Chapter 34: A Sword and a Pickaxe?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 34: A Sword and a Pickaxe?
There was a massive merit to the fact that my sword didn't rattle while I ran.
“Thaaanks, Rubica...!”
The reason explorers carried ropes or grappling hooks to traverse mountainous terrain wasn't necessarily because they had to scale towering rock walls or dive off cliffs.
It was because of the frequent elevation changes—drops of a mere 3 to 8 meters. With a body heavier than usual due to equipment, muscles under high tension, and perhaps a tiny mistake...
Even a 3-meter jump could shock the muscles, stretching ligaments or cracking bones.
Jumping from the second floor of an apartment for fun? If you summon the courage, sure, doing it once is fine.
But what if you had to repeat that jump over and over while you still had dozens of kilometers left to travel? Naturally, it would take a toll on your feet.
That was why they packed climbing gear like hooks and ropes—to stay as safe as possible and reduce the strain on their bones and muscles.
“Hup.”
Of course, that didn't apply to me. My physical abilities were so high that I could easily hop 5 meters even on flat ground; a light leap downward was nothing.
Aside from the fact that I couldn't pick up much speed because the ground was generally uneven, it wasn't much different from the forest below the 6th Floor. You’d see a Wild Boar every once in a while, but they weren't exactly a common sight.
“That’s...”
If there was one thing that had changed, it was the large birds flying overhead. However, the trees were dense and there were plenty of places to hide, so they weren't an immediate threat. And even if they did swoop down on me, I wasn't so weak that I’d just let them have their way.
“Well, look who it is.”
And so, the first things I encountered on the 7th Floor were Goblins.
The frivolous laughter that grated on the ears, the light footsteps, and even the habit of moving in large groups. I quickly lowered my posture, hid behind the terrain, and turned my head toward the source of the sound.
Two tall ones, and about thirty normal ones.
I didn't necessarily need to fight, but going all the way to the 9th Floor without a warm-up felt a bit wrong. Above all, Goblins had useless byproducts and looked like absolute shit.
Besides, it would reduce the number of targets other explorers had to deal with, and aren't the things they do just horrific?
They were utterly useless creatures, so it was best to kill them whenever they were in sight. Isolde had mentioned that if there were no Elite Entities around, Goblins were quick to lose heart and flee.
That was why the pack without an Elite Entity had run away last time. But now, there were two large Elite Entities, weren't there? I figured I could just thin out the normal ones first as I fought.
More than anything, I wanted to try out the eyes of the Umbra Valkyrie.
“Whew.”
I distributed my muscles appropriately throughout my body. I covered my lower body with Ursus's muscles and most of my upper body with the Alpha's. After switching my lungs and heart back to Ursus's...
I can't get used to this.
I replaced my eyeballs with those of the Umbra Valkyrie.
“Kh...!”
Because the amount of information contained in my field of vision was so vast, the Umbra Valkyrie's eyes went wild. It felt like they were screaming at me to aim for and crush the vitals—the lungs, hearts, and heads—of every single Goblin.
This wouldn't do. I decided to use this later and took a deep breath to oxygenate my body.
“Ssshp...!”
I pulled two swords from my ring, gripped them, and immediately kicked off the ground, charging toward them.
—Kerrk!?
—Kyuaaaak!!
I delivered a full-powered kick to a face that looked hideous no matter how many times I saw it. When I slammed my iron-shod boot into that disproportionately large head, it was as if the Goblin's skull were actually a watermelon; the green skin split and red pulp sprayed everywhere as it burst apart in a gruesome display.
—Splaaat!
I immediately swung my sword and advanced rapidly toward the surrounding Goblins. One strike per head was enough. Those who died instantly were finished, and even those who didn't would bleed out and die anyway.
Even the ones I didn't cut cleanly lost their mobility and collapsed to the ground. Either way, they couldn't run. Every time I swung my sword, the Goblin blood trailing from the tip of the blade drew red crescents, splattering across the grass like paint.
—Kuraak!!
—Kurrrrk!!!
The two large ones advanced toward me, one wielding two axes and the other a long two-handed sword. As I swapped my left arm's muscles for Ursus's, I threw the sword I was holding at the Goblin with the two-handed sword. The one with the longer reach was far more dangerous.
—Thwack!
“Okay.”
I knew I’d likely miss the head, so I aimed for the belly, but luckily it went a bit higher and wedged itself into the chest cavity. The moment a blade enters the lungs, combat becomes impossible, so he was as good as neutralized.
The remaining one, holding an axe in each hand, rushed me and began swinging his weapons.
I don't know if I should be blocking this much power...!
He didn't have the same overwhelming pressure as Ursus. Still, he was big, and the sound of him cutting through the air was quite fierce. If I took a bad hit, I was as good as dead. The safest way was...
“Hup...!”
I maintained a proper distance and observed his movements. The moment one of his axes slammed into the ground, I put all my strength into my legs and kicked his wrist.
—Kuraak!!
Simultaneously, I swung the sword in my right hand to sever his other forearm, then thrust the blade deep into the belly of the now-armless creature.
—Riiip!
As I put my weight into a lateral slash, yellowish fat and foul-smelling organs began to spill out from the bloated abdomen.
“Ugh, shit. Do these things eat trash or something?”
The surrounding normal entities were mostly taken care of. I slowly approached one that was still breathing on the ground and delivered a soccer kick to its perfectly-positioned head.
Thwack—!
The skin of the neck tore, the spine snapped, and the head flew far away. After checking the direction the remaining normal entities were fleeing, I pulled my Excalibur out of the Elite Entity's chest.
Schlick—
“Is it okay to just put this back in?”
Normally, after using a sword, you’re supposed to remove the blood and fat, apply wax oil, and then return it to the scabbard. But come to think of it, isn't the scabbard just to prevent the wax oil from evaporating or being rubbed off by other objects? If I’m storing it in an artifact, is that even necessary?
“Hmm.”
Still, I shook off as much blood as I could before storing it again. I’d have to find out later if a fatty sword would continue to rot while inside the magic tool.
I needed to farm some loot, but what on earth would Goblins have that I’d actually want?
“The axes... are just logging trash.”
The axes the berserker Goblin had been holding were poor-quality weapons with nothing to show for them. The two-handed sword the other one had held was quite large and heavy, but like most things Goblins used, it had been handled roughly; it was chipped everywhere and the blade was in bad shape.
“Ho, look at this guy. Who did you steal this from?”
Judging by the pretty pattern on the guard, it might have been a decent piece once. It felt very light to me, but it didn't look like someone with average strength could swing it for very long. Would this weigh about 2.5kg?
“You can just keep it.”
—Thud!
I stabbed the two-handed sword back into the creature's belly. If someone else needed it, they could take it.
A Goblin's physical abilities were pathetic. Since I had no justifiable reason to eat these green monsters, I couldn't be more relieved. The smell was truly legendary.
They didn't have superior physical stats, nor did they possess exceptional Mana. They were creatures that fought with meanness and numbers.
“Ugh, I guess I should go look for the cave then.”
I saw the direction the remaining stragglers fled, but I was debating whether it was worth following them. Of course, making money was my main goal, but for now, I was on my way to get the Ether Hyacinths that bloomed on the 9th or 10th Floor.
“Ssshp. Let's just take a quick look.”
It wasn't like it was a huge detour from my path anyway. As I walked slowly in the direction they had fled, I saw a cave entrance up ahead that looked exactly like the kind of place Goblins would love.
“And here we are.”
Honestly, I was going to give up and turn back if it was too far, but it was closer than I thought.
“Anyone home?!”
I shouted loudly at the entrance, and a very faint sound echoed from within. It was certain that Goblins were inside. In that case, speed was of the essence.
Since Lis and Isolde weren't here, I swapped both eyes for those of the Direwolf Alpha and quickly entered. What if there were prisoners? Rescuing them wouldn't be easy.
“There you are.”
I sliced through the Goblins I encountered inside, one after another. After mincing them into unappetizing meat, I continued forward until I reached a fork in the road.
“Hmm, the left one.”
If I listened closely, I could tell which way went deeper. It seemed like there was nothing on the right for now.
Unlike last time, there were no Elite Entities inside. It seemed those two I had slaughtered were the only elites leading this pack, which was actually quite convenient.
I advanced easily, stabbing the fleeing ones in the back, until I reached the end of the Goblin den.
“Weapons... and armor?”
There were no prisoners, but there were a few pieces of equipment that looked like they belonged to explorers. A pair of gauntlets that looked ready to break, a chest plate... and...
“Is this... a War Pick?”
It was essentially a pickaxe used for combat. It was an effective weapon against monsters with hard carapaces, though it was rarely used on these lower floors. There was one short War Pick, and a single-edged one-handed sword—a Machete style with a wide blade and some weight to it.
“A War Pick and a Machete... what a strange combination.”
But what of it? They felt good in my hand. The weight of the Machete wasn't bad, and the War Pick looked like a high-quality, very clean item. It looked like it hadn't been stolen long ago; there were no signs of Goblins having used it.
“Blunt weapons are easier to use roughly than swords anyway.”
My two swords were already stored in the magic tool. Carrying two weapons on my belt like I usually did was no big deal.
Above all, as my strength increased, I tended to use my swords quite roughly, and I didn't have enough money to buy weapons made of Rare Metal yet.
A multi-purpose Machete and a War Pick would likely have quite high durability. Since I wasn't someone who had studied the sword deeply, if it felt good in my hand and I liked it, it was my primary weapon.
“No infants.”
I would have killed them instantly even if there were. I didn't have the luxury of tying them up and selling them right now.
“Whew. You’re the Legendary Pickaxe. And you... you can just be Machete.”
With my two new weapons in hand, I stepped out of the cave. A sword and a pickaxe? Is this Minecraft?
Since I was going to look for flowers, I guess it was somewhat similar.