Chapter 96 : Chapter 96
Chapter 96. An Interesting Fellow.
Swish—
Argas rubbed the bloodstain with his hand.
'Judging by how it has hardened… it's been less than half a day.'
Numerous footprints around the bloodstain and scattered feathers.
Following the trail, he was even able to find the corpses of dead harpies.
He nodded.
The Count's words were true.
It seemed there was a flock of harpies nearby.
The target was the Harpy Queen.
If he followed the harpies' tracks, he would find the queen's trail.
He quickened his pace again.
* * *
Argas, who had been tracking the harpies' corpses and traces, eventually reached the bottom of the canyon.
“……”
At the bottom of the canyon, massive feathers were scattered about, and reddish blood that had not long since dried remained.
The feathers, almost 1 meter long, surely belonged to the queen.
His eyes scanned the battlefield.
A lot of information remains on a battlefield.
Thump—
His hand touched a rock above the bloodstain.
Looking up, he saw feathers and scratch marks remaining between the rocks.
Traces of something having fallen from the cliff above.
'A fall.
The queen fell from the sky to the ground.'
A sense of disappointment flickered in Argas's eyes.
He had had expectations because he heard of her 'Precognition' ability.
Looking at the traces of her being hunted, he thought she might not be that strong after all.
Argas's eyes lit up as he followed the queen's trail.
He felt the remnants of mana in the air.
And.
'Black ash.
This is… a curse circle.'
A faint curse circle remained around the area.
Black ash had seeped into the surrounding ground, and in the center was a blackened feather of the Harpy Queen, which seemed to have been used as a medium for the curse.
Through the way the curse was used and its traces, he could guess the identity of the shaman.
'A shaman of the High Orc race.
Was the Harpy Queen hunted by the High Orcs?'
It seemed the owners of the jumbled footprints on the ground were the High Orcs.
The High Orc race was a race that used close-combat weapons.
Perhaps there was someone among them who might pique his interest.
He nodded and stepped onto the battlefield.
Thump—
Argas began to walk, following their footprints, and started to imagine what kind of battle had taken place.
He had spent his entire life searching for battlefields to fight against the strong.
Thanks to that, analyzing the situation by looking at battle traces was one of his long-standing amusements.
Jumbled footprints.
He classified the owners of each footprint and traced their movements.
Swish—
The movements of the High Orcs naturally came to mind.
'Most of the attacks were in vain.'
If there had been a clash, the footprints would have been imprinted deeper due to the rebound.
Judging by the depth of the footprints, the High Orcs' attacks did not reach the queen.
'It seems she really did have the ability of precognition.'
With so many traces of missed swings, that ability was certain.
At the same time, a question arose in his mind.
In that case, who killed the 'Harpy Queen' who had the ability of precognition?
And.
Finally, he was able to find that trace.
'An unusual footprint.
With this stride…'
The depth and width of the footprint.
And through the habit of the gait, he predicted the owner of the footprint.
Perhaps this trace was.
'A human.'
A race he had long forgotten flashed through his mind.
Following the trace with his eyes, he was able to instantly picture the course of the battle.
Thud—
Argas placed his foot on the human's footprint.
Then he stepped forward, following the trail.
'Slowly approached.
And here.'
Thump—
The footprint was deeply dug in.
The point where the human used explosive power.
From here, the footprints led in a straight line to the Harpy Queen.
He charged in and cut her down.
A virtual sword moved along with his gaze.
Chwaak—!
An explosive single strike with instantaneous acceleration cut down the Harpy Queen in one blow.
The trace of blood on the wall.
Judging by the height at which it was splattered, it was a right-handed swordsman of similar height to himself.
From the traces of the splattered blood, he could guess the swordsmanship.
'A draw slash?
Not bad.
A clean technique.'
A swordsmanship that killed the struggling Harpy Queen in a single strike.
Argas nodded, showing interest in the swordsmanship used by the unknown human swordsman.
'Neutralize the movement and strike quickly to finish her off.
Quite orthodox.'
If he had hunted the queen himself, he would have used a swordsmanship with an 'unavoidable range', but the human was quite good too.
After a moment of silence, he curled the corner of his lips up.
“An interesting fellow.”
Argas fiddled with the sword at his waist once and began to slowly walk away.
He was no longer interested in the dead Harpy Queen.
His interest had shifted from the 'Harpy Queen' to the 'human swordsman who killed the queen'.
And.
“I can't just let the one who snatched my prey go.”
A smile formed on his face as he left.
It was a look as if he had encountered an interesting toy.
* * *
Several days had passed since the 'Harpy Queen' was hunted.
After the hunt, the queen's corpse was brought to the High Orc tribe.
Among them, the part Hyunwoo needed was the queen's 'heart'.
The heart, made of mana, was more like a well-crafted, yellow-glowing gem than an organ.
The queen's heart was a powerful source of mana and contained her 'Precognition' attribute.
Hyunwoo requested the Harpy Queen's heart from Gracia.
He had promised to receive one of the queen's parts before the hunt.
[I want the queen's heart.]
[Kek, kek, kek… you ask for the most valuable thing.]
[I believe I contributed that much to the hunt.]
[Contributed, you say……]
At Gracia's trailing words, he wondered if he was going back on his word, but fortunately, he didn't.
[I believe the Guide played an even greater role in the Harpy Queen hunt.]
Hyunwoo, who had inwardly sighed in relief at Gracia's words, took the opportunity to request a favor regarding the queen's heart.
[Could you make an item that suits me with the 'Harpy's Heart'?]
[Hmm…… the 'Guide' and the 'Harpy's Heart'… I think something might come to mind.]
A material item with the attributes of 'Guide' and 'Precognition'.
Since he had confirmed that Gracia had crafted the 'Spear of Certain Hit', he was sure that 'that item' he had anticipated would be crafted.
He was a 'High Orc shaman'.
His specialty was curses that dealt with resentment, but creating special items was also his job.
His role was the tribe's 'shaman' and a competent 'crafter'.
When he saw a material item, he could think of an item that suited its use through the call of his ancestral spirits.
After Hyunwoo's request, Gracia had not once come out of his tent.
Today, he visited his tent to check on the progress of the work.
Hyunwoo glanced at the 'Harpy Queen's' head, which had become a new decoration in the tent, and opened his mouth.
"How is the item… is there any progress?"
"An image of what to make hasn't come to mind.
But…"
"But?"
"I have a feeling that something interesting will come out of it."
"How long will it take?"
"Only the ancestral spirits would know that.
Kek, kek……"
Vague words.
It seemed even he couldn't guess when the item would be completed.
He couldn't just wait blankly without a set date for the item's completion.
'I should do what I can right now.'
It seemed he could just train his swordsmanship while Gracia was crafting the item.
"Yes.
Please let me know whenever there is progress in your work."
"Kek, kek, kek… of course."
With Gracia's final words, Hyunwoo stepped out of the tent.
He came out and checked his swordsmanship proficiency.
⌜Volones Swordsmanship (4-Star)―87%⌟
In the meantime, he had raised his proficiency by sparring alternately with Van, Lucas, and Conrad.
For the past few days, Hyunwoo had been training the senses he had awakened through the Harpy Queen hunt.
It was to bring the 'Vigor' tattoo to a state of mastery.
As he obtained Mana II, Hyunwoo's swordsmanship had improved overall.
'Enhanced physical ability.
And the powerful cutting force linked to it.'
Moreover, the effect of 'all stats increased by 15%' obtained through the 'Calamity Hunter' title was being felt more and more as he grew stronger.
Hyunwoo was growing at a dazzling rate.
Vwoom—
Just by slightly raising his mana, he could feel its power.
'It's definitely different.'
Simply comparing it to before he got the tattoo, he would have become more than twice as strong.
Hyunwoo planned to master the Volones Swordsmanship before Gracia finished making the item.
He was confident that it would be possible with the new level of swordsmanship training applying Mana II.
'There's still enough time.'
Hyunwoo recalled Jude's scenario quest.
⌜Scenario Quest!
You have obtained a clue about the curse engraved on 'Jude Basterion'.
Before he goes berserk, retrieve 'Atemoa' from the Kormur Dungeon.
Time limit: One year.⌟
Now, there were about 10 months left.
It was certainly a leisurely amount of time.
If he obtained 'that item' made from the Harpy Queen's heart from Gracia, the possibility of clearing the Kormur Dungeon would increase significantly.
It meant his chances of survival would go up.
Now was the time to wait.
'I should open a new swordsmanship slot while I'm at it.'
The condition for opening the fourth swordsmanship slot.
If he mastered the 4-Star Volones Swordsmanship, he could open a new slot.
Although there was still one empty swordsmanship slot left, the more slots, the better.
Hyunwoo nodded and headed to the 'training ground'.
* * *
Half a month passed, and time flew by.
Hyunwoo had been focusing on his swordsmanship training during that time.
The explosive movement he had realized through the Harpy Queen hunt.
Hyunwoo focused on swordsmanship training using the 'Vigor' tattoo, and through sparring with Lucas, Van, and Conrad, he was able to internalize those movements.
As a result.
⌜Volones Swordsmanship (4-Star)―99%⌟
Now, he could see the end.
However, he was lacking that one last push to reach mastery.
From then on, Hyunwoo began a rather reckless challenge instead of 1v1 duels.
Hyunwoo, who had checked his swordsmanship proficiency, raised his head.
In front of him were Van and Conrad.
"Are you ready?"
said Van, who was holding a huge shield.
Conrad, next to him, grumbled.
"You're doing something reckless again today.
Even for you, two is too much."
"We'll see about that."
As he became proficient in wielding the Vigor tattoo in battle, Conrad was no longer a match for him one-on-one.
No, not just him, but among everyone here, unless it was someone of Gracia's level, there was no longer an opponent for Hyunwoo.
So, the 2v1 duels began.
Conrad, acknowledging that fact, frowned and raised his axe.
"I'll make you regret it."
As Conrad said, Hyunwoo soon regretted clashing with them 2v1.
The combined attack of Conrad and Van was honestly too much for Hyunwoo right now.
But Hyunwoo didn't set limits and pushed himself endlessly.
Hyunwoo thought that now was the chance to test his limits.
Van and Conrad.
Lucas and Van.
Even Conrad and Lucas.
For several days, Hyunwoo rolled on the training ground countless times and continued his reckless challenge.
And so, a week passed, but.
⌜Volones Swordsmanship (4-Star)―99%⌟
Mastering Volones seemed far away.
But Hyunwoo did not give up.
At least he wouldn't die here.