V54C5P3- Quest Crossroad

It wasn’t about struggling through the sandstorm head on.

Weed leaned his body into the winds and ran slightly to the side, increasing his speed.

He ran alongside the raging winds’ rotation.

< Amazing accomplishment. Maximum speed record!

You are running faster than the legendary steed.

Agility increased permanently by 6.

Movement speed increased by an additional 10%. >

< t.i.tle! You have obtained the t.i.tle Warrior of the Wind.

Movement speed exceeding human limitations!

Not a single monster will be able to chase you when you move at full speed.

You have acquired the movement skill, Wind Rush. >

Weed inched closer towards the center of the sandstorm that even sucked in light.

The winds gradually became rougher and more powerful. As he matched the speed of the winds, the amount of loss in health points decreased.

In that moment he felt that he had reached the peak of speed!

“Sculptural Destruction Skill! All shall transform into willpower.”

– You have activated the Sculptural Destruction Technique.

His art stat was over 3800.

He used all of it to increase his physical defense ability.

At least ten protection skills were applied on him.

His maximum health points also multiplied significantly.

“Hyah!”

Weed leaped into the eye of the sandstorm with maximum force.

The current of the sand winds that could destroy buildings and uproot the land itself.

He attempted to penetrate the wind wall with speed by hurling his body through it.

“Close eyes tightly!”

Message alerts kept popping up notifying about declining health points.

He could withstand the blade-like sand winds, but that was it.

His body lifted off the ground and began rotating as he got engulfed into the sandstorm.

Everything seemed to have gone wrong, but he did not give up hope.

Then, the raging winds weakened and there was an instant of complete silence.

‘It worked.’

If one could not overcome the sandstorm head-on, the easy method was just to throw his body in.

“Holy Fire.”

*Fwoos.h.!.+*

The holy fire, gift of G.o.ddess Hestia, inflamed the Loa Sword magnificently.

“Lava River!”

Weed activated the skill airborne without hesitation.

***

Barova.

He was a warrior who started Royal Road in Kallamore.

“A man’s got to go for warrior. A fighter. Other jobs are like kids’ play.”

Reliable willpower and strong offense.

He wielded the spear and axe, but the bow was not to his liking and certainly not magic.

He liked battling fiercely with monsters in close combat.

“Let us have some fun.”

He trained rapidly in the hunting grounds, and sometime later the citizens of Versailles Continent talked about him.

“Do you know of the brawler Barova? He wiped out the Gromba dungeon all by himself.”

“The specters of Kuhulan all fled because of a warrior named Barova!”

“The monsters that invaded Bangerson Village were eradicated by warrior Barova.”

His reputation in combat spread wide across the continent.

At that time, there was news that Weed had defeated the Immortal Legion led by Lich s.h.i.+re, but he laughed it off.

“A sculptor? Lazy b.u.ms with nothing to do like such shows. He wouldn’t be able to move a finger when he faces me straight up.”

This was the typical att.i.tude of powerful users from the Central Continent.

The quests were just subsidiary content, and only levels and hunting abilities were indicating factors of true power.

Barova kept on hunting, turning down all invitations from guilds and interviews from broadcast networks.

Hunt, hunt, hunt.

He completed combat quests that were necessary and spread his reputation in his own fas.h.i.+on.

He even received an invitation from the Hermes Guild, but turned it down in the end.

“I have no desire to show off under a faction. I’m going after the strong ones, not the n.o.bodies.”

After he turned the invitation down, he was pinned with a grudge from the Hermes Guild that limited the use of hunting grounds. Many times he was put on the wanted list and was killed, but he maintained his pride.

In the end, all the users were pushed away into the southern desert with little population, but he had complete faith in himself as a warrior.

“A warrior just needs to prove his combat strength.”

No matter what adventure Weed pulled off, it was little interest to him.

“That’s not combat skill, just cheating. He may be able to complete quests that way, but he can’t confront a real champion.”

Since then, Weed defeated Bard ray and became the one and only Emperor of Versailles Continent.

Barova who only tread on the hunting grounds of the desolate Oasis purposely came all the way to the Desert of Silence to meet Weed.

“He’s planning to destroy the sandstorm? What preposterous…”

Barova had experience long ago where he was swept up by the sandstorm and managed to get away after having suffered greatly.

“No way in h.e.l.l. This cannot be done. Some things are not possible no matter what.”

Though it would be very satisfying to watch Weed die in the storm.

Barova witnessed a sandstorm brew in a spot with the majority of the users in the desert present.

The sandstorm that brew in the Desert of Silence was more devastating than that of any other region, and it was a natural phenomenon that was truly spectacular.

“Destroying that? That’s absurd.”

The other desert users agreed with Barova’s comment.

“That is one crazy stunt.”

“If that storm hits the village, everything will be blown away.”

“Is this guy walking in trying to smash a storm with his sword and not magic?”

“That seems to be it…”

“Isn’t this rigged or staged somehow? This must be faked for the cameras.”

“It doesn’t seem that way. How can you even cast a sandstorm to be on a show?”

As the desert users observed, Weed walked towards the sandstorm with no armor.

His upper body was exposed in the process, and they could see his lean muscular body that had been trained delicately.

It wasn’t all that special given the fact that increasing willpower in Royal Road developed one’s muscles, but it did seem that he trained quite well as a warrior.

Soon after, Weed disappeared into the sandstorm and users exclaimed.

“He really went inside.

“Nothing is visible due to the sand.”

“Let us watch the live broadcast. The footage will be shown from Weed’s perspective.”

The users began watching the live broadcast through their own crystal globes.

The footage reflecting Weed’s eyes and ears came on screen, a terrifying scene beyond imagination.

The inside of the sandstorm was dark and full of whirring sounds. The rough sand winds struck once again, and no one could tell where he was.

Weed patiently walked further inside.

– Oh-Joowan-Ssi. Will he be able to overcome this sandstorm?

– I can’t even tell. However, I think that Weed won’t turn back.

– So he will see it to the end.

– Yes. If it was a typical user, I would think this is impossible… But this is Weed, and he is getting my hopes up.

No one could tell the outcome.

Barova was shocked in this process.

‘If it were me, I could have never done what he just did.’

It was something that was unchallenged from the fear of failure, but Weed had the mindset to do so.

Soon, Weed’s vision on broadcast narrowed below 10 centimeters and all that could be heard was the whirring, violent winds.

– Amazing. It’s uncertain but… He seems to be advancing forward even now.

These tense moments were pa.s.sing by, and Weed would be no surprise if Weed perished in an instant.

The mouths of the observers dried completely and the tension continued.

“Huh?”

A spectacular scene unravelled before Barova who was watching the sandstorm from afar.

***

The origin of the sandstorm current.

Weed felt the fierce winds calming down like they never existed.

“Ah…”

The sands that covered the sky lost their will and rained down onto the desert.

‘Did I succeed?’

He accomplished the quest of destroying the sandstorm.

Compared to the days as the Great King of the Desert where he had complete confidence to do anything, he barely managed to survive this time.

– Remaining health points: 79,387.

Weed would have been in a sparing state if it was monster hunting, but for the sandstorm in the Desert of Silence, he could not guarantee surviving through to the end.

‘The effects of the Sculptural Destruction Skill was immense, but I really survived thanks to all the stats I acc.u.mulated since my novice days.’

Weed once again confirmed that consistent grinding was the eternal truth.

Finding good hunting grounds and making hefty profit off quests. But the foundation is grinding!

‘High levels come from 99% grinding and 1% good equipment.’

Equipment too, will be farmed naturally through grinding.

The quest this time was high difficulty but required a resilient body.

A warrior quest that could not be pa.s.sed without strength, agility, endurance and willpower.

‘This quest was one that called for the bravest, truest warrior willing to submerge into a storm.’

It would have been much more advantageous for a desert warrior with excellent physical abilities.

The sandstorm that once engulfed Weed was now fading away.

Weed was still in the air, and he was about to put a smirk on his face.

‘The quest completion screen did not pop up yet. Maybe this thing isn’t over just yet.’

The winds began waging once again.

In a 2 ~ 3 kilometer radius, the winds gathered and tangled, surging up to the sky.

*Swaaaaaaas.h.!.+*

The desert sands collected and took on the form of a storm.

‘d.a.m.n it. I knew it was too easy.’’

Weed did not blame his luck. He only lacked the strength to subside this storm.

‘Opportunity does not come in a pack. I have to crush it completely.’

The center of the gathering winds was approximately 50 meters ahead.

The storm rose up. Thousands of sharp, stray winds merged and shredded the air.

The wind pressure was so high that it could rip apart his entire body!

< Health points decreased by 316. >

< Health points… >

< Health points… >

< Health points… >

Weed’s health points were declining.

He had immense willpower, but he could not afford to hold out in the middle of the storm forever.

“Time Sculpting!”

He stopped the world in its track.

The sands riding on top of the winds also froze in place.

– Remaining health points: 5,386

‘Charging through.’

Weed stepped on the sands floating in the sky and sprinted towards the eye of the storm.

The winds stopped, but the sands were still in place. Then, he activated a skill upon reaching the eye again.

“Lava River!”

Simultaneously, the effects of Time Sculpting ceased.

The lava that surged from the grounds enveloped the sandstorm.

The crimson lava caught in a maelstrom of sand and wind, shooting up to the ends of the sky.

(To be continued…)