Overgeared Chapter 815:
Chapter 815
“It is tougher than I thought . ”
He didn’t know how many times he had checked the map during the last four days of the journey . It was difficult to find the right path . Grid was still unable to find his destination . However, it wasn’t because he was lost . Grid had a good sense of direction . It hadn’t been a fluke that he discovered the North End Cave and Pagma’s Rare Book .
“Um . . . ” Grid’s gaze fell on the map again and again .
Kraugel said that the Boundary Forest was right there at the point where the Beldon Volcanic Zone and the Lilton Desert overlapped . That’s right . The Boundary Forest was a place not marked on the map, so it was no wonder that it was hard to find .
“Go east from the Beldon Volcanic area, west from the Lilton Desert . . . ” Grid’s eyes narrowed . It was irritating since the schedule was different from what he had planned .
The silent Mercedes finally asked carefully, “Is Kraugel a credible person?”
“Huh? Why are you asking all of a sudden?”
“I can’t believe that there is a forest here . ”
This was a volcanic area where lava flowed, a desert where not a single blade of grass could be found . Yet there was a forest at the center? How could vegetation grow in this hot temperature? Grid replied to Mercedes’ reasonable doubt, “You can trust him . ”
Of course, this world wasn’t nice enough to have unconditional beliefs just because a person was a friend . Still, Grid didn’t doubt Kraugel .
“He is a friend with high pride . It isn’t in his nature to lie . ”
“He is a . . . Sword Saint?”
“You know?”
“Yes . He has been famous in the empire for several months already . ”
The empire showed a lukewarm attitude toward Pagma's Descendant, but they had a great response to a Sword Saint . Some people argued that the Sword Saint should be acquired while others insisted that the Sword Saint should be eliminated . The emperor’s choice was . . .
“Try and win him over . ”
“I see . Well, it is natural for Kraugel to be coveted by the emperor . ”
Grid had heard rumors, but to think that Kraugel was given such special treatment . . . ? Grid’s pride wasn’t hurt even when he realized this fact . Was it because he acknowledged that a Sword Saint was a better class than Pagma's Descendant? No . It was because Grid had a great pride that wouldn’t be swept away by the evaluation of other people . So what if he was given a low evaluation? The truth was different .
“Kraugel rejected the emperor’s offer?”
“Yes, that’s right . ”
“Weren’t you quite angry?”
“ . . . ”
Grid was well aware of Mercedes’ personality from the first time they met . She had an excessive loyalty and felt unconditional resentment toward those who went against the will of her master . From the position of an enemy, it was a terrible personality, but it was great now that they were allies .
“You can relax your emotions and fight when you meet later . One or two years later, you will be so strong that victory will be guaranteed . ”
‘Please don’t incite an unnecessary fight . ’
Grid had already experienced several times that a confrontation between the strong and the strong was a great help to each other . As such, seeing that Mercedes could go one step further, Grid wanted to set up a confrontation with Sword Saint Kraugel for her .
‘It will be a great help for Kraugel as well . ’
Duguen! Duguen! Grid’s heart beat faster as he imagined a confrontation with the further developed Kraugel . His obsession with Kraugel was a reaction to the regret he had felt in the 3rd National Competition . Why did he feel sorry as the winner? It was because he had won before he revealed his true power . Truth be told, Grid felt empty after the finale match with Kraugel . It was different from the exhilaration he felt during the 2nd National Competition .
‘It is an undeniable fact . ’
He had reserved his strength and won against Kraugel . However, who could he tell this truth to? No one would believe him if he said it .
‘There is no need to speak in the first place . ’ It would just be seen as a useless pretense .
The grinning Grid stopped walking . He was at the end of the lava zone, which was also at the end of the desert . Then an unexpected phenomenon occurred .
[The World Tree’s Necklace is responding!]
Grid pulled the necklace out of his inventory .
[World Tree’s Necklace]
[Rating: Legendary
Durability: 20/22
* 20% increase in strength and agility in elven territory .
* 150% increase in mana regeneration in elven territory .
* 1 . 2 times increase in movement speed in elven territory .
Before she became a legend, Povia was a loner who wasn’t recognized by humans or elves .
This necklace was given to her by the world tree, her only friend .
Weight: 50]
A necklace made from tree bark being weaved together—it was one of the rewards he had gotten from Death Knight Povia on the Behen Archipelago . This response meant . . .
Gulp! Grid made a guess and wore the necklace . Then . . .
[Strength and agility will increase by 20% . ]
[Mana regeneration rate will increase by 150% . ]
[Movement speed has increased by 1 . 2 times . ]
“Indeed . . . !”
Grid realized two facts . Firstly, he was already in the Boundary Forest . However, it was impossible to perceive it because of the wards . Secondly, the Boundary Forest was the forest of the world tree . It was the territory of the elves!
“Now if I can release the wards . . . !”
. . . But how? Kraugel had only shown him the location of the Boundary Forest, not how to enter it .
‘Why?’
Did he want to provoke Grid? Or was it a test? That was impossible . Kraugel had given him the location of the Boundary Forest out of pure kindness . He wouldn’t hide something from the information he had given willingly .
“Maybe . . . ”
Could the wards around the forest be stronger than when Kraugel visited here? It was a reasonable hypothesis when he recalled the rumor that elves hated humans .
“I’m certain . The elves must have been disturbed by Kraugel’s movements in here and strengthened the wards . ”
Grid was confident of this . His difficulty was on how to release the ward .
“The general information on how to release a ward . . . ”
It was to grasp the principle of the ward or release it with magic . These two methods were widely used . Grid hadn’t learned the magic associated with releasing wards, so he had to solve it with the former method . It meant he had to use his head, and that was terrible .
“F . . . Um . . . ” Grid was about to curse only to close his mouth with an awkward expression . He couldn’t curse in front of a person who had just become his subordinate .
“Kuoong . ” He became more frustrated because he couldn’t swear . Grid was struggling when Mercedes asked him, “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“I want to release the ward here but I don’t know how to do it . . . ”
Mercedes’ thin eyebrows rose . The fact that her master didn’t expect anything of her touched her pride .
“I will just smash it,” she spoke in a cold voice .
“Huh?”
Smashing the ward . . . ? Grid didn’t understand and made a strange expression .
“If my physical strength is three times stronger than the person who made the ward, I can just destroy it with force . Shall I test it out? Let’s see who is better . ”
Kuwooooh!
Mercedes pulled out her swords while energy blades bent around her . She swung them once at the air, creating an opening . It was as if Grid was looking at Kraugel’s Space Sword . The sky, the desert, the volcanoes, and the earth split in half . Then the desert area and volcanic area disappeared like they were mirages . After that, a huge forest appeared in the place where the volcanic area and desert had been located . The scale of the forest was too large to determine . It was like a country in itself .
“ . . . Amazing . ” Grid was marveling at Mercedes’ swordsmanship, not the size of the forest . The elves’ magic had created a perfect ward . Grid realized that the heat of the volcano and the desert was a lie and asked, “Is this the elemental magic that I have only heard about?”
“I think so . They seem to have borrowed the power of the fire elemental to make the volcanic zone and the power of the earth elemental to make the desert . They were different from simple hallucinations . ”
“Elementals . . . Have you ever met them before?”
“No . ”
“Ah . ” Grid belatedly noticed that the sun flowing through the green leaves shone on Mercedes’ face . Yes, Mercedes was also shaken .
‘Right . . . ’
They had discovered the territories of the elves who had been separated from humanity for hundreds of years . How could anyone be calm before this amazing discovery? Grid watched Mercedes’ cute appearance as she looked around the forest and felt warm .
‘I didn’t receive the first discovery reward, so someone else came here before me . ’
It wasn’t Kraugel . Kraugel didn’t even know that this was the territory of the elves .
“Kraugel couldn’t enter the forest? Or did he simply lag behind others? If it is the latter, the world was very wide . ”
It was amazing that there were people ahead of Kraugel . Who could it be? Grid’s eyes shone as he pulled out the portable furnace and started to place firewood inside it . On one side, he prepared an anvil, a hammer, and a huge bucket for quenching .
“ . . . ” Mercedes felt it was absurd as she watched Grid turn the forest into a smithy . “Your Majesty . This is an ideal opportunity to meet the elves . Isn’t it right to look for the elves first?”
Some people misunderstood the elves as a species from fantasies . Thus, they were unfamiliar with elves . The elves were targets of great interest . Even Mercedes wanted to meet an elf right away . However, Grid had no interest in this .
“I can meet an elf every day . ”
“Huh?”
He could meet an elf on a daily basis? Mercedes didn’t understand what Grid was saying .
“Moreover, it is a high elf . He is Sage Sticks . You didn’t know that he was in the Overgeared Kingdom? Doesn’t the empire know anything?”
“ . . . Ah . ” Mercedes couldn’t be unaware of this . In fact, she had forgotten due to an incident from a few days ago . Five days ago was the day that Grid had arrived in Reinhardt .
“Grid!” Sticks had run to find Grid . “Increase the number of teachers at the academy! I have to teach 12 classes a day alone, 12! I don’t have any time to rest!”
“I understand . Tell Administrator Rabbit . ”
“No, he is the problem! He says that he can’t increase the number of teachers due to a lack of finances! He is an unscrupulous human who is abusing me to save money!” Sticks cried out, feeling it was unjust . He seemed like such an ordinary person that Mercedes had forgotten… She had completely forgotten the fact that Sticks was a high elf and sage .
“ . . . I understand . ” Mercedes was reminded of the memories she had instinctively sealed . She nodded as if she understood . “Then you have no reason to look for the elves . ”
“Right? In any case, they will just be men . ”
“Men?”
“Ah, there was something like that . In any case, let’s begin in earnest . ” Grid rolled up his sleeves and handed Mercedes some Media Mountain honey which he bought with a lot of money . Then he held a hammer . “I will do the hammering while you eat honey . ”
This was the first important mission she had received since she started serving Grid, but why did she feel that it was somewhat lacking?
“Yes . . . ” Mercedes responded weakly and pulled out her swords . Simultaneously, an arrow flying through the air was split apart .
“What is this rudeness?” Mercedes looked sharply in front of her . The appearance of elves with angry expressions entered her field of view . The white-haired elf named Beniyaru shouted, “We hate you . . . ! Humans deserve to be extinct!"
“Wow . ”
Talking about extinction all of a sudden? Was creating a fire in the middle of the forest that big of a sin? Grid sweated as he belatedly realized, ‘ . . . It is a sin,’
However, he didn’t know it yet… The reason why the elves hated humans wasn’t because of Grid and Mercedes .