Chapter 36 : Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Wild Instinct (6)

What was the reason? Scholars said the reason was the ability to distinguish right from wrong. Some called it composure, and others described it as the most important weapon a human could possess. Thus, reason has always been regarded as one of humanity’s greatest virtues.

But—Was being rational always necessarily the right answer?

The flame that rose within my heart at that moment said otherwise.

If I had acted rationally, continuing to fight this Giant would have been a foolish act. A mere Sword Walker novice holding a single blade couldn’t possibly defeat a massive being as tall as a mountain. Since the previously mentioned ‘Orc Coming-of-Age Ceremony’ was meant to prove a warrior’s courage, the rational thing to do would have been to stop fighting once I had struggled enough. That would have been wise.

But was that the right answer?

If I had acted rationally and logically, I should never have obeyed Liam’s call to enter the Orcs’ Sacred Ground. That would have been the prudent and safe decision.

I shouldn’t have stood before the Orc Elder, who could separate my soul from my body in an instant. I shouldn’t have dueled within their Sacred Ground. When the 「Sword Runner」 appeared in my territory, I shouldn’t have rushed forward recklessly. I should’ve ignored whether Knight Fetel lived or died. Taking the place of Fetel’s proxy warrior and dueling the 「Sword Runner」 was an irrational choice from the start.

When I entered the Arena of the Iron City to fight as a contender and faced the Black Bride, Seol Yoon, I should’ve fled. That would’ve been the rational and logical thing to do. Yet, at every decisive moment, I had chosen the irrational path. Liam had said my talent lay in cold, analytical suspicion. But whenever I stood at a crossroads, I had never been cold.

Even shoving a blade into my mouth, trusting only the words of Liam—who had appeared like a ghost—had been a reckless act. Had Liam been a hallucination and not my true ancestor, I would’ve died long ago. My life has always been hung by a thread.

Why had I walked such a path? Perhaps because I had made the wrong choice from the very beginning.

— I’ll spare you. So forget today and live your life.

Thinking rationally, a countryside boy who had never even held a sword seeking revenge against the greatest 「Swordmaster」 on the continent was absurd.

— Whatever happens, don’t dream of revenge.

— Swear you’ll never pick up a sword again. Swear you’ll never return here.

Forgetting the dead and living quietly in gratitude for having survived by luck—that would’ve been the rational choice.

A talentless boy seeking revenge against the continent’s greatest sword could never succeed. That was common sense. That was the rational conclusion.

— Young master, you must forget. Otherwise, you won’t survive.

Yes. From the moment my revenge began, my life had ceased to be rational. From the moment I chose this path, I had become an irrational man.

Climbing stone mountains without safety gear for training; plunging into the Iron City’s 「Arena」 and betting my life when I had barely learned to hold a sword; facing the duel with the Black Bride head-on without fleeing; taking the fallen Knight Fetel’s place as his proxy warrior to fight the 「Sword Runner」— every single one of those moments had been irrational.

But I didn’t regret them. They weren’t wrong choices. From the moment I resolved to take revenge, there had never been another way. To me, who craved vengeance, all those choices were proof—things I had to do. Even if everyone else called them wrong, to me, they were right.

Had I been rational at every moment, my journey would never have begun. I would’ve submitted to the world, abandoned my vengeance, and lived a meaningless life in silence instead of grasping my sword. That would’ve been a disgusting, loathsome life.

Yes, I could never live like that.

Never.

Once again, a question arose.

What was the reason?

Was the rational path always necessarily the right answer?

No one could ever truly know that answer.

Because—“Hoo.”

This world had been wrong from the very beginning.

The world was not rational. It was unfair, unreasonable, irrational. It took from humans what they held dearest, without hesitation—so easily, so indifferently.

From the moment I resolved to take revenge, I had decided to fight against such a world. Instead of submitting to absurdity, I had chosen to face it head-on. Because I could not accept it, I would fight until the world offered an answer I could accept.

“Hoo—hah.”

That was why I didn’t let go of my sword now.

Compared to the Swordmaster I swore vengeance upon, that Giant meant nothing. Compared to the irrational world itself, that towering brute of low intelligence could never inspire fear within me.

“Hoo—hah!”

I steadied my breathing. My lungs expanded until they felt ready to burst. My vision blurred as my heart pulsed, flooding my body with strength. My abdomen burned. Then my chest burned. It was as if a furnace had ignited inside me. As if flames ran through my blood.

The comet-like shining 「Path」 in my vision began to shift shape. The beam of light swelled, then flared into the form of a flame. It became a flaming Path, a road that would burn away anything that dared block it.

“Hoo, hah.”

I moved along that 「Path」. Like a moth diving toward the bonfire at midnight. Without hesitation, I charged toward the blindingly bright road of flames. The heat surging through my body scorched my muscles and bones.

I could feel it. My body was hardening. Like steel being forged within fire and hammer strikes.

In that moment, I felt as though I had become a single sword.

“Wrrr—oooh!”

The one-eyed Giant moved. The blazing path cutting through it wavered dangerously. It wasn’t the calm, rational, or logical 「Path」 I usually saw. It was precarious, perilous—a single misstep could send me plummeting to the depths. But that was precisely why it suited me. It resembled the life I had lived, and the life I would continue to live.

“Ugh—aaah!”

I screamed, blood bursting from my throat. My knees nearly buckled as I sprinted, then kicked off the Giant’s massive body and leapt into the air, spinning. Mid-rotation, I drew 「Fang」 and plunged it into the Giant’s outstretched wrist. Using the rebound, I kicked the hilt and launched myself again. It was a movement more beast than man.

「How wild you are.」

The Giant, having lost sight of me, furrowed its single eye and reached out again. Between its spread fingers were gaps. Without hesitation, I dove through, slipping past between them. The wind flaying against my skin felt like it would tear me apart, but I ignored it. Even if I lost something, I would gain what I sought. I would never bow. Never.

「That’s it, young descendant.」

The more I ran, the hotter my body burned. It felt as if fire—not blood—flowed through my veins. The flames heated my entire body, and along with that, the 「Paths」 stretching through my body also began to burn. The flaming path I saw outside now ran within me. At the same time, the world seemed to slow. No— the world didn’t slow.

I became faster.

「That is the Path of Steel.」

The 「Paths」 inside me kept thinning, narrowing, until they became Lines. The superhuman strength granted to me surged madly. If my previous body had been wood, now it was metal. Lines traced through my body like veins, circulating astonishingly dense power. Mana wove through my muscles like threads, and with every beat of my 「Mana Heart」, a power close to a miracle erupted.

I sprinted madly, reaching the Giant’s nape. Then, instead of striking the hand it guarded its throat with, I leapt again—up to its face. The Giant’s single eye locked straight on me. I could see confusion trembling within it. Gripping my sword, I leapt into the slightly open jaws of the Giant.

Not because it looked hungry.

Not because I had given up on life.

But because the 「Path」 led there.

“Wrr—”

The moment I entered its mouth, I kicked off its tongue and swung my blade wildly, slashing the palate, gums, and tongue without mercy. Unlike the outer hide, the Giant’s insides were soft.

My blade tore through its inner flesh. Blood splattered, and I plunged past its writhing tongue. Then, following the 「Path」, I slashed again and again without hesitation. My thrusts pierced through the mucous flesh, carving Lines that bored through from the inside out. Not just one—over and over, until my arm muscles tore and bones cracked.

The Giant’s body convulsed as an earthquake-like roar erupted. Through the gaping holes I’d opened, blood gushed, air burst outward. I wrung every ounce of strength I had left and swung my sword again. Along the blazing Path, along my own Path—to prove the life I had lived.

「Do you remember, young descendant? I told you—you lacked the talent to be a genius.」

My whole body felt like it was breaking apart.

One lapse of focus, and everything would collapse. I clung to consciousness, consumed by the heat, moving like flowing fire.

「But I also said—you have the talent to become a Hero.」

It felt dreamlike.

I could no longer tell whether I was wielding the sword, or the sword was wielding me.

「Those who, though unable to find perfect answers amid hardship, never give up. Those who do not retreat despite despair. It is they who possess the talent to create legends incomprehensible to reason.」

When I came to, I was drenched in thick blood and torn flesh.

「Great legends are not written by reason.」

「They begin with the irrational, the unreasonable, the seemingly foolish.」

「They begin with the resolve to uphold one’s will and fight, even when the world laughs.」

I gasped, lungs ready to burst.

My body felt as if it were melting.

「Is the hero who charges into ten thousand soldiers with a single sword rational?」

「Is it rational to fight monsters that defy human description?」

「Is it rational to set off on expeditions into lands filled with the unknown, following the stars?」

「It is not. It is irrational. But that is what makes it great.」

I stared blankly up at the sky. The clear blue heavens shimmered under the sunlight. I inhaled the fresh air and slowly lowered my gaze.

「Remember that Path, young descendant.」

There lay the one-eyed Giant, its mouth agape, dead with a gaping hole in its throat. The Giant had fallen, and I stood tall. Yes— in the end, the one still standing was me. The boy who had faced the Giant with nothing but a meager blade had at last triumphed.

「That is the Path of a Hero.」

The thrill I felt from that battle—I engraved it deep within my chest.

Today, I discovered another new path. Perhaps the very path I was meant to walk from now on.

“……”

As I stood silently before the fallen Giant, cheers echoed faintly from afar.

“Waaah… waaah…!”

The echoing roar of celebration grew louder, clearer. They were the shouts of Orcs— the highest praise given to a warrior who had proven his valor. Hearing that, I closed and opened my eyes again, only to find an unfamiliar scene before me.

The Giant’s corpse was gone. The mystical landscape vanished. In its place stretched a vast, white expanse. The echoing cheers had also ceased, leaving only a cold silence. As I stood amid that uneasy stillness, I heard footsteps approaching.

“Congratulations, successor of steel.”

There stood the Orc Elder, smiling with satisfaction.

“Human, you have passed the Orcs’ Coming-of-Age Ceremony splendidly.”

The Orc Elder approached me with his usual hunched gait.

The moment the white world had unfolded, the fatigue and damage that had filled my body seemed to vanish. The exhaustion that had nearly crushed me was gone, leaving me refreshed. I met the approaching Orc Elder’s gaze squarely and spoke.

“Then, about our promise……?”

“The Holy Relic? A promise must be kept, of course. I will gladly give it to you, whatever it may be.”

Thank goodness.

The Orc Elder didn’t suddenly change his tone or demand I pass another trial. I had been tense— they were unpredictable beings, after all. I let out a silent sigh of relief.

“Ah, thank—”

“There is one more gift I will give you.”

Then.

“I cannot give only a Holy Relic to such a splendid warrior who inherited the great blood after hundreds of years. The warrior’s blood flowing within me would not permit it. Human, your struggle was so exhilarating it made my blood boil.”

“……”

“You’ve given me joy. So, I must offer you another gift in return.”

The situation took an unexpected turn.

“I shall give you a very special gift, successor of steel.”

The Orc Elder smiled meaningfully.

“I am certain you will find it most pleasing.”