( Luke's POV )
The past three months had undoubtedly been the most challenging yet rewarding phase of Luke's journey as a player.
It all started when the Demon Army, led by the Demon Count, attacked Silver-Pine Barony, and just as Luke had feared, against the immense powers of the Demon Count, the DarkSky guild failed to hold their ground, and the Silver-Pine region fell into enemy hands.
The fight was one-sided, as whenever the DarkSky forces tried to fight in shape, the Demon Count riding on his wyvern mount would drop AOE spells upon them from the sky, obliterating the Dark-Sky army, and opening up their formation to Demon Assault.
It was almost impossible to hold the tide of the demons back, however, even though the fight was rather one sided, the DarkSky guild did not concede ground without having a trick or two up their sleeves.
Whenever they gave up land, they triggered landmines buried deep within the earth, causing entire areas of land to crater and be destroyed, taking thousands of demons with it.
Or at other times, they would throw poisoned needle balls on the ground before retreating, so that any demon accidentally stepping on it would be affected by the poison.
In the end, although the Dark-Sky guild lost Silver-Pine Barony, there were less than 25,000 Demon Soldiers alive to hold it, giving the guild the perfect opportunity to launch a counterattack, if only the Demon Count left.
And that opportunity indeed came four days after their defeat, as the Demon Count seemed to have left the vicinity, giving the DarkSky guild a chance at revenge.
That day, although the players had long respawned, the Demon Army remained numbered at a mere 25,000 and were unable to hold Silver-Pine Barony, as their forces were routed brutally.
The countercharge, led by Luke, saw him gaining 27 levels in one attack, in what was undoubtedly the fight of his life.
That day, he truly fought like the Suplex Demon, as regardless of what opponent he faced, whether it be a high demon or a regular demon, Luke became the only human to dominate them all, as he led the countercharge beautifully to reclaim human control over Silver-Pine Town.
However, the victory did not stop there!
The demon army was forced to recede not just from Silver-Pine Town but also from Stonebridge Hill, as Luke pushed them out of the Barony as a whole, resetting the battle lines to before they lost the hill, in what was the first successful counter-human operation against the Demons.
It was around this time that his prestige as a war general started to increase, as whenever he gave an order, all the captains and guild members under him listened to him respectfully.
This was a kind of respect that could only be earned and not purely commanded by seniority or fear, as the men under him started to gain complete faith in his abilities.
However, winning back lost land meant that they needed to perform tango with the Demon Army all over again, as for the next three months, the DarkSky guild and the demon forces remained embroiled in a state of constant war.
During this time, Luke participated in many defensive battles and led his guild to many minor victories, as somehow, even after three months of constant border skirmishes, he managed to hold onto Silver-Pine Barony as a whole.
A large part of his success was due to the Martial Arts Manual that Cervantez passed to him, as while he was always an excellent fighter, he was never strong enough to take on high demons alone, until he started to practice the Martial Arts Manual, unlocking the hidden strength in his muscles.
It was during this period of constant border fighting that Luke realized where exactly he lacked as a warrior when compared to Cervantez and other top players like 'TheBoss', and eventually he realized that his foundation was too shallow.
He had no AOE spells, no solid defensive spells and no high damage attack moves either.
All of his moves were extremely basic and although they were well rounded, at this stage of the game when everyone was perfecting their style as a player, Luke understood that if he perfected his style as a player with these moves, he would never achieve true greatness.
Hence, he made a bold move about two years into the game to learn some new moves, adding one AOE attack and one critical damage attack to his arsenal.
To do that, he spent all his savings and borrowed some money from Leo, to purchase two (Semi-Legendary) grade skill manuals, that would teach him the moves from scratch rather than him automatically learning them.
Hence, after graduating from the knight academy, for the first time in over a year, Luke became a student once again, as when he was not scouting and performing his duties as the Vice-Guildmaster, he would be practicing his new attack moves, to somehow learn them to basic mastery.
It was undoubtedly difficult, as comprehending Semi-Legendary moves was tough, however, after three months, Luke was successful in learning both his moves to (Basic) mastery, adding a whole new dimension to himself as a warrior.
The first move that Luke learned was Blazing Cyclone—a devastating area-of-effect (AoE) attack that unleashed a whirlwind of fire around him. With a single swing of his sword, flames would erupt from the blade, forming a swirling inferno that expanded outward in a wide radius, engulfing enemies in its path.
Not only did the move deal continuous burn damage to all enemies caught within its reach, but it also knocked back weaker opponents, giving Luke room to maneuver in the midst of chaotic battles. The Blazing Cyclone quickly became his go-to move when surrounded by hordes of demons, allowing him to clear large swathes of enemies with ease.
The second move he mastered was Heaven's Strike, a high-damage, single-target attack designed for taking down powerful foes. Gathering his strength, Luke would leap into the air, his blade glowing with a brilliant light, before bringing it down with overwhelming force on his target. The sheer impact of the attack was enough to shatter armor and rend even the toughest demons in half.
Heaven's Strike channeled all of Luke's power into one precise blow, making it an ideal finishing move against high-level enemies or when facing down the most fearsome commanders of the Demon Army.
With these two new skills, Luke transformed into a force of nature on the battlefield, capable of both sweeping destruction and pinpoint annihilation.