Chapter 31: Human Grave
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 31: Human Grave
The voice of the being the Green Skins called the God of the Battlefield echoed out.
[ You have done well. You have made an excellent first impression on your enemies! A rare class is now available. You will rank up. Please select a class to evolve into. ]
[ 1. Intermediate Orc Gladiator ]
[ 2. High Orc Gladiator ]
[ Rare. Ancient Orc Gladiator ]
Good.
I was hoping a Unique Ability would unlock, but it seems I'm not there yet. Still, this wasn't bad. I couldn't check the details yet, but since it was a rare class, it had to be good. Of course, a special or rare class isn't always the guaranteed path to power, but it wouldn't hurt to check it out.
With the magic swordsman Kim Donghyun already down, this group was decimated. Seeing a few of my clan members standing still, it looked like most of them had received the rank-up notification as well. The entire clan had grown one step stronger.
It was no surprise. There was the battle with the magical beasts after the Tutorial, the bodies hardened through the Warrior's Exam, the training with the Green Goblin Clan, and finally, the battle here in the Spider's Grave.
If an experience bar existed in this world, it would have shattered from being overfilled. Before deciding on my own class, I quickly ran toward the first of the five loyal siblings.
As I approached, he stopped staring into the void and immediately shouted.
“Krrrrk! For Blood Dagger!”
As if his voice were a signal, the others who had been staring blankly into space were startled into shouting as well.
“F-For Blood Dagger!”
I waved to them like a celebrity before speaking to the first and second brothers.
“Krrrrrrk. Did you hear the voice of the God of the Battlefield?”
“Yes, Captain,” the first one answered. The second one nodded.
Any later, and I might have let such precious assets be raised as assassins. I took a calming breath and spoke again.
“Orc Swordsman. The path of the Orc Swordsman suits you. Krrrrk…”
To be honest, I was a little worried as soon as I said it. This was the first time I had dictated the direction of their growth. Everyone had been getting stronger in their own way, and it had been effective. I could see that from the goblin sisters, who had intended to master their path as Goblin Warriors. It wasn't that these two would necessarily be weaker if they chose to become Orc Assassins, but before being assassins, they were outstanding warriors, outstanding swordsmen. If they grew into swordmasters in the future, they were the type who could tear through enemy lines with a single sword. They were different from me.
These two had talent.
After I finished speaking, I watched them quietly. I didn't know how they took my words, but their faces were filled with emotion. In the end, they began to beat their chests wildly, shouting.
“For Blood Dagger!”
“For Blood Dagger!!”
Immediately, their bodies began to contort. Soon, the large swords used by swordsmen materialized on their backs. They had received basic equipment upon completing their evolution. Being swords for orcs, they were quite massive, unlike human swords. It seemed they had accepted my suggestion positively. No, it wasn't just that they accepted it; they seemed incredibly happy that I had made the suggestion in the first place. After completing their class change, the two of them drew their swords and began to roar.
“Uwoooooooh! Blood Dagger has opened a new path for us!”
“This is the new path! Krrrrk!”
And then…
With that shout, the fundamental growth path of the clan was unintentionally decided. There was nothing to be done for those who had already chosen to be assassins or archers, messing up their progression tree, but everyone else suddenly began ranking up as ‘Swordsmen’.
“For Blood Dagger!”
“For Blood Dagger!!”
I couldn't help but be taken aback. I made a mental note to ask Mev later why they trusted me so much, treating me almost as an object of faith. But that was a secondary concern. I looked at the others who had been absurdly swept up in the moment. The Hobgoblin Warriors who had been waiting to rank up to Hobgoblin Assassins had all evolved into Orc ‘Warriors’ instead.
They would now most likely follow the first and second brothers and evolve into swordsmen next. I was flustered at first, but after a rough calculation of the ratios, it didn't seem too bad. Although Jung Hayeon was our only magician, a group composed of swordmasters, assassins, and archers could have devastating power in the future. It was a good model, especially when I thought of the Goff Clan, where almost all the Green Skins were destined to evolve into meat shields three years from now.
Just like before, if Jung Hayeon could bind our enemies for even a moment, our swordsmen, far more agile than warriors, would slice their bodies in half.
It was just a thought for now, but it didn't seem like a bad idea to try.
After everyone had more or less finished evolving, I glanced around. There were no survivors. The funny thing was, despite all the commotion we'd made, no adventurers had come to provide support. They had all fled. Instead, spiders began to rush in, and my clan members started fighting them. It didn't seem like any real danger would arise, so I, too, slowly began to recall the information in my head.
[ Rare. Ancient Orc Gladiator ]
[ Ancient Orcs were orcs that lived on the ancient continent. They love battle more than ordinary orcs and are more reckless. Relying on neither magic nor shamanism, these orcs enter battle with only their weapons and their bare bodies. Having endured countless spells with their bodies, they evolved to possess a faint, yet tangible, magic resistance. Weapon proficiency increases. ]
Excellent.
The moment I read the description, I couldn't help but clench my fist. Choosing this wouldn't make me noticeably stronger right away, but it was a clear and superior counterpart to my current body. Even evolving into a High Orc wouldn't be this efficient. Still, just in case, I naturally opened the information on the High Orc as well. Details about it began to pour into my mind.
[ High Orc Gladiator ]
[ This is a being born from the union of especially valiant orcs from among a race that loves battle. Though that is all, the High Orc is undeniably a superior version of the orc. They are slightly faster, stronger, and more powerful than orcs. Occasionally, they will enter a berserk state during prolonged combat. ]
This wasn't bad either, but it was incomparable to the Ancient Orc. First, having even a faint magic resistance was incredibly good. I wanted to dance just thinking I could resist cheap spells like sleep magic. Moreover, the weapon proficiency increase was a perfect fit for a gladiator, meaning I was growing exactly in the direction I wanted.
“Krrrrk.”
There was no more time to wait. I decided to evolve into it at once.
As I did, my body began to change. Since it was still an orc, my body didn't change drastically in size. I felt like I had grown just a tiny bit taller.
However, I could feel a tremendous change in the muscles, skin, and bones within my body.
My muscles didn't swell like they did when I evolved from a goblin to a hobgoblin, or from a hobgoblin to an orc. Instead, they maintained their shape, but I could feel new fibers constantly weaving themselves into the existing structure, packing it denser.
My skin grew tougher, my bones harder. The same went for my tusks. They were growing, little by little, like those of the Great Tribe Leader Agar.
“Krrrrrrrrk….”
I squeezed my fist. The difference wasn't dramatic, but I was slightly stronger than before. But more important than that was the fact that I had obtained a ‘vessel’.
A perfect body, born only for combat. Even to my untrained eye, it was a flawless physique. I could feel it even better when I flexed slightly. It was like looking at a finely crafted sword. No, it was like looking at a finely crafted ‘greatsword’.
I couldn't help but realize that I had finally obtained the ‘vessel’ needed to grow truly strong.
Finally. I was now on equal footing with those beings you could call geniuses or ‘beyond the norm’.
“Krrk.”
I want to test this.
It seemed I wasn't the only one. Everyone was looking this way with bloodshot eyes. The spiders had already been mostly dealt with. I hadn't confirmed it, but there must have been parties that saw or heard the battle and fled back to the city. It was a half-day's run from here to the western city of Aia. We still had time.
And so, I moved. The others did the same. As if they knew what I wanted, they began to move quickly.
My body picked up speed as I ran. To be honest, moving with the greatsword had always been a bit cumbersome until now. But not anymore.
A strange sense of familiarity.
It felt as if the weapon and I had become one. Only now could I understand what the Queen of the North must have felt when she fought with her spear.
This orc's body, which had always headed to the battlefield with only a weapon in hand, was perfectly attuned to wielding it.
It was the same whether I held a longsword or a dagger. Thanks to my high proficiency, and to exaggerate a little, it felt like I finally understood the ‘mind-sword unity’ you only read about in martial arts novels.
The group moved swiftly. The archers shot down any spiders they saw, and the first and second of the five loyal siblings were on my left and right, brutally cutting them down. They had grown stronger, too. As expected, the swordsman class suited them. But they weren't what was important right now. I deliberately tightened my grip on my sword. I didn't want to grant its first taste of blood to mere spiders.
As we continued deeper into the dungeon, a group came into view. A point where many adventurers had gathered to rest. We didn't move stealthily like assassins. Of course, that would have been more efficient, as we had the advantage in the darkness.
However.
I wanted to test this.
“Kuaaaaaaaah!”
“Uwaaaaaaaah!!”
A roar erupted from my mouth. In an instant, the human camp was thrown into chaos.
Grab your weapons. Let's fight.
That was what my scream, and the screams of the Blood Dagger Clan, seemed to declare.
“Monsters! Sh…shit, it's orcs! Orcs and hobgoblins…!”
“Prepare for battle! Get ready!”
Being a camp set up inside a dungeon, their defenses were more thorough. Their archers instantly fired a volley of arrows at us. But we blocked them. I raised my greatsword and deflected the trivial arrows.
The others who had evolved into swordsmen did the same, wildly swatting away the incoming arrows with their single swords.
“Entangle!”
As Jung Hayeon's voice, now stronger after her evolution, rang out, roots shot up from the ground and snaked toward the enemy. At that moment, I reached the man holding a giant shield at the front.
Power flowed into my hand. Into my arm, my shoulder, my legs—I put the full force of my body into a single strike that descended upon him. He raised his shield, but for some reason, I felt I could break through. I swung the greatsword just as I felt.
With a loud CRACK!, his shield shattered, and in the same instant, my blade split his head in two.
“Kuaaaaaaaah!”
And so, the night in the Spider's Grave passed.