Chapter 49: Big Slash

That big iron axe didn’t come with the [Big Slash Lv. 1] skill right away though. That would have been far too perfect. There was no way the System was going to be that generous.

Instead, the skill it came with was...

[Taunt]!

A skill that made the user draw aggro from nearby enemies. It wasn’t a bad skill by any means, but it was pretty much useless for what I needed right now.

Thus, I had decided to reroll both the skill and the damn +HP stat that came with it.

After five rolls, I was finally able to get exactly what I wanted:

[Big Slash Lv. 1]

[+5 ATK]

"Super nice!"

I literally couldn’t wait for Gopuro or Gopuran to try swinging that axe!

****

Now...

Gopuro stood before a towering oak tree.

It was a massive specimen, with a thick trunk roughly sixty centimeters in diameter and a height of nearly twenty meters. By my estimation, this single tree would yield somewhere around 150 to 200 units of Wood.

In his hands, the new iron axe gleamed beneath the bright morning sunlight.

Gopuro gripped the handle with both hands, adjusting his grip until he had a firm hold. Then, the muscular goblin inhaled deeply, planted his feet firmly against the ground, and shifted into a powerful swinging stance.

For a brief moment, he closed his eyes and focused.

One second.

That was all it took.

Gopuro breathed out, channeled his mana into the blade.

A faint, ominous glow spread across the iron edge. A subtle vibration ran through the weapon.

Then...

With a thunderous roar, he swung!

"HAARRRR!!!"

The massive axe tore through the air with frightening speed!

The blade cleaved, slashing through the trunk completely in one single motion!

The entire tree shuddered before beginning to topple.

I couldn’t believe it.

Just one swing, and he had already felled that massive oak tree?

What the hell?

All he had to do now was cut off the branches, process the trunk, and haul the logs back to the castle. Then the wood gathering quest would be complete.

Gopuro, meanwhile, seemed absolutely thrilled with himself. He raised the new iron axe high above his head and let out a victorious roar.

"YAARRRRRR!!"

Then, without wasting any time, he moved toward another tree and began charging his skill once more.

One second.

Another swing.

BAM!

The second tree crashed to the ground in a single, clean cut.

And then...

BOOM!

Yet another one!

I watched another massive tree come crashing down and felt my excitement steadily building.

Oh god! This is incredible!

At this rate, I’m going to be rich very soon!

But watching Gopuro effortlessly cut through those enormous trees also made me wonder.

Was all this cutting power really because the weapon was made of iron?

Or was most of it coming from the skill?

After all, they had been chopping wood with freaking stone axes before...

Those things must have been incredibly dull. It was already a miracle that none of those crude axes had broken after yesterday’s long chopping session.

I was beginning to suspect that the [Big Slash] skill was doing most of the heavy lifting.

And then I got my answer.

Gopuro raised his axe again and tried to use the skill for a fourth time. However, this time, something was different.

The glow around the blade only lasted for half a second before dimming and disappearing completely.

Gopuro swung anyway.

The iron blade struck the tree with a heavy thud and bit into the bark.

But that was it.

It couldn’t even cut through a tenth of the trunk.

"Oh right! Not enough mana!" I exclaimed as I realized what had happened.

So that was the limitation.

The axe itself was certainly much better than their old weapons, but the truly ridiculous cutting power came from [Big Slash].

Still, even without the skill, the difference was still obvious. That iron axe was vastly more powerful than the old bone axes they had been using. A normal swing from Gopuro was already able to leave a deep cut. And that’s good enough.

The guy currently had 30 Max MP, with an MP recovery rate of 0.75 MP per minute.

Since [Big Slash] cost 10 MP per use, he could unleash three Big Slashes in quick succession if he started with a full mana pool.

After that, he would need to wait for his mana to recover.

At a rate of 0.75 MP per minute, it would take roughly 13 to 14 minutes to regenerate the 10 MP needed for another Big Slash.

"Haha, I can’t wait to see how many rounds of the Wood Gathering Quest you’ll be able to complete today, Gopuro!"

But then, to my surprise, this guy even did something clever!

Instead of immediately running over to attack another standing tree, he moved on to processing one of the trees he had already felled.

Right! Since processing and hauling the logs back to the castle will take more than 13 minutes, by the time he returns, he’ll have regenerated enough mana to use Big Slash again!

Haha! That’s my citizen!

Very smart!

"Good job, Gopuro! Keep it up!" I called out, encouraging him.

"Yes, Big Boss!" Gopuro replied, his eyes shining with pride.

*****

Meanwhile, Gopuran had been standing off to the side the entire time, growing visibly restless.

She had cheered and clapped excitedly when Gopuro felled the first tree with his overpowered new skill. But as he continued chopping down tree after tree, her excitement gradually faded.

Now, she was pouting, her long ears drooping slightly. It was obvious that watching Gopuro receive such an incredible gift while she had yet to get anything was making her a little jealous.

"Big Boss!"

Gopuran eventually mustered up the courage to ask, her voice filled with hope.

"What about me? Does Puran get a big axe too?"

Her eyes sparkled like an eager puppy’s.

Of course, Gopuro had gotten a gift. There was no way I would forget about his dear little sister!

"Well, not a big axe, but you get something else!"

"Ooh! Really?"

"Yeah!"

From my inventory, I materialized another weapon that I had obtained from the Item Shop right this morning.

This time, I had gotten it from a natural roll. I hadn’t needed to use [Item Combining] at all.

Of course, getting an E-tier weapon naturally was only the first step. I had still needed to reroll its stats and skill until I got something I actually wanted.

Fortunately, after a few attempts, I had managed to get a pretty nice combination.

[One-Handed Iron Small Sword]

Type: Weapon

Rarity: E

Description: A lightweight one-handed small sword with a slightly curved blade, making it ideal for swift, slashing attacks.

Effect: +2 ATK, +2 SPD, +10 HP

Special Effect: Grants the holder the Skill: [Wind Blade Lv. 1]

[Wind Blade Lv. 1]

Description: Channels mana into the sword and releases it in a swift slash, creating a compressed blade of wind that travels forward and strikes enemies from a distance.

Mana Cost per Strike: 5