Chương 96

The freezing water of the hidden alpine lake dripped from Rudra's black trench coat. He trudged up the muddy bank, his boots squelching in the dirt. He let out a long, satisfied exhale and dropped a heavy sack of glowing blue kelp onto the grass. For the past three months, he and Piaro had been tearing through the northern reaches of the Eternal Kingdom, hunting down the scattered Ocean God Temples. Rudra leaned on his Staff of the Fire Lord and swiped his hand through the air.

"Status window." [Name: Rudra] [Level: 269] [Class: Black Staff Lord] [Health: 48, 250 / 48, 250 | Mana: 14, 320 / 14, 320] [Strength: 1, 514 | Stamina: 1, 487 Agility: 1, 542 | Intelligence: 1, 211 [Persistence: 1, 189 | Dexterity: 1, 234 Courage: 856 | Charisma: 1, 845 Dignity: 1, 480 | Insight: 512 Divine Power: 718] [Stat Points: 0] [[Mana Heart] is now Lv. 2.] [Mana Heart (Lv. 2)] [Rating: Legendary] [An ancient, forbidden technique developed by a forgotten tribe of Barbarians. Realizing their human bodies could never match the mythical Titans who once fought the Gods without being at a disadvantage, they created an artificial method to force their own mana to act as a secondary circulatory system, constantly reinforcing their bones and muscle fibers from the inside out. - Passive Effect: [Titan's Constitution] - Your physical density is fundamentally altered. Maximum Health and Stamina permanently increase by 25%. When clashing with overwhelmingly strong physical attacks, the recoil and shock damage are absorbed by your mana pool instead of your physical body.] - Active Effect: [Targeted Manifestation] - You can actively direct the immense, surging flow of the Mana Heart into a specific body part for a 200% localized enhancement. - Resource Consumption: 1% of Max Mana per second.] One unexpected benefit of this constant sparring was that his [Mana Heart] skill had finally leveled up, multiplying his raw strength.

Rudra smiled, flexing his hands. The pitch-black Obsidian Drake Leather Gloves shifted smoothly over his knuckles. He had hit the 1, 000-stat threshold long ago, back when he first visited the capital of Juden to escort the Red Knights. Now, with his stats soaring well past 1, 500, the legendary gear felt like a natural extension of his own skin. A golden notification chimed as the system registered his latest dungeon clear. [The Hidden Quest 'The Legacy of the Submerged God' has been updated!] [Progress: 65 / 113 Temples Cleared] Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Only five more temples until the next milestone reward," Rudra muttered happily, closing the windows. He didn't have time to celebrate. The air behind him suddenly shifted. The ambient mana in the forest grew terrifyingly sharp.

"Your two hours are not up yet, Duke Rudra," a calm voice called out. Rudra ducked. He didn't even turn around. He just dropped his hips and let a heavy wooden practice sword slice through the empty space where his head had just been. Piaro stepped out of the tree line. The Great Swordsman wasn't wearing his filthy rags anymore. He wore a simple, clean set of leather armor. His hair was tied back, and his eyes were sharp and clear. He didn't even use a real sword for their daily spars—just a thick pine branch.

But in Piaro's hands, that branch hit harder than a steel blade.

"No breaks, got it," Rudra grinned. Rudra pivoted on his heel and swung the Staff of the Fire Lord. He didn't use an active skill. He stayed perfectly grounded, letting the natural weight of the weapon pull him into a flawless, horizontal sweep. CLANG! The impact echoed like colliding metal. Three months ago, a block like that would have completely stopped Rudra's momentum and left him wide open. Not anymore. Rudra didn't fight the recoil.

He let the staff bounce off the block, instantly twisting his wrists to redirect the heavy bone shaft into a tight, upward diagonal strike. Piaro's eyes widened slightly. He took a quick half-step backward, batting the staff away. Thwack! [The passive effect 'Echo Strike' has been triggered!] A phantom shockwave erupted from the staff exactly as Piaro deflected it. The sudden, secondary burst of blunt force caught the Great Swordsman off guard.

Piaro was actually forced to slide his back foot into the dirt to absorb the heavy push. Piaro lowered his branch, a genuinely impressed smile breaking across his face.

"Flawless transition," Piaro praised.

"You did not waste a single ounce of energy fighting your own weight. Your foundation is incredibly sturdy now." Rudra lowered his staff, panting lightly. Pushing Piaro back even a single inch was an insane achievement. Rudra looked at the golden progress bar hanging in his vision. [Daily Sparring Complete!] [Quest 'Fun and Enjoyable Training!' has been updated.] [Progress: 88 / 90 Days.] He had only two days left.

The end of his training with Piaro was finally in sight, and the massive mastery boost was almost his. But as he moved to stow his staff, a sharp, unpleasant cracking sound echoed through the clearing. Rudra froze. He looked down at the Staff of the Fire Lord. A jagged, deep crack ran down the center of the dark, fire-imbued bone. He quickly checked his status window. The durability was sitting at a miserable 12/600.

Then he glanced at his Obsidian Drake Leather Gloves; the seams were fraying, the item durability flashing a warning red at 35/800. Three months of non-stop dungeon raiding, coupled with the brutal, uncompromising daily spars against a Super-Named NPC, had finally pushed his high-tier gear to the breaking point.

"Ah, man," Rudra sighed, his shoulders slumping.

"My durability is entirely fried. If I hit one more goblin, my staff is going to turn into toothpicks." Piaro walked over, inspecting the cracked bone. Even without his former Imperial gear, the Great Swordsman's eyes were as discerning as ever.

"The structure is stressed. If you continue to channel your momentum through a fractured frame, the weapon will shatter beyond repair. A standard village smith will only permanently ruin the maximum durability if they attempt to fix it."

"I know," Rudra said, pulling up his system interface to check the regional forums.

"But I've been reading the rumors. A lot of players in this region are talking about a frontier town just a few days south of here."

"A frontier town?" Piaro asked.

"Winston," Rudra nodded, pointing down the mountain path.

"They say there is a very skilled blacksmith working out of the local smithy there. If anyone can fix an epic staff and legendary gloves without ruining the stats, it's him." Piaro nodded agreeably.

"Then we march south. It will do us good to resupply before we push toward the Imperial borders anyway."

"Alright," Rudra said, carefully securing his cracked staff to his back so he wouldn't accidentally break it.

"Let's go find this blacksmith." They began the descent. The path down from the snowy mountains was steep and jagged, winding through dense pine forests that gradually thinned out as they hit the lower, warmer plains of the Eternal Kingdom. By the second afternoon, the sprawling walls of Winston finally appeared on the horizon. It was a sturdy, industrious-looking town, heavily fortified with stone ramparts and bustling with activity. It wasn't as massive as the capital, but it felt much more solid and reliable.

"Winston," Rudra muttered, "Let's find this smith."