LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 13: Desperate Sword Flash!
Chapter 13: Desperate Sword Flash!
In the 5th floor of the Dungeon.
Luke wielded his longsword, moving precisely and swiftly among the monster groups.
Every so often, a sword strike would fall, and several monsters would die regrettably on the spot.
What he had told Lili in the tavern earlier was indeed the truth, but the reason he hesitated to advance to the deeper levels of the Dungeon, besides fearing the overly fast monster birth rate, was another very important reason.
That was, he was using these low-level monsters to practice his swordsmanship.
From the second floor to the third, then to the fourth, all the way to the fifth floor, during half a month of continuous killing, Luke discovered something very interesting.
The [Black Swordsman] Job Legacy provided by the system, each skill had proficiency.
At Lv.1, the upper limit of this proficiency value was 5000.
Every time Luke killed a monster, the proficiency would increase by one point.
Regardless of which floor the monster was from, in the system's eyes, they were all treated the same; one monster equaled one point of proficiency.
When he discovered this pattern, Luke almost jumped up in excitement.
Then he quickly obtained a large pile of explosives, laying them all over the first few floors of the Dungeon while killing monsters, and finally detonated them with a boom.
However, to Luke's disappointment, doing this didn't increase the skill proficiency by even a single point.
In subsequent attempts, he tried many other methods one after another, but only killing them personally with his sword, one by one, worked.
This also made Luke completely give up the idea of cheating to farm points.
But even though he couldn't cheat, he could be clever.
By only grinding monsters on the first few floors, where the monsters were basically easy to deal with, coupled with the Dungeon's "preferential" attitude towards him, as if wanting to send all the monsters in the entire Dungeon to his side, Luke could easily farm one or two thousand proficiency points a day without any problem.
Moreover, under such frequent combat, his sword skills had already transformed from a rudimentary form into a truly mature art of slaughter.
He had to marvel at the power of the [Black Swordsman] Job Skills.
Even though Luke had never learned any combat techniques before, as long as the sword was in his hand, countless combat instincts would continuously surge from his body, then quickly merge into his sword skills.
And those monsters that died under his blade seemed like whetstones, making his sword skills more concise, refined, and also more deadly.
"System."
Having killed all the monsters on an entire floor again, Luke flicked the bloodstains off his blade, leaning against the wall to rest and recover stamina while calling out the system.
Counting the proficiency, it should be enough now...
[Name: Luke Starr]
[Race: Human - Adventurer Lv.1 (1000/1000) - Hestia Familia]
[Age: 23 (150)]
[Height: 177cm]
[Weight: 65kg]
[Spirit: 10 (10)]
[Strength: 10 (10)]
[Agility: 10 (10)]
[Endurance: 10 (10)]
[Constitution: 10 (10)]
[Job Legacy: [Black Swordsman]]
[Energy: 68740.13/1000000]
Without looking at the personal attributes on the system interface, which were still all 10s, Luke directly entered the exclusive skill tree panel for [Black Swordsman].
[[One-Handed Sword] Lv2 (15672/50000): Comprehension ability of sword skills increased, able to skillfully use one-handed swords;
All stats increase when holding a sword, combat intuition enhanced;
Evasion rate against sword skill attacks increased, critical hit trigger rate when attacking with sword skills increased.]
[[Insight] Lv.2 (10228/50000): Observation ability increased when holding a sword, combat intuition enhanced, sixth sense increased, evasion rate against sneak attacks increased]
[[Balance] Lv.2 (5104/50000): Sense of balance increased when holding a sword, three-dimensional mobility increased, Agility increased]
[[Swift Reflexes] Lv.1 (5000/5000): Agility attribute slightly increased when using sword skills, evasion rate against sword skill attacks slightly increased;
Nerve reflex speed slightly increased when holding a sword, combat intuition slightly enhanced]
Four Job Skills, three of which had already reached Lv.2, only [Swift Reflexes] hadn't been upgraded yet, but its proficiency was already full.
Looking at the skill in the upgradeable state, Luke clicked on the skill box without hesitation.
Instantly, brilliant golden light flashed, and below the [Swift Reflexes] skill box, the Lv.1 text had changed to Lv.2.
[[Swift Reflexes] Lv.2 (0/50000): Agility attribute increased when using sword skills, evasion rate against sword skill attacks increased;
Nerve reflex speed increased when holding a sword, combat intuition enhanced]
With the skill upgrade, Luke didn't feel any obvious changes.
He clenched his fist, no feeling of "power continuously welling up," but he knew he had indeed become stronger.
Because in his eyes, the pitch-black longsword that had accompanied him for half a month suddenly felt much more familiar.
Reaching out to grip the hilt, he drew the sword and swung it twice.
With the same amount of effort, it was about twenty percent faster than before.
Nodding with satisfaction, he sheathed the sword and looked at the second tier of the skill tree.
[Dual Wielding], [Solo Player].
Unlike the four skills on the first tier, although the second tier only had two skills, both skill names were quite distinctive.
If [One-Handed Sword], [Insight], [Balance], and [Swift Reflexes] were considered general skills for the Swordsman class, then [Dual Wielding] and [Solo Player] were the characteristic skills of the [Black Swordsman] class.
And now, after raising all four first-tier skills to level two, in the second tier, the [Solo Player] skill box was faintly glowing, flickering with a captivating pale golden light.
"Gulp..."
Nervously swallowing, Luke gently tapped the [Solo Player] skill box.
And the moment his finger landed, dazzling golden light filled his entire vision.
[Ding! Congratulations Host, skill [Solo Player] successfully unlocked, current level Lv.1]
[[Solo Player] Lv.1 (0/10000): Fighting spirit is stimulated when acting alone away from the team, all stats slightly increase, increase rate grows with combat duration, maximum increase is 500% of base stats]
500% of base stats?!
Looking at the glittering golden skill box before him, Luke almost suspected his eyes were playing tricks, did he see an extra zero?
He blinked hard, looked again, still 500%!
What does a 500% increase in all stats mean?
With Luke's current stats, a five-fold increase would mean all stats at fifty points.
And a Lv.2 adventurer's stat cap is only 100 points...
which means, he was now equivalent to a Lv.2 mid-tier adventurer!
And this was only the effect of Lv.1 [Solo Player].
How strong would this skill become when it reached Lv.2, Lv.3, or even Lv.5?
Luke didn't even dare to imagine.
He was afraid just thinking about it would make him unable to resist shouting out in excitement!
Taking two deep breaths, he habitually placed his hand on the sword hilt.
The cool, hard familiar touch seemed to convey a calming power, slightly soothing the excitement in Luke's heart.
After a brief rest, Luke drew his blade again and stood in the middle of the passage.
"Lili, rested well?"
"No problem." Nodding with a serious expression, Lili stepped back a few paces, creating distance from him.
"Then I'll begin."
Slowly raising the longsword level to his chest, his muscles gradually tensed like springs.
The next moment, Luke's feet sank slightly.
"Whoosh—"
The sound of the black coat cutting through the air echoed in the cave, while Luke had already turned into a pitch-black afterimage, rushing out.
At the far end of the passage, several War Shadows had just been born from the Dungeon.
However, before they could even let out the first roar of their lives, a black line rapidly enlarged in their field of vision, followed by a flash of cold, sharp edge, sending their consciousness back into chaos.
Easily dealing with these few War Shadows, Luke turned his blade and immediately pounced on another group of newly born monsters.
Around him, more and more monsters continuously gathered, forming a new wave of monster frenzy.
"Luke-sama..."
Hiding far away in a corner of the floor, Lili's eyes were somewhat dazed.
Just half a month ago, she was following an adventurer party on the third floor of the Dungeon when they encountered Luke, who was slaughtering monsters on a massive scale.
Then, she was almost forcibly kept by him to collect Magic Stones.
Half a month passed in a flash.
Luke was still dressed in black, with a pitch-black longsword hanging at his waist.
However, Lili, who spent her days and nights with him, keenly sensed the changes in him.
Every day, every time he entered the Dungeon, even with every monster he killed, Luke's aura grew stronger, like a blade being sharpened.
That unstoppable sharpness felt as if it could pierce the soul directly through sight.
Lili had never seen an adventurer grow so rapidly, nor had she seen a swordsman more outstanding than Luke—not even Ais Wallenstein, who stood at the pinnacle of all female adventurers in Orario, known as the Sword Princess.
When Luke held the sword, his entire being seemed to merge with the sword in his hand.
This realm had already surpassed the limits of Lili's imagination and comprehension.
However, although unable to imagine the depth of Luke's mastery in the way of the sword, Lili had a rather profound feeling.
It was as if he was born specifically for the sword—a swordsman with a natural sword heart and sword bones.
...
A dozen minutes later, Luke stood at the end of the fifth floor, casually flicking his longsword.
Dark red bloodstains splattered like a crescent moon on the dim cave walls.
Behind him, the passage was filled with monster corpses.
Lili's small body nimbly moved among the monster carcasses.
While collecting Magic Stones, she couldn't help but admire Luke's silent figure standing at the end of the floor, praising: "Every time I watch Luke-sama fight, it's like watching a dance, it feels pleasing to the eye!"
"..."
However, unlike usual, Luke didn't respond to Lili's praise, merely staring at a vertical downward staircase passage ahead, his expression somewhat grave.
"Luke-sama...?"
Looking doubtfully at Luke's back, Lili was about to ask when she heard his voice.
"Lili, hurry back to the third floor now, find the white-haired brat."
Although his tone was light, the words contained an unquestionable meaning.
Having spent half a month together, Lili had never heard Luke speak in such a tone.
"Luke-sama, did something happen?"
"Don't ask, I'll tell you when I get back. Go now, quickly."
With his back to the somewhat bewildered Lili, Luke pressed his lips tightly, his right hand resting on the sword hilt, fingers clenched, knuckles slightly white.
Tension.
He was in a state of intense tension.
And the tension radiating from Luke also infected Lili.
She wanted to ask clearly what happened, but didn't want to disobey Luke's command, momentarily caught in a dilemma.
However, the next moment, all her hesitation was instantly shattered.
"Ooh—Roar—!"
A pressure as tangible as substance forcefully froze Lili's nerves.
Her thoughts went blank for an instant.
Even her breathing stopped simultaneously.
When her soul returned to her body, an unparalleled sense of fear made Lili's legs weak, almost unable to stand steady.
"Th-This sound...?"
"—It's a Minotaur."
Luke's still faint voice answered the question in Lili's heart.
The calm tone, however, contained a chillingly intense killing intent.
This was something Luke had acquired along with the bloodlust after continuously slaughtering in the Dungeon for half a month, personally killing over twenty thousand monsters.
"...L-Luke-sama?"
Hearing Luke's voice full of killing intent, Lili's face instantly turned deathly pale, a sense of panic dominating her entire soul.
Scary scary scary scary scary scary scary scary scary scary...
It's really so scary!
Is this the legendary powerful monster from the Middle Floors, the Minotaur?
Permeated by this dominating fear, she was so afraid she could barely walk.
But compared to this, Lili was even more afraid that Luke would stay here and fight the Minotaur.
"Luke-sama... Are you planning to..."
Facing Lili's question, Luke didn't speak, but the continuously rising killing intent from him already answered the question.
"No way! Even if Luke-sama's sword skills are strong, the Minotaur is a Lv.2 monster, and among all Lv.2 monsters, it's considered quite troublesome... It's impossible to win!"
Lili's desperate persuasion fell on his ears, but he remained unmoved, merely uttering two faint words from his mouth.
"Go quickly."
These two words were like hands choking her neck, making Lili despair almost to the point of suffocation.
But she still didn't want to give up, even explicitly disobeying Luke's command to leave, taking a step forward and planting her foot on the ground.
"Luke-sama, g-give up, you can't deal with a monster like the Minotaur right now! If you stay here any longer, you won't be able to escape!"
"No, escape is already impossible."
Following Luke's calm words, Lili couldn't help but cast her gaze towards the staircase passage to the sixth floor.
In the dark passage, a pair of scarlet eyes filled with violent desire were staring straight at her.
Her brain instantly shut down.
Her gaze couldn't move.
She couldn't even move a finger.
What is this...
Why does such a monster exist?
Can such a monster really be defeated?
Impossible, right...
No matter how you think about it, it's impossible, right?
"Lili, listen carefully. The moment I charge forward, you run back, then go to the third floor and find the white-haired brat. Tell him absolutely not to come down."
You'll die, right?
Fighting this monster will definitely lead to death!
Why do you have to fight it!
The bull-headed monster, its tall, dark red body gradually revealing itself in her vision, made Lili's whole body start to tremble.
It's over...
Being targeted by this monster, it's all over...
"—Don't just stand there spacing out!"
In her mind filled with chaotic thoughts and fear of the Minotaur, a sharp reprimand echoed like thunder, allowing Lili to feel the existence of her body again.
Then, a black shadow flashed before her eyes.
"L-Luke...sama...?"
Staring blankly at Luke's back as he charged towards the Minotaur without hesitation, Lili suddenly woke up as if from a dream, screaming shrilly.
"Luke-sama!"
And hearing Lili's scream, Luke's lips parted slightly, uttering a cold and stern word.
"—Run!"
Tears instantly filled her eyes, an indescribably strong emotion overwhelming Lili like a tidal wave.
The next moment, she turned around, crying loudly, and ran towards the upper floors.
Not to escape for her life.
But to get reinforcements.
Please, definitely... definitely hold on!
Hearing the gradually fading sound of crying behind him, a smile suddenly appeared on Luke's grave face.
Yes, that's right, Lili.
No one will blame you, and I won't be in any danger either.
Because this wasn't an accidental encounter due to misfortune, but a long-planned hunt...
Trading the Minotaur's life for my promotion to Lv.2!
You should be happy for me.
This opportunity, I've waited patiently for a long time...
Inside the stairwell connecting the sixth floor to the fifth, Luke darted in.
Facing the Minotaur's tall and sturdy body, he drew his blade without hesitation.
"Clang—"
However, the black sword, always unstoppable, only left a shallow bloody mark when it struck the Minotaur's body.
When the blade hit the tough hide, it even made a sound like striking stone.
Not sharp enough...
The attack proving fruitless, a sense of foreboding suddenly rose in Luke's heart.
Without thinking, he decisively retreated.
With the [Black Swordsman] Job Skills active, his ability to control the battle was already comparable to a veteran general who had fought thousands, tens of thousands of battles.
Sure enough, just as Luke retreated, the Minotaur's large hand swung down fiercely.
The violent force stirred up an air current, making the hem of Luke's coat flutter wildly.
"Tsk..."
Feeling the disparity in strength between them, Luke couldn't help frowning.
At the same time, he glanced at the blade in his hand; the edge still gleamed with sharp cold light.
It wasn't that it wasn't sharp enough, but the force behind the swing was insufficient.
Is the gap between Lv.1 and Lv.2 really that big?
If it were before today, Luke might be considering how to escape right now.
After all, although raising his adventurer level was important, it was only important if he was alive.
However, after obtaining the [Solo Player] skill, Luke had no thoughts of retreating now.
He just kept dodging the Minotaur's attacks, occasionally striking back with opportunistic blows.
As the most representative Lv.2 monster in the Dungeon, the Minotaur's strength was undeniable.
Terrifying brute force, tough thick hide, rubber-like overlapping muscles that were hard to penetrate.
If making an analogy, it was like the tank among monsters, equally powerful in attack and defense.
However, relatively speaking, the Minotaur's weakness was also obvious.
That was its sluggish speed.
And Luke, although currently only Lv.1, his attribute development was quite balanced, all attributes at 10 points, with no shortcomings.
Being a notch faster than the Minotaur, Luke was like a skilled acrobat, relying on the combat intuition and attribute boosts from his Job Legacy, dancing precariously on this line.
He desperately focused his attention, the blade constantly cutting through the air, making 'swish' sounds.
Originally, with Luke's strength value, he couldn't possibly inflict fatal damage on the Minotaur.
However, as time went by, a change occurred.
"Ow!"
Struck on the arm by Luke's sword again, the Minotaur glared with a pair of bloodshot bull eyes.
On its sturdy arm, several long wounds revealed pinkish tender flesh, and hot bull blood spurted all over the ground.
The intense pain stimulated this Minotaur's ferocity.
It ignored its profusely bleeding arm, roaring furiously and swinging its horns violently, hoping to gore that guy in black until his guts spilled out.
However, Luke had already quickly retreated the moment the Minotaur roared, leaving its attack range, dodging the potentially fatal blow by a hair's breadth.
And the Minotaur's action of lowering its head and swinging its horns naturally exposed itself in Luke's eyes—it was almost as if the Minotaur had actively presented its head to Luke.
Seeing this large bull head extended before him, Luke didn't hesitate to reverse his sword grip and fiercely slashed at its neck.
The Minotaur's tough hide, originally capable of blocking the black sword's slash, was now easily cut open, revealing a hideous wound.
Large amounts of foul-smelling bull blood spurted from the main artery.
However, this strike did not achieve the effect Luke expected.
The blade that cut into the Minotaur's neck was stopped by its spine.
Still too difficult after all...
Feeling the rebound transmitted from the sword hilt, Luke shook his head helplessly, his gaze somewhat regretful.
Even under the enhancement of the [Solo Player] state, with all stats reaching 50 points, plus attribute boosts from other skills, resulting in stats close to 60 points, it was still somewhat difficult to kill the Minotaur in one hit.
But even so, Luke wasn't too disappointed.
After all, with its neck almost half severed, and its body covered in large and small sword wounds, even with the Minotaur's tenacious vitality, survival was completely impossible.
Now, it was just a matter of how long it could hold on.
Seemingly aware that it couldn't escape death, the Minotaur gasped heavily, fragments of pink tissue mixed with blood continuously bubbling from its mouth.
But this cornered beast didn't roar again.
Instead, it fixed an unusually cold gaze on Luke.
To be precise, it stared at the black longsword in Luke's hand.
On the brink of death, this Minotaur underwent a sublimation.
Its soul broke free from the species' innate violent nature, observing its opponent with unprecedented calmness.
Then it quickly locked onto the black sword.
It was because of relying on this thing that the human could push it to this state.
Absolutely, absolutely unforgivable!
The breathing through its nose and mouth gradually became heavier.
The heavily wounded Minotaur crouched on the ground, like a true fierce bull, aiming its pair of sharp, twisted, thick horns directly at Luke's direction.
Then, it launched its final, desperate charge.
During the charge, the Minotaur made no roaring sound, because it had poured all its energy, stamina, and even soul into this charge.
This was an attack made with the conviction of certain death.
Utilizing its strongest, innate weapon—the horns—it released all the potential energy within its body, causing its already outstanding strength to rise dramatically again.
Iron hooves trampled the ground, crushing all obstacles along the path.
The Minotaur clenched its teeth, its bloodshot eyes bulging from their sockets, emitting a cold, vicious, and quite human-like light.
"..."
Right hand gripping the sword hilt tightly, Luke stood motionless in the path of the Minotaur's charge, seemingly not intending to dodge.
The gazes of the adventurer and the monster collided, instantly creating a feeling as if the air was stretched to its limit, with electric sparks flashing mid-air, making one's scalp tingle.
The next moment, the massive dark red bull head and the pair of sharp horns rapidly enlarged in Luke's eyes.
Although it was indeed rapid, but...
—I can see it.
You're still too naive, bull-man.
The Minotaur's heavy panting mingled with the roar of its four-limbed mad dash.
A gale howled and swirled rapidly between the man and the beast; even the sound of blood flow could be clearly heard.
Under the combined enhancement of nearly 60 points in Spirit and Constitution, the world in Luke's eyes seemed to become something in super slow-motion, where only he, with speed also approaching 60 points, could move normally.
Calmly taking two steps back, dodging the Minotaur's fiercely powerful horn strike, Luke then raised his right hand, gently placing the blade on its neck, where a hideous wound had been cut open.
The next moment, the Minotaur and Luke passed each other.
The entirely pitch-black longsword maintained its upward slashing posture.
A string of still hot blood droplets slowly dripped from the blade onto the ground.
In the blink of an eye, the desperate strike had decided the victor.
"Bang—"
Behind Luke, the lifeless body of the Minotaur crashed to the ground.
Intense blood pressure instantly sent its severed bull head flying far away.
However, even having achieved victory, Luke still didn't sheathe his longsword.
Just now, while he was fighting the Minotaur, a large number of monsters had already surrounded the battlefield, and many more monsters were continuously being born from the Dungeon.
Just finished one battle, immediately have to throw myself into another...
"Really, at least let me catch my breath, right?"
Looking at the dim walls of the Dungeon constantly spitting out monsters, Luke shook his head, then proactively walked towards the monster horde.
If the Dungeon intended to wear him down with a war of attrition, then It probably miscalculated.
Having unlocked the [Solo Player] skill, Luke, with all stats reaching nearly 60 points under full buffs, was at his strongest when fighting alone.
A moment later, the dark sword light flashed repeatedly in the Dungeon once again...
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