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SERIES: Regression of the Cursed Blacksmith
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Chapter 23 - The Wandering Knight
[ Moving to the 40th floor. ]
[ You have entered the 40th floor. ]
Finally, it was the 40th floor.
Choi Hyun had achieved two major feats on his way to the 40th floor.
“No-hit” and “fastest clear time.”
“The fastest clear time isn’t officially recorded by the system, but as far as I remember, my current record should be the fastest.”
Riding this momentum, Choi Hyun wanted to maintain this record until the very end.
However, he was slightly worried about the 40th floor, which was just about to begin.
[ The challenge of the 40th floor will now begin. ]
A system notification.
At the same time, a human figure appeared before his eyes.
Its silhouette gradually gained detail, and soon, a knight clad in full-body armor, including a helmet, materialized.
- Wandering Knight Lv.40
The Wandering Knight.
This fellow, commonly known as the Wandering Knight, was the gatekeeper of the 40th floor.
The knight, with its impressive helmet that covered its entire face, drew the sword from its waist with a stylish flourish and a *shing!* sound.
An ardent fighting spirit could be felt from it.
In response, Choi Hyun also drew his perfected sword and took a stance.
“It’s not officially designated as a mid-boss, but its combat strength is so high that everyone calls it one.”
Almost all players taste defeat here.
That was how exceptionally skilled the Wandering Knight was with a sword.
Of course, he was confident he could win.
Wandering Knight, mid-boss, whatever—compared to the beings he had seen at the end of the world, this was nothing more than a child's play.
Before long, the Wandering Knight charged at Choi Hyun first.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Heavy footsteps.
Choi Hyun immediately ran toward it as well.
This wasn't the time to evade.
Letting the knight close the distance on its own terms and giving it the perfect moment to swing its sword would be far more dangerous.
“I’ll have to seize the breathing rhythm first.”
[ Super Focus has been activated. ]
[ Nimble Feet has been activated. ]
[ Nameless Footwork has been activated. ]
Fwoosh!
As he started running, his movement-related skills kicked in, accelerating him in an instant.
And just seconds before they clashed, Choi Hyun threw his hammer at the Wandering Knight.
The hammer, which was thrown like an axe, flew straight toward the Wandering Knight's torso.
The Wandering Knight immediately swung its sword and knocked it away.
It was fine.
Because that was the plan.
The moment the knight's sword swung, Choi Hyun moved in and thrust his sword into the nape of its neck.
Shunk!
A clean hit!
It was a successful strike.
[ Nameless Swordmanship has been activated. ]
[ Preemptive Strike has been activated. ]
[ Critical Hit has been activated. ]
Skill notifications followed, confirming their timely activation. Having landed a successful preemptive strike, Choi Hyun immediately retreated to create distance.
Whoosh!
The knight swung its sword.
Choi Hyun was no longer in front of it, but it was a swing made in place of a furious roar.
One of the Wandering Knight's characteristics was that it never made a sound.
Even if a sword had pierced its body, an arrow struck it, its heart was impaled, or even if it was poisoned or engulfed in flames, the knight remained silent.
He didn't know why.
“It doesn’t take extra damage from holy-type attacks, so it probably isn’t an undead.”
Well, it didn't matter either way.
The creature's true identity wasn't important.
Having successfully landed a heavy blow, Choi Hyun's lips curled into a smile.
Now that he'd landed the first strike, all that was left was to gently coax it to its death.
Soon, the knight began to close the distance again, and once more, Choi Hyun ran towards it.
This time, he summoned the Hammer of Materials and threw it at the knight.
Hng!
The knight twisted its body to dodge.
It was an evasive maneuver that clearly showed its intention as to not to fall for the same trick twice. However.
Shunk!
Choi Hyun succeeded in landing another clean hit on the knight.
The moment it began its evasion, he had moved into its blind spot and plunged his sword into the gap at the back of its neck.
[ Back Attack has been activated. ]
[ Critical Hit has been activated. ]
Having driven his sword in, Choi Hyun smiled.
“You should have watched your back.”
Choi Hyun created distance again, and the Wandering Knight expressed its rage with a wide swing of its sword.
Then, a red haze began to rise from its body.
[ The Wandering Knight uses “Pledge of Fury.” ]
Pledge of Fury.
It was one of the few skills the Wandering Knight possessed, a buff skill that increased its overall stats when used.
“Pledge of Fury appearing means it’s entered the second phase.”
The end was near.
Pledge of Fury only activated when its health dropped below 30%.
“By the way, I only hit it twice, but Pledge of Fury already activated. Does that mean its health is lower than I thought?”
It was a misunderstanding.
It wasn't that the Wandering Knight's health was low.
It was just that Choi Hyun was strong.
It was only natural.
His attacks were a combination of various skills, all aimed precisely at vital points.
Moreover, although Choi Hyun was level 20, the synergy of his stats was far beyond that of a typical level 20.
His physical abilities were more than enough to shave off that much health in just two hits.
Having entered its second phase, the Wandering Knight rapidly closed the distance to Choi Hyun.
Hmph!
The sword came at him with heavy force.
Choi Hyun didn't dodge. He watched it come and swung his own sword to meet it.
Fwing- Clang!!
[ Parrying has been activated. ]
This time, he used Parrying.
The knight's sword was deflected, creating an opening, and Choi Hyun knocked it down with a front kick.
Choi Hyun immediately rushed in, stomped on the wrist of the hand holding the sword, then reversed his grip and pierced the knight's hand.
Crunch!
A gruesome sound echoed.
But the Wandering Knight remained silent.
However, silence was separate from the pain it felt. The knight was forced to let go, and as soon as the sword fell from its grasp, Choi Hyun kicked it far away.
The flustered Wandering Knight immediately threw a punch with its other hand to attack Choi Hyun.
But Choi Hyun had already moved away and picked up the knight's sword.
It was a heavy feeling.
It was larger than the Tutorial Sword, but it was still a pretty good weapon.
The Wandering Knight got back up and charged at Choi Hyun like a madman who had been robbed of something precious.
Choi Hyun took his stance.
Then, he swung the Wandering Knight's own sword widely at the charging foe.
Krrrrrck!!
The swung sword cut diagonally into the knight, starting from its shoulder.
With the damage pouring into its shoulder, the Wandering Knight's body collapsed, and it could only meet its end on its knees.
[ You have defeated the Wandering Knight. ]
[ You have cleared the 40th floor. ]
[ The gate to the 41st floor has opened. ]
[ You have leveled up. ]
[ You have acquired 1 bonus stat point. ]
[ Heaven Martiali Body has been activated. ]
[ Strength, Stamina, Mana, and Sense stats have each increased by 1. ]
The notifications popped up.
He had gained a level, and the gate to the 41st floor had opened.
At the same time, the knight's corpse vanished in a puff of black smoke.
But one thing hadn't disappeared.
It was the sword the knight had been using.
“So it was true that you can get the sword as loot if you manage to disarm it.”
It was one of the things he'd been curious about, and now his curiosity was satisfied.
Choi Hyun checked the information of the sword he had obtained as loot.
[ Wandering Knight's Sword ]
- Type : Item
- Requirement : Level 40 or higher. *However, all usage restrictions are removed within the Tower of Growth.
- Durability : 878/900
- Attack Power : 130
- Option : When using swordsmanship-related skills, additional power +10%.
# The sword used by the Wandering Knight, the gatekeeper of the 40th floor of the Tower of Growth.
Choi Hyun smiled after reading the item information.
The sword's specs were exactly what you'd expect from a level 40 monster.
“Usually, the average specs for weapons, based on the additional stats per level, are about 10 durability, 2 attack power, and 2 defense power.”
Of course, by that logic, the Wandering Knight's Sword should have 400 durability and 80 attack power, and the Tutorial Sword, being a level 1 supply item, should have 10 durability and 2 attack power.
However, the base specs of the Tutorial Sword were 100 durability and 10 attack power.
That's because another formula exists besides the per-level proportional specs.
It refers to the base specs for each level tier. For example, for the level 1 tier, the base item specs are 10 attack power and 100 durability. For the level 10 tier, it becomes 20 attack power and 200 durability, and for the level 20 tier, 30 attack power and 300 durability become the base specs.
‘So, if you calculate by adding the per-level additional specs to the base specs, a level 40 Wandering Knight's Sword would have base specs of 50 attack power and 500 durability. Adding the additional specs of 80 attack power and 400 durability gives you a total of 130 attack power and 900 durability.’
Of course, the composition would be a bit different if you went into more detail, but for swords, the standard was based on the medium sword, the so-called longsword.
Therefore, the sword used by the level 40 Wandering Knight had average specs, very faithful to the basics among level 40 medium swords.
Thus, Choi Hyun naturally prepared to part ways with his perfected sword.
“It was fun, perfected sword.”
Normally, he wouldn't be able to use the Wandering Knight's Sword due to the level 40 requirement, but within the Tower of Growth, the usage restriction was lifted.
Choi Hyun placed the perfected sword into his inventory and took out the Hammer of Repair.
No matter how close to perfect the sword had become through combination repair, it was still, at its core, the Tutorial Sword.
It went without saying that a level 40 sword, even with just its base specs, was naturally better than a level 1 weapon.
Having finished his preparations, Choi Hyun immediately began to hammer the Wandering Knight's Sword.
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