Into the Heart of Battle
Ian woke inside his sleeping bag, hair disheveled and eyes bleary. The moment the throbbing ache throughout his body hit him, he curled into a ball and let out a low groan. Only after he finally dragged both arms free, rubbed his eyes, and cleared his vision did it appear.
Stamina Total Increased
250 → 300
A skill window he had never called for shimmered before his eyes. As he scanned it in confusion, a small smile of delight crept across Ian’s lips. His total stamina capacity had risen from 250 to 300.
He remembered what Lucas had told him the day before: that when someone with low stamina pushed themselves to the absolute limit and drank low-grade potions, their total pool would increase. Those words were now proven by cold numbers right in front of him.
Chuckling and groaning in turns, Ian finally crawled out of the sleeping bag and discovered another pleasant surprise.
Whoa, the dark mana aura feels much thicker than yesterday, but it’s completely bearable!
With a satisfied expression, he stretched lightly and stepped out of the tent, which the expansion magic had made surprisingly cozy. The moment he left it, however, he looked around in even greater shock than when he had seen the status window.
While he had slept deeply, excused from night watch, the Shield of Thorny Vines Guild had clearly endured a brutal night. Piles of skeleton wreckage and bone-beast fragments rose like small mountains around the three tents arranged in a circle—traces of death that had not been there when he went to sleep.
As Ian stared at the heap of bones in horror, Lucas, who had taken the final watch, spoke from beside the still-roaring campfire.
“It’s only five in the morning. Why are you up so early?”
“Lucas, exactly how many bone monsters came during the night?”
“You’re telling me. These bone scraps are as useless as labyrinth byproducts. Such a complete waste—”
Lucas suddenly stopped speaking, shot to his feet, and thrust his hand toward the fog-choked north.
"Icicle Prison!"
⟨ Icicle Prison ⟩
At his shout, razor-sharp ice shards formed around him and tore forward, scattering the mist. At the same time, a pack of skeletons charged silently through the fog. In a flash, ice and bone collided like lightning.
Thud! Thudthudthud! Chiiiiii—!
“Krrrrrk—!”
The dozen skeletons impaled by the ice were hurled backward without a chance to resist. The shards piercing their bodies then sprouted jaggedly like multiplying icicles, devouring every bony joint.
“Krrrrrr……”
It was over in three or four seconds. While Ian blinked in astonishment, the abnormally grown ice shattered, grinding the trapped skeletons into powder.
Clang-clang-clang—! Clink-clink-clink—!
“Huk!”
The area sank back into silence as the fog rolled in once more.
“See? It’s nothing at all.”
Lucas smiled brightly, and all Ian could do was nod blankly.
Still aching from muscle pain, he staggered over and sat down beside the mage. Lucas suddenly pushed several palm-sized glass vials filled with blue liquid into his hands.
“These are…?”
“Lowest-grade mana potions that restore 100 points. Once we start climbing the Ephel Mountains in earnest, I won’t have time to babysit you one by one, so I’m handing them over now.”
“Thank you so much, Lucas.”
“It’s nothing. Just standard supplies.”
Even though they were only natural provisions, the knowledge that someone had prepared them for him in advance warmed Ian’s chest like a gentle swell. He accepted the mana potions as if they were priceless treasures and tucked them deep into his leather bag.
After storing them, he stared blankly at the campfire flickering with brilliant scarlet light. The flames’ warmth tickled his face pleasantly, yet inside his heart a small anxiety was quietly growing—born from the horrific bone debris he had faced the moment he left the tent. The shadows of death that had surrounded their cozy shelter all night were surely still multiplying endlessly throughout the Ephel Mountains.
Once sprouted, the anxiety turned into black shards that ricocheted inside his skull, leaving sharp scars. Finally he could no longer hold back the question.
“The closer we get to the Ephel Mountains… the bone monsters will come pouring out even more insanely than now, won’t they?”
“Why, worried?”
“Honestly… a little.”
“Puhaha! We haven’t shown our full strength yet, so I guess we still haven’t earned your trust.”
“It’s not that!”
“Yeah, I know. You just don’t really understand what ‘upper-grade’ means.”
Ian let out a small groan. Truthfully, he could not imagine how much stronger they could possibly become. What he had already witnessed far exceeded his common sense.
Lucas gave him a piercing look, then chuckled again in amusement. His expression said he was already looking forward to the moment Ian witnessed the Shield of Thorny Vines Guild’s true power and fainted from shock. Naturally, Ian regarded that look with considerable skepticism.
But as the saying goes, no one can see even one step ahead in life.
After dawn broke, the group finished a simple breakfast of potato cream stew and bread, packed the camping gear, and set off. Barely thirty minutes later—
A fierce blue mana suddenly exploded from Celine, who had been walking beside Ian. Her figure flashed like lightning and vanished toward the distant plain where the fog was beginning to lift.
In an instant, the death cries of bone beasts tore through the silence from every direction.
“Krrrrrrk—!”
“Kiiiiiik—!”
At the same time, enormous bone birds filling the sky dove straight down, sharp bony beaks glinting. The moment Ian looked up in shock and froze, one of the twin curved blades Celine had thrown drew a silver arc across the air.
Like a boomerang drawn by a magnet, the blade spun with a keen whistle and precisely carved through the necks and torsos of the bone birds. While the shattered heavy bones rained down like a downpour from high above, the curved sword bent smoothly and sharply, returning to its owner.
Celine, who had already closed the distance, lightly reached out and caught the returning hilt. It was a thrillingly perfect slaughter without the slightest error.
Ian stared at her with the face of someone who had seen a ghost. Lucas caught his dumbfounded expression and burst into loud laughter.
Zenon, walking ahead, also seemed entertained by Ian’s reaction and added with a soft chuckle.
“Ian, Celine hasn’t used any of her skills yet.”
“Huh…?! Really?”
“Yeah. That was just light footwork.”
Only then did Ian drop the tension from his shoulders. The more he experienced an upper-grade adventurer guild’s strength with his own body, the stranger it felt—this abnormal battlefield somehow seemed safer than ordinary daily life.
The situation itself was so absurd that he let out a bewildered laugh and shook his head.
Good. Let’s put all those useless worries away. I’ll focus solely on my job—finding the dark crystals.
With his resolve firmly set, he was able to maintain his composure through the sporadic battles that continued until they reached the entrance of the Ephel Mountains.
Zenon occasionally glanced sideways at Ian, whose eyes had grown markedly more resolute before the rugged mountain terrain, and smiled with quiet, deep satisfaction.
The party now began climbing the harsh eastern ridges of the Ephel Mountains. There were no gentle roads travelers usually took through the middle sections. Only sheer cliffs, solid rock faces, enormous black oaks twisted through crevices, and thorny thickets blocked their path.
At first Ian gritted his teeth and followed behind the group. But the irregular slopes tangled with tree roots and rotten leaves were merciless to an ordinary person. His feet kept slipping into gaps and losing balance, so Bartin eventually offered a sturdy arm.
“Whoa, sorry!”
“It’s fine. Just relax and lean on me.”
Having realized how far beyond common sense an upper-grade adventurer’s strength truly was, Ian obeyed without complaint. The moment he relaxed and entrusted himself to Bartin’s steel-like arm, Bartin practically tucked him against his side and began bounding up the near-vertical slope with powerful strides.
Ian blinked, stunned by the scenery rushing backward in an instant. The entire party traversed the mountain range at astonishing speed, as if gravity did not exist. Sharp rocks and bizarre ancient trees lying prostrate were no obstacle to them at all.
They had covered who knew how much slope when Ian’s breathing, which had steadied in Bartin’s hold, began to grow labored again. The dark mana dissolved in the air had grown incomparably thicker and heavier.
At that moment, Bartin reached his left hand behind him and lightly drew his greatsword. A crushing sonic boom followed as an intense crescent slash tore through the air.
Kwaaaaaaaaang—!
Trees and shrubs covering the slope split apart and scattered in every direction. The skeletons hiding in the shadows could not dodge the slash and were smashed to pieces. Thinking the fight had ended instantly like before, Ian instinctively relaxed.
“Ian, ease your body but do not drop your guard! This is where the real battle begins.”
The instant Ian’s eyes widened at Bartin’s heavy warning, the shattered bone fragments began gathering again with eerie sounds, as if drawn by magnets. Scattered skulls returned to their places, skeletal hands regripped sharp bone swords, and the skeletons were resurrecting once more.