Minori suppressed his excitement and focused on the professional skills at the bottom of his status sheet. These were what he valued most.
The skill Dark Wave granted by the Cursed Knight class alone had allowed him to raise his combat strength far above his level. Now that it had reached the maximum of level 5, the curse energy it emitted had become terrifying—even carrying the chance to trigger Instant Death.
Meanwhile, his newly unlocked special class, Valkyrie, came with its own set of powerful abilities. At level 1, he had already obtained one.
Skill: Sacred Throwing SpearUsage: 3/day
Effect: Creates a spear of sacred attribute and launches it as a ranged attack. Deals damage equal to the user's Magic Attack. (Costs 50 MP. Always hits.)
"Guaranteed hit...?"
Minori narrowed his eyes. Even with prior knowledge, seeing it in his own status window left him a little breathless. That skill had featured prominently in Shalltear's duel against the Overlord. In any game, a guaranteed hit was always invaluable—more so in real combat.
Of course, his current Magic Attack stat was still low. The power output wasn't ideal yet, but the potential was obvious.
With the Cursed Knight now maxed out and Valkyrie acquired, he could feel it—his combat strength had jumped to a new threshold.
"Come here."
A faint command echoed across the clearing. One of the Fire Archangels—summoned from his [Angel Summoning] spell—flapped its shining, metallic-gold wings and hovered toward him.
Bang!
Minori's fist crashed into its chestplate. The Archangel was blown away like a cannonball, smashing into a tree six meters away. One of its wings cracked and shattered into glimmering particles.
The angel staggered back, unable to fly.
Its chestplate had a deep, caved-in fist mark surrounded by web-like cracks.
Minori summoned an iron sword into his hand.
Clang—!!
With a casual swing, the blade sliced cleanly through the Fire Archangel. Sparks flashed as it was cut in two—then both halves disintegrated into light.
"The power increase is greater than expected."
He flexed his hand and bounced lightly in place. His muscles felt tighter, stronger. More responsive.
Angels were high-defense summons—ideal for measuring one's strength. This one had been stronger than the first Fire Archangel he had tested back in E-Rantel. Back then, it had taken everything he had to crack the armor.
This time, a single sword stroke had finished the job.
He already had a good idea of his new limits.
"If I remember right, even Gazef could destroy a Fire Archangel with one hit."
Minori didn't get cocky.
He called up his current status panel.
[Status Sheet]
Innate Ability: [Player]Overall Level: 28EXP Slot: 1201 / 30000
Professions:
Basic: Genius 10Lv (Warrior-Type)
Intermediate: Sword Master 10Lv, Shaman Mentor 1Lv
High/Special: Magic Swordsman 1Lv, Cursed Knight 5Lv, Valkyrie (Longsword) 1Lv
[Attributes]
Name: MinoriJustice Value: 51 (Neutral)
HP: 233 (18%)
MP: 48 (4%)
Physical Attack: 233 (18%)
Physical Defense: 118 (9%)
Agility: 133 (10%)
Magic Attack: 78 (6%)
Magical Defense: 108 (8%)
Comprehensive Resistance: 255 (20%)
Specificity: 230 (18%)
Total Combat Rating: 111%
The total attribute value had broken 100%—a clear sign that his growth curve was beginning to reach a turning point. The jump in Comprehensive Resistance and Specificity was especially notable.
Minori calculated quietly.
His resistance had been 150 before. Now, it was 255.
"The full Cursed Knight bonus must be worth 130... 'Divine Body' probably gives 65... and the rest comes from the combined Dark and Holy resistances from Valkyrie."
Specificity, meanwhile, was harder to track. But he guessed it had to do with acquiring more passive and special-class skills.
"Woof."
His shrunken Evil Spirit Dog padded up with its ears flattened and tail low.
"Still so useless?" Minori said coldly. "Keep it up and I'll offer you as meat to a troll next time."
"Yip!"
The dog shivered, neck chains rattling, and huddled close in fear.
Minori ignored it and turned toward the nearby thicket.
Ash-colored weeds crumbled into dust beneath his feet like burnt paper.
"Let's go. It's time to greet the real ruler of this forest."
The evil spirit dog followed. A fresh Fire Archangel took flight behind him.
Forest Gorge – Eastern Tob Region
From above, the area resembled a twisted labyrinth of green.
But on foot, it was just chaos—hills, fallen trees, animal corpses. Swarms of insects clung to rot, creating black clouds that hovered in the humid air.
The stench hit before the entrance even came into view.
Minori frowned. "Did these ogres give up on having noses?"
Soon, he spotted a tall cave at the top of a hill—four meters high. Distant roars echoed from within.
"Lure them out."
He gestured. The Fire Archangel darted forward, its wings slicing the air as it dove into the dark.
Roars followed soon after.
Then—"Experience Gained: 312""Experience Gained: 310"
Two ogres. Nothing his summon couldn't handle.
Seven minutes later...
"ROAR!! Intruders—!"
A violent voice boomed from the cave. The Fire Archangel burst out again, trailing bright embers.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Heavy footsteps. First came three ogres—larger than normal, brown-yellow skin like armor plates.
Then came six more.
Their skin was slick, dark blue—larger, sleeker, stronger.
But none of them compared to what followed.
BOOM—!
A massive figure pushed past the others. Two ogres were knocked aside like sacks of flour.
He stood over three meters tall, skin a stone green color. The blade he carried was just as large—nearly as tall as himself, with purple grooves glowing faintly down its length.
"Where are the shiny meat-things!?" the massive ogre roared, eyes wild.
The Eastern Forest Lord—Ogre Guu.
Minori watched calmly.
"So this is their leader."
Guu swung his greatsword once. The air shook. A storm of dust blew forward.
Even without exchanging blows, Minori could tell—
"He's on par with Ge Jin in strength. But Ge Jin's technique would crush him."
Three kinds of ogres so far—Normal ogres, War King Ge Jin, and now Guu.
Each completely different in form and ability. It was strange enough that Minori murmured aloud:
"The Ogre-type races are a real mystery."
One of the ogres squinted at him.
"A human?""A shiny human!""EAT HIM!! Haven't eaten soft meat in months—!"