Chapter 13: The Impact of Ability Scores on Strength, War Shadow
The across-the-board improvement in ability scores has a relatively significant effect at lower levels, especially when fighting monsters that only attack with full force. Speed, strength, and reaction time can all influence the outcome of a battle.
Liam had a deep understanding of this when fighting Dungeon Lizards. By grasping the monster's weakness, launching an offensive could easily secure victory.
To put it another way.
An adventurer with higher overall ability scores might not necessarily be strong in person-to-person combat, but their PVE (Player versus Environment) strength against monsters would definitely not be poor.
This was also the main reason why Liam wasn't that concerned about changes in his ability scores.
To say ability scores are completely useless is a bit too extreme; it's more accurate to say their direct impact is relatively small.
What determines overall strength, first and foremost, are rare magic and skills.
Secondly, it's level.
Further down the list are combat techniques, and finally, ability scores – unless one is an all-around stats monster, only then can they reach the threshold of fighting above their level.
Carrying the "Sword Soul Template" with him.
Liam was very clear about his future development path. Adults don't childishly make single choices; of course, he wanted it all!
He cleanly decapitated the Dungeon Lizard. The monster's body instantly dissolved into black dust. Bending down, he picked up the magic stone.
"I've already killed countless Dungeon Lizards on the 5th floor; my mood is as cold as the blade in my hand."
Liam's current mood was probably something like this.
After clearing the monsters in the current passage, the walls would continuously crack open, with new Dungeon Lizards and Gecko monsters taking their place.
The experience points provided didn't decrease.
But after leveling up, the slowly increasing progress bar was already reminding him that he could explore deeper areas.
"Recover stamina a bit."
"Then I can pretty much consider heading to the 6th floor!"
Liam knew the next monster to appear would be the "War Shadow," a rookie killer in every sense of the word. This factor alone.
Was enough to make him take it seriously.
His energy was well replenished last night, and breakfast had also filled his stomach. After a simple rehydration, he continued forward.
Arriving at the 6th-floor area.
The overall environment changed dramatically. The dark, deep black passages resembled the depths of a cave, relying on fluorescent fruit to provide faint illumination.
Even the air temperature had dropped slightly.
Cautiously observing the unfamiliar environment had already become a habit for Liam. He chose to advance his exploration slowly.
Overall, it was relatively smooth.
He didn't encounter any monsters after walking a certain distance. Catching onto this, he became even more vigilant.
With the sound of a stone falling from the passage ceiling and hitting the ground, his already honed combat intuition followed the direction of the sound.
Liam abruptly turned his head.
Not far behind him, an extremely conspicuous black stain on the ground was constantly surging, finally solidifying into a human silhouette.
The monster was about 1.6 meters tall.
Its appearance, in a nutshell, was a pure black shadow, with features of two arms and two legs. Its slender wrists had three sharp, hooked claws.
The identity of this monster surfaced in his mind.
"War Shadow."
"Encountering it so soon?"
He was already prepared for battle. Facing a monster known as a "rookie killer," Liam felt no nervousness.
He was even somewhat eager to try.
He gripped the broadsword in his hand, not rashly launching an attack on the War Shadow. He first wanted to figure out this type of monster's common attack methods.
It would make the subsequent adventure much easier!
And the War Shadow, which only attacked with full force, naturally wouldn't consider so many things. Instinct drove it to slaughter all adventurers.
Its body proportions weren't particularly coordinated.
Even its running posture was slightly odd. Liam didn't let his guard down, holding his sword horizontally in a defensive stance.
Compared to Dungeon Lizards.
The War Shadow manifested faster movement speed. The end result of its long arms paired with sharp hooked claws was a longer attack range.
If he didn't grasp the distance well.
It would be easy to stumble during combat.
Watching the War Shadow's slender wrist raise high and swing rapidly, Liam instantly reacted, retreating to create distance.
Its long arms and sharp metal-like claws were swung with the War Shadow's full force. When the attack missed, it left a huge opening.
Seizing this gap.
Liam's figure stepped forward and instantly dashed out. The horizontal slash of Secret Sword Art's opening move swept out with an irresistible sword aura.
A sword aura that seemed capable of severing steel.
It easily cut the War Shadow's body in half at the waist. A deep purple magic stone fell to the ground. Along with the "gold drop" (colloquial term for loot), there was also an additional material output. "War Shadow Finger Blade."
"It doesn't seem particularly troublesome?"
This statement, of course, was from Liam's perspective. With Secret Sword Art at the mastery level, utilizing the characteristic of attacks carrying sword aura.
His current adventure in the upper levels was like playing on easy mode.
「Exp +67」
The most crucial thing was still the experience points gained. Compared to Dungeon Lizards, it had directly doubled, and the value of the magic stone and dropped materials was also higher.
Liam checked the change in his progress bar.
"Conservative estimate."
"I still need 30-40 War Shadow monsters to raise the Sword Soul template to level 8."
"Efficiency is okay."
Data verified from a single instance wasn't representative. In the subsequent battles, he repeatedly tested the War Shadow's attack methods.
He confirmed that individual monsters all attacked in this manner.
Only when a large number gathered would they coordinate their attacks. After this, what awaited Liam was…
Grinding!
As his combat experience accumulated, his understanding of "Secret Sword Art's" moves became increasingly thorough.
He completely immersed himself in the training known as battle.
Full concentration.
Even Liam himself didn't realize that his gradually refined fighting style had developed a natural "momentum" and "killing intent" of the sword.
It had already been integrated into every detail of his sword swings.
It wasn't until his stamina was utterly exhausted, and even swinging the broadsword brought a stabbing pain to his muscles, that he ended this period of selfless training.
The sword aura accompanying his swings.
Greatly increased the weapon's usage time. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he always felt that this broadsword had become even sharper.
"Hah!"
"."
Confirming there were no monsters around, Liam slumped against the wall, panting heavily. The joy of his improved swordsmanship.
Completely overshadowed his physical exhaustion.
He took out the lunch bento he had bought. It was unclear how much time had passed, but the intense hunger in his body drove him to wolf it down.
The good news was.
The taste of this sumptuous bento was generally good.
After stuffing it all into his stomach, the feeling of fullness continuously restored Liam's mood threshold. He took several consecutive gulps of water.
"Satisfying!"
"What level am I at now?"
The reason Liam could persist through the tedious and repetitive slaughter was not only his unwavering determination in practicing the way of the sword.
Another aspect was the feedback of experience points with every monster kill.
This was probably an immersive roguelike hack-and-slash game experience. He opened his cheat, the "Sword Soul Template," again to check.
「Liam Moon」
「Level: 10」
「Experience: 0.3%」
「Skill: Secret Sword Art (Mastery)」
「SP: 90」
"Let's call it a day for exploration here."
Having smoothly achieved his expected goal, Liam felt the soreness in his arm muscles and decided to end today's Dungeon grind.
The journey back to Orario.
Could barely be considered as a post-meal digestive exercise. He moved around, relaxing his body's muscles, and picked up all the trash he had generated.
Picking up his broadsword, he was just about to embark on his return journey.
The faint sound of footsteps instantly put Liam on alert. He could faintly hear voices talking, which ruled out the option of monsters.
This made him even more cautious internally.
When facing monsters, he only needed to consider how to kill them cleanly and efficiently. If he encountered adventurers in the Dungeon.
Then…
Liam had many more things to consider!
(End of this chapter)