The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

Volume 18 Chapter 10 — Ghost Ship

"Unless you advanced you skills and learned the Give Life to Sculpture skill, then there would have been no one to have found the memories and legacy that the Emperor Geihar had left behind. Identify!"

Weed used his skills to view the memories in the seal once more. He could see the past of the Niflheim Empire. The Emperor Geihar had made the Imperial Ahreupen War Seal which made its way to the Niflheim Empire.

The Knights' Empire.

The knights were known to be honorable and loyal as the human territory continued to expand throughout the barren north.

Then quite a long time passed. The once flourishing Niflheim Empire was invaded by monsters. Weed could see the invading monster army destroying the castle walls of the capital.

The legion of monsters along with dragons began the decimate the human made structures and with it the genocide of its people. So far, it was as it was told in the history books of the Continent of Versialles. The magical attacks were being rained down on the capital. The Imperial Palace was covered in a rain of fire! The Imperial Knights came out of the flaming structure. They failed to defeat the monsters and had no choice but to use the Serbian Ice Witch's Beads as a last resort.

Ttiring!

Agents of the Niflheim Empire(2)

After the death of the Emperor Geihar, his descendants, servants and the rest of the Ahreupen Empire wept for four days in mourning. The seal was a symbol of the tension over power of the ruler of the continent was being disputed, so it came into the possession of many. The Niflheim Empire tried to retrieve the seal for over 200 years. However they could not avoid war. The invasion of monsters led by the dragons killed and burned the royalty. Many do not know that the sudden invasion of monsters was the true reason for the fall of the empire. However, the Emperor Geihar had granted life to Golden Bird who distinctly remembers the destruction of the Empire. The Golden Bird is chasing after those responsible for revenge.

Difficulty: S

Quest restriction: Second chain quest of a trilogy. Advanced sculpting.

The second stage of an S class quest!

-You can now appreciate the buildings of the Romantic Era of the Niflheim Empire.

As a sculptor that owns the town, you can now build buildings and castles. Buildings can be built. The artistic value of the buildings from the Romantic Era will spread culture among the nobility. You can now promote the birth of knights and expand political influence. You can build special buildings.

Gugugugugu.

The Golden Bird that he was looking for from the Niflheim Empire's Past had appeared. It was a bird that was made out of lustrous gold. You could take your eyes off such a creature stirring with energy. It had eyes made out of light blue sapphire and white platinum hair. There was a small crown on its head encrusted with diamonds. It flew around beautifully with its clear golden body. A sculptor would not be able to help but admire it.

"Gulp."

Weed swallowed.

If he could hunt down the Golden Bird then he could sell it for money!

'I could take apart the precious materials and sell it to the store...'

He looked with greedy eyes as if unique items were rolling down the street.

"This was Emperor Geihar's favorite. He has good taste in gold and jewelry!"

Weed had to hesitate from simply kidnapping it and running.

"Emperor Geihar's Sculpture of Life."

It was not a form of loyalty towards the emperor for having been his teacher of sorts. There was a more worrisome part.

“Golden Bird stat window!”

-Sculpture of Life stat window

It is not possible at this time to view more information

Name: Senolia Luseloni Type: Nature

Race: Bird

Level: 519 Class: The Tracker of Clear Skies

Title: Intelligent Bird

Fame: 60

A creature made by Emperor Geihar. Made at the same time along with the Imperial Ahreupen Seal. Likes fleshy, ample worms.

+Can talk to birds.

+Very fast

+Can break various weapons such as swords with its teeth.

+Can not be poisoned

+Unknown

+Unknown

It was a small cute bird in comparison to the giant armies of the Embinyu Cult and the King Hydra.

'I shouldn't touch it.'

Weed wet his mouth. He would not be able to tame Golden Bird like the others. As a sculpture of life, they devoted their lives to their parents. They were not accustomed to listening to others. The fact that the Wyverns and Geumini were still following him for so long and had not went to find another owner was proof.

Gugugu.

The Golden Bird flew out of the castle window away from Weed. It knew the identity of the enemy that destroyed the Niflheim Empire. Weed chased behind the Golden Bird. Golden Bird was leisurely riding on the wind's currents. Weed occasionally looked up at its location and raised his speed. He got Bingryong and Phoenix who were flying outside. It was handy when it came to moving over places like mountains and forests. It would be more difficult to tranverse such paths by land and wagon. After a couple of days, the Golden Bird flew northeast and arrived at the coast!

Kwaleuleuleuleung, kwagwagwagwang!

The sky was dark and cloudy and it looked like it was going to rain, making it difficult to seperate the sky from the ocean. The sound of thunder could be heard in the distance as the waves struck.

“Is that it?”

In response to Weed's question, the Golden Bird gave a cry.

Gugugu.

“Then where is it?”

Kkukku.

"It's up to me from here?"

Gugugu.

"So...the culprit behind the destruction of the Niflheim Empire is somewhere beyond here?"

Gugugu..

Weed could guess as much!

He had completed an S rank quest where the first step was to defeat the High Priest of the Embinyu Cult despite not gathering information through conversations. There was a need to have accurate background information to complete a quest. However, Weed had watched a lot of these kinds of experiences with his grandmother. They would kill time together by watching television. He had learned reasoning from watching drama!

"There was a trace of dragons in the fight against the Embinyu Cult in the River of Wailing. They must be related!"

Weed roughly noticed the identity of the Embinyu Cult. They were an evil organization on the Continent of Versailles. There were a number of quests involved with the destruction caused by the cult. Weed had a bad feeling about the Embinyu. The High Priest had not dropped any items because he had sacrificed his own life. He would have dropped something unique for high priests classes such as Saints.

"Miser. Worst ugly. Dirty bastard."

Weed went on about his idea.

"So the Embinyu Cult intervened and caused the invasion of monsters...but we do not know the identity of the other culprit."

There had to be someone behind the monsters. They had only been a supporting role in a drama. Villain, victim, intrigue, strife! The Niflheim Kingdom was the victim. The Embinyu Cult had supported the collapse of the empire. A long time passed. He stilled needed to wipe out the bad guys before the Niflheim Empire could reconstruct.

"Perfect. It makes perfect sense!"

Weed was impressed with his reason. He had never believed that the Embinyu Cult was behind all of it. There was no fun in a drama if the villain was alone. For there to be a great drama there had to be multiple large scale villains!

"Only then does it all fit together."

He waited on the beach until morning but the storm showed no signs of passing. He had read similar information on the board about the geography of the Continent of Versailles.

Holy City: Do not enter my colleagues. Character level 376.

Misty Lake Region: I had wanted to go to the lake to hunt the singing elves only to die. Character level 312.

Owl's Nest: Do not go even if you want to commit suicide. I barely escaped. Character level 389.

Poco's Cave: Don't come here. I died in this place. I went the owl's nest with five others and died. We all dropped a level. Character level 388.

In the north there were a number of places that gamers had adventured into at the cost of their lives. They had only explored briefly but they gave what little information they had to the next challengers.

The northeast coast of the North: Severe rainstorm and lightning bolt strikes. Not accessable by sea. Climate is very bad. However, this smells like a quest. There are a large number of monsters in the ocean. Character level 379.

Based on the board, it looked like the lightning would never stop.

“The sea...”

The waves were high as if they would topple a ship. It would be no easy task for the Wyvern to navigate across the sea. They had no time to relax as hostile monsters would appear.

"We don't have the skills to make a boat."

Weed was talking about the shipbuilding skill. It was associated with Intermediate Level 5 Blacksmithing which helps weave timber but it was impossible to make a large boat.

"Should I go back to Morata and start shipbuilding skills?"

It was a severe waste to build a Marines Guild in Morata just to learn the skill. Even if he managed to learn the skill, in order to get past the storm he needed at least intermediate shipbuilding skills.

"That would take at least a year..."

Weed was in pain from the headache. It would be very expensive to keep the Wyvern on the deck. He wanted to save money but he could not buy a fast boat and the central continent was also a problem. He needed to hire officer and a crew. It would all be very difficult to do.

"Master, there is something moving on the sea."

"The sea?"

Weed squinted his eyes to look at the stormy waters. Like the Wyverns had said, there was something little sailing to the north. It was calmly sailing despite the high waves! It had ragged torn sailes and the mast was split into two. The hull had a giant hole in it. It became more visible with the rain and wind but it was a very old medium sized boat.

"Is it possible to sail in that state?"

Weed was puzzled. He had seen trading ships in broadcasts before. They were always in top condition since they needed to maintain a heavy load. He did not understand how in that condition it could carry itself through the storm. The Wyverns flewy to observe more closely.

"Master, there are undead riding on the deck of that ship."

"Undead you say..."

An idea flashed into Weed's head. There was a ghost ship moving around in the sea.

"That means I can get a free ride!"

Weed took out a sculpting knife.

Seogeok seogeok.

He was cutting away at a piece of rock.

"A long skinny body with a robe and a red jewel lodged into the forehead."

He had fought a lot of skeletons. He was actually familiar with the appearance and body structure. However the skeleton he was making had a different feel to it. The Lich Shire that Weed fought in the Yuroki Mountains! It was completely different from the simple and ignorant Karichwi.

"It needs to be smaller and more compact. It is necessary for the lich to be a corrupt and insidious wizard using any means for the goal."

Weed's complaints poured out.

"I don't know what hell feels like. I lived a good life and its too difficult for me to work on various types of sculptures."

Each time his sculpting knife moved the lich began to reveal itself. The finger bones were vivid and lifelike and the head was that of a skeleton! The eye sockets were narrow and empty. All of the features, even the eyes, gave off the look of an actual lich. It was very similar to the Lich Shire in appearance. However it had a more cunning feeling to it. The skeleton's head was filled with teeth that were giving a rotten smile!

"No. There's something off. It has to be a lich that has lived for a very long time so there needs to be some cracks."

He split a crack into the skull. He even added in some holes.

"Now it looks a lot better."

On the forehead he mounted the ruby that he had gotten from a quest. Now it was a skeleton, the birth of a lich!

Ttiring!

-Please set the name of the sculpture.

"Lich Shire…no. That's not it,"

Weed tried to think of a name.

"It's going to be in the sea so it needs to be a strong name...not like like as Karichwi though."

The Orc Karichwi had powerful charisma! Weed had named himself very well thinking of that in mind. But this time the name needed intelligence and dignity.

"The name of the sculpture is One Eyed Lich!"

-The sculpture is not one eyed. Do you still want to use that name?

It was not a choice for Weed.

"Yes, it's absolutely necessary to have one eye at the ocean."

Masterpiece! You have completed the One Eyed Lich Sculpture!

A Lich is a wizard of dark souls!

It is a sculptor's work that is so amazing that it takes away the viewer's breath. It is possible to be confused with Shire since the lich resembles him. It is revolting to have a lich sculpture since it is difficult to have it considered as art. The name does not fit.

Artistic Value: 269

Options: One Eyed Lich will increase health and mana regeneration by 11% for a day.

Intelligence and Wisdom are increased by 20 points.

Agility has increased by 10.

Power has decreased by 75.

Casting speed has increased by 5%.

Control over the undead has increased by 3%.

Does not overlap with other sculpture effects.

So far, the number of completed fine pieces: 86

-Sculpting skills have improved

-Fame has increased by 12.

-Fighting Spirit has increased by 1

-Intelligence has increased by 2.

"It's successful!"

The birth of a fine sculpture! Weed was not done with the sculpture yet. There was still things to do with it.

"Sculptural Shapeshift!"

-Sculptural Shapeshift has been used.

Weed began to grow thinner and his hair fell off. He was bald and in a flash the flesh disappeared from his body in steam. Weed had turned into the One Eyed Lich!

-The body has now changed to that of a lich so a number of equipment have become unusable and are recommended to switch them. You can not wear mithril or divine equipment and it may be necessary to obtain new equipment based on the species type.

-As a result of Sculpture Shapeshift, Intelligence and Wisdom have increased. Strength and agility has decreased dramatically and art has been reduced to a third. Health and mana have significantly increased. Physical limitations have disappeared. The transformation is not complete since Sculptural Understanding has yet to reach Advanced Level 3. Life Drain and Mana Drain can be used at 20% efficiency but is unusable in the sunlight. It can be used to recover health and mana. You are now fatally weak to divine power. This form will remain until Sculpture Shapeshift is removed.

It was easy to replace the equipment. He still had the Fallen Saint Staff that he got from the Lich Shire. A black magic item for controlling the undead! With the Saint's staff in the right hand, he held the Necromancer's Tome in the left.

“Kilkilkil”

Weed laughed with his charred teeth. His put his chin forwards and smiled as an unscrupulous lich! He was wearing a vampire cape and the robe of an Embinyu wizard he had looted. Items from the other churches were holy element but this one strengthened undead affinity because it only had 3 durability left. Weed covered one of his eyes with a black cloth.

"I shall be called Deorol!"

He called himself a looter! With that, Weed had turned himself into a lich.

"It's short and its good. It feels dirty and lethal so it fits a pirate well."

Eummeoeoeoeoeo

Wah-il came flying back only to see that Yellowy had been crying. He was crying because of that owner. Wah-il wrapped him in his wings.

"It'll be fine. There is nothing to be worried about that man for."

Eummeo, eummeoeoeoeo.

"Wait here."

Weed was going to walk to the beach in the rainstorm. The rain bounced off of his bony skeleton. The robe and cloaks were soaked in the rain but as a lich he did not need to worry about cold or exhaustion. Weed held out the Fallen Saint's Staff.

"Quick Water Walk."

It was a spell to walk on water. It was a basic spell written in the magical Necromancer Tome. The skeleton advanced by walking onto the waves. With its light body it did not need much mana consumption.

"Stat window."

Character Name: Weed Type:Undead

Level: 368 Class: Lich

Health: 113480 Mana: 197964

Strength: 185 Agility: 361

Stamina: Infinite

Wisdom: 1463 Intelligence: 1128

Fighting Spirit: 479 Endurance: Infinite

Patience: 695 Charisma: 419

Leadership: 672 Guilt: 388

Charm: 210

+Life Drain and Mana Drain can be used.

+Has the ability to command the undead.

+Vulnerable to Divine magic.

+Stats have increased by 3 percent for being a fine piece.

Weed had more than enough mana.

"I'm not going to die in the sea."

The Golden Bird and the Wyverns remained some distance away from the ocean. It was unreasonable for Golden Bird that rode on the wind to go into the rain and thunder to be blown away! Weed walked up to the ghost ship. It looked like the hull was over a hundred years old. The sails were not adjusted and the entire place looked like there was a haunted crew.

We are called the Crescent Crew.

In the morning and evening we drink rum

When we are drunk we are not homesick

The captain caused trouble by taking us to a deserted island.

The voice of seamen singing was heard. The voices of the men matched with the sound of the waves. The ghost ship war rocking significantly but it was also moving very quickly. Unlike a regular ship, the ghost ship itself was a living monster. As Weed approached the ship a ladder fell down. They had saw him coming. The One Eyed Lich then noticed a crucial error.

"This is the ghost ship. I welcome the lich wizard."

The crew of the ghost ship introduced themselves. There was an extreme respect towards liches. However, he did not have the important left arm. All captains are supposed to have a hook instead of an arm. It was a manly pirate romance to have one arm and one eye.

Morata had just completed its newest building. It was the Art Center that was built, a favorite of the beginners! It was built on an area of over 2000 square meters and with a large garden. Morata's sculptures were stored within. There were various colorful paintings and flowers and trees everywhere. There was an image of Weed sitting on a blue ice dragon. There were various paintings on the walls of him. There was room for further improvement but those pictures show the memories and light the way to the future.

"It's finally done."

Pavo placed a plaque at the front.

Weed Art Center.

Two years since he arrived!.

He probably died at least a few times.

Morata Province.

His sculptures are all over the Continent of Versailles.

Through hard work he gained tremendous sculpting skill proficiency.

There is still work to improve on.

Statue of Freya and the Light Tower are all representations of his work.

The sculptures by the Wailing River as well.

His sculptures are available to the public and are committed to the continent's peace.

A friend of Weed, an architect built the art center.

This is dedicated to the people.

The plaque was created to celebrate the moment of the completion of the two story building. It caused an increase in Morata's contribution, closeness and reputation. A positive phenomenon occurred in the city.

-Morata's cultural development has increased.

Artistic development speed has increased by 3%.

Culture further increases expansion.

Local fame has increased by 15, the Center of Art is designated as a monument.

-The art and wisdom of the people of Morata has increased. The probability of more artists and wizards being born is high.

The building was developed to be part of the city.

“Finally...”

Pavo felt a deep rewarding sense of self satisfaction as he closed the doors to the art center. Weed had not named the sculpture but the fact that a legendary sculpture was there was amazing. Soon it would be opened. They sent a messenger to get Mandol and his wife so that they could open up the art center.

"As an architect I have always been thinking that I've lived my life fully and confidently but now..."

Pavo confessed his thoughts to Gaston, his painter friend.

"I have always been trying to think of ways to get extra options or more money for my stuff. This is common for an architect. However to only accept a single copper to create such a work of art? The mind of a sculptor is hard to understand."

Gaston tried to think of some encouragement but only sat there in silence. He did not know anything other than trying to draw more beautiful paintings.

"Weed is special. He is young but he has the warm heart of a father."

"Yea. I can't help but think what he is doing now."

"You are the mean and petty archer Pale?"

"How is it that Irene, the lousy healer is here?"

"It's Romuna, the wizard that eats young children whole!"

After they came back from Todeum, Pale and his colleagues were getting bad reactions from the people.

"Wasn’t the original reward 200 gold? Now it’s only 30 gold."

"You completed the quest so quickly so you must have cheated right? I will not change my mind on this!"

Even though the people were being vicious, they were undaunted as they tried to build up familiarity again as recover their good faith with high level quests. Pale and his party went into the weapon shop.

"How are you doing!"

Irene smiled brightly.

"There's a lot more people here now. Business must be good."

"There are a lot of young people fighting monsters now. It would be nice if there were more children in the north...So what brings you here?"

"We're here to sell off our things."

There were now five weapon shops in Morata. The monthly income tax revenue had increased by a few percent which is then reinvested into the merchants. The supply of weaponry was large. Mapan greedily bought many weapons from their supplies because of their large surplus. When operating a blacksmith it was important to gather raw materials in large quantity. Pale and his party visited the first weapon store that was in Morata.

"We would not want to bother a benefactor of Morata with a request. However, these days there are a lack of weapons in the stores..."

As they entered the weapon store, Pale and his party stood still and listened.

'If anything it sounds like a quest."

It was possible that it was a quest to get weapons or hunt and gather materials. In fact many beginners were getting quests that involved getting weapons. They could obtain weapons from hunting goblins as well. If the delivery is made then the user could get a premium on purchases from the store. Even if they had bad fame, they could still get common quests.

"Back in the day, there were some very famous weapon smiths of the Niflheim Empire."

"What?"

"All of the royal family's armors were made by them."

From the description it smelled like a high level quest. Irene's eyes were sparkling.

"Manager oppa, could you please tell us the family's name?"

Irene was usually innocent but she was very interested when it came to quests.

"It was the Viteoleu family. With the fall of the empire they were never heard of again...but what of their descendants? They must still b e there and they would be a big help to the weapon shipments."

Ttiring!

Masters of the sword

There were many professional artisans and knights of the Niflheim Empire of the Viteoleu family. I want you to find their descendants and bring them here.

Difficulty: B

Quest limit: Will fail upon the death of the descendants of the Viteoleu.

Pale and party got a Rank B quest. It was a big difference in progress compared to the normal users. Ever since they been helping with Weed in Morata's defense, their familiarity with the people increased. Pale, Maylon, Romuna, and Irene looked at each other.

'Do it?'

'Let's do it.'

'I think it would be fun even if it fails.'

Maylon especially wanted to do the quest. Pale said as the representative.

"Can we go get them?"

"Will you? They were once in the capital but now its a haven of monsters. Ask around the shops. I have my pride but would you do this quest for me?"

You have accepted the quest.

Pale and his party accepted the quest. The quest could also be shared to more people.

"I'm getting a little anxious though..."

"Should we get Weed?"

The capital of the Niflheim Empire was a large hunting ground so they would be sufficient. However they could get more quests since Weed had high fame. Irene thought about it and shook her head.

"Weed is still doing his three stage quest."

It was an S class quest from the church. He needed to take care of that quest firest.

"Well, we could always get the Geomchi oppas."

Surka suggested that they get their help. However they were not sure the Geomchis would come. In this case, Hwaryung persuaded them.

"Would you like a quest?"

Since Geomchi and Geomchi2 were in the Yuroki Mountains on dates so Geomchi3 was the representative. Geomchi went on a long journey to Morata to go help the beginners. The lively little beginners needed help. He took them to the training center and taught them as disciples.

"I'm a little busy…"

"This is Jeong you know?"

"The actress?"

Jeong Hyo-Lynn was the heroine of the recent sensational drama on television. Her energetic personality made her perfect as an actress.

"My career is a singer. I'm called Hyo-Lynn there."

"You appear on television as an actress but still able to go hunting..."

"So are you busy?"

"By all means."

Her music sales was nothing compared to her appearance and atmosphere. To the Geomchis she was a perfect woman, not as a singer since they don't know about music. However it was because she frequently appeared on shows! The Geomchis decided that she was the one actress that they all wanted to go out with. They awkwardly gathered in Morata to go to the capital. Mapan got a wagon and joined in. Whenever traders traveled they would level up. There was no difference between fighting and trading. Mapan went to Morata and asked them.

"Aren't you going to get Weed?"

He suddenly proposed to which Hwaryung said.

"We're going to the capital to hunt. Let's see what's Weed doing."

"Okay?"

The party began to wonder what Weed was doing. Weed had gone to the ocean. After a few days on horseback they reached the place.

"Where is Weed?"

Pale had very good eyesight as an archer. He could see visibly in the distance.

"I can't seem to find him, let's send a whisper?"

It was then. A storm was coming in the distance as it was going to hit the ship. Each time the ship moved there was lightning striking. They shouted out.

"A ship is approaching!"

The wide stretched sails were torn, the deck and the hull had holes in them. The ghost ship passed through the waves. The ghost crew was on deck wandering around. Weed, the one eyed lich, was standing at the bow. Ghost Fleet Captain! Everytime the wind blew, his torn cloak would flap. The golden bird was sitting on the shoulders of the lich grooming its feathers.