Chapter 39 : Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Digestion (2)

“So, you brought back nothing?”

Far from Arhan’s village, deep in a mountain hollow veiled by tall trees, a chilling voice echoed within a decrepit hut.

The source of that voice was an elderly man— his face furrowed with countless wrinkles, his frail frame rocking gently in a creaking chair.

“Yes, y-yes. They said they didn’t have a-anything to give me. T-treated me like some kind of leper…”

“Hmm. You dressed yourself pitifully to stir up human sympathy, and yet it didn’t work. Manipulating emotion truly is difficult. A wretched orphan, a beggarly appearance, a starving young girl— I thought those three would be sufficient.”

“I-I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…”

Before the cold-voiced old man, a small girl was bowing her head in fear, apologizing over and over. Her dirt-stained face and emaciated limbs made her look fragile enough to snap if touched.

“Still, you’ve learned something useful. I thought that village was deserted, but it turns out someone’s living there. And contrary to rumors— that a monster lurked there, or that another black magician had already claimed the place— it’s merely a girl who happens to know how to swing a sword.”

The old man tapped the armrest of his chair with his finger, smiling faintly.

“From what my scattered eyes have seen, she’s at best a ‘Sword Walker.’ I’ll remove her and build a new labyrinth there. I’ve grown sick of this filthy shack anyway. I’d like to bathe in hot water again.”

“Th-then, will you forgive me…?”

“No. Even if you brought back good information, you still failed the task I originally gave you.”

The old man leaned forward and flicked his finger. In that instant, the girl who had been kneeling jerked upright as though pulled by invisible strings. His cold gaze swept over her trembling form.

“My command was to bring me food— and you failed. That means you must receive punishment for your failure. My dear child, that’s the way of a magician.”

“Ah… ah…”

“Just one more week without food. I was curious what happens to a child’s body after more than ten days of starvation. I’ll examine it carefully, piece by piece, for magical study.”

The girl’s eyes trembled violently. Tears welled as the old man’s wrinkled hand reached out and patted her head. His voice turned almost gentle.

“Why that face, Hailyn? You should thank me when I’m done speaking.”

Under that touch, the girl— Hailyn— forced her lips upward into a brittle smile, ignoring the shaking of her body. It was the only thing she could do before the old black magician.

“Yes, y-yes… th-thank you.”

To stay alive.

“If you endure the week, I’ll let you eat that girl who drove you away. I’ve always wondered— what happens when a human eats another whole, uncooked? What emotions might arise…?”

Even as he spoke those grotesque words, Hailyn could only keep smiling— cursing her own pitiful fate in the hands of this terrifying black magician.

***

I lit a fire and placed 「Wild Instinct」 atop it to heat. Warming this monstrously large sword was torture in itself. Lifting it with both hands was already a strain; getting even a single piece into my mouth in one go was impossible.

「Looks like you’re roasting a whole beast for a feast.」

“If it’s a feast, it’s one I have to suffer through alone— more torture than celebration.”

「Wild Instinct」— the sword once wielded by an Orc warrior— was enormous.

Even the greatest knights would struggle to swing something like this. That such a thing had ever been crafted as a weapon was unbelievable. A blade this size seemed more suited as a ceremonial relic or a prop for a statue.

“Phew.”

Once the sword was heated, I broke it apart into pieces I could manage. Then, I slowly placed one of those fragments into my mouth. The instant the shard touched my tongue, agony surged through me.

“Urgh…”

I couldn’t swallow it in one go. I had to endure that pain— chew, swallow, then repeat. The agony was several times worse than during any of my previous ingestions.

“Ugh— ngh…”

My throat tore, my tongue bled, and it felt as though I’d swallowed a ball of molten fire. My whole body burned. My brain felt like it was boiling to sludge, but I clenched my teeth and forced myself to stay conscious. Even as the clear blue sky turned yellow and the bright sunlight dimmed, I endured. Bit by bit, I chewed and swallowed until no fragment of 「Wild Instinct」 remained.

It felt like being cast alive into a furnace.

The pain spread from my stomach to my heart, brain, and even my eyes. Each breath felt like flames dancing inside me. My fists clenched so tightly that my nails cut into my palms and blood dripped to the floor. My body hair stood on end— and amid the searing heat, memories began to surge forth.

Not mine— but those of the blade’s former owner.

『There is no paradise where you run.』

『That belief guided my entire life.』

***

There is no paradise where you run.

That belief guided my entire life.

“Beric!”

My mother gave birth to me under the blazing sun, on the vast plains bordering the Sky Mountains.

She was a brave Orc warrior who wished that her child’s first sound would not be a cry of pain.

So she gave birth without a midwife, sweating and biting her lip, smiling when she first laid eyes on me.

“Beric, my son.”

My mother wanted me to become a courageous warrior— the dream of all Orc mothers.

She endured her pain without a scream, greeting me with laughter instead. It was a noble act. But nature was cruel. Whether because of her age, the harsh environment, or simple fate— my mother passed away not long after giving me life, returning to the ancestors.

“It’s all right, Beric. She will always be with us.”

The shaman’s words at the funeral brought me no comfort.

If I could no longer hold her, eat with her, or hear her say she loved me— how could she still be “with me”? As the others danced around the fire, I felt only confusion.

I questioned everything—when my brothers fell in battle against the beasts of the plains, when my friends challenged imperial knights and returned decapitated.

Despite the pain my mother had endured to bring me into the world, I was a cowardly Orc.

I feared death. I lacked courage. And an Orc without courage… was no Orc at all.

“Beric! Again, you— tch!”

An Orc should never question.

A warrior must face even the mightiest foe head-on and accept death with dignity. To protect one’s kin, an Orc must be willing to defy the world itself.

But I couldn’t. So everyone called me “Coward Beric.”

“Ran away again, did you, Beric?”

I fled before a giant wolf.

I trembled before a stone-skinned giant.

When my friends fell to an imperial knight, I bowed my head in silence, too afraid to avenge them. Because I feared death.

Once, I asked my father: “Father! Are you not afraid of death?”

He was a mighty warrior, respected by all. Since my youth, his broad back had seemed immense, unbreakable. Even his fanged smile was magnificent.

After I asked, I braced myself to be scolded, or shamed as a disgrace. But he didn’t do that.

“I fear death as well, Beric.”

He spoke kindly.

“They say we return to our ancestors, but who truly knows what lies beyond? Being pierced by a spear hurts. When I catch a fever and cough all day, it’s miserable.

If such small pains hurt so much, how terrible must death be? When I face monsters or knights in armor, I feel fear— fear that I might lose.”

He whispered words he would never have said before others.

“So I understand your fear, my son.”

That honesty made him seem even greater that day.

“But even so, we must not run.”

“Why not?”

“Because there is no paradise where you run.”

His heavy words struck straight into my heart.

“Even if monstrous foes appear before you, even if endless armies come, even if thunder and lightning rain down— there are moments when you must not flee.”

“……”

“Because only then can you protect those precious lives behind you.”

His eyes shone clear and blue— like the boundless sky above the plains.

“You’ll understand someday. You are a fine Orc, my son.”

“……”

“Until then, you may hide behind me. I fight in front so that you can. So don’t be ashamed, my treasure.”

And with those words, my father took up his axe. His stride was bold and proud— his back broad and strong as ever.

I never forgot that sight.

That night, he died defending the plains from a Monster Wave.

That was the last time I saw his back.

It was a night of thunder. Many had fallen, and the funeral was grand. After the rites, I sought out the weary shaman. Amid the roaring storm, he looked at me with a strange smile.

“What is it, coward?”

At that moment, my father’s words echoed in my head.

“I… I want to undergo the coming-of-age ceremony!”

There is no paradise where you run.

“I’ll fight! I’ll take up the axe— at the front line!”

There was no longer a strong back to hide behind.

“Just like Father!”

A boy cannot remain a boy forever. You can’t run forever. When childhood ends, you must step into the world— even if it terrifies you.

“So, you’ve finally become an adult.”

That stormy night, I completed my coming-of-age. Within me was inherited the soul of the greatest warrior I knew— my father.

“You are a warrior now, Coward Beric.”

As the years passed, my body grew astonishingly large. The strength passed down from my parents never stopped expanding.

I became larger and stronger than most Orcs, my mighty frame fit to protect my kin at the front lines. And so, I wielded a weapon suited to that body— a colossal sword.

Thicker and heavier than any on the battlefield, it was a blade forged from the will never to flee.

To stand firm, even beneath crashing waves and lightning.

My Wild Instinct.

In time, my kin came to call me Beric the Great Warrior.

And then, once again, a Monster Wave struck.

***

“Hm.”

After following the Little Gladiator, Arhan, to the village, Seol Yoon’s daily routine had remained simple. Wake at dawn, stretch, jog, then train with the sword.

There were no amusements here— and Seol Yoon had never needed any. Her whole life revolved around the sword. But today, during her routine, her gaze kept wandering toward the mansion on the hill.

It had been three days since Arhan returned from his journey— yet he hadn’t stepped outside even once. No training, no appearances. Nothing.

“Something happened?”

Though indifferent by nature, even Seol Yoon could worry.

After all, he’d fallen ill for days after his duel as Fetel’s proxy warrior.

He was fragile— glass-boned, almost.

Traveling like that… he could’ve easily caught a fever.

‘It’s bothering me.’

She couldn’t ignore someone who might be hurt. Not out of politeness, but because of her own scars— remnants of her past. Eventually, she decided to check on him herself.

And then—“Hu… huu—”

Seol Yoon froze at the sight before her.

“What… are you?”

“Ah, Lady Seol. What brings you here? Did something happen?”

“Well… you hadn’t come out for three days.”

“It’s already been that long? You must’ve been worried. As you can see, I’ve been… focused on training.”

The boy she once knew was gone.

“My apologies. I got completely absorbed.”

Arhan now stood taller than Seol Yoon. His shoulders had broadened, his frame dense with tightly knit muscle fibers— as if he had skipped adolescence and stepped straight into adulthood. His body looked like that of a seasoned warrior who had faced countless battles— forged of steel itself.

“I’ll explain everything later. Right now, I can’t waste even a single minute.”

The boy had become a man.

***

「Name: Wild Instinct」

「A massive, heavy greatsword once wielded by the Orc Great Warrior, Beric.」

「So large and weighty that few can even lift it.」

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「Ingestion Effect」

「Acquire Beric’s swordsmanship and warrior’s physique.」

「Your body will be reforged to match the great warrior’s swordsmanship.」

「Current physical capacity far below that of the original wielder.」

「Reforging process will proceed intensely to ensure proper digestion.」

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「The body that carries Steel Blood grows stronger with every strike.」

「While digestion proceeds, continue striking your body without rest.」