The Max Level Hero Has Returned!
chapter-686

“Kyaaaaaaack!!!” Winley screamed as she rolled around on the ground.

Although she was displaying such an unbecoming sight, her determination did not wane. She stretched out her arms and raised her staff toward the stone golem with a fire attribute. She then yelled fiercely, “Ground Wave!”

Like a huge maw opening to devour everything in its path, the ground shifted and trembled as if on cue, and the fierce quaking threw off the charging golem's balance. Winley then took advantage of the situation and condensed mana at the tip of her staff. In an instant, the mana enveloped her staff, forming a hammer. She then used it to smash the golem’s head.

The two had clashed several times already.

When they started, Davey had placed restrictions on Winley.

Do not use the same magic more than three times.

Winley had screamed and shouted to voice out her defiance, but Davey had remained obstinate. As compensation, he allowed her to use enchantment, a magic that would allow her to overlay mana on her staff. That was why Winley was forced to fully utilize enchantment magic while minimizing her usage of her magic specialty.

“Why did you only allow her free reign with enchantment magic?”

“Enchantment magic is the type of magic that focuses on the basics. But one would make more mistakes the more desperate and frantic they get.”

Bang!!!

“Kyaaaaaaack!!!” Winley shrieked as the huge golem punched her fiercely.

But even with the strong attack, she didn’t sustain any severe injuries. Perhaps it was only natural. After all, she was wearing cloth armor that was crafted using materials harvested from one of the Malicious Spirits.

Although the armor that Winley was wearing looked like it was made with nothing but simple cloth, it was undoubtedly a treasure produced out of the materials obtained from one of the beings of Atlantis, Malicious Spirit Goumda.

Not only could the cloth armor offset shock, but it could also restore itself after receiving a certain amount of damage. With that kind of armor, she could not possibly be seriously harmed by trivial attacks like a single punch.

The armor Winley was currently using was actually Perserque's. Since the other one was with Illyna, Davey was left with no choice but to borrow from Perserque.

“Don’t panic! Let’s go again!” Davey shouted as he patted the gasping and crying Winley on the back. “This time, bring two!”

“T-two?!”

“That’s right!”

After all, there was a saying that putting people in extreme situations would make them grow.

“Davey, you said that you weren’t going to let Winley undergo intense training,” Perserque said with a frown on her beautiful face. She looked like she did not understand the reason and intention behind Davey’s actions.

“Hmm? But this is mild?”

“What? You’re saying that this is mild?”

“This is much better than getting chased by hundreds of monsters, no?”

The level of difficulty was usually relative to the person. For example, if someone accustomed to living in a difficult environment was sent to live in a place that was only slightly challenging, then they would definitely feel like life was very easy. This was no different from the situation at the moment.

“AAAAAAAAAAH!!! I don’t know anymore! Just bring it!!!”

In the end, Winley snapped. She decided to just face whatever the situation was while enchanting her staff with a mana blade and transforming it into an enormous spear.

Despite being a mage, she had been making full use of the lightness enchantment to make her body light while directly attacking her enemies without hesitation.

Although she was unaware, Winley had started to change.

“Ho…”

“Hmm?” Hydro hummed as he continued to kite the mobs per Davey’s request, completely unaware of the changes that Winley was going through.

But it was different for Perserque. She seemed quite amazed as she continued to watch at the sidelines. She then commented, “I see. By exposing Winley to extreme situations like this, she will be able to temper and improve her control on mana.”

“That’s right. That’s all that she needs to do,” Davey replied as he casted a lightness restriction magic on Winley. Then he proceeded to break a branch from the tree near him.

‘Do you even need to use a dragon-slaying blade to kill a cow?’

Swoosh– Swoosh–!

Davey grinned as he swung the branch in his hands. He had used this before, back when he was still poor and had no proper weapon.

“It’s been a long time since I did this..”

Several members of the Sirius Guild appeared as though they had been waiting, and it seemed like they had already surrounded the area.

It was up to Davey to create the conditions that would prevent others from disturbing Hydro and Winley.

“Davey.”

Perserque carefully approached Davey. Then, as he swung the short branch, she kissed him on the cheek and said, “Davey, I’m the only one in your heart, right?”

“You’re asking the obvious.”

“Alright. That’s more than enough for me.”

“What is all this about?”

“You need to take responsibility for the things that you have done.”

Perserque didn’t say anything more after such a remark and remained silent.

Rip!

Davey covered the branch with his aura a dozen times. Then he swung it around, creating sounds that made it seem like each swing was tearing away the area in front of him.

“Yes, you can only hold the title of Sword Master if you can fight even without a weapon.”

Scanning the area around him, Davey saw a large troop approaching from one side. They seemed to be moving stealthily in preparation for a surprise attack, not realizing that their presence was already known.

Thump!

With a kick to the ground, Davey leapt to one of the trees. Then he descended down on the sneaking NPCs and members of the Sirius Guild, as though he were a single bullet.

Slash!!!

One of the players died right away.

“What the hell?!”

“An attack?”

A vicious smile flashed on Davey’s face as he watched the members of Sirius Guild grow agitated around him. He then said, “Goodness, where are you going in such a hurry?”

One of the members of the Sirius Guild caught sight of Davey and his wicked grin. His eyes widened as soon as he saw Davey, as though recognizing who he was right away.

But Davey actually had no idea whether the player, who had seen him earlier, saw his face properly or not.

The player then screamed, “Sh… Shit?! Saint of Tionis?!”

On the other hand, Davey had just blown off a player with a single hit. He swung the branch in his hand and shook off the remnants of the player while sidestepping to evade the spear of another guild member.

The NPC quickly adjusted his posture and assault course after realizing his attack had missed, then he lunged toward Davey again. The attack was nothing but dull and lifeless.

Thud!!!

Before it could even get to Davey, something stopped the NPC's spear, which was heading straight toward the back of his head.

“What was that just now?”

“You should make Mana Shield a part of your daily life, you know?” Davey quipped.

“Wh-what is the Saint of Tionis doing here?!”

The members of the Sirius Guild immediately backed away, drawing distance between them and Davey with frowns painted on their shocked faces. A fleeting moment later, the NPCs finally received the memo. They ceased their reckless attacks on him and took a step back.

“What am I doing here? Didn’t you hear from the player that clashed with us before?”

One of the guild members, who looked like he held a fairly high position, paused when he heard Davey’s remark. He then turned his head and shouted, “Impossible!!!”

“No, it’s possible!”

“No way!”

“Yes, way!” Davey said as he slashed at the screaming and retreating players.

Slash!!!

He then turned his head to look at the surviving players, who had already turned stiff in their places. The battle ended just like that.

They had obviously witnessed the complete destruction of the Black Wind, which was once a world-class guild. The high-ranking member of the Sirius Guild immediately understood that they would become the next Black Wind Guild if they failed to deal with the current situation. So, he made eye contact with his members and relayed his intentions to surrender.

“Ahahaha… If that was the case, then you should have told us earlier.”

“That’s right. If it’s the Saint of Tionis, then we would have made time and room for you right away!”

“Is that so?” Davey hummed.

“Of course! That’s not all! We can even tell you the place with the highest drop rate, EXP acquisition rate and regeneration speed!”

They took great pride in their ability to know when to curry favor and diffuse a situation. Unfortunately for them, none of their offerings piqued Davey's interest.

“I’m not really interested, though?”

“Oh my god. If that’s the case, then we won’t recommend anything. Hahahaha…”

They truly seemed so despicably two-faced from the way they awkwardly rubbed their hands and smiled insincerely. But that was only natural. After all, if the conflict continued, there was a high chance that their guild would immediately fall apart and become the second Black Wind.

“E-everyone, prepare to pull out! We’re done here! We’re temporarily halting our activities in this hunting ground! And for the time being, we will not be putting any restrictions here!”

“Are you saying that you’re also controlling other places?”

“Ah… Th-that…”

“That’s what it seems to me.”

“...”

“You better take care of those too, no?” Davey said lightly, swinging the branch in his hand as he passed by the Sirius Guild members.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

A deep gash appeared on the tree behind one of their guild members. It was an incredibly deep cut, considering that the object that caused it was nothing but a thin branch that would easily bend and break with a blow of the wind.

“Since you’re already here, how about we help each other out?”

“Goodness! Just let us know if you need assistance with anything! Just tell us!”

Whether Davey was an NPC or a player didn't seem to matter to them anymore. In the first place, the players were already treating most of the high-ranking NPCs in the game with respect because they had a great deal of freedom. So, these players simply assumed that this was normal.

“The mobs here are more spread out than I thought, hmm?”

“Shall we kill them all?” one of the players asked as they rubbed their hands together in eagerness.

With a shake of his head, Davey answered, “No. Just bring them here in order.”

He was thinking of giving Winley a proper training.

***

Winley endured and persisted even though she knew that she was being pushed into extreme situations. Davey had clearly told her that she would not be allowed to rest until she successfully finished this training. Besides, there was no chance of her child getting hurt, so she wasn't entirely worried.

Winley was initially fighting monsters that were brought by the boy with a strange name, Hydro. But something odd happened in the second part of her training. People, who she hadn’t seen before, suddenly arrived. They drove the monsters in the area in an orderly fashion, making them stand in line.

But whenever her mana would run out and she would be teetering with dizziness, the aroma of an incense that released a variety of helpful scents would waft over her and replenish her mana. What was really remarkable about it was the fact that she could feel her mana get restored nicely with just one whiff of the scent.

As of the moment, there were three changes happening to Winley. The first was that her reaction time was improving as she continued to engage in actual combat.. The other one was the strengthening of her mana vessels through recovery of her depleted mana. Lastly, the tempering of her ability to calculate magical expressions and formulae to respond in urgent situations. Winley was also unintentionally becoming more proficient at casting magic spells since she was forced to use a variety of them.

Even the magic towers in Tionis had not yet developed the fundamentals of this area, much less the means to do it. After all, this method of growth dealt with high-speed chanting rather than no-chant casting.

To master high-speed training, one must train by gradually increasing their speed. By doing so, the loss of magic power that came with no-chant casting would also be eliminated. Frankly speaking, this could already be considered as the highest level of magic casting.

But for it to truly be the pinnacle of magic casting, one more thing was needed. A massive magic circle, spanning hundreds of meters in diameter, would be seen if one looked at the sky. This magic circle had the ability to correct and adjust the speed of casting. Of course, part of the reason the mages of the Tionis Continent were still unable to master high-speed chanting was that they were incapable of drawing this magic circle.

With a rough exhale, Winley shot towards the last scaly lizard.

“Fireball!” Winley shouted as two Fireballs appeared at the tip of her fingers.

She jabbed one of the fireballs into the lizard's jaw and the other one into its eyes. She then infused her staff with mana and proceeded to use it to stab the lizard’s body.

It was odd how Winley, who was already carrying Yulis' child, could still move with such roughness. But it did not really matter. In fact, even if a monster attacked Winley while she was already on full-term, she would still come out unscathed, all because Davey was absorbing most of the damage from the attacks she received.

Winley, who had grown quickly, did not notice the changes in her body. Perserque, on the other hand, was amazed as she watched everything from the sidelines.

“How can someone change so much in just a day?”

Not even an entire day had actually passed since Winley started her training. It had only been half a day. Was it because Winley was a genius that she only needed a half day to grasp the basics and develop up quickly? No. That was not the case at all.

“There’s a way.”

And that was what one would call doping.

Davey hugged the gasping Winley and patted her on the head. Then he said, “Good job. You can rest now.”

Only after hearing those words did Winley close her eyes, as if she had fainted.

“Alright. Let’s have her undergo Metamorphosis tomorrow.”

Davey did not say that it would only take two days for nothing.

Hydro, with his jaw almost dropping to the ground, looked at Davey and said, “Bro… Isn’t, isn’t she your precious younger sister?”

“It’s because she’s precious that I have to be strict when teaching her.”

Of course, Davey no longer intended to interfere. After all, Winley could now accomplish her complete Metamorphosis well on her own.

If the software wasn’t good enough, then they had no choice but to create a hardware that would give her the constitution that would allow her to get familiar with mana.

Davey hugged Winley, who was now fast asleep, and Davey headed to the campsite they had set up ahead of time. Then, with a flick of his fingers, he released the magic circle that he prepared in advance.

“Okay. Then, let’s see…”

Clang, clang!!!

Davey’s mutterings were cut short when the ringing of a strange bell reached his ears and an eerie energy enveloped his body.