It’s an Academic Fact That Rankers Are Model Students – Chapter 143

Chapter 143: Thrust (1)

The view from the cliff was truly fantastical.

Two Ogre Chief engaged in a duel amidst hundreds of Ogres.

A fierce territorial battle between wolf packs.

Goblins seemingly enslaving someone in a mine to the east.

Trees moving in groups, perhaps plant-type monsters.

And something sparkling, visible at the end of the path the trees were taking.

Countless creatures truly inhabited Whale Forest.

Witnessing this, Kyung-joon fell into a moment of appreciation, a look of realization on his face.

Ah, the world truly is vast.

And it would be quite dangerous to venture deep into the forest carelessly.

If this was only the tail end of Whale Forest, what kind of powerful monsters would he encounter if he went to the waist or the body?

He was a little nervous, but also excited.

Descending the cliff completely, he said,

“Mr. Ceram, thank you for the wonderful view. I’ve gained a lot.”

A title, two Unique skills, and Sky Cliff Mint for his herbal tea.

It seemed like they would be very useful not only for studying, but also for managing his territory in the future.

“Haha, you’re welcome. I am currently employed by you, Kyung-joon-nim. This much is only natural.”

Ceram humbly bowed his head at Kyung-joon’s gratitude, as if it were nothing.

“I should come here regularly from now on. To gather herbs and get some exercise.”

“Hehe, that’s a good idea.”

“Ah, but if we grow them directly in the territory’s farm, wouldn’t there be no need for that?”

Now that he thought about it, if he grew the plentiful amount of mint he had gathered this time in his territory, there would be no need to keep going back and forth to Sky Cliff.

However, things didn’t always go so conveniently.

“You might be able to grow them, but…… they won’t have their original potency. They gained their current value because they grew enduring harsh winds and storms.”

“Aha, I see.”

Kyung-joon easily understood.

Of course, this mint had grown at the top of a cliff so high it almost touched the sky, directly exposed to all sorts of strong winds and sunlight.

A comfortable place like a farm wouldn’t be satisfying at all.

“Then shall we head back? It’s starting to get dark.”

As they were about to head back to the territory, Ceram suddenly grabbed Kyung-joon’s sleeve.

“Hm?”

Kyung-joon turned around and gave Ceram a questioning look.

However, Ceram only lowered his head without a word.

Instead, he took something out of his inventory and held it out to Kyung-joon as if to show him.

Swoosh.

It was a pile of herbs.

Besides the 『Sky Cliff Mint』 they had picked at the top of Sky Cliff today, there were others as well.

Sun Basil, Shade Rosemary, Wind Lavender.

Three more in total.

Only then did Kyung-joon remember something he had forgotten.

‘Oh, right. The Four Colors Herbal Tea wasn’t just mint.’

Ceram didn’t seem to have any intention of putting away the herbs he was holding out to Kyung-joon.

But it didn’t seem like he was telling him to take them either.

He was just holding them out, as if to let him take a look.

By the way, while the amount of Sky Cliff Mint was enormous, enough to make dozens of cups of tea, the other three were not.

What this meant was……

“…Mr. Ceram, don’t tell me.”

As expected, Ceram simply smiled brightly, saying nothing.

Perhaps because it was a fairy’s smile, it did give off a cute and innocent vibe like a boy from the local playground, but for some reason, Kyung-joon couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease.

“……You’re not suggesting we go gather the other three as well, are you?”

As expected.

Ceram nodded his head up and down, as if to say that was correct.

“Well, good luck with that. I’ll be on my way to study.”

Kyung-joon quickly declared his departure from Ceram and immediately started walking.

However, for some reason, although he was clearly walking forward, he was moving backward.

Tug, tug, tug.

It was because Ceram was holding onto the hem of Kyung-joon’s clothes and pulling him along.

It seemed like his Strength stat was quite high.

‘No wonder he climbed the cliff so skillfully……’

In the end, Kyung-joon ended up spending the night with Ceram, wandering all over the tail end of Whale Forest.

It was the weekend anyway, and his studies were progressing smoothly.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Climbing a sky-high cliff with Ceram (Sky Cliff Mint).

Exploring a dark cave (Shade Rosemary).

Passing through a meadow in the woods where the sun shone year-round for some reason (Sun Basil).

Climbing a hill in a garden where pollen-filled wind constantly blew, almost getting hit with an eye irritation status effect (Wind Lavender).

All of that was already yesterday’s news, and Kyung-joon had returned to his usual routine.

And by routine, he meant studying in the game.

“Ugh……”

As always, after finishing all the items on his 『Must do these every day!』 list, he stretched.

Knock, knock, knock.

As if waiting for this moment, he heard a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

Creak.

As Kyung-joon gave permission, the door to the Study Villa opened.

<Occupant of Study Villa>

▼Kingyear

The person who entered was Kingyear, the one who always talked about the good old days.

“Oh? What brings you here?”

Kyung-joon asked, looking surprised.

He thought it would be one of the ministers like Fezun or Crescens, or Prime Minister Liant, but Kingyear out of the blue?

“I’ve finished it.”

“Yes? Finished what?”

“Didn’t I say I’d make you something useful yesterday? With the materials the monsters gave us?”

“Ah~ That?”

Come to think of it, he did say something like that before going to Sky Cliff.

“You were serious?”

“Of course I was serious. Believe it or not, back in my day, I once turned an entire kingdom into my enemy to keep a promise.”

“Oh……”

He honestly didn’t expect much and just said okay, but he didn’t think he would actually make something.

Kyung-joon received the item Kingyear handed him with a slightly surprised expression.

And to his surprise, the item was emitting a pink light that could only be seen from Unique items.

The item he had made was a Unique grade weapon.

[Wild Horn Pierce]

▶A piercing sword made using the horn of a Triple Horn Wild Boar. Lacking an edge, it’s unsuitable for slashing, but its piercing power is exceptional. Though its appearance seems crude due to a lack of formal training, the experience and skill imbued in every part of the weapon speak volumes about the wielder’s past experiences.

▶When charged with mana, 『doubles the damage of the first piercing attack (Cooldown: 600 seconds)』

▶Piercing, you say? You can use this thing in all sorts of ways…… One shot, bam! ━Forgotten Veteran Fencer━

▶Item Grade: Unique

It wasn’t a dagger, nor an ordinary sword.

It resembled a spear used by shield-bearing knights, compressed to the size of a sword.

Examining the weapon with curiosity, Kyung-joon asked,

“Did you make this with the horn from the Triple Horn Wild Boar?”

“That’s right. To be precise, it’s made with the horn, White Oak wood for the handle, Binding Stones to connect the materials, and powdered Adamantite applied to the entire weapon along with Binding Stones.”

“Wow…… That’s amazing.”

“Hehehe, I had quite the skill back in my day.”

Kyung-joon, who had thought all the talk about ‘back in my day’ was just baseless bragging, had to reevaluate Kingyear a little.

“But why a one-handed spear? I mean, a sword? If it were me, I would’ve just made a simple dagger with this. Easier to handle.”

While any weapon was difficult to master, the dagger was the most familiar and comfortable weapon for beginners to use.

Kyung-joon had never learned spearmanship or swordsmanship.

At least with a dagger, he had swung the Ultrasonic Vibration Mana Dagger a few times.

“Hehe, I initially thought about making it into a dagger. But the horn wasn’t that small, and I thought it would be a waste to discard so much material. So I thought about it and came up with an amazing idea. A truly amazing idea.”

Kingyear’s eyes sparkled as if asking Kyung-joon to ask him to repeat it.

So he decided to play along.

“What was this amazing idea?”

“Hehe! I’m glad you asked!”

Kingyear proudly raised the piercing sword 『Wild Horn Pierce』 high and exclaimed,

“What do you think the purpose of a horn is? It’s for piercing! Why bother shaping it into a blade when it’s perfect for piercing? That’s why it’s a piercing weapon!”

“Piercing…… really? It’s not that long, and honestly, it’s just a slightly long sword. Isn’t piercing a bit……”

Kyung-joon gave him a dubious look, but Kingyear continued speaking in a voice overflowing with confidence.

“I knew you would say that, my lord. But listen! Piercing is actually amazing. Unlike slashing, which combines defense and offense, piercing focuses solely on attack! Don’t you agree?”

Kingyear looked at the 『Wild Horn Pierce』 he had raised high, his eyes sparkling.

Then he glanced down at Kyung-joon.

Kyung-joon, still unable to hide his bewildered expression, simply nodded.

“Yeah, sure. Go on.”

“Hehe, alright. So, about piercing…… Back in my day, I swung spears thousands of times, and from my experience, if used correctly, it’s a powerful attack that concentrates everything into a single point. Of course, it makes you more vulnerable. Unlike slashing, which considers both defense and offense, piercing sacrifices everything for attack, so it’s only natural.”

“Hmm, hmm.”

“But that’s what makes it even cooler! Back in my day, when I was in my prime, I used to skewer those corrupt nobles and Black Secret Village b@stards, starting with their eyes! Haha! And another thing about piercing……”

Kingyear’s theoretical explanation of piercing continued for a while longer.

He seemed to have delved so deeply into piercing that even Kyung-joon found his explanation quite convincing.

“I see. That’s amazing. I never thought I’d hear you praise piercing for an hour straight.”

Thanks to that, he had memorized all the English words for the day.

Kyung-joon closed his English vocabulary book with a snap and asked a question he had been wondering about.

“Speaking of which, since you made a weapon with the horn, I thought you might have made something with the tusks too. Am I right?”

The Triple Horn Wild Boar had given them a total of three items.

One was the horn that had just been transformed into the 『Wild Horn Pierce』, leaving the other two, presumably the tusks.

He had a feeling Kingyear would have made something with these as well.

“Hehe! As expected of you, my lord. You’re sharp. You remind me of myself when I was young. May I use the desk for a moment?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

With permission granted, Kingyear began taking out materials one by one from his inventory.

Among them were objects presumed to be the Triple Horn Wild Boar’s tusks.

The level of processing seemed to be as high as the 『Wild Horn Pierce』 he had seen earlier.

“Actually, they’re not completely finished yet. But the processing is done, so all that’s left is assembly. Can I work here?”

“Sure. I’d like to see it. This legendary skill of yours, I wonder what it’s really like.”

“Hehe, you won’t be disappointed. It’ll be done soon, so please wait a moment……!”

Clang! Clang!

Clank, clank, clank.

With that said, Kingyear got to work.

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