From Serf to Swordmaster, Chapter 15
From Serf to Swordmaster, Chapter 15
Berak kept his body low as he walked toward the fortress. He eased the strength from his toes and approached slowly, one step at a time.
It didn't look as far as he'd thought. He could reach it quickly. The urge to run rose up in him.
He'd felt it before, and suppressing that impulse was what mattered. He had to keep his body from falling out of alignment while also watching his surroundings.
Since his senses had improved, his eyes were better than before. Even though it was night, he didn't need to feel his way forward.
Torches were set into the castle wall at regular intervals. Their light did not spill straight down; it ran along the stone and faded before reaching the ground.
As a result, bands of light and darkness layered the base of the wall.
There was no place completely dark, and no place completely bright. Berak looked for the boundary first.
The point where the light reached and then stopped.
The shallow shadows cast by the uneven stone.
'Eek.'
Berak quickly pulled back. He hastily withdrew the shadow that had stretched out beyond the shade.
Because if it was a human shadow, anyone looking down from above would recognize it at once.
One step.
Then stop.
The torches were fixed in place.
Even when the flames flickered, the range of their light did not change.
Berak moved along the wall, skimming through those shadows.
「Stealth + 1」
He stopped at a suitable spot and looked up once more.
If he climbed now, he couldn't stop.
'......!'
The shadows on the ground thinned in an instant. It was because of a light that suddenly came down from atop the wall.
A torch.
Someone above was moving with a torch.
It didn't seem he'd been spotted yet. But right now, that someone was definitely looking down below.
He lowered his body further.
Blades of grass touched his cheek, but he couldn't afford to care.
Berak held his breath.
He didn't inhale, and he didn't exhale.
'.......'
Soon the torch moved. It slowly traveled along the wall.
Only then did Berak raise his body very slowly.
This was his only chance.
The stone wall was right in front of him. He reached out, grabbed the edge, and pulled himself up. The stone scraped faintly beneath his palm.
Reaching the top of the parapet took no time at all. Berak looked down.
The inside of the fortress was more open than he'd expected. The clearing was quite wide. There was a stone building right below the wall. Two men stood in front of it.
Berak watched for an opening, then slid down the wall.
There were plenty of places to hide.
Collapsed piles of stone, an empty cart, a barrel without a lid.
Berak chose the darkest spot among them. He folded his body and focused on his senses again.
Soon voices reached him.
"......I'm talking about Captain Mud."
Berak didn't raise his head.
「Stealth + 1」
"How did he get that strong? He wasn't like that before."
"Honestly, he was just a runt."
"Hey, watch your mouth. Have you forgotten what happened to Patrick last time?"
"Ah, shit. Why'd you bring that up? My dinner's about to come back up."
In the brief silence, only the crackling of the fire could be heard.
"......These days I think it's a bit too much."
"What is?"
"The raids are coming too fast, and he emptied an entire village. At this rate, the knight order might move in directly."
"That's true."
Another voice continued.
"Still, isn't it better than before?"
"When?"
"Than when the old captain was around. Back then, nothing ever came down to grunts like us. Under Captain Mud, we get a decent share."
"At least the captain has no interest in money or women."
"Wasn't he interested in women?"
"You call that interest? I don't get why he kills them like that when it's such a waste. I had some hopes for that girl we caught last time."
"Don't talk nonsense. A girl that pretty would never make it to your turn."
Berak didn't understand everything he was hearing. But one thing was certain.
'They deserve to die.'
There was nothing more to hear. Berak rose to his feet. He'd never snuck up right behind someone before...... but fortunately, they were absorbed in their conversation.
Berak kicked the man's legs out from behind.
"Hrk!"
The man pitched forward. Berak drove his body in under the man's chin. With one hand he covered the man's mouth, and with the other he seized the neck now facing the ground.
Crack.
The limp body collapsed to the ground.
「Unarmed Combat Proficiency + 1」
"What the......!"
The other man only widened his eyes; he had not even managed to draw his sword. Berak was faster. The axe cleaved deep into the man's torso on a diagonal.
Thud.
Berak turned away without watching the body collapse.
......That had been the first time he'd killed a person.
The sensation lingering in his hands was unfamiliar, but he had no time to dwell on it. The work at hand came first.
Berak melted into the darkness and approached the gate. Two guards stood at the gate.
They were standing loosely, facing the inside of the wall rather than the outside. From Berak's position, there was no good way to approach while hiding his presence.
'It'd be fine to just cause chaos anyway.'
If he jumped out and caused a commotion, his mission would be over. But Berak looked at the heavy bar securing the gate and changed his mind.
'Rather than just shaking things up, it'd be better to quietly open the gate.'
A commotion would give the enemy time to prepare. But if he opened the gate from inside, it would be a different story. The mercenary company could charge straight into the fortress courtyard without slowing down.
Saving them the trouble of breaking down the gate from outside. That was the surest effect he could aim for. Of course, only if he quietly eliminated the guards and opened the gate in secret.
Berak picked up a small stone and threw it at the opposite wall.
Clack!
"What was that?"
The guards' heads turned for only an instant. But that brief opening was enough. Berak abandoned stealth entirely and launched himself forward, exploding off the ground with his leg strength.
It was acceleration born from overwhelming strength combined with Body Proficiency. Before the first man could even scream, Berak's axe caved in his chest and buried itself there. With the dull sound of crushing bone, the man's body flew backward.
"Wh, what......!"
The man beside him recoiled in horror and tried to raise a whistle to his lips, but Berak reacted faster.
Using the recoil from the embedded axe, Berak kicked off the ground and launched himself upward. Soaring to the shoulder height of a grown man, Berak seized the man's entire face with one hand.
Thud.
Driven by the weight behind the leap, the back of the man's head slammed into the wall.
The whistle never even reached his lips before it rolled across the ground. Berak snapped the stunned man's neck in one motion.
It certainly wasn't a refined assassination. But as long as no one noticed, that was enough.
Berak wiped his bloodied hand roughly on his clothes. Then he reached for the great gate's bar.
Grrrrrr—
The sound of the heavy bar sliding free echoed through the still night air. Now it was time for the mercenaries waiting outside to charge in. Berak immediately hid himself in the shadows beneath the wall.
「Stealth + 1」
A moment later.
Crash!
With a massive impact, the unbarred gate burst inward. Through the broken gap, the vice-captain wielding a greatsword and the mercenaries stormed in.
The vice-captain stopped at the entrance. His eyes narrowed as he saw the guards' bodies neatly arranged in front of the gate and the bar completely removed.
"......You cleared the whole path by yourself."
He turned his head and stared at Berak, who was walking out of the darkness. Undisguised admiration lingered in the vice-captain's gaze.
"I thought you'd set a fire or cause some chaos. Instead, you quietly threw the gate wide open."
"That seemed faster."
Berak answered flatly. The vice-captain was silent for a moment, then spoke in a low, subdued voice.
"It's not just nerve. You already understand how a battlefield works."
He adjusted his grip on the greatsword and walked past Berak. A faint smile rose to his lips.
"That's enough. More than I expected. From here on, we'll take the lead."
* * *
The battle tipped all at once. The surprise attack had succeeded perfectly, sweeping the enemy away before they could form ranks. Those trying to flee tangled with those trying to fight.
At the center of it all stood the vice-captain.
BOOM!
His sword didn't touch them.
But the result was beyond that.
BOOM!
With a single swing, three or four enemies were cut down at once.
The distinction between weapon and body vanished as a single line carved through the enemy ranks.
The moment the shattered forms scattered, an impact erupted behind them. Explosive pressure swept away even the crates and stones farther back.
Berak sucked in a breath. He had just buried his axe in an enemy's side and was pulling back.
'So that's...... Anima.'
It was on a completely different level from what Roban had shown him. No matter how strong he was, he couldn't produce something like that.
In that moment, the Anima Berak had only vaguely wanted became something he had to obtain by any means.
As if to cut off that thought.
"Why-!"
A sudden, rough shout burst out.
It was so loud and so sharp that everyone on the battlefield turned toward it at once.
"Why! Why! Why!"
Scratching wildly at his head, someone staggered out from inside a building.
Blades as long as fingernails were attached to his hands. Every time he rubbed his head with both palms, they tangled together and scraped with a metallic sound.
Disheveled hair.
Bloodshot eyes.
Hunched shoulders and a small, frail frame.
A nearby Silver Hawk mercenary clicked his tongue and stepped forward.
"This one's completely lost it. I'll finish him."
At that moment, the man raised his head.
His bloodshot eyes turned toward the mercenary, and almost simultaneously, a shout erupted from behind Berak.
"Get back! Hans!"
It was the vice-captain.
But the scream came first.
"Aagh!"
One of the mercenary's arms flew through the air. The vice-captain closed the distance in an instant. His greatsword swung again and again.
BOOM—!
The stone floor cracked, and debris flew up around them. In the meantime, another mercenary quickly helped the wounded man away.
"Why are you interrupting me! Why! You're ruining my time! I can do it too! I can...... torture people too!"
The shout was thick with resentment. He was more indignant that his time had been interrupted than that his subordinates had been hurt. He sounded like a child throwing a tantrum.
But his strength was anything but ordinary.
The groaning mercenary's arm was torn and crushed in a way that was hard to believe had been done by a bladed weapon.
Seeing that, the vice-captain muttered quietly.
"......So it was you."
It wasn't just that he was strong enough to tear a person apart. It was a phenomenon beyond common sense. It was Anima.
'The way each person uses Anima is...... a little different.'
Berak understood instinctively. This man was the Captain Mud he'd heard about earlier.
Seething with rage, Mud's gaze drifted to the edge of the battlefield.
"......Huh?"
Mud tilted his head. His eyes trembled slightly.
"You."
Berak felt their eyes meet. Mud's lips twisted slightly.
The vice-captain stepped forward.
"Take your eyes off him."
"Well...... he's quite an interesting toy. Young ones have no nerve, so they're boring. But if he's a mercenary...... I should at least take him as payment for interrupting me."
"That won't happen."
At that moment, Demein moved up beside Berak and leaned forward.
"Berak, stand behind me."
"Demein. It seems I'm always having to refuse you. But...... right now, I think I need to hold my position."
It didn't look like the vice-captain would lose. But Berak had no intention of leaving the outcome entirely in someone else's hands until the very end.
Whatever happened. He had to grasp the situation properly and at least be ready to endure.
Berak tightened his grip on his axe.