Chapter 69: A Mermaid Who Loved A Knight (4)

Chapter 69: A Mermaid Who Loved A Knight (4)

Brafa and Dover looked at the adventurer who slowly approached them; their expressions showed they thought the situation was ridiculous.

"Hah, you're going to fight us knights in close combat?"

"He must be crazy."

That was clearly disrespecting them as knights!

They were so furious that they swung their swords, intending to slash the arrogant adventurer at once. They showed complex swordsmanship that was different from the style that ordinary soldiers and adventurers learned.

No matter how keen-eyed and quick to react Kai was, it was impossible to completely avoid this sophisticated swordsmanship he had never seen before. The durability of Kai's armor quickly diminished, and scratches increased on his body.

But I need to endure it!

Kai raised his arms to guard his vital points and stood still, provoking them even as he got hit. "Is that all the skill you knights have? I'm disappointed!"

"Let's see if you can still talk like that after you're dead!"

"And you, have you forgotten how to swing a sword after taking a few hits?" Kai responded.

"Hmph, this guy who can't even react to my sword and just keeps getting hit sure has a big mouth!"

Brafa and Dover's swords became even faster. This speed was actually a strain for them, but seeing the adventurer hold on despite getting hurt, their pride was piqued.

"This is so ticklish! Scratch harder!"

Besides, there were also unexpected provocations that came out of nowhere!

"Huff, huff."

"Huff, puff."

After swinging their swords wildly for ten minutes, they finally noticed that something was odd.

Why hasn’t this adventurer bastard collapsed yet?

We've hit him dozens of times already!

Even counting only the accurate strikes, they had hit Kai three figures worth! In a normal situation, he would have died several times over.

But why...?

As they started feeling an unknown danger, Kai, who had only been defending, slowly lowered his arms.

"Already tired?"

"Don't be ridiculous. We wouldn’t be tired with just this..."

“Right... we shouldn’t be, but...”

Brafa and Dover, who were about to scoff, checked the status of their bodies and were shocked.

W-why does my body feel so heavy?

My breathing is at the limit! My heart is racing too fast!

Normally, they had to swing swords continuously for an hour during training to get this tired. It was true that they had overexerted themselves just now, but it had only been ten minutes.

Unable to accept this situation, they glared at Kai with widened eyes.

"What have you done to us!?"

"What did I do? I didn’t do anything," Kai casually replied while installing the Spring of Restoration beside him.

[Recovering 1 Health every second.]

[Recovering 1 Stamina every second.]

Kai checked his slowly recovering Health and Stamina, then looked at them. "You’re the ones who’ve been swinging your swords non-stop, even on this sandy beach."

"What? We obviously knew this was a sandy beach..."

"No, you didn't." Kai grinned. Humans were creatures of adaptation.

If he had pranced around, fighting with them, they would have noticed the sandy beach and conserved energy by fighting carefully.

So I just stood still, letting them hit me.

And he kept provoking them, cleverly pushing them to the brink of madness!

Brafa and Dover laughed at Kai, who couldn't even react to their attacks, but that very fact was actually tightening the noose around their necks.

To the point that they forgot where they were standing.

As Kai stood still, the guys who had beaten him probably paid no attention to where they were. Of course, ignoring it didn’t change the fact that the ground beneath them wasn’t solid but sandy.

It would have taken several times more energy just to swing their swords once than usual.

And, crucially, Kai had a recovery skill that could replenish his Health.

In the end, the knights had just wasted all their energy!

Kai, who had let his sword drop, slowly approached them.

"Supernova. Flood of Blades."

The beast revealed its hidden fangs and suddenly kicked up the sandy beach.

Fwoosh!

A cloud of sand filled the air! Before those grains even hit the ground, Kai's sword swept through the knights.

Clang, clang!

"As expected, full plate mail is really solid."

It felt like they had suddenly been slapped in the face with the unexpected hit!

Already a monster, Kai had gained even sharper claws.

The moment Brafa and Dover realized this fact, their faces turned dark with despair.

***

[Aquarian knight Brafa defeated.]

[Aquarian knight Dover defeated.]

[When Baron Bariton discovers your actions, you will be marked as an enemy, and a bounty will be placed on your head.]

[Level increased.]

[Level increased.]

[+10 Stat points.]

"Amazing."

Finally, his level started with a 7.

Then Kai fell into serious thought.

The efficiency of the Swordsmanship of the Dawn has improved much more than I expected. What should I do?

Kai's base stats had decreased by 5, bringing his total Holy Power stats to 259!

To be honest, there were parts that Kai had to sacrifice when focusing on Strength.

First of all, the healing amount doesn’t increase any further. Also, the destructive power of Holy Explosion remained the same.

Furthermore, the constant duration of Supernova had always been somewhat frustrating. However, with Swordsmanship of the Dawn reaching the intermediate rank, a path to increase damage by boosting the Holy Power stats had opened.

If that's the case, raising the Holy Power stats is definitely beneficial...but what ratio should I aim for?

Purely from the perspective of attack power, it was better to increase Strength than Holy Power. However, raising Holy Power brought a lot of additional effects.

After weighing the pros and cons of the two stat types, Kai reached a conclusion.

I’ll allocate 3 points to Strength and 2 to Holy Power every time I level up, at least for a while.

The decision he made was to give slightly more weight to Strength because even with a few additional Holy Power stats, it would be challenging to see immediate effective results.

[Apprentice Knight’s Longsword]

Grade: Magic

Attack Power: 82 - 115

+5 Strength

+3 Agility

A longsword crafted by the Kingdom of Rashion’s workshop, provided to apprentice knights upon their knighthood.

Requirements: Level 100+, Knight class, Strength 130+

Durability: 81/100

After completing item farming, Kai approached Crawford.

After blowing into his conch for quite some time, Crawford stood still on the sandy beach, staring out at the sea.

What’s happening? Is Helene not going to come?

While sympathy swept across Kai's face, a trembling voice came out from Crawford's quivering lips. "He... lene..."

At the same time, something approached quickly through the sea from a distance. It had sun-kissed brown skin, large shells covering the chest, and the most notable was a tail fin instead of legs.

"Oh, Crawford, Crawford, Crawford!"

Helene swam across the sea in an instant, leaping into Crawford's arms like a fresh flying fish. As soon as she came out from the water, her tail fin transformed into legs, and she wore what looked like shorts made of seaweed.

"Helene...!"

Crawford, who held his lover he had missed for twenty years in his embrace, shed tears.

Helene, gazing up at him, started crying while teasing him, "What is this? You've become a crybaby while we’ve been apart."

"...You've become even more beautiful since I last saw you."

"And you've become even more handsome, Crawford."

As they gazed into each other's eyes with affection, their lips slowly came together.

Watching them, a gentle smile crept across Kai's lips.

That’s it, the best ending for those who love and care for each other is supposed to look like this.

He was glad they had finally reunited.

As Kai closed his eyes with relief, a flood of messages appeared.

Ding!

[Helene and Crawford, who had not forgotten each other for 20 years, have finally reunited. Your benevolence has changed the tragic ending of these two lovers into a happy one. Seeing love beyond the boundaries of race, Solarian God Helik praises you with tears in his eyes.]

[Birds begin to sing the story of Crawford, Helene, and the adventurer, Kai. +3000 Fame.]

[+800 Contribution to the Solarian Church.]

[Spread of the word of the Church of Solaris increased by 10%. Those who wish to confirm their eternal love may now marry under the officiator of a cleric of the Solarian Church.]

[+30 Benevolence.]

...Does a god actually cry over something like this?

Kai chuckled, then smiled as he looked at the man and woman blessed by the blue sea and the warm sunlight.