Chapter 134: You thief!
The skills were incredibly useful. With just one blow of the sword, I could split the sea in half and kill an army a million-strong. This couldn't be achieved only with the help of effort and willpower; the skills of the fantasy world had created such a miracle.
However, this was only possible when the skills had a high rank. I didn't know how it compared to those on Earth, but his skills were the same as those of others for me. If the first playthrough of my companions could be attributed to the B-rank, then Luke was at the C-rank maximum. Some skills were effective at a low rank, but I roughly knew how to handle them.
This was a combat strategy available only to Heroes who could view each other's skills. Therefore, looking at Luke's skills, I could think about fighting him and what attacks to fear. But Luke? He couldn't know anything. He wasn't a fool, so he immediately realized that there was some kind of special effect from my race, but I didn't have any skills, so it was difficult to get information.
"Something similar to the Overpower skill? " Luke muttered to himself.
He didn't become a graduate for nothing. Luke realized that I gained strength by sacrificing levels. Although he didn't realize that this was different from the Overpower skill, he already proved that he was significantly different from Sieg. However…
"Weak."
It was too obvious as to how he relied on skills as I knocked the Magic Sword out of Luke's hands. Green energy, consisting of a dense concentration of experience points, blocked the sharp blade without any problem.
"What the?!"
Luke felt confused. He thought that I would dodge the blow because he was holding not a wooden sword but a Magic one. If you were to think logically, it was unpredictable. How often did it go exactly as you planned? It was interesting just when there were some changes. And at such a moment, there was no need to rush.
Level 895 → Level 893
After spending a few more experience points, I concentrated on my legs and sent a kick flying!
"Aaak?!"
Luke, hit right in the shin, screamed. The Slime Armor absorbed most of the damage, but even so, the blow was severe. Luke's face contorted as he was knocked off balance. It was a strikingly different expression from how it was when I saw him for the first time.
I like it. This is for you!
Crack-!
With my left hand, I smacked him right in the face. I would have been taken to the police station for this on Earth, but it was allowed in this wild fantasy world. Even murder wasn't punishable here, so what about a slap in the face?
This time it was serious. Again, I had hit an unprotected place. Luke didn't fall from just one blow, but his gaze dimmed. He still stood on two legs not because of willpower but because of the effect of his skills.
How long would he last? In this state, he would be able to dodge any light blows purely automatically. However, my blows weren't light.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
I transferred half of the strength I had in my right hand to my left hand and then began to hit Luke's body with both. I didn't give him a chance to counterattack. Luke's body flew into the air, and I didn't stop hitting to keep it from falling. However, when my combo reached 100 hits, I shouted:
"I give up!"
And then I dropped to the muddy ground of the training ground. I hit him more, but I looked worse. Since receiving the wound on the shoulder at the beginning of the battle, blood had been gushing in different directions.
"Kh…I see. Is it a side effect? "said Luke, recovering from the blows.
He looked quite healthy. His handsome face suffered a bit, but thanks to Slime Armor, he could withstand all my blows. His wounds were primarily on the inside.
"In any case, I give up. I don't want my level to get even lower."
I didn't deny his guesses and evasively moved on to another topic. The Overpower skill absorbed your level in exchange for power in battle, but when the effect of the skill ended, you would immediately become weak and sluggish. These were the consequences. The effect of my race, "Natural Human," was somewhat similar to this skill. Although such consequences didn't come, it had become a good excuse to end this pointless fight.
I wanted to end on a good note, not after being trampled into the ground.
"As I thought, brother! I immediately realized that you are unusually strong without skills! But this power has a great price, so that everything fell into place," Luke agreed with a puffy face.
Continuing the fight would be problematic, so it was good that he was pleased with victory in the fight in which he was beaten.
"The fight is over! Luke won!" Alex delivered the verdict.
"Haha! Thank you. There was minimal difference between us. If I didn't last until the end, I think Kang Han Soo would have won. Because of this, I think this victory is even more valuable."
Then he approached me, who was still lying on the muddy ground.
"It was a good fight."
"It was."
Thanks to this, I relieved the stress accumulated from the failure with the 9th playthrough.
"Kang Han Soo, take my hand ~ Khaaa?!"
Leaning towards me with a smile on his swollen face and reaching out to me, Luke suddenly grabbed his back and fell facedown.
Flap!
It seemed that he had an intervertebral hernia. Now I, standing up and shaking off the dirt from my clothes, held out my hand to Luke with a fair smile.
"Luke. Take my hand."
"W-Wait! Don't touch me; it hurts ~ Khaa?!"
Thus ended the friendly duel between the two Heroes.
*
A planned episode of the story called "Alex's Training" was skipped because we were stronger than Alex. However, we didn't set out on our journey right away. I would have liked to leave as soon as possible, but Luke said we must take the future Sword King, Alex, as a companion.
Because of this, we stayed in the palace until Alex handed over his responsibilities to someone else.
"Luke, is that all?"
"Of course!"
After a friendly duel, Luke began a relationship with the princess. Because of his aching back, he couldn't make much progress, but thanks to the "Rapid Reputation Increases" effect of the Unique Human race, he didn't experience any problems. I wasn't wasting my time, either.
Level 893 → Level 1215
Working hard, I gained experience points. Strong or weak, I didn't discriminate and accepted all of them.
"Tsk! Looking at you, brother, I feel ashamed," Luke clicked his tongue as he saw my growth.
However, he didn't see my exact level, so he just said that. After all, the level was shown only up to 999.
"Who's next?"
After seeing how Luke made an innocent sheep out of Alex, I began to trust his guide more. Intuition told me that if I continued the journey as he said, then I could graduate. That was why I had lost to Luke. If relations between us deteriorated, there would be nothing left but to extract information from him by torture.
And that would be way too tiresome.
Luke replied, "After Sword King Alex, we can choose ourselves. It is possible to get the future Elven Queen Sylvia at the black market, although this is a bit early. And we also have a choice between the Saint from the central continent, the mermaid Aqua and the imperial princess of the Holy Empire."
Male companions could also be found in the central continent, but I didn't ask why he didn't mention them.
"So where do we go first?"
"To Sylvia."
"Mm?"
Did he say that he would get her later in the auction?
"Hehe. I will share with you some special information obtained from the guide. Sylvia is known for being difficult to get as a companion since she hates people. But if you use this method, you can easily get Sylvia."
"…Interesting."
Was there a secret plan to easily acquire this evil and human-hating elf as a companion? I can't imagine that.
"Follow me; I'll show you."
This time around, Luke donned casual clothes instead of his Slime Armor.
"Heroes! Where are you going? Lanuvel can come with you?" Lanuvel intervened, eternally curled among us like a snake.
I was going to tell her not to pretend to be cute in front of us, but endured. I didn't want to repeat the tragedy of the ninth passage.
"Haha! Sweet Miss Lanuvel, of course, you can come with us. It's just a walk."
Luke still allowed her to come with us. Then…
"Ahem! Luke, why did you go for a walk without me?"
Lanuvel's voice was too loud? Alex, now busy trying to find a worthy candidate for his post, stopped and showed a desire to join us. Right from the first playthrough, this often happened. The hero can choose companions, but for some reason, the same ones appeared every time. Their skills were higher than normal people, but the fact that they were ambitious worked out better.
They were too ambitious, just like a certain imperial princess.
With this, Luke and I took the dummies with us and set off north of the capital of the Dumpling Kingdom.
"Why here…?"
Hearing my question, Luke calmly replied.
"According to the guide, Sylvia should come here today. A level 1 hero, of course, cannot cope alone, so if you convince Alex and bring the knights, you can help her escape. But we are so strong, so we don't need the help of others."
"Ho…"
I didn't even think about that. Alex and Lanuvel, hearing our conversation, were surprised, but didn't attach any importance to it, because Luke said on the very first day that he was from the future. But the guide also had a limit. The author roughly indicated where to meet Sylvia, but no exact information about the time and place.
And so, we just stood in the middle of a wheat field.
Spirit E → Spirit D
Was it because we left town? The spirits playing in the field were attracted to me like a magnet.
"I'm too popular…hmm? They came?"
I muttered to myself and heard the spirits report, shamelessly soliciting the Hero, that our game appeared.
"Hold them!"
"Don't miss it!"
"Over there!"
The men in dark hoods were chasing two elves, but the elves didn't run very quickly. Handcuffs and shackles hampered them. I knew immediately who it was.
Sylvia and Archer E.
I didn't even need to interfere because Luke and the dummies rushed forward and dealt with those suspicious guys. They had no intention to acquire the two elves peacefully. When I saw what happened, I could only say one thing.
"My God…Heaven will punish you."
The beautiful golden field was instantly destroyed. Were these elves so valuable that it was necessary to spoil the work of the farmers who were trying to feed themselves by the sweat of their brows? Anyway…
Two elves in provocative outfits, covering only the important parts of their body, were saved. Judging by their appearance, they hadn't washed for a long time. It seemed that if you got too close to them, you would grow sick from some kind of infection.
Luke explained to me, "Next to Sylvia is her archery teacher. They say she raised her instead of the Queen of Elfheim, who only cares about her first son, Prince Nasus. Soon, her teacher must die while escaping. After that, Sylvia will hate people even more. But if we save her, we can get close to Sylvia."
"Aha…"
I felt all the greatness of the guide.
Spirit D → Spirit S
During this time, my Spirit skill was rapidly increasing. There was a lot of natural energy on this earth.
"Elves, if something hurts, tell Lanuvel!"
Woong-
Woong-
Lanuvel, who had just murdered people in cold blood, became cute again. She healed the minor wounds of two elves with magic, and then Sylvia came up to me.
"You thief! Give my spirits back!"
Apparently, making friends wouldn't work.