Requirements:
Dexterity: 30
…
I read the weapon’s description several times, my heartbeat quickening with every word.
I knew nothing about the nameless warrior mentioned by the Player System, but I knew very well who the blacksmith Ganishka was.
That was the name of the blacksmith whom many considered the greatest in the entire world of Ordeal.
Only a handful of others could even be compared to him.
If this weapon had been reforged by his own hands, that alone made Dark Sister an immensely valuable sword in my eyes.
It also possessed a rather unusual Ash of War.
Killing Mode…
The part about attacking allies was certainly concerning, but I was confident I could find a solution to that problem.
What mattered now was that I had finally obtained a weapon that would allow me to practice Asterion’s swordsmanship.
Although its requirements might prove troublesome.
After all, I had been focusing on Strength and Arcane, while Dexterity was a stat I had never invested in before.
I possessed a Blessing that allowed me to change classes, but I didn’t want to sacrifice my ability to wield the Executioner’s Sword.
Its ability was far too useful to give up.
Besides, Night Armor also required Strength…
“This is a real problem…”
I still hadn’t checked how many souls I’d obtained from killing Aldrich, but I doubted they would be enough to cover everything I needed.
Especially with that damned restriction forcing me to pay twice as many souls as ordinary players whenever I wanted to level up.
There was also Ars’s sword, which I hadn’t inspected yet.
Turning my attention toward it, I examined its stats.
And I immediately wished I hadn’t.
…
Golden Pinnacle: The Divine Sword
Ash of War: Infinite Core
The most powerful sword ever created by the great Golden Dawn Knight. Within the blade lies a core containing an enormous reserve of mana, which can be released freely through the weapon without restriction. Once depleted, the mana automatically replenishes itself.
Requirements:
Dexterity: 37
Strength: 33
…
“Yeah… I won’t be using this thing anytime soon…”
I let out a long sigh as I realized I would need to reach at least Level 60 before I could wield this weapon properly.
Without meeting those requirements, it would be nothing more than an ordinary sword, no different from the countless weapons one might encounter every day.
“I’ll focus on Dark Sister for now…”
I stored the Golden Dawn Knight’s sword and opened the Player System interface to level up, praying that the souls I’d obtained would be enough to let me wield Dark Sister.
I was satisfied with the weapon itself.
In fact, I considered myself lucky that Aldrich’s soul hadn’t given me something I had no use for at the moment, like a bow or a spear.
Still, I couldn’t help worrying that I’d exhausted all my luck just by obtaining it.
“Please… Let it be enough.”
…
Name: Ethan Heart
Class: Classless
Level: 43
Current Souls: 220,000
Souls Required for Next Level: 29,000
…
Vigor: 17 (Increases HP)
MP: 15 (Increases mana)
Endurance: 10 (Increases stamina)
Strength: 26 (Increases damage dealt with heavy weapons)
Dexterity: 10 (Increases damage dealt with speed-based weapons)
Intelligence: 10 (Increases magic power)
Faith: 10 (Increases the power of holy incantations)
Arcane: 25 (Increases luck and bleed effectiveness)
…
Legion Arm: Level 3
Souls Required to Reach Level 4: 100,000
…
I stared at the number for a long moment before rubbing my eyes, afraid that I was seeing things.
But no matter how many times I checked, the number remained exactly the same.
“Wait… Where the hell did I get this many?!”
I was completely stunned.
Two hundred and twenty thousand souls.
That was absolutely insane!
Aldrich was only a Saint-rank boss! How could he possibly have given me so many souls?
Even Matheus, who had been a King-rank boss, had barely rewarded me with eighty thousand!
No matter how I looked at it, the amount made no sense.
It was more than twice what I’d received from Matheus.
After thinking it over carefully, I came up with several possible explanations for why the system had rewarded me with such an enormous number of souls.
‘Could the Player System have considered Ars a monster because he was presented as the dungeon’s boss?’
The Player System had been designed to fight the curse and the Night Lords.
Killing monsters rewarded players with large quantities of souls, but killing humans was an entirely different matter.
Even if a player somehow managed to kill an Emperor-rank human, the only thing they would receive was a single soul, the soul of the Emperor himself.
In other words, the Player System couldn’t be exploited to grow stronger by killing humans.
It was a clever decision on the part of whichever entity had created it.
After all, it forced players to challenge the curse, and nothing else, if they wanted to become stronger.
That was why Ars’s death shouldn’t have rewarded me with any souls.
However, if the system had treated him as a monster rather than a human, it would explain the enormous number I’d received.
That was certainly one possibility.
Another was that the additional souls came from the sheer size of this Legacy dungeon, which was vastly larger than Matheus’s.
Whatever the correct explanation, it didn’t really matter.
What mattered was that I now possessed enough souls to level up several times.
I might even be able to reach Saint rank.
If I became a Saint, my strength would at least double, and fighting on my own would become considerably easier.
As I imagined the power I would gain upon reaching Saint rank, my finger instinctively moved toward the level-up option.
I was just about to spend all those souls in one go.
But at the very last moment, I hesitated.
My finger froze a hair’s breadth away from the Player System interface.
The reason was simple.
My eyes had been drawn toward a particular line, one that suddenly seemed to shine brighter than everything else on the screen.
Legion Arm: Level 3
Souls Required to Reach Level 4: 100,000
“Fuck… Why are all these choices appearing at once?!”
I pulled my hand back in frustration as my mind began weighing the options before me.
I had obtained enough souls to upgrade my Legion Arm to the next level and unlock an entirely new ability.
Normally, I wouldn’t have hesitated over something like this.
But the Legion Arm had saved my life several times recently, and without it, victory would have been impossible.
Overcharge had decided the outcome of numerous battles, especially against Aldebaran, since most of the damage I’d inflicted on him had come from that ability.
Even the first- and second-level abilities had proven their worth time and again.
The Explosive Stake had gotten me out of several dangerous situations, while the Grappling Hook had become a tool I relied on heavily.
“What should I do now…? Should I break through to Saint rank? Or split the souls between upgrading my Legion Arm and leveling up?”
It was a difficult choice.