Raoum, Land of Artisans
It was already astonishing enough that a girl as small as me would wield a greatsword—yet she claimed to be half-dwarf on top of it. How was anyone supposed to believe that so easily?
Had I been staring too openly?
The girl, standing atop the sparring stage and wiping down her greatsword, asked,
“What are you looking at like that?”
“Ah—no, I just…”
“Curious whether I’m really a descendant of the dwarves, right?”
“Ah… well. Yes.”
She gave a small laugh at my answer. She seemed used to this sort of thing.
“I’m not completely sure.”
“Pardon…?”
“In this country—Raoum—people as short as me have been born from time to time, for ages. Those people gathered and started spreading the rumor themselves. That we were the descendants of dwarves. It’s been going on like that for a very long time.”
“Hmm…”
The girl chuckled lightly and swung her greatsword this way and that. A heavy whoosh split the air, making it clear the weapon’s weight was no joke.
I watched her with a strange look. Having seen real dwarves with my own eyes, finding similarities between her and them was easy enough.
Yet the only resemblance she shared with the star-working dwarf I had once met was her small stature.
“I’m Terra. What’s your name?”
“I’m Ceris.”
“All right, Ceris. Tell me when you’re ready.”
Ready? That went without saying. I had left anything that might hinder my movement back at the inn, so I could fight at once. I drew a slow breath and pulled my sword free.
That was the signal. The moment I leveled my blade at Terra, her presence changed. The playful look vanished into pure seriousness, and a terrifying pressure poured from the small girl’s frame.
Her short legs were planted firm. The way she held that massive greatsword at a slant made her look like a towering fortress wall. Walls do not move—and neither did Terra. She simply stood there, solid and unyielding.
Prolonged silent staring matches were not my style. Studying an opponent mid-fight was more than enough. My senses, already beyond human, made it possible, and I trusted them completely.
The careful step I took forward slammed into the ground; my weight shifted ahead and a lightning-fast thrust lanced out. The sharp tip aimed straight for Terra’s wrist.
Right after, she moved. Her hand flicked, and the greatsword swept sideways, deflecting my blade at an angle.
My upper body was left open by the miss, but it had only been a light probe to read her motion. No real force had gone into the stance, so I flowed straight into the next action.
My right leg, still extended, became the pivot as my body began to spin. Legs tangled in a complex weave while power born in the waist raced out through my arms; as I completed the full turn, a fresh slash followed.
The long arc of my sword drank in the faint starlight—yet once again it was stopped cold by Terra’s greatsword.
In that instant the sealed fortress wall opened. Terra’s counterattack began.
Boom—!
The moment her lightly extended leg stamped the floor, a massive blast of wind pressure and vibration rolled outward. It was enough force to nearly throw my stance. At the same time the dull-black greatsword came hurtling in.
This was no ordinary blade. The power packed into it was anything but ordinary. The space it claimed was so wide that dodging was far from easy—yet given the force behind the strike, meeting it head-on was out of the question. I had to throw myself clear no matter what.
Whoosh—!
A dark shadow streaked past just above my lowered head. The wind pressure that erupted right after tore through my hair, and Terra was already preparing her next blow.
Both arms rose high, hoisting the dull-black greatsword aloft. An instant later a gigantic guillotine crashed down toward the spot where I stood. She had put every ounce of her strength into the cut without the slightest mercy; the air itself exploded outward.
KRAAANG—!
I flung my body aside in the nick of time. The greatsword smashed into the place I had just occupied. The special mineral floor of the sparring stage caved in with a deep dent.
I could not hide my shock at the sight. She seemed stronger than any swordsman I had ever faced. Power like that coming from such a small girl’s body was almost impossible to believe.
Had the people who once fought me felt something like this? I swallowed dryly, dredging up hazy memories.
The exchange of blows continued. Just when I thought I was growing used to Terra’s movements, she deliberately adjusted the speed of her greatsword.
“Is that all you’ve got? I can’t give you a passing score like this…”
Terra opened the distance and let the words trail off as she looked at me. She had given me space on purpose—created a moment to catch my breath. In her eyes I was clearly the inferior fighter.
If this kept up I would never receive a Gold Rank plaque. That meant the gold I had paid for the examination fee would simply vanish. My purse was not empty, but I had no desire to throw money away for nothing.
I exhaled calmly and spoke to Terra.
“What would it take for you to give me a passing score?”
“Hmm… when blood flows from my body?”
She was a swordsman with the authority to examine for Gold Rank. She would not go back on her word.
I spun my Mana Circles rapidly and thought. The moment I used mana, my body would begin to leave humanity behind. I could not drag the fight out. I had to pour everything I could use into a single short burst and reclaim the mana before the physical changes fully took hold.
Kiiing—!
The instant the rotation sound only I could hear swelled, mana raced through my entire body. That surging mana began reinforcing my flesh, and the Emblem of the Great Warrior—reacting to the mana—activated.
Had she sensed the change? Terra’s expression, still gripping her greatsword, hardened like stone.
I kicked off the ground at once.
A body strengthened twice over displayed speed incomparable to before. There was no need to adjust to the sudden leap; my senses, already edging toward those of a monster, made it possible.
Clang—!
Sword met sword. Unlike the times I had dodged the dull-black greatsword, this time I stepped in and took the blow head-on. A heavy weight and tremendous force traveled up my blade, yet I did not give ground—I pushed forward.
As time passed the changes in my body grew more pronounced. An itchy sensation in my teeth signaled fangs about to push through, and red scales had surely already sprouted across the back of my gauntleted hand. The more my body transformed, the higher my physical ability climbed. The evenly matched blades began to tip in one direction.
Screeech—!
Sparks flew between the locked swords, and the dull-black blade started to give way. I seized that instant. I released the pressure, slipped free of the bind, and dove straight into Terra’s guard.
Her weapon was a greatsword larger than her own body; once I closed in like this, she would not be able to swing it.
Shaaak—!
I glided forward as if treading the wind itself. The sweeping arc of my sword skimmed across soft skin, and a thin spray of blood leapt into the air.
I immediately reclaimed every scrap of mana racing through me. The spinning Mana Circles drew it all back, and the changes in my body began to subside.
“I pass, right?”
Terra’s hardened gaze fixed on me. She had set the standard for passing with her own mouth—and I had met it.
A thin trickle of blood was running down the right arm that still gripped her dull-black greatsword.
“You were hiding your real skill until the end?”
“To a certain extent.”
“Smart call…”
“So—do I pass?”
“Of course you pass… how old are you, anyway?”
I tilted my head at Terra’s question. I had arrived in this world near the end of my thirteenth year, so I was about fourteen now. Fifteen at the most…?
“Fourteen?”
“Fourteen…?”
“Fifteen, maybe…?”
“Unbelievable…”
Terra’s face twisted into a bizarre expression. She clearly found my words hard to swallow. Still, a pass was a pass. She immediately began the process of issuing the Gold Rank plaque.
“Here. Take it.”
After trailing Terra all over the Swordsman Guild for quite a while, I finally received the Gold Rank plaque.
As I gazed at the glittering gold token, Terra said,
“That’s not pure gold.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yep.”
Well, making an entire palm-sized plaque out of solid gold would have cost a fortune. I nodded and slipped the rank plaque into my pocket.
With my business at the Swordsman Guild finished, I headed straight for the Adventurer Guild. Commissioning a custom full plate would require an enormous amount of gold, so I intended to earn diligently.
A Gold Rank adventurer could take on a wider variety of requests than a Silver Rank. Most of them involved nobles, of course.
As expected, noble-related requests paid well. I was staring blankly up at a request form that promised dozens of gold as a base reward when a man approached me.
He was a guild staff member. Just as receptionists in the Karuma Empire pinned request forms to the board, this man began doing the same.
He affixed the request form in his hand to the Gold Rank board.
🏛 Recruiting: 2 Swordsmen, 1 Ranger
⚔ Rank Restriction: Gold
📍 Exploration Site: Dwarf’s Breath
⏳ Duration: Minimum one week
💰 Reward: 1,000G
For further details, inquire with the guild receptionist.
“That is…”
Before the receptionist could move on to a new board, I caught his sleeve.
“Excuse me!”
“Uh—huh?”
He turned at my call and looked down at me. A faint irritation crossed his face, only to vanish the instant he actually saw me.
I looked up at him and smiled lightly.
“Um, about that dungeon exploration recruitment notice…”
“Ah…? This one?”
“Yes. I’d like to take it. Could I hear a few more details?”
“You want to do this? You? Sorry, but this is a Gold Rank request.”
I laughed softly at the receptionist’s reply and rummaged in my pocket, producing the Gold Rank plaque. It had been issued less than an hour ago.
“Huh…”
The receptionist stood with his mouth hanging open, eyes flicking back and forth between me and the rank plaque. Perhaps the glittering gold had caught their attention; other adventurers wandering the building began to stare as well.
Whispers drifted through the air, and among them floated the question of whether I might be a dwarf half-blood.