Episode 21

I put the deer I had been hunting down on the ground.

The northern part of the border was able to easily supply food through hunting and gathering as it had a natural environment good for animals and plants to live in.

“Mr. Talia. I’d like to take care of it.”

We are currently camped near the border of goblin and troll habitats.

After ten days of forced march, it was to take maintenance and rest before hunting trolls.

“Oh, did you already catch this big guy?”

“Here, I picked fruit, so take it.”

I handed the leather pouch to Talia.

The bag was full of ripe red cherries and wild cherries.

“Thank you. I would have been bitten if I had meat, but I’d like to eat it with you.”

When I was talking to Talia.

Nick, who went hunting like me, is back.

In his hands were two small wild beasts.

“Hey. This guy did another one. If I go out with you, I won’t go hungry.”

said Nick as he set the game down next to the deer.

After the battle with Hobgoblin, people’s attitude towards me has definitely changed.

In the past, if he was a newcomer who didn’t know what to do, now, as if he were dealing with an outstanding prospect, he was praised for everything he did.

“Brother. Can’t we bring this friend?”

“Tsk. Stop talking nonsense and do what you have to do. If you keep making noise, I’ll kick you out first.”

“Ai. You don’t know jokes.”

Nick replied with a smile.

Wilmot continued to check the equipment, ignoring Nick as if he hadn’t heard anything.

A small stream ran by the campsite.

The non-hunting party were sitting near the stream, washing away the grime from their equipment.

‘Shall I start too?’

Catching a big deer was enough for one person.

While the meal was being prepared, I went to the creek to check the equipment.

When he took off his armor and laid it on the floor, he could see dried blood and intestines everywhere.

To properly care for the armor, it must be washed, dried, and fed with animal oil or beeswax.

It is not possible to do so leisurely in the yard after leaving Wonhaeng.

I finished the maintenance to the extent of soaking a rough cloth in water and removing the adhering debris.

Both weapons and armor were coated with a black oxide film, so there was no fear of rust easily.

I finished the equipment and started training in one empty lot.

‘It’s worthwhile coming out.’

yesternight.

The mastery of mana simbeop has risen to the stage of maturity.

As much as the mana delivery speed and efficiency improved, it was necessary to adapt to the changed mana management.

I coordinated my mana and body by practicing gymnastics that Richard taught me.

‘This will increase the maintenance time by 20%?’

As the transfer speed of mana increased, mana was drawn only when needed, reducing wasted mana.

In addition, as the efficiency increased, it was expected that the actual combat time would increase by nearly 20% due to the synergistic effect between the two.

I don’t have much inspiration to use mana incidentally, but it was a great achievement for a normal samurai.

Of course, the increase in mastery of mana simbeop was meaningful to me as well.

The value of mana simbeop that has reached full maturity will show its true value when you can strengthen your arms by going up to the 4th tier.

10 minutes passed.

I stopped training because I judged that I had some sense of mana management.

I sat down on the floor and started meditating.

To increase the proficiency of mana simbeop, strong mental power is required.

In my previous life, I lost my parents right in front of my eyes due to a mutant attack.

After that, for about 10 years, I endured every day with only one single thought to survive.

In the meantime, I witnessed countless deaths and overcame many life and death hurdles, and my spirit gradually strengthened.

Finally, he went through death, which could be said to be the end of everything, so it could be said that he had a stronger mental power than ordinary people.

However, Shimma came to me, who was proud of having a strong mental power as much as anyone else.

After the battle with Hobgoblin.

From noble mtl dot com

My surroundings were full of goblin corpses whose shapes were hard to recognize.

Dark red blood pooled on the floor and viscera and flesh scattered everywhere.

It was a horrific sight that I couldn’t bear to open my eyes and see if I thought it belonged to a human being.

Some people equate demon beasts with ignorant monsters.

Of course, the devil’s servant had an evil and tyrannical disposition to the extent that the thought was not wrong.

However, despite the difference in level, the demon beasts were creatures with their own culture and civilization, using the same language as humans.

This could be seen just by looking at the goblins shouting for a leader and rushing at them, burning with vengeance the moment they killed Hobgoblin.

A normal person would feel reluctant to kill even one insect.

Unless he was a pleasure killer, it was only natural that he would spend his energy killing lives.

‘That’s why mercenaries live on alcohol and drugs.’

Mercenaries do not live in pleasure for nothing.

It was all a defense mechanism to protect oneself.

But rather than avoiding the trauma, I chose to confront it.

‘Cause and retribution. The weak meat.’

I defined the providence of this world with these two words.

The goblin’s karma who attacked human meat.

The human retribution for killing such a goblin.

The law of the jungle, in which only the strong survive, escaping the concept of good and evil.

It may be a pitiful self-justification, but I was able to achieve spiritual growth by solidifying my own thoughts and beliefs.

And the result was an increase in mastery of mana simbeop.

“Mr. Ian, the meat is cooked. Have a meal.”

When I was lost in my own world, I heard Talia’s voice calling me.

I shook off my thoughts and stood up with a relieved heart.

After a good rest for the day, we started moving again around the time the sun rose in the morning.

I wandered through the densely wooded forest all day, but I couldn’t find any trace of the troll.

Uninvited guests came to us that evening after such a meaningless day.

“Mr. Thalia. A number of people are approaching.”

“yes?”

Talia made a puzzled expression at my words.

However, I already had a history of noticing the goblin attack first.

After exchanging glances for a moment, Talia told Wilmot what I had told her.

Under Wilmot’s direction, we stopped moving and regrouped.

And after a while, about 10 people appeared between the dark trees.

The time when I wasn’t nervous about the danger I didn’t know.

Wilmot raised his right hand and walked toward the uninvited guests.

“Zott. I see you from here.”

In response to Wilmot’s greeting, a large man with an overall round face smiled and waved his hand.

“Is that you, Wilmot? Long time no see.”

“I see. It’s been about a month or two? How, is the hunt finished?”

Wilmot and Zotte seemed to be close friends, so they got closer and talked.

Seeing that, our party put down their tension and watched in a comfortable posture.

Wilmot and Zotte conversed in voices just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Zotte’s group searched the outskirts of the troll’s habitat for over 10 days, but they couldn’t even see the troll’s nose.

In the end, the schedule was delayed for a long time, so they took a risk and entered a little more north.

Fortunately, they found the troll within a few days, and after hunting safely, they were on their way back to Erita.

After a while, after a conversation, Jot’s group walked past us.

Wilmot asked the others for their opinions.

“I’m sure everyone has heard about it. I think we need to revise our plans. What do you think?”

Wilmot lowered his horse to everyone for the convenience of command.

After discussing for a while, we agreed to explore the outskirts of the troll habitat for a few days.

Three days have passed since I met Jot and his friends.

Still didn’t see a single troll footprint.

And that afternoon we ran into another expedition once again.

They also told me the story of how they were able to successfully hunt trolls after going deeper without finding the trolls outside the habitat.

“It looks like I’ll have to go inside. As the monsters’ movements have subsided, it seems that the monsters’ habitats have moved to the north as a whole.”

Without any objection, the party decided to follow Wilmot’s words.

“You never know what kind of unexpected situation will happen in the future, so always be careful.”

On the outskirts of the habitat, young and decrepit individuals who were pushed out of the territorial fight live alone.

However, as they moved north, the probability of encountering a large number of healthy individuals inevitably increased, so the group continued their search while remaining alert.

If there are 9 3rd tier mercenaries, it is possible to deal with one troll without too much trouble.

However, as soon as the number of trolls becomes two, casualties may occur.

If there were three, there was a high possibility that all would die unless they chose to run away.

It is said that dozens of trolls sometimes live in tribes in the northern part where there is plenty of food, but it was not a problem for us to worry about because even skilled warriors would not like to visit such a place.

It was the tenth day after entering the troll habitat.

We were finally able to find traces of trolls.

Wilmot looked closely at the troll’s footprints deeply dug into the ground and the feces between them, then opened his mouth.

“Fortunately, I found it not too late. The prey seems to be not far away, so finish the hunt today if possible. Nick and Peter. You two will be in charge of luring the troll. In the meantime, the rest of you will set up traps here.”

The manned crew departed and we prepared to face the trolls.

Troll hunting is done by luring them in, trapping them, and then killing them.

Direct combat was an option considered only in the last situation.

The party pulled out a thick, sturdy-looking rope from the bag on their back and connected it to a thick tree.

Out of curiosity, I grabbed a rope and tried my best to pull it with both hands, but it didn’t budge.

Even trolls with superior strength to humans seemed difficult to escape the moment they were bound by the ropes.

While the party prepared the trap, I stood still and watched them.

I didn’t even think about preparing a rope because I was planning to make money by hunting goblins and orcs to fill up the mission points in the first place.

Besides, I wouldn’t have been able to get a rope that strong even with all my possessions.

After all the preparations, the party waited for the manned group to return.

Has it been about 2 hours?

Nick’s shouts could be heard faintly in the distance.

I sensed something was wrong and called Wilmot.

“Mr. Wilmot. Mr. Nick is coming. But something is wrong with the urgency in his voice.”

Wilmot looked at me suspiciously as if he hadn’t heard anything.

However, he soon hardened his expression and ordered the party to be fully prepared.

“Captain! Brother!”

“Brother! It’s not just one. Run away!”

After a while, the urgent voice of the man-in-law echoed through the forest, enough for the party to hear.

‘This isn’t good.’

I focused on hearing and grasped the situation.

Taktak. Taktak.

thump. thump. thump.

Several heavy footsteps were approaching behind the small footsteps believed to be Nick and Peter’s.

“Brother! What should I do?”

At Roy’s question, Wilmot frowned and put on a conflicted expression.

“Trolls are like three.”

I passed information to Wilmot to make his decision easier.

Then Wilmot opened his eyes and said.

“As soon as the manned group arrives, everyone scatters and runs away. The rendezvous point is yesterday’s camp.”

The party prepared to run away without even having time to grab a rope.

“Damn it.”

The defeat was evident on Wilmot’s face as he spit out curses.

“Mr. Wilmot. How about this?”

I made a suggestion to Wilmot.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like