Two hours later, a spear with a pitch-black shaft and a bright purple spearhead, which gave the illusion of arcs of lightning dancing across it, lay on the anvil in front of Nova.

'I'm exhausted. It took all my strength just to refine the spearhead… who would've thought a lightning rock could be so durable?' he thought, standing motionless while staring at the new spear.

A dozen meters away, the blacksmith lay unconscious, his eardrums had been ruptured by the shockwaves causing him to collapse, though he was still breathing.

Nova lifted his trembling arm and grabbed the finished spear. Soon, a prompt rang in his mind:

[Name your work]

Without pausing to think, he muttered, "Dreadscape." At once, the spear's information appeared in his mind.

[Dreadscape]

· Strength: +1692

· Dexterity: +1847

· Speed: +1561

· Lightning affinity increased

· Water affinity increased

(The work of an unknown craftsman, where the creator's skills are fully displayed bringing to life his best work to date.)

A smile spread across his lips when he saw the spear's stats, but then he noticed something amiss.

"Why is water affinity still present?" he said aloud, going over the crafting process once more and making sure he hadn't done anything wrong. But he soon shook his head. "I don't think I used any water materials this time… apart from the old Dreadscape."

'Wait,' Nova drew in a deep breath, his thoughts racing. 'What are the chances of the spear keeping its old affinity after I probably used less than a tenth of it? I didn't even know something like this was possible. Either way, I'll have to buy some blacksmithing books from the Store once I'm out of here and study them. I feel like I'm missing out on too many things right now.'

Shoving those thoughts to the back of his mind, he said, "Next, I want to check my Status."

[Status]

Rank: 0

Name: Nova Grey

Species: Human

Affiliation: None

Level: 27 (170/500)

Mana: Mana Core (Medium) (299,631,548/10,000,000,000), ??? Spinal Node, ??? Perception Node, ??? Pulse Node, ??? Voice Node, ??? Vital Organs Node, ??? Power Node, ??? Stance Node, ??? Manipulation Node

Class: None

Titles: Goblin Exterminator, Kings Slayer, Survivor, Spear Advanced, Troll Exterminator, Orc Exterminator, Rune Novice, Mana Intermediate, Lord (Giants), Hunter, ???, Sword Novice

Stat Points: 1,555

Attributes:

Strength: 232 (+14,696)

Vigor: 205 (+11,511)

Dexterity: 255 (+16,140)

Speed: 215 (+13,612)

Intelligence: 171 (+4,472)

Wisdom: 215 (+5,622)

Will: 19

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Luck: 10 (+10)

Skills

Active: Spear Thrust (27) (63,989,192,165/67,108,864,000), Spear Jab (27) (2,546,620,847/67,108,864,000), Spear Sweep (27) (1,806,098,542/67,108,864,000), Spear Lunge (27) (47,199,098,678/67,108,864,000), Spear Overhead Strike (26) (5,780,371,026/33,554,432,000), Sword Slash (15) (1/16,384,000), Sword Stab (15) (3/16,384,000), Sword Chop (15) (1/16,384,000), Sword Sweep (15) (0/16,384,000), Sword Parry (14) (2,030,197/8,192,000), Sword Block (14) (1,997,701/8,192,000), Blacksmithing (9) (188,131/256,000), Woodworking (0) (54/500)

Passive: Regeneration (22) (1,702,073,287/2,097,152,000), Keen Reflexes (14) (6,083,465/8,192,000), Momentum Streak (18) (97,991,823/131,072,000), One with the World (Spear) (MAX), One with the World (Footwork) (MAX), Aura (Third Stage)

'My stats have shot up since I entered this portal although, my Wisdom and Intelligence have been left too far behind but I'll fix it sooner or later.' Nova glanced at the band on his wrist and let out a wry smile. 'To think this small thing survived until now, while my entire set of armor is broken and I have to craft a new one.'

He sighed and muttered, "I wonder how I compare to the others back on Earth."

He didn't dwell on the thought for long. His gaze shifted toward the unconscious blacksmith, then to the piles upon piles of materials and items nearby. A sly smile tugged at his lips.

Twenty minutes later, Nova stepped out of the tent, only to be greeted by more than thirty knights standing directly in front of it.

"Is that him?"

"Yes, it's him! He's the guy who beat us up and entered the smithy without waiting in line."

"A new knight beat so many of you alone? Don't you feel ashamed even saying that? If I were you I wouldn't even admit to that under a beating."

Some of the new knights couldn't help but mock those who had been single-handedly swept aside by Nova, while the beaten ones fumed in anger.

Nova's eyes scanned the crowd until they landed on the burly, middle-aged knight who had defended him earlier. The man stood in a corner, staring at the ground.

'He has his own difficulties too,' Nova thought and his gaze moved past him and toward the crowd.

"Were you all waiting for me?" Nova said lightly, drawing the attention of every knight around him.

One of the newly arrived knights stepped forward. "Newbie, even if you have strength, you should still respect your seniors. I'll let it go this time, but remember, not again. Otherwise, I'll have to properly instruct you."

Many of the knights echoed the same words. Most of them were those Nova had trashed earlier, though a few of the more hot-headed newcomers joined in as well.

'These people wouldn't dare open their mouths alone, but in a group, they think numbers make them safe. Are they really elites, or just knights with better backgrounds than most?' Nova mused as he slowly walked toward the knight who had spoken.

The knight flinched when Nova stopped in front of him but quickly masked it with a smile before opening his mouth.

Before the knight could utter a word, Nova slammed the side of his spear into the man's stomach. The impact bent his armor inward and sent him hurtling dozens of meters away, all under the stunned eyes of the gathered knights.

Nova turned his head toward the crowd. "Does anyone else think the same?"

Silence.

The knight he had just disposed of with a single strike was one of the strongest second-stage knights in the camp. To defeat him so effortlessly, one would normally need to be a seasoned elite at the third stage and even then, achieving it this easily would be difficult.

A single thought crossed the mind of every knight present: Was this newbie a fourth-stage knight?

Panic flickered in the eyes of those who had spoken up earlier, while the rest felt as though fortune had smiled on them. In an army camp like this, being on bad terms with a fourth-stage knight meant nothing less than a living hell, especially for those who were only at the first or second stage.

Seeing that no one was willing to step forward, Nova snorted and walked past them, soon disappearing from sight.

With Nova gone, the knights finally let out a collective breath of relief. But almost immediately, the new knights turned their anger on those who had riled them up earlier.

"Did I ever do anything wrong to you?!" one shouted furiously.

As the knights descended into a heated argument, Nova stored Dreadscape away and slipped into a nearby tent. A few seconds later, he emerged, this time looking exactly like Tairo.

'Now that I've taken care of things here, I'll stay a few more days to see if anything changes before going back to Larmida and see how that ex-bandit of mine is doing. There's also one more thing to keep track of, the time when the three armies will meet is drawing near,' Nova thought as he walked through the tents, when a sudden burst of Aura brushed past him.

He stopped dead in his tracks. 'Why does he want to see me? Did he find out I'm not Tairo?' He took a deep breath. 'Even if he did, running now would be pointless. And if, by chance, he hasn't, he'll figure it out the moment I flee. My only choice is to meet him and maybe even hear some good news.'

Turning on his heel, he walked toward the Commander's tent and stepped inside.

The first thing he saw was Senna, with the bearing of a scholar, staring at the empire's map, which also encompassed the three kingdoms.

After a long silence, Senna finally said, "I had a few doubts about your report, but my knights have confirmed that Westoria's and Lotra's armies are slowly approaching Blackridge. At any other time, considering the numbers, I would've thought they were invading the kingdom. But this time, Blackridge hasn't even reinforced its borders. Knowing that Avaro isn't a fool, that can only mean they don't see the two armies as a threat. After all, even we, the Vireah Empire, wouldn't easily take on two armies without reinforcing our borders, much less a single kingdom."

'It's because Avaro no longer has any decent spies in the two kingdoms to feed him information, or else the border would already be teeming with knights,' Nova thought with amusement. Outwardly, however, his face remained a mask of seriousness.

Senna lifted his gaze and fixed it on Nova. "Tairo, since you were the one who reported this, I'll give you this chance." His eyes gleamed for an instant before he asked, "Do you have a plan to deal with the three kingdoms?"

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