Chapter 155: Pinewood Forest (2)

Through the snowy paths of the Bareth's Tundra Zone, monsters from snow goblins to hail elementals died one by one as Reru's blade struck at them. With his single-handed participation in most fights, the battles ended in matters of minutes.

"Hah..." Letting out a cold breath that rasped into the air, Shinto frantically moved about within the area whilst sending out multiple shots of his basic attack. From behind him, Ethaniel soon followed up as they ganged up on a goblin that had been giving the group a hard time in the past minute on the battlefield.

"Keke..." Dodging the countless attacks that protruded out towards him, the goblin threw its spear at Ethaniel who was upfront trying fervently to hit the guy. "Kek!"

"Ugh... This guy..." Ethaniel impatiently clicked his tongue as he saw the smug expression on the goblin's look.

"He's basically mocking us for being unable to hit him..." Shinto could only helplessly send out mana sparks after mana sparks in hopes of actually hitting the small goblin in front of him. However, the blue goblin proved difficult to strike at with his constant meticulous turns around the field.

"This guy just won't stay still..." Kon whimpered as his shot of [ Orbal Shadow ] was missed. "I can't do anything..."

"Neither can we," Ethaniel clicked his tongue as he turned to Reru who had been only watching from behind after clearing away the other monsters that had come together with the goblin. "Hey, Reru-"

"Keke!" The goblin chuckled as it climbed onto Ethaniel's body and stabbed a spear into him. Moments later, he leapt from his body over to Shinto's. in which, he did the same thing.

"U-Ugh...!" Taking the sudden damage from the goblin, the Shinto abruptly stuttered back as e soon took a look at his health post-attack, in turn, he noted that the health bar had only been shaved off by a little. "At the very least... He's not dealing any detrimental damage to us."

"Which is more annoying than it stands," Ethaniel groaned in annoyance. "Why are we even wasting time with this guy?!"

"What? You were complaining you couldn't go up against any monsters in the area!" Reru stated. "Here's your foe, I'm giving you a chance to not be useless!"

"Hah... I don't need you mentoring us," Ethaniel frowned. "We don't get all day! Just end it!"

"Hmph... At least give me who has been clearing monsters after monsters a break from your constant bickering," Reru leapt forward as his sword pierced through the chucking goblin. From his fun and laughing expression earlier, turned into a dreaded one that seemed to had no expected such an attack out of nowhere.

"K-Keke!" The goblin tumbled over towards the ground as his eyes shook.

"Argh... Finally!" With the opportunity in front of him, Ethaniel rushed forward as his sword raised into the sky. In the next moment, he shone down countless attacks onto him as he wanted to end the guy in matters of seconds.

However, even with the goblin's horrendous damage against even a support and despite his extreme movement speed, the goblin proved quite durable as Ethaniel took more than ten seconds to turn the goblin into ash.

"K-Keke..."

[ Bareth Snow Goblin has been defeated! ]

[ You have levelled up to level 35! ]

[ Kon has levelled up to level 28! ]

[ You have obtained 'Mass Snow Goblin Spear' ]

...

"Ugh... Another spear?" After the battle, neither Ethaniel nor Shinto bathed in the glory of finally defeating the pesky goblin as they scrutinized the loot dropped by the goblin. "Can we get something else for once?!"

[ Mass Snow Goblin Spear ]

Rarity: Uncommon

Attack Power: 208 ~ 249

Durability: 211/347

*Water RES is increased by 5% when wielding the spear.

*When stabbing an enemy with the spear, 10% chance of decreasing the defensive power of the enemy by 15%.

A mass-produced spear made for the army of snow goblins that reside within the Pinewood Forest. Infused with the spirit of the snow, the spear seemed to have aimed to copy its original predecessor that had overwhelming power of the blizzard—Though, the mass-produced version had failed miserably.

Condition(s): Level 60 or above.

Weight: 65

...

During the times where the party had fought against the mobs in the area, the only drop that had been given to them was the countless [ Mass Snow Goblin Spear ] that was in their inventory. Including the recently obtained, this was the seventh one.

"I'd prefer to get a staff or a sword as a substitute weapon than a spear," Shinto sighed helplessly. With their lack of proper equipment, they had to make do with whatever they obtain throughout their journey in the Tundra Plains. Though, even then—their level still proved a blockage with the conditions to equip the item.

"I need a new weapon... This one's about to shatter," Ethaniel's eyes averted over to his blade that was starting to crack within his hands.

[ Rosemary Front-Tail Sword ]

Rarity: Epic

Attack Power: 247 ~ 361

Durability: 61/409

*Strength +35

*Agility +6

*When attacking an enemy, marks them for increased damage taken against light-based attacks by 7%.

*After striking at an enemy, 25% chance of increasing self's agility by 5% for 5 seconds. The chances of proccing it during the duration of the effect are increased to 20% and so on (Up to a maximum of 80%).

A blade inspired by the knight of Rosemary within the Kingdom of Evertail. With its meticulous sharp edges and light-weighted baggage, this sword was a force to be reckoned with when combined with speed and precision against an enemy.

Condition(s): Level 30 or above, Minimum of 50 Strength and Agility required.

Weight: 80

...

"Hah... What do I do?" Ethaniel scruffled his hair in thought as he scrutinized the blade in front of him. It seemed that he had been using this sword since the very start of when he first arrived at Parm and, he hadn't yet had a chance to even send it to a blacksmith to fix its durability. "All my other swords are way below my level now and this is the only good one..."

Looking at his inventory, Ethaniel's eyes soon peaked in interest as he caught glimpse of a sword that had been at the back of his mind—[ Replica of Shaodon's Sword Piece ].

"..." With a reluctant demeanour, Ethaniel took out the sword from his inventory. "...sigh. 450 Strength needed... I'm not even close to that, but... At least the penalty should be more doable since I don't have many options..."

"Oh?" From the distance, Shinto noted that the sword now in Ethaniel's hands wasn't that of a silver blade that had flowery look on it. Instead, the blade was that of a dark shade of purple with a dark aura around it. "You're going to use it?"

"The only sword that's available for usage," Ethaniel shook his head helplessly. "My old one's about to break and I don't want that to happen."

"But, didn't you say that the sword had some crazy requirements for you?" Shinto tilted his head in thought. "Being able to equip such a thing means..."

"Yes. I can equip equipment out of my level if it's related to swords or light armour," Ethaniel stated in a listless tone as he swung the new dark sword in his hands multiple times. "Though the stats will be reduced if I don't meet the bare minimum requirements, it's still better than nothing."

"Right..." Shinto had recalled that Ethaniel had been wearing level 30+ items since the day he had met him in the dungeon against Shivuliz. Though he had thought that it was his imagination, his suspicion now confirmed true with Ethaniel's words. "At the very least you have options to equip..."

"Look, I only have thing's for myself in my inventory and they're all severely underlevelled for this area anyway," Ethaniel shrugged. "How was I supposed to know we'd be at some crazy high levelled area AGAIN after finishing the dungeon?"

"You're right," helpless, Shinto could do nothing but look at his soon to be destroyed, staff and shabby equipment. "Let's just hope we'd get something good while we're exploring. Though, I doubt it'd be possible."

As the two conversed with one another, a cry from the slime at the side rang through their ears. "Hey, we don't have all day! Do you want to freeze to death? No, right? Then get a move on!"

"Ugh... Who was the one that had us fight for almost five minutes against a stupid goblin?" Ethaniel scoffed.

"I had overestimated your abilities. It seems that even a goblin you can't handle," Reru rolled his eyes as he continued forward on his path. "In any case... We've been out here for a little over thirty minutes. If we don't find anything before the fifty-minute mark, we might as well just go back to the caverns."

"What can we even find in the middle of a forest?" Ethaniel asked whilst following behind Reru.

"The only thing I can think of is well..." Continuing on into the pinewood forest, the group suddenly stopped at their footsteps as they turned their head over to the sound of a discrete noise from the distance. "...a monster's village?"