Chapter 18

The first rule of being a Summoner Swordsman —— never fight alone at any time.

[Consumed 1 skill point, improved Moon Shadow Swordsmanship 1/5, proficiency C —— Moonlight unlocked]

[Consumed 1 skill point, designated talent —— Master Summoner awakened]

[Master Summoner first-tier talent unlocked: Soul Resonance (for every ten levels the character advances, the number of summonable spirits increases),

Mind Call (shared senses with summoned items, increased duration of mental connection),

Structural Coordination (ability to perform dual spirit fusion)]

[Obtained permanent skill: Soul Resonance lv1 (for every ten levels the character advances, the number of summonable spirits +1)]

[Number of summonable spirits +1]

Just as the last line of system text disappeared, a large shadow flashed past the corner of Rod's eye. However, he did not retreat, nor did he show any fear. Instead, Rod raised his longsword and swung it forward with a sudden motion.

"Swish!"

A greenish figure shot out from the sword's edge, pouncing towards the approaching gargoyle.

Soul Bird.

Rod's biggest problem was that he could not summon two creatures at the same time, and unfortunately, his weapon, Star Trace, was one of those summonable creatures.

Ordinary Summoner Swordsmen, like regular swordsmen, would only be equipped with a "normal" weapon. Rod was an exception. Although he had considered using a more conventional weapon, he could not give up the attribute bonuses of Star Trace. It was precisely because of this characteristic that Rod could so easily eliminate monsters of similar or slightly higher levels, gaining a lot of experience in the early stages. However, this also meant that Rod could not adopt the unique "simultaneous attack with summoned creatures" strategy of Summoner Swordsmen. From the outside, he looked more like a traditional swordsman.

This made Rod quite uncomfortable, but he had no choice. If he were to summon the Soul Bird, he would have to give up Star Trace, which would leave him weaponless. Although his main focus was on summoned creatures, he could not hide in the back like a spellcaster, as the last two characters in his title were "swordsman" rather than "mage." If he were to use Star Trace, he would have to seal the Soul Bird, and fighting like a regular swordsman would not be a good thing for Rod.

This was because, compared to a true swordsman, a Summoner Swordsman had a significant disadvantage —— all swordsmanship proficiency was reduced by 1.

In other words, a true swordsman's swordsmanship proficiency could reach SSS, but a Summoner Swordsman, no matter how hard they tried, could only reach SS. Moreover, the starting points were different. A true swordsman's initial swordsmanship proficiency was D, while Rod's Summoner Swordsman started at E. This was the gap, and in fact, since coming to this world, Rod had fought very hard. If it weren't for holding Star Trace and his knowledge of the Dragon Soul Continent, he would have been in a very difficult situation. He was already accustomed to having summoned creatures fighting alongside him, and this current state put a lot of pressure on him.

Now, with the "Master Summoner" talent activated, he finally felt a weight lifted from his shoulders.

That's right, Summoner Swordsmen did not have the strong individual attack capabilities of true swordsmen, but they were never meant to fight alone.

The gargoyle was taken aback by the Soul Bird pouncing at it. It sensed the magical aura from the creature but, with its limited artificial intelligence, could not determine what this thing was. However, it still identified it as an enemy and swiped at it with a claw.

But this time, the gargoyle missed.

Just as it felt its claw hit the target, the solid form of the Soul Bird suddenly dispersed like a snowball, and a faint breeze quickly passed through its claws, disappearing. Before the gargoyle could react, Rod had already moved in, and with a swift motion, he swung his sword forward.

A silver crescent moon arc shot out from Rod's sword, flying towards the gargoyle, which was now wide open after its failed attack.

This was the third skill of Moon Shadow Swordsmanship —— Moonlight.

Although it, like the Blade of Shattered, involved condensing sword energy for an attack, the effects were entirely different. The Blade of Shattered took the form of a blade of light, shooting forward with great power and penetration, but its range was too narrow, making it easy to dodge. Moonlight, on the other hand, swept across in a crescent shape, threatening a wide area in front, making it very difficult to dodge.

Sure enough, as the sword light approached, the gargoyle instinctively tried to dodge by flapping its wings, but its speed was too slow. The silver blade struck its right wing, and with the fall of several small pieces of stone, the gargoyle, which had been floating in the air, suddenly tilted and lost its balance.

But this was not the end. As it tried to regain its balance, Rod took two steps forward and made a strange gesture with his left hand.

The Soul Bird, which had previously turned into a breeze to avoid the gargoyle's attack, now appeared behind the gargoyle, its body reformed by the swirling wind. With a clear cry, the wind-wrapped bird crashed into the gargoyle's back, and the intense air blast immediately sent the gargoyle flying. The already enraged gargoyle let out an angry scream, but before it could express its fury, a series of shining blades appeared in its eyes.

One, two, three.

The spinning Blades of Shattered struck the gargoyle's injured right wing with precision. Even the obsidian wings could not withstand the consecutive attacks, and as the gargoyle suffered these impacts, a web of cracks spread across its wing. Soon, with a crisp breaking sound, the hard wing shattered, and the gargoyle, now missing one wing, screamed and fell to the ground, creating a small pit in the green stone floor.

Fighting with numbers and quality, this was the style of a Summoner Swordsman.

Rod finally regained the feeling of battle. In fact, if he had a normal weapon now, after activating "Master Summoner," he could control two summoned creatures simultaneously. At that point, even if it were a boss, he would have the confidence to wear it down.

However, there was no "if" in the world, and Rod currently did not have a second soul core to awaken a spirit.

So he had to abandon the idea of pressing his advantage and quickly retreated.

At this moment, the second gargoyle had already swooped down.

Perhaps because it saw its companion injured, this gargoyle's attack was quite fierce. However, Rod, who could now summon the Soul Bird, did not intend to foolishly engage in a head-on clash. Facing the black shadow that had previously made him struggle, Rod simply tilted his head and whistled. Immediately, a strong wind swept by, forcefully pushing away the black shadow that was about to attack Rod, causing it to roll several times and crash into the church wall.

Rod, of course, would not let such a good opportunity pass.

Under his command, a green whirlwind rose from the ground, and the flying bird spread its wings, pouncing on the enemy once again.

For a moment, the roles were reversed.

The two gargoyles, who had been proudly flying in the sky, now looked like miserable dogs, while Rod, who had been struggling under pressure, immediately turned the tables and regained the upper hand. He consciously made the Soul Bird cooperate with him, forcing the two gargoyles to separate, ensuring that they always maintained a "two-on-one" situation, preventing one from coming to the aid of the other.

Although the situation had changed, Rod could not achieve further results because his strength had already been largely depleted. In the game, players could "fully recover" after leveling up, but in reality, such a thing was not possible. So, although Rod had reached level 10 and activated his talents, his soul power had only increased to the level it should have at that point.

Relying solely on this was not enough to eliminate the two gargoyles. Moreover, controlling two summoned creatures simultaneously consumed more of Rod's soul power, and he had to be even more cautious to avoid "shutting down." After all, the level gap was too large, and the gargoyle's defense was not to be underestimated. Previously, Rod's attacks had only shattered one of the gargoyle's wings, not causing significant damage to the creature itself. In this situation, if Rod unleashed his full power, he might indeed eliminate one gargoyle, but then, with all his strength spent, he would have to face the other one weaponless —— the outcome was obvious to anyone with a bit of sense.

The only thing Rod could do now was to try to suppress these two annoying creatures and wait for Liss and Mace to find the "control center."

Otherwise, the situation would revert to what it was before.

"———!"

Although one of its wings was destroyed, the gargoyle did not lose its threat. It crawled on the ground, resembling a giant black stone dog, its four paws moving swiftly, running like a ghost. This was the terrifying aspect of these alchemical creatures; if you treated them as monsters that only boasted in the sky, you would be in for a rude awakening.

Fortunately, Rod knew them well. Although he was not like a new player who thought that bringing a gargoyle down from the sky would make it easy to deal with, this still reduced the pressure on him, as he did not have to worry as much about the sky.

A black shadow appeared behind Rod, and the gargoyle howled, extending its right claw to dig into Rod's back. But in the next moment, Rod sidestepped, and his flawless white sword blade turned into a flash, barely blocking the attack. At the same time, Rod extended his left hand, and the Soul Bird, which had been circling him, saw his gesture and immediately let out a clear cry, spreading its wings to block the other gargoyle that was trying to attack from the air.

Although the Soul Bird, at its current level, could not cause significant damage to the rare elite gargoyle, as a pure elemental creature, blocking was not particularly difficult for it.

Time passed, and Rod's anxiety grew. He felt his body becoming tired, and even his mind was starting to wane, a sign that his soul power was nearly depleted. The church was still quiet, and he wondered if they had not found the control center yet.

"Whoosh!!"

A sharp wind whistled past Rod, making him jump in alarm. He instinctively dodged to the side, trying to activate Shadow Flash, but as he prepared to dodge, his steps faltered, and the skill that should have activated lost its effect.

His soul power was about to be exhausted!

This made Rod's heart sink, but he had no time to think. He quickly turned and thrust his sword backward. The hard stone claw and the white longsword clashed, producing a harsh grinding sound. The gargoyle, missing its target, quickly retreated, but Rod could not pursue it.

Just then, a voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Mr. Rod! We found it!!"