beat me.”
“Stop speaking so long.”
At the time of the Elfin Stone raid. After sacrificing Huroi due to his powerlessness, Grid pledged never to feel so helpless again.
‘I will be the best. I will be the best and not sacrifice my colleagues again.’
It was his dream, whether it was fanciful or not.
‘I will check it through you.’
Step, step.
Grid walked out without hesitation. At first glance, it was an ordinary gait, but he was actually using the footwork of Pagma’s Swordsmanship. He was hiding the use of his skill. Two years in real time after Satisfy opened, he was finally using the basics of the game. But Kraugel saw it instantly.
It was easy because he had keen eyes and good insight.
“Kill.”
Kraugel sidestepped the legendary skill and counterattacked.
“Mole Ascension.”
“Revolve.”
Pagma’s Swordsmanship. It was a relatively demanding skill that required taking an average of five steps. Grid had used it for hours over the years and gradually adapted. The skill was used at an incomparable speed to before, resulting in damage to the unique presence called the sky above the sky, Kraugel.
[You have suffered 17,500 damage.]
The white swordsman’s defense was lower than other third advancement normal classes. Moreover, he didn’t wear his gloves because he was afraid they would break if they received further damage.