F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 324: Timber!

Daru had two objectives in mind before his fight against the Oak Runebark began, but now, he realized that he had lost himself deeply in one of them.

He couldn’t believe he forgot to check something so simple in the first few exchanges.

’A hollow...’

The moment the evergreen spawn uprooted itself, its roots and branches adjusted to be legs and arms, but its torso was never affected by the changes.

So, in the next few exchanges, Daru worked hard to check its entire body, having to use Swallow Step once to check its back.

A satisfied smile appeared on his face.

The Oak Runebark did not have a hollow, which would allow him to detect them in advance, even if they decided to stay still and wait for him to get close.

The tall tree he climbed on his first death turned out to be one such Swordspawn and was not a predatory tree, because the latter type had maw-like hollows they used to consume the dried up husks of their victims.

’One matter down...’ he mused, dodging another vicious stab with a sidestep, then chopping down on the Oak Runebark’s sword arm, this time with Mountainsplitter.

[- 450!]

It was a promising counterstrike.

While it was still far from his expected damage of at least three thousand hitpoints, it was already equivalent to four and a half clean attacks against this extremely tough opponent.

Then he noticed them.

The other wounds he dealt to that same sword arm.

In the next moment, a brilliant idea entered his mind, one he was eager to try.

Perhaps this was the key to defeating these hardy foes?

The Oak Runebark, although extremely difficult to kill and having deadly strength, was not that fast, nor were they highly skilled in swordsmanship.

Its entire hunting strategy revolved around persistence and wearing down its prey until the prey couldn’t resist anymore.

It wasn’t even a stretch to say that Daru was merely toying with it right now.

Still, this doesn’t mean guaranteed victory, as the evergreen spawn’s strategy was plain impossible to bypass.

He would have to kill it before he ran out of stamina, or he would be the one losing his life.

Daru schemed, prioritizing precision over power this time.

His eyes moved sharply along with his body.

Staying for a while longer than he should, Daru baited out and dodged a sweeping strike, then exploded into a rising slash.

Onimaru Kunitsuna’s blade accurately traced and passed a part of the Oak Runebark where the bark had been chipped, cutting deeper into it.

[- 130]

Daru jumped back to reset, a shadow of a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

He was right!

Hitting the same part over and over would allow him to deal more damage than he normally would’ve.

The increase didn’t seem significant.

However, not only would the damage accumulate, but it would continue to increase the more times he cut into the same spot.

Daru was reinvigorated, a considerable portion of his worries vanishing like cold mist upon the approach of mid-morn.

"I win, tree!" he declared far in advance.

Mental space freeing up, his dance of divine steel slowly became soul-stirring, then outright resplendent as his steps grew bolder, his strikes more decisive.

Soon, it was like he was in a demonstration...as though everything had long been rehearsed, and the Oak Runebark was a willing receiver of the techniques.

It was impossible to hit every wound accurately every time.

However, the more Daru fought the evergreen spawn, the more accustomed he got to its movements.

While its fighting style was dynamic, there was only so much someone or something could do with limited agility.

More of his strikes landed on the existing but slowly healing wounds, making them worse.

[-139]

[-128]

Then, a few more minutes later, for the third time on a few wounds, with one ruthlessly struck for the fourth.

[-206]

[-198]

...

[-290!]

...

[-204]

The situation had now turned more than just winnable.

Of course, it remained impossible to cut the tree down on a single stamina reserve, so Daru still had to use his stamina potions, though with this method, he would have to spend considerably less.

It was only a matter of time.

Yet, there were no hints of panic in the Oak Runebark’s actions, as if it weren’t capable of feeling pain or having worries.

Its uneven, reverse-triangle-like face was also devoid of features.

Daru simply had no way to know what his foe was thinking or how it was feeling.

Not like he has to...

He was heavily dominating, after all.

A few more minutes later, something he had been plotting finally bore fruit.

He had managed to bait out the same sequence from the Oak Runebark.

Daru stopped for a moment, feigning exhaustion. Then, the instant the evergreen spawn stabbed out with its sword arm, he neatly sidestepped, pivoted his foot, and chopped down at the extended, wooden limb — eyes focused on a single spot.

Before Onimaru Kunitsuna’s blade touched the foe, a black aura accommodated its shape.

The tachi soon bit into the hardy wood, resulting in a heavy clack...then a satisfying snapping sound.

[-3,150!]

Daru managed to take the Oak Runebark’s entire sword arm, golden sap flowing out of the severance.

This was the beginning of the end for the once-daunting tree spawn.

While its arm — now shorter — simply morphed to a new blade, the range has significantly decreased.

The battle only got easier and easier for him.

Eventually, after two more stamina potions...

The evergreen spawn froze, toppling forward after a final slash to the chest area that landed on a deep wound — struck at that spot for the fourth time.

[You’ve slain a Swordspawn of Life, Oak Runebark Lv.80]

[You’ve obtained 65,070 Experience Points.] 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

[You’ve obtained (1) Vitality Seed.]

[You’ve obtained (2) Life Sap.]

Daru took a deep breath, adjusting his mental state.

He had won as he had claimed. However, he wasn’t sure whether the battle was worth it.

The experience points he gained were massive, true, but he used up a considerable portion of his stamina potion reserves, and he was now down to mere 3 units of Greater Stamina Potion and seven standard ones.

Maybe the items he obtained would clarify.

Daru accessed his inventory.