Ernolf felt a twinge inside. But with his life in danger, he had no time to worry about this and that.
Red-Spotted Spiders were not the only danger. They had to get out of here before something even more terrifying appeared.
“Get on my back.”
“It seems you have no intention of leaving me behind.”
“Shut up and get on already.”
“Is there perhaps a cart? My body is stiff, so I do not think I can get on your back.”
“You sure are demanding a lot.”
The boy tossed out that remark and sprang to his feet, heading somewhere.
Once he was gone, Ernolf prodded his Mana Heart again. Regaining his magic was his only hope.
How much time had passed? The boy dragged an old cart from the mine face, loaded Ernolf onto it, and began pulling it while panting.
“You call yourself my big brother, yet you always gave me some of your porridge. I knew this would happen. Why didn’t you listen when I told you to eat it yourself? If you’d eaten properly, you wouldn’t be this feeble!”
After loading Ernolf onto the cart, the boy kept pulling it while berating him without pause.
‘The owner of this body was that boy’s older brother.’
Even in such harsh conditions, it seemed the older brother had cherished and cared for his younger brother.
Though it had to be beyond his strength, the boy did not seem to intend to abandon his brother and flee by himself. Contrary to his appearance, he was a warm-hearted boy.
“Help me!”
“Who is there? Take me with you!”
“Hey! Hey!”
As they struggled up the slope, people whose lower bodies had been paralyzed by spider venom desperately called for help. Judging by their voices, they seemed to be middle-aged men.
The boy stopped the cart and headed toward the source of the voices. Ernolf thought he intended to rescue them, but he was mistaken.
“Ghk!”
A short scream came from the direction the boy had gone.
“If you were not going to save them, you could at least have left them alive. What grudge do you bear against them that you went out of your way to kill them……?”
“I’ve got plenty of grudges. And even if I leave them alive, they won’t be of any use.”
The boy answered as though he had heard Ernolf’s muttering.
After that, whenever the boy sensed someone’s presence, he went to find them, killed them, and returned. It seemed as though he did not see anyone except his brother as a person.
“It’s a meal already set out for me. They’ve all been struck by spider venom and can’t move a finger, just like you.”
The boy smiled as he said that there was no need to subdue them with effort when all he had to do was plunge a knife into them.
‘Stop this needless killing and hurry up and escape.’
Ernolf wanted to say something, but with his chest muscles paralyzed, he could barely breathe. He had no choice but to leave the boy alone.
‘They say the cruelest people on a battlefield are child soldiers who do not distinguish between good and evil.’
The boy panted as he climbed the slope, yet he did not stop killing.
‘Three minutes after breathing stops, the brain begins to suffer damage. If it goes beyond twice that time, death follows. There is no time.’
Leaving his life in the hands of a young murderous demon, Ernolf closed his eyes. He no longer had the leisure to concern himself with matters outside himself.
The boy seemed to have been hungry for a long time, for he was as thin as a stalk of sorghum. Even for an Aura user, climbing a steep slope while pulling a cart carrying a person was a difficult task. Though he was breathing harshly, the boy never gave up on his older brother.
“Look over there, Tiri! It’s the exit!”
Sunlight entering through the mine entrance shone across Ernolf’s face as well.
“Just a little farther and we’ll be outside! You can get out of here now too!”
At last, they were escaping. Yet Ernolf could not share in that joy.
The boy turned to look at Ernolf.
“Hey!”
When Ernolf did not respond, the boy let go of the cart and shook his shoulders hard. His face, pallid from spending so long trapped in the mine shaft, was chillingly white.
“We’re here! I said we can get out of here now! Open your eyes. Your wish was to get out of here alive!”
At that moment, sunlight disappeared amid a tremendous tremor, and the surroundings were swallowed by darkness in an instant. It was the moment hope turned into despair.
“GRRROOOOWL!”
Blocking the exit was a monster resembling a house-sized lizard. It puffed up its body threateningly.
“GRRK!”
The area beneath its jaw, which had been swollen to its fullest, suddenly deflated, and a yellow liquid flew toward the boy. The boy quickly rolled away to avoid it. The liquid struck the cart instead.
“Tiri!”
The boy, who had reflexively evaded it, turned back in alarm. A fishy stench filled the mine shaft, making it agonizing to breathe.
HISSSSS—
The monster trembled the countless tentacles hanging around its jaw and swelled the area beneath it again.
“Damn it. We were almost there!”
The boy quickly pushed the cart upward. Ernolf’s body slid down with the yellow liquid.
The boy overturned the cart to cover Ernolf’s body, then ran toward the monster.
“Stay here! I’ll save you in a moment!”
“GRRK!”
The monster sprayed liquid again.
The boy kicked off the wall and leapt up, twisting his body in midair to evade it. As he landed on the ground, the lizard’s tongue flew down like a spear and lodged above his head.
RATTLE-RATTLE-RATTLE!
With a loud sound, the lizard reeled its tongue back in. Seizing that moment, the boy launched himself like an arrow.
WHOOSH!
Though he was an Aura user, the boy was not yet skilled at wielding aura. He merely moved like a beast, guided by primitive instinct.
The dagger in the boy’s hand drew a fierce semicircle beneath the lizard’s jaw.
CRACK!
The tentacles hanging like a beard beneath its jaw reared up violently and knocked the blade away.
‘Ngh!’
Pain tingled through his wrist.
At the same time as it knocked away the blade, another tentacle struck at the boy’s neck.
The boy dropped the dagger and retreated, barely managing to keep it from his neck.
“Tch…….”
As the boy tried to turn toward where the dagger had fallen, the lizard’s eyes followed him. Its wide mouth, split all the way to either side, seemed to mock him.
The boy quickly rolled, picked up the dagger, and readjusted his stance.
“SKREEE!”
The lizard’s tentacles shot toward the boy all at once. Pointed teeth and long spines protruded from their ends.
The boy tilted his body to the side. However, because the space was so narrow, he could not evade them completely.
Just as a spine was about to pierce his shoulder, a black object flew from the mine shaft and struck the lizard’s forehead.
BANG!
“RRAAARGH!”
The lizard screamed after being struck in the forehead.
‘The cart?’
What had struck the lizard was a crude wooden cart.
The lizard took its eyes off the boy and extended its tongue toward the direction the cart had flown from.
FWOOSH!
As if distance did not matter, the monster’s tongue extended with tremendous force.
“Tiri!”
Startled, the boy turned toward the mine shaft.
BANG!
CRACK!
The lizard’s tongue, as thick as a beam, struck an invisible shield and bent aside. Rocks shattered by the rebounding tip of its tongue flew in every direction.
“Brother…….”
The boy looked at Ernolf with a dazed expression. The one who had been motionless like a corpse only moments ago was not only standing perfectly fine, but also holding flames in his hands.
“Remember this. Wherever Red-Spotted Spiders gather, their natural predator, a ‘Retchaka,’ always appears.”
Ernolf, draped in rags over his skeletal body and covered in yellow liquid, muttered.
As he spoke, the flames blooming from both his hands condensed into the shape of arrows.
“I will make an opening, so run.”
Fire arrows flew out in succession from Ernolf’s forcefully extended hand.
“RRAAAGH! KRAA!”
The Retchaka, its head battered by the arrows, screamed and twisted its body in every direction. Each time it thrashed, the mine shaft shook as though an earthquake had struck.
“Now!”
A gap opened between the rampaging Retchaka and the entrance. An ordinary person would not dare to pass for fear of being crushed beneath the thrashing monster, but the boy was an Aura user. Ernolf was certain the boy could escape.
“Run!”
When Ernolf struck the Retchaka’s side once more, the boy launched himself without hesitation.
After arduous effort, Ernolf had managed to make his Mana Heart move again, but the amount of mana he could use was still far too small.
‘If I do not manage my mana efficiently, I will be in trouble.’
That was why he had told the boy to run. But instead of escaping, the boy stabbed the Retchaka’s leg.
The Retchaka, its leg wounded, tried to trample the boy.
“You damned brat, listen to me! I told you to run!”
Worried, Ernolf shouted at the boy as he launched fire arrows. One of the Retchaka’s eyes was struck by a fire arrow and exploded.
“RRAAAAGH!”
The Retchaka screamed and leapt about. Amid the chaos of the rumbling ground and collapsing ceiling, the boy grabbed a severed tentacle with one hand and slashed beneath the Retchaka’s jaw with the dagger in the other.
Dark blue-black blood spattered in every direction as the dagger stabbed down in a frenzy.
“GRAK, RRAAAGH! Grr…….”
The Retchaka thrashed even more violently. When the boy lost his grip on the tentacle and fell to the ground, the Retchaka’s broad forepaw tried to crush him.
“Goddammit!”
Water-Attribute Magic and poison had almost no effect on the Retchaka, while Fire-Attribute Magic and Ice-Attribute Magic were effective.
With the boy in danger, Ernolf immediately cast Ice-Attribute Magic.
The Retchaka’s leg, encased in ice, stopped in midair.
“Dodge……!”
Before Ernolf could even tell him to dodge, the boy quickly rolled out from beneath the Retchaka’s foot. His survival instincts were remarkably well developed.
“What was that just now? That was magic, right? Brother, you can use magic?”
The boy, who had narrowly escaped death, shouted loudly. For some reason, he sounded excited.
“Yes, it was magic.”
“Since when……?”
“Since a moment ago.”
“Wow…….”
Apparently greatly surprised, the boy stared at Ernolf with a dazed expression. Then he raised his hand and pointed at the Retchaka.
“Can you beat this with magic?”
Because his Mana Heart had only just awakened and was still immature, Ernolf could not yet use powerful magic. But if they could not win, they would die.
Ernolf silently nodded in response to the boy’s question.
At that moment, the Retchaka broke the ice and moved with a terrifying roar.
“GRRRRRR.”
Having confirmed that its opponent was not easy to handle, the Retchaka gave a low growl and remained on guard. Watching it, Ernolf scraped together mana.
“RRAAAGH!”
The Retchaka scattered yellow venom in every direction. It was the response Ernolf had expected.
Ernolf deployed a Fire-Attribute Barrier and burned away the venom. Once it had blocked the attack, the barrier immediately dissipated. It was a lowest-grade shield, so it could not be helped.
“I will make another opening, so run.”
The situation was not good enough for Ernolf to fight while worrying that the boy might be swept up and injured by his magical attacks.
“If you want to run, run by yourself.”
At the boy’s reply, Ernolf’s lips curled upward.
The fact that this selfish, cruel, and rude boy treasured only his older brother’s life so dearly was a little endearing.
“Yes. With a mage and an Aura user here, we cannot die to something like a Retchaka.”
Ernolf took a light, deep breath. Using magic had drained his strength at a frightening rate, and his legs trembled. He had to end the battle as quickly as possible.
“I will make it expose the belly it keeps pressed to the ground, so drive that thing from earlier straight into it.”
Leaving those words behind, the boy fearlessly rushed out. Then, as though he had spotted it earlier, he picked up a longsword beside a corpse in the corner.
Leaping over a puddle of pooled venom, he slid toward the Retchaka’s belly.
SHRAAAK!
The boy cut into its side and swung his sword.
Along the path of the blade, the Retchaka’s scales were torn away. Green scales pattered down onto the floor.
“RRAAAGH!”
The Retchaka, its side scraped, startled as though it had been burned and raised one front leg and one hind leg.
Seizing the opportunity, Ernolf fired a fire arrow.
FWOOSH!
The fireball that plunged into the Retchaka’s belly was so long and powerful that it was more fitting to call it a spear than an arrow.
“RRAAAAGH!”
The Retchaka, its abdomen pierced through, screamed and slammed its body against the mine shaft. The cracked ceiling, already weakened, could no longer hold and collapsed.
THOOM!
The thrashing Retchaka fell with a heavy sound.
Watching rocks pour down onto the fallen Retchaka, Ernolf also sank to the floor.
‘Goddammit. What is all this chaos?’
He had already possessed a body like a piece of trash, then been paralyzed by spider venom, poisoned by Retchaka venom, and forced to activate and overwork his Mana Heart. It was a wonder he had not died.
‘In any case, I survived.’
The moment he relaxed, Ernolf lost consciousness.
Chapter 2 Ernolf (2)
Ernolf felt a twinge inside. But with his life in danger, he had no time to worry about this and that.
Red-Spotted Spiders were not the only danger. They had to get out of here before something even more terrifying appeared.
“Get on my back.”
“It seems you have no intention of leaving me behind.”
“Shut up and get on already.”
“Is there perhaps a cart? My body is stiff, so I do not think I can get on your back.”
“You sure are demanding a lot.”
The boy tossed out that remark and sprang to his feet, heading somewhere.
Once he was gone, Ernolf prodded his Mana Heart again. Regaining his magic was his only hope.
How much time had passed? The boy dragged an old cart from the mine face, loaded Ernolf onto it, and began pulling it while panting.
“You call yourself my big brother, yet you always gave me some of your porridge. I knew this would happen. Why didn’t you listen when I told you to eat it yourself? If you’d eaten properly, you wouldn’t be this feeble!”
After loading Ernolf onto the cart, the boy kept pulling it while berating him without pause.
‘The owner of this body was that boy’s older brother.’
Even in such harsh conditions, it seemed the older brother had cherished and cared for his younger brother.
Though it had to be beyond his strength, the boy did not seem to intend to abandon his brother and flee by himself. Contrary to his appearance, he was a warm-hearted boy.
“Help me!”
“Who is there? Take me with you!”
“Hey! Hey!”
As they struggled up the slope, people whose lower bodies had been paralyzed by spider venom desperately called for help. Judging by their voices, they seemed to be middle-aged men.
The boy stopped the cart and headed toward the source of the voices. Ernolf thought he intended to rescue them, but he was mistaken.
“Ghk!”
A short scream came from the direction the boy had gone.
“If you were not going to save them, you could at least have left them alive. What grudge do you bear against them that you went out of your way to kill them……?”
“I’ve got plenty of grudges. And even if I leave them alive, they won’t be of any use.”
The boy answered as though he had heard Ernolf’s muttering.
After that, whenever the boy sensed someone’s presence, he went to find them, killed them, and returned. It seemed as though he did not see anyone except his brother as a person.
“It’s a meal already set out for me. They’ve all been struck by spider venom and can’t move a finger, just like you.”
The boy smiled as he said that there was no need to subdue them with effort when all he had to do was plunge a knife into them.
‘Stop this needless killing and hurry up and escape.’
Ernolf wanted to say something, but with his chest muscles paralyzed, he could barely breathe. He had no choice but to leave the boy alone.
‘They say the cruelest people on a battlefield are child soldiers who do not distinguish between good and evil.’
The boy panted as he climbed the slope, yet he did not stop killing.
‘Three minutes after breathing stops, the brain begins to suffer damage. If it goes beyond twice that time, death follows. There is no time.’
Leaving his life in the hands of a young murderous demon, Ernolf closed his eyes. He no longer had the leisure to concern himself with matters outside himself.
The boy seemed to have been hungry for a long time, for he was as thin as a stalk of sorghum. Even for an Aura user, climbing a steep slope while pulling a cart carrying a person was a difficult task. Though he was breathing harshly, the boy never gave up on his older brother.
“Look over there, Tiri! It’s the exit!”
Sunlight entering through the mine entrance shone across Ernolf’s face as well.
“Just a little farther and we’ll be outside! You can get out of here now too!”
At last, they were escaping. Yet Ernolf could not share in that joy.
The boy turned to look at Ernolf.
“Hey!”
When Ernolf did not respond, the boy let go of the cart and shook his shoulders hard. His face, pallid from spending so long trapped in the mine shaft, was chillingly white.
“We’re here! I said we can get out of here now! Open your eyes. Your wish was to get out of here alive!”
At that moment, sunlight disappeared amid a tremendous tremor, and the surroundings were swallowed by darkness in an instant. It was the moment hope turned into despair.
“GRRROOOOWL!”
Blocking the exit was a monster resembling a house-sized lizard. It puffed up its body threateningly.
“GRRK!”
The area beneath its jaw, which had been swollen to its fullest, suddenly deflated, and a yellow liquid flew toward the boy. The boy quickly rolled away to avoid it. The liquid struck the cart instead.
“Tiri!”
The boy, who had reflexively evaded it, turned back in alarm. A fishy stench filled the mine shaft, making it agonizing to breathe.
HISSSSS—
The monster trembled the countless tentacles hanging around its jaw and swelled the area beneath it again.
“Damn it. We were almost there!”
The boy quickly pushed the cart upward. Ernolf’s body slid down with the yellow liquid.
The boy overturned the cart to cover Ernolf’s body, then ran toward the monster.
“Stay here! I’ll save you in a moment!”
“GRRK!”
The monster sprayed liquid again.
The boy kicked off the wall and leapt up, twisting his body in midair to evade it. As he landed on the ground, the lizard’s tongue flew down like a spear and lodged above his head.
RATTLE-RATTLE-RATTLE!
With a loud sound, the lizard reeled its tongue back in. Seizing that moment, the boy launched himself like an arrow.
WHOOSH!
Though he was an Aura user, the boy was not yet skilled at wielding aura. He merely moved like a beast, guided by primitive instinct.
The dagger in the boy’s hand drew a fierce semicircle beneath the lizard’s jaw.
CRACK!
The tentacles hanging like a beard beneath its jaw reared up violently and knocked the blade away.
‘Ngh!’
Pain tingled through his wrist.
At the same time as it knocked away the blade, another tentacle struck at the boy’s neck.
The boy dropped the dagger and retreated, barely managing to keep it from his neck.
“Tch…….”
As the boy tried to turn toward where the dagger had fallen, the lizard’s eyes followed him. Its wide mouth, split all the way to either side, seemed to mock him.
The boy quickly rolled, picked up the dagger, and readjusted his stance.
“SKREEE!”
The lizard’s tentacles shot toward the boy all at once. Pointed teeth and long spines protruded from their ends.
The boy tilted his body to the side. However, because the space was so narrow, he could not evade them completely.
Just as a spine was about to pierce his shoulder, a black object flew from the mine shaft and struck the lizard’s forehead.
BANG!
“RRAAARGH!”
The lizard screamed after being struck in the forehead.
‘The cart?’
What had struck the lizard was a crude wooden cart.
The lizard took its eyes off the boy and extended its tongue toward the direction the cart had flown from.
FWOOSH!
As if distance did not matter, the monster’s tongue extended with tremendous force.
“Tiri!”
Startled, the boy turned toward the mine shaft.
BANG!
CRACK!
The lizard’s tongue, as thick as a beam, struck an invisible shield and bent aside. Rocks shattered by the rebounding tip of its tongue flew in every direction.
“Brother…….”
The boy looked at Ernolf with a dazed expression. The one who had been motionless like a corpse only moments ago was not only standing perfectly fine, but also holding flames in his hands.
“Remember this. Wherever Red-Spotted Spiders gather, their natural predator, a ‘Retchaka,’ always appears.”
Ernolf, draped in rags over his skeletal body and covered in yellow liquid, muttered.
As he spoke, the flames blooming from both his hands condensed into the shape of arrows.
“I will make an opening, so run.”
Fire arrows flew out in succession from Ernolf’s forcefully extended hand.
“RRAAAGH! KRAA!”
The Retchaka, its head battered by the arrows, screamed and twisted its body in every direction. Each time it thrashed, the mine shaft shook as though an earthquake had struck.
“Now!”
A gap opened between the rampaging Retchaka and the entrance. An ordinary person would not dare to pass for fear of being crushed beneath the thrashing monster, but the boy was an Aura user. Ernolf was certain the boy could escape.
“Run!”
When Ernolf struck the Retchaka’s side once more, the boy launched himself without hesitation.
After arduous effort, Ernolf had managed to make his Mana Heart move again, but the amount of mana he could use was still far too small.
‘If I do not manage my mana efficiently, I will be in trouble.’
That was why he had told the boy to run. But instead of escaping, the boy stabbed the Retchaka’s leg.
The Retchaka, its leg wounded, tried to trample the boy.
“You damned brat, listen to me! I told you to run!”
Worried, Ernolf shouted at the boy as he launched fire arrows. One of the Retchaka’s eyes was struck by a fire arrow and exploded.
“RRAAAAGH!”
The Retchaka screamed and leapt about. Amid the chaos of the rumbling ground and collapsing ceiling, the boy grabbed a severed tentacle with one hand and slashed beneath the Retchaka’s jaw with the dagger in the other.
Dark blue-black blood spattered in every direction as the dagger stabbed down in a frenzy.
“GRAK, RRAAAGH! Grr…….”
The Retchaka thrashed even more violently. When the boy lost his grip on the tentacle and fell to the ground, the Retchaka’s broad forepaw tried to crush him.
“Goddammit!”
Water-Attribute Magic and poison had almost no effect on the Retchaka, while Fire-Attribute Magic and Ice-Attribute Magic were effective.
With the boy in danger, Ernolf immediately cast Ice-Attribute Magic.
The Retchaka’s leg, encased in ice, stopped in midair.
“Dodge……!”
Before Ernolf could even tell him to dodge, the boy quickly rolled out from beneath the Retchaka’s foot. His survival instincts were remarkably well developed.
“What was that just now? That was magic, right? Brother, you can use magic?”
The boy, who had narrowly escaped death, shouted loudly. For some reason, he sounded excited.
“Yes, it was magic.”
“Since when……?”
“Since a moment ago.”
“Wow…….”
Apparently greatly surprised, the boy stared at Ernolf with a dazed expression. Then he raised his hand and pointed at the Retchaka.
“Can you beat this with magic?”
Because his Mana Heart had only just awakened and was still immature, Ernolf could not yet use powerful magic. But if they could not win, they would die.
Ernolf silently nodded in response to the boy’s question.
At that moment, the Retchaka broke the ice and moved with a terrifying roar.
“GRRRRRR.”
Having confirmed that its opponent was not easy to handle, the Retchaka gave a low growl and remained on guard. Watching it, Ernolf scraped together mana.
“RRAAAGH!”
The Retchaka scattered yellow venom in every direction. It was the response Ernolf had expected.
Ernolf deployed a Fire-Attribute Barrier and burned away the venom. Once it had blocked the attack, the barrier immediately dissipated. It was a lowest-grade shield, so it could not be helped.
“I will make another opening, so run.”
The situation was not good enough for Ernolf to fight while worrying that the boy might be swept up and injured by his magical attacks.
“If you want to run, run by yourself.”
At the boy’s reply, Ernolf’s lips curled upward.
The fact that this selfish, cruel, and rude boy treasured only his older brother’s life so dearly was a little endearing.
“Yes. With a mage and an Aura user here, we cannot die to something like a Retchaka.”
Ernolf took a light, deep breath. Using magic had drained his strength at a frightening rate, and his legs trembled. He had to end the battle as quickly as possible.
“I will make it expose the belly it keeps pressed to the ground, so drive that thing from earlier straight into it.”
Leaving those words behind, the boy fearlessly rushed out. Then, as though he had spotted it earlier, he picked up a longsword beside a corpse in the corner.
Leaping over a puddle of pooled venom, he slid toward the Retchaka’s belly.
SHRAAAK!
The boy cut into its side and swung his sword.
Along the path of the blade, the Retchaka’s scales were torn away. Green scales pattered down onto the floor.
“RRAAAGH!”
The Retchaka, its side scraped, startled as though it had been burned and raised one front leg and one hind leg.
Seizing the opportunity, Ernolf fired a fire arrow.
FWOOSH!
The fireball that plunged into the Retchaka’s belly was so long and powerful that it was more fitting to call it a spear than an arrow.
“RRAAAAGH!”
The Retchaka, its abdomen pierced through, screamed and slammed its body against the mine shaft. The cracked ceiling, already weakened, could no longer hold and collapsed.
THOOM!
The thrashing Retchaka fell with a heavy sound.
Watching rocks pour down onto the fallen Retchaka, Ernolf also sank to the floor.
‘Goddammit. What is all this chaos?’
He had already possessed a body like a piece of trash, then been paralyzed by spider venom, poisoned by Retchaka venom, and forced to activate and overwork his Mana Heart. It was a wonder he had not died.
‘In any case, I survived.’
The moment he relaxed, Ernolf lost consciousness.