Chapter 97: Upgrade!

Aria checked her status, repeatedly making sure that she wasn't jumping to her death wtihout any reasonable preparation. Her mana was still considerably high due to not really using it mid battle. Their duties were made to be simpler because of the [Crystal Water].

Calculating the conditions, she determined that there was a fair chance they could win. As long as they exert every single move they possessed, it was possible.

"[Water Blade]! [Penetration]! [Sharpen]!" Aria simultaneously cast three spells at once, one being quite complex. Her mana was draining, but Aria just had to land one more slash at the chimera insect. One fatal injury that would lead to the queen's doom.

"[Speed], [Aim Lock]!" Fortifying her last blow even more, she made sure that the bee wouldn't be able to escape. Two more spells. At this rate, this strike would consume all of her resources if not properly dealt against the enemy.

However, Aria knew better. Looking at the confused, dazed queen bee, this blow would not miss.

Thus, she was not at all bothered with the thought of using her maximum power.

Charging towards the large, grotesque creature, Aria went all in and cut its head off, creating a disgusting spray of blood that formed an arc in the air.

Even after it lost its head, the queen still struggled. Her limbs flailed around like it wanted to attack Aria, but none of the blows hit as the woman quickly backed away.

Using the same sword, Aria continuously stabbed into the insect's vital points, sealing its fate and sending it off to the afterlife.

In the first place, the 'Queen' insect Aria knew weren't that mobile. They served the role of a producer, someone who controlled their children instead of fighting on their own. Of course, they would have their own firepower, but their innate talents could be considered as less than some of their own offspring.

If the Queen was strong, their children would be powerful as well. Luckily, due to the dungeon being a C-ranked, it meant that the Queen wasn't that deadly.

After she vanquished the very last of what life remained inside the queen bee, notifications popped up, confirming her victory.

[Level C Insect Queen <Mad>  successfully murdered.]

[Experience points increased by 50000 .]

'10000 EXP less than the Ogre?' Aria wanted to complain at the weird disparity within the two.

The Ogre was her first enemy, and that creature ended up giving her a total of 60000 EXP even after being split up with Yoo Jin's share.

To her, this dungeon was much more dangerous as it was a long lasting battle where you couldn't rest from the barrage of insects. The first dungeon wasn't as severe and taxing as this one, yet it gave her less experience.

However, considering the experience the actual horde of insects gave her, it seemed to have balanced itself.

Wiping off the thin layer of sweat that formed on her forehead, Aria huffed. Her breath was in disarray, her eyes unfocused, and her body tired out as she had wasted all of her remaining energy on that one deadly strike that offered up all she had.

She observed her sword [Halvargg], that now had a crack. Maybe it was because Alena stabbed it into the Queen, that it shattered internally due to the hardness.

Her brows knitted as she stroked the blade gently.

'So much for having a fancy name.' Aria commented. Not to mention the story behind the blade, with a name like [Halvargg], one would expect it to have at least some kind of extraordinary qualities, but that was not the case.

In truth, the blade had done very well. The opponents and the way she used the blade was the abnormal ones. It was already a miracle that it had managed to survive for this long under Aria's care. Previously, her equipment were all God-tier items made by nothing but expert craftsmen, so she was used to handling her fights using those type of mythical objects.

Aria's eyes narrowed as she sighed, lamenting her loss. She refused to use a cracked blade, because it would pose a troubling threat to her future actions.

Just as she wanted to store the blade back and let it rest after having served some pretty significant roles, a notification popped up.

[The sword [Halvargg] has obtained enough experience to upgrade itself.  Would you like to proceed?]

'..?' Aria widened her eyes and blinked. Such an option was surprising.

Upgrading. Was it the same as when her trusted craftsmen offered to polish her items? Or would this option change the item by a significant value?

She pursed her lips. After thinking for a few moments, she decided that the blade had lost its value for her from cracking anyways. She did not care if the blade would be destroyed in this trial process. She would only gain benefits if the upgrade is great, no losses.

'Proceed.' She answered the System.

[Option detected. Option confirmed.]

[Beginning the 'Upgrade' process. Target: Sword [Halvargg].]

[The sword [Halvargg] is upgrading itself.]

[The sword [Halvargg] has successfully been upgraded.]

[The sword [Halvargg] gained an additional trait.]

[The trait [Block] has been added.]

[The sword will be restored. Physical damages will be absorbed by the System.]

[The sword has been restored.]

[Upgrading process ended.]

'[Block]?' Aria furrowed her brows. She didn't really need such an option. Her sword mastery had rusted, but that didn't mean she couldn't perform actions like blocking a strike. Unless.. the skill was something much more than that.

She checked the additional information pasted on this particular trait. Her eyes were hopeful as she watched the notification screen pop up.

[The trait [Block] allows you to enter a temporary state where all the strikes meant towards your way will be blocked. Chances of successfully parrying and countering is heightened during this state.]

Aria's eyes widened once she saw the text. This was quite the exceptional trait, considering a hectic battle's situation.

'This would actually be good if it could be combined with other swords.. right?' Aria started imagining scenarios where this could come in handy.

For example, if the trait [Block] applied to a dozen or more daggers, she would practically be able to acquire a feat similar to that of [Dagger Mastery], in which one could manipulate the blades to their wishes.

A barrage of knives and daggers, being spun around. Their enemies would have to block and attack at the same time, but if the trait [Block] was put to use, the user only had to be on the offense. The defense would be well taken care of, but this could only be done if Aria obtained several great blades and all of them had the trait [Block] attached.

The hypothesis was scary to be imagined. It would be like possessing flying swords that worked as if they had a life of their own.

As of now, it wasn't that exceptional because Aria was confident that she could block in a similar way as to what was described in the text without making use of this trait in the first place.

However, the condition restoration was still something she was quite grateful for. She was now able to use the blade once more, there was no need to change her weapon.

She had gotten used to wielding [Halvargg] anyway, so this condition was happily accepted.

'Well, there must be a use for it in the future' Optimistic, Aria stored the blade and thought.

'A sword that upgrades itself. How suiting for me.' Aria was reminded of the late Dianthe, who possessed the same feature. She then remembered her current spirit, who also seemed to have high intelligence that surpassed the norm of a lower - ranked spirit.

Signs of her evolving was not yet shown, but she was very expectant of the future.

'Maybe..' Aria was hopeful. 'If she truly begins to evolve, then it would be the same as confirming her identity. Being related to that spirit.'

Clearing her sudden theory, she looked at the Queen's corpse.

"You can't make this one into a puppet, right?" Aria asked.

Alena's skill required her to be the highest damage dealer. The Queen was taken care of by Aria by her deadly strikes, Alena didn't receive a chance to deal a blow except for when she weakened it using the Silver Slime.

"Yes.. Even if I could, I don't think it would be beneficial for me. As you have observed, we faced more trouble fighting the insect hordes rather than this singular queen. The Queen herself isn't that strong, the myriad of insects it controls are the annoying ones. I have to make each insect contained inside the hordes my puppet if I wanted to utilize them the same way as they brought as trouble with," Alena observed the carcass and scanned it with her System.

"I also thought so," Aria nodded, confirming the child's statements. She stretched out her body, letting out a moan as she felt her tense muscles start to relax and her adrenaline dropping.