Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Simon remembered the battles that he had watched in that tournament back in the capital.  While it was true that the events back then had left a mark on him that he wouldn't be able to easily forget, on the bright side it served as a good learning experience from him.

The tournament especially, allowed him to see how humans fought. Their fighting style was mostly based around the class they had and their unique way of using skills to outsmart their enemies.

Mages had their own way of fighting while Assassins and warriors have their own. Even high-levelled humans like the royal court magician of the Sanguine empire and the officer of the Adventurer's Association, were not an exception.

In any case, that was how humans fought; however, he was not a human but a demon noble. Demon nobles have no such concept of classes, their race was blessed with good overall stats and a gift for magic that made them strong.

But herein lies the problem, Simon had never seen a high-ranking demon noble fight. Sure he had once fought with Gelgar, but he was just a Demon Viscount with a big dream and an overinflated ego. He was no help at all.

[20secs remaining before the seventh horde arrives].

Simon opened his status window and glanced at his stats, it was true that his magic stat was the highest among all the other six stats followed by his Agility and Endurance. His Strength stats was not up there but if he compared his strength with other warriors with rare classes around his level, it was no way inferior.

On the contrary, thanks to his racial benefits and the points he gains after each level up, his stats might even be higher. He was not lacking in the stats then… as he thought till here, he remembered how good Denzel was with the sword.

It was not just pure stats that the boy was using, it was technique. At that moment, Simon finally realised what direction he should make advancement towards.

His sword Crimson Blazing Flame Blade an [A] tier sword and one of his strongest trump that still remains till this day to be used till its full potential. An [A] tier sword, how many people in this entire world of Althaea can boast that they have such a sword in their possession.

It not only had an unparalleled sharpness, but it also bestowed its user with additional stats and skills. Up until now he only used the sword for the skill [Infernal Magic Mastery] that it bestowed. However, the sword had much more than this to offer.

"Sword techniques"  Simon recalled his battle with Godwin, the latter used skills in a perfect harmony with his sword techniques.

The reason for him not being able to cull these zombies easily even while having a major advantage in stats, was because he had neglected his training in the sword.

Even though the crimson sword bestowed its user with [Sword Mastery] it was just a normal skill. 'The two of them definitely had the evolved tier of this skill' Simon thought internally as he tightly clenched the crimson sword in his hand. He was in a situation where he must sparingly use his magic, he might as well use this chance to try to master the sword and acquire the [sword mastery] skill.

Simon needed any kind of advantage he could against these hordes of zombies. While thinking that, he stepped forward.

The seventh horde was finally here. Amidst the wave of uncommon zombies, he spotted the unique zombies that had given him a hell of trouble previously. Brandishing his sword, he expanded more on the feeling when he activated the [Sword Mastery] skill bestowed by the sword.

His senses started spreading out, his surroundings got silent and the sword became a part of him. Simon's aura at this moment, became as calm as a lake.

Thinking that it was an opportunity, the unique zombie charged towards him. It had stone like hard skin, a hulking body and a disproportionate figure. It's powerful charge that made the ground tremble, gave Simon quite a hard time previously and because of its rugged skin, it took more than a few swings of his blade to cull it down.

Seeing it charge towards him as soon as it appeared, Simon closed his eyes loosened his shoulders and tried learning the way the skill [Sword Mastery] worked. The moment the unqiue zombie was a few inches away from tackling him, Simon hurriedly side stepped and performed a clean low sweep from his sword.

The rugged skin of the zombie made it so that the blade wasn't able to cut it in half nonetheless; it still got a large gash on its abdomen.

The sentient zombie wailed, it was just about to use the cover of the uncommon zombie to hide when Simon performed a slashing motion from his position.

A blade shadow a meter big was created and flew towards the unique zombie bisecting its head.

PSHHH… a sound of liquid being sprayed, sounded out. Simon hurriedly jumped to his side and the moment he did, an acid came spraying on the place he was just a few moments ago.

CHIII… the ground immediately dissolved showing how potent the acid was. The zombie that threw the acid, was tall and had a bloated throat just like a frog in which it keeps its poison.

Simon observed the zombie from his position and swung his sword. a blade shadow just like the previous one, was created and flew towards the unique zombie who used the uncommon zombies around him as a shield to dodge the attack.

That action in itself said how sentient the unique zombies were. Simon did not falter and kept his composure. One thing that he learned after going through numerous battles was that, no matter what the situation, he must always maintain his composure. The sword becomes dull the more anxious the user was.

Simon culled one uncommon zombies after another endlessly. The average level of the zombies of the seventh horde were around level 350, a level he cannot look down upon.  Their numbers were also high and the fact that he must always protect the fireplace so that it does not go out, made the trial all the more hard.

And to top it off, he must also find the zombie that had the crimson bead within it before the time limit of two hours was up.

Why two hours? It was because two hours represented the time the crimson bead can keep the fireplace lighted up. Simon who had found an answer to his predicament, dedicated himself fully to understand the mystery of the [Sword Mastery] skill. And after a grindingly long two hours, he was finally able to clear the seventh horde.

It must be said that it was still not the best time he could clear the horde considering the fireplace was just about to go out. If not for the fact that Simon had an additional bead, he would have become anxious and his sword dull.

After a few minutes of rest, the eight horde arrived bringing along higher number and levels of zombies. Simon who was pacing himself according to the horde was forced in multiple occasions to use more of his mana and energy.

Even finding the crimson bead was becoming more and more hectic. The eight horde also made him realise that finding the crimson bead won't be as easier in the upcoming horde.

GULP… GULP… Simon gulped down a couple of elixirs of Healing and his wounds swiftly recovered. Although the elixirs of healing can heal his wounds, they cannot recover his expended mana or huis stamina.

"Huff… huff.. two more hordes to go. I have already used the extra bead to keep the fireplace lighted. If I cannot clear the ninth horde or find the zombie that has the crimson bead, it is game over for me".

His clearing time for the eight horde was two hours, thirty minutes. Far more than what he considered ideal. Because it became trickier to find the zombie that had the crimson bead and he had exceeded the time limit, he had to use the extra bead to keep the fireplace ignited.

While it was true that the situation looked dire, it was also a boon in disguise. Perhaps Simon had not realised it yet, but he tends to do better in the worst of the worse condition.

He does more well under pressure then when in not. The trail was no doubt very difficult; however it also pushed Simon beyond his limit and allowed him to break out from some of his restraints.

The growth he was having in these couple of hours, was many times faster compared to the time he came here with Lucine and Denzel.

[15secs reaming before the ninth horde arrives]

Simon looked at the prompt window and then at the sword in his hands. After fighting so many hordes, he was getting more and more used to how to swing his sword more efficiently. It wasn't like the [Sword Mastery] skill was providing him with some advanced level techniques or something, it was just simple slash, hack and cut.

Nevertheless, each of these actions and movements can be performed in hundreds of ways and each of these movements and actions has its own strength and shortcomings.

One has to perform every single action and movement thousands of times to understand which better suited them and which was better in which situation. And under the immense pressure of having to fight thousands of zombies whose levels only get higher and higher and having to protect the fireplace at all times, created the most ideal situation for Simon to acquire the [Sword Mastery].

Even without the need to activate the skill from the sword, he could feel that the sword had become an extension of his now.