The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

Volume 26 Chapter 6 — The Genesis of Sculpting

“I have come to deliver the sword and tell you about the bravery of the people who fought and bled to rid the world of Balkan.”

“Oh, the God Sword! Never could I have imagined for such item to be returned to the church!”

The Bishop accepted the Sword of Lugh.

“I have heard tales of Balkan’s defeat. Warrior, you have achieved a great feat for the peace of the Continent.”

You have returned the Sword of Lugh.

The Church of Lugh made tremendous sacrifices in order to stop the King of the Undead, Balkan Demoph. Balkan’s body was ultimately pierced by the God Sword, successfully sealing off the nearly unlimited magical power of the Lich. In the end, Balkan was defeated by a group of warriors and the sword has now been returned into the hands of the church.

Fame increased by 1,700.

Friendship with the Church of Lugh is now at 32.

Your Contribution Points with the Church of Lugh increased by 1,950.

You can check your Contribution Points with Churches under the Religion tab.

Total Contribution Points with the Church of Lugh: 2,573.

By upholding such sacred act, Faith increased by 13.

At this very moment, the Priests and Paladins who fought with Weed against the Undead Legion experienced a change. Their Faith and Contribution Points with the Church of Lugh increased significantly. Although majority of

Morata’s population were believers of Freya, the Priests that fought against the Undead Legion were made up of many denominations.

For the Priests and Paladins from the Church of Lugh, their increase in Faith was especially high. Even then, the increase of Faith to players from other denominations was not small either. Some Advanced Priests found their Faith increased by 30 and even Paladin’s attack skill, which was based on Faith and Strength, increased slightly.

And of course, the Geomchis who played a vital role in the battle against the Undead Legion, had their Faith and Contribution also increased.

“Ara, Contribution Points increased.”

“What’s a Contribution Point?”

“Sa-hyung, could this be something bad?”

The Geomchis, who were gathered in Vargo Fortress eating meat, were bewildered by the message that suddenly popped up. In their midst, Geomchi127 who pretended to be educated, as he had a computer proficiency certificate, explained.

“If you have a lot of Contribution Points, you can go there and receive a free meal.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. I saw this before somewhere. If your Contribution Points are high, you can use them to get items and free meals.”

“Are you sure that a church would actually give meat?”

“I don’t think they even have beer.”

“Then this is completely useless, isn’t it?”

Even though their Contribution Points rose, the Geomchis could not find any use for it. Truthfully, the Geomchis, by accepting a difficult quest, had increased their friendship with the NPCs and also had slightly raised their Achievements and Contribution Points.

“Geomchi3 Sa-hyung, what do we do with this Faith?”

“No. 8, does it help with battle?”

“No, not at all.”

“Then, that’s useless as well.”

For Warrior like Geomchis, Faith actually did not help them much at all. Warriors could apply to become guards for a temple. They could be part of temple’s subjugation force and fight monsters and receive quests. If Warriors had faith and were on a quest for the temple, in a very rare occasion a special blessing or a small miracle could happen. But overall, Faith was not important for them.

Faith could increase the resistance against curses, but like before, it was not by a large degree. Even for a Sculptor like Weed, he only gained a slight benefit from Faith while wearing parts of equipment or doing a religious quest. Unless the player was a Priest or a Paladin, Faith could not be used proactively.

“I got excited for nothing. Let’s just eat.”

“Yes, Sa-hyung.”

Starting from the residents of Morata, the people of Northern Continent spoke concurrently.

“The hero that defeated Balkan has returned to Sword of Lugh to the church today.”

“No matter how far and wide you search the continent, no one has undergone such amazing and mysterious adventures like the Lord of Morata.”

“I heard he accomplished every duty assigned to him.”

*****

The Bishop continued to speak.

“Lord, this patronage to the Church of Lugh, this monumental achievement shall be recorded in our annals forever.”

“I only followed what my conscience directed me to do. I do not know if this is the righteousness that people speak of, but I just could not turn a blind eye to Balkan, who believed might makes right. I did what I thought was right, without any thoughts of reward or glory.”

In truth, it was all brazen hypocritical words, but the Bishop ate up everything Weed told him.

“You have truly accomplished a great deed.”

Weed hoped there might be more, but nothing materialized. While he did play a critical role, many other players contributed to the quest as well, making it impossible for him to receive something exclusive for himself.

‘Looks like I need to be satisfied with the Contribution Points.’

But just the increase in Friendship with the Church of Lugh had a positive effect. Because Weed was the Lord of Morata, the Church of Lugh would dispatch greater number of Paladins and invest more into the city.

The Bishop passed his hands over the blackened spots on the sword.

“Unfortunately, the Sword of Lugh has been corrupted by Balkan’s magic.”

“I am truly sorry to hear that.”

“It’s not too late for us to lose hope. The divine power of the sword can be recovered in the land that dwells in calamity, Argoldia.”

Argoldia was one of the 10 Forbidden Regions on the Continent. It was a desolate landscape of where it was impossible for even a blade of grass to grow. The Church of Lugh maintained a sanctum there but the Magicians of Dark Wood released Chimeras and monsters, making the region uninhabitable.

“Brave adventurer, the Church of Lugh is planning to lead an expedition to this sanctum with its finest Paladins and Priests. Will you not join them and lead them in the right direction?”

DING!

Become a Guide to the Sanctum

The Bishop of the Church of Lugh plans to send an expedition to Argoldia to restore the power of the sword.

Will you not become the guide through the treacherous rocky mountain path to the sanctum?

Because you can command the ever faithful Paladins and Priests, you will be primarily responsible for the failure of the expedition.

Difficulty: S.

Quest Restriction: Those who have murderer status or evil alignment cannot receive the quest. Requires Faith stat.

If the quest fails Faith will decrease, Friendship with Church of Lugh will decline.

‘Just my luck it’s Argoldia…’

Jigolaths, Grapass, it felt like he had some kind of connection to the 10 Forbidden Regions. And on top of that, the extremely high difficulty rating!

“The door of suffering is opening automatically for me.”

Weed shook his head.

“Unfortunately, I have an appointed duty I must take care of and cannot spare the time for this.”

“Adventurer, restoring the God Sword is a crucial task!”

“If it’s the Paladins of the Church of Lugh, suppressing the monsters should not be a difficult task for them.”

Argoldia was vastly different compared to Grapass. It was located deeply within the mountain range in the Central Continent, with concentration of terrifying flying monsters. Although hunting was done once in awhile in Grapass, there was virtually no information on Argoldia.

Even then, if the Church sent its finest Paladins and Priest, an expedition to Argoldia was possible. It was only that Weed thought doing the Sculpting Master Quest or trying to find the last sculpting secret legacy as more important.

“But Adventurer, I have heard of your reputation. I know for a fact there is no one who puts their faith in others like you. Are you really thinking of rejecting the position as the guide?”

“More than my duty to the Church of Lugh, there is work I have to accomplish for the peace of the whole Versailles. I must accomplish this task first.”

“Well, if it’s like that… then there is nothing I can do. It’s not a task I can enforce but if you have a change of heart, please come and talk to me. ”

You have rejected the Quest.

Friendship with the Church of Lugh fallen by 7.

Your Contribution Points with Church of Lugh decreased by 149.

Faith decreased by 2.

*****

After Weed rejected the Bishop’s proposal, a quest was created by the Church of Lugh.

Expedition to Argoldia

After the demise of Balkan, the Sword of Lugh pierced into his chest has been returned to the Church.

But the power of the sword has been corrupted by the Lich’s Dark Magic.

The Church of Lugh is looking for people to participate in the expedition lead personally by the Bishop with 80 Elite Paladins and 45 Elite Priests.

Those who are dependable will be presented a great mission by the Church of Lugh.

Difficulty: A

Quest Restriction: Those who have murderer status or evil alignment cannot receive the quest.

The difficulty decreased by a rank and the expedition to Argoldia was opened up to the players in Morata.

“Wow… it’s unbelievable.”

“Just imagine succeeding the quest.”

“This is like a real adventure. Not only that, it’s in one of 10 Forbidden Region, Argoldia.”

“This will definitely be covered by the news network.”

The players who started in Morata were envious as they could not participate in the expedition. Majority of them were still beginners so only players who had crossed over from the Central Continent could participate.

“Do you know any who accepted this quest?”

“Don’t know. But I heard the high level players who are in dungeons and hunting grounds are coming back in large numbers.”

“I just saw Spencer entering the Lugh Church to sign up for the expeditionary force.”

One of the most brilliant adventurer in Royal Road, Spencer! He was one of the first to come to Northern Continent. He based himself in Morata and also showed off his excavations once in awhile.

As the rumor of him accepting this quest was spread widely between the players, the number of knights and warriors accepting the quest exploded. The players could receive support from the Priests and even in the case the quest failed, the expedition would only deepen their connection to the Church of Lugh so there were quite a few players who thought positively about the quest.

*****

Weed left the Church of Lugh and entered the Sculptor’s Guild in Morata.

On streets leading to the Bull Square, variety of Guilds were built based on the services that players required the most.

“I heard that Weed-nim returned today. Do you want to go have a look?”

“You can’t. We can’t delay our schedule on the exhibition of clay pieces for the coming festival.”

Other than the citywide, official festivals, there were many festivals planned by players themselves. The Merchant Association that held business on the different Squares hosted the festival on the appointed dates.

At these festivals, the Bards performed at the amphitheater and the players with Art classes held exhibition of their works. The cooks came out to the streets and sold food cheaply, with the favorite being the grass porridge boiled with beef.

Morata was a city with uncountable joys! The players weren’t overburdened by heavy taxes. The city followed proper planning and just staying in the rapidly developing city was fun. Recently, fairies came to play in the city and pulled the player’s attentions.

The players who had just begun Royal Road and haven’t even left the city yet, experienced the fun that was to be had in the city. Because of this, later on when they had to chose a class, the beginners chose to become merchants or related art classes rather than classes related to battle or adventures that would take them out of the city.

“Whew. Looks like another all-nighter.”

“Let’s work hard and go for a beer afterwards.”

“Sure. With deer barbeque on the side.”

For the anniversary festival of the erection of the Goddess statue, the sculptors planned an exhibition by making clay sculptures of Weed. Even a single theme of Weed had variety of topics. Orc Karichwi, Undead and the Ice Troll that made a huge impact in the recent event in Rosenheim. As Bingryong and Wyvern were extremely popular sculptures, they were added to some of the works.

Conversation among the sculptors could be heard.

“Weed is kind of amazing.”

“You mean a sculptor that can accomplish great adventures?”

“No, I mean look how much work there is for us. How does he make most of his sculptures alone?”

“It’s Art. It’s because of his burning passion and focus for Art that allows him to do so.”

Weed was a master at doing menial work most efficiently! If it wasn’t for the discipline that was tempered by doing drudgery and sewing buttons in real life, most of his sculptures in Royal Road wouldn’t have been born.

There were sculptures of Weed in his human form as well, with its equipment having close resemblance to the real thing. While the minute details of Weed’s face weren’t known, the attire he wore could cause heat waves among the players.

“This isn’t well made. Looks like it’s a bit shorter than me.”

Weed passed by the sculptures nitpicking the details. But truthfully the sculptures were so tall that their head parts couldn’t even be seen.

“Ah?”

“No way……”

Weed approached the instructor while he walked among the sculptures that were spitting images of himself.

“Isn’t that Weed-nim?”

“It’s Weed-nim! He must have some business with the Sculptor’s Guild.”

The sculptors who were queuing up for their turn opened up a path for Weed. It was like the Red Sea opening up a way for him.

‘According to the rumors, he's quite eccentric.’

‘In the Continent of Magic you never knew when his temper would erupt.’

The power and authority of a Lord! If Weed truly was a good and kind person, he would have waited for his turn. But convenience was on the better part than discretion so he walked up to the instructor.

“Greetings to Weed-nim, establisher of the path for all sculptors.”

The instructor gave a respectful bow. Even this happened because it was Morata.

Weed opened his mouth to speak out the promised phrase. It was a phrase written in the Sculptor’s primer. It were the words that could only be spoken by a Sculptor who wanted to ascend to the top.

“I have made radiant sculptures. Now, I want to attempt a legend.”

*****

Forums that posted about Royal Road were soon swarming.

Thread: Weed is attempting the Sculptor’s Master Quest.

The quest has been started at Morata Sculptor’s Guild.

At once, comments began to steam in. In mere minutes, several thousands of replies were posted.

No way! Who could possibly be doing a class mastery? And on top, it’s sculpting.

If it’s Weed, it’s possible.

Even the fast rising Horse riding skill is hard to master. But mastering the sculpting skill that’s famous for it’s devilish slow mastery? Are you playing Royal Road for the first time?

Horse riding is easy to level up? Did you at least manage to get to Advance level yet? At that level, you can skip through rivers on horseback and your horse rides like the wind.

Weed is making another miracle.

Is this for real? Is this a lie? A joke?

I just barely managed to raise my Sculpting Skill to Beginner level 5… but this, seriously!?!

In the broadcast program on Royal Road, ‘The Stories of Versailles Continent’, had mentioned about class mastery once before. The program said the Class Master quest could lead the player to do something for the Continent and there were some connections between each Race’s quest, but no one knew what direction it would take.

Unicorn Corporation, who were extremely reluctant to disclose any information about Royal Road, only revealed one additional information.

Whatever class it is, the very first Master Quest will be a bit more special. You will be able to earn great rewards and it will be slightly more difficult.

To do the very first Master Quest, players competed against each other to increase their skill level. But there were only a rare few that continued to play sorely to increase their skill level. After a certain point of hiding their skills, the players either created guilds or entered one and then created a struggle for power.

Some died trying to increase their skill mastery by wandering battlefields or fighting and some gave up depressed after their skill mastery stopped to increase.

Representing anyones class by doing a Master Quest was a great glory, which lead the player to step into the unknown.

*****

The Red Reef Forest.

A great commotion erupted among the bounty hunters and players of Hermes Guild who were preparing an ambush. They were the ones who were wondering and waiting for Weed to come.

‘To go somewhere completely different. Why did he go to Rosenheim Kingdom…?’

‘The only place he can go next is here. Weed will surely come here.’

‘He’s in Morata? His next destination must be here.’

Even a lover wouldn’t have waited this nervously.

The Red Reef Forest was a dangerous place and hunting monsters was also very difficult. They had waited a very long time for Weed and now he was going off on a Sculpting Mastery Quest?!? This meant it was truly hopeless to even predict when Weed would come here now.

“No!”

“Listen, let’s just go back to the Central Continent.”

“I should have never left home, this was a colossal waste of time and suffering.”

Most of the bounty hunters, frustrated by the setback, decided to go their separate ways. The players from Hermes Guild were also at a loss. They came here after being tasked by the Guild and could not return empty handed.

“Can’t he hurry up?”

“Is he coming or not? If he’s not coming, he should just say so!”

As Weed never made any definite promise of coming to the Red Reef Forest, they could not really argue about it.

*****

Weed was slightly confident about doing the Sculpting Master Quest.

‘No matter what type of quest it is, there shouldn’t be any major problems.’

He was a jack of all trades, whether it was battle or adventure, he was confident he could succeed in whatever task Royal Road threw at him! He already collected 5 secret sculpting legacies, the Master Quest itself didn’t feel like it would be extremely difficult.

It was merely that his Sculpting Skill was stuck at Advance level 8, clearing the minimum level requirement to receive the quest. On the quest, he would need to focus everything on increasing his sculpting skill mastery.

“Then I will tell you the old legend that has been passed on between sculptors.”

The instructor began to speak. As this would become a personal quest, Weed opened his ears and the sculptors in the guild listened in, curious about the quest.

“It was before sculpting skill was developed as an art form, as culture. This was when the monsters covered the whole continent. No matter the race, Human, Elves, Orcs, Dwarves or Barbarians, they were devoured by monsters.”

In front of Weed appeared a video only he could see.

It was even before Geihar Von Arpen unified the Continent. The gods created the Versailles Continent and soon after the various races began to appear. It was still an uncivilized era where Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Orcs had to unify their strength.

Humans stood guard against monsters, Elves cultivated crops and produced food and the Dwarves mined caves and sharpened stones for the Orcs to use as weapons. With the Orcs' fertility, Humans’ leadership, Elves’ green thumb and Dwarves’ talent for creating items, the four races managed to survive. The four races lived in harmony within the cave and together they developed law and culture.

After the video ended, the instructor continued:

“It was said that at this moment, the very first sculpting skill was born. It’s a difficult tale to believe, but this legend has been passed on by the long lived elves who have exceptional memory. I think, perhaps the Elven Elder Randelia might know more about the oldest sculpture ever created.”

DING!

The Genesis of Sculpting

The sculpting skill that was invented when the races just began to work with sands and stone.

As this is contrary to the history of the four races, investigate the truth about the very first sculpting technique.

Difficulty: Sculpting Master Quest.

Quest Restriction: Sculpting skill must be at Advance Level 8.

Must have friendly relation with the Elves.

If another sculptor did the Master Quest before him, Weed would have a reference to work with. Although Weed did not have any information to work with, he thought it was better to struggle rather than following a guide written by other people.

“Then, I shall go meet her and find out.”

You have accepted the Quest.

*****

Hermes Guild obtained information that Weed was on his way to meet the Elven Elder Randelia.

“Weed is attempting his Master Quest?”

The Hermes Guild had already conquered two-third of Kallamore Kingdom. It was a blitzkrieg that gave no chance for the other famous guilds to take advantage of. It was worthy of its name as the greatest Kingdom on the Continent.

Hermes Guild was trying to become an empire, but also leaving Weed alone to do his Master Quest rubbed them the wrong way.

“We have to stop Weed. We should dispatch troops immediately.”

“We must stop him at all cost, even if we have to turn the Elven village into wasteland.”

It was decided in a meeting between Lafaye and his close associates that Hermes Guild would send an attack force. The Elven Elder Randelia was known to live in a small village within the Forest of Life. They decided to stop Weed’s quest even if they had to attack the place.

“I give permission to kill all the elves if you must.”

In hindsight the Hermes Guild should have been a bit more patient. But right now they considered every method in order to stop Weed. They knew that public interest on the Sculpting Master Quest was high, but Hermes Guild did not even bat an eye on public opinion.

*****

Immediately after leaving the Sculptor’s Guild, Weed met up with Yurin. He planned to travel directly to the Elven village or somewhere close by with the Picture Teleportation skill. Even after all this time Yurin’s level was still at 80, but that was because she spent most of her time in Royal Road wandering around famous resorts and doing sightseeing.

“I’ve been to that village before as I heard they had the most delicious fruits. The village entrance is fine, right?”

“Yup.”

Yurin began to sketch the village from her memory. It was a sight to behold; her long hair let down with a charcoal pencil in her hand as she sketched the picture.

Even commonly beautiful celebrities had some flaws in their beauty. They could be short or their chest flat, fingers or legs could be thick, too. There were always one or two flaws in their beauty.

But at every angle or any view it was impossible to find a flaw within Seo Yoon’s beauty. Observing her silently for an hour would reveal another, newer aspect of her beauty. Even after all the sculptures of Seo Yoon he has carved, this aspect about her allowed Weed to attempt something new every time. Even Seo Yoon’s voice and the atmosphere around her was beautiful in and of itself!

Looking at his sister, Yurin did not lack of beauty.

‘It’s a shame that she is my sister.’

Excluding the poor situation at home, his sister could only be popular with the guys.

Weed spoke in a sober voice.

“You are coming home late these days.”

“I am studying late at the library.”

“Last month the cellular bill was a quite high.”

“I borrowed it to a friend for a bit and that’s what happened.”

Shashak

Yurin retorted while she was sketching

“Few days ago, I saw you putting make up before leaving.”

“I was curious how it felt with make up.”

“You were wearing a skirt yesterday…”

“It would be a waste not to wear what I have.”

Sha Sha Sha Sha Shak

Yurin’s sketching speed became even faster. While she did draw many pictures till now, it was the first time she drew this fast. But it couldn’t be helped because once Weed started lecturing, it would go on for an hour or two. The only way to avoid it was to to draw as fast as possible and escape……

The picture of the Elven village was completed in a blink of an eye.

“We are going now! Picture Teleportation!”

The moment Yurin activated her skill, the picture began rippling like water. The picture shook more violently as the distance increased.

Then, Yurin drew herself and Weed standing by the Elven village.

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