Chapter 40 : Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Digestion (3)

Even after I had completely devoured 「Wild Instinct」, my body still burned as if it had been thrown into a forge. Heat boiled through me, not the fever of sickness, but the blazing heat of molten metal.

There was no dizziness or headache.

Instead, an overwhelming urge filled my mind— a craving to move, to test every fiber of the dense muscle newly forged within me. I wanted to swing, strike, and fight like a berserk Orc.

Liam gave me the answer.

「You are being forged.」

“Forged?”

「Yes. Just as heated steel is hammered and tempered into a sharp blade, your body too is undergoing that process. The Steel Blood within you boils, reshaping itself to suit the sword you’ve consumed.」

Forging.

Yes, if my body were a weapon, it would be the perfect term.

「This is the process of becoming true Steel, my young descendant.」

I looked at Liam and asked,

“What should I do, Master?”

「Do not ask me.」

“Then what?”

「Do as your body commands. Follow your Wild Instinct.」

Liam gave me a faint glance.

「Do not rest, not for a single breath. Move until you feel you’ll break. Drive your body until your lungs scream and your heart feels ready to burst.」

“……”

「Do not stop until the heat dies down. While your flesh is still aflame, your weak body will grow at an astonishing rate. Do not waste this rare moment.」

Thump, thump— my heartbeat echoed all the way to my head.

「The body that carries Steel Blood grows stronger the more it is struck, my young descendant.」

At those words, I gripped my sword. And began to move exactly as my body demanded.

***

Have you ever seen the process of a blade being forged to its limit? A piece of glowing iron bends with each strike of the hammer, then straightens again, over and over, until it is reborn as a hardened weapon.

That was what my body was experiencing. Like steel in the forge, even the smallest movement brought dramatic change. Time felt compressed— with a single swing, I could feel muscle weaving into place.

The grinding of bone echoed from within. My frame twisted, muscles tore, and agony flooded in as though my body were being dismantled. I wanted to scream but didn’t. Even the time it would take to write and cry out felt wasteful.

Even now, I could feel it— my body was evolving. That knowledge burned brightly in my mind.

This was different from the empty days before I met Liam. Pain that could shatter body or soul was nothing compared to the despair of losing everything— compared to the hollowness I’d once felt when I failed my revenge.

『Even before waves of countless foes, I could not retreat.』

『Not because I was unafraid of death—』

『But because there were too many precious things behind me to abandon.』

I moved as the sword commanded.

Even when it felt like my arms would rip apart, I swung.

I thrashed like a beast driven by instinct.

It felt as though I were dancing within flames— and yet I refused to stop. To stop meant the end of my ascension. I could not allow that. If there was even the slightest chance to become stronger, I would throw myself into the fire without hesitation.

『For those I must protect, I cannot run.』

『I must move forward.』

『Because only by fighting can one seize what they desire.』

I twisted my waist, gripped the sword with both hands, and swung. My hair whipped through the air, sweat flew like sparks, and in that fleeting instant, the sword’s memories flashed before my eyes— a dusty plain beneath a wild sky, an endless tide of enemies, and an Orc Great Warrior, Beric, charging forward with his enormous blade.

He did not flee from impossible battles. His fierce face burned vividly within me. I could feel the heat that had once filled his heart and his flesh. For that brief moment, it was as though his spirit had merged with my body. The pounding of my heart— every beat echoed with the strength of the Great Warrior Beric.

『I still remember my father’s words.』

At that moment, I was no longer a boy. I was an Orc warrior. As I swung the heavy sword, steam burst from my body. Sweat poured down in thick drops, and beyond the rising mist, a clear mirror shimmered into view.

Through the steam, my reflection no longer resembled the boy I once knew.

『There is no paradise where you run.』

And thus, my sword had reached the end of its boyhood.

***

The first change I noticed— my height. My eyes now looked down on the world from far above.

“Looks like I’ll need new clothes.”

「Good. Those old ones made you look like a backwater farmer anyway.」

“……”

None of my old clothes fit anymore. While searching for something wearable, I caught a whiff of the stench clinging to my body— the result of days spent moving and sweating without rest.

I stepped into the bath and let the hot water wash over me. With my eyes closed, I scrubbed away the grime and exhaustion, and a refreshing clarity filled me. When I stepped out and dried off, I reached into the closet and found my father’s clothes.

They were larger, built for a man far broader than I had been.

Now, they fit perfectly. As I slipped on the slightly tight shirt, a faint, nostalgic scent reached me— a smell that stirred memories.

Memories of my father placing me on his knee, telling stories with a boyish smile. The image flickered briefly before fading. After that brief moment of longing, I gathered my sword and stepped outside.

Sunlight bathed the yard.

Seol Yoon was there, holding a wooden sword.

When she saw me, her eyes widened for a moment, as if entranced. Then, realizing I’d caught her staring, she quickly turned away, her cheeks slightly flushed.

“You finally came out.”

“Yes. Have you been waiting long?”

“Not really.”

Her tone was awkward— different from before.

I noticed the change but decided to speak first.

“Ah, I suppose I’ve changed quite a bit. To explain this—”

“No. Don’t explain. I prefer conversations through the sword.”

She gripped her wooden blade tightly.

“Tell me later— with that. I think that’ll be enough to answer.”

“If that’s what you want.”

That was fine by me.

Words often failed where blades spoke clearly— especially with someone like her. Besides, sparring with Seol Yoon was always valuable. She was a genius. And right now, there was another matter to settle.

“By the way, has anything happened while I was inside?”

“What do you mean?”

“That child who came before— did they return? Or any suspicious magicians appear?”

The pitiful orphan, suspected servant of the black magician, had promised to come back. And magicians— especially those kinds— never made idle threats. History proved it. Those who held supernatural power always repaid grudges, no matter how small.

“No one’s come. Not yet.”

Good. I wasn’t too late.

「A sluggish one, that magician.」

Liam smirked faintly.

「Let’s head out beyond the village, my young descendant. Don’t you want to test that new body of yours?」

For once, I agreed entirely.

Power coursed through my new limbs like surging rivers. Though the fever had cooled, my heart still beat wildly. I wanted— no, needed— to swing this strength.

Desperately.

***

As Liam suggested, I went to the village outskirts. Since I had buried the Guardian Stones, no more black energy lingered within the estate. But outside the boundary— beyond the buried stones— the air was thick with dark, malignant presence.

「So it’s not that the magician’s sluggish— they simply couldn’t get through.」

“Seems the stones worked.”

「Didn’t I tell you they were fine gifts, my young descendant?」

Apparently, the black magician who had approached my land wasn’t ready to give up.

I decided to check each site where I had buried the Guardian Stones.

“Something about this place feels… wrong.”

Perhaps because the black aura was thicker now, even Seol Yoon looked uncomfortable.

She drew her sword and held it ready as we walked.

Then—“What’s that?”

In the distance, someone was moving oddly.

A small figure. A child, in filthy rags, dirt clinging to her face— the same pitiful appearance seen often in the slums.

The child was muttering frantically, digging into the dirt with bare hands. When I saw where she was digging, realization hit.

“Could it be—”

“Yes. The same child from before.”

Just as I suspected. And the place where she was clawing at the earth—‘The Guardian Stone. She’s digging it up.’

I immediately understood.

‘The black magician sent her.’

There could be only one reason.

Their vile magic had been blocked by the Orc Elder’s Guardian Stones.

I frowned and started walking toward her.

She must have heard my footsteps, because she froze mid-dig and turned her head toward me.

Our eyes met— mine and the ragged child’s.

“A-ah…”

Her pupils trembled violently.

“D-don’t come. Don’t come near me. Don’t.”

Her muttering was faint but clear.

“Don’t come”? What did she mean?

Suspicion— that familiar instinct of mine— flared up.

I scattered my 「Paths」 in all directions.

The invisible threads spread outward, brushing the air— and from one of them, I sensed it.

‘Three presences. In the thicket ahead.’

Liam had once said my 「Paths」 were sharp with sensitivity— and he was right.

I shouted instantly.

“There are three unknown entities hiding ahead! Be careful!”

The brush rustled violently. And the intruders revealed themselves.

“What in—”

They were grotesque.

Not assassins with daggers, not knights in armor, not barbarian raiders— nothing so simple.

「It’s been a long time since I’ve seen those.」

They were towering— larger than my newly grown frame. Their crushed, uneven faces were sewn together with thick black stitches, their bare chests crisscrossed with crude seams like patched dolls. Veins bulged beneath stone-colored skin.

I felt it instantly— they weren’t human. In fact, they didn’t even feel alive in a natural sense.

Through my 「Paths」 came an alien pulse, something far removed from ordinary life.

Its wrongness stirred a primal unease.

Liam spoke.

「Golems. The ugly puppets made by magicians with too much time and too little taste.」

Before his words even faded, a flash burst beside me.

A swift, beautiful streak— Seol Yoon’s sword.

“Focus, Little Gladiator.”

Her strike hit the creature’s chest— fast, precise. But instead of a clean cut, a metallic clang rang out, like a blade on steel.

She instantly sensed something was off and leapt back.

“They’re tough. Like they’re wearing armor under their skin.”

Lowering her stance, Seol Yoon shifted her grip into one I hadn’t seen before— perhaps a technique she’d developed during solitary training here. I felt a fleeting curiosity— but now wasn’t the time for admiration.

「Golems are disgusting constructs— stitched together from pieces of beasts and men by depraved magicians. And yes, they’re hard. Very hard.」

“……”

「But they’re simple to deal with.」

I drew my sword.

「Break them apart. Like cracking an egg.」

At that moment, my 「Mana Heart」 throbbed— and power surged through my body.

「Perfect meat shields to test your new strength, my young descendant.」

This power— it was incomparable to anything I’d ever felt before.

“I’ll handle them.”

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