Chapter 113: I’ve Been Waiting. Welcome (3)
Imperial Year 375, August 4th.
About 20 kilometers north of Makdaro. A river flowing from the Gray Forest pierced through the Barrier.
Most rivers were used to create moats, but this one was left as it was due to its size and the need to supply water for the surrounding farmlands, according to Ian.
The Barrier was constructed by erecting numerous pillars in the water, reinforcing them with magic, and then connecting the Barrier on top of them. It was extremely stable, as Ian explained.
Iron nets were also placed underwater to prevent monsters from coming in through the waterways, but for some reason, parts of the nets were made to be retractable.
The reason is as follows.
Even in Orknesia, where soldiers are abundant, the area near the Barrier is especially heavily guarded. While it’s unlikely that monsters would come for inspection, the surplus of soldiers is often deployed to such areas due to a lack of other tasks.
This environment is quite disadvantageous for certain occupational groups.
For example, those who change the ownership of goods without permission.
While thievery isn’t considered a normal occupation in the first place, it’s clear that there was a particularly abnormal individual.
If the tight security prevented the transport of stolen goods, one could simply take a detour through an unguarded area.
A truly revolutionary and innovative idea, one might say.
Had he not chosen the Gray Forest as the detour route, there might have been something to commend.
Those who make the impossible possible when everyone else says it can’t be done are pioneers and geniuses.
Geniuses, in particular, appear abnormal.
Ultimately, after numerous trials and errors, he succeeded in creating a secret passage through the Barrier. It was the moment a phantom thief was about to be born in the Orknesia region near the Barrier.
If only he hadn’t ventured into the Gray Forest for practice, a phantom thief would have haunted Orknesia for a while.
Someone once said, genius and stupidity are separated by a thin line.
The gate in the underwater iron net was created due to this background and remained unused until now.
Let’s have a moment of silence for the fool.
Ian, as part of a search party, discovered this route after finding the diary of a corpse he found in the Gray Forest. He even explored some parts of it himself.
Now, the conclusion we can draw from this is that I am currently walking underwater.
Gurgle. Gurgle……
Darkness envelops my vision, and the sounds reaching my ears are strange.
Thanks to Lucy’s magic, breathing wasn’t a major issue. And thanks to the Strengthening Holy Spell cast by Namias, we were unaffected by the water pressure.
The problem, however, was the discomfort of not being able to see an inch ahead, the sinking feeling in the mud, the occasional fish brushing against my body, and the peculiar sensation of seaweed wrapping around me.
We had already crossed the Barrier quite a while ago. There was indeed a gate in the underwater iron net (how did they build it?), and after passing through it, we had been walking underwater for about an hour.
Since we were going against the current, and due to the water resistance, our progress was incredibly slow.
We had ropes tied around our bodies, connecting us to each other to prevent anyone from getting lost. Heavy items were placed in waterproof bags and hung around our waists to maintain balance as we moved forward.
Our guide was Lucy. Specializing in space magic, he had a distinct sense of spatial perception, direction, and distance as a secondary effect.
Our target location was 5 kilometers beyond the Barrier, along the river.
The water was cold at first, but it became warmer as we went deeper, making it even more unsettling.
If the water hadn’t been relatively clean, it would have been miserable.
Splash! Swish!
The sound of water was quite loud in the middle of the night.
We accumulated the rare experience of walking along the riverbed for roughly 3 hours.
While it felt relatively light while walking underwater, stepping out onto land made our bodies feel heavy and limp, like waterlogged cotton.
Ugh. So this is why the martial arts practitioners in stories train underwater.
“Huah, this is tiring.”
“You said it. Hoo.”
Joey and I shared a moment of empathy in hushed voices. However, our mighty Sword King-nim squeezed the water out of his hair and said nonchalantly,
“You’re both out of shape. Look. Namias is perfectly fine…… Oh my.”
Namias was lying on the ground, asleep, looking like a drowned corpse that had just been pulled out of the water. It’s unclear when she collapsed. What a troublesome person. She shouldn’t be sleeping here.
There was another troublesome person.
“Huh? Al, what’s that?”
“Found it.”
Al, with an indifferent expression, held up a fish the size of Joey’s thigh. When did he catch that?
The place we emerged from was quite overgrown with bushes, with a slope leading up towards the Barrier.
Thanks to Al’s followers (?), we were able to gather a lot of information about the patrol routes and the surrounding terrain. This is why connections are important.
While we couldn’t start a fire, everyone changed into dry clothes, dried themselves off, and had a quick meal to replenish their depleted energy. Al seemed disappointed that he couldn’t eat the fish he had just caught.
We filleted the fish and, with the help of the moonlight, checked the map to determine our direction.
“First, let’s pass through the Green Line tonight, as it has the most patrols. If we’re lucky and don’t encounter any monsters, we should be able to rest near the Red Line.”
“But, Al, can we actually rest near there?”
“Plenty.”
Al nodded in response to my question. Well, even in the Gray Forest, you wouldn’t encounter a monster every ten steps, right?
I unconsciously looked towards the western sky and couldn’t hide the strange feeling that washed over me.
Beyond that, the Barrier would be stretching out.
The line that protected Orknesia from the Gray Forest, and further, the Empire, and the continent.
Even before I died, and even after the Reset, I never thought I would cross it……
“Let’s go.”
Lucy said cheerfully, shouldering his backpack.
With an indescribable, strange feeling, I walked towards the east.
As I took each step, as always, there was no turning back.
Imperial Year 375, August 7th.
“Is everyone alright?”
People responded briefly to Lucy’s question.
The three fallen monsters didn’t move an inch.
Fortunately, we didn’t encounter any significant incidents until we reached the Red Line. We didn’t encounter any monsters, nor did we run into any search parties or patrols.
And right after crossing the Red Line.
We had to face monsters as if it were a meal.
“It’s a good thing they only eat three meals a day. And even more fortunate that they don’t count snacks.”
“I’ll agree with you just this once.”
To agree with Lucy’s silly joke, how sad.
It’s not like brushing your teeth, three times a day. It’s not healthy, but they insist on showing up regularly, making it tiring.
The gray of the Gray Forest doesn’t represent gloom or chaos. It’s used in its literal sense.
At first glance, this place looks like a forest made of minerals.
The trees standing tall towards the sky, from their trunks to their leaves, are all gray, resembling statues. The ground is gray, as if covered in burnt ash.
The animals have already officially designated gray as their camouflage color, and even the rolling pebbles are gray.
Like a landscape painting reluctantly painted in black and white due to a lack of paint, the Gray Forest, colored with the texture of minerals, breathes in gray along with its gray components.
In such a place, our presence seems to be the only source of color, breathing life.
At least, our heads.
“Tsk. I should have dyed my hair.”
“Please, just wear a hat.”
Lucy, fiddling with his brown hair, pouted and put on his hat.
We had all coordinated our outfits in gray. Aiming for the maximum camouflage effect to avoid the eyes of monsters.
I had anticipated that Lucy would be the most resistant to this decision. He would undoubtedly complain about the dull, rustic fashion composed of a limited color palette.
However, contrary to my expectations, the person with the most uncomfortable expression was Namias. (Ah, that’s not to say Lucy didn’t grumble.)
White priestly robes, white skin, and red hair.
With a gray background, her appearance would be brighter than anything else.
Her disguise was essential, yet the devout priestess who served God took it for granted that she should live according to the path God had set for her. In the outside world, that would have been commendable…… but here, it was a bit of a problematic attitude.
Compared to her, my black hair and Levidian’s were relatively fine. At least, it was a color that blended into the shadows. However, for convenience, Levidian and I wore matte metal helmets.
In Joey’s case, his size was more of an issue, so as long as his clothes matched the color, it didn’t matter. He wasn’t picky about colors anyway.
While everyone else was feeling awkward, there was one person who astonished us all: the great Neral Tines.
“The surroundings are quiet.”
“Ugh……”
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Hahaha……”
Al spoke nonchalantly, but the reason Joey occasionally flinched and seemed startled whenever he spoke was because Al blended perfectly with the forest.
Apart from the fact that his gray clothes and hood suited him incredibly well, he fit in with the mineral-textured forest as if he were part of a gray tribe.
His behavior, speech, and overall impression made one wonder if he wasn’t born in this forest.
Perhaps the reason he managed to survive the Gray Forest was due to his terrifyingly strong affinity with it?
As I was pondering these random thoughts, Levidian, who was examining the monsters, spoke with a hint of interest.
“Hmm. It’s a monster I’ve never seen before.”
“Ah, is that so?”
“Yes. It looks similar to a Bearman, but its structure is different. It might even be the prototype of the Bearman. Its attack patterns are quite similar. However, it’s stronger than a Bearman.”
Clang!
She struck the fallen monster’s arm with the flat of her sword.
The sword bounced off with a clear sound. This meant that the muscles inside were as hard as rock. No wonder it felt a bit heavy to cut……
The monsters that attacked us were three in number, and they resembled bears.
They were of different sizes, resembling what one might call Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear. Papa Bear was fat, Mama Bear was slim, and Baby Bear…… wasn’t very cute.
Who is the irresponsible person who instills false information in children by calling bears cute?
“Is this strong?”
“Yes. It’s one of the stronger ones, as far as monsters go.”
“It’ll be useful.”
Al said so and drew his dagger, cutting into the fallen monster’s paw. However, since the muscles were tough, he was having difficulty with an ordinary dagger, so I handed him Iperfect.
“What are you planning to do?”
“Claws. This is a good sword.”
Iperfect sliced through the monster’s paw much more easily, and Al extracted a black claw that was probably 20 centimeters long from the largest and fattest one.
I fixed my gaze on the claw, which had a subtle sheen.
“It’s quite sharp. I didn’t realize it during the fight because I was just dodging. But what are you going to use it for?”
“Like this.”
Al smeared the monster’s blood all over the claw. While the exterior was covered in gray fur and hide, the flesh and blood were red. The blood-stained monster claw took on a dark reddish hue.
Al held it up and said,
“Dry it and carry it. Weak monsters will run away.”
“Ah, because of the smell?”
“Hmm.”
Al nodded.
Indeed. If they smelled a monster stronger than themselves, they wouldn’t approach easily. And as long as they were within the range of the smell, they wouldn’t dare attack recklessly.
“That’s right. And monsters won’t attack if you just carry a body part of a stronger monster. They know who’s stronger: the strong monster or the one who defeated it.”
Levidian added as if she had just remembered.
Until now, even if monsters attacked, our group had dealt with them with relative ease.
Even now, Joey’s greatsword had cleaved the smallest monster in half, Levidian had dealt with the largest one, and Al and I had taken down the slightly leaner one in under 30 seconds.
Lucy tilted his head.
“But would a part from such a weak monster be of any use?”
“I saw this in the Yellow Line. It was one of the stronger ones in the Red Line as well. It will be helpful.”
At least, monsters weaker than this one wouldn’t dare attack us.
Come to think of it, the Eastern Army and the mercenary attack unit wouldn’t carry something like this since they had to kill the monsters. No wonder the Makdaro market was littered with monster parts.
We amicably divided the monster’s claws amongst ourselves. For some reason, Al cut a piece of hide in a suitable size and packed it with his belongings. Perhaps he planned to keep it as a souvenir.
But…… our group is really strong, isn’t it?
A Sword King, a High Priestess who uses Divine Spells, a mage who is on the verge of becoming a master of magic, a skilled warrior among mercenaries, and a warrior who wields a 2-meter greatsword with ease.
In terms of physical strength alone, I’m the weakest.
It’s a bit depressing.
I scratched my head and slowly moved to the back of the group.
Ah, I want to become stronger and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with these people. I understand how Al feels, striving to become Lucy’s friend in the truest sense.
In the Gray Forest, I should be able to gain more experience, right?
Alright, let’s get stronger, Arisein!
Let’s become a big shot, just like Duke Ecoshian said!
The will overflowing within my chest led me into the gray waves.
Imperial Year 375, August 14th.
“Haaa―!”
Crack!
With a shout, the sword I swung down embedded itself halfway into the monster’s head. The tiger-like monster roared in pain and violently swung its front paws.
Roar!
“Don’t even think about it!”
Slash!
Levidian’s swift sword cleanly severed the paw that was flying towards me.
In the meantime, I pulled out my sword and mercilessly stabbed the half-split head.
Crack! Screech―!
With the chilling sound of the sword scraping against bone, the sword pierced halfway into the monster’s head. The monster convulsed without even having the chance to roar and then collapsed.
However, this was not the end, but the beginning.
“Behind!”
“Yes!”
My body reacted instantly to Levidian’s shout. My right hand held the longsword, while my left hand drew a dagger.
My hand, gripping Iperfect, made a relentless dash towards the center of the approaching presence.
Whoosh!
As soon as I felt a slight weight on the tip of the dagger, a powerful sensation resonated from my hand.
Screech!
The monkey monster that was pouncing on me had its heart pierced, letting out a death rattle before collapsing.
“Huu, it’s endless.”
I swung my arm, tossing the monkey carcass aside, and retrieved the dagger. Then, I grabbed the sword embedded in the tiger monster and pulled it out.
The tiger’s body convulsed once more, and the sword, coated with a sticky mixture of blood and brain matter, dripped the gruesome concoction onto the ground.
Swish!
Meanwhile, Levidian sliced the monkey monster that was attacking from the air clean in half.
Ten days after entering the Gray Forest. We had advanced about 100 kilometers in a straight line.
The number of monsters our group had defeated had already surpassed three digits, and we were gradually becoming more experienced in combat against them.
Al was undoubtedly the most outstanding.
Thud! Thud! Crack!
Al, who had broken the tiger monster’s ribs by precisely striking the same spot with only his left jabs, evaded the front paws that were being swung around ferociously.
Roar!
The tiger monster, dragging its body with multiple broken bones, attacked Al, but he seemed to have already grasped everything, repeatedly closing in and pulling back, never missing an opportunity when it presented itself.
The 3-meter long tiger monster leaped forward, pouncing on Al.
Roar―!
Al, as if welcoming the attack, his eyes gleaming, dove right into the monster’s embrace.
His light footsteps carried him inside, followed by a heavy stomp on the ground. Then, he extended his right hand, demonstrating why he was called Al, the Barehanded.
Crack?!
Al’s bare hand, surprisingly, tore through flesh and crushed bones.
Groan! Crack!
The tiger monster twisted its entire body, but it seemed to have no effect on Al. He let out a light grunt and pulled his hand back.
Squish!
In Al’s hand was a bloody lump.
It was the heart that had been beating just moments ago. The tiger monster collapsed on top of him. It was obvious that it would never move again.
To pull out the heart of a living monster with his bare hands!
Even Levidian couldn’t do that.
“Huu.”
Al let out a light sigh and turned around without hesitation. The monster’s heart, which had been in his hand, was dropped to the ground, no longer holding his interest.
Silently, swiftly, strongly.
He embodied all three with his body.
On the opposite end of the spectrum from Al were undoubtedly Joey and Lucy.
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