Chapter 105 : Chapter 105
Chapter 105. Like a Flowing River
While Hyunwoo was recalling information about the ‘Witch's Forest’.
Gracia furrowed his wrinkled brow even more and frowned.
He probably wasn’t angry at the mention of the ‘witch’.
The emotion in his deep-set eyes was likely concern for the ‘Witch’s Forest’.
“That place is… far too dangerous.
A ‘Forbidden Land’ from which no one has ever returned alive.
Do you have any plans to take another path…”
“I have already decided to go there.”
“……”
After a moment of silence, Gracia opened his mouth.
“If it is the path that Sir Guide has chosen, there must be a great purpose.
It seems this old man has spoken out of turn.”
“Not at all.
Thank you for your concern.”
Hyunwoo smiled faintly and nodded.
The ‘Witch’s Forest’ was so infamous that Gracia had expressed concern.
‘I’ll need to prepare thoroughly.’
A Forbidden Land in the Demon World where one could be devoured in an instant if careless.
Hyunwoo began to think about what he would need in the forest.
Gracia, sitting in front of him, quietly tilted his cup.
The night deepened, and the cave filled with pitch-black darkness,
“……”
Until even the High Orcs who were enjoying the festival had all fallen asleep, drunk.
Hyunwoo did not stop thinking about his future plans.
Slurp—
Only the sound of Gracia tilting his cup occasionally broke through Hyunwoo's thoughts.
* * *
A few days passed.
Hyunwoo’s body, which had been battered from the fight with Argas, had completely recovered.
After recovering his body, the first place he visited was, of course, the ‘training ground’.
As if to shake off the disappointment of having only been able to swing his sword to warm up, Hyunwoo’s sword vigorously cut through the air.
Shwiiik—!
⌜Raketer Swordsmanship (4-Star)―3%⌟
The shape of Cheonbyeondo, wielded in Hyunwoo's hand, was peculiar.
A sword with a serrated blade, a saw-toothed sword.
The saw-toothed sword, stained black by the power of the tattoo, instantly surged towards Van's shield.
Crack—!
Claw marks were engraved on the shield.
A slash like the claws of a beast.
Compared to the Volones Swordsmanship, another 4-Star swordsmanship, it was a movement that seemed crude at first glance.
If the ‘draw slash’ had a sharpness like well-refined steel, the ‘slash’ possessed a wildness like a beast let loose.
Hyunwoo smiled with satisfaction at its power and transformed Cheonbyeondo.
The transformed Cheonbyeondo was a ‘longsword’, balanced in the front, back, left, and right.
It was Van’s turn to attack.
The shield in his hand cut through the air and flew in with a menacing force.
Fwoong—!
Hyunwoo faced Van’s shield head-on and thrust his longsword forward.
The clash of a huge, heavy ‘shield’ and a ‘longsword’ with a thin blade.
Judging by mass and the power contained, it seemed the shield would be superior to the longsword, but the result was the complete opposite.
⌜Ichtus Swordsmanship (3-Star)―5%⌟
Kaang—!
With a sound like shattering glass, Van took a few steps back.
This spar was arranged so that they would exchange blows only once.
Van, who had stepped back, approached with a fed-up expression and opened his mouth.
“…Where do you keep learning new swordsmanship styles like that?”
“It just happened.
More importantly, what do you think?”
“What do you mean?”
“The two new swordsmanship styles I’ve learned.
What do you think of their power?”
After a moment of thought, staring at the cave ceiling, Van finally opened his mouth.
“The first swordsmanship seemed to have excellent killing power.
The power in the sword was not uniform.”
It was a rather sharp assessment.
That was the reason the ‘Raketer Swordsmanship’ used a saw-toothed sword with a blade like a saw.
The amount of mana contained in the protruding and indented parts of the blade was different.
‘Thanks to that, it requires a lot of concentration to use.’
The power was considerable.
Because different amounts of mana were contained in each part of the blade, if it cut any part of the body, the degree of the cut would be different, creating a completely tattered wound.
A practical swordsmanship full of killing intent.
It was a brutal swordsmanship, befitting one created by ‘Argas’.
“The swordsmanship that blocked my shield the second time… the moment it touched my sword, I felt a strong rebound.”
The ‘Ichtus Swordsmanship’ was a style used by parrying the opponent’s attack with precise strength and speed.
In other words, ‘Parrying’.
His proficiency was still low, so the impact from the collision wasn’t completely absorbed, and his palm was tingling, but he was satisfied with this.
“So, both are not bad.”
“…It’s not just ‘not bad’, they are something that someone could use as a hidden trump card.”
“That’s what’s not bad about it.
It means it’s useful at least once in a battle.”
“……”
To have learned a threatening swordsmanship and say it’s just ‘useful’….
He didn't know how much stronger he had to get to be satisfied.
Van shook his head and slung the shield onto his back.
“You seem to have fully recovered now, are you leaving this place?”
“Yes.
It’s time to go to the next destination.
Before that… the egg?
You’ve kept it safe, right?”
The pale yellow egg brought from the harpy’s nest.
“I’ve kept it in a safe place as you said, but… are you still planning to eat it before we leave?”
“What are you talking about?
I told you I’m going to hatch it.”
“Wasn’t that a joke?
You might not know, but an egg cannot hatch without its mother incubating it.”
“……”
Sometimes, when Van made a sharp point with a stupid face, he flinched.
After a moment’s pause, Hyunwoo stared at Van and opened his mouth.
“Just guide me to where you left the egg.
I have my ways.”
“Well, alright.”
Van shrugged and began to move, guiding Hyunwoo.
* * *
The place Van led Hyunwoo to was a deserted, shallow hill.
Looking at the egg placed forlornly on top of it, Hyunwoo let out a sigh.
“…This is the best you could think of?
If you were going to leave it like this, you might as well have left it inside the tent.”
“Didn’t you tell me to hide it where the other High Orcs couldn’t find it?
I think this place fits the conditions you mentioned.”
“……”
Since ‘mana’ was important for the egg’s hatching, it couldn’t be left in a subspace pocket.
It wasn't a place he was particularly fond of, but as Van said, it was what he had requested.
The hill was quite far from the tents where the High Orcs were gathered, so they wouldn't come here.
It was a suitable place to hide the egg.
If it had been spotted by them, it would have been reduced to a meal.
‘Ignorant bastards.’
Even if he had told them not to eat it, they would have eaten it in secret.
Just like Van, to them, the ‘egg’ was just daily sustenance.
Van looked at the egg and tilted his head.
“Was it originally this color?
It seems to be more yellowish.”
“It must have absorbed mana from the air.”
“The egg can absorb mana?
There’s no way it can do that on its own without a mother to incubate it…”
“This is a special egg.”
Thump—
Hyunwoo went down the low hill and picked up the egg placed within it.
An egg with a bright yellow color that reminded him of the ‘Harpy Queen’s’ eyes.
As Van said, the yellow color had become even deeper than when he had first seen it.
Inside it, a chick with the potential to become the next ‘Harpy Queen’ was sleeping.
“It seems to have gone bad because its mother didn’t incubate it… I can’t even eat it now.”
Van, who had followed him, grumbled as he looked at the egg.
It seemed this guy only had food on his mind.
Hyunwoo ignored Van’s words and placed the harpy’s egg back on the ground.
Saaak—
Hyunwoo cut his palm with his sword and created blood.
Van, next to him, flinched, but perhaps because Hyunwoo had done so many strange things, he just watched silently.
Vwoom—
He pushed a high density of mana into the flowing blood, and,
Sreuk—
As if coating the egg, he waved his hand over it and let the blood flow until the bright yellow egg was completely stained red.
As the sticky blood containing mana covered the entire egg,
Hwaak—!
The egg lit up, and the blood that had been covering its surface disappeared cleanly.
The process of making the chick that would come out of the egg recognize him as its ‘master’.
Originally, it would be the process of recognizing him as its ‘mother’, but to a demonic beast, it was the same thing.
Van, who had been watching silently from the side, was amazed at the change in the egg.
“This… it’s as if the egg is drinking blood.”
“Something like that.
It’s actually the process of absorbing the mana contained in the blood.”
“When will it hatch?”
The guy who had been singing about eating the egg right away seemed to have finally gotten interested.
“I don’t know that either.”
“You can’t know that in advance?”
“It will hatch after repeating this process a few more times.
Of course, I don’t plan on just hatching it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Special eggs have special hatching methods.”
Hyunwoo smiled and picked up the egg.
A creature guaranteed to be at least a ‘Harpy Queen’.
If he hatched it well, he could create a being even greater than that.
‘A method that uses a special offering.’
By using a ‘special offering’, he could increase the potential of the creature to be born.
Moreover.
‘If I do it right, I can use the egg as a hidden card in the Witch’s Forest strategy.’
One of the reasons he had chosen the Witch’s Forest as his next destination was thanks to obtaining the egg.
In the Witch’s Forest, there was something that could be used as a ‘special offering’.
The effect of both increasing the potential of the creature to be born and conquering the Witch’s Forest.
A double effect.
Hyunwoo carefully packed the egg and headed for the tent.
* * *
In the tent they arrived at with Van, Lucas was in the middle of his research, with mana scattered around him.
Hwaaak—
Not only mana, but blood was also floating around him.
Looking at the disarrayed arrangement of blood and mana, Lucas was frowning.
“Stop it and come out. We’re leaving now.”
“Hoo……”
Lucas, who had taken a deep breath, gathered his mana.
The blood that had been floating in the air seeped into his body.
“If I just researched a little more, I think I could figure something out.”
“Don’t be in such a hurry.
There’s plenty of time.”
“I understand.”
Lucas nodded and got up.
Even though they were leaving, most of their belongings were in a subspace pocket, so there was nothing to prepare separately.
The party, now all gathered, came out of the tent.
Flap—
High Orcs could be seen here and there.
The warriors had gone hunting, and only the regular High Orcs who did various jobs were left.
He had trained with the High Orc warriors and fought life-and-death battles with them.
But when Hyunwoo’s party left, there were no warriors to see them off.
Because that was the High Orcs’ culture.
‘To face farewells like a flowing river.’
It was a culture befitting a nomadic people who often met and parted.
As Hyunwoo’s party moved, those they met gave them a light nod of their eyes.
They looked at the party longer than usual.
It seemed they had guessed that the party was leaving, but no one said a noisy farewell.
Thanks to that, they were able to leave the cave quietly.
When they came out of the cave, several high-soaring rocky mountains greeted the party.
The gray rocky mountain.
Not only the ‘Harpy Queen’, but also the fight with ‘Argas’.
They were all trials where it was difficult to guarantee one’s life, but in the end, they overcame all the trials and were able to leave this place.
Hyunwoo felt a sense of novelty as he stepped on the hard rock.
‘Somehow… I’ve survived well again.’
Surviving in the Demon World.
He was achieving the fundamental goal of the game rather smoothly.
Just then.
Sreureuk—
‘Huh…?’
A green energy that rose from under his feet wrapped around his body, and his steps became lighter.
This familiar energy was definitely….
Gracia’s curse.
The party looked at each other.
It seemed his curse had been conveyed to everyone.
‘The one who said it was polite to pretend not to know each other when leaving.’
A smile appeared at the ‘blessing curse’ that the person who had told him about that culture had secretly conveyed.
Thump—
Thanks to Gracia’s curse, the party’s steps became much lighter.
Everyone was smiling, but they didn’t let on that they knew about the curse.
Because that was the ‘High Orcs’’ etiquette and culture.
They just quietly stepped forward.
And so.
The long journey in the ‘Montis Rocky Mountains’ had come to an end.