Athena's Naked Lake Bath Invitation

Barbarian women are far less aggressive and cold-blooded than their male counterparts. However, that does not mean they are any less dangerous when encountered as enemies. Mohican tribe women, including those from other barbarian clans, possess an incredibly strong sense of kinship and maternal instinct. In other words, while barbarian men fight in a frenzied rage they can barely control, barbarian women fight with everything they have to protect their community. Therefore, the words of the barbarian woman warning me to leave Cargo Forest or lose an arm were spoken in complete sincerity.

“This is simply the path crossing through Cargo Forest. I have no intention of invading the Mohican village or starting a fight.”

Because of my mixed blood, humans often pick fights with me calling me a barbarian, while barbarians sometimes mistake me for a human at first glance. After staring at her in momentary silence, I tried to ease the tension first. She did not seem ready to tear my arm off immediately, only that she would fight to the death if battle began. Besides, as I had already noted, this woman was strong.

“How ridiculous. You dare say that looking like that? You have already killed several people on your way here, have you not?”

The barbarian woman pointed at my clothes. Damn it… the blood of those bandit awakeners. I had forgotten while admiring the beautiful scenery. She probably assumed I had already clashed with the barbarians here. After all, outsiders rarely dared enter even the outer forest for fear of encountering the Mohican tribe.

“I think there has been a misunderstanding. This is not barbarian blood, but the blood of awakener bandits who—”

“No more words are needed, intruder.”

—Thud thud thud thud!

Of course. This was what it meant to be a barbarian. Fists before conversation. I must have been too tainted by civilization. The barbarian woman, her face hidden behind a mask that even nullified the Transcendent's Eye trait, charged at me without hesitation, assuming a combat stance.

The moment her attack began, a notification appeared.

‘Oh!’

I was genuinely surprised when something flew toward my face beyond the notification window. Swish! I dodged it.

‘She is using fists instead of a curved blade?’

That was why I was surprised. The barbarian woman was charging in with bare fists rather than a weapon. While barbarian women also had high average stats due to their racial traits, they were not on the same level as the men. They usually carried portable weapons like curved blades to compensate for their lack of one-hit-kill power. Yet this woman was rushing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠straight at me with nothing but her fists. She must have mastered combat skills beyond mere physical strength.

‘Her attacks are relentless, yet concise. She is even reading my movements and following through.’

My prediction was correct. The masked barbarian woman unleashed a fluid chain of combos using fists, feet, elbows, and knees—so free that weapons would have only felt cumbersome.

‘If I do not fight back properly, my arm will be torn off.’

Simply dodging would be disastrous. I needed to counterattack. However, after simulating the fight in my head, a troublesome situation arose. If I fought seriously, my precious arm would not remain intact.

‘Whatever!’

—Whoosh!

So I countered with only my left hand.

“How absurd. Let us see how you can still act so arrogant when your eyes are about to be gouged out.”

Damn it. My blatant left-hand attack only seemed like a bluff, further provoking the barbarian woman. Her movements, which had been exploratory until now, shifted into full seriousness.

“Even like this! You still will not use your right hand?”

—Swoosh!

—Slash!

I barely avoided the barbarian woman’s attacks that came from blind angles with desperate evasive maneuvers. As a result—‘Whoops!’—my foot caught on a rock on the opposite side.

Thud!

I lost my balance completely and fell flat on my back.

“I will make you pay the price for acting arrogant in front of a Mohican warrior!”

Thud!

The moment I fell, the barbarian woman mounted my chest like a beast capturing cornered prey. It was a moment of crisis, yet I did not panic at all. I had an ace up my sleeve.

“I lost, Athena. Let us stop here.”

I immediately countered.

“What? Geum Taeyang, you knew it was me?”

Indeed. She was someone I already knew—Athena, my childhood friend and family member with whom ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I had grown up for over fourteen years in the Gaia Tribe, my second home.

Athena, who had been hit by my counter, kept her fist cocked with a deflated expression. However, after removing her mask, she smiled at me with genuine joy.

“I saw that unique irritated expression of yours in between. That is when I finally realized.”

We began walking toward the Gaia Tribe together. I looked at Athena’s now-unmasked face and continued explaining. Apparently, she had known today was my return day and had waited patiently from noon until sunset for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠three whole days just to surprise me.

“I thought I had changed quite a bit over the past three years, so I figured I could fool you… Tch!”

“Yeah. Back then you felt more like a girl than a warrior. You were also shorter than now. Is it the same for me? I grew about three centimeters too.”

“Right? Do I look like a warrior now?”

Three years ago, Athena had been one of the people who saw me off near the forest path. Back then she had been a bit chubbier, about three centimeters shorter like me, and her hair had reached down to her neck. She had confidently told me to look forward to seeing how much stronger she would become when I returned, and now she reacted with satisfaction to my words.

“Of course I should! I have become the Tessadar of the great Gaia Tribe, so I ought to look like a powerful warrior!”

“Tessadar?”

My eyes widened at Athena’s mention of the title.

“You became the Tessadar, Athena? I thought they would recruit from outside.”

“It is the most important position for tribal security. How could we entrust it to an outsider? I strongly requested it from Father, and he approved.”

Within the Mohican tribe there were multiple clans, and disputes between them were usually settled through one-on-one duels rather than full-scale clan wars unless absolutely necessary. The Tessadar was the strongest warrior and combat commander in charge of those duels. Normally the chieftain and Tessadar roles were separate, but the Gaia Tribe had combined them for a long time due to the lack of standout warriors. As the chieftain aged, there had been talk of recruiting externally when I left for the academy. Athena, who had opposed it so fiercely, had apparently taken the position herself.

‘At this rate, I cannot help but check her status window. Transcendent's Eye!’

I had planned to chat leisurely and use the skill only after arriving at the village, but my curiosity was too strong now that Athena had become strong enough to be Tessadar.

‘Ooh… B+. That is more than enough to be Tessadar.’

The Transcendent's Eye immediately revealed Athena’s status window. B+. Same as me. Though I hate to say it myself, graduating from the academy with a B+ is considered excellent and guarantees immediate recruitment as an executive in top combat organizations. In other words, it was an incredibly high rank.

‘Wow… Mana Step and Tyrant’s Fist. She has perfectly compensated for her relatively lacking Power and Durability with skills.’

Looking only at base stats, she was still below me even at the same B+. However, Athena’s true achievement over the past three years lay in her special skills.

Mana Step—a skill that allowed one to step freely across terrain and physical laws to a certain degree. At high proficiency, it enabled powerful jumps and even running across water for about two hundred meters. It was generally considered a high-grade skill often included in secret manuals as part of a package.

From the next special skill, I could tell where Athena had learned Mana Step.

‘Tyrant’s Fist. The chieftain once said he would not teach it until someone reached their mid-twenties, yet he passed it on after all.’

In this world of Pieta, secret manuals were contents passed down through generations in prestigious noble families. While barbarian tribes did not traditionally emphasize secret manuals, the Barbara clan—the main bloodline of the Gaia Tribe, which had named itself after Gaia, one of the ancient gods—possessed enough prestige for the secret manual Tyrant’s Fist to have been inherited. Athena had become the latest successor of the Barbara clan’s Tyrant’s Fist.

‘No wonder she brought a mask and was so eager to show off to me.’

My attention then moved past the combat ability section of Athena’s status window.

‘Of course. This is exactly what an R-19 mode status window looks like.’

It was Athena’s profile—completely exposed. All of her personal information had been quantified and revealed to me.

‘Recognizing it in numbers makes it even more impressive. Even with such an enormous size, it is incredibly firm, just like a true barbarian.’

Athena continued excitedly talking about her accomplishments while I compared her breasts, waist, and hips—her three sizes—with their actual visual appearance, enjoying the view.

‘Favorability 95. According to the Heavenly Insight, it is extremely high, but it feels more like the friendship of close friends rather than romantic affection. And this is toward someone like me, a sculpture-like handsome man radiating such strong seductive pheromones.’

Despite possessing such an explosive body, Athena was still an innocent girl who knew nothing about sex, beyond being a virgin. At twenty-three years old and in the prime of her youth, she had apparently spent the past three years doing nothing but training like mad.

‘But what can you do? As long as she is a barbarian, her libido is bound to be vigorous. Her curiosity must be immense. She is just channeling it elsewhere for now.’

Fetishes and erogenous zones probably would not unlock until certain lines were crossed. I was quite curious what kind of fetishes that dangerous body might have. Since my own barbarian instincts were stirring, an aggressive analysis toward Athena had already begun.

“Hey, what are you doing? Are you listening? Why are you not answering?”

I must have been too absorbed. Without replying, I had been staring at Athena for a long while. She, who had been chattering enthusiastically, frowned in her characteristic way and looked up at me.

“I just realized you really came back. Seeing not only the beautiful scenery but also you treating me the same as before…”

The Casanova trait was not simply about being good in bed and receiving buffs from it. The old Geum Taeyang, who had lived a wasted life as a Korean citizen for thirty years without ever properly flirting, now delivered shameless pickup lines while staring straight at the face of an ultimate beauty he had never even seen in real life on Earth.

“W-what kind of nonsense is that! Of course I am the same as before! You might have been tainted by strange things in the civilized world, but I am not!”

The tomboyish Athena reacted with flustered yet positive embarrassment. The habit of dragging out her words when embarrassed but not displeased was showing.

“Ugh, it is hot! Why is it so hot? Is it because we ran a bit? It is not even summer yet!”

Flap! Flap! Flap!

Perhaps because the lingering embarrassment lasted quite a while, Athena turned her flushed face away from me and fanned herself with her hand.

“Hey! Geum Taeyang!”

Indeed, a barbarian tomboy was on a completely different level from ordinary ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠human tomboys. After making a fuss about the heat, Athena suddenly said, “Let us go bathe in Cargo Lake together.”

Without any preamble, she began stripping her clothes off to bathe in the lake together.

“What are you doing? Why are you not taking them off yet? You know I cannot stand the heat!”

Completely naked from head to toe, Athena stood bare before me.