Chapter 187: Chapter 340 - Running and Laughing
Chapter 340 - Running and Laughing
This time, the opponent wasn't a low-level magical barrier, but a monster from the Pen-Hanil mountain range.
Wasn't it called one of the three great calamities of the Border Guard, including this monster?
In reality, it was a serious issue for both the royal palace and the Border Guard itself, but they didn't exactly call it a calamity.
It was just a nickname given by the villagers and merchants around the area, who found it to be a real disaster.
Including resting time, it would take about two days to reach the place.
"Shall we run?"
Enkrid asked, but it was a rhetorical question with an obvious answer.
Why waste time?
If it would take two days on foot, they could simply run and make it in half a day.
"Let's go."
With Rem at the lead, everyone nodded, and Enkrid began running.
Not at full speed, but at a reasonable pace.
The whole group followed behind him.
Shinar was once again impressed by this man's drive.
"To run all the way…"
Normally, no one would consider such a way of travel.
They had the stamina and ignorance to shorten the two-day journey into half a day, and that's exactly what they did.
Training soldiers with such ignorance wasn't pointless.
Quick marches were always a priority in any army.
It was only natural that those in charge had to be better at it than anyone else.
Who would follow someone who couldn't prove their own skill?
They kept running, and before long, they reached the foothills of the mountain range northeast of Border Guard, with the Green Pearl visible in the distance.
The owner of the third low-level magical land were five trolls.
These trolls made their base in the Pen-Hanil mountain range.
In reality, it wasn't a magical land but rather five of them wandering around the mountains, making it an issue.
Although it was called a low-level magical land, these five monsters were acting as if the whole area was their territory.
They would watch over merchant groups and attack when they saw any weakness, not to mention raiding villages near cities at night.
Last year alone, three merchant groups had been wiped out.
They were particularly adept at spotting when the guards were insufficient.
If they were pursued in a well-prepared group, they would disappear like smoke.
A monster pack that was like a natural-born hunter.
According to those who had seen them, they carried large wooden clubs and hid their bodies in the underbrush.
It was said they were monsters with both intelligence and hunting skills.
Such creatures were the hardest to deal with.
Finding them was already a challenge.
Enkrid remembered Krais's words about handling the troll brothers.
"Use bait to draw them out."
Of course, Krais had a plan in mind, but…
'Too troublesome,' Enkrid thought.
"Can you track them?"
Thus, he opted for a simpler approach.
He asked Dunbakel, giving her a look.
"I can't track by scent.
There's a foul smell mixed in."
Beastkin were born hunters.
Their sense of smell was more refined than that of fairies.
But Dunbakel shook her head.
The troll brothers had masked their scent by using various bodily fluids and sap to cover it.
"If we keep tracking, we can classify the smells."
"How long would that take?"
"I'm not sure... maybe a month?"
She wasn't confident.
It might even take longer than that.
"I'll track them."
Rem stepped forward, scratching his ear and casually scanning the end of the mountain range.
Enkrid didn't know much about Rem's past.
He knew a little, but not the details.
However, when Rem said he would do something, it meant he was capable of doing it properly.
Enkrid himself had some experience tracking and had worked as a bounty hunter, but that didn't mean he had superior skills compared to others.
He had only done the basics.
What helped him more was the tracking technique he learned from a hunter named Yenrid in Green Pearl, but even that wouldn't guarantee he could find five trolls hiding and running around.
These five monsters weren't ordinary.
Just as not all humans were the same, not all monsters were either.
Ghouls weren't all the same, and the same went for the z the insect monster.
Even humanoid wolves were different.
There were individual differences.
Among them, these five trolls seemed especially adept at hiding and hunting.
"I'll chase them down, so you just kill them."
It sounded easy and simple, but it wasn't.
"I'll help too."
Shinar also volunteered.
Fairies were specialized in the environment they were born into.
The forest and mountains were 'easy' terrain for them.
For example, if she had met that knight in the forest, she wouldn't have been so easily defeated.
Though she might not have been able to knock him out or overpower him with brute force, she was confident she wouldn't be easily defeated.
All battles are understood only when blades meet.
Shinar also came to realize this truth as she watched Enkrid.
He didn't give up, even when the outcome was already clear.
Looking back now, she found his determination appealing, which was probably why she had suggested sparring from the start.
"It's fine."
Rem shook his head.
The approach was different.
That meant they needed time to synchronize.
It would be a waste of time.
Shinar nodded as well.
It was enough for her to handle alone.
Even though the trolls were formidable, they were facing a group of individuals who were beyond the exceptional.
"How long?"
Enkrid began to feel a rank odor coming from his body.
Spring had arrived, but the mornings and nights were still cold.
He wiped his face and hands, but hadn't washed his body yet.
It was uncomfortable.
He wanted to finish this as quickly as possible and return.
Enduring the discomfort of the smell was one thing, but not washing made one vulnerable to illness.
Washing was important.
Everyone likely felt the same way.
Ah, but Dunbakel was different.
Though she had keen senses of smell as a beastkin, she hated bathing.
It was absurd to Enkrid that those two traits coexisted, but what could he do if she disliked it?
He had to force her to bathe with sheer strength.
The rest of the group agreed with Enkrid's words.
"Let's make a fire and mess around while we're at it. Let's finish before dawn."
Rem spoke as he headed toward the mountain range.
It looked like he was walking slowly, but at some point, he disappeared into the depths.
"Let's make jerky."
Enkrid said as he saw Rem disappear.
One should make good use of rest time.
"Sure."
Audin and the others found spots to settle in, while Shinar dug a hole beneath a large tree and gathered dry twigs like leaves to build a fire.
Thanks to collecting dry branches along the way, she didn't have to go out of her way to find kindling.
A well-prepared traveler was always more comfortable on the road.
In that regard, everyone was a well-prepared traveler.
Even after the squad that had greeted them left, no one suffered discomfort from camping.
None of them had been strangers to wandering the continent.
Each person had their role.
Audin brought a long branch and stripped the bark off with his palm.
It was always a fascinating skill to watch.
Rather than washing it with water, he created cleaner skewers by stripping the bark off.
Meanwhile, Dunbakel sniffed the air and went deeper into the woods at the edge of the mountain range, only to return with a few squirrels she had caught.
From here, Enkrid took over.
He pulled out a small pot from his bag, and while Dunbakel skinned the squirrels and drained the blood, Shinar started the fire.
The fire was dug into the ground to prevent smoke.
She was also a skilled fairy.
"Fire is mysterious," she said.
Enkrid, as he placed the squirrels into the pot and took out a clean cloth to crush them whole, raised an eyebrow at her comment.
He mashed the brains and innards, sprinkling some salt and pepper, forming them into meatballs.
Then, he poured a little water from his canteen into the pot and set it over the fire to boil.
Once the water began boiling, he added the meatballs and tore some seasoned jerky into the pot as well.
The jerky itself acted as seasoning.
As the broth simmered, a savory aroma filled the air.
It was a cooking method he had learned from Rem.
The western tribes were known to use every part of the animal, from head to tail.
"It's good."
Audin smiled more deeply than usual.
No matter how inhumanely powerful one was, eating well was important.
Enkrid thought to himself.
Would a knight not get hungry?
Willpower and determination were mysterious, but they didn't solve hunger.
As his muscles grew from training, his stomach grew hungrier.
"Let's eat."
The well-cooked squirrel meatballs with jerky and the seasoned broth were excellent.
One bite filled his mouth with rich flavor.
There was no fishy taste, only savory goodness.
The tender meatballs warmed his insides, and the soaked jerky provided a satisfying chew.
It had turned into an impromptu stew.
"It sticks to the tongue," Dunbakel said.
Everyone agreed.
Enkrid drank the broth and chewed the meatballs.
The umami and meat flavors of the meatballs stood out, with the jerky revealing its true nature.
It wasn't bad at all.
Though he wasn't an expert in cooking, he had eaten so many delicious things over time that his cooking skills had naturally improved.
Everyone had their fill.
Afterward, they spent time keeping warm by the fire.
Enkrid thought about the things he had learned from each of them as he repeatedly drew and sheathed his sword.
He was pondering the technique Audin had recently taught him, about striking with a cut.
'The key is grip strength.'
Loosely grip the sword and then apply strength at the moment of striking.
It wasn't about speed but how well the power was transferred.
Thinking about it again, it seemed like a technique that required fine division and was difficult to share with others.
Not everything in the world could be described as rigid, heavy, deceptive, fast, or smooth.
The swordsmanship of the past genius Leonecis Oniac had been systematized and had now branched off in various directions.
Among those, some were refining their own unique approaches to swordsmanship.
This technique seemed like something that had evolved in a similar manner.
"Focus the striking power on one point."
Is that all?
How do you concentrate the force?
What does it mean to strike with power?
As he pondered, doubts arose.
Enkrid did not ask for answers but instead indulged in the exploration and research on his own.
It was difficult, but it seemed like he was grasping something, even if awkwardly.
It was different from before.
He had reached the level where he could create his own swordsmanship from his experiences.
He had even realized the fragments of Will.
Now, Enkrid was no longer in the position to discuss past talents.
That said, he didn't know all the principles.
He had faced a knight's sword, but he hadn't understood everything contained within it.
Did that present a problem?
No, there was no issue.
"There's no need to know everything."
He had realized part of it and could build upon that.
He had walked the path without knowing anything before.
Now, it was like walking on a well-paved road with signposts.
Enkrid repeatedly swung his sword in the air, trying to grasp the technique.
It wasn't just about grip strength.
It was about exploding the muscles in an instant.
How should he achieve that?
He had to relax and then tighten all the muscles in his body.
How would that energy be transferred to the weapon in his hand?
He had to convey that power through his hand, which was gently gripping the weapon but with tension in the muscles.
Without the technique of isolation, he couldn't have learned this.
That was the conclusion.
Thus, he could learn it.
He already had the "body" created through the technique of isolation.
"Impressive."
Audin muttered as he watched.
Enkrid raised his head and made eye contact.
The soldier, who always greeted with a smile like a bear, now had a straight expression.
He was genuinely surprised.
The technique he had taught was one of the weapons techniques of the Order.
The war order often mixed techniques from various factions, and Enkrid had restored and learned one of them.
It was called "Moā Tertirī," a technique that had been improved from the past, and he had thought it would be quite difficult to grasp its principles. But watching Enkrid, he could tell that he had nearly figured it out.
"Is it possible?"
Enkrid asked.
"It requires repetitive training," Audin replied.
Knowing something and being able to immediately execute it were two different matters.
Even so, just knowing it was impressive.
Audin had thought there would be no more surprises, but this truly amazed him.
Hadn't he seen Enkrid learn the weapon techniques from Rem?
His talent didn't make sense.
It was the extreme of absurdity.
It was a peculiar oddity that didn't match up.
When it came to learning and mastering, he was awful, but at the most unreasonable moments, he surpassed stages.
That process couldn't be explained in words.
It simply didn't make sense.
Was his talent exceptional?
No, it couldn't be described like that.
It was unique and strange.
It bordered on the mysterious.
But this time, it was different.
Enkrid struggled, dug in, and learned.
He could see the process now.
He didn't stop thinking about what he had understood.
It was a sustained force.
Perhaps, from the moment Audin had shown him Moā Tertirī, he had kept it in his mind.
He said he would learn everything, but the focus had been on his own version of the technique.
What he had learned was impressive, and prioritizing his own technique was wise, sensible, and admirable.
"Hehehe."
Audin chuckled.
"You're still far from normal," Enkrid replied.
As the sun began to set, it seemed like they would stay another night.
Before Enkrid could finish speaking, a faint sound echoed from afar.
It was a troll's guttural growl.
Shinar, who had been rummaging through the firewood, mumbled as she scattered the flames.
"Be careful with the fire."
Why was this fairy always like this?
Enkrid stood up quietly, but someone else was faster, darting out like the wind.
"I'll go ahead. Brother."
That voice was unusually cheerful and bright.
Hmm?
Before Enkrid could speak, Audin burst into laughter.
"I don't know what's going on, but Audin is ecstatic."
"What the hell, you crazy fool."
Rem reacted from the opposite side.
Before long, he was close enough that his voice could be heard.
Behind him, the figures of trolls briefly appeared.
Two of them carried clubs, while the other three held spears, gripping them backwards.
Rem, seeming ready to retreat, was luring them in, preparing to throw his spear at the first chance.
When Audin laughed and ran, Rem stopped, stunned, and that's when the two trolls threw their spears.
The spears, using the full tension of their bodies, cut through the air.
At the same time, a sharp whistling sound could be heard.
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