[You’ve slain a Razor Racoon Lv.3]
[You’ve obtained 80 Experience Points.]
[You’ve obtained 3 Swordcoins.]
[You’ve obtained (1) Barberry.]
"T-That’s it for your assessment. I believe you’re skilled enough to attempt hunting creatures five levels higher than yours. I advise you not to go higher than that, even if your fighting style coincidentally is the best fit for hunting, as the attribute gap might be too large by then, and you wouldn’t be losing in swordsmanship but in physical prowess. Retreat immediately if you think you can’t handle them.
This might also be your path to keep up with your classmates.
Since your sword is F-Tier, it’s better if you attempt to reach your limits as early as you can, maximize your attributes, and then hunt for better equipment. There’s a chance you’ll still end up as a decent Bladeborn. Don’t give up, Finnley."
With those parting words, Talon left in a rush.
The instructor had a contracted quest from his guild, and the start time was strict.
In the end, he still couldn’t accurately gauge Daru’s skills, but since the student seemed to be crazy good at defense, Talon believed he could survive and still manage to retreat even if he was actually no match for the level of spawns he recommended.
This was why he allowed him to hunt a spawn a level higher than Sylphina.
One was an important high-ranker with a very aggressive fighting style, while the other was an F-ranker adept at defense.
He unfortunately couldn’t waste too much time on Daru, as it would be him who would suffer consequences.
He couldn’t help but give slightly careless advice this time.
Sure, the fallen sword prince’s swordsmanship was more-than-decent, but in the end, his sword is still F-Tier.
There wasn’t much point in investing too much attention in him, as the young man’s ceiling wasn’t high, and he would never be rewarded much by the academy even if the guy lucked out and topped the class for the first few months.
He might even be reprimanded for focusing on the wrong person.
So, Daru was left alone, standing on the outskirts of a forest teeming with level three Swordspawns and above.
Following the leaving instructor with his gaze for a few moments, he shifted his attention to more pressing matters.
His [Status] was one such matter.
Daru snapped his fingers, prompting a holographic window to appear:
===
Bladeborn: Daru Finnley
Level 1 (1,860 to level up)
Titles: None
Secondary Titles: None
Blessings: [???????’s Minor Blessing (???? ????’s ???)]
Curses: [Yama’s Displeasure (Soulbound Sword)] [Fortuna’s Frown]
Strength: 31
Dexterity: 29
Agility: 30
Stamina: 32
Vitality: 25
Perception: 45
Luck: 0 (+50)
===
Sword Status:
Name: O??mar? ??????u??
Type: Tachi
Tier: F
Status: Sealed (Novice Swordheart Cores - 0/100)
Sword Skills: [Locked]
Passives: [Locked]
===
Daru patiently read through his status window, appreciating the unexpected blessing from a goddess and frowning at the two curses.
He quickly tapped on them to see what unjust thing he had done to be afflicted:
==
Curse: Yama’s Displeasure (Soulbound Sword)
Description: Your sword meddles with the matters of the underworld, which displeases Yama.
Effects: +100 aggression from Swordspawns of the Underworld
==
Daru shrugged rather indifferently, not caring much about this specific curse.
He’d gladly fight such mighty-sounding Swordspawns.
He quickly navigated to the other curse to see what it was about:
==
Curse: Fortuna’s Frown
Description: The Goddess Fortuna hates your infuriating appearance, as it resembles someone she once had divine ties with.
Effects: You will start with 0 Luck and will be unable to allocate attribute points to it.
==
’What the hell is this curse?’ Daru frowned deeply, finding it vexing to be afflicted with a curse due to how he looked.
He was able to quickly move on with a sigh and a shake of his head, though, since he didn’t yet know how important the attribute was.
At the very least, he didn’t need luck to win his battles, plus he had the random +50 Luck, perhaps from the random minor blessing from another random entity that fancied him.
He tried to tap on it to check its information, but no interface appeared.
Daru could only drop the matter.
He had no idea how his starting attributes were compared to his classmates, but he was sure that it was more than decent, as he had consistently trained both his body and swordsmanship before the awakening of his Soulbound Sword.
Daru was more or less satisfied with what he saw, though the sealed state of his sword gnawed at his curiosity.
He wanted to unseal it as soon as possible.
’Novice Swordheart Cores, huh?’
Daru slightly regretted the fact that he didn’t invest time in researching the Myriad Sword Realm.
He decided to return to the city first, leave the realm, and learn how he could obtain the needed cores.
Inevitably, a Swordspawn stood in his way.
It was another of the Level 2 Cutter Chipmunks that he killed earlier during the assessment.
It stood up to his leg level, slightly taller than the Blader Bunnies, two kitchen knives on its tiny paws.
Daru naturally wouldn’t pass up this opportunity to earn 40 experience points and a few swordcoins.
In the next moment, he assumed his combat stance, locking eyes with the Cutter Chipmunk.
A brief staredown later, the Swordspawn moved, rushing at Daru in a zigzag pattern before jumping high in the air, stabbing both kitchen knives down at him.
’What a dumb spawn...’
He simply sidestepped, pivoted his foot, and slashed down on the chipmunk, slicing it in two from the back in just a single, swift dodge and counterattack.
’Or I could’ve just lunged right back at it and stabbed its heart...with its knives positioned like that, there was no way it could’ve defended the range of my tachi...’
[You’ve slain a Cutter Chipmunk Lv.2]
[You’ve obtained 40 Experience Points.]
[You’ve obtained 2 Swordcoins.]
[You’ve obtained 1 Novice Swordheart Core.]
Daru’s brows rose at the notifications, delighted that he suddenly obtained the item he needed.
’Oh, so Swordspawns drop Swordheart Cores, huh?’ he mused.
This was a pleasant discovery, as Daru wanted to fight Swordspawns first, obtain Swordheart Cores second, and gain experience points third.
Of course, finding out that he could do all three simultaneously was very welcome.
He was liking this realm more and more.