Chapter 23_ Vampire City

As Lexus was feeling glad at the moment, a man clutching his abdomen with his hand made a wry face and screamed at him.

"You… How dare you touch us! You think you can get away with what you just did? Do you know who's behind us? You little rat, you're gonna end up just like an old man once they f…!"

A spark shot out from Lexus' eyes.

*Swish* *Puck*

"Kuuk!"

Before the man could finish his words, Lexus ran up to him and stuck his Blight of Misery into his chest in a flash.

Pagma's Sword Dance, Kill!

His expression hardened. That familiar aura was being emitted from Lexus. This was killing intent. It was truly a perfect killing intent. The killing intent around him was compressed into the sword.

"Y-You… This is ridiculous!"

He was a bandit that committed many kinds of evil deeds. He experienced all types of hatred and anger, but this was the first time he was threatened by a killing intent.

The red sword filled with extreme killing intent pierced straight into his heart. Then a notification window flashed in front of Lexus.

[You have dealt 26,500 damage to the target.]

The sword penetrated deep into his chest, and the tip of the blade hung right near the heart as the impact had crushed all of his ribs.

[Your level has risen.]

Seeing the death of a single bandit with the sword filled with tremendous killing intent, the surrounding bandits gasped for air. Although it was not them who was struck in the heart, they couldn't say anything for a while because they can imagine the immense pain.

Now they know. There was something scarier than even death itself.

After becoming a Sword Saint, Lexus can now use all sword type weapons without restrictions unlike before. He can now exhibit all the option effects of the Blight of Misery in his hands which previously only half can be activated.

Then together with the newly obtained Great Swordsman Pagma's Sword Dance, Kill— the bandit wasn't able to endure a single strike from the sword held by the White Reaper. Sword Energy, just this resource alone pushed Lexus to a new heights.

After acquisition, the resource will be displayed with the default maximum value of 1,000 in the Status Window in addition to Health, Mana and others. When using a sword, the consumed resource is changed from mana to sword energy and the most powerful skills of a great swordsman even require the resource.

However the only downside of sword energy was it only recovers 'every time the sword is swung,' unlike mana that can be recovered by many means so it is inevitable to swing the sword around like a madman to replenish the resource.

"Say that again. What?"

Lexus spoke in a calm voice while turning his gaze to the bandits. The bandits tried to pretend they weren't panicking, even though their whole body was trembling in fear.

"I, I can't say…!"

A man reluctantly answered while intensely shivering so everyone's attention was focused on him. They gulped as they wondered what Lexus would say. Then Lexus finally spoke.

"Well it doesn't really matter."

Lexus nonchalantly said to himself while tremendous heat was suddenly felt by everyone. None of them noticed that the red sword in Lexus' hands looked scorched.

Then he appeared in front of a bandit and swung his long sword without saying a word. The sword drew a graceful curve, and Lexus' long sword cut a bandit's head as it was.

[You hit the vital point. A critical hit will occur.]

[You have simultaneously slain many enemies with a difference of more than 50 levels!]

[You have achieved a great achievement! 'Level is Just a Number!'. All stats will increase.]

[Your level has risen.]

Seeing that Lexus can easily subdue them without much effort, the bandits had realized that they have made the worst decision in their lives for targeting the carriage that caused their demise.

•~~~•

After the bandit incident, the carriage Lexus was riding safely arrived on Reinhardt after 5 days of traveling. On their way, they encountered several groups of bandits and monsters that tried to obstruct their way but Lexus dealt with all of them.

Though they can be a threat to common people like traveling merchants, for Lexus, they only served as an experience points to boost a legend's growth.

[Undefeated King's Old Sheath]

★ Quest Item ★

A sheath used by the Undefeated King when he was alive. A part of the Undefeated King's will is contained in it.

Conditions of Use: One who was never defeated.]

Back at the smithy in Reinhardt, Lexus curiously looked and scanned the sheath that allowed him to become a legend.

「 Will you gonna do the thing I had in mind? 」

He heard Madra's intrigued voice which Lexus simply nodded. Knowing his reaction, Madra smugly replied.

「 Well if that's the case, then try hard not to be surprised. 」

Lexus wondered what Madra was boasting but continued on what he wanna do.

"Appraisal."

Lexus tried using the Legendary Blacksmith's Appraisal skill on the old sheath if something happens. Then…

[The blacksmith who becomes a legend can appraise items with an excellent discerning eye. If a hidden feature exists in the target item, it will be found.]

Ttiring~

[Undefeated King's Sheath]

Rating: Legendary (Set)

[Durability: 916/916

Attack Power: 350 Defense: 308

* Accuracy will increase by 15%.

* Attack speed increased by 20%.

* 30% increase in sword drawing speed.

* 30% increase in sword recovering speed.

* When a legendary sword is equipped, attack power will increase by 10% and attack speed by 5%.

A sheath made from a material Unt and a branch of the World Tree. The Unt is a mineral that is called as the essence of the stars or God's precious metal. A sheath carrying the will of the Undefeated King Madra, who is looking for a fitting ruler to fulfill his wish.

This sheath can be used as a shield or a weapon because of its excellent durability and attack power.

Condition of Use: Undefeated King's Successor.]

[You have discovered a hidden feature in the item!]

[Insight has increased by 10.]

Hidden features doesn't exist in all items but items with hidden features are extremely rare.

"Wow."

Lexus exclaimed not expecting for the sheath to originally have these OP effects. He expected that the sheath of the Undefeated King to be extraordinary but personally seeing it with his eyes, it greatly exceeded his expectation.

Now that he had been struck by another good fortune, Lexus redirected his focus and turned his attention to the forge in front of him.

"Now that I luckily had the three legendary classes, I should make something that could make me a one man army in a literal sense."

Lexus thought of an idea.

'Item creation…!'

A smiled appeared on his face.

"This is the right time to use the Legendary Blacksmith's Creation skill!"

The Legendary Blacksmith's Creation was a skill that allowed Pagma's Descendant to design exclusive items. It meant that Lexus could create a new item that didn't exist in Satisfy yet.

[Legendary Blacksmith's Creation Skill]

[You can create equipment item production methods every time the skill level of the 'Legendary Blacksmith's Craftsmanship Skill' goes up.

Number of items that can be created at present: 0/5.

* When items are produced using this skill, the name of the creator is automatically placed on the item.]

[What item do you want to create?]

"A chain."

[Have you decided?]

"Yes."

[What materials would you like to use?]

"Blue orichalcum, magic steel and mithril."

With the kingdom's financial support and resources, Lexus didn't lack any materials to use.

[Have you decided?]

Lexus replied with delight,

"Okay!"

[Please design the item.]

"Good!"

A blank blueprint appeared in front of him. Though he hasn't personally experienced this, he had copied Greed's experience, so he calmly drew the picture.

After a few moments.

An image of a pitch black chain was completed. The design was a simple-looking bracelet. Compared to good artifacts that usually had classy looks, this one was almost too crude but Lexus didn't care and pressed the 'finish' button at the bottom of the blueprint.

[Have you decided? When you complete the blueprint, the number of available creation skill will decrease by one.]

"Progress."

Once he replied, numbers and languages quickly covered the blueprint. The system was calculating and complementing the lacking details in Lexus' design. After a while, an improved and completed design appeared.

[Please describe the characteristics of the item.]

Finally, it was the conclusion of the item creation. Lexus calmly and clearly explained the characteristics.

"A chain that will allow the user to summon a special type of undead!"

[Please name the item.]

"Black Bracelet."

[Have you decided on 'Black Bracelet?']

"Yes."

Then the moment the production method was revealed, Lexus started smelting the iron ore while letting Great Sage take over. The impurities in the melted iron ore were filtered out, the orange molten iron emerging from the furnace was brilliant and beautiful.

*Tang* *Tang*

Lexus started hammering with quite a balanced posture. The scorching piece of metal was drawn and folded repeatedly under Lexus' constant hammering.

Usually, the works of beginners were subject to a variety of mistakes such as failing to hammer with appropriate strength or metal being welded incorrectly.

Lexus, however, found the exact spots to hammer and hit the parts with just the right amount of power while adequately adjusting it.

A process which in a way could be described as mechanical. In another way, however, they were motions that only a skilled blacksmith could do. It was just incredible how he could pull this off.

After almost 10 hours of nonstops working on it, a system message appeared.

[The growth type item, 'Black Bracelet' has been successfully produced!]

[As the first person to produce a growth type item, the title 'Person who has Reached the Absolute Truth of Battle Gear' has been acquired.]

[The title effect 'increased item experience gain' passive will always apply!]

A growth type item.

It became stronger the more it was used. It could accumulate experience in PvE and PvP, increasing the rank. Their stats were high compared to items of the same rating, and their stats increase with every rating was also great. Growth type items were classified into two types.

First, an item that a specific soul belonged to. Every time the rank of an item rose, the skill or attributes that the soul possessed when it was alive blossomed. The number and power of the skills and stats varied according to the soul's rank, and it might not be compatible with the master. There was a special story related to the soul, meaning it was likely for there to be a hidden quest.

Secondly, there were items without a soul. One option was added every time the rating increased. Since options were added to help the user rather than being random, the higher the rating, the better the compatibility with the user. In other words, it had similar characteristics to a class item. Its power was more stable compared to those with souls, but it also meant it was difficult to enjoy a dramatic effect.

[Black Bracelet]

Rating: Epic (Growth)

Durability: 120/120

* The user can collect the souls of those he kills and allows its user to revive a slain enemy. However, they are able to be freely controlled under the absolute power of the user.

* When facing an undead, you can dominate the undead.

* The skill, 'Summon of the Dead' will be generated.

Condition of Use: None.]

[Summon of the Dead]

[* You can summon 'Growth-type Undead' that steals the vitality of any living thing that comes their way.

[Number of undead that can be summoned: 0/3]

Skill Mana Cost: 3,000

Skills Duration: Until the summoning is release or the skeletons are destroyed.

Skill Cooldown Time: None.]

It was very limited. The maximum number of undead he could summon was 3. It was too few compared to what necromancers could summon. However, there's a catch.

The rank of the undead he could wasn't limited. The number might be too few. But what if, he will fill the slot with only a death knight and a lich?

The Death Knights. They are the strongest undead. It depends on the 'life' of the knight but a death knights' stats are basically a few times better than a player's. In addition, they have a lot of powerful skills. The most frightening thing is that they could grow through levelling up like a player. Despite many limitations, such as being restricted in the items that could be worn and being difficult to control, a death knight is nevertheless the strongest force of a normal necromancer.

The Liches. They are the top undead who could use magic with infinite Magic Power. Their strength even overwhelms a death knight. The evidence is that liches who appear as bosses often have death knights as their subordinates. In other words, a lich isn't an existence that players could handle.

Lexus knew that Necromancers couldn't easily summon those types of undead as a death knight and a lich stands in the pinnacle in the hierarchy of the undead.

Looking at the black chains, Lexus grinned, disregarding his sleepy eyes.