Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The group spotted the grizzly bear through the thick bushes. It wasn’t uncommon for hunters to lose their lives in their attempts to take down these fearsome beasts.

Creak.

Urich drew his bow with a substantial force. The two extra layers of wood on his bow and the bowstring made of multiple twisted strands made his bow more than twice as thick as the average one.

“Hmph.”

As he pulled the bowstring with every fiber of muscle in his entire body, the veins in Urich’s arms bulged prominently and his face turned blood red from clenching his teeth.

Twang!

The enormous tension from the bow sent the arrow ripping through the cold mountain air with a sharp hissing sound.

Thuck.

Urich's arrow was buried deep inside the grizzly bear’s neck. But even a wound this deep wasn’t nearly enough to bring down a bear like this.

“Shoot it!” The arrows rained on the grizzly bear at Urich’s command. The bear simultaneously let out its beastly roar and charged toward the young warriors.

“Spears up!” The warriors scattered to surround the bear with their long hunting spears. “Stab it!”

Their strategy was to utilize the blind spots created by the bear targeting a single warrior at a time. The targeted warrior would draw its attention while the ones in its blind spots delivered the blows. The bear thus began accumulating spear wounds.

“Oh, come on, guys, you’re damaging the hide! Go for the head, we only need one big blow!” Urich shouted at the other warriors as he swiftly dodged the bear’s heavy swipe.

“You really think that’s as easy as you’re making it sound?”

“Fine, I’ll do it myself,” Urich retorted as he casually launched his spear at the bear’s head, which was easily parried by the bear. But Urich wasn’t bothered by this. Even though the bow and arrow and spear were a hunter’s basic weapons, he strongly favored the double battle axes. For him, nothing beat running at his target with an axe in each hand.

Ting.

Urich pulled out a pair of battle axes from his belt.

“Hmph.”

Urich drew in a large breath to fill his lungs with as much fresh air as possible as he prepared for a moment of all-out effort, a frenzy of movements that would not allow him even a second to breathe.

‘Right front paw.’ Urich was now in a state of absolute focus. His eyes remained wide open and locked on what lay in front of him. Nothing was breaking his focus—not even dirt getting in his eyes.

Woosh!

The bear’s inaccurate swipe was only enough to touch Urich’s hair as he closed the distance between the two of them.

‘Left front paw.’ Urich was seeing through every one of the bear’s attacks. ‘I can see its attacks. I just have to stay calm, then I can dodge them all.’ He rendered yet another attack useless with an acrobatic somersault that was almost too graceful for a warrior. The bear only managed to skim his chest with its rugged claws.

‘It’s my turn now.’ The thrill of the fight made Urich grin with excitement. He had just played a game of life or death to get to a position where he could go for a direct blow on the grizzly bear’s throat.

Slash!

Vald knew that Urich had already made up his mind. He showed a bitter grin. “You better not die, Urich.”

“The old shaman did say that I was going to become a great warrior. There’s no chance I’ll die here, not today. I am Urich, the slayer of thirty men!” Urich proclaimed as he charged, holding the hide of the bear over himself as cover. The arrows were piercing the hide but weren’t able to get to Urich.

Meanwhile, the other warriors rushed back down the mountain with their injured comrades. Urich took another look at his warriors to make sure they were on their way down safely.

Woosh!

Urich launched his long spear in the direction of the enemies. His rather rash attack caught them by surprise, halting their attacks for a moment. Urich took this chance to ditch the bear hide and draw in a long breath, preparing for a counterattack.

Cling!

Urich drew his axes and charged at the enemies, using the tall trees as cover to swiftly dodge the arrows raining down on him.

‘There you are.’

Urich’s thighs were pumped as hard as a rock. He charged ahead in big leaps, almost as if he was flying through the woods. He closed down the distance in the blink of an eye and sprayed a handful of stones at the enemies.

Swoosh!

“Argh!”

“Ahhhh!”

The enemies screamed at the stone shower and Urich was able to pick them out amidst the bushes.

‘I’ve never seen outfits like this.’ Urich was finally able to see the oddly dressed men. Unlike the nearly naked tribesmen, these men had only their hands and faces peeking out of their clothes. They were covered from head to toe in cloth as if they were embarrassed about showing their skin.

‘They’re from the other side of the mountains!’ Urich’s instinct screamed that these men were not from the same place as him. They were people from beyond the Sky Mountains.

The enemies were yelling at Urich, but he wasn’t able to understand their words as they were speaking a different language. It didn’t matter anyway, as Urich had already made up his mind on what he was going to do with them. ‘You’ve laid your hands on my brothers. You will all die.’

Urich circled the enemies while swinging his axes. The enemies scurried away from Urich as if he was a lion that had jumped into a herd of deer.

“What, you can’t fight without your bow and arrows? Cowards!” Urich roared at the scattering men. But then, from among them, something moved toward him.

Creak. Creak.

A man in full golden plate armor rose from the grass. He was waiting for the barbarian to come into his proximity.

“Sir Fordgal!” exclaimed one of the enemies.

“Good thing I had this armor on just in case.” Fordgal, the man in golden armor, drew his sword and shield to stand in front of Urich.

‘What is that fighting stance...and that armor?’ Urich was stunned by the amount of metal these men had at their disposal. Back at his tribe, there wasn’t enough iron to forge into weapons, let alone a whole armor set. Their armor was made of layered animal hides.

Fordgal tossed his shield backward.

“You must keep your shield, Sir Fordgal!” one of the enemies exclaimed with concern.

“It’s the axe of a barbarian. It’s not getting through my full plate armor.” Fordgal stood up to Urich with a strong sense of confidence.

“I don’t know what is happening right now, but ditching your shield? You’re that confident in your armor, huh?” Urich muttered as he spun his axes. Neither could understand the words coming out of their opponent’s mouth.