Hard Carried by My Sword-Chapter 99

Leon and Karen began moving out the very next day. Of course, their first step wasn’t to search for the drake.

They needed time to adapt to each other as both of them had changed dramatically in just a few weeks. They also needed to reacquaint themselves with the terrain of forests and mountains.

The biggest issue was that they didn’t yet fully grasp their own strength. They knew they had grown far stronger than before their training began, but not by how much. In the end, they had to ask El-Cid for help to figure that out.

Name: Leon

Title & Class: Hero (Newbie)

Level: 59

Strength: B

Endurance: A++

Agility: A

Aura: A++

Skills: Sword Mastery III (8), Rodrick’s Martial Arts (8), Complete Martial Root, Aura Wielder III (9), Secret Sword Technique: Grand Chariot (4)

For just a few weeks of progress, it was an extraordinary leap.

—I left out all the stigmata. Writing it all out would be too messy, and if you start using them too often just because they’re convenient, you’ll grow dependent. Keep yourself in check.

Wait, my endurance and Aura skyrocketed!

—Didn’t I say? With a little exaggeration, it’s troll level. A++ means that even in a state of exhaustion, you can recover with just a few deep breaths. Since a single ‘+’ means double, ‘++’ means four times. Activating the Stigma of the Guardian quadruples your recovery.

Leon was speechless at the absurd spike in his stats. He already had physical abilities tempered to the limit, and his endurance was far above that of other warriors in his class, thanks to harsh training.

And now that was quadrupled? He wasn’t even sure if running all day would make him gasp for breath at all.

—Your understanding of swordsmanship and my martial arts jumped thanks to that lunk, and since you’ve been fighting faster and stronger opponents, your agility rose, too. It’s less that your reaction speed increased and more that your sense of reading patterns got sharper.

While Leon gawked at his own growth, El-Cid continued on, indifferent.

—The Purifier burned away all impurities, so your Martial Root is now ‘complete,’ and your Aura circulation system is operating at nearly a hundred percent. You should recalibrate your sense of power control. Otherwise, you might end up hurting yourself with your own strikes.

That makes sense. My center of gravity felt off by about half a degree since yesterday even with Footwork. It'll take a few days to fully re-tune my body.

Leon focused his mind on his steps. Even when using only two-thirds of his usual strength, he still left faint footprints on the ground. With perfect Footwork, he shouldn’t leave a trace even on snow.

If he fought the drake in this condition, he’d lose. Humans could never match monsters in raw power. The gap had to be bridged with skill and strategy. If he got cocky just because of four Stigmata, that same arrogance that saved him before might just get him killed this time.

Now, for the affinity... actually, they might be in my favor.

Affinity was another critical factor in battle.

The drake’s poison won’t work on me, and I can counter its Dark Breath with my Aura and Holy Sword. Even if it tries to use stealth, it won’t be able to escape the Stigma of the Observer. Its guerrilla tactics won’t be an issue.

In fact, for humans to have an advantage over monsters in any matchup was extremely rare. Even against lesser monsters, that was the case—yet Leon had a favorable matchup against an S+ ranked drake.

The Aura of the sun, the Holy Sword, and four stigmata made him practically the perfect predator against monsters. This was the defining trait of a Hero. Their true strength shone not against humans, but monsters, and even more so, against beings from beyond.

—Exactly. The Hero’s power is optimized not for duels against fellow humans, but for monster hunts and fighting extradimensional beings. If you were to face a monster from another dimension right now, you’d outperform two Swordmasters combined. But that doesn’t mean you’re stronger than them.

As a representative of the Goddess, a Hero holds overwhelming superiority against invaders from other worlds. That was why monsters from other dimensions, no matter how terrifying their strength was, had never broken through the Hero’s wall.

However, against beings born and raised in this world, like Swordmasters, there was no real advantage. Even with his newfound strength, Leon would have to risk his life in a duel against one, and his odds of victory weren’t great.

—A Master is someone who’s pursued martial arts to its peak, achieving perfection in a single point. I called them half-baked for not being able to use psychokinesis, but in terms of power density, they far exceed your level.

Even after I recalibrate everything, I still can’t beat them?

—Depends on the opponent. But even generously, your chances are only twenty percent. If you sneak up and use your Grand Chariot at point-blank, that’s a different story.

Leon kicked at his Holy Sword’s scabbard in protest. That was worse than cowardly. If anyone could survive a close-range Grand Chariot blast, they were either not human or had surpassed even the Swordmasters. What would be the point of pulling such tricks when trying to compare strengths?

What kind of master teaches his disciple that a Hero should sneak-attack humans, not even monsters, with their ultimate move?

—Well, if you do it when they’re alone, there won’t be any witnesses, right? Just zip your mouth, and no one will know.

Even if no one else sees, the Goddess is watching!

—Ah, forgot about that one.

Their conversation was so ridiculous that it was hard to believe these were the past and current Heroes. If the clergy overheard this, their faith would be tested on the spot.

While they bickered, Karen returned from scouting ahead and reported her findings.

“Mr. Hero, I spotted a group of Swamp Trolls.”

Her scouting ability had improved significantly with her newfound strength. She could now move ahead of Leon and cover several kilometers. Combined with the map from the Titans, the two could navigate the forest while avoiding any and all unnecessary encounters.

“Swamp Trolls, huh. How far?” Leon asked.

“Just under three kilometers. One looks like the leader, the other five are subordinates. All mature ones, though.”

“A young pack. Just recently broke off on their own?”

Swamp Trolls usually lived alone, but they weren’t bold enough to attempt solo survival in this mountain range. Elsewhere, they might be apex predators, but here in the Titan Mountains, they were just common A-rank monsters. However, because trolls ate so much, packs rarely grew larger than ten.

“Let’s take them out,” Leon declared.

“You want to?”

“You brought it up because skirting around them would take too long, right?”

“Yup.”

“Then no need to delay. We could use the practice syncing up. Call it rehab training, or something.”

Not long ago, Forest Trolls were a serious threat to them. Now, Swamp Trolls didn’t even seem remotely intimidating.

With that, Karen vanished with a confident grin. After mastering the Twilight Waltz of the Duskgloom, her stealth skills had grown to the point where she could fool even Leon. If not for his Observer’s Stigma, he wouldn’t have been able to spot her even if she disappeared right in front of him.

Three kilometers wasn’t a very far distance for them. After crossing that short distance, the two stepped into the swampy part of the forest.

Mud squelched oddly under Leon’s foot. His weight hadn’t been evenly distributed due to his out-of-tune Rodrick’s Footwork. Embarrassed, he paid more attention to how he moved. Karen, in contrast, hadn’t even brushed against a single leaf.

Ah.

Leon crouched low at the sight of the Swamp Trolls. There were six in total, just as Karen had reported. The biggest one with red skin had to be the leader. The energy rippling around it was more than double that of the others.

Was he going to take out the leader first? Or deal with the small fry first? That decision didn’t take Leon long.

Let’s go.

As the blade left its scabbard, it pulsed with power and burst into brilliant light in the murky center of the swamp. A blinding flash pierced the eyes of the light-sensitive Swamp Trolls like an awl.

“Gwaaaargh!?”

“Gwak!? Gurgak?!”

“Gurrrak! Gurgak!”

The reactions were varied. One covered its eyes and dove into the swamp. One turned its back to the light. One, sensing the ambush, gripped a weapon.

Except for the leader and two others, the rest were in a panic. Leon charged into the chaos, golden Aura sheathed his Holy Sword, igniting the air around it into a shimmering haze.

Trolls, both Swamp and Forest, shared a common weakness: burns. To finish one off for good, nothing beat a well-heated blade.

Gripping his Aura Sword in one hand, Leon closed the gap before the troll could react and brought it down on its neck.

The troll’s head flew clean off, spinning a few times before plopping into the swamp, its eyes blinking blankly. Even Leon was surprised by how clean the cut had been.

What? I thought Swamp Trolls were hard to cut through?

And that was true. Trolls that grew up feeding on poisonous plants and insects secreted an oily sweat made from internal toxins and waste. It dulled blades and could poison attackers. Combined with the natural toughness of trolls, they were harder to cut through than most heavy armor.

However, Leon succeeded in another slash, another clean sever through the troll’s cervical spine. It wasn’t just the sharpness of the Holy Sword or the strength of the Aura Sword.

The heat radiating off the blade had vaporized the oily coating on the troll’s skin. The resulting toxic vapor brushed Leon’s respiratory tract, but thanks to the Stigma of the Purifier, he felt nothing.

“Guruaaaagh!”

Having lost two underlings in a flash, the leader’s eyes turned blood-red. This one seemed to have special abilities. Its eyes, the same color as its hide, glared directly at Leon. The troll activated Evil Eye, a curse of madness that blurred friend and foe alike.

“A curse, huh? Pretty rare for a troll,” Leon said casually. “But you picked the wrong guy.”

“Gurrrk?!” 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

The stigma on his forehead lit up, and the curse shattered into nothing. The Prayer was a hard counter to curses and mental interference.

Only then did the Swamp Troll realize the true danger it was in. This little human was far too strong. If it fought head-on, they’d all die. It needed to use its underlings as bait and escape.

“Guaaagh! Guaaagh!”

It roared at its subordinates to kill him. However, strangely, no response came. Not a single one. When the troll whipped its head to the side, its eyes widened in horror.

“Wow, trolls really are tough, huh? Even after taking a poison that drops ogres in one hit, they’re still alive.”

All three were down, twitching at Karen’s feet, coughing blood. Three daggers stuck out of their bodies with perfect precision.

“The poison the Titan uncles taught me works like a charm. If one dagger is enough for a troll, using this on a human without dilution would probably melt them, hehe.”

Karen grinned, satisfied by the field test. Because troll regeneration stemmed from their blood, bloodborne poison was especially effective. And her well-aimed throws had landed near the heart, which helped her all the more.

Even so, Leon was impressed again. Swamp trolls were famously poison-resistant. Trying to defeat one with poison was like trying to burn a wet frog alive, but Karen had done just that.

Against someone without a purification skill like mine, even one hit from those would be fatal.

There was a reason humanity had shunned poison and pushed it into the shadowy corners of history. Poisoncraft was incredibly dangerous in actual combat.

Then, taking advantage of Leon’s moment of distraction, the leader belched out a cloud of poison, unleashing its ultimate technique that concentrated the toxin that should’ve been secreted through the skin and expelling it through its lungs at near-undiluted potency. Even a wyvern would die in minutes after inhaling this.

Just as it breathed it right into Leon’s face and smiled triumphantly—

“You nasty bastard!”

Its head went flying as Leon, infuriated by the stench, cut it clean off. Even with tougher skin than the others, it was no match for the golden edge of the Holy Sword. Its smug, smiling face landed in a swampy corner.

Still not satisfied, Leon kicked the head away and spat, “Ptah! Burping right in someone’s face? What the hell was that?”

The purification ability had kept the toxin from reaching him, but the stench brushing past his nose was enough to make him lose his appetite.

“Still, we got through it without a scratch. That’s good, right?”

Karen calmed his annoyance as she finished off the wounded trolls and retrieved her three thrown daggers.

One had a crack in it, so she tossed it into the swamp. No matter how well-made, throwing knives as hard and fast as her would eventually break them.

“After we deal with the drake, we’ll need to make a trip to the village,” she said, checking her inventory and noticing that she was going to be running low sooner than later.

Leon nodded and said, “Let’s go. Swamp Trolls aren’t cutting it.”

“Right? Not even a sweat,” Karen agreed.

“We should find some faster enemies.”

As they walked, they chatted. Even Swamp Trolls weren’t good practice anymore. They needed stronger monsters so they could hone their edge even sharper before the day came to face the drake.

Behind them, only the unsightly corpses of six swamp trolls remained, and even those were gone in less than half a day, swallowed whole by a passing basilisk.