The young man continued to run, and yet his gaze was glued to the window screen in front of him.
He had already read it over thrice, but he was still shaken by the information of the shield that his Master had casually given to him.
Item Grade: Common [Sealed]
Active Skills: [Sealed]
Passive Skills: [Sealed]
Effects: If the shield is wielded by someone whom it has recognized as its owner, it will match the strength of its wielder.
— Will unlock skills and abilities depending on the Stats of its wielder.
Note: A shield not meant for mortals, yet borne by those who defy fate. Svalinn does not shine nor does it shatter. It endures, as it was meant to.
It is the wall before the inferno, the last defense of the living world. So long as Svalinn stands, the sky shall not burn. To wield it is to bear the burden of the heavens.
[This Shield has still not acknowledged you as its Master.]
As the former only Shield Savant of ELO, Alex was very fascinated with the names of the Legendary and Divine Shields in the game.
The name of the shield he had wielded back then was Aegis, and it was considered a Legendary Shield.
He had also had other shields in his collection namely the Ajax Shield, Shield of Heracles, Andvaranaut's Shield, Captain Murica's Shield, and a few more shields of the Legendary Rank.
As the main Tanker of his guild, Endless Horizon, every high quality shield dropped by the Boss Monsters automatically belonged to him.
However, he had never held a shield that had the [EX] suffix.
Although there were [EX] items in the game, acquiring them was extremely hard.
How hard? These items were considered as the personal battle Regalias of the Major Arcanas, who were referred to as the Deities of the world.
Last time, the young man had gained a super rare skill book with the [EX] suffix, which allowed him to choose a skill that could evolve.
The same principle applied to the weapons with the same title, making them incredibly powerful and precious as they didn't have fixed stats.
The stronger their wielders became, the stronger these items were.
'Svalinn? That name sounds familiar,' Alex thought as he shifted his attention to where he was running. 'Where have I heard it before?'
He was certain that Svalinn hadn't existed in ELO. As a shield connoisseur, he had seen every shield in the game.
But he couldn't shake the thought that he should know what kind of shield Svalinn was.
'It's too bad, the Shield does not acknowledge me as its owner,' Alex mused. 'There must be some hidden condition that I need to meet in order to unlock it.'
Suddenly, a scream broke the young man from his daze. It came from inside the forest, prompting Cairo to increase his speed, leaving Alex behind.
"I'm going ahead first!" Cairo shouted. "Remember! If things become too dangerous for you, run away!"
The Catkin didn't wait for Alex's reply and activated his movement technique, increasing his speed for a brief period of time.
The young man watched as his Master entered the forest before him.
As he neared the forest, he heard the sound of weapons clashing against each other.
"Dim Dim, stay close to me," Alex said. "But if you think that you're in danger, feel free to escape first."
"Dim!" Dim Dim nodded in acknowledgment.
Following the sound of fighting, Alex saw dozens of Adventurers fighting off against a pack of Hobgoblins riding on Dire Wolves.
The Dire Wolves ranged from Rank 2 to Rank 3 Monsters, while the Hobgoblins were Rank 3 monsters.
The Adventurers fought against them as a team, but they were being overwhelmed by the enemy because there were Goblin Shamans and Goblin Mages among the enemy's ranks.
Goblin Archers were also attacking them from the trees, forcing the Adventurers to go onto the defensive.
While the young man was observing the battlefield, he saw a brilliant flash in the distance.
There, he saw a Hobgoblin's head slide off from its body as Cairo successfully decapitated it with a single slash of his blade.
'As expected of Master!' Alex couldn't help but clench his fist in excitement.
The Catkin Swordsman was like a reaper of death. Every time he attacked, he drew blood.
Sometimes he would stab his enemies, and at other times, he would slice off one of their limbs, quickly adjusting depending on the situation.
Cairo was strong, but he wasn't arrogant.
Every move he made was calculated. He paid close attention to the Archers, Mages, and Shamans targeting him from a distance.
It didn't take long for Alex to notice that the battle had reached a stalemate, with both sides unable to get the upper hand.
Suddenly, Dim Dim crawled down from Alex's head and whispered something in his ear.
The Dim Sum God told Alex that it could sense some living humans hundreds of meters away from his location.
According to the Dim Sum God, there were no monsters in that location. This meant that it was safe for him to go there and check the situation.
Knowing that he wouldn't be able to contribute to the ongoing battle, Alex followed behind Dim Dim, who was guiding him to the place where it sensed human presence.
He was moving on all fours, making sure he wouldn't be detected by the monsters, who were fighting against the Adventurers.
When he finally reached the place where Dim Dim was taking him, Alex's face immediately turned serious.
There were a few girls stripped off their clothes, lying on the ground unconscious.
Their bodies had bruises on them, with some even having teeth marks. This was the result of the rough treatment that they received from the Goblins.
Alex felt sorry for these girls, but he had to focus on his mission right now. The only saving grace was that Annie wasn't one of them.
Aside from the ladies who were lying on the ground, there were several more ladies that were tied to the trees by vines.
They all seemed to be sleeping, which might have been due to the power of the Goblin Shaman.
"Good. Please tell me if you sense any danger in the surroundings."
As soon as Dim Dim confirmed that the coast was clear, Alex immediately rushed to the tied captives and used his sword to cut the vines.
He then lightly shook their bodies and tapped their cheeks in order to wake them up.
Some of these ladies were Adventurers, so the moment they regained their senses, they immediately understood the situation.
"Do you have an extra sword?" a lady, who seemed to be a warrior, asked Alex.
Alex handed her a sword he had looted from a Goblin Warrior to the lady. Upon taking the sword, she helped him free the other captives, speeding up the freeing progress.
After cutting the binding on two more people, Alex finally saw the young lady he was looking for.
"Annie, wake up," Alex said as he shook the young lady and tapped her cheek.
It didn't take long before she regained her senses and looked at her surroundings with fright.
"It's okay," Alex said, comforting her. "I will get you out of here. Help me free the others."
Annie nodded and accepted the knife that the young man handed to her.
Together with the warrior lady, they managed to free all the captives.
But just as they were about to escape, Dim Dim suddenly gave the young man a warning.
"Sh*t!" Alex cursed as he hurriedly grabbed Annie's hand and ran away in the opposite direction where Dim Dim said that the goblins were coming from. "The goblins are coming. Support who you can and follow me!"