5 Chapter 5_ The Real Start (3)

Lexus swings his wooden sword around deftly, twirling and flourishing it with ease. The knights that were all looking at him, were currently swearing to all the gods that the young prince must have had been taught with swordsmanship before even making his first steps.

Having mastered the fundamentals of the priceless swordsmanship that had been long lost to history, he could stand above all others. Lexus could tell that even the basic version of these Madra's sword techniques were far superior to the versions of any other swordmanships.

「 Though I haven't seen you in real combat, based on the training you had been doing, your fighting style is well balanced and skillful for your strikes to maximize the damage. 」

Madra could not help but be impressed at how quickly he was progressing, but Lexus knew better. He would have progressed to this point much earlier if his NPC self hadn't been so lazy about training. He was just catching up to where he should have already advanced. If Lexus had trained wholeheartedly at the academy, he would have at the very least been a Sword Expert by now.

'I really want to rebuke my previous self.'

Lexus let out a sigh and decided he would have to train even harder from now on. He then smiled, remembering a unique skill that he had unexpectedly acquired recently.

[Plunderer - Lv.1]

Rating: Unique

[This ability allows the user to 'rob' power from any opponents, effectively weakening their skills and magic.

* You are able to copy and obtain the skills of those you are fighting but when killing an enemy, you can steal and absorb their unique attributes.

Skill Resource Consumption: None.

Skill Cooldown Time: 6 Hours.]

The ability to copy and steal skills was very overpowered for him. Although the effectiveness lowered as the difference in strength between him and his opponent increased, this skill simply allowed him to learn any skill he wanted. He could define his own path based on his needs.

In the novel, no skill like this was introduced. (A/N: The runes weren't considered as skills right?) So, Lexus was greatly surprised when he saw this.

'Can this be really done with magic while my legendary combat class was technically a swordsman type? If I can use both physical and magical skills at the same time…'

The ultimate multi-class. Indeed, it was the birth of a fraudulent character. Of course, perfectly utilizing all of those skills would be hard, so he could end up with a mediocre character if he misjudged his choices. However, the possibility of that happening was low. It was because Lexus had the ultimate talent with him, Madra who could come up with synergistic combinations and his unique skill, Great Sage.

"Your highness, your talent with the sword really had no bounds. It's like you're a Master Swordsman already or even destined to be a Sword Saint someday."

Turning around, he saw a knight who was slowly approaching him, complimenting his skills. The knight was a tall man with slightly reddish skin and orange hair.

He had a thick mustache and an even thicker beard. His blue eyes and chiseled face made him actually quite handsome by Earth standards. He could have become a celebrity with his looks. He was Darius, the captain of the escort knights and the one leading the expedition.

"No, I'm still very far from that level." Lexus replied goodnaturedly.

"You don't have to be humble about it, your highness. We knights who were serving you can guarantee my claim."

Darius said and then gestured to his knights that was keeping the perimeters clear of any harm. Dozens of knights with the symbol of the Eternal royal's family. Everyone was wearing black armour and they all looked big and wild. They were obviously elite soldiers. If compared to the other knights, they look stronger and more resilient.

「 Then, why not try take a spar with him to see your skill in swordsmanship yourself. 」

Madra's voice was then heard by only him. His words followed, saying that he was degrading himself too much and should be proud of himself instead, for that should be the attitude of a legend. Nodding in understanding, Lexus gave his answer to Darius.

"Well if you put it that way, I wanna test the results of my effort this past month. Of course, only if that's fine with you."

Lexus took out the wooden sword while he then pointed his wooden sword at Darius and took a basic stance. Hearing him and seeing his smile when taking a stance, Darius decided to go along, not wanting to disappoint the prince.

"It will be my pleasure to see your skills, Your Highness."

As soon as Darius held a wooden sword and took a stance, Lexus launched himself at the top speed that he could in the direction of Darius. Pulling out his wooden sword, Darius blocked his strike with ease. For Darius who has higher level than him, the movements of the level 1 Lexus was very noticeable even he was much more faster than an ordinary level 1.

'That's what I expected anyway.'

A slight smile rose from Lexus' lips seeing that his attack was easily blocked. For him, this spar isn't just a test for physical abilities. It tests various aspects such as his talent, judgement, agility, resourcefulness, and decisiveness to see how he could overcome their difference in ability.

*Crunch* *Crackle*

His muscles began to tighten, his blood began to circulate faster, and his mind became lucid. It was unreasonable for Lexus to confront a knight and he had just learnt swordsmanship, so a 1:1 melee confrontation was too much.

He was able to gain experience just by wielding a wooden sword. Therefore, having an experience in an actual combat could make his abilities rise in a flash.

*Thwish*

Lexus instinctively turned his body aside. The wooden sword brushed past his left forearm.

"Your senses are commendable, your highness."

Darius was amazed to see that he had managed to dodge his strike. Even though he was limiting his strength to match Lexus' level, Lexus should have been unable to react due to Darius' superior strength and quickness.

[Super Sensitivity]

[All senses will become transcended. You can predict of all your target's behavior. You would instantly ascertain the opponent's weaknesses, gaps in their defenses, and could sense any impending danger.

* The higher the number, the higher the effect.

* Stat points can't be distributed to this stat.]

In the novel, Super Sensitivity is a Special Stat. Previously a skill only acquired by a Sword Saint Candidate, the skill turns into a special stat upon becoming a Sword Saint.

According to the novel, there are two versions of this skill: active and passive. The active version of this skill is the ability of a Sword Saint Candidate. Meanwhile, the passive version is the ability of the Undefeated King's Successor Candidate; once you become the Undefeated King's Successor, the stat will automatically be acquired.

The stat allows the user to predict upcoming crises and the behavioral patterns of their target. It is said that Super Sensitivity is a stat that is harder to raise than leveling up.

Narrowly avoiding the strike, the voice of the Great Sage was heard in his mind.

« Activate the Plunderer skill on the target Darius? »

Without hesitation, Lexus answered.

« Confirmed. Darius's knowledge in swordsmanship and magic has been acquired. »

« All possible skills to obtain has been succesfully acquired. »

« All knowledge gained has been optimized and successfully transferred. »

Without letting him down, Great Sage had lived up to his expectation of handling the skill in his stead. Then...

[Your understanding of sword has reached a new level.]

[The level of Intermediate Sword Mastery has risen.]

[All stats related to your skill increase.]

[Strength increased by 10.]

[Stamina increased by 10.]

[Agility increased by 10.]

[Your understanding...]

[...]

With the profound knowledge and experience that flowed into his mind, his Intermediate Sword Mastery had increased to level 8, greatly increasing his proficiency in handling the wooden sword… What made Lexus smile...

[The skill, 'Ember Combustion (E)' has been obtained.]

With the knowledges and some experiences of Darius being transferred to him, Lexus muttered.

'So he's a magic swordsman.'

A derivative hidden class of the Swordsman class that adds the Magician's magic skills in combat like sword skills.

'He's amazing.'

With the information he obtained from Darius, Lexus knew that he was a skilled magic swordsman, making it clear why he had risen to the position of captain of the Royal Knights; becoming one requires great skill and dedication.

The Magic Swordsman class has many dilemmas. It is a class that needs to cultivate both magic and swordsmanship, which completely needs different stats.

In addition to the coordination of swordsmanship and magic, there was also the class knowledge gaining process, meaning that users of this class needed to be proficient in both areas.

For magicians to branch out into physical skills was rare and extremely peculiar. It was like an agile archer raising a pickaxe and going at it in a mine.

It wasn't wrong or taboo per se, just extremely strange. With his unique skills, Plunderer and Great Sage together with the legendary class, Undefeated King's Successor, it was something that turned the tables and made what was already a very powerful legendary class essentially unmatchable.

As such, he pulled his mind back from his own considerations and looked at the description of the skill he had obtained from Darius.

[Ember Combustion - Lv.1]

Rating: Normal

[You will be able to control fire and affinity with the element will increase.

* Allows the user to turn any part of their body made of magic violently into flames and deals 60% of your magic power.

Skill Resource Consumption: 100 Mana.

Skill Cooldown Time: 40 Seconds.]

As the difference between them was still large, Lexus only managed to obtain one magic skill from Darius but it was more than enough for the white haired teenager.

As he was still facing Darius, he couldn't afford to rejoice and remain focused. All he could do was stay on alert and dodge his way through.

*Swish* *Swish* *Swish*

The wooden swords flew towards him in succession, coming from different directions. With the speed of Darius, it was impossible for him to track them with his bare eyes.

As his senses tingled, Lexus crouched low and rolled forward. At the same time, he drew his sword and swung it towards Darius, who easily deflected it with ease.

'Wow! The way he handles the wooden sword is great. His strength and speed might not be much compared to me but his skillfulness in swordsmanship greatly surpassed his level.'

Continuously exchanging their attacks, Darius noticed something. It had been more than 30 minutes since the sparring session had begun, and Lexus hadn't shown any signs of exhaustion at all.

[Stamina Maintenance]

[* Infinite stamina when entering combat situations.]

One of the legendary class characteristics Lexus obtained after receiving the legendary class, the Undefeated King's Successor along with the other class benefit.

[Perfect Status Immunity]

[* Abnormal conditions will no longer work on you.]

Unlike the general benefit from becoming a legend of being resistant to almost everything, the benefit of Perfect Status Immunity is not just about resistance, but total immunity to all kinds of abnormal status effects.

'And why does it also feel that his highness is rapidly improving?'

With the title effect of his Peerless Talent that increases all growth gain by 60%, For Lexus, who has a 5-fold difference in experience from a unique grade class, it is an option like rain in a drought.

It was hard to see that Lexus' level right now was actually level 1. Due to various stats increase because of his Intermediate Sword Mastery reaching level 8 or things like that, the overall ability was a whopping 640 points including his special stats.

A level similar to 57 if you hit it with simple level calculations.

Of course, the actual level of 57 would be higher due to various effects such as quest rewards, titles and items. But with simple calculations, it's already level 57.

For beginners, he would be as fast as a cannon which meant that he had an overwhelming advantage. With him being a super named NPC with the greatness of a legendary profession at that.

Besides…

'These are just the basic stats but…'