The Summoner Swordsman’s most vital piece of advice: absolutely never be alone.
[Consumes 1 skill point, Moonlight Sword 1/5, Proficiency C – Moonlit Flower Unlock]
[Consumes 1 skill point, Summoning Master talent tree opened.]
[Summoning Master First-level talent unlocks: Soul Resonance (Increases number of simultaneous summons, can be upgraded)
Spirit Call (Increase connection with summons, increases the duration of spiritual connection)
Spirit Reconstruction (Allows fusion of two spirits)
[Selected: Soul Resonance Level 1 (+1 Summon every ten-level upgrade)]
[+1 Summon]
As that last line of text faded away, Rhode’s eyes shone with a keen glint. A shadow sprung into his sight, but there was no fear or retreat. Lifting his sword, he swung it forward.
“Whoosh!”
A turquoise figure quickly flew out like a bullet and rushed towards the flying gargoyle.
Soaring Spirit Bird.
The biggest problem that plagued him was his inability to call two summons at the simultaneously. Unfortunately, his primary weapon, Star Stream, was considered a summon and severely limited his choices.
A Summoner Swordsman, like the other swordsman classes, will usually be equipped with a “normal” weapon. Rhodes is currently an exception. Although he could pick up a normal weapon, he can’t afford losing Star Stream’s attribute buffs. Rather, it’s the only reason he’s advanced as far as he has. The monsters here are higher leveled than himself, allowing him to gain experience much quicker than otherwise. But, on the other hand, it remained impossible for Rhode to use the Summoner Swordsman’s unique style of attacking simultaneously with his summons. From the outside, it would not seem much different than an orthodox swordsman.
This really limited Rhode’s combat abilities, but there was no way around it. If he wanted to summon Soaring Spirit Bird he’d have to abandon Star Stream, leaving the dilemma of being unarmed. Although the main aspect of the class is the summoner, don’t forget that the last part of the title is “swordsmen”, not “mage”. To fight efficiently, he needed a suitable sword, something that only Star Stream provided.
Furthermore, the Summoning Swordsman has a massive penalty compared to other Swordsman classes. There is a class punishment of -1 proficiency on all sword skills.
That is to say, a traditional Swordsman can train up until proficiency SSS. Whereas, the Summoner Swordsman will be capped at SS. Even the starting line for both sides are different. All of the swords skill proficiency levels for Swordsmen start at D. However, the Summoner Swordsman is forced to start at E. It is because of this gap that he’s fought so hard ever since entering this world. If not for Star Stream and his good understanding of Dragon Soul Continent, he would have long since been in dire straits.
But now that he has opened “Summoning Master”, it felt as if the weight on his shoulders just became a bit lighter.
Yes, the Summoner Swordsmen is inferior in individual attack power than a Swordsman. However, they’ve never been one to fight alone.
Seeing the Soaring Spirit Bird shooting towards it, the stone gargoyle felt the aura of mana. However, his intelligence was limited and was unable to determine the nature of the entity. Nevertheless, it still identified the other as an enemy, and one of its arms fluttered in the air to strike.
But, the Gargoyle only hit empty air.
As soon as the hard claws hit, the turquoise body dissipated like a ball of mist. A faint stream of air passed through its claws. Not waiting for the Gargoyle to react, Rhode quickly followed him, followed by his sword that slashed forward.
A silver arc, glowing like moonlight, shot out of Rhode’s sword.
This is the third skill of Moonlight Sword, Moonlit Flower.
Although it resembles Broken Blade, the results are completely different. The shape of Broken Blade is forward and precise, like a hail of sharp light beams. Meaning that the power is strengthened, but it also means that it’s range is too narrow and it’s also easy to be dodged. But Moonlit Flower is different. The crescent-shaped attacks swept outwards, making it difficult to dodge. A very useful attack against highly agile targets.
Sure enough, the Gargoyle subconsciously wanted to push itself outside of the attack. As the silver blade struck the right wing, the wing shook as pieces were blown off. Tiny bits of crushed stone fell down as the gargoyle momentarily lost its balance mid-air.
But Rhode’s assault did not end there. Just as the gargoyle struggled mid-air, Rhode had already taken two new steps forward. With his free hand, he made a strange gesture.
The Soaring Spirit Bird, which had disappeared into a breeze appeared behind the gargoyle. The churning wind condensed once again, accompanied by a clear chirp. Like a rising whirlwind, the turquoise bird slammed into the gargoyle’s back, blowing it away. But before it could angrily roar out, a shining light appeared in the gargoyle’s vision.
One, two, three.
The continuous strikes rained down on the already injured right wing. Even the gargoyle’s wings of blackstone were unable to withstand the successive attacks. Cobweb-like cracks spread on its wings, and soon, the sound of crumbling was heard. As the wing fell apart, the gargoyle plummeted and created a small crater in the stones below.
To use the many to bully the few, this is the true style of the Summoner Swordsman.
Rhode could finally return to fighting like normally. In fact, if he had a physical weapon in his heads, he could attack with two summons at the same time. With two rare elite summons, even against a BOSS, he’s confident that he can tire it to death.
Unfortunately, there still remains the issue that he doesn’t have another spirit nucleus to awaken any more spirits.
So, without a numerical advantage, he had to quickly retreat.
Because at that moment, the second gargoyle swooped over.
Maybe it was the sight of its partner being wounded. This gargoyle’s offensive was quite fierce. But Rhode, who could now summon the Soaring Spirit Bird, had no intention of engaging head-on. Once again, the turquoise bird condensed and like a gust of wind, slammed into the head of the unprepared gargoyle, causing it to collide with the side of the church.
Of course, Rhode would not pass on such a good opportunity.
With his command, the blue whirlwind stopped before once again locking its target.
Now, offense and defense have been reversed.
With this brief exchange, Rhode was able to bring those two gargoyles crashing to the ground. He was sure to coordinate perfectly with the Soaring Spirit Bird to fight 2v1 every time. If the two gargoyles were allowed to reinforce each other, his advantage would be quickly negated.
Although it may seem like a complete victory, Rhode is unable to achieve further results. His mana was already consumed by more than half. In the game, players could simply resurrect at full health. However, there’s nothing so convenient in reality. So, even though Rhode rose to level 10 and opened his first talent tree, his mana had scarcely risen.
From these factors, he concluded that there was no way to completely defeat these two gargoyles. Even more so, summoning two items consumes even more mana. He’s constantly checking his consumption to avoid a “blackout” mid-battle. It’s just that the gap between the two sides is too large, and the gargoyle’s defense had not been shattered. Although one of the wings was broken. it didn’t cause any serious damage. In that case, if Rhode went all out, he could possibly destroy one of the gargoyles. But if he did, he would have to face the other gargoyle completely unarmed. Surely, anyone can figure what the result would be.
The only option left for Rhode was to keep these tiring beasts under control until Leiya or Metz find the control tablet.
Otherwise, the situation will change back to what it was.
“—!”
Although one wing was destroyed, the gargoyle did not lose its threat. Crawling on the ground, it was like a dark stone canine. With its four claws, it ran shockingly fast across the ground. This is the scary thing about alchemy creatures. If you think of them as monsters that can only fight in the air, you will definitely suffer a defeat.
Fortunately, Rhode had a deep understanding of them. And so, he’s not so brazen as to over-exert himself in by rushing in blindly.
The dark figure flashed behind Rhode. The gargoyle screamed and extended his right arm to dig into Rhode’s back. But, almost immediately, Rhode shot sideways. His shining white sword turned into a streak of lightning as it struck the arm. At the same time, Rhode stretched out his left hand. The Soaring Spirit Bird, who was hovering beside him, started to condense the wind around him before shooting forward.
Although the Soaring Spirit Bird’s level is inadequate to deal much damage to the gargoyle, it is also a purely elemental creature. Hence, it is very difficult to be blocked.
After a minute and a half, Rhode's heart became increasingly anxious. His body and limbs felt a bit tired and drowsy. His inner soul even felt slowed. These were signs warning him that his mana was about to be exhausted. He glanced at the church.
There’s still no movement. They still haven’t found the control tablet?
“!!”
The shrill sound of wind sounded from Rhode’s side, surprising him. He subconsciously flicked to the side and tried to activate Shadow Flash. But just as he prepared to dodge, nothing happened. His skills have lost their effect.
There’s not enough mana!
This made Rhode’s heart sink, but at the moment he could not think of anything to do. The stone claws intersected with the white sword and made a harsh rubbing noise. The gargoyle quickly retreated at the failed attack, but Rhode dared no pursue it.
And just then, suddenly, a voice rang from behind him.
“Mr. Rhode! We found it!!”