Chapter 95 Huh?
[God's Remains Labyrinth] 15th Floor.
Before me stood a gigantic tree, the guardian of the 15th floor, Elder Treant, on the Grassland Floor. I pulled out a wooden sword from my Storage Ring.
It's not the usual "Black Radiance".
Just a regular wooden sword carved from ordinary Treant material.
Regular, that is, but not low-quality, of course. Treant material is known for being one of the hardest and sturdiest woods, highly valued for furniture and craftwork.
As a material for wooden swords, it's even higher quality than ordinary trees like oak or ebony, and Necronia, which produces a lot of Treant material, is considered one of the 2 sacred lands in the wooden sword industry, alongside Labyrinth City Alvhelm, the owner of the [Holy Tree Labyrinth] (according to the magazine "Wooden Sword Way").
I called it a regular wooden sword because it's a training sword you can buy at any weapon shop.
I can easily carve a wooden sword from Treant material now, but I bought this one in bulk for a certain reason.
However, I do feel a sense of discomfort holding a wooden sword that's not "Black Radiance".
Compared to "Black Radiance", this wooden sword feels too light, and I can't help but feel a lack of reliability.
But I shouldn't have any problems, since I used to explore labyrinths with a wooden sword just like this a few years ago. In fact, when I first defeated Elder Treant, I was using a regular wooden sword too.
Thinking about it, I've become quite spoiled lately.
――Anyway.
I'm about 30 meters away from Elder Treant (≈ 98.4 feet).
This is the closest I can get without Elder Treant reacting, so I held my wooden sword up high.
Then, I swung it down carelessly.
The trajectory was a parabola.
The aura blade, tracing the path of the sword, flew forward, heading towards Elder Treant.
My unique sword technique――combined technique [Heavy Flying Blade]
The aura blade struck the thick trunk before Elder Treant could even react, producing a heavy, painful sound.
Immediately after.
The tower-like massive trunk tilted, its upper half sliding down along the severed surface with a loud crash.
The massive impact sent shockwaves through the ground, making it feel like an earthquake, and Elder Treant's remains began to dissipate into magical energy――at which point, I finally turned around.
Behind me, a large group of explorers were watching the scene of the battle... no, the logging operation, their eyes wide with amazement.
I gave them a single nod and said briefly.
"――Huh?"
The meaning packed into that single sound was a confirmation, asking if they understood.
Their reactions were intense.
"――What the hell?!"
"Not possible!"
"This can't be real!"
"How did you do that?!"
I let out a sigh at their barrage of denials.
What a bunch of whiners.
* * *
The day after the incident at the tavern, our clan, ≪Wooden Sword Way≫, was officially recognized by the Guild and established.
72 Expert explorers gathered, forming a massive clan unprecedented in history.
I became the Clan Master, with Io as my Submaster.
To be honest, when we discussed it at my place, Lady Eva and 3 others were against me becoming the Clan Master, and Io was supposed to take the position.
However, for some reason, after the incident at the tavern, Io declined the position, and I ended up taking the seat.
Lady Eva complained about it later, but Io convinced her otherwise.
So, with me as the Master, ≪Wooden Sword Way≫ was successfully established――and a week has passed since then.
During this time, we had to work hard to establish our clan's system.
First, we prepared our clan house and workshop.
So, relying on Mr. Tyler's connections, I decided to buy out a furniture workshop that was struggling to stay afloat and was on the verge of closing down. It was a pretty large workshop, with a workspace that was as vast as a warehouse, and a big house next to it where the master craftsmen and their apprentices lived.
Many of our clan members already have their own homes in Necronia, so they don't need to move in here, but some members who were living in dorms asked to move in, so we let them.
The workshop itself still had all the equipment, which was great because we could repurpose it for making wooden swords. Especially the workbench that could fix wood in place was a must-have.
Lathe processing machines or chisels? Other tools?
Nah, we don't need those. If we use them, it won't be training.
By the way, the funds for buying the workshop were split 50/50 between me and Lady Eva.
Even if the clan were to disband someday, I could still use it, so it would've been fine if I paid for it all myself. But Lady Eva decided to pay from her own pocket for the sake of having a say in the clan's management.
Currently, Lady Eva can't touch the Kirke family's funds, so it was a significant personal expense for her.
Anyway...
After securing the workshop, which we dubbed "Clan House," we cleaned up the workshop and the adjacent house, and finally began our full-scale activities. Before that, I went around Necronia's weapon shops and bought a large quantity of wooden swords, wooden spears, wooden bows, and wooden arrows without metal or stone tips.
By the way, I was able to order wooden arrows with sharpened tips that were hardened by fire. However, no wooden shield was made anywhere, so I had to make them myself.
That's because ordinary wooden shields are reinforced with metal or leather, like round shields, and no one was selling shields made entirely of wood.
Reinforcing with metal or leather is cheating.
At first, I struggled to make my first wooden shield, but I managed to create a magnificent one using Treant wood.
Well, it's just a matter of thinking that this is a type of wooden sword, and it's easy, right? (?)
After preparing a large quantity of wooden weapons and shields, I gathered the clan members at the workshop and explained our future activity plans and gave a lecture.
Our training policy is, of course, to strongly commit to it like we promised at the tavern, just like the Wooden Swordsmith. I explained the training method to achieve that.
Naturally, doubts arise.
For ordinary people who haven't awakened yet, it's hard to believe that making a wooden sword can make you stronger.
But, in reality, I and Fiona are living proof that it's possible. And when we had our clan members hold knives and carve wood, they all understood the effects of this training in just about an hour ([Aura Blade] training for Jobs that can't use it will be discussed later).
To be specific, they quickly became exhausted from depleted magical energy and turned groggy.
Even with a small knife, the experience of continuously carving wood while maintaining an aura is something no one has ever done before. Even in battle, using [Aura Blade] usually only lasts for tens of seconds to a few minutes.
Just sustaining a single skill is a considerable burden for those who aren't used to it. They can't control the skill's output, and their aura flows out, causing even those with a lot of magical energy to deplete it in under an hour and collapse.
And once they get used to this, they've only just reached the starting line as a novice Wooden Swordsmith. From here, they need to learn how to efficiently use and control their aura, or making a wooden sword will just be a pipe dream.
But that's exactly why the effectiveness of this training method is understandable. Especially when you see Fiona, who's still making wooden swords with a cool face while they're down, the difference is clear as day.
After all, just a few months ago, Fiona was a complete novice. Of course, it's thanks to Fiona's efforts, but the difference that's been created in just a few months is something they can quickly understand when compared to themselves.
I enthusiastically explained to my clan members, who were lying on the workbench or sleeping on the floor, what kind of things they could achieve by mastering wooden sword crafting.
I'll crush the doubts of those who don't believe in wooden swords, one by one. Sometimes with logical explanations, and sometimes by showing off my skills right in front of them.
Let me give them an example. By crafting wooden swords, I can develop the power to control auras, and even combine 2 or more skills. I demonstrated this to my clan members, complete with a live performance.
I rented out the guild's training grounds and showed them my combined technique right before their eyes. "What's the combination of skills you're using?" they asked.
For some reason, many of them didn't get it at first, but when Fiona used a combined technique with [Flying Slash] and [Burst Blade], they suddenly understood.
It seems my combined technique didn't look like a skill to them from the start.
Fiona's combined technique wasn't bad either, but when she did it slowly, they could understand how it worked from the flow and variation of auras.
It took a little while, but we finally got a grasp on the training method. And so, our clan, ≪Wooden Sword Way≫, decided to venture into the labyrinth for the first time to do some real clan activities.
I almost forgot, but ≪Wooden Sword Way≫ isn't a workshop name, it's an explorer clan... for now, at least.
Anyway, we made it to the 15th floor of the [God's Remains Labyrinth]. We're now facing the guardian, Elder Treant.
So, what are we doing here? We came to collect the wood material needed for wooden swords. As part of our training, I decided to have our clan members fight with wooden weapons from today onwards.
We'll fight using wooden swords, wooden spears, and wooden arrows, and collect Treant materials from the Treants in this floor. I'm not saying we can take down Elder Treant with wooden swords from the start, but we should be able to defeat normal Treants at least.
As a Wooden Swordsmith, it's only natural to gather the materials they use themselves. ...Well, woodwork Jobs don't do that, but...
By the way, the ones I brought here today are not all the clan members, but rather the members excluding those with the Magician job.
Anyway.
"You think we can take down Treant with a wooden sword? That's ridiculous!!"
"You monster! You're just messing with us!!"
"Training with a wooden sword is already crazy, and now you want us to fight with it? You're going to get even crazier!!"
To shut up those idiots who kept spewing out unbearable insults, I showed them that I could take down an Elder Treant with a normal wooden sword.
That's what happened earlier.
* * *
――But.
Even though I proved that it's possible to take down an Elder Treant with a wooden sword, the clan members' booing didn't stop.
What's their problem, anyway?
So, I asked the clan members to stop their unbearable insults.
"Shut up, you idiots!!"
"――Who's the idiot?!"
"It's definitely you, you wooden sword idiot!!"
"You're the one who's crazy about wooden swords!!"
――The insults got even more intense, several times over.
These guys are something else, going against the Clan Master like that.
At this rate, I'd have to shut them up with a punch, and I was about to do just that when――I suddenly remembered.
This situation feels familiar. Specifically, it reminds me of when I showed off my combined technique at the guild's training grounds.
Which means――,
"Fiona!"
"What is it?"
If Fiona demonstrates it, they'll understand, won't they?
That's what I thought, so I called out to Fiona to talk to her.
"When the Elder Treant respawns, can you take it down this time?"
"Huh? Me?"
"Yeah. I mean, aside from me, you're the only one who can do it."
The other members still can't take down an Elder Treant with a wooden weapon, but Fiona should be able to do it now.
Of course, not with "Black Radiance", but with a normal wooden sword.
However, Fiona looked a bit uneasy.
"Umm... but I've never taken down an Elder Treant with a wooden sword that's not 'Black Radiance'..."
By the way, I ended up creating "Black Radiance" pretty quickly.
"It's all good. Fighting with 'Black Radiance' isn't that different, you know. You're fine now."
"Hmm... got it."
As if she had made up her mind, Fiona nodded resolutely, and this time, she decided to fight.
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