The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

Volume 23: Chapter 2: Sword Master Ash

Weed reached level

392 hunting in the wasteland.

“Have to admit.

This is a pretty nice hunting ground.”

The place was now

swarming with skeletons.

Since monsters

came to wasteland often, all you had to do was to fight with all you got among

all these skeletons.

When these poor

skeleton fight and end up hurt, Weed took their places, kills the monster and

monopolized the items not caring whether the other skeletons had their bones

crushed.

“Now this is what

I call a hunting ground.”

Even decent

hunting dungeons wouldn\'t be this good.

“Stat window!”

Character Name: Weed

Alignment: Undead

Level: 392

Affiliation: Undead Legion

Class: Battle Crazed Skeleton Warrior

Health: 87,411

Mana: 41,829

Strength: 1,463

Agility: 1,293

Vitality: 766

Wisdom: 663

Intelligence: 665

Fighting Spirit: 541

Endurance: 453

Perseverance: 753

Resilience: 455

Charisma: 414

Leadership: 706

Courage: 127

Power of Undead: 264

+Death Aura is Active

With continuous

battles, Weed’s rank became a Skeleton Warrior.

‘Regardless,

skeleton is low class in Undead Army.’

Opportunity for class

promotion was given again.

Weed chose

skeleton warrior among the choice of skeleton soldier, skeleton mage, and

skeleton archer.

Few more battles

later, Necromancer players gained qualifications for promotion as well.

“Phew, it was

really hard, but finally I can become a mage.”

Jeanne, Otem,

Bohram, Harien and players named Gruzed, Varenna who fought with such passion

chose to be skeleton mages and could now summon Undeads along with most of players.

“I accept the

power of intellect from the great Balkan.

With great loyalty

to Undead Army, I shall fight for the great Balkan.”

By taking an oath

of loyalty, they were able to finish the promotion process.

Because skeletons

were able to change class freely, some chose to be an archer for a moment.

Newbie Necromancers needed to fight with intellect and mana but in early stage,

they weren\'t able to achieve a lot.

Therefore they

just supported Undeads with bows and chose to be archers.

Skeleton mages also

obtained spell books.

“We can use basic

attack spells that skeleton mages use.”

“This is a curse

spell I haven’t heard of… It would be nice to use on summoned Undeads.”

“Let’s try these

in hunting.”

Players threw combined fire or ice balls and performed Undead summoning in a battle.

In a simple

battlefield where only skeletons existed, there were flames, glaciers, with ghouls,

zombies and basic skeleton being summoned.

Their physical

appearances were of skeletons but their levels and skills remained same. Thanks

to that, they were able to perform their true power and achieved greatly in the

skeleton army.

In the early to

mid phase where battle is fought directly, Weed monopolized all the monsters

but Necromancers showed their skills as if was a fierce competition.

“Gather hear,

skeletons!”

As their ranks went

up, players gained authority for giving commands to skeletons in Undead Army.

Necromancers players

loved this as they can now control skeletons in a battle.

Jeanne, Bohram,

Otem, Harien, Gruzed and Varenna excelled in battles.

When they first

came, they revealed their whole body structure but as they obtained rewards and

items, they wore grey robes.

Weed just watched

their hunt and did his part.

‘Ordering Undeads

is way too slow at the critical moment.’

As number of

skeletons increased, the difficulty of quests raised to C.

Big boss-material

monsters appeared often but when they were about to die, ordering ghouls and

zombies to attack it slowed things down.

Weed used his entire

body hunting for experience and drops.

Because he was

dressed similar to normal skeletons, it was hard to realize that it was Weed wiping

out monsters cunningly from far distance.

Weed’s title became

from ‘Skeleton Knight with Painful Past Memories’ to ‘Purely Rotten Skeleton King’

which was the highest rank for a skeleton.

It was when he

finished the quest ‘Skeleton Guardians of Navir”

-

You have earn a qualificatioin for higher ranked Undead position.

He could now become

a high rank Undead and not just a simple skeleton.

But Weed continued

with his skeleton-related quests, waiting for other players to get the

qualification.

Of course it wasn’t

some sympathy for those far behind from him.

‘You never know

which could be better’

He assumed he can

decide after seeing the other players make their choices.

Additionally, this

is a satisfying place due to continuous large scale battles.

“It says I can be a

higher ranked Undead.”

“Really?

Congratulations!”

“How did you

manage to get it so early? Give me some tips.”

“I don’t know,

maybe because I controlled the Undeads so well?”

Necromancer player

named Jeanne left after obtaining a qualification but Weed didn’t go with her.

‘I’m pretty sure it

not to different from the skeleton quests.”

It was obvious

since the ranks of Undeads are fixed.

Other players left

one by one after getting qualifications.

From then on, he

gained informations from conversations between the other playerse.

“Harien told me

secretly. Jeanne and Otem became Banshees now.”

The roaring ghost

Banshee.

Spreading

malicious energy, with a bit of supernatural skills, they were able to cast

magic.

“Where do they

hunt?”

In a village where

no one lives. There are haunted houses and a fortress but they haven’t looked

in too in that much.

“How about the monsters?”

There were many players

trying to get information about monsters besides Weed.

Since Necromancers

handle corpses, they especially wanted many information about monsters.

“It’s awesome. Undead

Army store their battle supplies in the fortress storage and so mass of

monsters invade more than 30 times in one day.”

“Holy… They must

be getting all the monsters they can ever want.”

Necromancers

preferred place where many monsters appear.

Rather than

waiting for few strong monsters, it was much better to gain experience and

raise Undead summoning skill level from the swarming monsters.

“If that’s true, I

guess it’s ok to change hunting grounds.”

Weed chose his class

when 4 player chose their class.

Everyone chose

Banshee but he chose to become a Ghost Skeleton Warrior.

__________________________________________________

Over 30 thousand players

were assigned in building the cathedral and library in Morata.

Not all villagers

and players were involved in the construction. Some contributed by bringing

materials while hunting or proceeding their quests.

I have found a

place rich in Eplyn stones in Navi forest.

-Adventurer Kashoo

Adventurer’s

announcement was placed at the wall of the lord’s castle.

“It seems there

are many stones in Navi forest.”

“Let’s dig them

out.”

Players gathered

with pickax and dug up all the stones.

After they left,

Navi forest was devastated!

“Stones”

“I brought wood.”

Beginners brought

materials they could at their level.

Thanks to swarm of

architects and stonemasons, towers and walls of the Grand Cathedral and Grand Library

was built. At the ceiling of cathedral, they put a huge dome, making it high

enough to be seen anywhere in Morata.

“Did we really

build this?”

“How in the world

were we able to build these buildings by stacking up bricks and rocks?”

A grand structure

even those participated in the work couldn’t believe with their own eyes!

At the ceiling of

the dome, they inserted stained glass so that light could enter inside the cathedral.

“It’s not over

yet. We still have a lot more to work to do.”

Magicians helped

sculptors and painters with their works.

With flying spell,

it became much easier to paint and sculpt at the ceiling and higher part of

pillars.

Since they were

able to participate in a large-scale project with robust supports from all

levels of society, Artists didn’t save on their efforts.

Holy knights from

Freya order were built as sculptures and paintings were drawing on the ceiling.

Goddess Freya who

has endlessly wide grove and granaries!

Men were sitting

on their knee and making confessions to the Goddess.

With top-class

paints, not being thrifty about it and painting fully, with hundreds of colors,

they expressed scenery of grains, Goddess Freya’s dress and even men in a

colorful, detailed manner.

Showing richness

and beauty with confident.

Of course, Goddess

Freya’s appearance was based on the statue of Goddess Weed built.

Painters also paid

attention to the exterior of cathedral.

“Let’s paint the origin

of Morata here.”

The origin of

Morata. Painters from the Central Continent or who started out their career in

here have only heard about it.

How Weed saved

this village by defeating vampires with Alveron, the pope candidate of Freya

order.

Defeating the Northern

cold, Weed officially became the lord.

Freya statue of

Goddess was sculpted, the population increased, the village expanded.

The history up

till the building of the Grand Cathedral and Grand Library was drawn as a

mural.

The library lacked

in artistic beauty but it was built with huge and sturdy stones to be able to

store enormous resources in it.

For now, the only

books available for display are common history books sold in a general store or

books of folktales of northern Versailles Continent.

But when it

officially opens, it will be filled with scrolls or pieces of map from hunting

monsters and books of adventurers’ stories.

If information of

Northern part of the continent is gathered, more quests will be active and it

will be much convenient to resolve requests. This made players in Morata to get

thrilled for the completion of the library.

“I heard something

weird thing from the flower lady before… Could it be a hint for a quest?”

“I gave up a quest

due to lack of information. Maybe once the library is complete, I can try it

again.”

Everyone had few

quests that was difficulty and made them quit.

Quests only occured

with special triggers or sometimes meaningless requests lead to linked quests.

Therefore they can’t help getting excited for the completion of the library.

Players from the

Central Continent liked it as well but players who started from Morata had

their pride and self-esteem.

Morata lacked in

many ways compared to other metropolises but the fun of achieving things one by

one with their own hands cannot be explained in words!

The attachement of

living in a shack, and the energetic square and streets.

“This is truly the

best city.”

“No other city is

exceptionally beautiful or developing so fast.”

“I’m gonna make

sure my friends start in Morata.”

“I’m bringing

everyone to Morata.”

___________________________________________________

Geomchis that

decided to swim across to Morata!

“I think we just

passed half point.”

“Whooaa, already!”

If they got in the

ship, they would have arrived already but the fact that they are half-way from

their destination made them so happy.

“It’s kinda

exhausting swimming for such a long time.”

“It’s hard to swim

exactly how I want to because of the strong waves, sahhyeong!”

These Geomchis

must learn obvious things the hard way with their bodies.

If it’s rainy or

windy, it was a harder fight for them!

But still, the

distance they have come is fairly long.

Few days later,

they could see a land.

“Did we arrived

already?!”

“The tides in this

area helped us a bit, eh?”

“Yep, it was much

more convenient swimming for us.”

As they get close

to north, they were able to swim faster thanks to tides even though the water

got cold.

To say that they

are near Morata, it seemed like they arrived way too early as the beach and

trees were a bit unfamiliar.

“Sahyeong, let’s

go get something to eat. Who cares if it’s not the continent? We can just swim

again.”

They couldn’t

worry when they were hungry.

Geomchis had a

value of worrying only after filling their stomach.

They gathered

around, ate some clams and fish on a bonfire.

“If Weed was here,

he would have cooked us delicious foods.”

“Don’t forget

alcohols.”

“One sip of Weed’s

fruit liquor and you are done for!”

It was Malaska Island

they were taking a brief rest on.

A swordsman

staying in the island first smelled them and walked to the beach.

His name was Ash.

One of the nine

sword masters in Versailles Continent.

Unlike the Sculpting

Master, they were nine Sword Masters.

Three of them were

very famous that their whereabouts were well known.

Croma the head of

the knight order, Evirathan the paladin of Lugh and Percia who left to search for

the treasures of the kingdom as promised with the king.

To meet Croma, one

needs to a great reputation, elegance, honor and loyalty.

Since it was

easier to meet the requirements as a knight rather than as a swordsman, many

met Croma and learned his swordsmanship.

His skills were an

honorable promise. It enabled one to have triple the combat power briefly and

contained unique horseback swordsmanship.

Evrirathan was

easier to meet since he was one of the paladin of Lugh.

The only downside

was that because his skills were based on holy power, paladins from different

orders could not learn his swordsmanship.

Percia was

searching Navier Lake for the lost treasure, so anyone could meet him there.

His skills were

unknown to normal players but it was on the bulletin board of Dark Gamer Union.

·

Another Sword

-

Sword formed from mana fly around and defend the player.

-

Cannot control it directly and the size, durability, defence

varies by the skill level.

-

Low mana consumption.

-

Effectively blocks arrows or targeted magic.

Dark Gamers who

didn’t fear adventures and players of the highest-rank learned Percia’s

swordsmanship.

Other than these

three, no one knows about the other six.

If by any chance

one finds them, they kept it to themselves as they had no reason to tell others

about it.

But right now,

these Geomchis encountered Ash a new Sword Master right in the middle of the

ocean.

“You came here to

learn swordsmanship?”

Ash spoke with

low-pitched tone.

Just as expected

from a Sword Master, he released a fierce aura of a beast.

“If you want my

swordsmanship, you must be qualified for it.”

Clang!

Ash drew his

sword, posed for a combat.

But these Geomchis

eating roasted fish didn’t reply.

Nothing is more

annoying than someone showing up and talking while they are eating something.

Their

personalities became violent when someone bothers them during a meal time!

“Those who look

for extreme of swordsmanship, shall see what the strength of a sword is through

me, Ash!”

He was the sword

master Ash. Anyone who wanted to master the sword desired to meet him.

He couldn’t

possibly be someone to be treated so coldly but Geomchis just kept ripping off

their fish.

“What on earth is

that guy talking about?”

“I don’t know, I

think he is challenging us?”

“Geez, why is he

bothering us when we are eating? Ask him if he has salts for the fish.”

To be honest, this

was a chance of a lifetime for them.

Because they were

martial artists, they were able to learn any skills related to any weapons.

Sword, spear, axe,

bow, dagger, you name it.

Attack skills

depending on a weapon types had things in commons so it wasn’t necessarily good

to learn as many skills as you can. As by focusing on using a single weapon the

attack skill level and proficiency increased.

Of course for Geomchis

it was swords!

As their weaponry

skills reached advance level 6, the destructive power of their swords increased

scarily.

They are able to

decide the amount of mana used on skills freely.

They can increase

the power of skills up to five times and if mana is low, they can perform

skills with low amount of mana.

Also, they can run

faster, jump higher or even form mana barriers with their swords.

If they showed it

to other players or take a video and upload it in internet, they could get

pretty famous but for these Geomchis, it wasn’t interesting.

Anyhow, it was

truly a great event for them to encounter Sword Master Ash.

Geomchi17 spoke.

“Well, since it’s

a challenge, I’ll accept it. Geomchis505, good luck.”

“Yes, sir!”

Geomchi505 tooth

dropped his fish stick and stood up.

“I request a

match. My name is Geomchi505.”

“Come, I will

awaken you to the world of swords.”

Geomchi505 bent

his knees a bit and posed defensively.

‘Guard first, then

counter.’

Since it was a

sword match, one needs to bring out one’s full potential even when not knowing

enemy’s abilities.

While Geomchi505

was waiting for enemy’s attack, Ash’s body cloned one by one, ending up with

thirty bodies.

As thirty Ashes

lifted their swords and posed attack stances, Geomchi505’s tension rose even

more.

______________________________________________________

-WOO HEE HEE HEE

HEE

-OOKIKIKIKIKI!

Creepy laughs were

heard in a village where ghosts lived.

Weed got assigned

to this village with ghosts in United Army and other players.

·

Ghost of Kapua

-

Ghosts are treated as a nuisance in the Undead Army.

-

If you succeed protecting the war material in Kapua, you will gain

a bit of trust.

Difficult: C

Restriction: Undead Only

-

Quest cannot be refused.

-

You have accepted the quest.

“Wheeeee,

arrrrrrrr, issssss, thisssss, playyyy ceeeee?”

Players who became

ghosts even sounded like one with echoes.

“Weeeeeee,

arrrrrrr, attttttt, Kapooooo, ahhhhh, caaaaaaa, stleeeeeee.”

Players such as Jeanne,

Otem, Goshu who arrived here first were relieved that the reinforcements came.

Weed moved his

ghost body around.

If you consume

mana, you can fly high and move faster.

‘Will this be

possible to?’

He went to the

wall and reached out with his hand. It didn’t stop at the wall. It went

through.

‘So it’s

possible.’

Weed moved forward

and completely went past the wall.

- You have passed through the wall.

By moving through an obstacle, health and

mana decreased by 200.

A Ghost’s

specialty.

Weed have summoned

many ghosts among the Undeads so he knew.

“Whaaaat,

theeeeee?”

Players paid

attention to Weed’s behaviour.

It was hard to

distinguish who’s who when they were all skeletons but now that he was the only

Ghost Skeleton Warrior among the Banshees, he stood out.

It’s not uncommon

for a ghost to pass through obstacles since it’s their specialty.

But Weed, he’s

adapted way too quickly.

Plus, ghosts’ legs

didn’t touch the ground so they float around in the air.

Because it feels

like they are walking in water, they feel physically unnatural.

Jeanne and Otem

were still getting used to the feeling but Weed adapted to the changed body

fast.

Weed’s longswords

and armors turned into ghosty appearance as well.

Legendary Rusted Sword

Durability: 34/51

Attack: 29~41

- Monster slaying sword.

- A sword bestowed by the Duke.

- Used for a long time without

any maintenance by the Undead. But it still has sharpness.

- It will be difficult but if

repaired there is a possibility to return to its former state.

Restriction: Undead

Option: Fame +34

Elegance +30

Notoriety: +170

Attack grades of Undead in the Undead Army

increases.

He already had the

best sword among the rusty swords.

It was same for

armors but he repaired it to the minimum and equipped it.

But as it

ghostified, his sword and armors’ status have changed.

The attack got

reduced to more than half but when it hit the critical points, the critical

chance increases and did double damage.

Not being able to

be destroyed anymore was an obvious change.

Suddenly sounds of

ghosts wandering around in the castle and village disappeared.

Jeanne spoke.

“Gettttt, reaaaa,

dyyyyy, theyyyy, areeeeee, commmmm, ingggg.”

Grotesque green

monsters appeared and advanced on Kapua castle.

Banshees screamed

in a hard-to-understand way and initiated the battle.

Necromancer players

fighting with summoned Undeads!

Weed performed

great achievements in a battle that took place in haunted houses in the

village.

Only he moved

freely even when Undeads, ghosts and monsters were in a dog fight.

“Assiiii, milateeeeee”

Weed’s body went

through the wall as if to hide.

Using the ghost’s

specialty, he hid and ambushed for a pre-emtive strikes against the monsters!

Using covertness

as a main tactic, he took care of few monsters but the real event started when

the battle became more intense.

Weed rushed

through the building and walls.

- You have passed through the wall.

By moving through an obstacle, health and

mana decreased by 200.

- You have passed through the wall.

By moving through an obstacle, health and

mana decreased by 200.

His vision

completely changed every time he went past walls.

Swinging sword on

every monsters on sight, he kept moving.

-Critical strike!

Slashing at the

very short moment, and he even took items!

Monsters came

after him but obviously failed as Weed just went through the walls.

Not only was it

very effective ambush, it turned the geographic features into his shield.

‘I knew it. It’s

much better to play solo in a place where Undeads and monsters are rampaging.’

Injured monsters

were everywhere. Therefore he was at the upper hand in drops and items when he

was alone.

A fortress and a

village, now this is a best battlefield for ghosts.

When he succeeded

defending for the seventeens times, he obtained a horse.

Neighhh!

A phantom horse!

Weed’s armor was

grey resembling deep darkness and he also wore a helmet to conceal his face.

Among rampaging

ghosts and Undeads, he rode his ghost horse, sweeping experiences and items.

In Kapua, not only

monsters came more often, they were at higher standard compared to when he was

a skeleton.

It was such a

great hunting ground to make achievements without not being seen.

His title elevated

greatly from Ghost Skeleton Warrior.

- Pale Rider

According to his

title, he gained 500 fame and a skill that fiercely intimidates enemies

emotionally by releasing his mettle.

Unfortunately but

obviously it could only be used when he was a ghost.