Chapter 132 – Mountain of Sabres, Forest of Swords (1)
Crockta saw the stars on their foreheads. They were users.
Thanks to the north being opened, information about the Forest of Creatures became known to users. After the monster called behemoth had disappeared thanks to Crockta's group, it seemed to become a new hunting ground for users.
They were calmly fighting the trolls in a formation. The warriors stopped the enemies from the front, while the ranged users struck from behind. It was a typical battle formation.
However, their firepower wasn't enough. Even if they attacked, the trolls were strengthened by magic and quickly recovered from the injuries. Then they wielded the clubs and crude weapons towards the group with more force.
A rusty axe was lodged in a user's body.
“Ack!”
“Back!"
“It’s too late!"
The surrounding trolls disregarded their opponents and rushed towards the wounded person. They were persistent. They weren't concerned about other attacks. The trolls just kept wielding their weapons towards one person.
The user was struck and fell down. The user was smashed to pieces. The body of the dead user started to turn into white particles.
“Crazy bastards!"
The trolls weren't in a good state, but their wounds were recovering. The origin of the demonic energy in the forest had disappeared, but the remnants left behind were still showing their influence. According to the system messages, it would take 50 years before the influence disappeared completely. The trolls exposed to this energy were different from the ones they knew. Creatures with their abilities enhanced by the demonic energy!
The trolls rushed back. They aimed at the users, regardless of the bombardment from the magicians. The users set up shields in order to stop the charge.
"Help!"
However, not everyone was capable of dealing with it. Those who didn't use shields had no way to stop the trolls' assault. They had to wield their weapons and enter a melee with the trolls.
“I should have a shield as well, dammit!" A warrior with a greatsword jumped to the front.
"What are you doing?"
I thought about it and there is only one answer! Fight!"
"Crazy bastard!"
“I'm going all out!"
He wielded a large claymore. He showed a sophisticated swordsmanship. The trolls moved to surround him, but he persistently moved around to avoid being besieged. The magicians once again threw fireballs at the trolls. Some of the trolls were covered with painful burns.
The man stabbed his greatsword in the gap. One troll lost its head and died. No matter how resilient, no troll could survive once their head was cut off. But there were still a lot of trolls remaining. In the end, the other melee classes came out to help the man with the greatsword. One person used a shield to clash with the trolls.
It shifted to close combat. The magicians were unable to avoid hitting their allies so they refrained from attack magic. Occasionally, they enchanted the weapons and armor of their allies.
"Kill!"
“Waaaaahhhhh!”
Crockta watched the bloody battle with folded arms.
“Hoh, they are quite good dot."
“Yes. But there is still a long way to go."
“Aren't you going to help them dot?"
"They are users, cursed people. They will survive." Crockta's chest was burning. "The trolls are being pushed. The creatures in the Black Forest fight much better."
"They aren't trolls but monsters!"
The momentum of both sides gradually tightened. The man with the greatsword was at the forefront of the users. He was fiercely wielding the greatsword.
Of course, Crockta's eyes didn't miss a thing. "There are many wasted movements."
However, he kept watching the man. It was incredibly small compared to Ogre Slayer. However, the male user was holding a claymore, which would be classified as a greatsword.
The moment he thought the users would win… The forest started shaking.
"Kuwaaaaaah!"
It was the advent of new monsters. Desperation appeared on the users' faces. The creatures were much bigger than the trolls that were barely pushed back. They were mutant twin head ogres changed by the magic of the forest.
"You bastard! Leave it for another time!"
“Is this on purpose?"
“Why did you lead us to this part of the forest?
"It was confusing!"
The users started to argue. They weren't supposed to come in this deep but seemed to have become lost.
They retreated as both the trolls and the users stepped back from the ogres. When an overwhelming predator appeared, the foxes and wolves had to consider themselves.
One twin head ogre picked up a rock. It was a huge rock, but the ogre handled it like it was a pebble. It threw the rock.
Peeeeok!
A troll’s head was smashed. The body of the troll collapsed after its head disappeared. The broken body tried to reproduce the flesh, but it couldn't restore something like the head. The body squirmed before stopping.
The users paled as they saw the troll falling in an instant. The ogre roared again.
"Kuwaaah!"
Then the ogres ran towards the trolls and users. They wielded their fists and clubs without discrimination. The bodies of the victims who couldn't escape flew in the air.
“Kyaaaaak!”
The ogres starting chewing on the body of a captured user, only to become more violent when the user disappeared into white particles.
“I guess we should come out."
He wasn't worried about users who could revive again after dying, but their movements became stagnant as the fighting became more intense. He wanted to go back to Quantes quickly and enjoy the delicious food and hot water.
Crockta grabbed Ogre Slayer.
“Truly the great chieftain dot."
“That’s right. He should lead by example."
He ignored Tiyo and Anor's words and moved forward. The ogres ruthlessly slaughtered the trolls and ogres. Now the party's formation had completely collapsed as they scattered all over the place.
"What? Damn! An orc!"
The users discovered Crockta and stopped. Crockta ignored them.
"Uh…?" The users looked amazed as the orc ignored them. The orc was moving towards the ogres rampaging among the users. The orc's giant blade shone in the sunlight.
"Greatsword…?"
Orcs usually held axes, hammers, or halberds. Orcs using greatswords were rare. Among those rare orcs, there was one very famous warrior.
"No way…right?"
But somehow, they couldn't stop staring at him. A faint haze was boiling from his body. It felt as though he was separated from the world. It was just a simple step but the orc seemed to move in a completely different way. This orc was different.
An ogre discovered the orc and waved a club. The orc didn't avoid it. The distance between the two narrowed.
"Kuweeeeeoh!"
The ogre's club descended.
Kwaang!
Dust rose. Their eyesight was disturbed.
"Wah!"
"What?"
It was a tremendous destructive power that caused the earth to shake. They couldn't see due to the aftermath of the quaking earth. The users coughed from the dust.
Patter.
Warm liquid suddenly poured down on them. The users, who were covered in dust, moved a hand over their heads.
"Uh…?"
They looked at the liquid covering them. It was very red. Soon, the dust settled down. The users raised their heads. Then they were amazed by the sight that was revealed.
“……!”
The twin head ogre was on the ground. Its two heads were rolling across the ground. The red liquid was from the bloody fountain that shot up when the twin head ogre's heads were cut off. They realized that it was the ogre's blood covering them.
“Oh my god…”
The orc, who beheaded the twin head ogre in an instant, was looking for another opponent. His greatsword was clean without any blood on it. The orc had dark tattoos covering his body. A heinous face. A red headband. Full body tattoos and the greatsword.
"No way…!" A user was shocked as he realized the identity of the orc. "That orc is…!"
The moment when the user was going to shout with joy, “……!”
All the users around him had already fled. The only ones remaining around him were the trolls. He caught the eye of a troll.
“That…"
Before he could talk, the troll wielded its club. His vision turned upside down. His body was hanging in the air and was being shaken. It was the death he had experienced a few times in Elder Lord. The last thing he saw was the orc splitting apart an ogre.
***
Crockta got rid of all the ogres. In the past, he had struggled against them but now killing low-level creatures was no fun.
He looked around. "Tsk tsk."
The users couldn't be seen. They were either dead or ran off into the forest somewhere. Those who escaped would eventually die from the creatures in the forest. If they had maintained their formation to the end, not all of them would've died.
“It is just the same as before."
It was different if they were rankers or clan members, but they were just a bunch of ordinary users. The few remaining trolls disappeared into the forest after seeing Crockta.
“You're done, Crockta dot."
Tiyo and Anor rode the caruks over. “They all ran away. They would've lived if they just stayed."
“Pathetic guys, leaving without even saying thank you dot."
Crockta shrugged. The users didn't think that an orc could slay all the users alone. It was inevitable. In the end, all of them would be killed by the monsters and their connection terminated. After reviving, they might die several more times before managing to escape from the Forest of Creatures.
Crockta got on the caruk again. They would go straight towards Quantes after leaving the Forest of Creatures.
“Then let's go."
As they were about to leave, a sound was heard behind them. Crockta's group turned. A user hesitantly walked out.
"Um…?"
It was the user with the greatsword. He looked at Crockta, Tiyo and Anor. He hesitated before asking them.
“Are you leaving the Forest of Creatures?"
Crockta nodded.
“If so, do you mind taking me with you? It is difficult for me to go alone here…"
His attitude was extremely careful. He had witnessed Crockta's dance. A monster who had taken down several orcs alone. It was impossible for even the rankers to demonstrate such skills. This orc was surely a noble NPC, or perhaps a named one.
Crockta, Tiyo and Anor exchanged glances. Then they shrugged. Crockta nodded. “Okay."
Thus, they were accompanied by the human warrior Kenzo. Kenzo seemed to be a user who didn't care about things like videos or rankings. He didn't know anything about Crockta. He just thought that Crockta was a NPC.
They headed out of the forest without talking. Perhaps due to the smell of the ogres' blood, no creatures approached them. Sometimes they encountered parties hunting monsters in the Forest of Creatures, but they avoided any conflict due to Kenzo.
After escaping from the forest, the wide expanse of Elder Lord spread out in front of them. It was the sky of the continent.
"I'm back! Kiyahooooo!" Tiyo shouted.
Anor smiled as he saw the landscape of the continent for the first time. "Great."
It felt full of vitality, unlike the desolate north. Crockta took a deep breath. He felt like he had come home. Then he suddenly met Kenzo's eyes.
“Ah, you must've suffered. From no one, you can go safely."
There was no danger from here onwards. Crockta smiled and patted him on the shoulder. He had met another person who used a greatsword. It gave him a sense of intimacy for some reason.
"Good luck."
"Let's go quickly, Crockta dot!”
“Are we going to Quantes? Tiyo boasted about it so much that I have to see it. It doesn't make sense to have hot water in a house."
“Hahat, it is nothing like the dark elf villages dot!"
The other two didn't care about Kenzo. Crockta glanced lightly at Kenzo in farewell before heading towards Quantes with his group.
“Wait a minute!” Kenzo exclaimed.
Crockta's group paused.
"……?"
Kenzo hesitated as he stood in front of Crockta. Then he fell to his knees.
“Please accept me as your disciple!”
Praise the Orc:
Current schedule: There will now be 14 chapters a week, meaning two chapters every day.
Chapter 133 – Mountain of Sabres, Forest of Swords (2)
"Phew, it is nice and warm," Crockta muttered.
It felt like all his fatigue from his adventure in the north dispersed as he immersed himself in the hot water. This was a public bathroom in the basement of their inn. Crockta glanced elsewhere. Anor was looking around with an awed expression, amazed at the hot water that appeared like magic. When faced with the level of civilization in Quantes, he didn't stop asking questions like a curious little boy.
“I guess Tiyo's still playing around."
“It's been a while so he will be unburdening his heart."
Tiyo had yet to return. The members of the Quantes Gnomes Garrison welcomed his return and held a big celebration. Obviously, his stories about their adventures in the north would be greatly exaggerated.
Kenzo's voice was suddenly heard from where his body was buried in the bathtub. “It is lacking compared to natural hot springs, but this type of bath is still good. Having such a facility in an inn, Quantes is great."
“I guess you like hot springs."
“Of course. Where I used to live, there was a famous hot spring and the hot sulfur water was like paradise itself. There are many good elements for the body."
Considering the place where he used to live, the white star on his forehead, and the name Kenzo, Crockta guessed that he was Japanese. He looked at Crockta and said, “But when is training…?"
“I don't want to sweat again after bathing, so we will start tomorrow."
“I understand."
Crockta decided after seeing Kenzo's swordsmanship. The two wouldn't have a great teacher and student relationship, but rather one where he would advise Kenzo on his skills while they stayed in Quantes.
Crockta was pleased by Kenzo's decision. If this was any game, he could become stronger just by hunting. But Elder Lord was different. Many users appreciated the importance of meeting a good teacher because enlightenment and competence could make a big difference. Kenzo felt the desire not to miss out on this opportunity.
“We have been in here for a while. Get up soon."
"Yes."
Crockta raised his body. The sound of someone humming was getting closer and Crockta wanted to leave the bath before it became noisy.
"Ohh! Everybody is here! Kahahat!"
Tiyo drunkenly staggered into the bathroom. The guests not from Crockta's group glared at the appearance of a drunkard.
“Ah, I made a noise. I'm sorry dot. Kyahahaha!"
Tiyo twisted and fell down. Then he raised his head and smiled again. He wasn't himself right now. Crockta exchanged glances with Anor. Someone had to take care of the drunkard. If they left him alone, he might die from placing his head under the water all night.
The two reached out at the same time.
"Hat!"
'”Yap!”
Rock paper scissors! Crockta won. Anor sighed and trudged over to handle Tiyo while Crockta looked at him and laughed.
“Just like a nanny."
Anor grabbed Tiyo. Anor was in the process of raising Tiyo up when the drunken gnome suddenly jumped and plunged into the big bathtub. Water splashed everywhere. Anor grabbed his head and forced Tiyo to apologize to the guests around them.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. This friend has no wisdom."
"Sorry dot, uhihi."
“No, what is with this attitude? Bow your head!"
There were no problems because it was Anor.
Crock and Kenzo walked out of the public bath together. Attention was focused on the fierce orc warrior Crockta and the slightly lacking, but still well-disciplined human warrior Kenzo. They stood tall and put on their clothes.
“Do you want to drink beer?"
"Okay."
After the bath, they headed up to the pub on the first floor of the inn. Several gnomes were gathered and drinking alcohol. Crockta and Kenzo sat down and ordered beer. The gnome employee brought them cold beer and dry snacks. It was a special order made to fit the size of an orc and human.
"You…" Crockta opened his mouth, making Kenzo stop as he was about to take a sip.
“Ah, yes."
“Why do you want to become stronger?” Crockta asked with a deep expression in his eyes.
It was an important question. He wanted to teach someone but he didn't want to do something wrong. That's why he recalled the best teacher that he knew. Baek Hanho's face surfaced but was quickly replaced by the great warrior Lenox. Harsh, severe, yet passionate. Because he was there, Crockta could become who he was now.
Crockta became Lenox and looked at Kenzo. Deep eyes that seemed like they could penetrate straight through him.
“……!”
Kenzo gulped.
There was common knowledge that every user in Elder Lord knew. NPCs considered this world to be real and everyone had their own philosophy. Users needed to breathe and consider this a real world; their mindset was expressed as the assimilation rate. If he answered with the flimsy mindset of a user, he might not be able to learn from this orc.
He closed his eyes and concentrated. He asked himself: ‘Why do I want to become stronger?’
His previous memories passed by.
"I…”
He was a common otaku. He wasn't a hikikomori who always stayed in his room, but a friendly sales office worker caught up in the turmoil of society. He just had a secret hobby of anime appreciation and figurines collection. And the character he loved the most was…
Sword demon Matsui!
He was a character who had a bad personality, smoked cigarettes, and always had a dull expression on his face. His hobbies were Pachinko and Mahjong, and was a man who always drunkenly wandered the streets with matted hair.
However, at night, he became the city's dark knight who wielded his magical claymore against the monsters who killed his former lover. He was always cynical and committed criminal acts casually, but at crucial moments, he became the anti-hero who helped the weak.
Kenzo went to a dojo that taught swordsmanship because of him. However, he couldn't wield the sword like Matsui in reality. He plunged into the world of Elder Lord to be like Matsui. But he lacked the abilities to be a hero. The same was trying for gaining higher levels. The wall of the NPCs and creatures was high.
In Elder Lord, he was just an ordinary warrior with a sword.
Kenzo opened his mouth, “Become stronger…"
His current assimilation rate was over 60%. It was the highest it had ever been.
“I want to help people who have fallen into despair."
It was the reason why he admired and wanted to be like Matsui. At one time, he had severe fright of human relationships. He was bullied on a daily basis at school. At that time, it was a friend who saved him.
A friend who learned karate. He knocked out the people tormenting Kenzo. Kenzo expressed his gratitude, but the friend just asked for a banana milk and handed him a book. It was Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings. Then he disappeared with the words to not be pathetic. It was more shocking because he was a person who normally didn't speak a lot.
Kenzo read The Book of Five Rings all night. Then he started changing from that day. He tried to fix his passive attitude and to get along with the people in his surroundings. Therefore, he could take his place in society.
A single person's hand was enough to save him. If one person hadn't showed up, he would've continued to just sink. He wanted to be that one person to reach out his hand to people in despair.
"I see." Crockta nodded. Kenzo's serious heart was conveyed.
Kenzo replied firmly again, "That's right."
“People who have fallen into despair…" Crockta contemplated his words before faintly smiling. He beckoned, “Drink.”
Crockta drank his beer in one gulp. Kenzo supported his neck and did the same. The large glass filled with beer was gone in a flash. Both of them downed the beer in one shot.
"Kuoooh!"
"Ugh!"
It was a universal sound after drinking. The two of them shook as they felt the aftermath of the beer.
“Then go to sleep early. My approach is tough so tomorrow will be a hard day."
They were set to stay a week in Quantes. It was enough time for Tiyo to meet his family and friends, as well as prepare for the trip. Of course, Anor also needed to see the city. Meanwhile, Crockta would preach his enlightenment to this man.
The two of them headed up to their room.
***
Kenzo couldn't sleep because his heart was pounding.
He needed to focus properly during this week with the orc. He had already taken some time off at his company. It was a strong desire to learn everything from this NPC, an orc who could instantly slay an ogre. Maybe he could obtain a hidden class or skill from this.
He moved his gaze. Crockta wasn't sleeping yet.
"……?"
He was sitting on the bed with his eyes closed. The faint moonlight leaking through the window showing his serenity.
“……!”
At that moment, he felt the same energy as when the ogre was slain. A hazy atmosphere appeared around Crockta's body. It was like he was separated from the world. His flesh became distant and he seemed to disappear from Kenzo's perspective. There was an invisible aura moving through the air. It was calm and silent, but Kenzo's muscles shook like he was on the battlefield.
It was a strange phenomenon. Kenzo kept lying down as he forgot the time. Some time passed.
Crockta opened his mouth. “When you reach this level, you can practice without even breaking a sweat."
“……!”
He was aware of the fact that Kenzo was watching.
“Keep in mind that in this world, the will of an individual can make a big difference."
It was something Crockta had learned directly.
In reality, no matter how much he trained his will, he couldn't jump a few meters or break a rock. Even if he practiced for a lifetime, he might be able to kill a wild animal with his bare hands. Limits existed.
But this was the world of Elder Lord. A person could grow infinitely if they trained and had a strong will. A place where the possibilities of individuals were expanded beyond infinity, that was Elder Lord. Crockta realized this from Hoyt, then he reached a higher ground due to Gushantimur.
Now it was possible to simulate a fight with a virtual enemy by raising his will and imagining it. The realm of a Hero beyond the Pinnacle. Crockta knew this very well, so he planned to help Kenzo experience the realm of the Pinnacle in this week.
Seeing was believing.
"Sleep. Tomorrow, you will regret not sleeping earlier."
"Ah, I understand."
Kenzo hurriedly closed his eyes. Maybe he would experience something life-changing tomorrow. Elder Lord was a symbol of this era. Even if he wasn't a ranker, there were many users who earned a big profit through Elder Lord. It usually depended on how strong a person was and their level.
Through this opportunity, he could hopefully become a professional user who earned a living through Elder Lord. It was the dream of all Elder Lord users.
He couldn't wait for tomorrow's training. He didn't worry much. No matter how harsh the training was, it wouldn't kill him.
But…
It actually happened.
Praise the Orc:
Current schedule: There will now be 14 chapters a week, meaning two chapters every day.