F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 364: Simple But Effective

For two more Hissing Cycles, the three kept the observation to themselves and decided to confirm their suspicions first.

It wasn’t too difficult.

So, on the third time of them hiding in a burrow since they first noticed the anomaly, the human trio almost simultaneously opened to discuss the matter.

The three of them agreed among themselves, concluding that what they noticed was true.

The first thing that entered Elara’s mind was the Vesharis.

They were naturally more attuned to nature than humans, so they’d probably determined this already and were slightly ahead in terms of thinking of a solution.

But the process of thinking and actually finding one was two different things.

They still had a chance to not only catch up, but also potentially avoid a dangerous skirmish.

The first step in solving problems is, naturally, to identify the problem first.

In simple terms, they weren’t getting closer to their destination, or perhaps they were, but very, very slowly.

It was as though one were a child chasing after the moon.

The reason for that was size, distance, and light. The moon was massive and bright enough to be visible to the humans of Neo-Earth despite the impossible distance.

A child couldn’t understand such a complex matter at such a tender age, creating the illusion of the celestial body being elusive.

A distorted sense of distance was undoubtedly one of the reasons why it seemed like they weren’t getting any closer.

Now, the next question was what was causing this distorted sense of distance.

’A mirage, probably?’ Elara pondered.

Daru, meanwhile, wasn’t too learned in such matters. He had a different approach, though his would also help his more complex information-savvy comrades figure things out.

"How about we run tests?" he suggested.

Durandal only looked at him, as if waiting, while the princess was as vocal as ever:

"Out with it, then. What test have you thought of?"

"I don’t know what to call it, but let’s just call it the X-mark test?" Daru said, eyes wandering as if in deep thought for a moment, before meeting the gazes of the two SSS-rankers.

Elara didn’t need further explanations.

Her lightning-fast brain processes immediately gave her an idea of what this X-mark test was all about.

After all, she found Daru’s making landmarks through X marks a bit adorable.

"Ah! Good idea, Daru! Alright, for starters, let’s do that X mark thing of yours."

Durandal’s brain wasn’t as quick as the princess’s, but he, too, inwardly agreed.

"Alright then, boys, chop chop and get to sleep. We’d always need those extra stamina points."

With the watcher’s urging, the two drifted off and woke up a little over an hour later.

They then began by marking the nearby trees in their area before they began moving forward.

The X mark test is as simple as that.

They would see how far they actually traveled based on it, perhaps even get a clue about why they weren’t progressing or weren’t progressing as much as they hoped.

Of course, the trio remained wary of Swordspawns and the Vesharis, finding it strange that the latter weren’t causing problems for them.

Daru wasn’t one to start conversations, and it was Elara who usually couldn’t stay put without chatting with someone.

She even talked to Peter from time to time when the Aziyan was still with them and was sincere with her attempts, even if it seemed like she was only looking for trouble.

It was strange to him that she wasn’t utilizing her freedom of speech.

He glanced at his comrades, finding both of them to be deep in thought.

Daru appreciated the silence and solemn atmosphere, so he did nothing to disturb it.

Elara and Durandal were, once again, lost in Sylvares’ looming shadow.

They were trying to deduce why the Vesharis weren’t attacking them, optimistically anchoring their suspicions to what could be the limitations of their recently sworn adversary’s abilities.

Sylvares wasn’t a god. Far from it.

He must simply be adept at hiding the limitations of his abilities, which is why he appeared so horrifying.

Elara and Durandal refused to believe that SSS-tier Soulbound Swords could have such a massive gap in capabilities.

They already fancied themselves untouchable by those beneath them, so how could someone be untouchable to them, the pinnacle of rankers?

There must be a carefully masked crack in that seemingly invincible offense and defense.

Soon, the Hissing was upon them again, and the trio hid in a burrow.

There were strangely a lot in this area, yet the Swordspawns are only getting scarcer. They hadn’t actually encountered anything for two Hissings now — a sign that they’ve been progressing.

Daru and Elara went right to sleep, while Durandal remained deep within his mind.

Another hour or so later, they woke up, and to the princess’s surprise, Daru suggested that they go back this time.

He had a different plan for the X mark test.

"Are you stupid?" Durandal said coldly. "Wouldn’t we be giving the Vesharis the Verdant Nucleus like this?"

"Would it kill you to speak a little nicer, you jerk?" Elara retorted, while Daru was much calmer.

"I am not stupid." He answered the first question plainly, then the second: "While there is indeed a chance that we would be giving the enemies the Verdant Nucleus, this will be our fastest way to know what is happening. I suspect there’s something weird going on with the space."

"Isn’t that obvious?" the Noravian SSS-ranker sneered. "How would you even figure things out that way?"

Daru wasn’t too savvy with complex information about matters other than the sword, but he had his simple and effective, purely mechanical ways.

"Earlier, I counted my total steps in relation to our pacing and distance covered per step. We only need to walk back the same way, and the distance of the X marks will give us the answer."

This was a rather bold risk and a potential waste of time they were taking.

But Elara chose to trust Daru, voicing her agreement, even if only to side with him against the half-jerk.

She inwardly took back what she said before; she would choose the lizard-eater over Durandal any day of the week.

"Hmph. Fine, but if we lose the race, do know that I’ll be mentioning this."

"Ha! Haha! Mention it, then. It’s not like we’re doing this to deliberately lose, you fool. However, if what Daru suggested worked, I wonder if you’ll be mentioning this, too?"

Durandal only responded with a sneer and a dissatisfied shake of his head, the retort hitting him squarely.

He knew he wouldn’t mention it if it worked.

...And it did work.

On their way back, before Daru could even get to half his step count, they had already arrived at the X-marks.