Evan D. Sherden. Prepares For the Dungeon (3)
"Oh Wow!"
"They're coming from above, from above!"
"Whoa!"
When Raihan wore the armour-shaped shield, the invisible shield, and the Echo Shield, which inflicted twice the amount of damage on the wielder, he was able to rapidly evolve his skills even as he practised the shield technique everywhere.
He already had a natural talent for the shielding technique in the first place. Even if he got accepted into the combat squad of the knight division, in half a year, he could become the best tanker in the dungeon.
"Aha!"
"Oh, you've already stopped more than half of the arrows. Oh, your side is bleeding. Keep defending yourself while healing!"
"But they're coming through the gaps in my armour too…? Aah! My whole body!"
The reason Evan had additionally given him the artefact that shot magic arrows at Raihan, even at the expense of a lot of money, was because he had decided that it would help Raihan's ability to grow even more in the long term.
'As the artifact is dangerous, and is able to judge the reflexes of its user, it shoots a magic arrow accordingly…'
It could be said that the difficulty was fixed in the nightmare (the cursed artefact became even more vicious) mode. At different modes, even the speed at which the magic arrows flew after being summoned, the magical power contained by each one (therefore varying powers), and the pattern in which it attacked changed.
As it was a growth-type artefact, the number of magic arrows that were summoned increased gradually and strengthened in power. With that artefact alone, Raihan could devote himself to shield skill training anytime, anywhere!
Even if the user grew up, to compensate for the shortcomings, a more lethal attack would fly the very next moment, so Raihan would not be aware that his skills were improving in real-time and would continue to practice.
"Healing! Don't forget to heal, brother!"
"I can't heal my whole body at the same time…! No!"
Raihan, who was a priest, had another skill up his sleeve through which he could save others, which was healing. It was something he had to be more skilled at than anything else.
He knew healing magic because he had taken priesthood classes.
One may be used to exercising it and healing people in general, but using healing magic amid an imminent battle was another problem.
'This training method is perfect right now to improve Raihan's skills as a tanker…. Now, whenever someone used healing magic, he or she had to heal the complete body. But as your skill level increased, you were able to heal only the wounded parts of your body.'
In fact, in only a matter of a few hours, Raihan was starting to heal himself little by little as he grasped to use the healing spell on particular parts of the body.
He was learning to protect the gaps in his armour by dealing with the magic arrows that came at him endlessly.
The kind of growth that Evan expected from him was hard to acquire. The problem wasn't just raising the skill level blindly. The real training depended on pure sense!
"The arrows are flying at the back of the head! They could be fatal if they hit their target!"
"Right, Master… Oh!"
Now that Raihan had started learning shield skills, how could he stop all the magic arrows? Eight magic arrows appeared each time the artefact was triggered. Six of them hit his body directly.
It hurt if the armour – which wasn't even real armour in the first place! – was hit by something. Raihan's shield technique training and healing magic training were being tested and improved at the same time.
'By the way… It's been a while since I started training, and I can already begin to notice that my movements are improving little by little.'
It could be said that it was due to the power of eight times the training efficiency or Raihan's innate shielding technique. However, this couldn't be expressed clearly.
In the process of training his body without hesitation, Raihan was starting to learn to move in a situation where multiple attacks were coming from all directions at the same time.
"Okay, now you can just start training alone, brother."
Evan was worried that he would have to watch Raihan for at least a few days, but now that he was witnessing the man's progress, it seemed like he was already doing well on his own.
Looking at him, Evan couldn't help but think that talented people were really special no matter what.
"You can do it on your own from now on."
"I stopped them! Haha! Okay, huh! I can!"
Evan gave him a brief lecture on his body's reaction when his HP and MP would fall below the safe range. He then turned around after telling him to take enough rest and resume training if one of them became dangerously low.
Shine was waiting for him. He was holding a black and red dagger, which was the 'Twin Blood' in both his hands.
"Shine, you should also start in earnest now."
"I don't think you're talking about ordinary double swordsmanship training, Master."
"You're already doing quite well on your own."
It wasn't just Raihan who had exceeded Evan's expectations.
In the past two years, Belois's ability to use magic power had grown rapidly due to the lamp training's efficiency.
Shine had also grown enough to compete with the knights with double swordsmanship.
Fighting against the knights was supposed to be difficult due to their overwhelming physical strength, but rather than being beaten while dealing with a large number of knights at the same time, Shine's performance was really admirable as he was able to use his body perfectly to defend himself, sometimes even hitting them and then escaping out of their reach.
"No, you just had to make me train with the others Master. Using those people to force me! I can train very well alone."
Suddenly, he was ambushed from behind. A knight tried to stab him.
"Anyway, thanks to that, I got accustomed to the true spirit of 'Cheonan.' Actually, I'm also getting quite familiar with my body Master."
Cheonan was one of two skills that the butler had intensively taught Shine. He was trained to be able to acquire a lot of information through both his eyes at once so that he could understand and cope with the situation at any time. In other words, when it came to transcendental vision, Shine was someone they could count on.
'Youngshin' was another ability the butler had taught him.
Shine had actually succeeded in learning them both, and according to his own words, he seemed to be polishing the two skills through the battles with knights.
When Evan saw Shine, he wished he still could check someone's status during the game, after a long time. Youngshin and Cheonan were such skills that didn't even exist in the original game!
"To be honest, I am very surprised. I thought it would be a success even if you somehow grew enough to survive in the dungeon by yourself. But now, Shine you are ready enough to go in."
At first, Evan had been anxious about whether Shine and Belois would be able to survive even if he gave them five artifacts and sent them to the first floor. But the results had been quite different.
Shine's rapid growth seemed to insist, "This is the power of the 3rd Top Ranker of Yo-Ma Great War!" It was so scary to realize that he had levelled up in just two years while being a Rookie, which was almost impossible to do without entering the dungeon.
"But, to look at it from the opposite perspective, isn't it actually true that I am the one not having enough physical strength to enter the dungeon up to this point?"
"That's because of the limit of us Rookies who can't go to the dungeon for training, Master."
Evan nodded at Shine's words.
It didn't matter how much the butler educated Shine or how often he trained with the Knights Commander. Even if he drank a potion from the Brotherhood Pharmacy every day, replenished his stamina, and healed his body by entering Brotherhood Bathhouse, it could not further improve his physical strength.
Because his body had a limit.
But Shine had been so desperate that he had already achieved the transcendental double swordsmanship technique and improved his agility.
"My weak body is resentful, Master."
"Wait. I already have thought of a way for you to keep improving. That's what I want you to intensively practice from today onward."
"What…? Ahhh."
Shine nodded as if he knew what Evan was talking about. The two daggers or Twin Blood were in his hand.?The moment he was recognized as its Master, a skill was engraved in his soul.
"I also have 'Blood bird' now Master. The ability to move faster and restore stamina as more blood is continuously absorbed by the dagger. I loved it from the moment I got it."
"It's a skill that is perfect for you with a combat style specializing in one against many. Moreover, since it is a skill that continues to grow with practice, so it will become a truly tremendous ability later on."
"But… How can I practice it without blood?"
Shine looked crestfallen. When he had first come to know about this skill, he was overjoyed. As Evan had said, it could be even considered a lifelong ability.
But the joy did not last long.
After all, this skill was an ability that could not be used or levelled up unless the dagger was covered with blood!
"You can get blood on it."
"Then, are you telling me to kill someone, Master?"
"No, Shine."
Evan rummaged through the inventory pocket. Shine, who was nervous about a monster corpse coming out of it, soon relaxed. Evan had taken out an ordinary potion bottle.𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝑐𝘰𝑚
It was a bottle filled with red liquid…
"… Young Master. Is this what I think it is?"
"It's monster blood. A goblin's to be exact."
Evan began explaining to Shine, who listened to him silently.
"In contrast to Twin Blood, Blood Bird temporarily boosts your physical abilities. This was why I thought you wouldn't be able to train in childhood because it is a skill that puts a lot of strain on the body. So I decided only after your body had grown a bit, you could start practising it to go deeper into the dungeon."
"But I have grown a lot more than you thought, didn't I, Master…?"
"It's all thanks to the Brotherhood Pharmacy and the Brotherhood Bathhouse, that you have many ways to replenish stamina. So I am now confident that you can start training your skills before entering the dungeon. I already know how to practice."
Evan took out potion bottles from the inventory pocket and laid them out. The liquid contained in it was slightly different in colour, but Shine could still recognize that it was blood… In fact, all of them were bottles containing the blood of other monsters.
"The important thing in Blood Bird training is not how much blood is used but how many different types of blood is used in a limited amount of time, and how much the body moves within that time."
"So, did you get each type of blood for this, Master?"
"It doesn't have to be collected from anyone else other than the original monster's species. It just needs to be from a different entity, as it is more efficient."
"Master always presents a path beyond my wildest imaginations."
To develop a skill that grew only when blood was used, there was no way Evan could bring blood in a bottle! Evan suggested a more specific training method to Shine, who was staring into the distance.
"First, you have to put blood A on both daggers and start running on a 100m round track. After that, put the blood on the left dagger and run again for 100 meters. Then again put the blood on the right dagger, and after a round trip of 100 meters, dip the left dagger with blood C. After running for a 100 meters, keep dipping your daggers in different types of blood. This is the most efficient way to practice the 'Blood Bird' technique."
It was a training method that seemed to look like a very strange religious ritual from a distance. If Shine hadn't been one of the Marquis's men, he would have been captured by the soldiers.
"Young Master, can I really defeat monsters by practising like this… ?"
"I think we should also give up on the double swordsmanship, right?"
"… I'll do it, Master. It isn't impossible to do."
As Evan tilted his head, Shine shrugged and then nodded.
'Didn't his double swordsmanship ability grow tremendously just by cross-touching the double swords?'
Evan thought Shine had come a long way through pure will.
Shine opened the potion bottle containing the goblin's blood while constantly grinding his teeth. That was the moment when Shine's skill training, which was full of different techniques, started in earnest.
'I have instructed both Raihan and Shine. Only Lua remains now.'
Evan thought about her and raised his head. His forehead was slightly wrinkled. Belois had been doing lamp training by herself.
Evan couldn't find her anywhere.
'She obviously has a secret.'
Until now, Evan had ignored her. However, to enter the dungeon together in the future, it was necessary to check her abilities and educate her to grow her skills more accurately… He couldn't put it off any longer.
'I have no choice but to teach her too.'
Evan finally nodded with determination.
He began to search for Belois.