Chapter 375: There Are Three of Them?
"There are three of them?"
Chieftain Shehil inclined his head a fraction and spoke.
"The first is an item you can put to use in the Trial. I am certain it will help you far beyond anything you imagine. I hardly need to explain how important the Trial is."
"Yes."
"The second is equipment worthy of your level. Weapons and armor far finer than the sword you carry now."
"And the third?"
"A duel with me. It would be good experience for you. Truth be told, equipment and the rest of it mean nothing to a barbarian. What comes first is honing the skill that is already yours."
Yujun tilted his head at that.
"The third choice is a little strange."
"Strange? What is strange about it?"
"You're the one who wants to fight me, aren't you?"
"……."
Shehil's pupils widened, as if the words had caught him off guard.
"So you knew."
"I can tell from your eyes."
Shehil had been watching him with a combative gleam for some time. From the moment he acknowledged that a mere underage barbarian was a true powerhouse, a hunger for battle had welled up in him.
"I'll take the first."
"……Ho. Not the equipment?"
"You said it would be useful."
Once the business of the Trial was finished, there was a good chance he would leave this event dungeon. It might not turn out that way, but honestly, he saw no need to upgrade his gear here.
No. That wasn't right.
Turning it over, Yujun changed his mind.
"Give me the equipment."
"Hm? Why the change?"
"A hunch."
The instinct had struck him that it would be better to take the gear and hold onto it. Since becoming a barbarian, premonitions like that had been almost nonexistent—yet something had just flashed through his mind and struck hard.
A faint smile gathered the fine lines beneath Shehil's eyes.
"In that case, what if you put the equipment on, and then duel me?"
Yujun laughed inwardly. He hadn't let it show, but that was exactly the offer he had been waiting for.
"Fine. On the condition that we keep the duel secret."
"Secret? I don't mind."
Better for each of them to walk away with whatever insight they could wring from it than to stage a spectacle that inflated honor and entertained a crowd.
Once the award ceremony was over, Yujun was called away by Chieftain Shehil to a secluded place. Not another barbarian's presence could be felt there. It was theirs alone—the chieftain's training hall. He said he usually did his morning training here.
"Don't worry. I won't be holding back."
"Then I won't either."
"……."
At that brazen reply, Shehil laughed as if he couldn't believe his ears. The boy's talent deserved every bit of the title greatest in history, but he was far too young. Shehil, by contrast, possessed a wealth of experience no amount of money could buy. Above all, barbarians only grew stronger with age. Unlike ordinary players, they had almost no notion of growing frail. However much talent mattered in this world, level, physical specs, and combat experience could not be ignored.
"That confidence looks good on you. Equip yourself first."
The items he handed over were, astonishingly, Legendary gear—not even drops, but a crafted set, made by someone's hand. The level requirement was only 100, yet the options were considerable. Yujun had never imagined items like these existed in the barbarian world.
He shook his head.
"I'll put the equipment to good use later."
"What……?"
"I'd rather fight as I am."
Shehil had stripped off every piece of armor and wore only a light cloth garment. Yujun had no desire to press an equipment advantage against a man like that.
"You could die."
"There's no such thing as a safe fight. You know that."
"I'll say it again. I don't want to kill you. Put those on."
Yujun shook his head. It wasn't empty stubbornness. The harsher the conditions, the higher the chance of grasping an enlightenment—that was all. He wasn't looking down on Shehil.
"Fight me once, then decide."
"……Very well. I'll take it that you still haven't shown your true skill."
"Yes."
"I'll yield the first strike."
"I won't turn that down."
Yujun kicked off the ground. He charged hard enough to make the wooden planks groan, and in the next instant a sword was flying for his throat. So much for holding back—Shehil had waited for an opening and gone straight for a blow that could kill in a single stroke.
This is how it ought to come.
A smile touched Yujun's lips as he knocked Shehil's sword upward. The gap in the weapons was severe; a single clash, ringing out with a sharp clang, left a considerable notch in Yujun's blade. Shehil swung again, and again. Their edges were nearly the same length, which meant the outcome was already decided by skill alone.
Yujun traded dozens of exchanges, and in the instant before his edge failed completely, he activated Super Concentration. In a flash he closed the distance and set his sword against the side of Shehil's neck. The tip barely kissed skin. A drop of blood ran down the blade from Shehil's throat and pattered onto the planks.
"……."
For a long moment, Shehil said nothing. Only after the sword was withdrawn did he manage to speak.
"How did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Just now…… it was as if you had frozen time, and only you were moving."
Shehil was sharp—sharper than his level or his skill alone would suggest. There was a reason they called him the greatest barbarian of the plains. Super Concentration had slowed time, so Yujun had, in a sense, laid a hand on time itself.
"You know swordsmanship isn't something you can explain in words."
"Yes……."
Shehil sank into thought for a long while before he spoke.
"I feel as though I have been shut inside a narrow world. Thank you. I owe this to you."
"I gained something from you as well."
"Then I'm glad."
It wasn't empty courtesy. Once again, a duel with a high-caliber barbarian had given Yujun the thread of an enlightenment. He regretted not seizing the enlightenment itself, but when had such a thing ever come easily? Getting even a thread from a single duel was fortune enough.
"I'd like to challenge the Trial."
"That isn't my affair. Find Kam. He'll guide you."
"Understood."
Kam, who had overseen the tournament, seemed to have his hands in more than Yujun had expected. Yujun offered a perfunctory courtesy and left the training hall.
The end wasn't far now. Just the thought of obtaining the key and spending the staggering pile of Peace Contribution waiting in the shop already set his heart racing. Clearing the Trial came first, of course, but he wasn't particularly worried. Having beaten the strongest barbarian on the plains, was he really going to botch the Trial? No need to grow complacent—but no need to frighten himself in advance, either.
Of the tribes that had fought through the tournament, only three of the Yomurep remained, and they took third. Second went to the Poison Dagger Tribe, and first to the Ledordang Tribe. They had been overwhelming in every category, so the victory was only natural. And so twelve barbarians in all would challenge the Trial.
The Trial of the 500k Stat Realm—famous, and infamous. Ivy that had thickened over decades, over centuries, tangled across a sheer cliff.
Kam spoke.
"You go in there."
"I don't see an entrance."
At one barbarian's words, a corner of Kam's mouth lifted.
"You have to break the vines. They restore themselves after twenty seconds, by the way. So break them fast and find the entrance."
So they weren't going to kindly point out the door.
What a waste of time…….
If those were the rules, there was nothing to protest. At moments like this, Yujun missed his old senses terribly. Before he became a barbarian, he would have known where the entrance was before he even drew near the cliff. The massive vines were choking off the air spilling from the cave mouth, which made the entrance miserably hard to find. A trace might leak through some hairline gap, but in his current state he couldn't sense it.
That didn't mean he was without a method. An idea came to him that would drastically cut the time it took to find the way in.
"I'll search on my own."
He told the barbarians of the Ledordang Tribe as much, then went somewhere quiet, where no one else was. Great old trees stood everywhere, so finding a spot out of sight wasn't difficult. His presence didn't vanish entirely, and barbarian eyes did follow him—but he hid himself at an angle where he couldn't be seen.
Then he summoned Paranet.
"Paranet."
"Master! What in the world did you do?"
"Do what?"
"You forcibly unsummoned me, did you not? I seem to have taken a shock to this body, and yet I never even saw the attack you landed."
"You let your guard down."
"……As if I would ever let my guard down against you, Master."
"You didn't even use the Heavenly Demon Divine Art."
"……That much is true."
In truth, even if Paranet had used the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the result would not have changed. Having grasped an enlightenment in swordsmanship, Yujun was incomparably stronger than before.
"And what business brings you this time……?"
"I'm not here to fight. There's something I need you to find."
Paranet's senses were exceptionally keen—sharp enough to point out what Yujun missed or didn't know. His level was well past 700, so even with the vines in the way, he ought to locate the cave in no time. And he lived up to the expectation.
"Circle around, and you will reach it. Those places where the vines lie heaped so thick that not even a gap shows are traps. The entrance will be where the vines are comparatively few—there. Shall I guide you myself?"
"No. Just tell me where. You stand out too much."
Even among barbarians, born large, a Paranet of five meters—no, taller than that these days—would send them into a panic.
"As you command."
The reply sounded oddly disappointed. He had apparently wanted to flaunt his superiority among the barbarians. Their emotions were linked, so Yujun could read the thought all too clearly. The barbarians were far too fragile to let the fellow loose to play.
Yujun unsummoned Paranet and moved to where the entrance was. Just as he had been told, the vines there were fewer, and they felt less stubborn, more yielding, than elsewhere. Up close, a black hole showed in flickers between them. Yujun swung his sword and cut the vines down without hesitation.
I want to see Harp, though.
The System did not recognize Harp, a divine beast, as a player—but it did not treat him as a summon, either. Yujun had left Harp behind when he entered the event dungeon, and that worried him a little. Harp would be fine, of course. He hadn't left the beast anywhere dangerous, and above all, Harp was strong. Even a fully armed Paranet would have no chance against him.
At last he cut away every vine and stepped inside, and air as cold as a sheet of ice wrapped around his body. He tried to go on, but something seemed to bar him. He could not move forward. A single line of system text rose.
Move one step forward, and you will challenge the Trial.
Will you accept the challenge?
There was no need to answer. Yujun advanced without hesitation.