The legendary Moonlight Sculptor

V54C8P2- The Plan of the Dwarves

Thor region.

The dwarves lived with anxiety as they were close to the Black Dragon Kaybern's territory.

"Ah. I shouldn't have chosen to be a dwarf…"

"The race itself is not only adorable but also has powerful combat abilities. Besides, they can forge a bunch of stuff, making it easy to make money as well."

"But, little did I know I would be subject to the dragon's tyranny every single day."

"Dwarves are truly a sorrowful race."

Each mountain in Thor contains good quality minerals, which makes it easy to enhance blacksmith skills and dexterity. This also results in merchants visiting the area frequently.

There was also a surplus of hunting grounds, making it the ideal environment for gaining experience points for level growth.

Even though they had all the resources that they could need, the dwarves often left the region and scattered around the continent. The peculiar characteristic of the dwarves was that, once they left home, they never went back.

"This is why I'm familiar with all the elders".

Weed and the blacksmith Herman travelled around Thor as Weed transformed himself to look like a dwarf.

The Dwarven villages, which were scattered around the Norn, Ulta and Saigo mountain passes, were estimated to be around 2,300 in number.

Even in regions which had been experiencing monster activity, dwarven pioneer villages and small mining villages existed, and many had no interaction with outsiders.

"The Brazier of Sacrifice could not possibly be in some secluded village… Actually, it is possible, but it will be undeniably tricky given the difficulty rank of the quest".

Weed thought the knowledge of where The Brazier of Sacrifice was hiding couldn't be obtained easily, so he knew that he had to conduct some investigation starting with the residents of known villages.

The fall of the Black Dragon Kaybern was something that the dwarven users of Thor profoundly wished for, and they were participating in the search as well.

"The Brazier of Sacrifice… I don't know where you heard of its name, but I cannot tell you its whereabouts."

The dwarven elders of the head village shut their mouths tight and refused to say anything.

Though it wasn't too difficult to open up dwarvens' mouths compared to humans' or elves'.

Weed slid the bribe that he prepared toward him.

"Would you like to try a taste of this stout beer? It is the speciality of Morata. I brewed it from the best quality barley with the richest flavor."

"Ahh… This hits the spot."

"Is it for sale?"

"Of course. It's extremely popular and difficult to find, even if you have the money. But I brought three bottles for all of you."

"I appreciate that. Going out for orc hunting after chugging this, will be fantastic."

"So, about that Brazier of Sacrifice that I asked about earlier…"

"Mmm, yeah. I did hear the name when I was young. However, no dwarf has seen it in person so that it may be just a myth."

The dwarven elders that Weed had met through Herman did not have any real knowledge about the Brazier of Sacrifice.

"Brazier of Sacrifice existed long ago… I heard it just suddenly disappeared."

"Woah. This beer is delicious. There's nothing nearly as good in our village. I can swear that on this beer."

"You're on an adventure to kill the Black Dragon Kaybern? Ho-ha-ha-ha. That is the funniest joke I've heard since I heard someone saying, "I first drank beer at the age of 2!."

Dwarves rarely lied, and their words were faithful.

Herman asked as he felt awkward.

"I introduced you to all the elders that I know, and we've got nothing. So, what do you plan on doing now?"

"I'm not sure. It's hard to work something out right now, but we will find a way soon. We just have to wait".

Weed uploaded a post that asked all users for information. The reward was 1 million gold, along with a position as provincial lord. However the most important part of the reward was that the land was to be located in the highly coveted mountainous region.

If someone were to find a dwarven elder that knew the secrets, that person would count as a useful individual.

Placing those skilled individuals in the right places would benefit the growth of the Arpen Empire.

"Dwarven lords increased the production rate, so it is even better."

***

The Earthly Shadow party was also working for a quest.

< Kaybern's wretched preference. >

< The memory of the old tree. >

< Under the damp rock. >

< The egg which must break. >

"Wow. All of this was part of Kaybern's plot…"

"Impressive."

Silver Ring, Ben and Elix discovered over a hundred dragon eggs in a pit.

There was clear evidence that pointed to Kaybern's egg being fake.

< In search of the great magician. >

Tracking the magician who was deemed as a legend in the history of humankind was the next quest that appeared.

"A glacial type…"

Ben's eyes sparkled.

Of all quests, he loved the ones that were related to magic. If he didn't end up being an adventurer, he would have been a wizard for sure.

Ben spoke to two other people.

"I think the Brazier of Sacrifice would not be in an ordinary place. It must be in one of the ten forbidden regions; if it is not there, then it is definitely either in the south or the north end.

"We will have to gather some evidence, but I'd say south. You guys remember the lines? "'Walking past the desert will lead you to the end of the earth'?"

"I do remember. The ocean appears, and then you see a continent formed from ice."

Silver Ring took a map out of his bag after hearing about Ellix.

The Southern Continent.

They obtained the information that there is a mystic, glacial continent located in the south, similar to the continent of Jigolaths which is found in the North.

"It was also the place we were planning to reach someday. Let us depart after gathering a bit of information."

"I'm with you."

The Earthly Shadow party possessed various skills and experiences.

They wandered cluelessly due to a few big quests, but they had solved many commissions in between. Especially for places they have been to previously, no matter how far the distance, they followed the quest route and arrived within a day.

Earthly Shadow, whilst gathering information about the quest, came to learn that Weed figured out the dragon egg was fake.

"As expected of Weed."

"Even Kaybern cannot underestimate him."

"We should move on quickly as well."

***

Two weeks passed.

Countless dwarves searched for information, but they couldn't find anything, since all the information was completely hidden away.

"Where in the world is the Brazier of Sacrifice?"

"I have no clue. Perhaps it already disappeared?"

"Quests are surely difficult. It is extremely tiresome to roam around the world as an adventurer."

"If by any chance the Hermes Guild destroyed it…"

"No way. Well… that may be quite plausible.."

After a long search without news, the Hermes Guild became the target of suspicion for its whereabouts.

During the two weeks, the free cities under the Britten Alliance territories were destroyed by Kaybern, and Castle Ukten of Haven territory became the next target.

"We drew the short straw this week."

Weed thoroughly explored the maze, but continued raising his skill levels and engaging in battles.

It was swarming with monsters everywhere!

There was a battalion he had gathered to hunt Kaybern, but after he advanced into a sun warrior, he started to roam alone.

He jumped off the back of Wy-Three into the middle of a monster swarm.

Weed got off in a place filled with powerful monsters invading villages and cities.

"Shall we go for a blade dance?"

Weed blended all his art stats into strength using Sculptural Destruction.

Kuagh!

That swine. He's the leader of the humans.

Kill him. For Kaybern-nim!

The monsters surrounded him from all directions like a swarm of bees.

Kural was a demon servant who stood 4 meters tall and wielded an axe.

He rode a gigantic demon beast named Tabola Gon and rushed to the battleground while stomping over the demon soldiers in his path that were a little too slow to move out of their lines.

What made the situation worse was the fact that there were also poison frogmen, who were a twisted mix of frog and human, standing at the tail of the beast. The monsters raised by Kaybern were ready-made armies, they were born already in formation.

Kural acted as the commander while riding on the demon beast Tabola Gon and served as the cavalry. Monsters fit for land troops overflowed in large numbers, and they had significant amounts of frogmen following him from behind.

They focused their saliva and projected it like arrows from their mouths, travelling great distances, to ultimately poison their foe with their toxins.

Incredibly Weed jumped right in the middle of the enemy lines by himself.

The God of War, Weed. Like his nickname, it seemed like he was about to fight a war by himself.

Monsters were smashing into one another as they were stomped towards their deaths. The path of Weed could only be described as mayhem.

The commentators at the broadcast stations screamed as if they were spewing blood from their mouths.

Absolutely insane. Now, this is a battle. A real battle.

"Many warriors in Royal Road engage in battles. Some charge valiantly, but what are you supposed to make of this scene? Take us to a higher view of the scene so we can see it more clearly, please. All the monsters are charging at a single target; Weed."

The force of the monsters was powerful enough to destroy a village or a city.

From time to time, Weed took reckless decisions during quests.

'The head of this swarm is an assault-type monster. There are indeed a lot of them, but not many can face me at the same time. I think it's worth a shot.'

Even so, the moment he descended from the back of Wy-Three, all the monsters came after him. He did picture this scenario, but once it became a reality, the pressure made him feel overwhelmed.

"Sword of Regeneration!"

Weed cast the Sword of Regeneration.

His overpowered sword techniques that raised defence and boosted recovery.

He planned to hold his ground by deflecting and slashing the monsters.

< You have been struck by the horns of Tabola Gon.

Health points decreased by 1,420. >

A variety of effects from different equipment and the Sky Ruler's Armor!

"Lava River!"

Weed wrapped the Loa Sword in holy flames and raised lava from the earth, preventing the monsters from advancing.

He thought of facing the monsters from one direction, but the monsters rushed through the lava.

"Die."

"Kuaaack!"

"I will rip you to shreds."

Raging monsters overtook one side while the other was covered with monsters looking like fireballs running through the lava river.

The rest was a rain of black darts.

Mediocre poison status' could be healed with necromancer skills, but it had to be consistent, and it still resulted in the loss of health points.

A smile appeared on Weed's face.

"Yes. This is fun. This is how it should be."

He got damaged from the monsters as he swung his Sword of Regeneration.

The Loa Sword slashed through them like a ray of light.

< Batali is filled with joy while watching over you.

"Fight. Warrior. Bathe in your power!"

Batali's blessing is applied.

Mana consumption of attacking skills is reduced by 30% and power enhanced by 25%.

All abnormal and negative status are lifted.

Increased gain of experience points when enemy is killed >

*Crumble! *

Monster birds that transformed into malignant spirits mid-air struck down on him with their beaks.

It was a gruesome battle taking place without even a moment to breathe.

"The battle wasn't about fighting well, it was about displaying 200% of his capabilities."

The enemy was set on fire and the poisonous darts spewed by the frogmen turned into miasma and covered the surroundings like a fog.

Everything happened within the span of 10 minutes as Weed was fighting in a near-death crisis battle.

*Blink!*

< Combat Achievement!

You have completed the Lone Battling Warrior.

The attack power of sword techniques are increased by 3%.

Stamina and health points recover quicker when fighting against multiple enemies.>

Dangerous battles sometimes led to unbelievable results, such as combat achievements.

Rows full of monster corpses surrounded Weed.

The number of monsters who died in the actual battle was far less than the one of monsters who were stomped to death.

More monsters climbed over the bodies and charged at Weed endlessly.

The amount of monsters and monster corpses near Weed was so massive that there was no room to set foot on.

"Alright. Corpse Explosion!"

*C-C-Crash!*

<You have gained experience.>

<You have gained experience.>

<You have gained experience.>

…

< You have gained a level. >

(To be continued…)