Chapter 175: Level 80!

In the luxurious captain's cabin at the very top of the Abyss.

Adrian lay lazily on the sofa, with small sweets, reflecting Zou's culture, meticulously prepared by Love, placed on the coffee table beside him.

The room was empty, and Adrian silently watched the panel that now displayed the completed mission.

The first to be settled was the S-rank series mission "Charlotte Family," specifically the sub-mission "Minister of Nuts, Charlotte Amande."

Similar to the reward for slaying Cracker before, it was just some experience points, even less than for Cracker.

Adrian didn't care about such trivial sub-missions; what mattered to him was another challenge mission!

[S-rank Challenge Mission "Queen of Totto Land" Completed!]

[You have gained 2.32 billion experience points!]

This was the second time Adrian had triggered an S-Rank challenge quest. Battling the top powers of the sea always awarded immense experience.

The huge experience rewards from these two consecutive challenge quests were finally enough for him to level up!

"After nearly a year, it's time for my advancement!"

"Since descending onto this cruel sea of constant slaughter between powerful combatants, the strength I have today is entirely through my own hard-earned efforts(painfully accumulated experience points)!"

"Panel! Level up!"

The massive experience flooded in, instantly filling the empty gap between levels 61 and 80.

[Sword Hero raised to LV2 (0/12,000,000), ...]

[...]

[Sword Hero raised to LV10 (0/30,000,000), ...]

[...]

[Sword Hero raised to LV20 (100,000,000/100,000,000), granting a large increase to stamina, +5 Strength, +5 Agility, +5 Intelligence, 5 free attribute]

The amount of experience needed for each level increase made Adrian's eyelid twitch slightly, but thankfully he had finally accumulated enough.

The next moment, the panel displayed a promotion quest prompt.

[Detected Job Level Sword Hero reaching max level, you have received an Advancement Quest.]

[Level 80 Great Sword Hero Advancement Quest: [Extreme Trial] - Through constant battle, realize your limits and achieve transcendence in swordsmanship!]

[Quest Requirements: Obtain 1000 Trial Points, current progress 0/1000]

[Trial Points are earned by defeating/killing enemies. The stronger the opponent and more arduous the victory, the more Trial Points are awarded.]

Glancing over the advancement quest details, Adrian couldn't help but furrow his brow.

"Another one of these long-running quests that takes forever… Come to think of it, why have I been constantly triggering these drawn-out quests lately? There are hardly any short-term ones."

"If the advancement quest was simpler, like the Sword Trials back at level 20, where I just needed to defeat some random top level 80 pirate in the New World..."

"The 'Extreme Trial' sounds quite troublesome… Wait a minute!"

Adrian squinted at the words 'more arduous the victory' in the quest details.

"The harder the battle, the more points awarded. I wonder… could I put on an act for the panel? Would faking a difficult fight be valid?"

"Should I ask an experienced veteran actor for advice?"

"Should I go consult with a senior actor? But then again, Borsalino is probably still mad at me…"

"And since Borsalino likes to clip nails so much, he… couldn't be a hand fetishist, could he? Surely his nails don't grow faster than normal people? His style of doing things also prefers to avoid attracting attention, it seems he also has a side job as an ordinary navy office worker…" {How random….}

"Sigh… Kawaii ne~"

Adrian quickly pulled his wandering thoughts back on track.

"Stop guessing! Isn't it Kuzan in the navy who doesn't act human?"

Adrian set aside the advancement task for now.

Clearly, it was another task that was long and difficult.

However, thinking about the power ups of the Great Sword Hero, it didn't seem too difficult to accept.

The real point of interest was the reward draw accompanying the completed challenge quest!

[S-rank Challenge Mission "Queen of Totto Land" Completed!]

[You receive a reward: Randomly draw one skill or specialty from the enemy]

[Note: Due to significant differences in body size and abilities between the host and Charlotte Linlin, some drawable skills have been automatically adjusted for effect]

[Randomizing… Draw complete]

[Please choose one of the following five abilities as a reward:]

[1: [Intimidating Presence] - Skill: Emanate an overwhelming aura of menace, generating intense wind pressure. Against weaker-willed souls, it can cause loss of consciousness and induce a comatose state.]

[2: [Heavy Strike Specialization] - Specialty: When attacking a target, gain an additional Strength x1.2 bonus.]

[3: [Innocent Youthfulness] - Skill: Those charming, romantic cotton-candy tresses, who wouldn't love them? +10 Charisma, includes hair dyeing effect.]

[4: [Connoisseur of Sweets] - Skill: Extraordinary sense of taste, able to discern even the slightest flavors. Limited to sweets.]

[5: [Shriek of Horror] - Skill: Unleash a terrifying, piercing scream capable of rupturing eardrums.]

Regular rewards, four skills, one specialty.

Perhaps because the performance in the battle with BIG MOM this time was clearly better than the last battle with Sengoku in the Sabaody Archipelago, the five reward options provided by the panel are of much higher quality than last time.

Adrian carefully observed the five abilities. {If you had invested just a hundred points in Luck, you wouldn't be seeing this.}

The first to be ruled out, naturally, was "Innocent Youthfulness"!

Adrian couldn't understand why, with Charlotte Linlin's imposing figure, the panel would bestow upon her the title of "Innocent Youthfulness"…

Although the description of this skill does indeed seem quite fitting.

A Huge Woman, Queen, Cotton Candy Hair, Sweet Tooth, Divorced (Fun seeking), Pregnant (Bubbly), plus that extraordinarily fertile physique...

Hmm?

Laying out the specific characteristics of this character, it seems, perhaps… there is indeed a certain appeal?

Subsequently, Adrian also ruled out "Connoisseur of Sweets."

This powerful trait, akin to the "God's Tongue," would be the perfect choice for a chef's profession, but it held no allure for Adrian.

His main profession is a swordsman, not a chef, although he does indeed have a chef's side job.

The skill descriptions for [Shriek of Horror] and [Intimidating Presence] left Adrian feeling oddly hesitant.

If he recalled correctly...

[Shriek of Horror] was one of BIG MOM's special abilities, formed by infusing her powerful Haoshoku Haki into her shouts, creating a unique skill powerful enough to cause devastating physical damage.

Somewhat similar to Sengoku's [Buddha's Shockwave].

But in reality, it was not so.

Without accompanying Haoshoku Haki, the [Shriek of Horror] described by the panel was simply hoarse, unbridled screaming…

A completely useless skill.

Adrian instantly dismissed it.

As for [Intimidating Presence], while it appeared somewhat akin to Haoshoku Haki, upon closer inspection it specifically mentioned affecting "souls" or "spiritual bodies."

It was clearly the technique BIG MOM used to subdue the lower-level Homies of Totto land.

While [Intimidating Presence] may have a few Berries' worth of relation to Conqueror's Haki, but more likely, it's an inherent ability of the Soul-Soul Fruit.

After some thought, Adrian chose Heavy Strike Specialization!

All skills that have effects similar to Conqueror's Haki but are not labeled as such are considered unorthodox!

[You have gained the specialty: Heavy Strike Specialization!]

A profound sensation surged through Adrian's heart, as if he understood how to attack to cause greater damage and inflict more pain.

Moments later, Adrian, coming back to his senses, invested the 95 free attribute points he gained from leveling up into his intelligence attribute. {Doh!}

"Skill points have reached 59 again?" {maybe you can…}

"Upgrade Armament Haki! Use experience to level up to LV5 first, then use 45 skill points to max it out. As for traits, there's no need to unlock any extras for now, Flowing Sakura and Ink Jade are enough." {Doh! Whatever!!}

After a series of operations, Adrian looked at his personal information panel again.

Level: 80

Personal Attributes: Strength 417, Agility 252, Stamina 229, Intelligence 1434, Charm 70 (Item +5), Luck 1

Skill Points: 14

Specialty: Heavy Strike Specialization

Skills: Armament Haki – Flowing Sakura – Black Jade LV10 (MAX), Firm Will

Legend: Paradise – Battle with the Admiral, Paradise – Supernova, World – Enemy of the Celestial Dragons

Equipment/Items: Yubashiri, Shuxue, Swamp Fruit, Swordfish Fruit, Paste Fruit

Missions: God's Eternal Slumber, Throne of the Sky, Mermaid's Lament, Charlotte Family, Extreme Trial