Chapter 68

Raihan Drukas, the enemy of all the extras in the game, one of the main characters under the Guardian's protection from a young age, and the handsome and well-fed man who was only 19 years old, had finally begun his defense skills training.

"Master, this is…"

"I was lucky to find something that was buried in our warehouse and brought it for you."

Raihan looked at the shield given to him and made a slightly quivering expression. Of course, he had no intention of complaining about it to Evan.

However, the shield didn't look very reliable as it was shabby and there were cracks in it at several places. Raihan thought he knew why it had been lying uselessly in a warehouse.

However, he felt something strange while looking at the surface of that ugly shield. And then he realized it.

This shield resembled his God.

"Really, I'm very thankful you gave it to me Young Master. It lacks the ability, but I can fight with it anyway so I'll keep it… Thank you again. In the future, I will protect you with this shield."

"No, you won't, brother. This shield doesn't have much defense. If you try to protect me with it, then we will die together. I have just given it to you for training so that you can use it while practicing."

Evan commented while trying to look away from Raihan's resentful gaze. Then he continued.

"You do know about some of the artifacts which have the ability to increase the powers and strengths of their owners, and some of the weird ones that lowers the wielder abilities, right? Those things are usually called cursed artifacts."

"I know about the cursed artifacts. So is this shield one of them?"

"Well, I had initially misunderstood and thought that it was a cursed object, but it's not."

Most of the people living in this world didn't have the ability to accurately assess the performance of artifacts. The protagonists of the Yo-Ma Great War series possessed the ability to check item abilities with great accuracy and figures, but of course, not in this reality.

'Even Grandpa Bernard, the legendary alchemist, sometimes failed to evaluate the artifacts correctly.'

However, Evan D. Sherden had memories of all the artifacts that appeared in the Yo-Ma Great War series, and he was grateful for remembering most of them.

That meant that Evan could find out the value of artifacts that had been misclassified by others.

"The problem is, sometimes people are unable to use some artifacts. So such artifacts, which have the ability to be used, are often neglected and misjudged as cursed objects."

"…I see. So what is the real power of this shield, Master?"

"This shield's real power is like this… If you stop an attack with this 'Eco Shield,' it will hurt twice as much."

"Isn't that a cursed thing too!?"

Raihan took a step back, frustrated by Evan's words. However, Evan clucked his tongue.

"What did it mean to be hurt twice as much? This means that if you block one attack with that, it will count as blocking two attacks. In other words, holding the Echo Shield doubles the proficiency of your shield skill!"

"Oh, is that it…? But still, what do you mean, Master?"

"You will get hurt twice as much but you'll be able to get stronger at a much higher rate!"

"Oh, I see!" Raihan thought it best to simply nod at Evan's explanation. In fact, he still didn't understand what Evan was saying, but the only thing that mattered to him was that he could get stronger quickly. The owner he had decided to serve would not lie to him anyway!

"Actually, I have another gift for my brother. Here, take this."

Evan pulled out a huge set of full plate armor from his inventory pocket.

It was surprising to see that this 11-year-old boy was casually lifting the heavy plate armor, which was protruding from the pocket with one hand. Raihan shouted in admiration at the plate armor's appearance, which had a shining and sparkling appearance, as opposed to the shield.

"This really looks like a real artifact! Thank you, Master!"

"I'm sorry, actually, but this is a real cursed artifact."

"What are you trying to do to me, Master?"

In fact, Evan just wanted to see Raihan's expression of fear and resentment. He started to explain, trying to hold back the laughter.

"This cursed artifact is something that goes beyond common sense. No matter how much you look at it, it looks like an armor right?"

"Of course it's armor, Master… If I wear this, will I get trapped in it?"

"No, you won't. In fact, it would have been better if it was like that. In this case, even if you can't take off your armor, your defense power can be amplified by wearing this."

Raihan tilted his head at Evan's mysterious words. However, Evan urged him to try on the armor, saying that it was difficult to explain it in words.

"But Master…."

"Quickly put it on now, brother. It's free to wear and take off, so you can try it."

"Alright, I will."

Raihan was scared that he would wear and then get trapped in it, after which he wouldn't be able to come out of the armor for his whole life. This was because he had heard the knight's legend who became a monster after donning a cursed armor.

But in the end, he couldn't deny Evan's orders, so he wore it.

"This is much heavier than I thought…!"

"Is it heavy and hard?"

"Yes. I think it will surely come in handy while defense."

"Well, that's not the case."

"Is that so?"

Evan clenched his fist tightly and knocked on Raihan's armor.

At that exact moment, Raihan couldn't overcome the pain that ran through his whole body and screamed. Evan asked with a smile.

"How about it, then brother? Did it hurt as if you were getting hitting on your bare body, without the armor?"

"Very much, Young Master. It hurts tremendously. Could you please tone it down a little bit?"

"No. Because I told you that this was a cursed armor, and you refused to believe me." Evan laughed.

"But, it really hurts!"

"…I don't know if my brother is really as strong as he thinks he is."

Evan didn't even think of his enhanced powers, which didn't fit his age. He started laughing again as he saw Raihan in pain. But Raihan seemed to have realized Evan's powers to some extent.

"This armor shouldn't exist at all! It is against the will of God!"

"To be more precise, it clearly looks like armor, but it cannot be treated as armor. Surprisingly though… it can be used as a shield instead."

"…Yes?"

"Would you raise your hands this time and take a blocking position as if holding a shield?"

Raihan still couldn't comprehend Evan's words properly. However, he still took the posture as if blocking with a shield as ordered.

To say that Raihan had no shield aptitude would be the biggest lie of the century. Despite the absence of a shield, his blocking posture was truly perfect and admirable.

"Then I'll hit you again."

  "No, wait, Master!"

"Too late, brother."

Evan didn't listen to him and punched him, exactly where the shield was supposed to be.

His powerful straight punch rocked Raihan's body with a tremendous impact as before, but this time…

"It didn't hurt very much… Did you really hit me gently? If not, was I just able to stop the Master's attack successfully?"

Raihan was confused, as he had only felt a little bit of a freakish shock. Evan's blow was more intense than before. But he was also shocked to see that just because Riahan's posture was different, the shock was diverted!

"Yes, you blocked it."

"Well, I wasn't even holding a shield?!"

"I told you. If you wear that armor, you should treat it as you are holding a shield… So now you know why this is useful for your shield training, right? Wearing this armor and holding up that shield, it would mean that you are holding two shields at the same time. Two shields mean double the training efficiency!"

Raihan's perception finally left reality. Evan nodded as if he understood it, looking at Raihan's vague expression, who had already left the world in an astral body.

'This armor is actually a useful item, not a cursed artifact.'

Were there more deformed and cursed objects than this one? This armor's official name was 'Iron Wall Knights Full Plate Armor #39'.

It had an excellent defense, but it was said that only extra NPCs could wear it. It couldn't even be exactly called an artifact.

'This was due to a mistake in the process of writing the code. The equipment category of this object had been set to shield, not armor…'

This armor originally belonged to knight Carrick from the Sherden family.

However, in any battle in which the Iron Wall Knights fought, this knight was the first to die in strange circumstances. And the players who considered it strange soon found the cause… Eventually, one of the players, who was a programmer, went through the game's coding and realized the programmer's mistake.

Thiis armor was actually a shield disguised as armor!

'However, the production crew didn't respond to the bugs until after the game had been completed. It was like that in the Yo-Ma Great War series.'

The Yo-Ma Great War series had also been famous for unfixed bugs. It was an almost perfect game with no bugs, but sometimes crucial errors were found, so even if users pointed them out, the programmers hardly responded.

Because of this, the players ended up concluding, 'This is the true meaning of the great production staff that is asking you to enjoy the game even with these bugs.'

But due to this error right now, the armor could also be used for shield skills training!

Of course, before the armor's real use had been found, the production crew's such tiny mistake had led to disastrous results for the players.

The damned production crew guys even corrupted the head office server with a code error once!

'All of this was only possible as a result of the fact that I was born on Earth. I obviously knew about the nonsense flaws of this armor, and it was impossible for me to throw away this strange object.'

However, that point alone did not stand for other distinct elements of the game. Evan already knew that it was actually fatal to wear the armor if nobody knew about its exact properties!

However, it was good that Evan had kept it instead of melting it. This armor would help Raihan in his training now.

When this armor was combined with the "Eco Shield," its utility reached its peak. Players used to say that if someone succeeded in obtaining both of the objects, he or she was sure to rise up and get a high-ranking position.

It was the same as the old lamp magic tool in the mana training.

"Actually, the ability of the Echo Shield was similar to that of the 'Invisible Shield', after being paired up with this armor. So if you stop the attack with the Echo Shield while wearing the armor, you will take double damage. In other words, the effectiveness of shield training would increase by four times! Not twice, not thrice, but four times!"

"Uh… I see!" Raihan had decided to stop thinking at this point. He was going to get stronger quickly, so that was the only thing that mattered to him!

"You will be wearing this armor and holding this shield for your training, brother. From now on, that will be your basic preparation posture. I think you should always wear it except when you want to bath or go to sleep. It will also improve your physical fitness."

"Now, then. I have to tell you about the training method." Evan continued. "Since it is a shield technique, of course, you should practice blocking. Do you think you feel something while holding that shield, brother?"

In response to Evan's question, Raihan gently closed his eyes and deeply felt the shield's sensation being transmitted through his hand, into his whole body.There were times when he had been worried that he might not have any aptitude at all, but now he came to realize his strength while holding the shield.

It was like being born again.

Even though that though it was a cursed object that doubled the damage, it was still a shield. By holding it, Raihan was confident that he could stop anything.

"…Yes, I feel something Master. I feel stronger."

"Good. Then I have another gift for you, brother."

"Are you serious?"

"I said I had prepared a lot."

Evan handed Raihan a necklace with a blue crystal ornament. This was the only item that was not in possession of the Marquis, so it was only possible to obtain it after spending a reasonable amount of money on its search for two months.

It was an artifact that held great magical power, but it was also cursed.

"Of course!"

"It's a growth-type artifact, so if you use it, you'll grow."

"How will I grow?"

"You need to grow quickly brother and this is one of the ways . Now, let me explain. It is an artifact that consumes mana and summons multiple arrows out of air and shoots them at the enemy."

At that part, Raihan's eyes flashed.

"…And those arrows will be pointed towards me and not the enemy right?"

"Oh, you grasped it a lot faster this time!"

"I'm not very sure Master. I am still confused as to how will I be able to grow like that."

Evan was pleased with the fact that he had increased his knowledge about the workings of the Eco Shield and Invisible Shield, but Raihan was seriously disturbed.

When this artifact was activated, the wind's arrows, which originally had to fly towards the enemy, somehow flew towards the user. However, that was why the mana consumption was extremely low.

If the mana consumption was low, it was a good thing, but how could it make sense when the user directed the attack?

"That is what you will be blocking with that shield of yours.  The arrows of the wind have both physical and magical properties, which doubles the effectiveness of shield training. Combined together, the training efficiency amounts to eight times!"

"Now my brother is equipped with three excellent objects that will make everyone who wants to practice shield arts envious! Now, let's get started!"

Even Evan was envious of Raihan. Evan, who was one of the characters who died the most in the Yo-Ma Great War series, had never trained his shielding skills with all three of these miraculous objects!

However, Raihan couldn't even begin to guess the greatness of the objects that he had been given for his shield skill training, and he was wearing a necklace around his neck with dead eyes.