Chapter 2: Ice Magic
TN: Really interesting chapter, lots of cool sneak peeks at what we’ll get to see in the future Enjoy!
I sprinted across the grasslands.
I had with me some potions and antidotes, as well as a night vision potion.
The real question is, will the night vision potion last long enough for me to make it to the deepest parts of the cave?
I have a torch, but with only one hand free I’d be easy prey for any monsters.
(Regza and Count Teremius, they’re really trying to make me look like an idiot!)
I had left the town in anger, and I still wasn’t feeling any better about it.
Deep down in her heart, does she actually think I’m an idiot too?
Is her smiling face only a mask for her scorn of me?
[Pigigi!]
A monster’s cry disrupted my thoughts.
About 20 meters in front of me, a slime-type monster was slowly advancing.
[Is this a joke…?!]
Slowing down a bit, I pulled out my rapier.
My rival was the weakest monster among all the creatures in this world.
Holding my rapier in a horizontal stance, I put my strength into my weapon.
The crest engraved on the hilt of the rapier glowed momentarily before going dark again.
[Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!]
Why is it that I can’t use [skills]?
And it’s not just people.
Being lesser than even those, I’m basically nothing more than a tumbling rock—. (TN: I feel so sorry for him lol)
[Pigi! Pigigii–!]
At the center of the slime, a red crest appeared.
Even this trash-tier monster can use skills, and yet I—.
[GOD DAMN IT!!!!]
I thrust out my rapier with all my might.
My rapier was still lodged in the slime’s jelly-like body.
[This… this trash mob is nothing to me, and yet…!]
Pressing my foot on its body, I pulled out my rapier.
I skewered the slime with my rapier over and over.
[Piii…! Pigi!!]
[DIE! DIE! TRASH!]
My body was covered in a light green liquid, but I didn’t stop striking.
Face to face with the shrieking slime, I sliced at it ruthlessly.
[Hah.. Hah.. Hah.. Damnit!] (TN: The Hah is a panting sound, not laughing. If anyone has a suggestion on how else I should translate it, feel free to comment!)
I kicked the slime’s unmoving body, sending it flying.
Sighing, I took out a recovery potion and poured it on my shoulder.
The wound slowly disappeared, and the pain also lessened.
[Why… can I not do any skills…?]
I really hated myself.
But, that was definitely just because I was in a Count’s family.
But now, that name has been lost.
Because by the end of the war, I was the only remaining member of the Asgard family which was all but eradicated from this world.
[…Alright, I need keep going]
It’s inevitable that I’d feel this angry.
Someday, I’ll definitely triumph.
All those guys who’ve been mocking me and making fun of me, I’ll definitely—.
From there onwards, I encountered all kinds of weak monsters.
At this point, my only choice was to collect raw materials on the spot and make some potions on my own.
So, I thoughtlessly used potion after potion to recover my wounds.
Ahead of me, I could see the large opening to the cave.
In the depths of this cave, I would defeat the [Sleepy Rabbit], a rabbit-type monster, and finish my mission. [TN: The furigana for the name Sleepy Rabbit wasn’t provided until now so I was translating it differently, but I’ll use this name from now on.]
A monster that hibernated throughout most of the year, its hide was often used for trade throughout the world.
Having collected all the recovery potion materials I could find in the area, I drank my night-vision potion and headed towards the cave’s entrance.
It was dead silent inside the gloomy cave.
I quietly moved towards the deepest part of the cave.
(Interesting… Why are there no monsters anywhere?)
I knew that there were supposed to be several types of monsters within Vizend Cave.
I had brought antidotes just for dealing with that, so what the heck was going on here?
Without encountering a single monster along the way, I arrived at the deepest part of the cave.
Feeling a sense of unease, I carefully surveyed the area from the edge.
(…Ah, over there.)
I saw the Sleepy Rabbit in the corner.
Its weakness is the back of its ears which have very good hearing.
Watching my footsteps, I cautiously took out my rapier.
Shit–!
Suddenly, for some unknown reason, something started rising up.
What the heck is this?
I looked down at my feet.
Is that, blood–?
Timidly, I turned around.
Chomp, chomp. I could hear it eating something.
Was that a monster normally found in this cave?
[Ah… ah…]
Unable to hold in my fear, I let out a squeak.
What the hell was that?
There wasn’t even any gossip about this kind of monster in the guild–.
[Girigirigirigiri…]
Finishing its meal, the monster decided on its next target.
Getting eaten by the monster, that would be the end for me.
… No.
I still had things I needed to do in life.
Shaking with fear, I readied my rapier.
I had to win.
Because, I absolutely didn’t want to die.
I–.
[Gshaaahh!!]
[Waaaaa!!!]
Figuring out the monster’s position by following its howls, I desperately thrust forward with my rapier.
I couldn’t feel anything below my elbow, and glanced down. There was nothing there. [TN: As in, his arm got chopped off. Ouch.]
[Damnit!!!]
Picking up the sword I had dropped, I prepared to fight left-handed.
This time, I barely managed to avoid the full brunt of its blow.
A sharp blade-like claw.
Kicking off from the ground, I charged again.
Entrails were leaking out of my side.
Because it was time to kill.
I had to live, survive, and triumph.
[Aaaaaaaaaaa!!!]
With all my might, I tried to pierce the monster’s body.
With my whole body restricted, I started laughing without knowing why.
[… Haha… even though I made it this far. Well, I almost got in the last blow, but it looks like I’ll still be eaten.]
The monster moved me towards its open mouth.
Even if I got away, I would die from my bleeding.
Laughing in resignation, I closed my eyes.
…..
……..
I wasn’t sure how long it had been.
Why hadn’t the monster eaten me yet?
I meekly opened my eyes.
The monster had stopped moving me towards its mouth.
[…? Did it… die?]
No way, from that one blow?
Without even using a [skill]?
No way, that’s imp—.
[Uh..!]
Suddenly, a light began glowing from the center of the monster’s body.
What was that?
The monster was being destroyed by a light—?
Well, I was already losing consciousness.
With great sacrifice, I had beaten the monster.
But, I was probably dead, anyways.
I saw something fall from the monter’s totally disintegrated body.
Trying to see what it was, I crawled towards it.
There was a single book laying on the floor.
I painfully reached over and opened the book.
[This… is…]
The same light from earlier flowed out from the book.
And then, my body was engulfed in a strange light.
[In my… head… what…?]
One after another, [words] were pouring into my head.
Maybe there weren’t even words.
But, I understood it all.
This was, [The Power of God]—.
Entering me was the one and only truly absolute power.
[Haha… Hahaha…!]
I slowly regained consciousness.
Looking down, I saw an icicle wher my right arm had been.
Slowly, it gained the form of a human hand, and eventually my whole arm had regenerated from ice.
Similarly, my abdominal wound was covered in an icy veil.
The bleeding was entirely stopped, and before I even realized, my whole body was patched up, with all my insides sealed up where they were supposed to be.
[… [Magic] … This is the power of [Ice Magic] …] [TN: So here, Magic (魔法) is given a pronunciation of ディザ・ベル, or “Diza Bell”. I have no idea what that means so I’m just translating it as Magic.]
I looked down at my hands.
To be able to use such power–.
[Gururu…]
Turning to the sound I heard, I saw the Sleepy Rabbit approaching me menacingly.
Baring its fangs, it slowly closed in.
[…]
I had no way out, so I pushed my right hand forward.
With the power of [Ice Magic], I would yield to no one.
[Gurururu!]
The Sleepy Rabbit made a huge leap towards me.
Unperturbed, I slowly murmured…
[Freeze.]
The air itself seemed to freeze as a rush of coldness attacked the rabbit.
Frozen in an instant while mid-air, the rabbit crashed into the ground, unmoving.
[Kukuku… Hahaha!! Frozen at my will in an instant, regardless of the target! This is seriously [The Power of God]! Hahaha! Hahahahaha!]
Overflowing with happiness, I couldn’t stop laughing.
The power of God–.
The power of [Magic]–.
My laughter echoed throughout Vizend Cave.
— And that was the beginning of my conquest of the world, in the name of [Revenge].