Chapter 106 (1/2)

Chapter 106. The Village Head's Gift (3)

The carriage raced through the fields and only stopped once it arrived at the foot of the mountain. Although the village head said that it would take a day by carriage, in reality it did not even take half a day. This was to be expected since four horses had run at full speed.

Seol Jihu got off with his bags and took a deep breath of the mountain's gra.s.sy air and felt it tickling his nose. Perhaps because the mountain's energy was deeply ingrained in the air, it tasted fresh and clean like spring water.

While enjoying this soul-cleansing mossy aroma, Seol Jihu looked up at the overwhelmingly large mountain in front of him with eyes full of admiration.

Because of its name, Huge Stone Rocky Mountain, he expected it to be full of rocks like a valley. Instead, it actually had lush and dense greenery. The white snow and the fog covering the mountain peak made it look like the legendary Kunlun Mountain.

“There's something I'm curious about.”

Seol Jihu was busy marveling at the majestic scenery when a cold voice flowed into his ears. The owner of the voice was a handsome man with sharp eyes that gave him an angry look.

When Seol Jihu tilted his head, Kazuki approached him.

“Why is she here?”

He glanced at the carriage that had yet to leave. At the same time, a woman with her hair slicked back and tied in a dango-like bundle came out. Her eyes were just as sharp as Kazuki's, and today, she didn't have her gla.s.ses or the maid outfit that covered her body.

For some reason, she was wearing a lemon-colored sports bra that matched her hair color along with black leggings that wrapped tightly around her waist.

“Well….”

Her exposed collarbones, round ankle-bone, and willowy waist all revealed her alluring figure, making Seol Jihu at a loss for words. She stretched her interlocked hands to the sky and slowly cracked her head left and right.

Seeing Agnes with his mouth agape, Seol Jihu felt Kazuki's gaze and quickly muttered out some words, “She said she felt her strength was lacking after failing her last mission.”

“No.”

Kazuki shook his head.

“It's easy to make up a reason. What I'm wondering is—”

At that moment, Agnes glanced to the side, making Kazuki shut up. When the gaze disappeared, he finished his sentence quietly.

“…How did she know you were coming here to train.”

“Oh, I told her.”

“Why?”

“She comes to Carpe Diem to help me train from time to time, so I didn't want her to make a trip in vain while I was gone….”

“She helps you train? That person?”

Kazuki put on a look of disbelief.

“It's hard to see that as a simple sign of goodwill…. You're not affiliated with Sicilia, after all.”

“She taught me in the Neutral Zone. She's been giving me good advice ever since.”

After giving this clear answer, Seol Jihu put on a face that asked what was wrong

“Why?”

When Kazuki didn't say anything, a hint of nervousness appeared on his face.

“Could it be that the two of you have a bad relations.h.i.+p?”

“No,” Kazuki denied. “That's not it, but….”

He looked troubled as if the reason was hard to say. Seeing this, Seol Jihu tactfully changed the subject.

“Anyways, is it okay for you to be here, Mister Kazuki?”

“Me? If you're talking about my duties as Umi Tsubame's leader, I made sure to transfer them to the right person.”

Having noticed Seol Jihu's intentions, Kazuki immediately took his goodwill.

“And there's something I felt during the second Banquet I partic.i.p.ated in. That is that the Banquet is full of spontaneity and randomness, so whatever external preparation you make, might be useless. Rather than potentially wasting your time, it will be much more worthwhile to train.”

“It sounds like you're saying you can only trust your skills.”

“Well, I wouldn't say that exactly. After all, luck isn't part of someone's skills.”

Seol Jihu was about to ask, “Luck?”, but he heard the sound of the carriage leaving. When he subconsciously turned around, he saw Hugo staring at the carriage slowly disappearing into the distance with swollen eyes.

“Anyways, I'm sorry. It seems my greed caused a misunderstanding.”

Seol Jihu's eyes widened at Kazuki's apology.

“You must have been excited at the prospect of receiving Master Jang's personal training. You must feel like unwelcome guests came to crash your party.”

Kazuki's Umi Tsubame had a friendly relations.h.i.+p with the Triads. On the other hand, Carpe Diem had a friendly relations.h.i.+p with Sicilia. Connecting these two points with Jang Maldong's return, one should be able to guess what Kazuki meant by 'misunderstanding'.

However, Seol Jihu didn't know about the delicate relations.h.i.+ps between outside organizations and just said what he honestly thought.

“Not at all. In fact, I'm excited to train together with you and Miss Agnes.”

“Since there's that promise we made Master Jang, I'll do my best to help you too.”

Kazuki breathed a sigh of relief as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Soon, the carriage completely disappeared from their view, and they heard Jang Maldong yelling what they were standing around for.

“Just when I erased it from my memories…. Just when I stopped having nightmares about it….”

The bald black man with a mountain-like build sobbed constantly as if he really didn't want to go. Seol Jihu couldn't help but laugh.

However, both Kazuki and Agnes nodded their heads as if they understood him. Seeing this, Seol Jihu revealed a puzzled look.

[This is what you wanted.]

Suddenly, Jang Maldong's intimidating words brushed past his head. His excitement immediately died down.

'Get a grip. You're not here on a picnic, Seol Jihu. You're here to train.'

To not run away…. To not rely on luck…. To be able to face danger squarely…. To not rely on Future Vision….

To get stronger.

After steeling his resolve, Seol Jihu followed the sobbing Hugo tottering up the mountain.

The Haramark region wasn't a safe zone. As Huge Stone Rocky Mountain was undeniably dangerous, Kazuki should normally stand at the lead, but it was actually Jang Maldong who was in that position.

Of all the time he spent in Paradise, half was spent in this mountain. Naturally, he knew more about its geography than any native from the neighboring village and thus had no problem acting as the pathfinder. He knew the paths like the back of his hand, and he even had the map Arbor Muto gave him.

“He sure hid it well.”

Only thirty minutes pa.s.sed for Jang Maldong to find Arbor Muto's hideout and remark sarcastically.

“Master Jang, please wait.”

It was then that Kazuki asked the group to stop. At first glance, the cave was too exposed to be called a hideout. Seeing the trees and vegetation around the cave damaged, Kazuki opened his mouth.

“It seems like the cave was well-hidden at first…. But it looks like something found it and turned it into its living s.p.a.ce.”

“An individual? Or a group?”

Kazuki lowered his gaze. He examined the earth before calmly replying.

“Cave Ettins. As for the number… it's small. There are eight of them inside the cave, but I can't detect their movements.”

“Sleeping?”

“Most likely. They don't like being outside during the day unless they're hungry.”

While Seol Jihu was astonished by his quick a.n.a.lysis, Kazuki took out his crossbow. When he loaded his bolt and pointed it forward, Jang Maldong blocked him with his cane.

“Master Jang?”

Jang Maldong turned back and looked at Seol Jihu. “Tell me the four elements that make up the formation of qi.”

It was a sudden question, but Seol Jihu faithfully replied what he learned, “They're quant.i.ty, speed and power of the flow, control, and imagination.”

Jang Maldong didn't say anything and picked up a fist-sized rock from the ground. Then, before anyone could stop him, he threw it into the cave.

Tak, tak! Drrrrrr.

The sound of the rock hitting the ground and rolling in the cave echoed out in the silent mountain. A unique trait of the Cave Ettins was that they had two heads. As one of them stayed awake at all times to stay alert, it was impossible for them to have not heard this sound. Since Cave Ettins also had a sharp sense of smell, it was only a matter of time for them to notice enemies approaching.

And, as expected… a few seconds later, screeching noises began echoing out from the cave. Jang Maldong opened his mouth.

“Get ready. Give them a blow as soon as they pop out.”

Seol Jihu roused his mana without hesitation. Powerful energy at the High-Intermediate level instantly flowed through his Circuit and shot out of his right hand.

The explosive burst of mana only remained shapeless for a second. Soon, it danced like flowing water and slowly gathered shape until it formed a spear. Although it was only 60-centimeters long, anyone could see that the blue spear was made of mana.

“They're coming,” Hugo muttered briefly.

Drrr! The moment Seol Jihu heard them rush out of the cave, he performed a run-up without a moment of hesitation. The posture he perfected after thousands of trials – from the crossover to the release, his body had thoroughly memorized the movement.

Agnes, who was watching this, expressed a hint of surprise. 'It's perfect.'

Each of his movements connected naturally. Seol Jihu's right arm released the Mana Spear at the same time the Cave Ettins shot out of the cave.

BOOM! When the spear left his hand, the sound of an exploding grenade rang out. The Cave Ettin running out at the forefront paused. Its body shook back and forth like a pendulum before collapsing like a stringless puppet.

[Kereuk?]

Another Cave Ettin running out of the cave faltered. It frowned at the explosive sound. It saw its fallen comrade's two heads, one vaporized without a trace and the other torn to shreds.

The Cave Ettin took its eyes off the scattered flesh and blood and faced the front. Then, its eyes caught sight of a blue spear flying toward them.

Thwack! A hole opened up on its muscular chest. The force of the blow caused it to hunch forward, and its feet flew off the ground.

“Oh s.h.i.+t!” Even the depressed Hugo exclaimed in awe when he saw the Cave Ettin flying backward with its limbs out.

Boom! Boom!

One-shot one-kill. Each of Seol Jihu's spears claimed a Cave Ettin's life.

That wasn't all. Unlike normal spear throws, the shockwave from the explosions affected the surroundings. Kazuki's eyes narrowed when he saw some of the Cave Ettins lose their balance and fall even without being hit. In fact, some of them had been injured just from the shockwave.

“Stop!”

Jang Maldong shouted and suddenly threw Seol Jihu his Ice Spear.

“Take care of the remaining ones with this. Also, you're banned from using that earring and bracelet.”

After s.n.a.t.c.hing the spear out of the air, Seol Jihu charged forward like a ray of light. He was heated up after confirming the might of the Mana Spear. Since he was told to fight like a Warrior, he had no reason to refuse.

Not having fought for a long time, Seol Jihu pounced like a furious lion. The Cave Ettins also got up in anger at their comrades' deaths.

“How is it?”

While Seol Jihu was fighting the Cave Ettins, Jang Maldong asked the man standing next to him.

“He's good.”

Kazuki replied without looking back. He kept his eyes on the battlefield with his crossbow loaded just in case.

“That Mana Spear of his has both piercing power and destructive power. Just these two would have been more than enough, but it even has splash effects….”

“Right, that ability will certainly be useful in the Banquet.”

Kazuki nodded his head and agreed.

“Of course, it will. It's a bit of a shame that he can't fire them quickly in succession, but it will be a good option for the team to have.”

“And what if consecutive firing is possible?”

“Then nothing else needs to be said. It already has the speed of an Archer and the destructive power of a Magician. I can see it being used to ambush a target or to start a fight.”

Kazuki praised him greatly. This was to be expected since he was witnessing the product of Gula's carefully crafted one-of-kind cla.s.s for a Warrior with high innate mana.

“I'm looking forward to the Banquet.”

Hearing this final comment from Kazuki, Jang Maldong asked once again.

“Then what about now?”