Chapter 115: Ice Secret Sword
For experts, actual battles are the best way to ascertain one’s skills. Even if a skill may seem incredible and high-tier, if it is unable to prove its worth in an actual battle, then it is useless.
The most recent battle I had with Rosemary’s (Carlohin) Undead Army is probably the most intense one since my rebirth. As far as I was concerned, it was also the perfect opportunity to test my abilities and determine future routes for development.
There were quite a few problems that were revealed through battle. Among them, the most obvious of them all are that I have too many power systems, the absence of a decisive killing move and the powers and techniques I was using against each and every enemy were a little chaotic.
Cultivating both magic and martial arts is often the exclusive right of long-lived species. This isn’t only because of the fact that they have plenty of time to squander, allowing them to climb to the summit with both magic and martial arts. Also, this isn’t only because of their Race Talent and stats which allow them to reach a peak unattainable by those short-lived species. The very core of it is that they have an inheritance of a secret art that allows them to overlay the effects of magic with martial arts.
Nightfall Blade and Jade Stab are fearsome top-tier sword skills in the Elf Tribe. Those Warriors don on a light leather armor and brandish their magic swords. They choose the buffs most suited to them and enchant their blades. Years and years of training has ensured that their martial arts would not be inferior to any opponent, and the magic sword that they conceal in their sleeves would often prove to be lethal to their enemies.
They are adept at enchanting the magic sword against their enemies. As long as they have prepared in advance, the seemingly coarse and wild but cautious and intelligent Nightfall Blade is a slaughtering machine on the battlefield capable of facing a hundred enemies on its own. On the other hand, the Jade Sting specialises in all types of concealment such as removing one’s presence and Anti-Detection Magic. Facing them in war, you have to prepared for the bizarre situation of your enemies disappearing multiple times. Of course, the precondition is that you would have to first survive their deadly assassination. They are the top-class Assassins, the bane of all Mages.
The Blood Clan’s Corrupted Blood Swordsmen and the Golden-Armored Warriors are forbidden existences, Demon Hunters. On the other hand, the Cursed Spear Dancers of the Blackwings are commonly-seen badly-reputed troops. The Death Knights who inspire fear in all living beings could be considered classical troops who possess the advantage of being skilled in both magic and martial arts.
Different to the humans’ high-tier troops who are reliant on equipment and mounts, these special inheritances often arise in the form of a job advancement. Their unique fighting and training methods are the crystallisation of the innumerable eons of the long-lived species. There is basically no chance of an outsider inheriting their legacy.
They may not number much, but their appearance on the battlefield is definitely the nightmare of their enemies.
Of course, humans have made great efforts on this front. The Gold-rank Mage Knights were the result of their efforts. However, in reality, they were famous for being a useless profession. Not mentioning how it has high requirements on talents, in order to perform magic, the Knights are unable to equip heavy armor. Thus, as a close combatant, they were weaker than Warriors and Holy Knights who are of the same power rank. The only magic they could produce is —— Fireball.
That’s right, the Magic Knight were most adept at using the 3-circle Fire Magic, Fireball. Perhaps, there were results in low level battles. However, in battles between Gold-ranks, who would be afraid of a 3-circle magic?
Proponents of the Mage Knight once argued the ‘Five Fireballs overlapping in a specific location can destroy everything, we don’t need any other magic’ theory with Fire Mages backing them. As a result, the bizarre ‘Five Fireball Divine Cult’ was born.
Ultimately, their main flaws were that their magic and martial arts didn’t complement one another and it did not have a clear role in battle.
In my opinion, the main reason why the Mage Knights were a failure (Even when the personnel who successfully advanced to become Mage Knights didn’t exceed 10, the Five Fireball Divine Cult still refused to admit failure), the primary reason is because their attention has been divided between two entirely different fields. They attempt to become both skilled in close-combat and long-range and as a result, they were incapable of either.
As for the reason why other races were able to successfully advance, is is due to their clear goal and specialisation they want to pursue. After which, they utilised both martial arts and magic to strive towards their specialisation. If it is a skill that doesn’t contribute to their goal, even if it proves to be useful, they would choose to not squander time on it.
A result of that is the obvious fact that those who successfully train in the two are either powerful close-combatants or powerful long-range troops. They weren’t so ambitious to become like the Mage Knights, capable of crushing Warriors in close-combat and Fireball-flinging Mages in long-range combat. In the end, the Mage Knights would only get crushed by their weaknesses.
To specialise, one has to put their ‘specialisation’ as the core of everything to realise their own role and position. Then, utilise their strengths to make up for their weaknesses and make their strengths further the might of their ‘specialisation’. This is the general theory for Warriors with multiple abilities.
In that case, for a body like mine which contains four kinds of powers, if I were to attempt to create an all-round Warrior, I would only end up like the useless Mage Knights.
“What do I specialise in? How can I use my other abilities to propagate my specialisation and complement my weaknesses?”
Ever since I was revived, I had been thinking about this question. Then, I found my answer.
“If you have to choose a profession, then a Death Knight who is skilled with soul arts is definitely the most suited for you. If your talent for the Holy Light is ten points, then it would be twenty points for Necromancy and forty points for swordsmanship. Just through Necromancy and swordsmanship, you would surely be able to reach the summit of Death Knights. Didn’t you see how the strongest Death Knight, Lionheart, was willing to become your eternal little brother? In the end, your accomplishments in the field of a Death Knight have exceeded all your predecessors and probably no one capable of surpassing you would appear in the future.”
“Pui! I am a Holy Knight. Not to mention, I can cast Ice Magic…”
“Cough! Don’t ever tell anyone that your Ice Magic was taught by me, I can’t afford to bear this reputation. If your talent for Holy Light is ten points, then your talent in Ice Magic is at most 0.1 points! Back then, my head must have been caught in some doorway for me to accept you as my disciple to teach you Ice Magic. Let me ask you, ever since you have comprehended the essence of ice, have you learnt any new Ice Magic Spell?”
Of course…not! If I had the time, I might as train in my swordsmanship and study Undead Creation. No matter what, it would be better than investing time in this hopeless Ice Magic.
Just as expected, my straightforward reply caused the furious cat to fly over and bite me.
Harloys is still a passable teacher. Even though the students she taught are mostly backstabbers and perverts, her ability in catering the syllabus to her students is still top-notch. Admittedly, the main reason why the eccentrics among the disciples she have taught are increasing is partly due to this advanced personality education.
Cough, I should stop speaking. Otherwise, that darned cat will use some unorthodox methods to exact vengeance. It feels horrible to awake with milk poured over me in the morning. Also, the previous time a paper with white fluid was glued onto my hand, I had to spend an entire morning explaining the situation to Reyne.
However, on the topic of talents, the darned cat has already revealed my greatest aptitude —— Swordsmanship.
Just like how Adam had once ridiculed me, when the other Holy Knights were focused on tanking and utilised their Divine Arts to strengthen their defense and support, becoming the leader-like figure in the team, the one I was the most skilled in was offensive swordsmanship. After numerous reincarnations, I even surpassed most of the Sword Saints who prided themselves in their swordsmanship. Without doubt, this is like an ironic joke that left others speechless and left Adam, who is praised for his swordsmanship, aggrieved.
“A Sword Saint who is unable to defeat a Holy Knight in the domain of swordsmanship? Not to mention, one of the tops in the world in the way of the sword? What kind of joke is this!”
Even as he grew, I also grew along with him. Eventually, I would still stand above him. Perhaps, Adam’s greatest regret while he was in the Underground World was his inability to defeat me through swordsmanship at the very end.
However, this is to be expected. Not mentioning how my talent with the sword is not bad, swordsmanship is an art in itself. When the foundations are brought up to the level of an artform, it becomes a form of comprehension towards the world and life. These things could be washed away by the currents of reincarnation, but picking them up again isn’t a difficult task.
In a certain sense, I can be considered as a true immortal and a long-lived species. While the other long-lived species are squandering their time to enjoy their 200 years of childhood, I viewed time as precious as life, just like the other short-lived species. I spent day after day pondering to gain something. To date, the battles and experiences I have gone through probably exceeds that of ten Heroic Spirits combined together. When these skills and comprehension settled down, the swordsmanship and profoundness that I have accumulated in three lifetimes finally evolved in terms of quality. I do not believe that any Sword Saint could do the same as me.
In my perspective, Beastman Sword Saints are too violent and lack in sentimentality. Elf Sword Saints, in their pursuit of the utmost of art, neglected the true form of swordsmanship as a cruel killing tool. If the two were to be put together along with their sword skills, perhaps a truly powerful Sword Saint would emerge.
What about the Dwarf Sword Saints and Human Sword Saints? Those Dwarves actually dare to call themselves Sword Saints by their knee chop, rolling blade and mountain-splitting strikes? Human Sword Saints are an even greater joke. Seventy percent of them have identical abilities, not to mention most of them couldn’t even produce sword qi without their equipment. I would normally consider them as jokes.
In that case, the path for my development is clear. I would specialise in close-combat swordsmanship while the other powers of mine would serve as support to supplement me.
In a duel between experts standing on the pinnacle, pure swordsmanship would come to a bottleneck. Not mentioning those who are immune to physical attacks, the great Demons and giant Dragons have enormous bodies with solid defense. It is too difficult to deal with them through the ‘small toothpicks’ of the Sword Saints. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have to go through all the trouble for Adam’s Phoenix Inheritance, so that he could utilise the flames of the Phoenix to complement his swordsmanship.
When I had decided to become a close-combatant with swordsmanship at the core while using my other powers to supplement it, the road in front of me widens instead.
“Secret Sword: Flowing Water Rapid Sword”
Ice Magic gathers on the ice sword. Under the will of my sword that depicts a flowing river, the ice forms a beautiful ice river, similar to that in my homeland. Thus, I changed its name.
“Ice Secret Sword: Moment Glacier!”
The transparent and clear ice sword is as beautiful as a sword forged of gems. Along the trajectories of the sword which is reminiscent of a flowing river, the sword qi and Frozen Air that were released forge a beautiful ice river in midair. As reality and illusion overlap, the water surface and the Seafolk before me turn into a part of the river of ice.
In the moment of their freezing, the conceited Naga officers were still commanding the Fishmen and Sea Beasts arrogantly. The army of charging Fishmen became beautiful ice sculptures and the flying fishes and waves solidified. In the face of Moment Glacier, no one life could react. Their minds were still stuck in the moment of their freezing.
Under the augmentation of Ice Magic, the Secret Art which was used to divert the attention of an enemy turns into a powerful AOE skill. As far as the eye could see, the countless enemies stretching for thirty meters ahead of me had been completely cleared. On the other hand, the frozen river water had become the best runway for me.
“Hm?”
The first time combining sword skills with Ice Magic has already created a might of 1+1>3, even I am surprised. After all, when I was testing it out privately, it didn’t have such might.
“Heh, it’s me! If we are competing in the ability of controlling Ice Magic, even White Dragons aren’t our opponent!”
Irene’s voice echoes from beneath. Realisation strikes me.
As a Frigid Nightmare who stands at the very peak of the creatures of ice and snow, the Power of Ice and Snow that she brings about is several tens of times greater than what I possess as a Bronze-rank. Also, her control over the Ice Magic isn’t as horrible as mine. When I was executing my technique, she wasn’t slacking by the side. She was helping me adjust and manipulate the Ice Element to complement with my Secret Sword. This is just like a dual-core CPU working simultaneously, forcibly expanding the might of the skill by multiple folds.
Alright, I know that some people will retort that this comparison is not suitable in this world of magic, and that if Irene is the most advanced CPU, I can probably only be considered as the obsolete i386. Just make do with it, this is just an improvised analogy.
At this moment, I realised that I have underestimated the usefulness of external tools yet again. My talent in Ice Magic is pathetic, but if I were to dump this sector to Erebella to settle for me, won’t I be able to make up for this flaw perfectly? Similarly, if I were to dump the Power of Death, Power of Law and Power of Holy Light to other Magic Pets to augment, thus creating a few more processors, my combat power might rise exponentially.
“Harloys!”
Alright, at this moment, I decisively recalled the ‘Omniscient One’ Harloys. However, the current Harloys only retained her knowledge and skills, she doesn’t possess sufficient strength and a suitable body to complement with the attributes, thus she is unable to fulfil my demands.
“Harloys’s 37th patch (regarding the change of colors of her four limbs), Harloys’s 38th patch (a revise of her three measurements) must be executed as soon as possible. Right, there’s also the Super Meowrio! Hmm, I can still add a few more edits along with it. It should be interesting to see her grow up when she eats a mushroom and throw fireballs after she eats a flower. Hehe!”
However, this isn’t the moment for my thoughts to be wandering. I am not too far from my destination. While charging in solo is exhilarating, but at the same time, I am exposing myself to the entire battlefield. If their leaders aren’t fools, they would surely send elites in to contain me.
Just as I expected, right after charging past this street corner, two Sea Giants suddenly appear before me.
The enormous Sea Giants are the height of the city walls. Even in the giant family, they could be considered to be of tall stature. Wielding rusty anchors with their extraordinary strength, mature Sea Giants possess at least the strength of a Gold-rank. In the water, when their ability to induce tsunamis come into play, even giant Dragons dare not to compete physically with them.
Their greatest hobby, other than duelling with Sea Dragons, is to sink ships. The ships which had fallen under their hands are innumerable. However, the reason for their attacks is ridiculously simple. As it is impossible to start a furnace to smith underwater, it is difficult to obtain a metal weapon. In order to obtain a good weapon, the Sea Giants set their eyes on the giant anchors of huge ships. At the same time, they could have an additional meal comprising sailors.
When the other races became aware of this fact, they decided to just bring a giant battle anchor to serve as payment for the road. However, the delighted Sea Giants first accepted the bribe before dismantling their anchor as a spare, then proceeding on to have them as an additional snack.
“The reason why we don’t hold promises? Hah, little thing, do you communicate with barnacles and seaweeds? Un, neither do we.”
This is the lesson a certain ‘intelligent’ navigator learnt with his life after trying to bribe the Sea Giants with a giant anchor for safe passageway.
The thick-skinned Giants aren’t easy to deal with. Not to mention, the Sons of the Sea, Sea Giants, are giants among the Giants. The two Giants stands by one another, blocking the entire street with their giant figures. As they stomp their legs, a furious wave is generated. If one were to be struck by those waves, their body would definitely end up crushed.
On the street behind them, the Church of Law is glowing with a radiant Light of God. Countless corpses of the Seafolk hung on formless gallows. As a Church of a true God under the God’s jurisdiction, until the entire city falls, the Church will not fall. For them who have piled up the sins of war and genocide to charge into the Church of the God of Law, should I say that they are backwards or that they are heartless?
Going by the rules of the War of Gods, when this city finally change hands, the idol would probably be sullied.
However, I didn’t have the leisure to be worried about my idol now. The giants are already before me.
“Little insect, don’t move! Let Rabah trample you to death!”
“A Knight? Yet another iron can. Bynes don’t like cans. Stuck in teeth!”
Getting obstructed would mean my demise. However, I already had no other alternatives.
“Since there isn’t any other road… Upon meeting on a narrow path, the brave will emerge victorious!”
The ice dragon lance rotates vigorously by my side. At the same, Irene picks up speed. I flick my sword up from the water, generating huge waterworks.
“Pointless tricks of an useless insect! Scream miserably for Rabah! Rabah loves watching little insect’s final performance!”
Sea Giants are far nimbler in the sea than on land. Rabah lightly grabs and a wall of waves appears before him to block my charge.
Following which, the moment the tip of the lance barely pierces through the wall, the giant has already grabbed the tip of the rapidly rotating dragon lance. Although the rotating lance has cut his left hand, the massive anchor on his right hand immediately comes smashing down on where the Knight is.
“Done already? How boring!”
“Boom!”
An anchor weighing several tons crushes downwards, causing crushed stones and snowflakes to be sent flying. The entire street tremors.
“Yee? Where’s little insect?”
When the giants realise that their target has gone missing, it is already too late. After concealing myself in the waterworks I generated, I threw the dragon lance and right now, I am already by the side of the giants.
“Secret Sword: Blade Storm!”
As I started to rotate, the floating Snow Woman loli augments my skill, thus creating a whirlwind of snow and ice.
【Secret Sword, Blade Storm: Using this skill, you will turn into a fast rotating storm of blades. The rotating swords and sword qi will severely damage all enemy land troops in the surroundings.】
At the beginning, it was merely an ordinary Blade Storm. However, when the Power of Ice and Snow on both of blades start to seep out, the entire world begins to snow.
Under the permeation of snow and ice into the formless sword qi, they became ice blades and ice thorns, thus increasing the might of the Blade Storm explosively.
Even so, this was only the beginning. What that would turn out to be even more lethal was an unexpected surprise.
At this moment, a continuous stream of water is pulled into the whirlwind. Then, under the rapid rotation of the whirlwind of ice, they form ice cubes and ice vectors which were then thrown out violently. Somehow, I have became a top that tosses out ice arrows continuously.
Under the full support of Irene, who is assuming her Snow Woman form in midair, every single ice blade that flings out possesses the strength of an Ice Arrow thrown out by a Silver Ice Mage with his full might. Individually, they may not be powerful. However, when their quantity is sufficient to cloak everyone’s vision, the Blade Storm has already evolved from an AOE Legend Secret Sword to a Saint Magic Secret Sword with astonishing destructive might.
The whirlwind of ice continues to turn frenziedly. Be it buildings, thin ice, lampposts or whatever they once were, they were reduced to fragments in an instant.
By the time I stop dizzily, there isn’t anything left in my surroundings. The two incomparably powerful Sea Giants have became a hornet’s nests; thousands of ice arrows are embedded in their flesh. The Sea Giant farther away is still barely living. However, the closer Sea Giant had innumerable ice arrows lodged into his head. Clearly, he can’t be alive.
When the Giants fell onto the ground with a large thump and I was weakly gasping for air on the ground, Krose has already arrived.
“Great, you are unharmed, my lord! Everything is in chaos now, what should we do?!”
Grinding my teeth, I struggled to my feet. At the present moment, every delayed second means greater danger.
“Assemble everyone, bring away all of our luggage and rations. Let’s slaughter our way out!”
Under the will of my sword that depicts a flowing river, the ice forms a beautiful ice river, similar to that in my homeland. Thus, I changed its name.
TL: A little hard to explain but it is like imagery. The image in his mind is a flowing river, so his sword also takes such a form. <<<< Coined as sword will.