Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Qualifications of a Hero (4)
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Mabel surged forward using her Blessing of Acceleration, reaching the ogre in the blink of an eye.
The Blessing of Acceleration didn't just boost movement speed—it enhanced the speed of her body's motions themselves.
In other words, it increased her attack speed as well.
"Haaah!"
With a sharp shasha-shashak!, Mabel unleashed over ten slashes in an instant, swinging her sword at the ogre.
But.
"Why is its skin so damn tough!"
No matter how swiftly she swung her blade, Mabel's sword only left faint scratches on the ogre's hide—it couldn't land a solid hit.
"That's why I told you, you idiot! Its skin is tough!"
"I didn't know it'd be this tough..."
-Kuooh!
The ogre roared in fury at Mabel for scratching its body and brought its massive two-handed axe crashing down from above.
Kwaaaang!
But Mabel had already retreated, returning to Kalt's side in a flash.
"Who could've known!"
"That's why I told you to listen to people—I said it how many times? Even last time during the monster horde hunt, I warned you there were a lot of them, so be careful, but you..."
"No nagging during fights! Follow me, Kalt!"
Mabel cut Kalt off and charged at the ogre again.
"Agh."
Irritated by Mabel's attitude, Kalt activated Physical Enhancement and followed right behind her.
Thanks to Marti's blessing and his regular Physical Enhancement training, Kalt could keep pace with Mabel.
Meanwhile, the ogre yanked its axe from the ground and swung it horizontally at the approaching Mabel and Kalt.
A heavy buuuung! as the axe cleaved through the air.
An attack from the ogre that could slice a log in half with one hit.
Taak!
Mabel and Kalt leaped high into the air simultaneously, dodging it.
Kalt sprang even higher than the ogre's height and shouted to Mabel.
"Mabel! Shoulder! Then you know what to do! Make an opening for Ianna's magic!"
"Got it!"
As they fell, Kalt and Mabel targeted the ogre's shoulders from left and right, slashing down.
A light swish! as their swords grazed the ogre's skin.
They'd already confirmed that even Mabel's swings only left scratches.
So instead, they focused on creating countless scratches.
After slicing its shoulder, Kalt and Mabel moved like whirlwinds, slashing every part of the ogre's body.
Arms, legs, belly, back—they darted around at speeds the ogre's eyes couldn't follow, despite its grip strength and tough hide.
-Krooooh!
Even when the ogre roared midway and spun with a wide axe swing, Kalt and Mabel evaded unscathed.
They kept moving relentlessly without getting in each other's way, dodging the ogre's intermittent attacks while swinging their swords.
'Man, ogre hide really is tough. Without a named sword or Mana Blade, this is rough.'
As he swung, Kalt truly felt why ogres were gatekeepers for veteran adventurers.
It wasn't just that Mabel's attacks only scratched it.
Mabel's strikes, honed by Kalt's nagging to never skip training and boosted by her blessing, hit harder than Kalt's.
So Kalt put extra force into each swing, adding as many scratches as Mabel had.
To set up one big hit through those scratches.
"Mabel! Kalt!"
And now came the signal for that big hit.
Mabel and Kalt retreated immediately.
At the same moment, countless wind blades from Ianna surged toward the ogre.
Basic magic involved firing multiple Wind Cutters, but Ianna infused each one with mid-tier mana output.
Chachachachak! Blood sprayed.
The wind blades exploited the scratches Kalt and Mabel had made, widening them into gashes, and blood poured from the ogre's body.
-Kuooh!
But that wasn't enough to fell the ogre.
If anything, it roared louder, charging at Ianna with earth-shaking thuds! as more blood fueled its rage.
"Not done yet! Eat this...!"
A massive surge of mana coalesced into a giant wind blade.
Mid-tier magic: Wind Blade.
A spell with even greater cutting power than the Wind Cutters she'd just fired.
-Kuooh!
Kaaaang!
"...No way!?"
A spell that should've carved a deep wound even into the ogre.
But it collided with the ogre's mid-charge axe swing and vanished.
"What, that tough?!"
"That's why it's the gatekeeper! Mabel! Put some distance first!"
"Run away?"
"You think it'll let us go? Widen the gap until its charge slows! I'll grab Marti."
"Tch, no style."
"Then fight that pissed-off brute alone!"
"So mean!"
Grumbling at Kalt, Mabel still turned and kicked off backward.
Kalt hoisted Marti over his shoulder, while Mabel took Ianna, creating distance from the charging ogre.
When the ogre's heavy thud! thud! thud! footsteps toward Mabel's party finally slowed.
Kalt and Mabel eased their speed and looked back.
Running while bleeding seemed to drain its stamina—the ogre, drenched in blood, panted roughly.
But Kalt didn't think it was weakened.
"Hey, Mabel."
"What!"
"Those wounds are almost healed already?"
"What!?"
Startled by Kalt's words, Mabel skidded to a halt the moment the ogre stopped.
"Eep! M-Mabel! Stopping suddenly...!"
"Oh, sorry."
Ianna took a hard squeeze to the gut from the abrupt stop.
Mabel apologized to Ianna and stared hard at the ogre.
Its body was caked in blood from earlier wounds, but no fresh blood flowed.
"What the hell. Is that ogre a troll or something? Healing that fast."
"The scratches were barely bigger than faint marks anyway. Ogres have that level of recovery."
"That's cheating!"
"That's why it's called a veteran gatekeeper. What now? Retreat?"
Honestly, Kalt wanted to turn back.
But not Mabel.
"I said already! We came all this way—running now would be embarrassing! Everyone would tease us!"
"So what? Keep slashing till it bleeds out?"
"Ugh, no way... That'd look lame."
'What does this girl want?'
"Oh, right! Kalt! Didn't you say last time you kinda felt like you could use Mana Blade?"
"I said I just barely grasped the sensation."
"Anyway! Mana Blade could slice that skin easy! So figure out how to use it right now!"
"What? You think Mana Blade's just about hyping yourself up?"
"You grasped the sensation! Awaken it in real combat! Perfect strong foe for it—boom, awakened!"
"You think this is some fairy tale, idiot? It doesn't work that easy!"
As Kalt and Mabel bickered, Ianna fired a Wind Cutter ahead and yelled.
"Kalt! Mabel! Ogre's coming again!"
"See! It's coming! Now's your awakening moment! Awaken, Kalt! Do it!"
"Agh... This is ridiculous..."
"Kalt, just try first. If it doesn't work, you and Mabel are fast enough to retreat, right?"
At Marti's words, Kalt sighed deeply.
"Haa... Fine, hold on then. I'll give it a shot. If not, I'll just grab you and Ianna and bolt."
"Heehee. No weak talk already... Just try!"
Mabel charged the ogre again, swinging her sword. Kalt closed his eyes and exhaled deeply.
"Huuuuh..."
Recalling all his experience, the lessons from helping that old retired adventurer's grandson, and the mana flow he always used for Physical Enhancement.
Kalt sensed a different mana movement than before.
A faint feeling of mana shifting toward his sword, which he treated like an extension of himself.
He'd trained hard these past few days to hold and solidify that sensation.
Now, Kalt focused his mind again, trying to recreate and awaken it fully.
His heart raced from moving and wounding the ogre.
Blood pumped through his pounding heart, circulating everywhere.
The mana for Physical Enhancement followed the blood, flowing through his entire body.
He recognized the sensation clearly.
Then expanded it.
From his body outward.
To his sword, connected like part of him.
Little by little, mana began shifting toward the blade.
Once it started, Kalt widened the flow, pouring more mana into the sword.
How much time passed?
"Kalt, still!? I'm getting tired!"
Mabel's complaint rang out.
'Quiet, I'm concentrating.'
More mana.
More focus.
More will.
Into the sword.
And the moment it felt sufficient intuitively.
Kalt shaped the transferred mana, converting pure mana into mana infused with his will, and visualized.
A blade of pure mana that cleaved anything.
Like sword aura from wuxia novels he'd read in his past life.
Or mana swords from fantasy or fusion fantasies.
A blade of blue mana.
"Kalt!"
Hearing Marti's awed voice from behind, Kalt opened his eyes.
"Ha, it worked?"
The first thing Kalt saw upon opening his eyes was the Mana Blade flickering imperfectly around his sword, somehow holding its shape.
Mana Blade
[Unstable form achieved]