Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 540
Chapter 540: Verdurous Giant Spear (2)
If we were speaking honestly here, No. 7777, Garphas’ Necklace, wasn’t all that efficient of an item. You were guaranteed to obtain a numbered item of No. 35 or above, sure, but before the deal went into effect, you needed to spend 1.5 billion stones.
You only profit if you get a numbered item in the single digits.
Getting in the teens or so-namely, No. 19 to 10-was breaking even, and anything No. 20 and above was a loss. Not only that, there was a chance that the necklace could explode while rerolling, and that would be the biggest loss of all.
In other words, it was a high-risk, high-reward gambling item.
“Bjorn…? Why aren’t you saying anything?” I shook myself out of it when I heard Ainar’s worried voice. “Is it…not a good one?” she asked hesitantly.
That was the furthest thing from the truth.
“Well done, Ainar. You’re the only one I can trust.”
I conveyed my love to her as seriously as I could, but Ainar didn’t seem to hear me.
“Oh! If you’re saying that, then the item must be good! What does this shield do?”
Oh. Just that?
Hearing her brush me off so easily hurt just a little bit, but it wasn’t a big deal.
Right, this could’ve all ended with me just getting Rake of Naraka.
To be honest, even if I had to screw up my face with my own fist to get there, I was willing to overlook it at most three times with a smile. But anyway…
Let’s pull this now.
Just in case something happened to it, I quickly pulled out the selected item.
Flash!
As I pressed the confirm button, a spray of multicolored light shone from the necklace.
With that, the shining rays of light coalesced in the air like clay and created a solid form.
[The selected item was created.]
No. 3, Wall of Aegis.
As obvious as it may seem, this was the best in-slot shield for a shield barbarian.
I guess since I’ll only be using this shield, I’ve graduated my shield slot…
Honestly, what I was looking forward to getting was something else. No, realistically speaking, there were actually a few things I would’ve stopped at if I saw them.
There was the graduation armor in the teens that I was going to wear; my second graduation shield, the twenty-first shield; one of the single-digit numbered items, which was a core to the ice-type double-sword master build… Plus, if the Rift Maker—a helpful item for farming—appeared, I would’ve seriously considered it for our future prospects. And if not that, I was planning on stopping if I got any of the graduation weapons for Amelia or Erwen.
However…
I really didn’t expect to get this.
I still couldn’t tell if I was dreaming or awake.
[Due to the excessive influx of mana, Garphas’ Authority held within the necklace has been permanently damaged.]
A numbered item had turned into a regular item with that. It didn’t matter much to me.
I carefully held up the gray shield.
[You have equipped No. 3, Wall of Aegis. General Item Level has increased by +18,600.]
With this, I had become stronger.
A lot stronger at that.
The shield itself wasn’t too fancy. The color was gray, and it didn’t have a single decoration on the outside. But so what? A shield just needed to be strong and sturdy.
“This shield…is a single numbered item?”
“Wait… There are only two more above No. three… This is an incredible treasure!”
“Wall of Aegis! I’ve only ever heard about this in the past, but now I am seeing it with my own eyes!”
My allies murmured when they realized what my shield was. The last of them to speak, Amelia, was the most excited, oddly enough.
Ainar joined in merrily. “Oh! Since everyone’s acting like that, I guess it’s some sort of great treasure!”
“Tsk, that’s not all,” Amelia scolded her. “The Wall of Aegis has never once appeared in the labyrinth since the adventurer who last had it died in the labyrinth 120 years ago.”
Honestly, it wasn’t that unexpected anymore. This woman really liked things like that. To put a term on it, she was something of a labyrinth geek, I’d say?
“Right now, excluding the one that the palace has, Yandel, you are the only person to possess one. Also, according to the records, that shield is indestructible…”
She must have wanted to flaunt her knowledge or something, but Amelia kindly explained the details of the shield to everyone. The explanation itself sounded professional enough.
But the information of this world is always missing a point or two.
As a hardcore gamer, this wasn’t something I could accept.
I proceeded to go over the item in my head myself.
High-rank indestructibility.
Guarding with the shield gives immunity to all damage.
Reduces all magic damage dealt to me and everyone within thirty feet of me by 30% and grants immunity to all magic rank 5 and below.
All defensive stats increased by 20% the moment it’s equipped.
When using an aura skill, the range of the aura is doubled.
As long as my threat level is over five hundred, all monsters will prioritize attacking me first.
And finally…
One active effect.
Yes, this was what it was like to have a graduation equipment piece.
My heart was pounding so hard. I wanted to just go out and fight something while using this. But though I could feel myself itching for a fight, I had already told everyone that today was a rest day, so I held myself back.
Right, I needed time to get used to using it as well.
It’s pretty light.
It was much heavier than an ordinary steel shield but somehow felt relatively lighter, perhaps because the one I had been using before was ridiculously heavy.
Then let me hold my hammer as well.
Holding Demon Grinder in my other hand, I checked for the balance between my gear.
I wasn’t simply inside a video game.
Changes in feeling and weight were something that could end up backfiring on me pretty hard.
Whoosh! Swoosh!
And so, I was swinging my weapon at the empty air inside the cave to get used to the change in weight when the thought occurred to me.
Somehow, I ended up graduating my weapons first.
No. 87, Kraul’s Demon Grinder, and No. 3, Wall of Aegis—with these two, I honestly never had to look at another weapon again. Demon Grinder could be upgraded but compared to the difficulty of getting that one, the returns weren’t that high, so I could just keep using this hammer.
I guess I have my armor, shoes, and belt left.
That was only considering the core items for my final build. Although the barbarian tribe’s Genesis Treasure was another core item, that was something I couldn’t obtain despite being the one thing I really wished I could have. The reason the shield barbarian was so overpowered was because of the Genesis Treasures too.
Anyway, I think my body’s got used to this now…
After practicing with my new equipment, I started testing a few things. I used the active effect and even checked the magic immunity aura as well.
A thirty-feet radius…
I ingrained in my body what thirty feet felt like. In the end, this had to be a very important metric to remember.
Once I’d ticked off a few processes like that, I rested for the remaining time we had and gathered with the other leaders to discuss our expedition plan moving forward.
Well, to be honest, it was closer to an announcement than a discussion.
“Lord Baron, are we going to begin adventuring through this giant island again tomorrow?”
“No, for now, we’ll postpone exploring the island.”
“Pardon?”
“We spent all that time going around and getting beat up, yet we still haven’t found anything.”
I understood that Giant Island hid a secret. However, it felt like that secret would only be revealed after we defeated that huge giant we had seen before.
The problem is, we haven’t seen it again after that time, and there’s no guarantee that we would be able to defeat it even if we found it.
“Then…where are you planning on going?”
“Our next destination will be Library Island.”
“Pardon? Ah… You mean that island you told me about before.”
“That’s right.”
I was thinking of going to that island first to boost our combat power. Back then, we were limited by having only seven members and had to leave after hitting the rank 3s, but it was different now. Also, I was a little curious about what would happen as time passed.
I’m pretty sure we cleared all of the books on the bottom. Have those regenerated since?
Hmm, it was something I would learn when I got there.
As our meeting was about to close, Amelia asked me a question. “Yandel, then are we giving up on the Hipramajent?”
“We’re not giving up. We’re just postponing it for now.”
“But why? I think I remember you wanting its essence.”
That was true.
However, even after the distortion magic succeeded and an essence dropped, there was no guarantee that it would drop the Giantization essence. More than anything, even if we hit all the probabilities and got the drop, the returns weren’t that high.
Thinking about it now, I don’t think the skill will stack twice.
The Hipramajent essence was in the same category as the Orc Hero’s but of a higher rank. As it was, I had two essence slots left. It would be more helpful for me to fill these slots with other essences to increase my combat power. It wasn’t as if I could erase the Orc Hero essence and consume the Hipramajent’s even if it did drop.
“Hmm, I see. Got it.”
Still, these were all excuses. They weren’t the main reason.
Since I’ve taken care of Erwen and Ainar somewhat…
I needed to up the specs of my other allies as well. They all had an open essence slot, so we should be able to fill them up efficiently if we farmed for a bit at the library.
Ah, of course, this included Amelia as well.
It’s been a while since she’s been boosted as well.
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
“It’s nothing.”
I just had a thought.
Although I didn’t know when we’d be able to escape from this place, when that time did come…
It’s a fun thought.
How much stronger would we have become?
***
After sharing the expedition plan, I spent the remaining time alone thinking more about my build, going over the things I needed to do to become an even bigger and stronger shield barbarian and the priorities I needed to fulfill to accomplish that goal.
For now, there was only one thing I could do on Basement Floor 1: eat the essences at the library.
Also, there was only one essence I was aiming for, and that was from the rank 3 monster Bellarios. After eating that, the next step of my growth would be possible only after I escaped from this place.
Changing the Orc Hero’s essence with Hipramajent’s. Reaching stage 9 of the Spirit Imprint. Going around the eighth-floor rift to farm for Guardian essences and numbered items. After that, erasing the Storm Gush essence to farm for the floor essence.
The things I needed to do as a level 8 were only accomplishable after I returned to the city.
With that, my rest day came to an end. As soon as the seventy-fifth day began, we left the cave, heading to the beach to make our way to Library Island.
Fwip!
But just as we were about to summon the boat, something suddenly flew in quickly from the ocean.
[Defense successful. Wall of Aegis absorbed all damage.]
Thankfully, I instinctively raised my shield to block it.
What was this?
“It’s an ambush!”
I put the allies who were shocked still by the sudden attack behind me as I checked what had happened below me. As the silver waves ebbed and flowed from beneath me, I could see a crimson spear that had dropped onto the sandy beach.
Verdurous Giant Spear…?
What the hell?
Why was that here?
The simple question didn’t remain unanswered for long.
[Spearman of the Heavens, Milayel, has cast Return.]
From a fair distance away, something slowly walked through the silver waves and revealed itself.
[Spearman of the Heavens, Milayel, has retrieved the Verdurous Giant Spear. Until the end of combat, the strength of Return slightly increases.]
While picking up the spear from the sand, it spoke to me. “I will not let you go, mortal.”
It was a phrase I had heard countless times while I was running away from it back then, but it felt different this time.
…Did it lose its mind?
Did this guy walk through the ocean all the way here?
The Guardian of the Rift of Kalheum, the City of Light, and the Spearman of the Heavens, Milayel.
As I met it somewhere I had never expected to, the first thing I felt was confusion.
However, after my shock subsided, I felt a different emotion entirely.
It was a sense of welcomeness.
“Nice.”
And a sense of joy.
“I thought I would never see you again.”
“I will not let you go, mortal.”
Milayel responding with the same phrase in the same tone had me grinning.
I mean, I have no intention of running away this time.
Back then, Erwen was out of commission, and we were surrounded by monsters on all sides. It wouldn’t have been odd for another rank 2 monster to join the fight, even. That was why we had charged straight for the beach with all our might.
However, the situation was different now, though I couldn’t tell if this moron knew that.
The rainy season had ended a long time ago.
And I had even picked up a new shield recently.
This will be a good test of our combat level.
I turned toward the members who were waiting for my order and gave a loud command. “Prepare for battle! We’ll defeat this guy here!”
Yeah, it would be rude to kick away a gift that walked all the way to us.