Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Reincarnator's User Manual
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Indeed, it was no simple feat for two children to traverse the heart of a frozen forest, especially one so dense that even the moonlight barely trickled through the canopy.
The oppressive darkness severely limited their ability to gauge distances, and because the path was rarely trodden, their feet sank deep into the pristine snow with every step they took.
'He should be exhausted by now...'
Even a grown man in peak physical condition would have struggled to fend off a pack of Frost Wolves. Yet, the boy before Lucia continued to swing his blade with relentless precision, piling up the corpses of the beasts one after another.
Lucia watched Shiron with a growing sense of admiration.
Frost Wolves weren't particularly formidable monsters on their own. They possessed no regeneration, and slaying them required no special magic—one only had to cut their throats like butchering common livestock.
But that assumed ideal conditions: broad daylight and a singular target. Lucia kept her eyes fixed on Shiron's every movement.
"Is he really just ten years old?"
Her doubt was well-founded. His combat skills were far too proficient for a child. His arms were short, and his low eye level should have been a fatal handicap in a life-or-death struggle where visibility was already nil.
Yet, while Shiron was drenched from head to toe in the blood of his enemies, looking utterly gruesome, he bore not a single scratch on his own body.
"Unbelievable. His sword swings and footwork are straight out of a beginner's manual, but his sense of distance... it's otherworldly."
Even as she watched, another wolf lunged at him from the shadows while he was focused on finishing off a downed foe.
Shiron casually dodged the beast's snapping jaws with a movement that wasn't even hurried. In snowy terrain that restricted movement, dodging a frontal assault required a perfect sense of timing.
He never panicked. A step back, a slight duck, or a simple pivot—his reactions were always a half-beat ahead of the predator.
Once an attack missed, the wolves were finished; they weren't the type of creatures to redirect their momentum mid-air. Shiron would simply seize their blind spot and smash his blade into their skulls.
"How many are left?"
"...That was the last one," Lucia replied, her voice flat.
"Then let's take a breather."
Shiron plopped down atop a fresh corpse, rolling his shoulders to loosen the ache in his arms. His body steamed in the cold air as he took a swig of the lemonade he’d packed.
The refreshing chill banishing his fatigue, he looked down at the longsword he’d grabbed from the storage. It was caked in beast blood and chunks of flesh.
"No wonder it started feeling off midway," he muttered, trying to scrape the gore off against the snow.
"That's not how you do it. Here, give it to me," Lucia said, dragging over a corpse to sit across from him and holding out her hand.
Shiron handed over the filthy blade. Lucia took it with a smirk, feeling a strange sense of pleasure at seeing this childlike, clueless side of him.
"Frost Wolves aren't named that for show. Shoving your sword in their mouths causes the blood to freeze to the metal instantly. It's a good thing you didn't chip the edge."
With that, she inverted her grip. What happened next made Shiron's eyes widen in genuine shock.
A faint, dancing light burst from the tip of the blade, scouring the metal clean. The frozen filth cracked like thin ice and pattered to the ground.
"...What was that?" Shiron leaned forward, buzzing with excitement at this supernatural display.
"Wasn't planning to show just anyone," Lucia said, her chest swelling with pride at having finally gained an informational edge. "This is, well..."
"Ah, Sword Aura, right?"
"...You knew?"
Lucia pouted, her chance to explain herself stolen once again. "Yeah. Sword Aura. But you're probably the first to see it used this precisely."
"It's different from what I’ve heard. Usually, it's just a glow that envelopes the whole blade."
"Obviously. Not many can control aura well enough to use it like a brush," she boasted, before Shiron’s gaze turned reflective.
"A nine-year-old emitting aura from her sword... the books say that takes legendary talent."
"Uh... well, you see..." Lucia stammered, realizing she had accidentally showcased a level of skill that no ordinary child should possess.
"You're a genius," Shiron said, his eyes holding no suspicion—only genuine praise. Lucia’s heart fluttered with a mixture of relief and pride.
"So, are you actually going to tell me where we're headed?" Lucia asked, finally finding the courage now that the combat had subsided.
"Dunno," Shiron replied through puffs of white mist.
"You aren't lost, are you?"
"As if."
He gazed up at the night sky again, reorienting himself by the stars. To Lucia, who possessed an innate sense of direction, his reliance on stargazing only deepened her curiosity.
"...Treasure hunt. You in?"
"Treasure hunt?"
"Yep."
It was a blunt, childlike notion, yet the path they were taking was anything but child's play. Shiron knew that to clear the late-game labyrinth of Dawn Castle, he needed the skippable bonuses the developers had sprinkled around the map.
"Almost there."
Shiron quickened his pace, noticing that the lack of beasts meant they had entered a safe zone. Moments later, a familiar scene unfolded before them—an ornately carved cave entrance.
It was the northern bonus stage, exactly as it appeared in the game. Except for one thing.
Shiron looked down at a corpse tripping him up, its face frozen mid-scream and half-buried in the snow. His head slowly lifted to the cave.
Light was leaking from the entrance where there should have been none, making the oft-visited spot feel dangerously alien.