Ark Undead

The greyhound didn't answer her; instead, it stood up and turned away.

At that moment, Greyhound asked her a question.

"Since there's an elevator here, such an obvious structure, what's around it?"

W's heart skipped a beat, and she stood up with the greyhound.

Gripping the searchlight tightly, W stared into the darkness before her, unable to answer the question.

Greyhound glanced at W and asked softly.

"Are you ready?"

W nodded slowly in response to the greyhound.

So, Greyhound threw the crystal in his hand.

Under his power, the crystal was thrown high into the air. Then, in the explosion, countless rays of light shot out in all directions.

The explosion also briefly revealed the things around them to them.

"this..."

W only managed to utter one word before completely losing her ability to speak.

She nearly crushed the searchlight in her hand, her body stiffening on the spot as she stared blankly at the thing that appeared before her in the fleeting light.

After that fleeting glimpse, Greyhound took a deep breath.

"City."

What lies buried underground is the ruins of a city.

And this city, from the moment they glanced at it, seemed to stretch on and on.

352. Before the start of the match

An immortal is naturally unaware of events that happen outside of his immediate surroundings; after all, he is not a god and cannot foresee everything.

But these things can be left to Rhodes Island and Greyhound W to do, and the Undead will know everything when they return to Rhodes Island.

The Undead's establishment of diplomatic relations with Rhodes Island also had this underlying purpose: as a special organization with a large number of personnel, Rhodes Island was quite convenient for intelligence gathering.

Especially with an older woman like Kal'tsit who seems to have a lot of connections, it's just a pity that she has a bad temper.

Tomorrow is the day of the Undead Arena, and the Undead are planning to give Melantha and Maria a good lesson today.

Therefore, he summoned Maria and Melantha to his warehouse early in the morning.

Incidentally, Melantha also called over another operator from the A1 reserve team who would be participating in the Undead Arena with her, so that the Undead could at least provide some temporary guidance.

The Undead had no objection to this; after all, they were all from Rhodes Island, so helping them out wouldn't be a problem.

So the Undead temporarily sent Melantha to spar with Finn alone to warm up.

He himself pulled Maria along.

He had already decided yesterday that he would properly correct Maria's habit of using a shield.

Maria's shield is a standard medium shield, which is better suited to her physique. Its weight, shape, and angle are all more suitable for Maria's build.

Although their design differs from that of the Undead, the Undead can use any shield; there's no weapon they can't wield.

First, the Undead, holding their shields, let Maria attack first.

Even though Maria wasn't a pure light armor warrior, she had learned enough offensive techniques from the undead.

The undead held a spiral sword in his other hand, while reacting with his shield and sword, allowing Maria to observe for herself.

In fact, Maria's biggest problem is not the difference in how she uses a sword and a shield.

Rather, it's that she can't combine the ways of using the two weapons together.

To be more specific, she might know that the shield is used for defense, while the sword is an offensive weapon hidden behind the shield's defense.

However, when she uses her shield, it hinders the use of her sword, and when she draws her sword, she ignores part of the shield's function.

Therefore, the Undead deliberately slowed down his movements so that Maria could see him clearly.

Maria truly deserves to be called a genius; she is indeed a genius that everyone acknowledges.

After the Undead demonstrated it only two or three times, she became increasingly proficient with the shield.

When the Undead returned the shield to Maria, she was already better than she had been the day before when facing the Undead's attack again.

Perhaps it's because Maria hasn't faced enough pressure; after all, she hasn't participated in major events like the Kazimierz tournament.

Aunt Zofia, and the knights around her, were too familiar with the combat style to put much pressure on her.

Only when she gets close to the Undead can the Undead exert tremendous pressure on her with just a sword, which in turn promotes her growth.

Halfway through their practice, an undead guest arrived at the warehouse.

"Wow, it's quite lively here."

Bloodthorn leaned against the warehouse door, munching on a piece of fruit.

Upon seeing so many people, Bloodthorn was initially taken aback, wondering if the two girls had come to settle scores with the Undead.

Only when he saw the spiral sword in the undead's hand and Melantha and the other person sparring next to him did he realize that this was a surprise training exercise.

"Why are you still working so hard the day before the competition? Nobody will like you if you're so tense."

Bloodthorn, having lived in Kazimierz for so long, is very familiar with the ways of modern society.

Hearing Bloodthorn's voice, Maria couldn't help but look over, then exclaimed in surprise.

"Uncle Bloodthorn!"

"What uncle? Call me brother!"

Bloodthorn rolled his eyes. He thought Maria was perfect in every way, except for one thing: Maria liked to call him uncle.

Perhaps it's because when he first met Maria, he was still an infected knight under the Knights Association, and back then he was used to keeping a serious face, unlike now when he was so relaxed.

In addition, he was rather unkempt, with an unshaven beard and unkempt hair, so Maria immediately called him "uncle" when she first saw him.

Bloodthorn was depressed for a long time because of this, and it was at that time that Bloodthorn learned to take care of himself.

Regardless of what Bloodthorn said, Maria happily put away her sword and shield for the time being and went over to give Bloodthorn a hug.

Bloodthorn smiled and gently hugged Maria before letting go.

The two had a teacher-student relationship, though Maria didn't call him teacher, and Bloodthorn didn't insist because he knew about the existence of the undead.

However, when the Undead left, the only ones responsible for teaching Maria, besides Zofia, were Bloodthorn.

Strictly speaking, Zofia is responsible for Maria's daily life, while Bloodthorn is responsible for honing Maria's combat skills.

This explains Maria's aggressive, longsword-wielding style. It's influenced by both the Undead and Bloodthorn, the lightly armored warrior.

Maria's rapid progress is largely thanks to Bloodthorn.

Of course, Aunt Zofia's strict diet and training-rest schedule played a crucial role in this success.

The two had a good relationship. Perhaps because of his carefree nature, Bloodthorn looked at Maria as if she were a younger sister, rather than a disciple entrusted to him by a friend.

Are you also participating in the Undying Arena?

Maria looked at the Bloodthorn and asked.

Bloodthorn nodded, staring at the longsword at Maria's waist and the shield behind her.

"Little Maria is here too, how could I not come? This battle offers a chance to meet so many powerful figures, it's a rare opportunity."

However, their conversation didn't last long, as the Undead called out to them with a single sentence.

"You've arrived, just in time."

The Undead beckoned to Bloodthorn, signaling him to come over.

"Once she arrives, spend time with her and help her with training."

As he spoke, the Undead cleared half of the field, pulling Bloodthorn and Maria together.

I've said most of what I needed to say to Maria. Now it's time for her to get familiar with the fighting style while enduring the pressure.

Since Bloodthorn has come uninvited, we can't just leave this excellent tool unattended.

Bloodthorn's face visibly stiffened for a moment.

"Tsk, they're quite good at ordering people around."

However, despite saying that, he still touched the two long swords at his waist and went to train with Maria on the side.

The Undead then looked towards Melantha and the main attacker of the A1 reserve team on the other side.

The main attacker of the A1 reserve team is named Fang, who is a reserve operator currently employed by Rhodes Island.

Finn previously served as a member of the security detail in a city in Colombia. Therefore, he had already undergone a period of training before arriving in Rhode Island.

In terms of fundamentals, it can't be said that they had an advantage because they started training earlier than Melansa, but they are definitely not weaker.

However, with the Undead's teaching buff, Melantha was indeed far superior to Fen in terms of offense.

Finn's purpose in coming here this time was certainly not to ask the Undead to give him a day to quickly improve.

As long as you check your posture for any mistakes and solidify your foundation, that's enough.

And so, the warehouse became lively again.

The Rhodes Island contestants were working hard to prepare for the competition, and naturally, the others wouldn't relax or rest the day before the Undead Arena.

Many soldiers are taking their time to recuperate and prepare for tomorrow's competition.

Minos itself is a nation renowned for its heroes and forging, and the weapons produced there are undoubtedly of excellent quality.

Today, the blacksmith shops in the entire city of Jasenus are packed with people, all going to check if there's anything wrong with their weapons or asking the blacksmiths to give them some maintenance.

In addition, many citizens naturally set up their own stalls on the streets.

With more people, the city of Jassenus becomes lively and a great place for sightseeing.

Surtr, who came with the Undead, is still in the room.

Although she moved in with the rest of Rhodes Island, just like the Undead, she still didn't talk much and rarely went out.