Capítulo 571: Chapter 289: Steel Beard Inheritance · Special Long Sword and Petrified Lizard
Mist Forest Periphery.
In the early morning, the sky gradually brightened.
The sun had not yet fully risen, casting only a faint light on the distant horizon behind the dense canopy, giving the entire sky a gradient of colors.
From the brightness at the edge, to the colorful purple haze, finally spreading to the remnants of the night’s blackness.
“Crackle.”
An extremely faint sound of tiny explosions.
The pile of charred black wood stacked crosswise still retained some warmth, sending a gentle heat to stir the thin mist in the air, but no longer breathed life.
A gentle breeze passed through, silently awakening a flash of deep red nestled in the coals, which burst with its last warmth, leaping suddenly skyward like a spark, drawing a short but intense crimson trail through the frigid air.
Strangely enough, this tiny piece of ember did not dissipate rapidly in the surrounding moisture as one might expect.
Instead, it seemed to be bolstered by some strength, suspended and wavering mid-air.
Burning, the core’s tiny ember’s heat was pushed to its limit, causing ripple-like delicate heat flows in the surrounding mist.
Such a bizarre phenomenon, defying natural laws, persisted for three seconds.
Finally, it burned completely with a soft and subtle pop, transforming into a snowflake-like ash-white ember.
It drifted down, landing on a glossy, pitch-black surface as clear as glass.
Xia Nan raised his hand, brushing away the dust from the Snake Scale Arm Shield’s surface.
A thoughtful look appeared on his face.
Now, three days had passed since he accepted the task to hunt Petrified Lizards from the Association’s Second Floor.
Having already set out, he was now within the Mist Forest.
Midway through the task, to prevent surprise attacks, the training intensity was significantly reduced compared to usual.
Fortunately, both [Vortex Slash] and [Teeth Hunting] had been mastered, and since [Gravity Etching] had usage limits, the majority of his energy was thus reserved for [Gravity Control] and the still beginner-level [Embers Resonance].
Regarding the latter, this inherited battle skill from an Exotic Secret Realm was evidently not ordinary in quality.
On one hand, despite Xia Nan being a level 2 professional, the difficulty level of mastering this skill had demonstrated its inherent worth;
On the other hand, through practice, he had gradually gained insights into this battle skill’s information.
[Embers Resonance], at first, Xia Nan thought it should be a state-type battle skill for overall enhancement of the user’s physical attributes.
Now, as his understanding deepened, he began to hold some different views.
“State-type” perhaps was not incorrect, but it was too broad and couldn’t fully and accurately describe the function of this ability.
It was like the spark and ash, igniting kindling to explode like a flame’s strength.
In more vivid terms, it might be… somewhat akin to the “second phase” of notoriously tough elite enemies in past life games.
“Have I become the ‘boss’?”
Xia Nan mused jokingly in his heart.
Of course, it’s a good thing.
After all, [Embers Resonance] was not only of exceptionally high quality but also did not overlap with other skills he currently mastered, even though it didn’t fill in a few obvious weaknesses, it was a complete enhancement.
Once he truly mastered it, it would undoubtedly escalate his overall strength to another level, adding a powerful card to change the tide.
After diligent training for so many days, he had faintly touched that intangible bottleneck.
According to this progress, barring any accidents, there was confidence in mastering [Embers Resonance] within ten days.
He looked up at the sky, seeing that the night had almost fully faded away.
Xia Nan stood up, strapping two longswords to his back.
One of them naturally was the Wooden Sword [Green Pine], while the other was the “Claymore” he bought at the Rock Hammer Blacksmith Shop for use during the recasting of the Beheading Longsword.
Oh, according to Barn, it should be referred to as “Steel Beard Legacy Craft · Rockhammer Special Edition · Two-Handed Longsword”.
He claimed that it used a special forging technique passed down by their Dwarf Clan, making it substantially more durable than weapons made with the same materials.
Although not custom-tailored and produced in a templated batch, the overall quality was excellent, standing out as the best among the best.
Xia Nan checked with the attribute panel, verifying that Barn was not lying.
Compared to other ordinary weapons on the rack, this “Special Long Sword” had additional entries for “Durability +10%” and “Sharpness +3%” in its attributes.
It was certainly more than adequate for transitional use.
That was why he was willing to pay 75 gold for it.
As for appearance, given it’s batch-produced equipment, it couldn’t be customized to each user’s habits and body, adopting a standard approach.
It’s just a silver-white metallic iron sword slightly shorter and lighter than a Beheading Longsword.
In three days, through repeated practice, Xia Nan gradually familiarized himself with its feel, with no impact on his combat ability.
Speaking of which, in terms of durability, actually [Green Pine] was even higher.
Don’t dismiss it as just a Wooden Sword; its overall sturdiness is actually higher than ordinary standard weapons, with fairly decent sharpness.
However, considering if it accidentally got damaged, the likelihood of finding related wood material in this world is slim, making it challenging to repair.
Therefore, unless he encounters an enemy capable of triggering its Yang Flame damage bonus, Xia Nan generally refrains from using it.
As of now, it remains the same.
Taking advantage of the last few minutes before the sun fully rose, he packed up the campsite, repeatedly confirming nothing was left behind.
Then, he prepared to continue his task.