Chapter 56_ 1st War

Reidan was isolated. The size of the desert had been reduced due to Greed and the Overgeared members' activities, but accessibility was still low. It was almost impossible to make it past the desert to Reidan without being part of a high-ranking guild or party.

[You have discovered a very strong presence.]

[The stat 'fighting spirit' has caused your stats to rise.]

"Based on your stride, you're not an ordinary adventurer."

Hearing the farmer who was blocking the road, Lexus regained his composure. If he didn't know about his identity from the novel, he might have thought that he was just an ordinary farmer. With Solomon's appraisal, he observed the man's details.

[Name: Piaro

Age: 39 Gender: Male

Class: Swordsman/ Hermit

Title: Great Swordsman

* The closest person to becoming a sword saint in this age.

* When a blade type weapon is equipped, attack power will increase by 40% and attack speed by 10%. This effect is applied separately from the Sword Mastery skill effect.

Level: 367

Strength: 2,038 Stamina: 1,380

Agility: 1,910 Intelligence: 530

Leadership: 812 Indomitable: 824

Skills: Trap Installation....

A descendant of a prestigious bloodline in the Saharan Empire, he was born with a natural talent for swordsmanship and military tactics. He joined the knights at a young age and became a captain in only 12 years.

In the following 5 years, he succeeded in winning a lot of achievements. However, 2 years ago, he witnessed the liaison between Asmophel and Empress Marie.

He was wrongfully branded as an imperial traitor and forced to flee.

* Currently, this person is suffering from a severe sickness of the heart. He has lost his original nature and all stats are reduced by 20% from those shown in the status window.]

The NPC in front of him, Piaro, looked like a farmer in every way. He wore a straw hat to protect himself from the sun, dirty work clothes, and held a hand plow and hoe in his hands. It was difficult to recognize him as anything other than a farmer.

"I have no intention of harming Reidan. I just intended to visit a friend."

"You can't enter Reidan unless you knock me down first."

Knowing Piaro's character, Lexus didn't think much as he made the first move. He brushed aside his Brilliance and stabbed at Piaro's thigh after he unsheathed it from the Undefeated King's sheath. There was enough momentum to cut off one leg entirely, but Piaro defended himself with the hand plow.

Jeeeong!

The repulsive force caused Lexus' body to rise high in the air. On the other hand, Piaro's feet were deeply embedded in the ground. Piaro shouted towards Lexus, whose expression was one of indifference for someone who had just been a gentle youth. With a smile, he introduced himself in a confident manner.

"I'm Lexus, a Sword Saint. Well my other identities are not very important at the moment."

The Saharan Empire was the peak nation on the continent, so they dismissed the Eternal Kingdom. In fact, the Eternal Kingdom offered a tribute to the empire, just like other kingdoms. Piaro used to be a noble of the Saharan Empire; being a king of a small kingdom didn't seem great at all.

Introducing himself as a Sword Saint, on the other hand, Piaro couldn't stand still. It's because a Sword Saint has the reputation as the best swordsman. It was natural that Piaro's interest was caught just by hearing he's a legend.

"You..."

Piaro's eyes shook. Lexus' presence was amazing compared to Piaro who was a great swordsman.

'Is this the truth?'

Piaro quickly showed a combat posture. It was his instinct as a swordsman. Although he was wary of the man that appeared, Piaro changed the way of his thinking.

'I have always dreamed of a confrontation with a strong person like you, I am wishing to achieve the status of sword saint. Compete with me.'

This was what he wanted to say in his mind but,

'I never even saw the threshold...'

His heart beat wildly. This uncontrollable fighting spirit made his blood become hot like lava. The legendary Sword Saint, even though he became one of the greatest great swordsmen in the continent, it was something that he couldn't achieve.

"The looks in your eyes. You're longing for strength? Don't you want to become a sword saint?"

Hearing his question, Piaro made a serious expression.

"I am someone seeking the status of sword saint! I formally apply for a duel!"

The moment Lexus saw Piaro in person, he had been wondering whether he should allow Piaro to follow his destined path of becoming a legendary farmer. He knew how amazing Piaro was; Piaro was always the strongest, however.

'I already knew his path.'

Being a legend is amazing, but there's no real thrill for someone who knows what will happen to Piaro in the future. As a fan of the novel, Lexus knew that even as a legendary farmer, Piaro could become stronger than anyone else and that even the gods wouldn't be able to defeat him easily.

Not to mention that in the novel, it was mentioned several times that Piaro was being limited for being a farmer in terms of pure combat strength.

'But what if, he became a Sword Saint?'

Thinking about the change in Piaro's destiny, Lexus felt thrilled. A future that even he had no idea of. A future that's completely different from the one he knew.

"Very well."

Upon hearing his answer, Piaro quickly moved at a rapid pace. Despite being fast, Lexus could still sense Piaro as he twisted his body and drew out Brilliance. Then, a wave of fire that had been condensed within the white longsword of Lexus was released all at once. The destructive force of the fire, which was contained within the sword, was so powerful that it not only swept away the sand on the ground, but also transformed some of it into shards of glass.

A powerful light spread out, as if the sun had exploded, and the aftershocks continued to hit the environment around it. Piaro could feel the hot heat wave burning his skin. The excruciatingly hot air, the horrifying heat that seemed impossible to have been created by a human.

"Indeed...! You truly aren't ordinary!"

Piaro exclaimed as he was surprised at how the incinerating flame was in perfect harmony with Lexus's sword. Magic and swordsmanship, Piaro knew that having both of them to unite perfectly is not easy to achieve. Lexus rushed through the air like a meteor. The power caused the wheat in the area to flatten and the ground to sink.

'Wonderful!'

Piaro's eyes widened. He crossed the hoe and hand plow, forming a perfect defensive stance that Brilliance struck. It wasn't an easy technique unless one's physical ability was at its peak. Here, Piaro could demonstrate his stats.

Peeeeeong!

Lexus' clothes fluttered like a flag swept by a storm. The strong winds were tightly gathered around him, like a flag being blown by the wind. His sword shook as if it was about to break at any moment, and it emitted a red light. Just as he was about to swing it, the space in front of Lexus opened, and Piaro appeared. A smile appeared on Piaro's face.

'My whole body is grinning! This is such an exhilarating feeling!'

With such feelings, Piaro momentarily forgets his desire for revenge. That was just how focused he was on Lexus. The battle between the two continued, Piaro immediately appeared in the rear and struck. Piaro was pleased as Lexus blocked his attack like he had eyes in the back of his head. Piaro was frantic with delight. He wanted to sing and dance.

'My eyes were correct!'

It was like any other day. He opened his eyes at dawn, trained with the sword before going out to the fields to do farming work. He enjoyed the pleasure of sweating. Then Lexus appeared. Piaro was aware of it the moment he saw the man walking. This person was stronger than anybody he had seen so far!

"Hahahahat!"

He had just been a supporter in Greed's fight with the doppelganger. This duel would surely improve him. Piaro was filled with joy and plunged towards Lexus. The hoe flew towards Lexus' chest, who avoided it.

"Since you're doing very well, allow me to show you something incredible."

Lexus was satisfied with the ability of Piaro. He couldn't even find a single opening despite his super sensitivity being able to scan the weaknesses of the opponent. Thus, he decided to show Piaro a glimpse of the Undefeated King's Swordsmanship.

100,000 Army Massacre Sword

The power of a Sword Saint was revealed to Piaro at this time.

[You have dealt 36,000 damage to the target.]

[The target has suffered irreparable damage! All attributes are reduced by 20% and all speeds are reduced by 50%!]

[The target has exposed their weakness! For 30 seconds, any attacks to the target will unconditionally be a critical hit! Critical damage will be 1.5 times higher!]

Seeing the damage, Lexus narrowed his eyes.

'The basic level difference is huge. and there are 150 levels between us.'

It meant that he dealt 75% less damage and would receive 75% more damage. It was a big penalty for someone whose level was lower than Piaro's. Satisfy might've revolutionized the world by implementing the first virtual reality system, but it was a game at its core. In Satisfy, level was the most primitive and important concept.

10 stat points were gained every time the level increased, and users would become stronger as their stats increased. The higher their level, the stronger a user could become because they could wear good items or acquire powerful skills. It wasn't just for these simple reasons. The higher the level, the more the unique functions of the stats showed.

Let's take the strength stat for example.

If the user's level was less than 100: The user had 0.1 attack power, 3 health points and the weight limit increased by 20 with every point.

But if the user's level was above 100, it would be 0.2 attack power, 5 health points and a weight limit increase of 30 points per every point in strength. Once the level was above 200, attack power increased by 0.3, health by 7 points and the weight limit by 40 per point.

In this way, the effect of the stats increased every 100 levels. This was called the stats awakening. The effect of the stats awakening was huge, so the higher the level, the better the effect. Piaro's stats were high and the level difference of 150 was too much. His attack power wasn't properly applied, catching his ankles.

Piaro on the other hand, was unable to avoid the deadly attack of Lexus which made him realize something.

'So this is the swordsmanship of a Sword Saint.'

He had already mastered swordsmanship. Therefore, he was enlightened just from being able to witness the swordsmanship of the Sword Saint. Piaro's awareness drastically changed. He seemed to be another person.

Flash!

Piaro's body was surrounded by light.

[Piaro's stats and skills will significantly rise.]

[Sword Saint's Candidate]

★ Hidden Quest ★

Piaro has gained new enlightenment and awakened as a true swordsman.....

Just like that, Piaro was finally able to reach the threshold that he was previously unable to. Just a little more and he can finally reach it.

Looking at Lexus, Piaro's eyes were filled with determination. He was almost there, just a little more but then, Piaro saw an incoming magic.

「 Master. Please forgive this lowly servant of being rude. 」

Looking at the direction where the spell came from, Piaro's eyes shrunk as a lich with overwhelming magic power entered his vision.

「 I'm aware that I'm interrupting you master but may you leave this matter to your lowly servant? 」

With Sage Link, Lexus felt Mumud's thoughts. After obtaining the status of a legendary great magician, Mumud wanted to try to test his abilities on someone and Piaro happened to be the perfect opponent for it. Lich Mumud could feel that Piaro is strong and that it made his fighting spirit awaken.

"I'm sorry about that but well, he's one of my familiars so don't worry about him. Anyway, what do you think?"

Seeing that Mumud intervened, Lexus apologized. He then asked for Piaro's opinion if he's fine with it.

"I'm okay with it. I also want to experience the skills of a lich that were rumored to surpass the continent's 10 great magicians."

The enlightened Piaro dumped the hoe and then he grabbed the sword that had been dropped in a corner of the field and took the posture of the Supreme Swordsmanship. Having both Lexus and Piaro's agreement, Lich Mumud bowed his head.

「 Thank you for accepting my selfishness. 」