Synthesis-type adventurers

Chapter 22 Testing the Sword in Monster Paradise

April 7, 800 of the Guild Era, early morning.

The edge of a rotting swamp.

Although the rain had stopped, the cursed wetland was still shrouded in a gray miasma.

The withered tree trunks were black and twisted, stretching towards the sky like the stiff fingers of a drowned person.

On the murky water, green duckweed and the swollen, white remains of an unknown creature were intertwined.

This is a forbidden zone for life, a paradise for monsters.

"Right here."

Victor stopped in his tracks.

That spotless, expensive velvet hunting outfit looked utterly absurd amidst the mud.

His hands, gloved in sheepskin, gripped the Crimson Star tightly. The blade, its cold, mercury-like sheen flowing through the miasma, sliced ​​through the damp air.

For this sword test, he deliberately dismissed all the troublesome attendants, leaving only the most useful meat shield.

This, of course, gave Rhodes a perfect opportunity to track and observe.

"Go, lure out those crawling worms from the mud."

Victor raised his chin and casually pointed the tip of his sword at a patch of reeds in front of him.

Avira stood three steps behind him.

The chainmail she wore, borrowed from the sheriff, was rusted and soaked with last night's rainwater, pressing heavily on her shoulders.

Avira didn't speak, but silently raised the kite shield covered with sharp teeth marks, and drew her standard longsword with her other hand.

"Didn't you hear me? Do I have to repeat myself?" Victor frowned, his tone full of impatience. "Hurry up! My sword is itching for a fight."

Avira tightened her grip on the shield.

Sending a heavily armored shieldbearer to abandon their position and act as bait to lure monsters—a task that should be performed by assassins or shadow dancers—is a foolish order that no commander with a modicum of common sense would give.

She subconsciously missed her creditor, Rod, who, despite his sharp tongue, would never let her go to her death.

"...Yes," Avira replied softly.

She took a deep breath, adjusted her breathing rhythm, picked up her shield, and walked towards the reeds. Her boots sank into the mud, making a slurring sound when she pulled them out.

"Splash—"

The water surface suddenly exploded as three giant swamp crocodiles, each over four meters long, smashed through the water, their massive mouths, filled with serrated fangs and carrying a nauseating stench, lunged at the intruders.

"Shield Bash!" Ivy shouted.

Without any fancy probing, she lowered her waist and stood still, her center of gravity sinking, and the kite shield in her left hand rammed straight into the first gaping maw that lunged at her.

"Bang!"

The sheet metal and the skeleton collided dully.

The crocodile's head was smashed to the side, its massive, rough body grazing Ivira's shoulder armor before crashing heavily into the mud.

At the same time, using the momentum of her waist twist, she used her right hand to pull the long sword across the eyelid of another giant crocodile.

Blood splattered.

In just one exchange, she regained her composure and firmly locked the three-headed demon's killing intent onto herself.

These are shield guards trained by the Griffin family.

Even in dire straits, it remains as unbreakable as a rock.

"Great! That's it!" Victor shouted excitedly from a dry spot thirty meters away.

He didn't care if Avira bled; he only cared about whether there were enough targets and whether they were hard enough.

"Look closely, all of you! This is the flame of Hohenheim!"

Victor gripped the Crimson Star tightly with both hands, closed his eyes, and began to channel the magical energy within his body.

A red light surged around him, and the moisture was instantly evaporated by the high temperature, creating a ring of scalding white mist around him.

Rhodes, who was hiding behind a dead tree in the distance, activated [Analysis Vision].

In a visual landscape where multiple colors of terms intertwine, the internal structure of the sword is being deconstructed layer by layer.

"First stage, infuse magic power," Rhodes muttered to himself. "Although this guy's magic power circulation is a bit messy, the output power is quite impressive."

Fiery red magic flowed into the sword blade along the rough magic-guiding patterns on the hilt.

Victor felt his palms burning, the heat spreading through his arms and throughout his body, giving him the illusion that he was holding the sun.

"Hahahaha! Can you feel it? This is the divine sword's response!" Victor laughed wildly, his facial muscles contorted with excitement. "This heat... it's practically burning my blood! Only the purest noble blood can withstand this baptism!"

He increased his magic output.

If Victor had even a tiny bit of forging knowledge, or if he had calmed down for even a second, he would have realized that this was not resonance at all.

This is the heat generated when the inferior lead seal with extremely poor magic conductivity obstructs the flow of magic, which is also known as material overload.

The temperature indicated by the entry in Rhodes's eyes rose rapidly; the critical point had finally been reached.

The lead melted.

In a microscopic view, the solid lead seal that is precisely packed inside the sword hilt melts from a solid state into a liquid state.

The blue orb of light that was originally tightly sealed inside the cavity—[Powerful Magic Summoner]—was completely freed from its restraints.

"This is... the ultimate power!" Victor shouted excitedly, raising his longsword, ready to unleash this earth-shattering blow on the giant crocodile.

"crimson--"

The next second, the roaring sound effect got stuck in his throat.

"Buzz!"

A piercing shriek, which only spiritual beings could perceive, erupted from the sword in ripples outwards.

It was an invisible, colorless, yet intensely strong scent that made the soul tremble; it was a primal desire etched deep into the genes of all demons.

It's like pouring a bucket of fresh, scalding flesh and blood into a pool full of piranhas.

Victor was stunned.

He felt the hilt of the sword in his hand suddenly become scalding hot, even burning his hand. A strange liquid seeped out from the gap in the hilt and flowed down his wrist.

"What's going on? What's this sticky stuff?"

Victor lowered his head, staring at the gloves stained with silvery-gray heavy metal liquid, his excitement gradually turning into astonishment.

Immediately afterwards, he felt the air around him change.

The three giant swamp crocodiles that were besieging Avira froze in their movements. Their murky yellow vertical pupils suddenly turned and locked onto Victor, who was thirty meters away.

No, to be precise, it was the "divine sword" in his hand that was constantly radiating a deadly allure.

"roar--!"

What was originally just a low growl driven by predatory instinct instantly transformed into an extremely excited hiss, like a maniacal raging in heat.

"Avira, what's wrong with these beasts? Stop them!"

Victor had not yet realized the true nature of the disaster and subconsciously brandished his sword, trying to dispel the inexplicable unease.

However, this action was tantamount to lighting a fuse in a powder keg.

With his wave, the pheromones enhanced by [Potential Mana Summoner] spread even faster.

The swamp was boiling, the reeds in the distance were swaying wildly, and countless rapids of water surged up from beneath the surface.

Countless red eyes lit up in the miasma from all directions.

"W-what is that?"

Victor was so frightened that he took a step back, his boots sinking into the mud.

He heard the sound of hundreds of mouths grinding their teeth and countless claws tearing through the soil.

"Run, even though you have nowhere to run." Rhodes leaned against a tree trunk, gazing at the humanoid beacon in the distance, his lips moving slightly. "This is the punishment of alchemy, young master."