Chương 134

Grid stepped forward eagerly, his eyes shining with curiosity and a hint of pride. This was his chance to advance his class quest..

"Hey, old man," Grid called out to the glowing coffin.

"You mentioned Pagma earlier. The legendary blacksmith?"

"I did," Chreshler's voice echoed, still thick with lingering sorrow.

"That silver-tongued scammer. He was the one who crafted this Sacred Wood Coffin. He convinced me that sealing myself inside would be a romantic, eternal embrace with Marie Rose." Grid puffed out his chest, pointing a thumb at himself.

"Well, you're looking at Pagma's Successor." The golden light radiating from the coffin flared up aggressively, turning from a warm glow into a harsh glare.

"Pagma's Successor?!" Chreshler yelled, his voice echoing loudly in the chamber.

"The inheritor of that deceitful rat who tricked me into this wooden box?! I should smite you right where you stand!"

"Whoa, hey!" Grid yelped, immediately diving behind Piaro's broad back to use the farmer as a meat shield.

'Why does everyone this guy knew want to kill me?!' Before Chreshler could do anything rash, Rudra stepped in front of the coffin, resting his bone staff on his shoulder.

"Calm down," Rudra said flatly.

"Grid didn't put you in the box. He just inherited his techniques. But since you're the 2nd Pope, maybe you should be worrying about the current state of your church instead of holding grudges against a dead guy." The harsh light flickered, settling down slightly at Rudra's words.

"The Rebecca Church? Tell me, young man. Does the Church still shine brightly across the continent?"

"It's a mess," Rudra answered bluntly.

"Your church is deeply corrupt right now. The current 13th Pope, Drevigo, is hoarding the Vatican's wealth, corrupting the priests, and framing innocent people to steal their property."

"It's true!" Grid peeked out from behind Piaro, eager to snitch.

"He's greedy! Some of the church's people confiscated my high-rated divine shield and they flat-out refused to return it to me! We're actually on our way to the Vatican right now to beat him up and get my property back." The chamber went dead silent. The lingering sorrow over Marie Rose and the sudden anger toward Pagma vanished, replaced by a heavy, dangerous holy wrath directed entirely at the Vatican.

"A corrupt man..." Chreshler's voice boomed, vibrating through the stone.

"... has taken charge of the Church? Corrupting the high priests? Stealing from the innocent to feed his own greed?!" A series of golden system windows suddenly popped up in front of all four party members. [Hidden Quest: Punish the Corrupt Pope!] [The 2nd Pope, Chreshler, is furious at the state of his beloved church. He asks you to purge the corruption from the Vatican and dethrone the 13th Pope, Drevigo.] [Quest Clear Conditions: Death or surrender of Pope Drevigo.] [Quest Reward: Chreshler will teach each party member a holy technique or secret skill.] Grid's eyes widened. A secret skill directly from a legendary Pope? Grid was basically dancing in joy.

"We accept!" Rudra confirmed for the group.

"Excellent," Chreshler declared, his voice returning to a dignified tone.

"Then come back when the Corrupt Pope is punished." Stolen story; please report. With the quest secured, the group turned around to leave the underground chamber. As they walked back up the dark tunnels, Grid's sharp eyes noticed something embedded in the rocky walls. The centuries of exposure to Marie Rose's passive demonic aura had mutated the environment, specifically minerals along the wall had been altered. Grid pulled out a pickaxe from his inventory.

He walked over to the wall, raised his arms, and swung it hard. Clang! The pickaxe bounced off the wall, jarring his hands and arms. The rock didn't even chip.

"What the...?" Grid gritted his teeth. He swung again. And again. He hammered at the exact same spot with all his strength for over ten minutes, sweating profusely. Finally, after a heavy, full-body swing, a tiny chunk of black rock chipped off. [You have acquired Iron Ore with Evil Energy x1.] Grid held up the dark, pulsing chunk of metal, panting heavily. He immediately recognized it as a rare, high-tier crafting material. It was exactly the kind of material that could fetch a huge price.

He licked his lips and looked at the rest of the tunnel. It was completely packed with the stuff. But then he looked at his aching hands and his durability-drained pickaxe. At this rate, it would take him months of non-stop swinging to mine the whole cave.

"Grid, let's go," Rudra called out from the cave entrance.

"We're burning daylight, and we have a church to raid." Grid froze. He knew he couldn't hold up this party for weeks just to mine hard rocks, but his greedy heart ached at the thought of leaving money behind.

"I'll be back for you," Grid whispered passionately to the cave wall.

"I promise. Don't let anyone else mine you." Back on the dusty road to the Vatican, the group encountered a pack of Armored Razor-Wolves.

"Leave these to me!" Grid shouted, eager to get the experience points before Rudra could swat them away. Grid charged forward, pulling out his massive black greatsword, Dainsleif. He didn't bother taking a proper stance or assessing the enemy's formation. He just immediately activated his skill.

"Pagma's Sword Dance! Link!" Grid's blade moved rapidly, unleashing a flurry of fast strikes that quickly took down the two wolves in front of him. The system-assisted power of the legendary skill did all the work. However, once the skill ended, a third wolf lunged from his blind spot. Instead of stepping back to regain his balance, Grid clumsily twisted his upper body and swung Dainsleif horizontally, relying entirely on his raw strength. He missed the wolf's neck, and the beast slammed its claws into Grid's ribs.

[You have suffered 430 damage.]"Get off me!" Grid yelled in annoyance. He didn't even try to dodge the next attack. He just let his sturdy armor absorb the minor damage while he raised his greatsword and chopped down, crushing the wolf's skull with brute force. Standing a few yards away, Piaro watched the entire fight in silence. The Sword Saint's brow was furrowed deeply.

"What is he doing?" Piaro muttered.

"Sorry?" Rudra replied off-handedly not hearing what Piaro said.

"He isn't bringing out his potential" Piaro stated, his tone serious.

"His physical prowess is great. His weapon is excellent, and that sword dance is a remarkable technique. Yet his basic posture between those techniques is a mess. He swings too wide, he wastes his momentum, and he ignores his foundational footwork entirely." Piaro watched as Grid carelessly butchered another wolf, taking unnecessary hits simply because he didn't try to parry or evade.

"He relies entirely on the destructive power of that sword dance," Piaro realized, shaking his head.

"Grid is bringing out less than ten percent of his body's true potential. If he fought a warrior with equal physical capabilities but proper fundamentals, he would lose immediately." As Grid finished off the last wolf and confidently walked back to the group, Piaro stepped forward.

"Grid," Piaro said calmly.

"Your basic movements are flawed. You possess immense physical strength, but you waste almost all of it. Let me train you. I can teach you how to properly swing a sword and connect your strikes without relying solely on your techniques." Grid wiped a speck of dirt off his leather armor and scoffed.

"Train me? Why?" Grid asked stubbornly.

"I just wiped out that whole pack by myself! My stats are incredible, and Dainsleif is one of the best weapons out there. I don't need to sweat over posture when Pagma's Sword Dance does the work for me!"

"A powerful blade is useless if the wielder does not know how to swing it naturally," Piaro warned earnestly.

"Techniques have limits and delays. A true warrior must rely on his own fundamentals."

"My fundamentals are fine!" Grid huffed, completely brushing off the advice. Why would he subject himself to grueling martial arts training when he could just forge better items and rely on his system-assisted sword dances? Grid stubbornly turned his back and continued walking down the road, leaving Piaro staring after him with a disappointed sigh.