Chapter 28

[Casuarina]

[HP 15,000]

For the pine trees that Hiro checked at the forefront, they all had the same name and HP that ranged from 15,000 to 20,000.

Liberty was currently sitting on a small hill behind Hiro while waiting to enjoy the show. In the meantime, Hiro took out the new greatsword he hadn’t used from his inventory.

[Blood-Eater Vampire (Greatsword) has been equipped.]

[BR has increased to 14,130 (+5,000).]

“System call.”

[NightFall] [Barbarian] [The Underworld]

Base Level 20

Job Class Level 20

Health 9,450/9,450

AP 2,022/2,022

Energy 250/250

Fame 1,399

BR 14,130

Basic Stats (Points 0)

STR 63

AGI 37

INT 28

VIT 38

DEX 36

LUCK 30

Skill Stats (Points 6)

Sword Combo Skill (Active) Level 5 Max

Bloodsteal (Passive) Level 5 Max

There were a few changes to his basic stats.

Due to the phase of physical and mental synchronization players had to go through before being connected to the game system, basic stats could increase and decrease every time players log into the game.

Hiro had gotten used to it, so he always made an effort to log in in his prime condition so the change applied wouldn’t be too significant that it would greatly affect his power.

In his hand now was the Blood-Eater Vampire. As soon as it appeared, Liberty, who had never been interested in swords, immediately paid attention.

“Wow! Where did you get that?”

“A demon gave it to me.”

Hiro was imitating Liberty’s answer when he asked her where she got her Hellsing Whisper at that time.

Liberty pouted. To her, his answer made even less sense. How close with a demon must you be for them to be willing to give such a great gift?

She couldn’t imagine it at all, and Hiro only gave an answer her unoptimized mind could easily understand.

After seeing that the girl had no more things to say, Hiro stood five meters away from the forest and positioned himself ready to attack. He then closed his eyes and organized his respiration, manually controlling his breathing rhythm.

He was aiming to swing as strongly as he could by counting on proper respiration to increase his slash’s damage.

He wanted to see just how powerful the SSS-tier greatsword in his hand was.

At that moment, Hiro opened his eyes and focused on the trees he marked as his targets in the front row. He then focused all his energy on the greatsword before horizontally slashing with all his might.

Whoosh!

The air in front of the blade rapidly rushed forward and crashed onto the trees in front of it.

CRACK!

[HP -18,000] [HP -20,000] [HP -19,500] [HP -15,000] [HP -15,000] [HP -15,500]

Six trees at the very front instantly cracked and broke into two following the shape of the blade’s slash.

However, the result of his perfect breathing didn’t stop there.

SPLAT!

The slash still managed to tear the five trees in the second row and dealt a significant amount of damage.

This result fulfilled and exceeded his expectations.

Hiro’s lips curved into a satisfied smile. He couldn’t wait to use the greatsword to fight actual monsters.

“Wow! How did you do that?” Liberty continued to ask the same question as she couldn’t get an answer her logic could accept.

“I just swung it, Libe.”

“Hmmm … Are you sure you want to keep following me? Aren’t you sleepy?”

Hiro wandered around the area looking for the strongest monster along with Liberty. Even though the sky was getting darker, she still insisted on following him.

“That was amazing! Your sword is scary though, is it cursed?” The girl ignored his question and looked at the greatsword in his hand.

The question that came out of Liberty’s mouth made even less sense.

He really couldn’t catch up to her boundless curiosity.

Next, Hiro spent two hours searching for a powerful enough monster as an opponent. As for Liberty, she followed him without a word of complaint, so he just let her do whatever she pleased.

He quite enjoyed her presence too.

After looking around the place until his legs felt sore, Hiro decided to go for a group of armored wildcat-like beast-type monsters. The monsters each had a spear and a kite shield as they stood with their two hind legs.

Ding!

[New monster information has been unlocked.]

[Knight Jaguar (Level 23)]

[Race: Beast]

“Wait here.”

Hiro pointed to a safe place for Liberty to watch from so she wouldn’t attract his target monster’s attention.

“Okay. Do your best! And don’t die, okay?”

The girl was truly adorable.

Hiro’s sudden arrival amid the seven monsters at that spot prompted them to walk toward him at normal speed.

He was waiting for them to start attacking first.

The reason Hiro decided to go for a group of monsters with complete armor and ‘Knight’ in their names was, although he knew that the monsters’ levels weren’t remarkable, their defensive capabilities definitely exceeded normal monsters.

He wanted to know if his greatsword could penetrate and ignore these monsters’ defenses.

Swish!

Swish!

CLANK!

Hiro was met with three spear attacks at once. Fortunately, he swiftly reacted and his blade was large enough to parry all three of them.

Upon direct contact with opponents, Hiro’s mind ordered the sword to activate its unique skill.

And thus the greatsword was started to absorb the respective opponents’ HP and convert it into bonus ATK and HP for the weapon’s wielder.

Whoosh!

Hiro spun his body to the side before releasing the three spears and swinging his sword at the three Knight Jaguars’ backs.

SPLAT!

[Fatal Damage]

Even monsters with a high defense like Knight Jaguars couldn’t withstand the might of his greatsword’s swing.

Hiro’s trial against the monsters went well and quite easily. It only took him one basic attack to defeat them.

Even so, he was unsatisfied with his slash speed. Without the boost of any skills, his basic attacks felt noticeably slow. Hence, he switched up his trial session by utilizing his Sword Combo Skill, making the greatsword feel lighter and allowing him to move faster.

Without mercy, Hiro slashed the Knight Jaguars at the spot with ease. If the monsters spawned at the same place or nearby, one slash could kill three to four of them at once.

However, Hiro didn’t stop there. He continued to cut them again and again.

Meanwhile, Liberty was starting to feel sleepy, and after doing her best to resist it, she ultimately fell asleep while hugging her knees.

Hiro continued to dance with his blade, a smile full of satisfaction plastered on his face. Seeing that his LSC balance kept stably increasing, he decided to stay there for longer.

The more he understood the monsters’ movements and attacks, the faster he could defeat them all without his HP decreasing even the slightest bit.

The greatsword really turned him into a bloodthirsty maniac. The more monsters he killed, the more satisfaction filled his heart.

But suddenly, a notification popped up, snapping him out of his killing spree.

Ding!

[You have obtained a Rare Quest, [The World Tree’s Challenge].]