Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Player vs. Master Eleonora (1)
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The banquet came to a natural end.
It was nearly over anyway, and the mood had been shattered by the sudden appearance of the female knight, Marquess Roeid.
After that, the place we were heading to was...
"The Imperial Training Grounds?"
"It's what Marquess Roeid, Eleonora, requested of the emperor. It seems she wants to gauge the adventurers' abilities and see if we can be of any help in conquering the eastern Erin's Gorge region."
"Well, she's one strict knight, isn't she."
Though it was late at night, the users gathered here were all heading to the outdoor Imperial Training Grounds, drawn by the appearance of a sudden quest.
[Earn the recognition of the Alpharion Empire's Master, Marquess 'Eleonora von Roeid']
The Astria Continent, despite its medieval fantasy setting, was not a place where women had low social status. A woman could attain a high position and even inherit a family line based on her abilities.
The Master, Marquess 'Eleonora von Roeid'.
She was the next in line to become the Duchess of the 'Duchy of Roeid' and also the commander of the 'Roeid Knights'.
The 'Roeid Duchy' bordered the eastern region of the Alpharion Empire, 'Erin's Gorge'. As a family of knights to the bone, the Duchy of Roeid seemed to have willingly taken on the defense of the dangerous eastern lands.
"To think you'd sweet-talk a passing noble lady into spilling everything she knows."
"I didn't sweet-talk her, you know?"
Chris chuckled. I puffed out my cheeks. That lady's eyes glazed over when she saw my smile, and she just started talking on her own.
"But I did hear almost everything I was curious about."
The Duchy of Roeid.
A founding family of the empire.
A family that has produced the empire's greatest knights for generations.
Indeed, they were a family with enough power to confidently voice their opinions before the emperor.
The reason the Roeid family crest was the same as Melissa's family crest was...
"So Melissa's last name was Roeid."
I recalled my companion from the Hero's Party, 'Melissa', with her blue hair tied in a ponytail and her impressive, confident smile.
She rarely spoke of her family. The only time was when we were passing through the desert, and she mentioned the demon's tomb there.
A thousand years ago, during a dark time for humanity, despite being the greatest swordswoman on the continent, 'Master Melissa' ran away from her family to become the sword of the Hero's Party.
Now, her descendant was inheriting the title of 'Master'.
"Melissa's family has been serving the Alpharion Empire all this time."
The puzzle pieces were starting to fit together.
However, I also learned an unpleasant truth.
The Roeid family's sore spot.
It was that they had lost the name of their ancestor, a hero and the greatest knight on the continent a thousand years ago.
The cause was the reason Melissa left her family.
A conflict of opinion between the family head, who wanted to bide their time, slowly gather strength, unite the remaining human forces to form a nation, and push back the demons, and Melissa, who wanted to charge into the Demon King's castle and take his head.
In the end, both methods were necessary for humanity's survival.
But Melissa never returned.
She never reconciled with the family head.
Perhaps because of that, the 'Roeid family', while renowned as a founding family of the Alpharion Empire, could not claim the name of the family to which the ancient hero who saved humanity a thousand years ago belonged.
A name I knew.
The full name of the female knight from the Hero's Party, 'Master Melissa', was...
"Melissa von Roeid."
Having finally arrived at the training grounds, I looked at the current Master, 'Eleonora von Roeid', who stood confidently on the field to test the adventurers' qualifications.
And I grinned.
You're going to test our qualifications?
No.
Whether you are worthy of inheriting Melissa's title of 'Master'.
Whether you are worthy of reclaiming the name of your ancestor, the ancient hero.
I will be the one to test your qualifications.
The Imperial Training Grounds, with its impressive open sky, was enormous. On par with a named boss zone?
Several imperial mages were on standby to create a barrier, and the emperor was looking down from a platform with his ministers.
The emperor's distant face seemed to look my way. Seeing the faint smile on his face, this must have been one of the scenarios he had envisioned.
Did he really think this far ahead?
Rest assured, Your clever Majesty.
This big sister will be sure to teach that reckless knight, who relies only on her own strength, a proper lesson.
Even though it was late at night, magical orbs of light floated in the air, illuminating the entire training grounds as if it were midday.
Standing in the center of the training grounds, Eleonora surveyed the faces of the users and spoke.
"Adventurers from the stars. I would have you show me, 'Eleonora von Roeid', your abilities."
At Eleonora's confident declaration, the vanguard users began to mutter.
"What happens if she doesn't acknowledge us? Will we be locked out of the expansion?"
"I doubt it. A world quest has already popped up. But material support will probably be reduced. The area we'll be operating in seems to be that knight's family territory, so the rewards for various monster-slaying quests will likely be stingy. She'll probably judge that her family can fend off the demons just fine on their own, without any help from adventurers."
"In that case, we have to defeat that knight, no matter what. Or at least, show her a convincing amount of strength."
There was movement from Skada's attack squad first.
*Shing.*
The main tank of Skada's team, 'Park Jeong-gwon', stepped forward, drawing his sword. The sword in his hand was the 'Sword of the Northern Corps Commander'. It was the second legendary weapon in Astria Online, farmed from the Tree of the Abyss.
"If the opponent is a swordsman, then a swordsman should face her. If she's a named boss, ganging up on her might be acceptable, but for an event like this, a 1v1 is the classic way to go, right?"
*Ting.*
[Level ???]
[Master Eleonora]
[HP ??? / ???]
Above the head of Eleonora, who stood in the center of the grounds, a named boss interface appeared.
However, the information was unknown.
This was an event-type named boss, one with a specific strategy, not just something you defeat by depleting its HP.
I had seen that kind of status window before, in battles like the one with the 'Ancient Hero', but it seemed to be the first time for the other users.
"What!? The info is unknown?"
"Like this, we have no idea how many hits it'll take to beat her."
"Don't underestimate her. She's a knight NPC who ranks among the strongest of current humanity. Treat her like you're facing a named boss in a raid dungeon."
I warned Park Jeong-gwon.
Of course, her attack patterns would be different from a typical named boss, but she would be incredibly strong. Considering the strength of Melissa, a Master of her time, she was at a level where she could potentially fight a Corps Commander to a mutual standstill on her own. Though, I wasn't sure how that would translate to this world with its system.
"Hm?"
Park Jeong-gwon, sword drawn, stepped onto the training field, but Eleonora did not draw her sword. She simply stood in the center of the field with her arms crossed and eyes closed.
As Park Jeong-gwon stood there with his sword, looking dumbfounded, Eleonora's voice flowed from her lips, her arms still crossed.
"Come at me whenever you please. I hope you understand that there is an absolute difference in our levels."
Park Jeong-gwon's face turned red with anger.
"Kukuk. A taunt?"
"What an amazing knight."
"Park Jeong-gwon, are you just going to take that taunt?"
The voices of Skada's team members could be heard from behind him.
*Chk.*
*Vwoom.*
A starlight aura began to swirl around Park Jeong-gwon's sword.
"Alright, I don't know how great of a named boss you are."
And then, his figure shot toward Eleonora like a flash of lightning.
*Swiiish!*
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
"Th-This is!"
Park Jeong-gwon's fierce assault didn't last long. He was forced onto the defensive, desperately using his 'Block' skill to parry Eleonora's sword.
Seizing a momentary lull in Eleonora's strikes, Park Jeong-gwon grit his teeth and swung his sword. *Shwaak!* The horizontal slash failed to even knock aside Eleonora's blade. *Ssk.* Moving like a phantom, Eleonora's body naturally slipped out of his sword's range and struck upwards from his blind spot.
*Kaaang!*
Cold sweat dripped from Park Jeong-gwon's forehead as he barely managed to twist his sword and block. Was he being haunted by a ghost? That's right. Eleonora's movements were just like a phantom's.
"Evasion! Park Jeong-gwon, it's an evasion check!"
The leader of Skada's attack squad, Skada, shouted urgently at Park Jeong-gwon.
"What, evasion!?"
Park Jeong-gwon was aghast.
The gear tier and agility stats of current level users had reached a considerable level. In the highest-level dungeons, where giant bosses were the absolute majority, one never saw an evasion check.
"But it's definitely a mechanic that exists."
Chris, beside me, nodded.
"Yes. It's just like with the third named boss of the forward base, Zarkan."
I agreed with Chris.
An NPC with agility stats surpassing a user's definitely has an evasion check. If the agility difference is significant, no matter how fast you swing your sword, your attacks won't land.
However, it's not a 100% miss rate. If you add an intentional sword path to your movements, not just the linear motions of a 'skill', you can keep up. And of course, a vanguard swordsman like 'Park Jeong-gwon' knew how to use such a technique.
*Ssk, Pakang!*
Facing Park Jeong-gwon's thrust, Eleonora lightly touched the flat of her blade to the path of his sword. Then, with a twirl, she drew a semi-circle, redirecting his sword downwards. Park Jeong-gwon's face went pale. *Tat!* He hastily executed a backstep, and Eleonora's sword sliced through the space where he had just been.
"Th-That! Rain, that technique! Isn't that your technique?"
"Heh."
I couldn't help but laugh at Chris's outburst. Just how closely has he been watching me fight?
It's less my technique and more the original technique of that family.
The swordsmanship I learned from Melissa. It's a technique of the 'Roeid family'.
Following the grain of the sword strike, effortlessly and naturally drawing a semi-circle to deflect it, while simultaneously transitioning to an offensive. It's a movement that can't be done with skills.
Even after a thousand years, it seems that swordsmanship has been passed down properly.
I can give that a passing grade.