It has been a couple of hours since his fight with the Goblins, now with new weapons and armor, he grew confident in hunting monsters above his rank. He could probably go back to the normal meta of 2-+ ranks. But with new weapons, his old style of relying on [Sword Emperor Dance] would not be enough. He needs new martial arts for his new weapons, Sword and Spear.
"um, so how should I role this new character? The arrogant fighter? The underdog? The mysterious one? So many possibilities."
He continues to speak to himself as he arrives at a small clearing, he has not encountered any monsters for some time. He could only blame the battle between those two mini-bosses. But might as well enjoy this moment of peace, as he puts the four spears on the ground. He grabs his sword and started to do downward and upward swings.
With simple movements, he slowly closes his eyes as he recalls the lore of the technique. Soon the sword swings change, as the sword goes down, he will stop halfway, and with strength and speed do an upward slash. But doing this hurt his arm, such a sudden change went against the normal flow of the body.
He continues to practice this swing, slowly moving QI around his body to reduce the backlash of the technique. Soon his own body started to move, he will not stay still in a fight and do this move. He will be moving. Soon he combines this swing with his dance.
He stops focusing on the sword, but on his own body. Soon a simple swing of the sword made his whole body move. Soon everything came together, dance and swing. As the mechanical voice of the system rings in his head.
[Tsubame Gaeshi(Heaven) Rank 1 has been learned]
[For learning a Heaven Stage technique 20 fate points have been awarded]
Happy with the notification, he opens his eyes and notices the damage around him. It seems with the QI needed it for the attack, he did some accidental damage to the environment, probably the same way Gu Ah did that air attack.
Now that he had a sword martial art, he just needs one for his spear. He puts the sword on his side as he grasps one of the spears. Soon he went through the same motion, his eyes closed and he recalls the lore. Moving the QI around his body, he swings the spear down. He does this, again and again, soon incorporating it into the dance, the QI in his arm muscles condense as he does one large strong swing. The sound of a crash enters his ears and so does the system.
[Soragui(Heaven) Rank 1 has been learned]
[For learning a Heaven Stage technique 20 fate points has been awarded]
He slowly opens his eyes as he notices a large mark on the ground, it looked like someone split the ground in front of him in half. He did not expect such a move to do that much damage, but as his eyes focus on the spear in his hand, he notices the sorry state it was on.
Broken in half, its metal tip now completely in pieces, the spear was no longer useful. As Mors sees this he could not help but frown, this is not what he wanted, he needs these spears, and is not like he makes more at this movement. But such a powerful move could prove to be useful.
He throws the broken spear away as he gathers the remaining spear. He sets out once again looking for something to hunt, with the sun already past the halfway point, he knew he those not have that much time left for the day.
After a few minutes of walking, with nothing to stab and or slash, he notices a small clearing. But as he is about to enter it, he stops. As his eyes look at the wounded Fire Salamander in it. Licking its bleeding wounds, one of its eyes was cut clean of its socket.
'It looks like it lost against the Lighting Wolf'
He thinks to himself, soon his eyes wander to the sword on his side and the spears on his back. He swallows a mouthful of saliva. What he was thinking now was very risky but very rewarding. If he hunts and kills this mini-boss, the [Earth] treasure from it will really increase his stats. If he gets really lucky and he gets an elemental core, things will be even better.
'If I can get another elemental core from the other mini-bosses. It will improve my chances of getting a self-reforming'
The worse that could happen is that he dies and needs to restart. But there is one small worry he has.
'this VR game is too realistic, the pain that I feel, the battle between the mini-bosses. The way I am learning techniques. If not for the system I would have thought I have been transported to a world similar to The Cultivation Tower'
Mors looks at his trembling hand, he has done a lot of killing before and had almost died multiple times. If he truly did dieback on the fire and this is a new life. Will he get another chance if he dies now? Will he go to heaven with his family and friends? Such though slowly polluted his mind.
His hand slowly grabbed the sword in his waist. Sweat built up in his forehead and hands. If he could end it all now? Will he finally be granted peace? But as his sword slowly reaches his neck, he stops. He closes his eyes and punches his face. As the pain brings him back to reality, he opens his eyes. Tasting iron.
'Get yourself together! Game or not! Real-life or not! What is the point in having self-doubt and worrying about such things? I am alive! I will beat this game! I will reach the end of the tower! I will get immortality!'
Angry at himself, Mors slowly raises his body. His left-hand grabs one of the spears as he rushes forward. Not caring about staying hidden. As he runs towards the Fire Salamander, the monster turns around and looks at him with fierce eyes. This lowly thing dares attack it!? How dare he!
As the salamander fully turns around to attack Mors, Mors raises the spear above his head. He moves his QI to his arms, as he swings the spear downward with great strength and speed. The spear in the process breaks into parts as a visible force cuts down the earth in half.
As the visible force reaches the salamander it cuts one of its back legs and half of its tail. Flesh blood paints the grass. Mors throws the spear away as he rushes towards the Fire Salamander with a sword in hand.
The Fire Salamander was now fully pissed off, first was that arrogant wolf, and now this weak human!? They weren't even in the same cultivation rank! The Fire Salamander rushes towards Mors, but with one less leg and half of his tail missing. It could not move as fast as he wanted.
Soon both forces clash, as the Fire Salamander opens its mouth to bite down on Mor's head. Mors on the other hand does a downward swing with his sword while dodging the attack. Of course, both attacks miss, but to the Fire Salamander's surprise, the sword stops halfway before going upwards at fast speed.
Its target is no other than its remaining eye. It tries to dodge out of the way, but the missing limb proves to be deadly. As he did not dodge out of the way in time, soon its other eye got cut out of its socket. As it flew in the air and more blood escapes it, it knew that death was near.
Mors turns around as he pierces his sword into the now open eye socket, the sword reaching the brain of the Fire Salamander. As its life ended just like that. He takes his sword out of the Fire Salamander's skull, brain, and blood covering his new sword. As the Fire Salamander crashes into the ground, Mor breaths out before he screams.
"There is no equal for me under heaven! Only those weaker and stronger than me!"
His strong scream echoes in the forest, the monsters not daring to come out. Mors look down at the dead mini-boss as he started to cut it into pieces. Looking for the [Earth] treasure, not all monsters drop [Earth] treasures, only those that have gone through a self reforming once.
At least that it's how it was explained in the game, the real reason, is that mini-bosses and bosses need to drop better loot. Soon Mors finds the treasure, a small red in color orb. The orb itself is emanating a large amount of heat. Not an uncomfortable amount, but enough to get him sweating.
"told you It will be easy to find one in the wild that to pay 5000 for its"
He says, reminding the system of the otherworldly price of Elemental Monster Cores. This thing will help him cultivate as well as heal his body and make it stronger. This thing is especially useful for his heart, making the act of pumping blood easier and better.
As he looks at the core in his hand, Mors eats it. Soon the core enters his stomach and started to dissolve, like salt in water. Soon the fire QI in it started to enter his cells and organs, spreading all around. His old scars and wounds heal in the blink of an eye.
His skin turning darker, the muscles in his heart becoming cleaner and stronger. As the QI concentration in his body slowly increases. Of course, while this was happening while he was cultivating. Doing the deadly and beautiful dance of the Sword Emperor.
[ Fire Elemental Monster Core has been consumed, the host heart has become stronger and old wounds have healed. Your affinity with fire had increased. +5 to all stats]
[For killing the ruling monster [Fire Salamander] 100 points have been awarded]
[Mortal Rank 3->4]
[New special event has appeared. The forest is in chaos, a ruling monster has died.]
[Event: Rise of a new Lord has been triggered. Kill all remaining ruling monsters in this forest before reaching Warrior Stage. [Earth] treasures will have a better effect on the host.
1/5 ruling monsters killed
Reward: Depends on your achievements
Failure to kill all monsters will result in -1000 fate points]
[Name: Mors Mundin
Cultivation: Mortal Rank 4
Stats:
Mind: 28
Body: 27
Soul: 27
Martials Art:
[Sword Emperor Dance(Heaven) Rank 2]
[Tsubame Gaeshi(Heaven) Rank 1 ]
[Soragui(Heaven) Rank 1]
Talents:
Fate Points: 142]
[Tsubame Gaeshi]
[A sword strike made by a great swordsman. From the Era of War. This sword technique will cut down limbs in seconds. Leaving the enemy confuse]
[Active Skill, cost QI to cast, can easily cut enemies' body parts. The cost will decrease with soul and Power will increase with soul]
[Soragui]
[ A spear swing strong enough to split the heavens. Made by a great commander from the Era of War. It can do devastating damage]
[Active skill, cost Qi to cast, makes a large strike that cuts down enemies, the earth, and the heavens in half. The cost will decrease with soul and power will increase with soul]