Chapter 23

I slot the torch into the groove carved onto my helmet.

And tie it tightly with a string.

Let’s call this, Barbarian: Candle Mode.

… It’s a bit bizarre, but this is a practical setup popular among the adventurers.

Ainar puts her hand into the roaring flames, and exclaims in wonder.

“Oh, amazing! There’s really no heat!”

Yes, this torch is also a magic tool.

It is only an arm span in length, so it doesn’t interfere with bodily movements, and can run for three days straight – a very useful item.

It’s an expeditionary item I got from the crossbow party.

The average price is, hmm, about 10,000 stones?

… I suddenly miss Erwen.

“But where is this?”

The surroundings slowly come into view, and Ainar looks around before asking.

There’s a huge gap between what you actually see and the 2D pixel graphics of the game, but it’s still easy to recognize.

The black earth squelching with every step.

Ruins of stone buildings scattered about.

And even the mournful cries echoing faintly from afar.

“The Deadlands.”

“Ah, that’s where the ghouls and deathfiends come from!”

She’s right, for once.

To elaborate, elder ghouls, skeletons, banshees and even mid-level bosses like dullahans may appear.

“I’ll take point.”

The average combat power of the monsters is much higher in the Deadlands compared to the Goblin Forest.

But if one asks which place is trickier, it should be the Goblin Forest.

It’s a lot darker here, but…

At least there are no traps.

This is much more comfortable for two barbarians working together.

“There’s a ghoul.”

Before long, we encounter some monsters.

They’re few in number, a mere three.

Of course, this number will increase by three times from the third day.

And that’s just one more reason for us to move quickly.

“Bjorn, I found a mana stone!”

“You don’t have to report every single thing, just take what you find. We can distribute the loot later. Let’s speed up.”

Unlike the Goblin Forest, we speedily leave the entrance and continue heading north.

Then, we hear a scream nearby.

“Kiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

“B-, B-, Bjorn?!”

“It’s just a banshee howling. Ignore it. They rarely attack others first.”

“I see… But is it really fine to let it go? It might be dangerous.”

Well.

I don’t know about Erwen, who’s an elementalist.

But for us two with pure physical builds, no matter what we do, we can’t hunt a banshee.

Even if I managed it somehow, it’d only become a bigger problem.

“If you attack a banshee pre-emptively, you’ll get cursed.”

“Curse?”

“It’s a curse called the ‘mark of grief’. Banshees will focus on you until you leave the labyrinth.”

Unless you’re prepared to weather their attentions for ten whole days, it’s best to not touch the banshees at all.

If experience is the goal, the common practice is to just hunt one or two on the last day.

“You are a truly wise warrior. I’m lucky to be following you.”

Thank you for your praise.

I don’t want to expose it, but I understand well enough that you’re more afraid of this kind of thing than I thought.

But that’s that and this is this.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

Crack!

Please stop clinging to me every time there’s a sound.

Not only is it burdensome…

But the arm that you’re clutching feels like it’s about to break.

“Let, let go… It’s just skeletons.”

A group of skeletons appear, bones rattling.

Ten in number.

Even on the first day, there are quite a few monsters that come in higher numbers.

Well, even if we catch them all, only three to four mana stones would drop.

“Khm! I’ll get rid of them!”

Maybe because she’s ashamed of having been so afraid of the banshee’s howls, Ainar jumps ahead first.

Tch, I click my tongue quietly.

“Ainar! Look between the ribs, you’ll see the nucleus. To hunt a skeleton with a blade, you have to aim for…”

Crunch–!

“Huh? You say something?”

“… No, no. Don’t worry about it, just keep fighting.”

Crunch–! Crunch! Crunch!

Who cares about weakpoints anymore?

Every time Ainar swings her enormous greatsword, a skeleton gets mercilessly smashed to pieces.

Never to get back up again.

「You killed an elder ghoul. EXP +1」

「You killed a skeleton. EXP +1」

「You killed a skeleton warrior. EXP +1」

「You killed a skeleton archer. EXP +1」

After that, we continued our northward journey for about eight more hours.

And naturally, we encountered various new monsters.

An elder ghoul, twice as large as a normal ghoul.

Skeleton warriors and archers, classified as mutants.

It was hard to make a final conclusion because we hadn’t met any mage types yet, but the difficulty level hadn’t been much to speak of so far.

It was the first day, so the enemies were small in number, and my combat power had also risen significantly compared to the last time.

Puff–!

Just consider my equipment.

I could only use uncle’s two-handed hammer with a short grip due to its centre of gravity.

But now my mace, about 70cm in length, made it possible to strike from a distance.

Much safer, and much more powerful.

More than anything…

Claaang–!

I now also had armour.

Because it was just a vest made of sheet metal, my forearms were bare, but that still meant I had a significantly smaller area to defend with my shield.

As a result, I could adopt a much more drastic fighting style.

As if my shackles had been lifted.

“Bjorn, be careful! We’ve got some skeleton archers!”

My T-shaped steel helmet exposed only the eyes, the nose and the mouth; and protected the most important vital area, my head.

Of course, a direct hit with something like a crossbow would still be dangerous, but deflecting the arrows shot from some shabby bows was no problem at all.

And I had another barbarian, with combat power similar to mine, by my side.

“Behel-raaaaaaaaaaa!!”

We cried out together the name of the ancestor of the barbarians, and continued the one-sided battle that was nothing more than a massacre.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Crunch–!

No matter what kind of monsters appeared, ten seconds was enough for us to destroy an entire group.

Was that why?

Every battle left me with a refreshed feeling that I’d never tasted while with Erwen.

Ohh, was this the true taste of a barbarian?

“Bjorn, you’re injured.”

Hm?

Hearing Ainar mention it, I checked, and there indeed was a slight scratch on my forearm.

But…

“Don’t worry. It’ll get better soon.”

There was no need to apply any herbs, let alone a potion.

“Ooh! It’s already healing! Is this the effect of the spirit imprint?”

The efficacy of the first stage imprint of the undying pathway is that your natural regeneration increases significantly.

Of course, it was nothing compared to a potion…

I’d checked the other day, and a 0.5cm deep gash took about a minute to heal to some extent.

However, this alone was a sea change in the stability of my playstyle. My stamina now recovered faster, and total stamina had also increased tremendously.

“Let’s slow down a bit and get ready. Looks like we’re almost there.”

Calming Ainar down, I lowered our speed of movement.

Suddenly, the terrain changed.

The floor turned hard instead of soggy, and flat ground gave way to hills.

The banshees’ howls got louder and louder.

“Kiyhihihihihihihi!!”

“Kehehehe, uaaaaaghh!”

Of course, the biggest change was something different.

This was the starting point for the upper-ranked species.

In other words, eighth grade monsters might appear from here on out.

“… Bjorn, you really won’t attack first?”

Perhaps because she was afraid of the banshee’s cry, Ainar had been gritting her teeth for a while.

Perhaps it was a barbarian habit to clench their jaws when they were afraid…

I couldn’t know for certain, though.

Because I’d never been that scared.

“Cooooooooo—!!”

As we kept moving, we heard a strange roar in the dark.

Huh, hearing it actually even made me shake.

“Ainar, prepare for battle.”

“B-, but didn’t you say that we shouldn’t attack the banshees first, Bjorn?”

Did she have a problem with her ears?

“That’s not a banshee.”

Deathfiend.

Among the many eighth grade monsters that’d made the game so unwelcoming for newbies, it was undoubtedly the worst.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The distant sound of heavy footsteps grows louder and louder, and finally it appears before us.

“… Are we going to fight?”

Ainar asks a question, but continues before I get the chance to answer.

“It looks fun.”

I don’t know what goes on inside her head.

She herself told me last time how she’s afraid of dying, so how can she smile with such childlike joy?

Is she only scared of banshees or something?

Boom–!

Perhaps because he’s bothered by the torchlight, the deathfiend halts at the edge of it.

“Don’t be nervous.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not.”

Why are you answering? It’s not you I’m talking to.

I had it all planned in advance, but now that I see it in person, I’m getting goosebumps.

The deathfiend is a humanoid undead monster.

Or perhaps, it’s closer to a chimera?

It’s over 3m tall, equipped with a sword and a shield on its arms.

Not actually holding them, though.

One hand stretches out into a long, curved blade in the shape of a crescent half-moon, and the other arm fans out wide from the elbow onward in the shape of a shield.

They’re called ‘protean sword and shield’.

“Cooooooooo–!!”

Fuck, don’t shout like that. It’s scary.

It’s not easy to shake off the fear seeping into my head.

“Keep calm and follow the plan, and you can win.”

“Of course, I trust you.”

Thank you, but again, it’s not you I’m talking to.

… Let’s calm down.

Although this is the first attempt, there should be no danger as long as I don’t let my guard down.

If things take a turn for the worse, just scarper and don’t look back.

“As I said before, always aim for the head. Because anywhere else would be useless. Understand?”

“I get it!”

No, that wasn’t a sign to attack immediately.

“Behel-raaaaaaaaaa!!”

Ainar runs out, her two-handed greatsword swinging.

It’s already too late to stop her.

Perhaps the roar helps her draw the aggro properly, because the enemy also rushes forward with its sword and shield instead of staying at the edge of the torchlight.

“Cooooooooo–!!”

Claaaaang!

Ainar’s greatsword and the deathfiend’s protean blade collide with a clangorous roar.

“Bjorn, be careful! This monster’s power is no joke!”

Wouldn’t that usually be obvious from just seeing it?

“Behel-raaaaaaaaaa!!”

I join the battle with my own roar.

My shield guarding the front like a wall, I pound at the flank of the enemy, interrupting its attack on Ainar who’s just been knocked away.

But is it possible for mere flesh to be this tough?

It feels like I’m striking stone.

Creeeeeeeak.

Even as I apply force, it’s me who gets pushed back, shield and all.

There’s no reason to keep at it – apart from my injured pride, that is.

I lift my toes up high, my heels digging on the ground.

Then I slam my entire weight forward, with not a roar but a scream.

“Aaaaaaaahhh!”

Fuck! I feel like my muscles are about to be torn apart.

But there’s an indescribable sense of joy.

Looks like I… managed to resist.

And Ainar isn’t green enough to let this gap go.

Boom–!

Her greatsword lodges itself at the side of the deathfiend’s head with a heavy, dull sound.

Not severing it, but literally ‘lodged in it’.

Crack!

She cut with such a heavy sword, and yet it only pierced about 1cm into the enemy’s flesh.

The blunt sound was probably the blade striking the skull.

Even in the game, the deathfiend boasted a notorious level of defence.

Although, it was its regeneration rather than physical defence that drove the newbies away from the game.

“Cooooooooo!”

“Take distance, now!”

Avoiding the frantic struggles of the deathfiend, I widen the gap between us.

Dark red blood is dripping from where the sword was pulled out, but the bleeding stops in less than three seconds.

Due to its passive skill, ‘preservation of the flesh’.

“Ainar! Make a gap. It’s my turn to attack!”

Just as I quickly shout an order out and try to rush in –

Thump, thump, thump!

The earth suddenly begins to shake.

This is my first time seeing such an effect, but I understand at a glance.

An active skill possessed by deathfiends.

‘Call of the dead’.

“Keep away, there’re ghouls coming!”

As the shaking stops, ghouls dig their way out from beneath the ground.

Exactly ten in number.

“Get rid of these guys first!”

“Got it!”

While Ainar gets rid of the ghouls with her greatsword –

“Coooooooooooooooooooooo!”

I keep the deathfiend’s attention.

Although since I keep drawing aggro, the ghoul bastards keep attacking me instead, their nails scratching me up until my skin looks like a tattered rag.

Of course, it’s no big deal.

I have regeneration, too.

Although not as good as the other guy.

“Bjorn! Now I’ll take on this guy!”

The ghouls are wiped out in about two minutes.

It’s kind of funny, to be honest.

To think you can survive the deathfiend’s summoning pattern by just beating them up.

‘I never did this well even in the game.’

While Ainar takes over the baton and starts marking him one-on-one, I take my mace out and move behind his back.

And smash him good on the back of his head.

Puff–!

The sound and the feel are pretty good.

A trickle of putrid blood leaks out from the wound.

I keep hitting.

Puff–! Puff–! Puff–!

With enough power to convert a goblin into motes of light in every shot.

But, fuck, why is it still like this?

Crack!

In reality, the skull is sturdy beyond imagination. Even as I keep hitting it, the flesh keeps healing.

… What should I do now?

The attack power is lacking.

If I’d known this beforehand, I’d have bought the weapon the merchant had recommended at the time.

Should I just give up and go hunt level nine monsters instead?

Crack! Crack! Crack!

I continue attacking with my mace as I keep thinking, but it’s not enough to destroy the brain.

Whoosh–!

In the end, I have no choice but to step back to avoid the protean blade that comes swinging in.

But then –

“Coootttt!”

Suddenly, the deathfiend’s body loses its balance and tilts.

I can see Ainar digging her heels, grabbing one of the legs of this 3m tall bastard and lifting it up.

It’s a common technique in the UFC.

Don’t they call this…

‘A single leg tackle?’

“Behel-raaaaaaaaaaa!!”

All those muscles swelling up and those veins bulging out, the scene really makes her look like the monster…

The goal is clear, and even seems feasible.

So I immediately join in.

Puff–!

When I hit the ankle he still has on the ground as hard I can with my mace, the massive body completely loses its balance and hovers in the air for an instant.

And…

Thud–!

Crashes down on the floor.

This is what you call, in technical terms, a takedown.

Although I’d never even thought that applying such a technique against a medium or large class monster might be possible.

… Anything’s possible if you’re a barbarian.

“Cooooooooooooooo!”

The deathfiend flounders on the ground like a worm turned on its back.

For us, who were about to rush in again, it’s a startling sight.

“Coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!”

Wait, it can’t right itself back up?

“Bjorn!”

“Yeah!”

We read each other’s thoughts in our eyes.

Ainar and I run to its fallen form and smash it with our weapons like crazy.

Like when you make mochi, putting the rice on a mortar and take turns hitting it with a mallet, we also decide on an amicable turn-based arrangement.

Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!

Come to think of it, this reminds me of making rice cakes in that folk village I’d visited during elementary school.

“So fun!”

Maybe because I remember the buddy I’d paired up with crying and asking for their turn?

Seeing Ainar having fun somehow heals the wounds in my heart.

As if my spirit is sublimating.

「You killed a deathfiend. EXP +2」

We smile brightly, watching the deathfiend dissolve into motes of light.

Without any help from a wizard’s mighty spells, a priest’s divine power, or a fairy’s elemental magic…

“Bjorn! Look at this! The mana stone is huge!”

We’ve succeeded in hunting an eighth level monster.

Editor’s Notes:

None for this chapter.