Chapter 17 – Journey (3)

The mace, unable to withstand Veloc’s immense strength, snapped in two. The troll, who had been taking a stance, fell face down on the floor with its club raised.

Thud!

Dust soared. The troll could not collect its senses. In an instant, it thought, ‘Huh?’ and found itself fallen.

How did this happen? Blinking its yellow eyes, the troll examined its leg. It saw a chunk of flesh bent in a bizarre way.

Throb—

Only then did a terrible pain sweep over. An intense pain that it, a predator, had never felt before!

The troll grabbed its leg and screamed.

“Keuuuuggh!!”

A sound incomparable to when it was hit by an arrow vibrated through the cave. The stones on the floor even shook.

Veloc, who was close to it, wanted to cover his ears, but he could not. So, he decided to finish this guy off quickly.

Raising a longsword instead of the broken mace, Veloc struck down with all his might.

Thwack. Its tattered hide parted easily, revealing shattered fragments of bone.

Generally, it was more difficult to fit together shattered pieces than to reattach a severed wound.

This was the same for the troll. Therefore, despite its tremendous regenerative ability, the troll only floundered and could not stand up immediately.

“I will join you!”

Watching the situation, Adel dashed forward like an arrow. Following the longsword, her spear also gouged the troll’s wound.

Adel and Veloc did not stop there, and they even threw burning torches to cauterize the troll’s wound.

The blood bubbled and boiled. The flesh that was finding its place melted away again.

Sizzle—

Along with a smell like grilling spoiled meat, the troll screamed once again.

“Kuaaargh!”

And it swung the club in its hand like crazy.

At that chaotic attack, the floor rumbled and even the ceiling vibrated.

As the troll went wild, Veloc and Adel stepped back for now.

“We’ve almost got it.”

Veloc spun the sword in his hand. Hunting large monsters was usually like this.

Since they were so massive and their life force was tenacious, the best way was to accumulate damage in one spot after another to drain their stamina, and then make a certain part of their body unusable.

Because if their physical ability deteriorated, the risk of hunting would also decrease significantly.

Panting heavily, the troll stood up using the club as a staff. It stumbled the entire time.

Since one of its legs was ruined, it could not support its heavy bulk properly. However, its yellow eyes still did not lose their ferocity.

The creature took a stance, raising the club. Veloc and Adel also prepared.

“Kwuoor.”

However, the troll did an unexpected action. It flung the club in its hand. Driven by a force as strong as its build, the speed was extremely fast.

A few torches laid out on the floor were extinguished by the wind pressure. To think it would throw its only weapon.

Adel tried to dodge in panic, but it was too late. So Veloc blocked her front.

“Please do—”

Ignoring the words coming from behind, Veloc focused his mind. The muscles on his forearms bulged, tightening his armor.

His thighs, firmly supporting the ground, also swelled greatly. The longsword, enduring the power of his grip, began to scream.

Veloc believed in his strength. His muscle power enhanced by stats. He also believed in the ferocity of when he snapped the demon’s horns that could even break rocks.

Some intuition seemed to whisper to him. That he could cut it.

So Veloc raised his sword. He struck down again. In an instant, a flash of light burst.

Crack!

The wood as tall as Veloc was split in half, scattering sawdust. The longsword, unable to withstand the impact, also shattered into pieces.

The wood chunks rolled across the floor past the two.

“This actually works.”

Veloc muttered to himself, massaging his stiff wrist. He was gradually adapting to his monster-like muscle strength.

He was learning how to use his power and how much he could exert at his maximum. He felt he could do better next time.

“Are you all right!”

“I’m perfectly fine.”

“You were too reckless. You should have just dodged.”

If I had dodged, you would have been turned into meat paste. How could I watch that happen?

Veloc swallowed his direct words and comforted her. It was because Adel was wearing a crying face.

“It’s fine. Trust me, Adel.”

“Lord Veloc…”

“More importantly, where did he go?”

Veloc, who had lost sight of the monster because he had focused too much for a split second, asked.

“It fled.”

Adel pointed to the entrance with a frustrated look. Dragging marks on one side and bloodstains were visible on the floor. Veloc also clicked his tongue.

What a fellow. He couldn’t even live up to his size. In any case, they had to pursue.

Although they had broken and burned its leg, the troll’s regenerative power was extraordinary, so it would become lively again after a reasonable amount of time.

“Adel. Give me a sword.”

“Here it is.”

Veloc, receiving a fine longsword from Adel, headed toward the entrance in pursuit. Adel quickly followed with a torch. She voiced her concern,

“The passage is narrow. Will it be all right?”

The passage was just large enough for a single troll to barely squeeze through.

It was not as easy to swing blades as in the cavern.

“It’s not a good place to fight. Should I break it down?”

Veloc tapped the stone wall with his gauntleted hand. But he soon shook his head.

If he were buried alive, regardless of his monstrous strength, he would surely suffocate to death.

“Grrrr.”

Whether it was waiting because it knew that, or realized it could not escape, the troll baring its teeth was visible in the passage. Veloc chuckled.

“Cunning bastard.”

“Shall I give you the spear?”

“No, this is enough.”

He had no intention of letting it go this time. Veloc charged forward, gripping the longsword in his hand tightly.

A cramped space. It was hard to swing a sword properly, but the same went for the troll.

All the creature could do was strike with its hands or feet, or crush with its body.

The troll chose the former. It stretched out its long, ape-like arm.

Its hook-like claws flew in sharply. Veloc calmly raised his sword. His sword blurred as it moved.

‘Deflection Strike’

His swordsmanship, which recognized the troll’s arm as a blade, was reenacted in his hands.

The blade that collided with the claws rotated smoothly, and the troll’s hand struck the innocent dirt floor.

“Keuh?”

Before it knew it, Veloc, who was beneath the creature’s neck, thrust the longsword like a dagger. The creature, whose neck was pierced, wheezed. However, perhaps due to the thick hide, it was shallow.

Moreover, thanks to its unique regenerative power, the wound healed quickly.

The troll let out a ferocious sound again. It tried to lie down completely and crush Veloc.

Veloc slid smoothly, dodging the creature’s attack. Then he mounted the back of the prone troll.

As the creature tried to move, Veloc threw a punch.

The iron hammer of his monstrous strength struck the troll’s head.

Bam, bam!

The troll’s head shook like a punching bag. Its eyes also spun wildly. Shaken to the core, the creature could not gather its senses.

Mounting the troll as if riding a horse, Veloc thought to himself. Finally, the end of this tedious hunt drew near.

Veloc hugged the troll’s neck tightly. In that position, he placed the sword held in his hand against the troll’s Adam’s apple.

With his other hand, he gripped the upper part of the longsword’s blade. Watching this, Adel cried out with a shocked face,

“Half-swording!”

A very cramped space. A useful swordsmanship technique when normal swinging or thrusting cannot inflict significant damage on the opponent. But using that on a troll?

Originally, swordsmanship was created for humans to deal with humans. It usually did not work well on monsters with different physical specifications. However, Veloc’s monstrous strength and genius talent shone once again.

The sharp blade was hooked around the troll’s neck. A human guillotine for the monster.

Veloc was think of nothing and pulled hard.

As much as the gauntlets rubbing against the blade screamed, the troll also screamed as if tearing apart.

Creak, snap—

Flesh tore and bones cracked. Sticky blood spurted through, splattering onto his armor and face. But Veloc did not stop. The ruthless execution continued.

At some point, when the screams cut off and only the sound of escaping air resounded,

the troll’s log-like head rolled on the floor.

“…”

At her master’s unbelievable martial prowess, Adel blinked her mouth for a moment, then hurriedly approached.

“Only admiration comes out.”

Soon, she began to wipe Veloc’s face with a handkerchief pulled from her bosom.

Veloc silently accepted the texture and meticulous touch of the handkerchief carrying Adel’s scent. Even in the midst of that, he entered his inner world and compared the experience points of the bandits he had caught so far with the troll.

The troll gave more. It seemed catching one strong guy was better for leveling up than catching several small fries.

‘It feels like it’s about time for a skill to appear.’

Around the time he was thinking that, Adel’s touch vanished and a rustling sound was heard. When Veloc opened his eyes,

Adel was crouching down, collecting the blood flowing from the troll’s corpse into a bottle she had brought.

“I heard somewhere that troll’s blood is a material that magicians love very much. It will definitely be useful if we pack it.”

“The alchemists also go crazy for it.”

Veloc nodded and chimed in, pleased by Adel’s prepared behavior.

“Please take a rest. Things like this are a squire’s work.”

“Isn’t it faster if we do it together?”

“That is… true, but.”

Unable to find a word to refute, Adel shut her mouth tight.

The two diligently moved their hands, collecting the troll’s blood, skinning it, and dragging the corpse to discard it.

They also packed the iron ore piled in the cavern. The post-battle cleanup was as hard as the fierce combat. This was harder than killing the troll. It was so annoying. Veloc furrowed his brow.

“The world where farming was possible with just a mouse click was nice.”

“What did you say?”

“Just… I felt that nothing in the world is easy.”

Veloc let out a sigh with somewhat distant eyes.

Adel tilted her head briefly at her master’s incomprehensible words, but then smiled faintly as if empathizing with the last remark.

“Isn’t everyone struggling to live, after all?”

It was a crude but deeply meaningful remark. Veloc nodded heavily.

“…Indeed.”

It was a harsh world to ask someone who wasn’t even twenty what they knew about life.

Veloc smiled bitterly at the sight of his subordinate who had grown up early.

“If we packed everything, let’s go.”

So much for the thoughts. Now was the time to get the reward.

“You truly caught it with just the two of you?”

Luke rubbed his eyelids as he looked at the dripping head of the cave troll.

But no matter how many times he checked, it was the same. It was a troll’s neck.

Moreover, the cut surface was very clean. As if cut in one go using some immense strength…

“Have you lived your life being deceived?”

Veloc said calmly as he sat on a chair. Adel also smirked looking at Luke’s surprised face.

And she arrogantly raised her chin.

“Didn’t I tell you, old man? My master, Lord Veloc, is truly a great knight.”

Luke could not even refute Adel’s words and just listened.

“What… what monstrous guys.”

“Will you craft the equipment now?”

At Veloc’s words, Luke stammered and then shook his head. Right, I definitely said that, didn’t I?

Thinking it was the requirement of those wishing to commit suicide, I seemed to have let it in one ear and out the other.

Luke gasped and peeked at the two.

Then, he hurriedly gathered the pieces of parchment torn on the floor and checked the content.

After a moment, coughing to clear his throat, Luke stroked his beard with a calmed face.

“I admit it. That you are great knights. Furthermore, since you killed the troll and reclaimed the mine, you can be called my benefactors. Fine! I will craft the equipment!”

Ding. Quest completed. Speccing up. For some reason, a signal sound seemed to ring in his head. Veloc smiled contentedly.

“I leave it to you.”

“Let’s see. First, since you have armor, we can reinforce or refine it, and as for that girl…”

Frowning with a groan, Luke brought a measuring tape and began to measure Adel’s body size.

Adel squirmed and complained,

“If you play any tricks, I won’t stand still!”

This time, Luke did not hold back either.

“Please shut up! You washboard-like brat!”

“What?! What did you say? Oh fuck.”

“Why on earth is your squire like this? She is a complete wild horse.”

Only after stopping another potential uproar did the measuring end.

Luke muttered to himself, drawing on the parchment or writing something down.

“One suit of female full plate armor. And you said you need a weapon. A weapon to catch demons. Sturdy enough to not chip a single edge, and powerful…”

Luke furrowed his brow and nodded, then gestured to the two.

“Follow me for a moment.”

The three moved to the annex behind the log house. Luke opened the door of a space that looked like a warehouse made of bricks with a key.

At the revealed sight, Adel gaped.

“This is…”

The smell of iron and oil vibrated. Inside the warehouse, leather, chainmail, and plate armor, as well as various weapons, were displayed, casting a menacing light.

“It’s an amount enough to wage a war.”

Veloc was also slightly impressed. The sweat and blood of Luke’s efforts to craft true blades.

For a knight, this place was no different from a treasure vault.

“Are you telling us to take whatever we like from here?”

At Veloc’s question, Luke chuckled.

“Nonsense. Didn’t you say from the beginning to make it for you? Furthermore, these were made to kill humans. Not for monsters.”

“Then?”

“From now on, destroy the weapons here.”

Luke muttered casually, stroking his beard. However, his gaze was more intense than ever.