Summoning the Holy Sword

No matter if Rhode was in the game or the current world, he had never faced any troubles that he couldn’t resolve. But now, this ‘Sword Creation Points’ had put him in a difficult spot. Although it seemed as though creating a swordsmanship couldn’t be any easier, Rhode realized that his head was in a total blank when he put his hands on it. It wasn’t as simple as constructing buildings where as long as the foundation was stable, he could build everything he wanted. Creating a swordsmanship by himself might seem simple, but the truth was otherwise.

Although the decision-making process was tough, Rhode had no intentions of giving up. The reason was fairly simple. It was due to the mastery levels of this swordsmanship. Among the 13 swordsmanships in Rhode’s possession, this self-created swordsmanship with the only one with a mastery level of up to SSS grade. In other words, it was the only one that could ignore the Spirit Swordsman’s swordsmanship technique -1 punishment. If Rhode could master this swordsmanship, his powers could even be doubled in future battles.

Due to this reason, Rhode gritted his teeth despite an extreme headache and thought hard on how he should go about setting it up.

But it wasn’t that simple.

Seconds passed and the bustling noises outside appeased gradually. The sun was setting and scarlet radiance splashed through the window. Rhode folded his arms and looked at the system interface bitterly. He had experimented for two hours and didn’t yield any results. However, he had clearly grasped the special features of the ‘Sword Creation Points’ — For every consumption of one [Sword Creation Point], Rhode could receive a chance to create a swordsmanship level. Within this chance, he could choose to utilize the Sword Creation Point to recreate a brand new swordsmanship technique or fuse the techniques of other swordsmanships into this new swordsmanship like refining two raw materials in alchemy to create new alchemy items. The two fused swordsmanships would be presented in the new swordsmanship. Taking the [Moon Shadow] and [Dark Dance] for example, they were similar in their relatively high [Speed], [Flexibility], and [Explosiveness]. If Rhode fused these two swordsmanships together, the new swordsmanship would be equipped with high [Speed], [Flexibility], and [Explosiveness].

However, the fused swordsmanships would vanish entirely. In other words, they wouldn’t be available for Rhode in the future anymore and he could only battle using the new swordsmanship, which would be a risky gamble. If the newly created swordsmanship wasn’t as handy and to his likings, his future battles would turn out troublesome. Therefore, he had to make a choice. But, is this right? A brand new swordsmanship. But…

An idea flashed in his mind and the corner of his mouth twitched.

I’m so dumb. Why did I even consider problems like defensive stances and attacking angles? What purpose do they serve to me? I’m neither a martial artist nor a sword expert, so why must I even consider like historical swordmasters?

Although Rhode had lost both his parents and had no one to rely on, he had neither fallen off a cliff nor get abandoned by a woman that he loved, so why must he consider all these problems? When players entered the game to learn and use the swordsmanship, they didn’t start everything from scratch and suffered hardships just like in real life, right?

Of course, the swordsmanship that players learned relied on the system. When they created the swordsmanship, the system would automatically adjust their attack movements. It could also be said that, from the beginning, the players attack movements relied fully on the system movements. After they were familiar with the movements, they began to rely less on the system’s control and this was how the senior players turned from passive to active controls and mastered every swordsmanship.

Since I have this system with me by my side, why must I consider how should I launch my attacks?

Isn’t it enough as long as I make adjustments according to the swordsmanship and create the swordsmanship that suited me the most? Although there will surely be areas where I’m not satisfied with, isn’t this the reason why players modify and improve them?

Rhode leaned back on the chair and gazed proudly at the system prompt. Then, he swiped his finger on the swordsmanship column interface!

The 12 swordsmanships scattered wildly and hovered before Rhode and he scanned every single one of them swiftly for their advantages. At the same time, he compared and calculated in his mind the most important feature of this new swordsmanship.

After Rhode had transcended into the Master Stage, his Dexterity was the highest which meant that if he wished to unleash the might of this new swordsmanship, the high-leveled [Agility] and [Flexibility] were must-haves. Moreover, Rhode preferred an ambushing style, so his [Explosiveness] was also indispensable. Considering that his weapon was the Holy Sword Card Deck, the [Adaptability] must be increased relatively higher too.

Whereas for [Strength], Rhode could build on it according to the situation because he didn’t intend to head down the path of a barbarian. As for [Technique], he could build on it as a high-performance support based on the situation too.

The fledgling stage of Rhode’s new swordsmanship had been completed—[Agility], [Flexibility], [Explosiveness] were the main stats while [Adaptability] was second and [Strength] could be totally abandoned. With the strange bloodline flowing in Rhode, he could rely on his strength that was comparable to a barbarian even with 1 point of [Strength]. As for [Technique], it existed as support and it could be upgraded in times of need.

And now, he had to choose which two swordsmanships to fuse.

Although the [Dark Dance] suited Rhode’s requirement the most, he had no intentions of fusing it into the new swordsmanship. He had realized during his experiment that there were three stages in creating a swordsmanship — Initial, Middle, and Late Stages. The levels of fused techniques in every stage were different and with different effects. Currently, the mastery of Rhode’s [Dark Dance] was A. However, if he fused it in the Initial Stage, the effects and high mastery levels of this swordsmanship would be forcefully lowered in the later stages. If he wished to receive the incredible speed of the full [Dark Dance] swordsmanship in the Late Stage, he had better engage in another fusion before the swordsmanship entered the Late Stage to unleash its original strength to its limits.

The [Dark Dance] was Rhode’s current and only trump card. The new swordsmanship might be useful, however, it required time and energy to increase its mastery. During such times, it was extremely necessary to have a swordsmanship in the Legendary Stage for self-protection — After all, the fused swordsmanship wouldn’t inherit the mastery levels.

Rhode had decided on one of the sacrificial swordsmanship for the fusion and it was the [Moon Shadow]. As a basic swordsmanship for a Spirit Swordsman, he had grasped the [Moon Shadow] inside out and he didn’t need to hesitate further. Also, even though the [Agility] and [Explosiveness] of the initial stages of the [Moon Shadow] were high, they had dropped off at the later stages and caused it to become the best choice for the fusion.

The other sacrificial swordsmanship for the fusion wasn’t [Dark Dance] or [Starfall], instead, he had chosen another swordsmanship after pondering for a long while—[Disillusionment].

This was the battle technique of the Warsaw Thieves. It was named after a silent and precise assassination. Of course. In terms of speed, [Disillusionment] couldn’t be compared to [Dark Dance], which was a killer technique created by the Dark Elves. However, as a rare, basic swordsmanship with high [Agility] and [Explosiveness], the [Disillusionment] still had its certain value. More importantly, as a battle technique designed for Thieves, the [Disillusionment]’s [Adaptability] and [Technique] was on the high side with 5 points each. (Note: The highest value of the six swordsmanship attribute is 10.)

After deciding on the fusion targets, Rhode revealed a stern expression.

The system prompt emerged.

[Owned 6 Skill Points. Confirm to release swordsmanship?]

Yes.

[Target?]

Disillusionment.

[Consumed 1 Skill Point. ‘Disillusionment Swordsmanship’ released. Mastery E — Technique: Silent Assassination]

Consume 1 Sword Creation Point. Activate Swordsmanship Creation System. Fuse Swordsmanships.

[Choose your target]

Moon Shadow — Disillusionment

[Fusing Swordsmanship “Moon Shadow” and Swordsmanship “Disillusionment”. Confirm to proceed?]

Confirm.

The swordsmanship column representing [Moon Shadow] and [Disillusionment] left their positions as though an invisible string had pulled them away and they moved to the position of Rhode’s newly created swordsmanship. Their icons emanated a gentle, dazzling brilliance and shook as they merged together to transform into a brand new mark. After the brilliant rays dispersed, a new swordsmanship technique emerged before his eyes.

[A new Swordsmanship has been created. Please provide a name.]

The corner of Rhode’s mouth twitched and he revealed a delightful smile. Then, he extended his finger…