Awakening (1)
The Holy Sword. A sacred relic and treasure of the Holy Church. The light of salvation, and the sole artifact proving the existence of myths.
Its blade glowed with a mysterious white light, engraved with characters presumed to be an ancient tongue. The metal composing the blade remained unknown, as did the reason why a sword hundreds, if not thousands, of years old had been preserved without a single trace of corrosion or weathering. Alchemists and mages from all over the world had gathered every rare metal known to man to compare them, but nothing resembled the Holy Sword.
‘It’d be a disaster if there were another weapon like this monstrous sword.’
The Holy Sword was also an ego sword, possessing its own sentience. Though it did not speak, it chose its own master. Anyone not chosen by the Holy Sword could not even draw it from its scabbard. Why such a divine relic had chosen Elroy as its master, however, remained a mystery.
‘Come to think of it, I don’t actually know that much about this sword.’
Even as a transmigrator, I didn't fully know the origins of the Holy Sword. Perhaps the author hadn't deemed it important, as the original novel only described its power upon being awakened and the legends surrounding it.
‘At least I’m glad the author explained its functions.’
Seriously, if Aryen hadn't resolved to use the Holy Sword left behind by the deceased Hero, I would have been in deep trouble. If the protagonist had returned it to the Holy Kingdom, claiming he didn't need it, I would have fumbled around without a clue on how to use it and died just like the original Elroy.
‘...Though none of that matters if you don’t wake up.’
I tapped the hilt with a bitter smile. According to the original novel, the Holy Sword awakened in three stages. Originally, Elroy must have failed to unlock its true form, considering there had been absolutely no reaction when I first held it.
"Well, I suppose a mere few weeks of suffering wouldn't be enough to satisfy you."
In truth, the conditions for awakening the Holy Sword were not clear. I could only speculate that, regardless of the wielder's strength, it depended on the trials they faced. Since it was a sentient sword to begin with, it wasn't as if I could meet some rigid criteria like clearing a game quest. In the original novel, it had awakened at the perfect moment when Aryen was in mortal peril.
Just as when I helped Daphne, I wasn't brave enough to risk my life on uncertainties. Therefore, the only thing I could do was spend as much time with the Holy Sword as possible. Seeking out powerful foes while staying alive, manufacturing trials to overcome, and hoping the Holy Sword would watch it all and reveal its power as soon as possible.
"...It's much darker than I thought."
I raised my torch. The place I had visited to undergo another round of self-inflicted hardship was a deep, vast cavern known as the Ant Hill. It was crawling with monsters, and rare materials could occasionally be harvested during exploration, making it a decent hunting ground for skilled adventurers.
‘Though no adventurer is eccentric enough to come here alone.’
Time to stop dawdling and head in. With the torch in my left hand and the Holy Sword in my right, I was about to step into the cave when I sensed a presence behind me. I thrust my sword forward and spun around.
"Whoa! Holy crap! You scared the life out of me!"
A startled voice cried out. Before me stood a party of three adventurers. Once I lowered my sword, they clutched their chests in relief and began staring intently at my face. This was starting to feel like a hassle.
"Hey... isn't that the Hero?"
"I think so? See, I told you it was him!"
A fist came down hard on the heads of the whispering male and female adventurers. With a sharp cry, the two clutched their heads and scurried behind the adventurer who had struck them.
"...Excuse us. My party members got a bit carried away. Please forgive their rudeness, Sir Hero."
The party leader who spoke to me politely was a tall woman. With her black hair braided down and her bold, practical attire, she looked every bit like a barbarian warrior. Fitting that image, she carried a hand axe and wore a round buckler.
"No, I would have reacted the same way. There's no need to apologize."
Was my response strange? The leader blinked, then cleared her throat.
"Thank you for your understanding. But what brings you here, Sir Hero?"
"...I came to train."
I gestured toward the pitch-black entrance of the cave. Maybe I lit the torch too early.
"In that case, would you mind if we tagged along for a bit?"
The male adventurer, still rubbing his head, spoke up first. The female adventurer beside him nodded eagerly, her eyes sparkling in agreement.
"We won't get in your way. We're just here for some treasure hunting, and we were hoping to find a strong adventurer to accompany us for a short while... How about just up to the first safe zone? I mean, our leader is strong too, but she's no match for you, Sir Hero."
As the two adventurers pressed uncomfortably close, I took a step back. Meanwhile, their leader stood silently in the background, unable to say a word. Noticing my gaze shift to her, the male adventurer grinned.
"You see, our leader is actually a huge fan of yours. If you could join us just this once, she'd be absolutely thrilled..."
"Hey, shut up. Stop it. What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"
"Gack!"
With a bright red face, the leader grabbed both of them by the scruff of their necks. She dragged them back behind her, glared at them fiercely, and then turned back to me with a slight bow.
"I'm sorry. We didn't mean to make an unreasonable request. Please, go ahead with your training."
I quietly observed the adventurers. The leader was trying to act indifferent but kept stealing glances at me, while the other two stared with blatant anticipation. Though training alone was the right choice, and I didn't have time to linger with them, I found myself unable to flatly reject their offer.
"No, let's go together for a bit."
"Really? Seriously?"
At my words, the two adventurers' faces lit up instantly, and the leader's eyes widened like saucers. The two in the back high-fived each other, letting out quiet cheers of victory. Well, it wouldn't take too long, so a brief accompaniment wouldn't hurt. It was my first time in this cave anyway, so I didn't know what to expect. Having a few companions along seemed like a reasonable idea.
"In exchange, I will handle all the monsters we encounter."
"We'd be incredibly grateful for that! If you need a porter, we can carry all your gear too."
"Ah... no, my luggage is fine..."
Looking at them now, the female adventurer seemed to be the porter, and the male adventurer was a nimble scout. Gently nudging away the female adventurer who was trying to snatch my backpack, I headed into the cave first. The three adventurers followed closely behind me like ducklings after a mother duck.
‘...I hope no one's trying to lure me into a trap.’
There shouldn't be anyone trying to assassinate the Hero under these circumstances—probably. I shivered slightly as I recalled my conversation with Bishop Andre yesterday. Just then, the female adventurer approached and cleared her throat. She wasn't very tall, but she seemed to possess dense, compact muscle, as carrying her heavy load didn't seem to bother her in the least.
"We should introduce ourselves first. My name is Robin, and that thief back there is Harvey. And this is..."
As Robin gestured toward their leader, the woman swallowed hard and stepped forward to offer her hand. Her lips trembled slightly as she shook my hand. She was probably trying her best to suppress a grin.
"I'm Rhea. Thank you for agreeing to join us, Sir Hero."
"It's only for a short while, but I look forward to working with you."
Rhea nodded firmly at my words. It felt like looking at a highly motivated recruit. I shone my torch into the Ant Hill and led the way. Cool and damp. That was about all I felt upon entering the mouth of the cave. The air was thick with a mixture of stagnant water, wet stone, moss, and mold. The torchlight reflected off the puddles, casting a reddish glow over the cavern.
Beyond the entrance of the Ant Hill, a passage about the width of a town hall sloped gently downward. Perhaps because we were still near the entrance, there was no sign of monsters yet, but I remained highly alert as we pressed forward. Behind us, the light and sounds of the outside world gradually faded into nothingness.
"Even though you're so strong, Sir Hero, you never neglect your training."
Rhea, who had caught up to walk beside me, spoke. Glancing back, I saw Robin and Harvey whispering and giggling amongst themselves. Looking back at Rhea, I saw her eyes filled with deep admiration as she stared at me—at Elroy. For some reason, the respect in her eyes felt a bit uncomfortable.
"No matter how strong a Hero is, they are always lacking."
I gave an evasive reply.
"Because whatever comes, we must defeat it. We can never afford to lose."
I muttered, glancing down at the Holy Sword. Power to crush everything, my foot. If this thing didn't awaken even its first stage, let alone defeating a Calamity, I would be vaporized before I could even get close. I let out a sigh-like chuckle and raised my head. Rhea was staring at me with a dazed expression.
"Was my answer too serious?"
"...No. Thank you for giving such a wonderful answer."
I wondered what the original Elroy would have thought. Well, it didn't matter. I thrust my torch forward, trying to shake off my idle thoughts. The Ant Hill looked identical no matter where I turned. However, the narrowing passage felt increasingly like the esophagus of some massive beast. Drip. Drip. The sound of water dripping from stalactites echoed from somewhere. The footsteps of our party echoed in a rhythm that seemed to almost, but not quite, match the dripping water.
"The path will keep narrowing like this until we hit a fork."
Harvey was the first to speak, seemingly unable to bear the silence. When I looked back, he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"I've been here a few times. I don't know every path, but I know the ones I've taken."
Just as Harvey said, the passage gradually narrowed until it was barely wide enough for three men to walk abreast, and then a fork appeared. An icy wind blew from both paths. Having heard that the monsters were similar regardless of which path we chose, I took the left fork. The passage began to widen again, eventually opening up into a cavern far larger than the entrance.
"Monsters will start appearing from here on out, so we should be extra careful."
Harvey said, turning up the brightness of his lantern. Squelch, squelch. A sound like wet rock being patted with a thin cloth echoed. It sounded like someone walking around a swimming pool in flippers. Not exactly a sound you'd want to hear in a cave.
"Is it over there?"
Harvey shone his lantern in the direction of the noise. The squelching grew louder. Sensing a distinct presence approaching, I gripped the Holy Sword tightly.
"...Gross."
Robin muttered, her voice dripping with disgust. Waddling into the edge of the lantern light was a giant, eyeless salamander. Perhaps because it had never seen the sun, it lacked any pigment, its entire body a ghostly white. Squelch. The salamander took another step toward us.
"Sir Hero, that thing is—"
Leaving behind Harvey, who was trying to explain what kind of monster it was, I lunged forward. Despite being eyeless, the salamander reacted quite nimbly, but it was far slower and weaker than a grey bear. Sliding across the slick stone floor, I sliced off its legs with the Holy Sword.
"So fast..."
Robin's dazed murmur reached my ears. To avoid being crushed by the collapsing salamander, I leaped to the side and cleanly severed its neck and torso. The salamander disintegrated into four chunks of meat, splattering across the cave floor. The severed pieces still squirmed like chopped octopus.
"Let's move."
No one wanted to keep staring at the grotesque sight, so they nodded quickly. We continued deeper. I cut down the occasional monsters that appeared, with Rhea sometimes lending a hand. Harvey occasionally mined amethyst-like crystals tucked away in the corners of the cave, while Robin packed them into her bag.
"The deeper we go, the more numerous and stronger the monsters will get."
Contrary to Harvey's warning, however, my senses picked up no monsters nearby. Within a fifty-step radius, there was absolutely nothing alive besides us. The sterile silence sent a subtle prickle down the back of my neck. I stopped in my tracks and turned around.
"...Something is wrong."
Harvey and Robin blinked in confusion, but Rhea seemed to understand, nodding with a tense expression.
"There are no monsters. Unlike before, there isn't even a trace of them."
I frowned. There was no reason to take unnecessary risks right now. It wasn't as if I wouldn't have another opportunity. Glancing down at the Holy Sword, I turned back.
"Let's head back for now. It never hurts to secure an escape route beforehand."
Usually, this is exactly when things go south. Watching an ominous shadow fall over the faces of the three adventurers, I retraced my steps. We passed the path where we had slain the monsters and arrived back at the wide cavern, only to freeze in our tracks. The cavern was completely clean, without a single corpse in sight.
Harvey's lips trembled as he looked around.
"...Do corpses usually rot and disappear this quickly?"
"They didn't rot away."
I handed the torch to Robin and gripped the Holy Sword with both hands. Of course, being a transmigrator means I'm a magnet for this kind of crap.
Click, click, click. Scritch, scratch, scritch.
This time, Harvey didn't even attempt to raise his lantern. The sound was so familiar that we didn't need to see to know what was lurking in the dark. Along with the three adventurers, whose faces had gone entirely pale, I stared at 'it' clinging to the cavern wall.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
A spider as large as a house had spun a web over the wall leading to the exit, clicking its mandibles.