From Grade 1 to Grade 9.
Thanks to the characteristic called ‘Persistence,’ all kinds of monsters appear on the island. The chief literally spent an almost eternal amount of ti on this island.
In simple terms, it ant infinite farming was possible.
However...
“Not all of them can be high-grade essences.”
What kind of ga is [Dungeon and Stone]?
It’s a ga where you have to steadily gather lower-grade essences first to grow and only then can you farm high-grade essences.
There must be low-grade essences mixed in each range. There isn’t a priest on this island who erases essences either.
The problem is...
“The highest grade being Grade 1 is just too high.”
From here on, it all depends on the chief’s capability.
If he carelessly ate the early essences and just piled up high-grade essences later, he’d just beco a trash character with clear limits...
“His weaknesses would be obvious too.”
Of course, the opposite is also possible.
If he filled his lower essences with ones that are low grade but still usable late ga, like my [Giant Form],
“Hm, but it probably wouldn’t be that different?”
It would only make it slightly harder to find weaknesses.
No matter how much I think about it, that’s all there is.
There’s no invincible character in [Dungeon and Stone].
“Well, except for my shield barbarian.”
Anyway, which side is the chief on?
I ticulously observe all his actions and effects for exploration purposes.
So far, what’s confird is the ‘Tol-Lafupa’ [Cosmic Protection].
And...
“Looks like he has just one mobility skill.”
At the mont they faced each other, weapons drawn, the chief’s body split into two and moved.
Like a ga lagging and fras overlapping.
Ta-dat!
But since I was deliberately observing, I could quickly synthesize the information seen with my own eyes.
Steam rising from footsteps.
A body wrapped in electric currents.
And...
Pew—
A yellow wavelength blossoming at the arrival point.
“That’s [Lightning God Step].”
The skill is Grade 2.
Though it’s hard to classify it strictly as a pure mobility skill. It’s characterized by a quick dash like a blink...
Zzzzt-!
Upon arrival, it spreads a wide-area attack with paralysis effect.
Whoooosh-!
Greatly increased movent speed.
And...
“Ugh...!”
“Ma, block... huh?”
It also temporarily grants damage immunity bonus.
Just like this.
Whooosh-!
A nearby lee dealer flailed his weapon in panic, but it passed through the chief’s body.
“Is he going after Elwen?”
Ugh, disgusting chief bastard.
He really just wants to keep us stuck in this village no matter what.
Of course, I had no intention to leave him be.
“The invincibility of [Lightning God Step] has two conditions to break.”
The first is to land the first hit.
Probably why the chief ignores all other explorers and rushes straight toward Elwen.
The second is...
“Three seconds.”
You have to wait for the 3-second duration.
Of course, 3 seconds seems enough ti to plunge a knife into Elwen’s neck.
“Well, it wouldn’t matter anyway.”
Though the chief charged at Elwen with fire in his eyes, my mind was calm.
That’s because Elwen is in ‘Focus’ state right now.
“During Focus, all damage received is absorbed using soul power.”
Elwen in that state is invincible.
But...
“We are currently investigating your weaknesses.”
Since this is a key ability that might be used as a trump card soday, there’s no reason to show this trick now.
Therefore...
“The character has cast [Eye of the Storm].”
“By the power of the transcendent form, the inherent abilities of this skill are unlocked.”
I cast [Eye of the Storm] linked with [Transcendence].
Coincidentally, this can counter that skill.
Because...
“It grants damage immunity, not CC immunity.”
For reference, [Eye of the Storm] does no damage.
It’s not even a projectile.
Swaaaaaaash-!
A gust of wind blew toward as the chief, running at Elwen, flew toward in that pose.
And simultaneously.
Zzzt-!
As the 3 seconds neared the end, electric waves containing current spread around the chief.
aning the damage immunity ended.
Since I just used [Transcendence], I used [Swing] again.
“The attack range is tripled.”
The hamr, extending like Yeouibong, crashed into the chief’s body.
However, the chief’s body defied physical laws.
Instead of being blown away, it stuck to the hamr due to the gust blowing toward .
“This combo hasn’t happened in a while.”
I smoothly twisted the hamr’s trajectory.
Then, like riding a ride, I spun the chief once around on the hamr.
Kraaaang-!
And slamd him down on the opposite ground.
Not only was he grabbed, but he also ended up much farther away...
“...!”
The chief slamd into the ground coughed up blood like he was vomiting.
Though his high regeneration would let him recover quickly.
For now, the shock seed big and his getting up was a bit slow.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Oh, did you hear it from soone? I don’t rember telling you.”
“...”
The chief didn’t answer.
He just glanced once at Elwen far away after passing .
Tch, looks like he still can’t let go.
“Wake up from your dream.”
“...”
“You will never get there.”
“Until I defeat you?”
“Tha—!”
I was about to say ‘Yes’ when the chief’s form disappeared from my sight.
With my lacking agility stat, I searched for the chief’s body again, only to see he had already taken a stance to swing a sword at close range.
Kraaaang-!
The sword strike hit the shield I barely raised in ti.
From fighting with a shield every day, I knew imdiately.
The damage to the shield was much greater.
Before, it was just so scratches.
“This almost feels like a dent.”
Of course, I didn’t question this phenonon.
It wasn’t that the chief used a new skill, but that I had just gotten weaker.
“[Transcendence] will have a cooldown of 1 minute before it reactivates.”
The passive [Evolved Exterior] grants 50% sword resistance.
Using [Iron Fortress] raises it to 75%.
If the passive effects increase 1.5 tis due to [Transcendence], it’s almost immunity...
But sadly, sword resistance has a limit.
The maximum sword resistance any character can have is 85%.
Simply put, for the next minute, 85% was reduced to 75%.
“In other words, damage that was coming in at 15% is now coming in at 25%.”
Though it’s a simple 10% difference, the actual perceived damage increase is nearly double.
Kraaaang-!
As I blocked the chief’s fierce sword swings, reinforcents arrived from behind.
“From now on, I’ll help too.”
“Ah! Ah! too...!”
“... too! too!”
Our clan’s lee trio consisting of Alia, Misha, and Ainard.
“Be careful. He’s not an easy opponent.”
I was a bit worried but we didn’t retreat and kept fighting together.
Because there are things you can’t figure out by just taking hits.
“Alia Rainwails cast [Abyssal Power].”
“Misha Kalstein cast [Glacial Soul].”
“Ainard Fnelin cast [Wild Control].”
I was the main tank, and the lee trio used as a wall, swinging weapons carefully like walking a tightrope.
During this, we discovered a new essence of the chief.
Kuruuruung-!
Dark mist spread around the chief, releasing electric currents.
[Thundercloud]
A Grade 2 skill that deals wide-range lightning damage around the caster and reduces skill cooldown proportionally to the number of hits.
“...Ugh, ugh!”
Still, only four of us, including , were hit by the lightning, so the cooldown probably didn’t reduce much.
But...
“The cooldown on [Lightning God Step] must have fully reset.”
“Everyone get as far away as possible!”
As soon as the decision was made, I hurriedly pulled the lee trio back.
Sure enough.
Ta-dat-!
The chief’s body dashed forward, wrapped in electric current, and entered damage immunity state.
And the chief’s target this ti was...
“Ainard!!”
Since the distance was close, using a grab was impossible.
But...
“Ainard Fnelin cast [Crouch].”
“All resistance stats increase 20 tis for 3 minutes.”
“Natural regeneration increases 20 tis for 3 minutes.”
Right, that was it.
“All resistance stats increase 20 tis for 3 minutes.”
A shining sword slashed Ainard’s torso, carving deep enough to show bone.
Still, it’s not a problem unless it’s instant death.
“Natural regeneration increases 20 tis for 3 minutes.”
The real strength of [Crouch] is in regeneration.
“Still, one of us is out...”
Ainard was down early after only a few seconds of fighting.
But we gained sothing.
“Now I roughly understand the concept.”
The chief is a lightning swordman.
Even if [Lightning God Step] is obvious, the just-used [Thundercloud] confird it. [Thundercloud] can be used publicly, but its attached passive is not.
[Conductor].
A passive skill that stacks when using lightning-type skills and grants additional bonuses to all lightning skills.
Anyway, finding this out was pretty important.
If the chief is a lightning swordsman, I could reasonably guess about the shining sword.
“Surely it’s [Extre Charge].”
A weapon enchant-type transformation ability, classified like [Abyssal Power].
Uniquely, it receives synergy from lightning but deals physical damage.
One thing leads to another.
More new information was added.
“If he has [Extre Charge], he must have that passive too...”
It was like discovering four essences already.
“Why are all four above Grade 2 already?”
Is there a way to erase essences?
The average grade level is much higher than I expected.
But summing up to give a rough score:
“Five points.”
Oh, of course, out of ten.
Even if the lightning concept is decent, the synergy doesn’t look good.
“Well, just with [Thundercloud] alone, there are so many skills you could chain and cheat with.”
Still, thanks to high-grade essences, the overall value is very high. But I wished the remaining essences were also high grade.
A character with broken balance also has many weaknesses.
“Okay, then let’s call it a day for today...”
One.
As I silently counted the last seconds alone,
Whoooooosh-!
The whole world was dyed in light with a roar.
At the sa ti, Versil in the rear announced the good news to everyone.
“...It’s, it’s open! The entrance really opened!”
It was ti to leave this cursed village.
The burning village and the shattered village entrance.
And the empty square in front of it where the explorers sward away.
Behind the chief watching over it, the village warriors appeared.
“Chief, all fires attached to the village have been extinguished.”
The warriors reported on the damage scale and number of casualties, but the chief’s expression showed no change.
It was natural.
It didn’t matter if a few monsters died.
Only one thing mattered to the chief right now.
“I still don’t understand how they figured it out.”
Bjorn Yandel.
The most famous explorer of this era, chief of the Barbarian tribe — one of the six major races.
And a baron of the kingdom.
“...If only there was a little more ti.”
Like a mountain slowly worn ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) down by the wind, a ripple arose in his dulled emotions battered by ti.
It was regret.
But he quickly shook off this rare human feeling.
“Chief, we’ll form a pursuit team.”
“Enough.”
“...What? But...”
“Right now, we must fix the village first. That will... be safe, right?”
“Yes. As you confird earlier, it’s safe.”
Good, then that’s settled.
Nothing has changed yet.
Though things got a little complicated, that was still the only thing.
The chief closed his eyes and recalled the fierce barbarian he had just fought.
“Bjorn Yandel, huh...”
In many ways, he was a beast.
In so aspects, more so than the monsters in this village.
“When we et again, you’ll be stronger.”
But in the chief’s quietly muttered gaze, a faint emotion surfaced.
It was joy.
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