Chapter 67: Army Stew Made with Elixir

“...What’s wrong?”

“It, it’s nothing,” Lee Seokhoon shook his head and answered hurriedly. He looked at Minhyuk in shock and thought,?‘What in the world is this player doing...’

Seokhoon did not know what this player was going to eat, but he believed that this player would definitely be in a very, very,?very?huge trouble soon. However, he soon realized his assumption was completely off.

“You know that today is the last day, right? I just stopped by while I was on my way to the bathroom.”

“Yeah. I’ll be right there shortly, you hippo,” Ellie said.

What Seokhoon expected did not happen at all. In fact, Ellie was even smiling gently at Minhyuk, much like that a mother often has!

‘W, what’s this?’?Seokhoon thought, not understanding the entire situation. From what he could see, Minhyuk was acting very friendly towards the empress to the point that he was treating her like an older sister living next door. On the other hand, Ellie was smiling at him as if she was looking at her younger brother, no… her son.

‘N…no. Ellie, you’re the empress!’?Seokhoon thought. However, she was allowing Minhyuk to call her noona?! She was being called noona?! Lee Seokhoon rubbed his aching temples.

“I’m going to go back and get some more training.”

“Yeah.”

Minhyuk rushed back to the training grounds while Lee Seokhoon left not long after. Lee Seokhoon could only sigh deeply after seeing that Minhyuk was already nowhere in sight.

***

Minhyuk repeatedly swung his wooden sword again the moment he got back to the training grounds. Today was the final day of the one-week deadline.

Slash!

“Today, I am finally!”

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Slash!

“Going to eat!”

Slash!

“Army stew!” Minhyuk shouted excitedly as he continued to swing his sword.

Slash!

Craaaaack!

[You have gained 1 SP.]

[You can also invest your SP on stats that can’t be raised with Bonus Points.]

Minhyuk broke another wooden puppet. Then, just like usual, he invested his SP into his DEX. Over the course of his training, he was able to increase his DEX to almost 360, making him feel very satisfied.

[One week has passed since you starting training with Ellie’s Swordsmanship.]

[You have achieved more than 100% of the invisible training progress.]

[You have perfectly mastered Ellie’s Swordsmanship.]

[The strength and power of Ellie’s Swordsmanship changes depending on the training progress that you have achieved.]

[You have acquired Ellie’s Swordsmanship.]

‘Phew.’

It seemed like it was a special reward. Right? It was only possible for Minhyuk to receive a special reward since he had exceeded the set limit for the training. Then, Minhyuk checked Ellie’s Swordsmanship right away.

(Ellie’s Swordsmanship)

Active Skill

Rank: Unique

Level: 1

Proficiency: 0%

Mana Required: Depends on the chapter that will be used.

Cooldown: Depends on the chapter that will be used.

Effects:

1st Chapter: Sword of Fury

?2nd Chapter: Rampant Sword

?3rd Chapter: Ellie’s Swordsmanship

?4th Chapter: Step

The form and the movements of the skill were quite similar to Bardy Swordsmanship so he checked each chapter to see if there were obvious differences.

(Sword of Fury)

Active Skill

Type of Swordsmanship: Ellie’s Swordsmanship

Mana Required: 180

Cooldown: 2 minutes

Effects:

?Additional 50% attack power for strong lunges and stabs.

?Additional 30% attack power on successful strike on vital points.

(Rampant Sword)

Active Skill

Type of Swordsmanship: Ellie’s Swordsmanship

Mana Required: 300

Cooldown: 2 minutes

Effects:A flurry of rampant swords will be created with a 30% additional attack power for five seconds.

(Ellie’s Swordsmanship)

Active Skill

Type of Swordsmanship: Ellie’s Swordsmanship

Mana Required: 400

Cooldown: 30 minutes

Effects:

?All stats will increase by 15% and skill casting time will be reduced for five minutes.

?Evasion Rate +30%.

?Critical Hit Rate +30%.

(Step)

Passive Skill

Type of Swordsmanship: Ellie’s Swordsmanship

Mana Required: None

Cooldown: 3 seconds

Effects: Can quickly move one meter in an instant allowing you to quickly narrow or widen the distance between you and your opponent.

“Oh!” Minhyuk exclaimed. He thought that the skill was very good. First off, the skill was leagues above Bardy Swordsmanship, even Minhyuk could see how superior the skill was compared to what he had learned before. Furthermore, what was even more satisfying was the fact that Ellie’s Swordsmanship could level up. This meant that the skill would be able to become stronger in the future. However, even though the skills were good, there was one problem that caught Minhyuk’s attention.

‘The MP consumption...’

The MP consumption was higher than what he had expected. Compared to Bardy Swordsmanship, the stronger and more powerful Ellie’s Swordsmanship could consume around 7~10 times more MP. In any case, it was fine…

‘I have that!’?Minhyuk thought. Earlier, he had flung it in his inventory and not cared about it since it was not delicious, but he still had it. It was none other than the Minotaurus’ Bone Necklace. The item would instantly give him an additional 1000 MP as soon as he equipped it. That was not all; once the item was equipped, his MP recovery rate would double and would prove to be a great assist whenever he used Ellie’s Swordsmanship.

Just then, the door opened and Ellie came in. She said, “I see that you have learned the skill.”

“Yes, I learned everything! Hoho, so please give me the ingredients now. This is the list,” Minhyuk said, handing over the list of ingredients that he had made in advance to Ellie. It seemed like he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

Ellie handed the list over to a servant that was waiting outside and came back to check on Minhyuk's training progress. She said, “I want to see it once.”

“Yes!” Minhyuk exclaimed as he approached a blue wooden puppet to show off his new skills. First, the Sword of Fury. His sword started to flash red.

[Sword of Fury.]

[There will be an additional 50% for strong lunges and stabs, if a vital strike is successful, 80% additional attack power will be applied.]

There were no vital points that were shown, unlike when he used ‘Vital Strike’ from Bardy Swordsmanship. However, Minhyuk still thought that this skill was infinitely better. If the player found a vital point on their own, or accidentally hit a vital point, the player would receive an additional 30% attack power that was added on top of the original 50% increase whenever the skill was used. This increase was something that could not be ignored. Minhyuk stabbed the wooden puppet resolutely. He remembered the area where he first struck the wooden puppet before, so it was a bit easier for him to strike right now. He stabbed the wooden puppet with all of his might.

Fwooooooosh!

The air felt like it was being ripped into two. The vibrations caused by the strike could even be felt in the entire training grounds. Ellie’s eyes were shining unusually bright. She thought,?‘As expected...! It’s beyond perfection!’

Then, Minhyuk’s wooden sword met with the blue wooden puppet…

Craaaaack!

…and made it shatter.

Bang!

Plop, plop, plop━

The remnants of the wooden puppet fell all around Minhyuk. It might not be the same as Ellie where there were no scattered remnants of the puppet, but it was still obvious to any bystander that it was a powerful strike. That was not the end.

‘Chapter 3, Ellie’s Swordsmanship.’

[Ellie’s Swordsmanship.]

[All stats will have a 15% increase for 5 minutes.]

[Your Evasion Rate has increased by 30%.]

[Your Critical Hit Rate has increased by 30%.]

The red aura surrounding Minhyuk’s body started to flutter and dance. And…

[Rampant Sword.]

[A flurry of rampant swords with additional 30% attack power will be created for 5 seconds.]

…Minhyuk quickly jumped in the middle of the blue wooden puppets as he moved his sword to strike the wooden puppets around him.

Shwaaaack!

Shwaaaack!

Shwaaaack!

Minhyuk’s sword was moving so fast that it was even leaving afterimages. It was extremely fast to the point that he could even make four strikes in one second!

Shwaaaack!

Shwaaaack!

After his skill’s casting time finished…

Plop, plop, plop━

Tak, tak, tak━

…All of the wooden puppets surrounding him were torn and broken into pieces that fell on the ground one after the other. Minhyuk knew that the Rampant Sword was very useful against a lot of enemies. What if the skill leveled up and his damage increased?

‘This strength is no joke, right?’?Minhyuk thought before testing out the remaining skill.

[Step.]

[You can instantly travel a distance of one meter allowing you to quickly narrow or widen your distance from your target.]

Dash!

Minhyuk just thought of moving backwards and he was already stepping back as if something was pulling him backwards. His movement speed was about three times faster than usual. It might look like it was just an ordinary skill, but its effect was definitely not.

‘What will happen if I immediately use it when I’m in danger?’

If Minhyuk used the skill right before a monster launched its attack, he would be able to immediately pull himself out of danger. The skill could also be used to quickly launch an attack or approach a monster.

“How is it, do you like it?”

“Yes, I like it!” Minhyuk gushed. Before learning Ellie’s Swordsmanship, he thought that it was just another skill that he needed to learn. However, once he mastered the skill, he thought that it was a skill that anyone would be satisfied with. When Minhyuk turned around, he saw Ellie holding a glass bottle filled with a transparent liquid. The liquid was shimmering faintly as it sloshed around the glass bottle. Ellie smiled softly and gave it to Minhyuk.

***

Team Leader Park Mingyu and the new employee Lee Minhwa were eating in the cafeteria, when the team leader of the development team, Lee Seokhoon, sat in front of them and sighed loudly. He said, “Sigh... I know now why Team Leader Park is having such a hard time with Player Minhyuk.”

“...What are you talking about?” Team Leader Park asked as he and Lee Minhwa looked at him in confusion. They have yet to know what happened since the Special Players Management Team did not look at the players everyday. The only thing that they knew was that he was gaining Ellie's favor and training his swordsmanship at an alarming rate. Team Leader Lee Seokhoon did not leave them hanging and explained to them what happened in the palace. Team Leader Park jumped to his feet and put his hands over his shoulders.

“Now... Now you understand why I’m having a hard time whenever I talk about that player, right?”

“...I understand. Ah, How are you going to handle him? No, he even calls the empress ‘noona’,” Team Leader Lee Seokhoon said, patting Team Leader Park’s hand. After they finished eating their meals, they stood up and went back together to the Special Players Management Team’s office.

“Let’s get a cup of coffee and talk a bit more about that player.”

They went inside the office with those words. When Lee Minhwa turned on her monitor screen, she was just in time to see Player Minhyuk, the player that they were just talking about. Then, her eyes suddenly opened wide in surprise. She shouted, “Team… Team Leader Park!”

“Why? Did Player Minhyuk do something amazing again?”

“Something big must have happened again~”

They were just saying it as a joke, but Lee Minhwa nodded her head seriously at their remarks and said, “Yes...”

“What?!”

“Gasp?!”

Team Leader Lee and Team Leader Park quickly turned their heads to look at the monitor. The notification that popped up left them gaping in surprise.

[The Sword Emperor Ellie gives Player Minhyuk the Empire’s Elixir as a present.]

“...!”

“...!”

It was the Empire’s Elixir!?Team Leader Lee and Team Leader Park’s eyes met over the monitor after confirming it over and over again.