Inside the Crystal Hollows…

A green-haired beauty arrived at another dead end, looking around for a while before sighing and moving on to another area.

Daru, now under the disguise of Otsuna, had been searching for either red or green glowing Lumenite Crystals since yesterday night, hoping more for the former.

While fighting all the swordspawns he encountered, of course.

Unfortunately, he hadn't been very lucky.

'Oh well…guess I'll just have to sell what I have…'

Daru had long learned that encounters in the Myriad Sword Realm couldn't be forced.

So, after checking one last area, he planned to exit and leave the academy to handle his finances and ensure he would have enough money for at least another week or two.

Daru continued walking on the condensed soil path of the dimly illuminated cave, encountering another level 36 Slitthroat Spiderling.

It was the swordspawn's unlucky day.

After all, although he was level thirty-two, Daru's attributes were equivalent to those of a level 35 and a half bladeborn.

He was used to fighting enemies five levels higher in the past.

Eliminating the human-sized arachnid was but a mere cake walk for him.

Soon, he arrived at a spacious dead end that was almost like a chamber. A swordspawn was guarding the area as expected.

Dead ends are where one would usually find goods or limited-time treasure boxes in a cave-type area.

Though so far, Daru hadn't been fortunate enough to encounter anything other than a few pieces of Actualizer Crystals lying around and the bioluminescent mushrooms that couldn't be harvested no matter how hard one tried.

"Oh, an elite?" Daru's brows rose at the unexpected opponent, his gaze locking on the nameplate floating above the massive spider's head

==

[(Elite) Assault Arachnid Lv.38]

HP: 8,500 / 8,500

==

A faint smile appeared on Daru's face as he observed the swordspawn for a moment.

It had eight jet-black eyes, four horrifying fangs, and eight long and powerful sickle-like legs that gleamed a weak bronze as they reflected the lights of the bioluminescent mushrooms.

The elite's butt was also not bulky, seemingly more designed for speed and mobility than toughness and endurance.

A few seconds later, he took a deep breath to sharpen his focus.

Only then did he begin approaching the Assault Arachnid, performing short, strange, zigzagging steps before splitting into two and rushing from both sides.

The elite spider naturally noticed his presence the moment he entered the periphery of the dead-end.

It hissed, lunging without a hint of hesitation and stabbing both of its frontmost legs at him.

The clone was destroyed, but Daru easily evaded the attack with a neat sidestep.

Then, he viciously slashed at one of its middle legs, severing it cleanly.

[-600!]

The Assault Arachnid certainly didn't expect that its carapace would be so easily broken through.

It hissed in pain, but it didn't lose balance.

Yet.

It suddenly jumped back, resetting the distance before Daru could attack again.

Then, it rushed right back at him, continuously stabbing its two frontmost legs, though they struck nothing but the condensed soil ground, stabbing deep with butt-clenching, shinging sounds.

Daru's backpedalling proved both neat and swift.

The moment he got close to the walls of the dead end, he somersaulted, slashing a red crescent in the Assault Arachnid's way.

It cleanly struck two of its eyes, making it hiss once more in anguish.

[-800!]

Another lethal hit.

Before the elite swordspawn could recover, Daru was already shooting towards it, stepping on the walls and using it to create a forward momentum for himself.

He then took another eye, stabbing his tachi deep in it before pulling out and jumping back.

[-400!]

The Assault Arachnid thrashed, wildly swinging its sickle-like legs while hissing.

But how could such a desperate attempt hit anything?

Daru simply charged right back at the elite, jumped, turned into a red tornado, and cleanly slashed at the spider's pedicel, separating its abdomen from its body.

[-3000!]

To his surprise, the elite was still alive.

But not for much longer.

It could only squirm helplessly on the ground, body functions failing.

With a graceful landing, he turned and ran towards the dying Assault Arachnid once more, jumping atop its head and ruthlessly stabbing his tachi deep in its brain.

[-5000!]

The elite spider twitched for a few more moments before staying still and dissipating into red cubic particles.

Daru somehow wasn't satisfied with the battle.

He thought that it was a bit too easy…

'Maybe I should go and try levelling up on higher-levelled spawns?' he mused as he read through the notifications:

[You have slain an (Elite) [Field] Swordspawn [6] levels higher than you! Calculating experience point rewards…]

[You've obtained 6,000 Experience Points.]

[You've obtained 500 Swordcoins.]

[You've obtained 20 Actualizer Crystals.]

[You've obtained 1 Arachnid Venom Sac.]

[You've obtained 1 Bronze Chitin.]

In this battle, Daru realized something: his [Tainted Enforcer] sword passive was far greater than he expected it to be.

The gains might be slow at the beginning and difficult to increase.

However, the more "unofficial" levels he earned, the higher the level of the swordspawns he could fight, which naturally meant more experience points, thanks to the level-gap mechanic of the Sword Trials.

He could initially fight swordspawns five levels higher than him, even without any items or sword skills due to his swordsmanship.

That upper limit probably rose to 7, perhaps even 8, once his equipment set and sword skills were taken into the equation.

Now, he had gained three and a half of the "unofficial" levels, thanks to his sword passive, [Tainted Enforcer].

It's probably difficult to just outright say that he could take on regular swordspawns eleven levels higher than him, but ten should be no problem for now.

The reason for this is that he also noticed something.

The higher the level of the swordspawn, the better their swordsmanship was, which meant that levels and attributes aren't the only things to consider anymore.

For example, the limited number of moves he observed in the lower-leveled spawns was now gone.

The offensives of his enemies are becoming more dynamic, realistic, and cunning now.

Not that Daru was complaining…

He liked it, as he felt like he was fighting nothing but boring, pre-programmed bots in the lower levels.

He soon finished reading the notifications, freeing his attention.

Something immediately caught Daru's eye.

To his right, there were strange, crystal growths, faintly pulsing with mystical red light.

He walked closer, a bit excited.

Nothing happened when he touched it. So, he tried cutting it with his sword, and to his delight…

[You have obtained [2] Red Lumenite!]

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