The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 76

64. The Great Hunt (2)

“Dure snake venom, huh? It’s usable for hunting, but it seems too weak to pierce a serpent’s scales.”

“…….”

“Serpents are different from typical prey. They’re as flexible as snakes, but their fangs are as powerful as a dragon’s. But the biggest problem is that even if you get through all that, it’s meaningless if you can’t peel off their armor-like scales.”

Tuk-

Beykan put down the arrow he was preparing and looked up.

“You’re a chatty brat.”

Caryl shrugged and smiled at his words.

“The hunting method doesn’t change, no matter the goal. You just do your best with what you can.”

“Well, I just thought it would be nice to only bring one corpse when coming to the hills.”

[He seems excited for some reason. He’s not perversely enjoying seeing that big guy, is he?]

‘Shut up.’

[Even when I look back at your past life, it doesn’t seem like there was a single woman. I hope you’re not into that kind of thing.]

‘……You don’t even know all my memories.’

[It’s obvious. The more important the memory, the stronger the remaining power. In short, the fragmented memories of you that I’ve seen are the most intense in your life.]

Caryl said with a stiff face at Allen Zabiuss’s words.

‘Maybe I deliberately hid them.’

[Perhaps.]

But unlike his stiff appearance, Allen said to him as if teasing him.

‘It’s just been a while since I’ve fought with someone I can trust and leave the rear to without worry.’

Aiden and Mikhail were also excellent, but their skills were still a step short.

Mikhail had little experience with subjugation, and Aiden, though experienced, was dealing with humans, not monsters, making him an unstable factor in hunting.

[When we caught the two-headed eagle, he seemed quite useful now.]

‘They’re talented guys anyway.’

Caryl smiled quietly as he watched Beykan silently inspect his gear.

‘But if you see him fight, you’ll think differently.’

[Hmm……?]

Allen Zabiuss tilted his head as if he didn’t understand.

* * *

Thud—!!

Kwaang-!! Kwagagang-!!!

A series of explosions erupted, and shattered rocks bounced and rolled across the floor.

Koo-oong…… Crackle!!

Picking up the shattered rocks and slamming them down, the head of the fallen monster was mercilessly crushed.

Thick carapace shattered, and brain fluid splattered out.

“Hoo-up!!”

Even though its head was shattered, the monster’s remaining legs moved wildly, as if its nerves were not completely severed.

Beykan indifferently took a short breath and stomped on the monster’s belly with all his might.

[I understand what you were saying. That guy is on a different level.]

Allen Zabiuss looked at Beykan with an astonished expression and said to Caryl.

‘Right?’

Around Beykan were literally mountains of exploded monster corpses.

A pile of corpses that seemed to be at least 30 to 40.

The monsters at the entrance of the canyon leading to the hills all targeted him, but the result was as you see.

[How can he fight like that? Without any magic. That’s really pure strength.]

‘He’s a man who single-handedly wiped out over 500 soldiers. This is nothing.’

[It’s not about the numbers. Even you now could wipe out not just 500, but 1,000 without a problem. What I’m wondering is how he can fight like that without getting tired.]

Crack-!! Creak……!!

Beykan tore off the carapace from the monster’s corpse and said to Caryl.

“Can you wait a moment? The cores of these guys are one of the important trade items. If I don’t process them right away, they can’t be used. I’ll just prepare the materials and send a signal, and the tribe members will collect them.”

“As you wish. I was going to rest before entering the hills anyway. Well, you caught them all, so I didn’t have to lift a finger.”

Caryl waved his hand at Beykan’s words.

As soon as he gave his permission, Beykan began to dismantle the monsters with skillful hands.

[Such physical ability is rare even in the Magic Era……. Amazing.]

‘You can be strong even without magic. Are you too surprised? There were people without magic even in the Magic Era, right?’

[Of course. You call them barbarians or foreigners and divide them, but in those days, everyone lived together.]

‘Why are only the people of the North and South born without magic?’

[Well, isn’t it not that strange to not have magic? You think I’m amazed that you’re strong without magic, but it’s different. The current Emperor calls it heresy, but magic isn’t a blessing given by God.]

Allen said with his arms crossed.

[It’s just one of the natural phenomena. It’s just one of the many elements that make up the world that humans borrow. If so, there are plenty of things that could be called heresy: curses, spirits, and spells…….]

‘I guess so.’

Caryl nodded with a faint smile.

What was insignificant a thousand years ago was now dividing the continent and providing an excuse for war.

[Those without magic sometimes have strong qualities in other areas. Your swordsmanship may be one example of that.]

‘My swordsmanship is the result of my efforts. It wasn’t given by any god.’

[Hehe……. Always so proud. Anyway, that’s how it is. I was someone who walked the path of magic, but the world doesn’t move by magic alone.]

Allen pointed to Beykan, who was taking the core out of the monster’s corpse, and said.

[Talking to you reminds me of something I had forgotten. Oh dear, living for a thousand years makes my memory fade……. In that sense, I think I know why that big guy is so strong.]

‘Hmm?’

[Maybe that guy was born with the blessing of a spirit.]

* * *

‘The blessing of a spirit……?’

Now, after the Magic Era, when even the distinction between good and evil is based on magic, the word “spirit” was being forgotten.

At best, only the barbarians of the South passed it down from mouth to mouth like a tradition.

[It’s called a blessing, but it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with spirits now. It’s just a word for humans with unique constitutions. You’ve heard of Emperor Lyner, who was called the Conqueror King, right?]

‘The one who was called the first Sword Master?’

[That’s right. The legends of him collapsing mountains and parting tidal waves with his bare hands are exaggerated, but there was a strange research result.]

‘What is it?’

[Emperor Lyner may have had a body without magic.]

“What……?”

Beykan, who was tearing apart the monster’s corpse, turned his head and looked at him at Caryl’s sudden words.

“Nothing.”

Caryl hurriedly waved his hand.

[It may just be hearsay, but in those days, not only magic but also the power of spirits was abundant. Among the dragons who were with the Council of Seven Elders, there was one who lived in the time of Emperor Lyner. He said that the Great Emperor used three attributes of magic.]

‘Not just one?’

[Yes. Unless you eat a dragon’s heart like you did, it’s impossible to use different attributes of magic. But it’s not completely impossible.]

‘Spirit contract.’

[That’s right.]

‘If what you’re saying is true, is it possible that Emperor Lyner was an ancestor of the Southerners?’

Caryl asked him in an interesting voice.

[Well, as I said before, they didn’t make distinctions like foreigners or barbarians back then. Still, he’s more likely to be from the South than from the Empire.]

‘I see.’

[As you know, the power of spirits has weakened now, so it’s impossible to do the same thing as the Great Emperor……. Occasionally, among those without magic, there are those who are born with such abnormally strong bodies.]

Allen Zabiuss pointed to Beykan and said.

[We call those people born with the blessing of spirits. He must have been loved by the earth spirit.]

Caryl chuckled at his words.

‘What about me? If what you’re saying is true, my swordsmanship might be part of the blessing of a spirit. Did I receive the blessing of the wind spirit?’

Even after saying it, Caryl thought it was a pointless joke.

[No.]

But unlike him, who brushed it off lightly, Allen answered seriously.

[If I remember what I saw in your memories……. You’re closer to lightning than wind. Wind is sharp but sometimes gentle, but you have more ferocity than gentleness.]

‘Stop saying embarrassing things.’

[You brat. I’m not joking, I’m really telling you what I think. Think about it. Did you experience this phenomenon in your past life that you don’t remember?]

‘There’s nothing like that. I just came with my own strength.’

Caryl got up from his seat as he watched Beykan finish dismantling the last monster.

“Can we leave now?”

He nodded instead of answering.

After covering the place where the monster’s cores were piled up with a cloth, Beykan drew the bowstring on the huge recurve bow he was carrying on his back.

Kwaddeudeudeuk……!!!

The veins in his arm holding the crescent-shaped bowstring bulged. The arrow shot from his hand soared into the sky with a sharp whistling sound.

“From here on, it’s the territory of the Sand Serpents. According to the Great Hunt’s policy, there will be no cooperation. The one who takes its head is the winner. No objections, I presume.”

“Of course.”

As Caryl nodded, Beykan, as if he had been waiting, put the bow back on his back and began to walk.

[Finally, it begins.]

Allen Zabiuss’s eyes shone like a spectator waiting for an interesting game.

‘Lightning…….’

But strangely, even though there was a big task of the Great Hunt in front of him, Caryl somehow felt that Allen Zabiuss’s words kept lingering in his mind.

* * *

“……Damn it.”

A low curse came out of Beykan’s mouth. Caryl, looking back, raised the corners of his lips and said.

“Looks like it’s tough?”

“Not at all.”

He said firmly, but his lips looked pale and dry.

Nevertheless, he began to climb the hill, stepping on the rocks with large strides.

[Amazing. He’s still keeping up with your speed, which is enhanced by magic.]

Caryl looked at his back as he walked.

His shoulders, which had not wavered even when he caught dozens of monsters, were subtly but gradually shaking.

[Once you get up to this height, it won’t be easy to breathe without magic.]

‘That’s right.’

[Why don’t you cast a support spell? Isn’t this what you did to get that guy anyway?]

‘No. That would be meaningless.’

There is no easy battle.

And the wars to come will be accompanied by even more pain.

‘He’s great now, but the more talented the person, the more they need to be tempered. For someone without magic to face the Empire people with magic, this much is natural.’

[Are those words coming from experience?]

At Allen’s words, Caryl simply walked forward silently.

“Hoo…… Hoo…….”

At that moment.

Beykan’s steps stopped, piercing through his rough breathing.

The end of the giant hill.

Above the vast mountain range, like a dry desert with no moisture, three sharp pillars rose.

Gulp-

In the fiercely blowing wind, the sound of Beykan’s tense Adam’s apple moving seemed to be heard.

“We’ve arrived.”

Caryl said in a low voice, as if he already knew the scenery he was looking at.

“The Venom of Gwan-a (管牙) [likely referring to the fangs or venom glands of a specific creature, possibly the Sand Serpents they are hunting].”