Chapter 14: Conquering the Northern Forest
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 14: Conquering the Northern Forest
And so, the task of extracting information from the survivors and executing them fell entirely to Jung Hayeon. I watched as she used the plant stems growing from her lower body to drain the survivors of their mana.
The stems shot out from her lower half, instantly wrapping around the humans. They didn't seem to have any offensive power on their own. Had the survivors been able to move, they likely could have resisted, but since they were tied up tight, all they could do was writhe their bodies. Just as I registered that something was being absorbed from them, the men, drained of their vitality by Jung Hayeon, died one by one, their skin turning a deathly pale.
After they had all shuddered and drawn their last breaths, Jung Hayeon turned to me with a much more refreshed expression and spoke.
“Kyaa! It’s… It’s done.”
Just as I expected. For an Alraune like Jung Hayeon, absorbing mana and life force seemed to be the fastest way to accumulate experience. Judging by her delighted voice, she had definitely become quite twisted. I couldn't help but smile as I looked at the overjoyed Jung Hayeon.
“Wh-what… what should I choose?”
“What are the options?”
“Ah… the first is Mage, the second is Shaman. Those are the only two.”
“Hmm…”
I had asked just in case, but it seemed the path to a higher species wasn't open to her. Since there weren't many species superior to an Alraune, it would have been fine for her to master this form, but I felt a slight sense of disappointment nonetheless.
Jung Hayeon looked at me, her expression full of curiosity, wondering which one she should choose.
“Mage and Shaman are both similar, but I’d recommend Mage…”
“Ah!”
There was a simple reason I recommended Mage: it was rarer. While our settlement had no shamans at the moment, they would become more common as we grew and expanded. Mages, however, were not common among monsters. They themselves knew it wasn't an efficient path. That was precisely why Mage wasn't an option when a goblin first evolves. Green Skins are fundamentally better suited to being shamans than mages.
Of course, for a monster like a Succubus that is naturally attuned to mana, choosing Mage isn't a bad option. The same applied to Jung Hayeon, the Alraune. Since she was originally human, Mage would feel more familiar to her, and her species was more compatible with magic than shamanism, so it was a much better choice. As I recommended Mage, Jung Hayeon nodded in agreement.
“Yes! Then I’ll go with Mage…”
Following my words, Jung Hayeon completed her evolution into a Mage without a moment's hesitation. Other than a brief flash of light from her body and the cheap wooden staff she now held, there wasn't much difference, but the faint scent of mana in the air confirmed that she had completed her class change.
“How is it?”
“It’s… amazing. A few spells are coming to mind. And… although it’s just a little, I feel like I understand mana a bit better now.”
“You can grasp the basics right after evolving, but always remember that from here on, training yourself is entirely up to you.”
“Y-Yes! Does that mean I can use other spells besides the ones I’m thinking of now?”
I had never changed class to a Mage, so I couldn't know for sure, but I had heard a few things.
“Once you understand the mechanics of the spells you know now, you should be able to manage some simple applications. For now, getting used to it is the priority. Even if you gain enough experience to evolve again, if you lack the qualifications or experience, the path to Intermediate Mage won't open for you.”
“Yes!”
Jung Hayeon then began to slowly demonstrate the magic she could use. As expected of a ‘plant-type’ monster, she could use plant-based magic. I didn't find the others particularly useful, but ‘Entangle,’ which restricted an enemy's movement with tree roots that shot out from the ground, looked quite handy. Surprisingly, its range was quite wide.
“As expected, being a plant-type gives you good synergy…”
“Yes… the problem is that my other spells are pathetic.”
She understood her own limits perfectly. The slight fire in her eyes showed she had passion. At this rate, I felt she could steadily grow into a capable mage. With that, Jung Hayeon and I headed back into the tent.
The humans from before had fallen for Jung Hayeon's racial trait, ‘Charm,’ and spilled everything they knew, so I felt the need to organize the information.
The problem was that there was no useful information. They didn't seem to know much about the Queen of the North.
Just that she was incredibly strong. Or beautiful. And the location where her group had settled. In short, it seemed this ‘group’ had not had any significant contact with the Queen of the North. Their location was on the outskirts of the Northern Forest, not its center.
Is this a faction she hasn't absorbed yet?
That seemed highly probable. They were likely very reluctant to join the Queen of the North, or perhaps they were trying to build their own independent force. Based on the information I’d heard from them, I sent Mev to scout the center of the Northern Forest. A few hours later, I was able to greet Mev and her archer unit as they returned.
“Chieftain!”
“Did you find them?”
“Yeah! When we went a little further up, there were a ton of humans gathered there.”
Even from that vague description, I had a good idea of who they were. The information that they had settled in the center, with a mountain at their back, seemed to be true.
“Did you see any flags or anything else?”
“No… I didn't see anything like that, but I think there was a wall made of ice… You told us not to get caught, so I couldn't get a closer look…”
“Roughly how high was it?”
“A… a little taller than a Hobgoblin…”
Her voice lacked confidence. She looked a little anxious, as if she knew what might happen if she was wrong. It was cute how she bowed her head, her silver hair falling forward. I casually stroked Mev’s head and sank back into thought.
Just from her story, I could get a rough picture of the situation. They had definitely built a wall. It had only been about 70 days since we were summoned here. To unite the human survivors after killing the goblins and even build a wall…
Is that possible?
Of course, the reverse might have been possible. Our settlement had also conquered most of the south in a short time. But for humans who had to fight bizarre monsters with no prior knowledge, it was by no means an easy feat.
“Let’s go check it out together tomorrow.”
I felt I needed to see it with my own eyes. As I spoke to Mev, she began nodding eagerly, a very happy expression on her face.
*
The next morning, I took Mev and a few goblin archers and stealthily headed toward the location presumed to be their base. Jung Hayeon, anxious about being alone, wanted to come too, but I couldn't take the slow-moving Alraune with me. The same went for the massive Goff.
After walking for a long time, a settlement, slowly but surely taking shape, began to appear in our field of vision.
“We have to go up this mountain. This is as far as we’ve been. Are we going further in, Chieftain?”
“Let’s go a little further.”
“Okay.”
“You did a good job scouting. The size of the wall seems to be about what you described.”
They had indeed built a wall to protect their settlement, however crudely, with things like ice and stone.
It really was just a little taller than a Hobgoblin, but the mere presence of such an obstacle was quite threatening to us. For one, the goblins couldn't get over that wall. It looked like mages had created and stacked ice, or perhaps brought nearby rocks and simply poured water over them to freeze it all in place.
The height was just right to keep goblins out. I thought that if the area they needed to protect hadn't been so wide, the wall might have been built even higher.
I began to observe the people's expressions. The guards seemed to have noticed that the Tutorial was almost over, as they were chatting amongst themselves. As I was slowly scanning the inside of the village, a woman surrounded by several men began to walk through the center of the settlement.
She was too far away to see clearly, but when I focused mana into my eyes, her face came into view, albeit blurry. She had short hair, so while I couldn't be certain, it seemed likely she was the ‘Queen of the North’ I had heard rumors about. More than anything, the ‘spear’ she held was the most definitive proof.
It was then.
The Queen of the North slowly turned her head and looked directly at us.
“Fuck…”
I even felt like our eyes met.
“Fuck. We’re leaving, now.”
“Wh-What? Why?”
“We’re leaving now. No time to explain. The last two goblins, make sure you erase our tracks as you follow.”
That monstrous bitch.
That was the only way to describe her. A truly monstrous bitch. I had always thought the rumors—that she could cleave an Orc in two with a single strike, or that she had killed ten goblins in her first battle—were all bullshit.
It was real.
I couldn't be sure, but seeing her with a spear meant she had evolved one more time than I had. The fact that she noticed us meant she was sensitive to mana. While not certain, it was highly likely she had also awakened a unique ability.
“Dammit…”
I thought I’d gotten pretty strong. In fact, things had been going so smoothly that I had become arrogant. But after seeing the Queen of the North just now, I couldn't help but realize what an idiot I’d been.
The truly strong are on a different level.
Now I finally understood why people like the Sword Saint or the Queen of the North had established their forces and built cities so early, making moves that ordinary people couldn't comprehend.
For her to have adapted so quickly in the roughly 70 days since awakening this power…
It could only be explained by calling the Queen of the North a ‘genius.’
The Sword Saint of the Saint Knights Order, also considered one of the Ten Strongest, would be at a similar level. At this rate, forget Choi Seulgi, the moment I met the Sword Saint, my head would be lopped off.
“Grrrrr…”
Was it because of my anger toward myself? Or was it an Orc’s instinct? A strange sound kept rising from within me. My vision even began to turn red. Mev stared at me intently, and finally, she spoke.
“Chieftain… you want to fight right now, don’t you?”
Suddenly, it felt like lightning had struck inside my head. If I hadn't heard Mev’s words, I probably wouldn't have realized it.
Sweat soaked my entire body. My arms wouldn't stop trembling. My eyes glowed red. I wasn't just excited, yet bestial sounds kept escaping my lips.
A fight. Me. With that Queen of the North…
A corner of my mouth crept up unconsciously. My expression must have been contorted, but I couldn't stop my lips from curling into a smile. In the past, I would have run. That would have been the most rational and logical decision. There is nothing more foolish on the continent than facing a being who is incomprehensibly beyond the norm.
But I smiled.
A one-on-one fight to the death, with all strategy and tactics thrown aside. The me of the past would never have understood it, but I was certain that was what I wanted. Having sorted out my thoughts, I quietly spoke to Mev.
“Yes… I want to fight.”