A Veteran of Infinite Buffs - Chapter 63

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 63

As the Sand Storm intensified, Tuuram began screaming with even greater desperation.
“Uuugghhh! Cough!”
Of course, there was no dramatic reversal.
Opening my mouth only filled it with dust and grit.
Yet Tuuram continued to burn with fighting spirit.
“Ugh! Uuugh!”
He seemed desperate to convey something.
By this point, it truly appeared as though Tuuram was trying to tell me something.
“Ah.”
Then I understood Tuuram’s true intention.
Something had materialized within the Sand Storm.
The Ancient One’s instincts were far more developed than I had anticipated.
Groooooowwwl!
Something taking form between the swirling sands lunged at my head.
Crack!
I quickly swung my wooden sword wreathed in malice, deflecting the attack.
Fortunately, physical counterattacks seemed effective.
Was this a trial requiring me to respond not only to the Sand Storm itself, but also to unseen assaults?
I decided to maintain my center of gravity while remaining reactive to attacks from all directions.
“Hack! Cough!”
Tuuram managed to deflect something’s attack as well.
“Spirits! Sand spirits! Gack!”
Spirits, then.
Thanks to Tuuram’s cry, I learned the nature of these attackers.
Of course, it made little practical difference.
Unlike Sumoq, my wooden sword infused with hatred could inflict certain damage even upon spectral entities.
“In any case, I can strike them. That’s what matters. Good.”
Spirits or otherwise, it was reciprocal.
Since they attacked me first, I would repay them in kind—a philosophy I embraced as I poured even greater hatred into my wooden sword.
Boom!

-Screeeech!

Besides, the Sand Storm’s spirit was an entity only visible now, so there was no practical use for it.
It was far more advantageous to subdue it while I was at it, lowering the trial’s difficulty and gaining experience points simultaneously.
Boom! Crash! Boom! Crack!
-Screech!

[Your level has increased!]
[Name: Kael]
[Class: Eternal Adventurer (Hidden)]
[Level: 60]
[Unused Points: 1]
[Strength: 110 Agility: 136 Vitality: 109 (88) Wisdom: 123 Luck: 125]
[Eternity: 36 Mana: 6]

I had finally reached level 60.
It had been quite some time since I last saw an unused point.
Moreover, the number was so trivial that I was tempted to keep the unused point as a collector’s item.

-Screech! Screeeech!

Regardless, now that I had confirmed experience points were definitely obtainable, I decided to hunt spirits far more aggressively.
Fortunately, I had a skill that worked well when vision was restricted.
‘Instant Pierce.’
Crack!
Instant Pierce identified the spirit’s weak point: its core.
The sound of something shattering suggested there was indeed a nucleus-like origin source.
With this knowledge, even a spirit within the intensified storm became excellent prey.

-Screech screech screech!
-Screeeech!
-Screeeech!

In that instant, the spirits began to proliferate at an overwhelming rate.
Now they ignored Tuuram entirely, targeting only me with singular focus.
“This is even better!”
Whoosh!
Crack!
My piercing strike once again penetrated the spirit’s core with absolute precision.
A perfect elemental matchup had been established.
The only concern was managing my mana, but the trial hadn’t yet demanded enough expenditure to pose any real problem—I could continue without issue.
“Ugh! Hagh!”
Boom!
Even as this unfolded, Tuuram’s blind strikes continued to obliterate spirits wholesale, keeping the battle’s momentum firmly in our favor.

* * *

How many spirits had I shattered?
Whoooosh!
I could feel the Sand Storm weakening now.
Moreover, the crushed spirits with their cores destroyed had become heaps of earth, completely filling the Trench carved below.
It was proof that the trial was nearing its end.
And having swept away most of the spirits, I’d gained enough experience to level up twice more.

[Name: Kael]
[Class: Eternal Adventurer (Hidden)]
[Level: 62]
[Unused Points: 3]
[Strength: 110 Agility: 136 Vitality: 109 Wisdom: 123 Luck: 125]
[Eternity: 36 Mana: 6]

“Tuuram. Are you alright?”
“Cough! A warrior does not yield! I! Cough! I am great war…. Hack!”
It seemed Tuuram still had plenty of sand left to expel.
Regardless, with my movement no longer restricted, I decided it was time to climb toward the Hill above.
“Tuuram. Let’s go up.”
“Ptooey! Understood!”
What meaning did this Sand Storm truly hold?
And what had the Adventurer who left those footprints discovered beyond this Sand Storm?
Perhaps the answer would reveal itself once I crossed this slope.
Whoooosh…!
“Everything has changed completely.”
Lost in combat, I hadn’t noticed—but now I realized how much had transformed.
Most notably, the small Hillock here had somehow become a massive Hill, and the slope itself had grown far steeper.
A single Sand Storm had altered the very terrain itself.
Crunch crunch crunch!
Moreover, the sand particles had become even finer.
This meant climbing had become exponentially more difficult.
If a third trial existed, I suspected this might be it.
Furthermore, the more force I applied with my feet, the more I slid backward—forcing me to exercise far greater control with each step.
“Ughhhhhh!”
Having expelled all the sand, Tuuram began to grow frustrated with this endless sliding.
For someone like Tuuram, who had always charged forward, this situation must have been deeply exasperating.
“Quiet. Just take my hand.”
“I keep sliding! This Hill is strange!”
“Hmm.”
Honestly, the answer was already clear.
I could simply unsummon Tuuram and use Kael Rush to bound up effortlessly.
But as a comrade who had weathered this same trial, I wanted to share the view from the Hill’s summit together.
“It looks like I’ll have to carry double the weight.”

[Strength: 310 Agility: 136 Stamina: 109 Wisdom: 23 Luck: 25]

I redistributed my status points.
The strategy was to subtract 100 each from Wisdom and Luck, then pour everything into Strength.
Once Strength exceeded 300, an overwhelming sense of fullness I had never experienced before began to dominate my entire body.
Thud!
After raising my Strength to its peak, I drove my foot into the slope and it sank in completely.
Finally, my balance was perfectly secured.
It was proven once again that a weak body makes the mind suffer.
“Hold on tight. I’ll get us over in one go.”
“Ugh! Understood.”
Tuuram’s expression showed considerable pain, apparently from the considerable grip force in my hand.
“Here we go.”
I slightly withdrew the foot I had driven in and stepped on the slope, now hardened and compacted by the force.
Then I concentrated all my strength into my legs, jumped with everything I had, and used Gale Rush to gain additional momentum.
It was a strategy to leap over the slope in one attempt.
Whoosh!
Remarkably, I flew.
Easily soaring dozens of meters or more.
It was the moment I truly felt the caliber of 300-tier Strength.
“Wooooah! I’m flying! I’ve become a bird!”
After soaring for a while, now came the descent timing.
Looking at the landscape spread across the Hill below my line of sight, I should brace myself for considerable impact.
Because things completely different from the Barren Wasteland Hill were coming into view.

[Strength: 110 Agility: 136 Vitality: 309 Wisdom: 23 Luck: 25]

I transferred all 200 status points that had been invested in Strength to Vitality instead.
Given the long time in the air, the impact would be substantial.
“Huff!”
Whiiiiiiiii!
We began to plummet toward the ground.
Moreover, since Tuuram possessed a physique larger than most adult men, the weight would be even greater.
Now it was a matter of luck.

[Strength: 60 Agility: 86 Vitality: 309 Wisdom: 23 Luck: 125]

Anxious about my low luck stat, I withdrew 50 points each from strength and agility, then poured all 100 points into luck.
This put my mind at ease.
Such was the power of a three-digit stat.
Whoooooosh!
An enormous cloud of dust erupted.
And my health was.

[Health: 121 (309)]

It had been whittled down, though I managed to maintain three digits.
Landing on relatively flat ground meant I’d made the right call boosting luck—otherwise, I might have met a worse fate.
Right beside where I landed, a jagged rock jutted up unexpectedly.
“Tuuram. You alright?”
“What an extraordinary experience! Woohoo!”
Tuuram, electrified with excitement, beat his chest repeatedly, his face radiating pure dopamine.
And before us.

-Zzzzzing.

A Portal opened—one I hadn’t noticed when I planted Sumoq.
“Hmm. I don’t see Sumoq.”
“I’ll retrieve Sumoq. Wait here.”
“Really?”
As the Ancient One who summoned Sumoq, Tuuram could apparently sense its location.
That much was necessary if he was to cross over from the ancient dimension.
“Here it is!”
True to his word, Tuuram held Sumoq aloft from a considerable distance away, waving it for me to see.
With this, I’d recovered Sumoq and secured the Eternal Adventurer’s traces—the best possible outcome.
“Finally.”
I didn’t reach for the Portal just yet.
I’d tasted what luck could do.
With the Eternal Adventurer’s traces within reach, I wanted to push luck to its absolute limit.
“Wait a moment.”
“Hm?”

[Strength: 110 Agility: 136 Health: 109 Wisdom: 123 Luck: 125]
[Eternity: 36 Mana: 6]

I dove back into status redistribution.
What I desired at this moment was extreme fortune.
If what lay before me was the Eternal Adventurer’s footprint, I hoped to discover the most exceptional footprint among all of the Eternal Adventurer’s traces.

[Strength: 10 Agility: 10 Vitality: 10 Wisdom: 10 Luck: 563]
[Eternity: 36 Mana: 6]

I had reduced every stat except luck down to 10.
Yet, it still felt insufficient.
If I had just 37 more points, I could achieve 600 luck.
“Sigh. Of all the awkward numbers to get.”

[Unallocated Points: 3]

The unallocated points granted to me were 3.
Originally, I had planned to accumulate them in units of 10, but the world seemed determined not to cooperate.

[Luck: 566]

I invested all my unallocated points into luck.
Yet my stats remained frustratingly inadequate.
The reason being.
“Ugh.”

[Strength: 1 Agility: 1 Vitality: 1 Wisdom: 1 Luck: 599]

Even after reducing every stat except luck down to 1, I fell short of 600 by a single point.
“This won’t do. This simply won’t do.”
And the problem didn’t end there.
My instincts were screaming warnings at me frantically.
The source of my concern was the clothing I wore.

[Master’s Revenant Turtleneck (Legendary)]
[Defense: 44]
[Strength +4 Agility +4 Vitality +4]
[Superior Darkness Affinity]
[Superior Darkness Affinity: Basic stats double in darkness, increased resistance to light-attribute magic]
[A legendary masterpiece crafted from the soul of a specter refined through a special purification process. It possesses the property of self-transforming to fit the wearer’s physique and restoring itself from damage.]

“…Damn it. Was it because of the status attached to my clothes?”
My instincts sent an even more concrete signal.
My body had grown critically weak, and it became an emergency warning that I could die just by removing my clothes.
But with Luck 600 right within reach, I couldn’t afford to give up now.
“Tuuram. You’re the only one I can trust.”
“Huh? What is it?”
“Go back for a moment and bring me some food. Preferably something that boosts strength.”
I decided to unsummon Tuuram and entrust him with automatic hunting.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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