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/SLASH!/
/Gasp!/
The moment the battle started, a flash of light covered his vision.
But thanks to his protective glasses, this time, he managed to see what happened.
Without even getting into a stance, his reflection swung Caladgolg Horizontally with a lackluster movement, and in the next moment, the Devil fell on the ground, divided into two parts.
It was dead."What the fuck?"
His eyes twitching, Dale couldn't process what he had just seen.
Within a few fractions of a second, before the Great Devil even had the time to unleash its presence, Caladgolg was swung, creating a ripple in the air that bifurcated the Devil, giving it no chance whatsoever of a balanced and fair fight.
'Just… What did it do? It didn't even use any strength or at least that's what it looks like.' He thought with a sharp gaze as he tried to remember as much as he could
'Is this the true strength of the reflection while wielding a weapon?'
'Or is this just because its weapon was Caladgolg?'
'I don't remember having any weapon techniques of this caliber. Is this what happens when you have the necessary physical attributes, control, and a weapon to amplify them all?'
'Maybe a Skill?' He thought as he scratched the sides of his head
Among the few Skills Caladgolg had, Horizontal Slash was one of them.
However, even when he used it before, its power was incomparable to what he had just witnessed.
A single slash caused the air to separate into two halves, even if just for a moment, creating a perfect vacuum whenever the sword strike passed through...
Dale had no doubts that if the strike had been aimed at the ground, he might've seen a ravine be formed.
"Is the difference between us in the Skill usage? Assuming he used it…"
'A difference in the output? Maybe the reflection with its higher control just managed to pour more into the slash, but given how fast it was I don't think that's the case.'
'Even if the reflection is incredible at doing it, it can't distribute so much in so little time.'
'There must be something else I have yet to figure out, a method...'
The more he thought about it the more disappointed Dale grew with himself.
He was just making excuses for his own lack of ability.
"Maybe… This is the true way to wield Caladgolg?" Dale said out loud
'I always thought I was too weak to use the sword properly, that its true powers were hidden behind a barrier...'
'And that could still be true but… What if I'm already strong enough?'
'I already grew quite a bit, my Stats are higher than any Level 100 player could even dream of reaching!... Level 99 player since they get a Ratio change at Level 100.'
'Maybe all this time I've already grown capable enough to use it to a somewhat decent degree, but due to my lack of experience, which the reflection fixed, it can use it as intended.'
"But even then, that seems a bit lackluster."
'My Stats aren't there yet to fit with the requirements.'
"So maybe it's something in between?..."
Dale thought about this for a few minutes before exhaling.
"This is tricky, I've just realized that I'm a pushover."
"And in any case, I've learned enough already, it's time for me to leave…"
"..."
His reflection looked at him as if already knowing what was going to happen next.
"... Shit."
'I've been here for a while and tested a few things too, there's only one way for me to leave this place as far as my imagination goes.' He thought as his expression grew twisted
"This Skill is pretty good, but who made it like this…"
/SLASH!/
The moment he started to think about it, the reflection slashed in his direction.
And before he knew…
…
/Gasp!/
Dale opened his eyes again in the alley, clutching at his head with a pained expression, clutching his chest as beads of sweat fell from his forehead.
A small smile grew on his face, a mix of relief and happiness.
"I can breathe… Hence, I'm alive…" He said as he placed his hand on the wall to rest
'Urg… This headache…'
Dale touched his head with a pained expression, trying to rest away his pain, wiping his sweat while at it.
His head hurt immensely, but his body did not. It seemed his reflection was pretty efficient, ending him with one painless blow...
He never thought he would be glad to be killed without any pain.
'Is that how it feels to die? Maybe not quite, but it should be close enough.'
"To be cut from one corner of my body to the other… Without even a chance to retaliate."
'If my reflection can do this, I can only imagine what its original wielder could... And the beasts he could not kill.'
'Soon enough, I'll have to find a way to deal with them.'
...
As he rested on the wall, Dale opened his Game Menu, immediately noticing the time.
'About 10 minutes have passed… About the same time I spent in there.'
'Well, I didn't expect my Skill to have time-altering properties on top of what I'm already experiencing, though if it had, then I would be able to blame this headache on something.'
After pondering for a few more moments, Dale eventually shook his head, making his way to Adamante's house to deliver all of the items.
He had learned a lot with this little experiment of his, but the day was still a pretty long day left to settle.
…
/Later…/
[DING]
[You have completed the Quest, Material gathering 1]
[Due to the dissonance between Soul and Body, Experience rewards have been added into Optional Objective rewards]
[You have received 1000 Zulls of Iron]
[You have received the item, Repair Hammer (Unique) X2]
[You have completed the Quest, Material gathering 2]
[Due to the dissonance between Soul and Body, Experience rewards have been added into Optional Objective rewards]
[You have received 1 Zull of Copper]
[You have received the item, Repair Hammer (Relic) X2]
[You have completed the Hidden Quest, Strange Leathers]
[Due to the dissonance between Soul and Body, Experience rewards have been added into Optional Objective rewards]
[You have received 10 Zulls of Copper]
[You have received the item, Simple Leather Armor Overhaul]
[You have completed the Hidden Quest, Exotic Creatures]
[Due to the dissonance between Soul and Body, Experience rewards have been added into Optional Objective rewards]
[You have received 25 Zulls of Copper]
[You have received the item, Adamante's Old Carving Knife]
[Adamante's Intimacy has greatly increased]
[Adamante's Reputation +1 Full Level]
[You're currently seen by her as a precious child]
[Your actions have started to induce a change in a Key member of Resko's questline]
[Despite her usual grumpy and dismissive personality, Adamante values you greatly and is afraid of harm befalling you as it did with those she loved in the past]
[The pains of her past still haunt her, and until those are cleared, if ever, she won't be able to fully display her worry for you, as doing so would make her vulnerable for a loss once more]
[Prove to her that you're someone she doesn't have to worry about so her trust may never diminish]
"Hum…"
Crossing his arms outside of the Guild Hall, Dale went over his rewards after his encounter with Adamante came to an end.
Like before, he met her at her home and together, they went to the Guild again where he threw everything he collected at it's secluded basement, the butchery.
It was there he discovered the body of the Devil, mangled and bloody.
He had been wondering what happened to it, and the truth was rather simple, they just threw it here to be processed later.
Though Dale himself wasn't sure what they could do with it… It's state wasn't exactly clean or concise. Having its mutation interrupted and being heavily injured by himself and Testros' slash didn't do good for its leather.
Who would want to wear such skin anyway?
Jumping away from this topic, as he expected, his many items allowed him to easily complete her Quest, together with its optional objective, which wasn't anything impressive, just collect one unique body of a rarer creature, one he found very easily as he ventured deeper into the forest.
Many of the bodies were like that, becoming more frequent and easier to acquire as he went deeper... Though of course, doing so would increase the difficulty as encounters with higher-leveled creatures would become more frequent.
It was clear to him that his current Level was way higher than the Quest required, so it wasn't a surprise he completed it so easily.
Aside from that, due to the sheer amount of items he gave her, including some very high-quality bodies, this ended up in the completion of not only the second part of Adamante's Quesline, but also in the completion of two hidden Quests, one focusing on the collection of strange and rare types of leather, and one focused on the collection of, you bet it, strong monster bodies.
Due to his debuff, Dale received no XP from this endeavor, but he didn't mind that as even if he received something, it wouldn't have affected his progress bar. Maybe one or two Levels at most.
He was, after all, over Level 60+, Resko's original recommended player Level.
These Quests were likely meant for players on this range, so receiving multiple Level ups at once would be strange, at least for the first two Quests.
He couldn't say the same for the Hidden ones.
Regardless, given his current situation, staying at his Level is more worthwhile.
And it's not like all of that vanished into nothingness, the items he received from those Quests would be very useful...
Repair Hammers, something very rare even for players playing in wealthier areas such as the Capital. It allowed him to repair a piece of equipment from 1% up to 100% durability, with a minimum of 50% effectivity.
But that was for the traditional players, things may be different for him.
Not to say he received two of each Grade, likely compensation from receiving no Experience.
For the better or for the worse…
"I'll always welcome the coins." Dale muttered to himself as he entered an alley
'I was getting short on money due to all of the Quests I published in the Mercenary Guild Hall and since I hadn't completely any Quests for the past few days before we started the expedition, I was getting low on cash as the players caught up with their Levels.'
'But that's only an extra, for now, money has only one purpose, and that is for me to control the players into doing what I want and maybe buy something from the General Market through the Church from time to time...'
'The true rewards from the Quests should come from its real-time consequences rather than some notifications on the Game Screen.'
'What these bodies will do for the Village and so on, from my perspective, it'll likely just end in my belly later on...'
'As for the Hidden Quest rewards, in short, the Knife was Adamante's old carving tool, it serves no purpose to her now since she has a better one.'
'It's mostly blunt and falling into pieces, so I don't expect much of it, though holding onto it should prove beneficial for the future as I doubt this would be given as a reward from her Quests.'
'Funny how Adamante became the Villager I completed the most Quests from in just a moment...'
'In any case… I just got a repair hammer, haven't I? Though I'm thinking if I should use it now...'
'I do have a few candidates for these hammers, and this wasn't on the list… Maybe it's time for a revision.'
'As for the other Hidden Quest reward… It's an armor Skin… But how's that possible?'
'I remember that back in the very first day, when I opened the Beta Tester Box, I received several items while Ermin received similar ones with one exception.'
'While I received a Key to Babilon, he received an armor Skin.'
'I thought it wasn't possible for Hardcore players to receive armor skins since it made no sense… After all, unless its magic or divine intervention, you can't just change the appearance and properties of something on the fly like that.'
'I'll have to see how it works later...'
"Yawn..."
'Hum... Since I'm at it, might as well inspect all of the items I received from the start of this expedition to now.'
'I should have just enough time to do so before I arrive.'
With a calm and relaxed expression, Dale pressed on, inspecting the knife as he walked to Yumi's shop.
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Notes
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