The Duke's Son :Re-Chapter 195
Is this where I die?
That was the Thunder Emperor’s first thought when Boland’s eyes sharpened and he reached for the handle that peeked from his cloak. But what Boland withdrew was not a sword but a hand plow.
"Free Farming: First Style; Sowing.”
Boland pointed his hand plow to the sky like a triumphant general. With his other hand, he threw out a spray of seeds with a swipe of his sleeves.
He-he’s really sowing seeds...
The Thunder Emperor stared blankly at the descending seeds before awakening with a start. He shoved his hands forward with a shout. Lightning surged from his palms in long, endlessly splitting branches. It filled the sky, latched onto the seeds, and arced wildly between them.
Under the Thunder Emperor’s Chain Lightning, the expanse between him and Boland became a blinding lightning sea. However, Boland’s seeds were anything but ordinary: no larger than a pinky nail—the seemingly insignificant seeds in fact contained a tremendous amount of condensed mana. Amid coursing lightning, some of the seeds cracked and exploded.
The earth shook as a string of booms resounded.
The explosive power of one seed was sufficient to vaporize everything within a one-meter radius, so the whole area instantly turned into chaos.
The Thunder Emperor activated Thunder Armor, and countless tendrils of lightning circulated around the Thunder Emperor and Jae-Hyeok. When the explosion reached them, the lightning absorbed one portion of the shockwave and deflected another.
Not taking his eyes from Boland, the Thunder Emperor said, “Let’s work together. Joining forces with a kid is better than nothing.”
His meaning was clear: I didn’t help out of kindness, so don’t get the wrong idea.
Jae-Hyeok grunted in agreement, blood trickling from his nose and mouth—despite the Thunder Emperor’s protective lighting, as well as his own barrier of sword energy, he had suffered numerous internal injuries after one exchange.
That was just how powerful the seeds were.
And Jae-Hyeo knew that couldn’t be all; Sowing seeds is just the beginning of farming.
The higher the level of a martial Skill, the more complex and profound it was. Boland’s Skills couldn’t be simple, and “Free Farming” was clearly rooted in agriculture.
Jae-Hyeok looked around before urgently shouting.
“Be careful!”
The ground was dotted with small holes. Of Boland’s seeds, many hadn’t exploded and burrowed into the earth.
“Free Farming: Second Style; Super Growth.”
As expected, sowing seeds was but the groundwork for another attack; following Boland’s words, plants erupted from the ground. Initially, the plants looked like some sort of grass, but in moments, Jae-Hyeok recognized the truth: Beanstalks!
Rapidly growing, the beanstalks soared into the sky. Jae-Hyeok slashed at the stalks, but the beanstalks were absurdly tough and regenerated in the blink of an eye.
One became two, two became four—beanstalks sprouted endlessly.
What the hell is this...
Jae-Hyeok lifted his foot to avoid a questing vine from wrapping around his ankle. Next, he twisted to the side as a large vine lashed toward his back. Still, it grazed him. It tore through the protective layer of lightning and shredded his back.
The Thunder Emperor hastily summoned a new layer of protective lightning around Jae-Hyeok. At the same time, he shouted, “Just a little longer!” His right hand held a crackling ball of lightning energy that had been building for a long time. It was so dazzling that looking directly at it was difficult.
This was the Thunder Emperor’s ultimate attack, his signature Skill: Path Opened by the Emperor.
Jae-Hyeok thought, It might not do much, but I won’t stand by. I’ll also make my move when the time comes.
Engaging a transcendent being like Boland was unquestionably life-threatening. Nevertheless, Jae-Hyeok wasn’t shaken. In the first place, this crisis originated from a quest, so he probably wouldn’t die. Not to mention, he had the Thunder Emperor by his side. He might seem like a punching bag right now, but he was a contender for Earth’s strongest player.
He is truly a secret weapon raised by the Communist Party.
The Thunder Emperor noticed Jae-Hyeok’s calm demeanor and was astonished.
Regardless of whether it was a quest or not, a being of overwhelming power was currently lobbing attacks their way. A slight graze could leave even him seriously injured. And yet the Chinese kid’s black eyes were perfectly calm.
The kid doesn’t have an ounce of fear in him. As expected of a human weapon from the Communist Party—their brainwashing techniques are unparalleled. Although he is strangely kind for a killing puppet...
The Thunder Emperor thought of how the Chinese kid had rushed to support him when he’d collapsed, or how the Chinese kid had thrown himself into the flame to protect the fields...
No, that had to be an act. He was probably trained in how to earn people’s goodwill...
Thunder Emperor dodged several lashing beanstalk vines and returned his attention to the thunder energy gathering at his palm. A hundred twenty percent... It was the first time he had accumulated so much lightning energy in his life. Even he couldn’t predict how powerful it would be.
Surely he won’t die, right?
The Thunder Emperor briefly worried he might kill Boland. But it was better that than the alternative. He had to wipe out the rampant beanstalks while he could.
“I’m warning you. Be careful!” the Thunder Emperor shouted to Boland. Then the thunder energy in his hand slowly elongated. After several breaths, the ball of lightning was now a brilliant spear.
“Behold, Path Opened by the Emperor.”
The Thunder Emperor threw the spear, and in that moment, Jae-Hyeok understood that the name of Skill wasn’t arrogant at all.
The brilliant spear contained an irresistible strength, leaving only ash in its wake. Even the beanstalks struck disappeared for good, unable to regenerate from dust.
Wherever the spear passed, the air was heated to the point of creating a weak vacuum. Everything sounded distant, and all that Jae-Hyeok saw was white.
“Wow... ”
Jae-Hyeok fell into a daze. In that white world, he forgot where he was and what he was doing.
Meanwhile, after tearing a line through the forest of beanstalks, the lightning spear reached a beanstalk that was far, far beyond the rest. It was as wide and thick as a large building, and the ground rumbled as it continued expanding from the ground. The spear met the mountainous beanstalk, and—
Jae-Hyeok blinked; a black moon had appeared in the world of white.
Then the brilliance of the spear slowly receded, and Jae-Hyeok realized what he was seeing: ahead was a mountainous beanstalk with a hole the size of a house in its center. Jae-Hyeok approached while wondering if the World Tree was also a beanstalk.
Meanwhile, snapping sounds rang out, and the beanstalk tilted precariously. Kyoreh just stared fixedly at the Thunder Emperor with wide eyes, unable to hide his surprise. He didn’t notice Jae-Hyeok moving under the shadow of the beanstalk.
“Go, kid!” the Thunder Emperor shouted.
The thunder energy left by the spear suddenly gathered toward Jae-Hyeok, condensing into a pair of wings.
It was Thunder Wings, an advanced Skill linked to the Path Opened by the Emperor Skill.
[Speed is doubled while Thunder Wings is active.]
[Attack power is increased by 1.5 times while Thunder Wings is active.]
[All attacks gain the advanced lightning attribute while Thunder Wings is active.]
Jae-Hyeok had been charging forward while bending the footwork of the Kang family with the farmer’s step. As Thunder Wings took effect, his speed reached an unprecedented realm.
I have to finish it!
The sudden quest that had popped up following Boland’s attack instructed them to withstand the attacks. However, Jae-Hyeok and the Thunder Emperor had decided they had to defeat Boland first. Boland was a monster who’d devastated the entire area just by sowing seeds and summoning a towering beanstalk straight out of a fairy tale. He couldn’t be allowed to continue—or else, who knew what his next attack might be.
Gripping his sword through his white gauntlets, Jae-Hyeok narrowed the distance to Boland in the blink of an eye and used Two Scythes Block a Cart.
Unsurprisingly, Boland easily read the trajectory of his sword and twin aura slashes. But he didn’t anticipate the tribulation lightning, which struck the top of his head with a flash and a roar.
“An artifact capable of triggering a thunder tribulation, albeit an imperfect one, is rare. You wield this double-edged weapon quite skillfully.” Boland muttered.
“Was that a thunder tribulation?” Standing in the distance, the Thunder Emperor doubted what he’d just seen.
Meanwhile, Jae-Hyeok was shocked. Boland was completely fine. Smoke rose from the top of his head, but he hadn’t even flinched. Jae-Hyeok couldn’t even guess how high his lightning resistance was.
“Free Farming: Fourth Style”— 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
Skipping the third one and going straight to the fourth? It was a bit unexpected, but Jae-Hyeok had a good guess on the next form of attack.
—“Plow the Field!”
As expected!
The seeds, sown on unprepared and hastened to grow, had become compost. So what came next was enriching the land. Having experienced the ways of a farmer over the past few days, Jae-Hyeok knew that to farmers, everything grown from the ground had its use. He’d long expected the fallen beanstalks would be used as fertilizer.
Clearly, the essence of Free Farming was creating excellent land through the farmer’s natural cycle.
Boland swung his hand plow at Jae-Hyeok, the ground behind Jae-Hyeok split in a straight line, and nutrient-rich soil rose from the muddy ground.
"Huup!”
Jae-Hyeok gasped loudly the moment his sword connected with Boland’s hand plow. He had anticipated this attack. He had been fully prepared. But still he failed to counterattack. Boland’s attack was so swift and powerful that all Jae-Hyeok could do was block.
“Shit!”
Jae-Hyeok’s arm was numb, and his mind turned blank. He could hear the sigh of the Thunder Emperor in the distance.
The Thunder Emperor had consumed most of his mana, while Jae-Hyeok was incapacitated with one blow. On the other hand, Boland was relaxed and showed no signs of fatigue.
Before they knew it, all the land around them had turned into fresh fields.
It was hard to imagine what other combos Boland could use.
I will beat him next time.
Jae-Hyeok and the Thunder Emperor were frustrated.
Boland withdrew his hand plow and reached out to support Jae-Hyeok. “The fact that you predicted and prepared for the stages of Free Farming is proof that you grasp the cycle of farming.” He smiled. “You’re already a good farmer. There’s no need for you to continue with your current training.”
[The sudden quest has been completed!]
[You have automatically satisfied the conditions for Even More Fun and Enjoyable Training!]
[Quest Clear Reward: Strength +30.]
[Quest Clear Reward: Stamina +60.]
[Quest Clear Reward: Skill level + 2 for All Mastery.]
[The new Skill “Farming” has been acquired.]
[The farmer of Reinhardt, Kyoreh, has developed a slight liking toward you.]
“Ah... ”
Somehow, I actually did it... A deep exhaustion swept over Jae-Hyeok. His eyelids drooped as his awareness started to fade.
“You are one of the more exceptional ones of your bloodline.”
Perhaps due to the day’s experiences, Jae-Hyeok felt light. Boland’s voice sounded dreamy in his ears. Unable to help himself, Jae-Hyeok closed his eyes and drifted off without reading the final notification:
[The Minister of Agriculture, Boland, strongly favors you.]
