V54C6P2- The way of the desert

Weed knew what was going to happen next, but he stayed firm and tended to the wounded.

“Have you heard of Teppy? He’s the most skilled warrior in our tribe. The Sun Tribe are led by truly powerful warriors.”

“Yes. I see.”

He talked with the wounded soldiers and obtained some basic information.

‘It will be much more advantageous if I summon the undead…. Then again, I will need to fight like a warrior in order to become friendlier with these people.’

Weed’s combat power came with a trait that multiplied several fold the dirtier he fought.

He had to charge through the desert worms without the use of Undead Summoning or curse spells that specialize in large-scale battles.

‘The situation calls for this…’

Weed quietly took out a sculpture while following the tribe.

“Sculptural Destruction Technique! All of this shall turn into power.”

< You have activated Sculptural Destruction Technique. >

His art stat was over 3800.

The hard-earned art stats that he acc.u.mulated through intense grinding were all converted into strength.

‘This is rea.s.suring.’

Weed felt power boiling within his entire body.

The Sun Tribe utilized mobility of the camels in their battles.

Since they were never stationary, it was easier to distance themselves against the surprise attack of the desert worms and was also quicker to aid those in danger.

‘They surely live up to their reputation. They excel in hunting, the best in the desert.’

They were a warrior tribe that used swords, throwing spears and bows.

They had no priests or mages, but they had a great combination of attack and defense and quickly took down the desert worm.

The butchery of severing the bones, meat and the skin of the desert worms followed right after.

“We will keep going. Youngest one, look after the wounded.”

“Yes. I will.”

Weed began to think more formidably about the quest as he followed the tribe.

‘It will be better if the desert worms attack all at once. One or two are being taken down quite easily. If we continue to move like this… We will be stuck in the middle of the desert worm nest.’

The huge failure of Darius’ squad had led to users avoiding the desert worm territories completely.

Eventually even the merchants took the long route and the desert worms starved.

*Glurp!*

The desert worms were creatures with a greedy appet.i.te to begin with.

The animals roaming the desert were scarce, and they found it hard to thrive given their hunger.

Now that a large number of prey appeared, the reckless desert worms came forth and the rest stayed in position. It was to prevent even a single prey from escaping.

Weed gazed far into the desert and noticed the sands creeping.

It could have been the winds, but the range of the movement was very wide.

‘This is going to be quite challenging… But, that’s where the fun is.’

***

Yoo Byungjoon was observing Weed through the monitor with a cup of cocoa in his hand.

“He’s in for a checkmate.”

The more he felt joy in Royal Road, his regret grew bigger of not having started earlier. Furthermore, he felt doubts about his own life.

‘Countless people… They acknowledged me for creating this new world. Royal Road bestowed heavenly joy to some of them.’

However, the creator of said world merely observed everyone in it having fun.

‘Weed. I even pledged to inherit all my fortune to him once he became the emperor that united the continent…’

Yoo Byungjoon pondered about how it would have been like if he started Royal Road early.

He knew lots of leads about quests, jobs and treasures.

‘I would have gotten more powerful much quicker than the rest. If I did play Royal Road, there wouldn’t have been Bard Ray, or Weed for that matter.’

Of course that would be unfair, but what would be exactly fair in this world?

The life of the creator enjoying his privilege would be very enjoyable indeed.

His whole life he thought he was oblivious to women, but spending time in Versailles continent, he witnessed many beautiful women.

‘I don’t know what I did with my life.’

Yoo Byungjoon was full of regret, but he would not break his pledge in pa.s.sing all that he owned to the emperor that united the continent.

It wasn’t something that was announced officially to the world and he could cancel it anytime, but that was the goal he bet his life on.

He realized that what he did was absolutely insane, but that in itself was also one of the footprints in his journey. It was extremely likely that Weed will unite the entire continent but…

“I wish he breaks his back doing it.”

***

It was the middle of the vast desert.

The Sun Tribe kept advancing and Weed picked up plenty of skills used commonly by the warriors.

“That’s enough. I already acquired it.”

“Is that so?”

The warriors backed away awkwardly.

The warrior guilds in the continent tend to teach their own, original skills.

The guilds each had one or two kinds of s.h.i.+eld blocks, but the effectiveness were pretty much the same.

There were users that travelled across the continent to learn skills that were 3, 4% more effective, but the skills would even out once they’re mastered.

The tribal warriors spoke.

“It seems you have learned just about all the skills. Then, how about a weapon sparring against me? With skills restriction.”

“Sounds good.”

Weed looked around once and accepted.

Thousand warriors of the Sun Tribe were taking a moment to rest.

The sands were creeping up closer from afar.

‘A duel in the middle of the desert worm nest… At that speed, they will ambush us in a few minutes. This could be a part of the quest as well.’

Weed began his battle against the tribal warrior.

They went around in a circle and pointed their weapons against the opponent.

*Clas.h.!.+*

They came in contact within an instant and swung their sword and scimitar.

The tribal warrior wielded the scimitar with great strength and nimble speed.

Weed easily deflected with his own mighty strength and dominated.

There was such an easy path to victory and not one moment was spared for hesitation.

“I, I have lost. What fierce power!”

< Desert warrior Palong has acknowledged your strength.

He was defeated under absolute power.

Fame is increased by 600 due to combat achievement.

Strength is permanently increased by 1. >

The combat achievement was sweet!

“I am next!”

Another warrior came forth to challenge.

‘Restricting skills and fighting with weapons. They are testing me for my fundamentals with the sword.’

The duel would be difficult for others, but for Weed it was like cutting bread.

He could win in a weapon fight in a breeze, but he even had increased strength through the Sculptural Destruction Skill!

“K-ugh. Splendid sword technique. I cannot even hope to win against it.”

< Desert warrior Beten acknowledge your strength.

He is amazed by the incredible movement of the sword.

Fame increased by 600 due to combat achievement.

Agility is permanently increased by 1. >

‘This is great! Although we might take a huge blow from the desert worms if I am too engaged in the duel.’

Weed quickly continued his duel with the warriors while the desert worms were approaching from afar.

“Next. Come at me!”

< Strength is increased by 1. >

< Agility is increased by 1. >

It was a blissful situation with increasing stats.

Weed saw opportunity and relaxed himself. When he won with sheer sword technique, a message alert popped up.

< Sword technique proficiency is increased. >

‘This is a disappointment.’

Sword proficiency could be mastered later by clobbering on monsters.

For another user, the sword technique mastery would be an incredible achievement, but not for Weed.

He consistently leveled up his sword skills despite the penalty of being a sculptor that had a slower proficiency growth in combat type skills.

On top of that, he grinded intensely for stats and secret sculptural techniques.

Usually, the enemies he faced were higher level than himself and the proficiency growth for sword skills was quick.

‘Skill proficiency comes later. Stats are the priority right now. It’s easier to fight against these warriors that are above the normality. Their movements are orthodox.’

Weed read the opponent’s aim and deflected it with sheer strength just by the shoulder movement and the direction of the scimitar swing.

His body moved on its own from the highly attained sword technique and experience.

He advanced before the opponent began attacking and he reached the weak point before it became exposed.

He utilized speed and power over technique, struck hard and dominated his opponents.

“Next, next!”

Weed rapidly built up his combat achievements.

In the Sun Tribe, warriors capable of battle were around several hundreds. Even so, the fate of this blessed moment was predetermined.

The desert worms were approaching and he had to maximize his gains as quickly as possible.

‘One would be in for heavy losses if he lacked knowledge about this region or does not take notice of his surroundings because he is too immersed in the duel.’

Carelessness from the sweet satisfaction will lead to an abrupt strike by the desert worms.

In fact, the desert worms were already half-way while the duels were happening.

“Hold on. I now wish to fight against Teppy.”

Weed proposed a duel to the champion of the Sun Tribe.

Teppy was a muscular warrior with a tanned copper tone body. He was watching while sitting on the sand and stood up.

“You want to go against me? I was getting bored watching. This will be fun!”

A duel against Teppy wasn’t all that special.

It was not like his level was over 500, and the basic combat pattern of the desert warriors were similar.

However, much like the knights the desert warriors showed their true strength not on foot, but on camels.

Weed struck down on Teppy’s head with his scimitar thinking that this was the final fight.

“K-ugh. I have been defeated.”

< The champion of the desert acknowledged your strength.

He was defeated by extraordinary power.

Fame is increased by 1,300 due to combat achievement.

Strength is permanently increased by 3. >

He gained 15 stat points through the duels, which was a satisfying accomplishment.

That being said, he wouldn’t have acquired them if he could not defeat the warriors.

“Now. Let us all get ready for battle on our camels.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Desert worms are approaching from all sides.”

“…!”

Teppy and the tribal warriors scouted the surroundings after hearing Weed.

A sand figure was squirming beneath. They knew too well it was a trait of the desert worm.

“d.a.m.n…”

“It’s an ambus.h.!.+”

Weed spoke to the panicking tribal warriors.

“Calm yourselves. They sense vibrations. Hold your positions and take out your weapons. Slowly get on your camels and get ready for battle.”

“Still, there are too many of them. How about we escape quickly?”

Teppy raised his weapon and opposed.

He was a brave warrior, but over two dozen worms were already within range of their bows.

Hundreds of worms crawled beyond that line.

They had no other choice but to worry about the annihilation of the tribe.

Weed grinned and spoke.

“I will lead the fight.”

In all consideration, he didn’t have to treat these warriors carefully like he did with the Rosenheim Kingdom soldiers.

‘It will be difficult protecting all these warriors, but there was no mention of that in the quest.’

The content just specified hunting alongside the Sun Tribe.

Even if they ran from this spot, it was highly possible that the quest will complete if the continued the hunt elsewhere.

After all, the requirement was to partic.i.p.ate in the hunt and accomplish combat achievements.

‘That’s not worth my time, and this is the desert.’

The desert should be treated in its own way, and that was to go hard at it without a care in the world.

Warriors will overcome and become more powerful and the weak will die.

That was the tradition he established when he raised the Pallos Empire during his days as the Great King of the Desert.

“I’ll go first.”

Weed took off on his camel towards the trembling sands.

(To be continued…)