The Academy’s Weapon Replicator

Chapter 440 (2) – The Academys Weapon Replicator

Frondier returned home.

As he entered the house, Mei, who had been waiting for him, greeted him.

“Welcome back, Frondier. How was it? Did you meet Heracles?”

“Word travels fast.”

Frondier patted Mei’s head and sat down on the sofa. Mei’s small body nestled into his arms.

Frondier spoke.

“I met him. Heracles.”

“Was he strong?”

“Unbelievably strong.”

It was astonishing enough that he had withstood his aura blade, but there was something else that needed to be addressed first.

Heracles’ fist had reached Frondier’s nose.

This alone was shocking enough for Frondier.

‘Aura, senses, Obsidian. He surpassed the reaction speed of all of them.’

It was especially shocking to see Heracles’ fist reach him before Obsidian could even react, and then for the belated Obsidian to fail to even touch the fist.

Frondier basically never drew his weapons first. In other words, he was usually empty-handed until he started Weaving.

This allowed him to catch his opponents off guard with the sudden appearance of weapons if they didn’t know him, and even if they did, it made it difficult to predict what weapon he would pull out.

However, this tactic was based on the premise that Obsidian would buy him time to Weaving. If the speed at which Obsidian’s defense was breached was faster than Frondier’s Weaving, he would lose instantly.

‘…Until I met Heracles, an anomaly like that, I had never encountered anyone like that before.’

But from now on, he had to keep it in mind. Even if it wasn’t Heracles, there might be someone else capable of doing the same. He had to face Gods and demons now.

Moreover, even Heracles himself wasn’t someone he could consider an ally. He had only received a promise of non-interference.

There was no guarantee that the promise would be kept.

‘Let’s just think of it as Heracles giving me a warning. Whatever it is, I need to find a solution.’

Frondier was deep in thought, stroking Mei’s hair. Mei looked up at him.

“Is he stronger than Frondier?”

“…Yeah. I’m no match for him.”

“What’s ‘no match’?”

He had used a strange expression. Frondier shook his head.

“No, it’s nothing. Heracles is much stronger than me. Impossibly so.”

After saying that, Frondier suddenly thought of something and asked Mei.

“Mei, you know what arithmetic is, right?”

“Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing?”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

To be precise, what Mei was talking about was the four fundamental arithmetic operations, but there was no need to be picky about it.

‘…Arithmetic.’

Frondier recalled Heracles’ words.

The fact that those short words were so deeply ingrained in his mind meant that they had struck a nerve.

‘He’s right. I’ve been doing arithmetic to create stronger power.’

It was certainly a different way of thinking than the other powerful individuals around him.

Most people, no, not just people, but even Gods and demons, couldn’t combine or subtract the powers they possessed like Frondier could.

The weapons they possessed were limited. Those who wielded swords focused all their skills on the sword, and mages on magic. And even with magic, they usually specialized in one field and didn’t master everything.

However, Frondier could do it. He could create weapons, and the weapons he created were powerful without him having to do anything special. As long as he could combine them, he could unleash tremendous power.

This power had helped him countless times and had become his fighting style, but it was definitely not conventional.

This wasn’t the mindset of a warrior.

This was…

‘The mindset of a gamer.’

Frondier closed his mouth and stared blankly ahead.

This world, which he had originally encountered through the game “Etius.” Gamers combined their skills and weapons to achieve higher numerical values.

They weren’t interested in ‘how’ to swing a sword or ‘what process’ to use to cast a spell. That was the character’s job, not the gamer’s.

Gamers expected their characters to deal a certain amount of damage and built their characters based on that premise.

Frondier was the same. He had played this game more than anyone else, so he was an expert in that regard.

That was how he had been doing things so far.

‘I understand what he’s saying…’

Frondier let out a sigh.

‘But I don’t know how to fix it.’

In other words, Frondier had known his weakness for a long time.

That’s why he had sought out and learned from countless people to increase his proficiency in all kinds of weapons.

Jack of all trades, master of none. He already knew that.

‘Unlike me, most people have been training in all sorts of things since before they entered Constel. They’ve spent years honing their bodies, swordsmanship, and if they’re mages, their knowledge and theory. They’ve accumulated countless hours of practice and study.’

It was obvious that if they were to swing the same sword, the blow of someone with far more experience than Frondier would be more powerful.

So should he start following the same path as everyone else now?

Should he try to catch up on all those years of accumulated effort?

“…The right way is scary.”

Frondier had a hunch. He realized that the way for him to become stronger than he was now was to stick to the very basics that he had been neglecting. If he spent a long time training with blood, sweat, and tears, he might be able to truly master the weapons he wielded.

But there was no time. That simple fact gave him a headache.

Frondier asked Mei.

“Mei, do you think I could master a weapon if I trained for, say, ten years?”

“Why would you need ten years to master a weapon? You just do it.”

“….Easy for you to say.”

This cheat of a kid. Frondier lowered his head.

From Mei’s perspective, Frondier’s situation was probably completely incomprehensible. After all, Mei could instantly replicate most things she saw.

“And Frondier is already good with weapons.”

“…Me?”

“Yeah. You can do ‘Falling edge’.”

Azier’s technique, Falling edge. Mei shook her head.

“I still can’t do that.”

“…”

“You said you can do it with both a spear and a sword. Isn’t that amazing?”

“…But that’s just one technique.”

Even as he spoke, Frondier felt a sense of wonder.

That’s right. Why was he able to use Falling edge? Even Mei couldn’t replicate it.