Chapter 67 - Mid-Grade Expert (4)

The method of creating a weapon with shadow was simple.

First, extract the shadow, then gather it together, stretch it out long... and shape it into the form of a mace.

To put it in an analogy, it was like making a mace out of clay.

The creation itself wasn't that difficult, but the problem was that the appearance was quite crude.

As long as it functions as a weapon, it doesn't matter much, but it's more like a club than a mace, which is a bit off.

Thinking it had changed to look like a weapon a goblin might carry, I laughed hollowly.

Deciding to practice making a proper appearance when I have time later, I gripped the shadow mace tightly.

First, I need to check its maximum capacity, so let's hit hard.

I was already in a weakened state after the melee, but I should be able to land one good hit.

With that thought, I ran as fast as I could and struck down on a soldier's head.

Thwack!

It sounded more like hitting with a baseball bat than striking with a mace.

It seemed the shadow mace was lighter than a real mace, so its power was reduced due to the decreased weight.

If it's like this, there's no need to use a shadow mace.

If it was this light, it might be better to use a sword-type weapon.

I considered sharpening the shadow mace and changing it into a sword shape, but…

Realizing that sharpening it was quite a tricky task, I frowned.

Then what would be the best way to do this...

There must be a way to make the most of the advantages of this weapon I had created.

However, as that method didn't intuitively come to mind, my thoughts were becoming complicated when suddenly, the shadow fragments remaining in my hand caught my eye.

Wait, if the power is weak, I can just fill it with power in a different way, right?

For example... deliberately making the weapon explode like a shadow bomb?

As this thought quickly crossed my mind, the corners of my mouth naturally lifted.

That's right. If the power is lacking, I can just increase it in that form.

Thinking I could make it so that the top part of the shadow mace exploded with each hit, I raised the corners of my mouth widely.

And using shadow technique, if I quickly repair the exploded part...

A weapon that could continuously deliver explosive damage would be complete.

At this point, it was become ambiguous to call it a mace, but…

From the beginning, what I wanted from a mace was tremendous power, so I thought it wouldn't matter much and raised the corners of my mouth.

***

Boom!

I was satisfied seeing the soldier's body explode with a huge explosion the moment I struck down with the mace.

By the way, the method of causing the explosion was how to use “mana”.

If I pushed mana into the “surface” of the shadow, the shadow mace would become solid, allowing for normal use.

If I pushed it into the interior instead of the surface, it would become a bomb mace, allowing for destructive power.

So if I controlled this well while fighting, I could continue the battle without much difficulty.

I smiled and continued to attack, blowing up the surroundings.

Boom! Boom!

As I was feeling satisfied watching the enemies quickly disappear, I saw figures in golden armor clanking out of a huge castle in the distance.

I'm not sure exactly, but there's a high probability those guys are the elite troops of this place.

Just looking at the amount of mana latent in those guys, it seemed at least twice as much as the enemies around me.

Thinking this, I was stretching my body and about to move forward when suddenly, a massive amount of magic and arrows poured down on my position, blocking all escape routes.

Seeing the countless incoming attacks, I was pondering how to avoid them when a pretty good idea occurred to me, and I pushed my body into the shadow.

Not bad.

By weaving shadows together, I could use them to move far away.

Using this to escape far away, I raised the corners of my mouth.

From now on, I can fight faster using this.

Thinking I no longer needed to charge in recklessly, I was about to deal with the surrounding enemies using the explosion of the shadow mace when suddenly, a thought quickly crossed my mind.

But is it right to fight like this?

The reason I came here in the first place was to grow my abilities.

I started to wonder if there was any meaning in catching many enemies using tricks like the shadow mace bomb.

...No matter how I think about it, this isn't right.

Realizing that catching many enemies wasn't meaningful, but my personal growth was more important, I brushed up my hair.

So from now on, I'll stop using such petty tricks and…

Deciding to continue training using physical abilities as much as possible, I decided to face the enemies charging at me from the front.

***

For reasons unknown, not only did most physiological phenomena like hunger, thirst, sleepiness, or the need to excrete disappear while I was here, but even if I suffered serious injuries or died from an unexpected blow, I returned to a normal body state.

So no matter how many times I died, no matter how painful it was, it always brought me back to a “state where I could fight again”, allowing me to fight without rest.

Yes, I could fight without rest…

I wasn’t sure if the time calculation was correct, but about three months had passed since I entered this place.

I sighed, grasping my tattered mental state.

...It feels like my mind is not just breaking into pieces, but being crushed.

Although most things were restored, mental strength wasn't restored.

As time passed, I felt tremendous mental fatigue and mental pain, and laughed hollowly.

I thought the penalty was weak, but it might be stronger than I expected.

Being stabbed by swords, pierced by arrows, and having my body burn in fire.

Even if I could somehow endure these things, the intense emotion felt every time I faced death was quite difficult to withstand, I thought as I sighed.

The fortunate thing is that I'm getting used to combat.

I lightly knocked down the knights charging at me from the front, trampled them with my feet, then crushed their heads with my mace, easily achieving victory.

Originally, I could barely catch enemies using methods like explosions to deal with them.

But now that my combat style had become much more proficient, I could catch them without much difficulty.

The problem would be those guys.

The golden knights surrounding the castle.

I had already tried to break through there several times, but it was quite difficult to break through because they were stronger than expected.

Moreover, when I take down one, another one comes out.

Because they kept coming out endlessly, there was no end even if I kept taking them down.

Wondering if I could break through that, I swept away all the enemies nearby.

I think I could break through using shadows and bomb maces…

The problem would be what happened after I got inside.

Still, realizing it was about time to go inside, I took a light breath and moved forward.

Click.

After breaking through about hundreds of soldiers, knights, and mages and getting close to the castle, the golden armored knights standing in a line glared at me and took formation.

Seeing this, I massaged my shoulders and took a light breath.

Then shall we try?

Deciding to finish all training before my mind completely collapsed, I put my body into the shadow and dug into where the golden knights were.

***

"Myeong, myeeeng."

Siren patted the ultra-giant Pigsy who was whimpering in her arms.

She wanted to tell her to stop crying because Damian would return soon, but it had been over a month since Damian entered the training ground, so it was difficult to say even empty words that Damian would return soon.

"Myeuung,"

So rather than saying words of comfort, she was patting her and wiping her tears and snot with a handkerchief when the ultra-giant Pigsy snuggled into her arms and said something, "Myeung. He's mean for not coming..."

It seemed she was very angry because he wasn’t coming.

No, is it more disappointment than anger? 

Sympathizing with those words somewhat, she nodded and said, “I feel the same,” and

Pigsy sniffled and nodded, then started fidgeting with her hands while sitting in her arms.

After patting Pigsy’s head, she was about to continue her magic studies, which had recently seen great achievement, when Liana, who hadn't been seen for a while, came in with a somewhat urgent expression.

"Damian!"

At that voice, she looked in that direction and saw Liana urgently approaching her, asking where Damian was.

"He's in here," she said, pointing at the portal inside the training ground.

Liana tried to enter the portal urgently without hesitation.

Seeing this, she bound Liana with magic and said in a calm voice, "Calm down. Only one person can enter there."

"W-what?"

"That's how it's structured. Moreover, it's blocked so that only those with Carsaril blood can enter."

This was the reason why she couldn't go to meet Damian even though she wanted to.

That was why she couldn't do anything even though she saw Pigsy whimpering and waiting for Damian in front of the portal every day.

I miss Damian too...

Maybe because it had been a long time since she had seen him, but she keep waking up at night and coming to the training ground.

Thinking that the longing was growing stronger, she was feeling gloomy when Liana quickly calmed her disheveled hair and asked a question, "T-then when will he return? I have something I need to tell him as soon as possible."

"I don't know either."

"..."

Judging by her expression, it seemed something significant had occurred.

Seeing this, she asked one question just in case, "Can you tell me what it is? If it's something I can help with, I'll help."

At those words, Liana hesitated for a moment, then calmly opened her mouth, "The demon race has kidnapped the Saintess."