Chapter 24
10 min read ·
The New Master of the Snowy Mountains
The Gelu Drake's neck vertebrae lay fully exposed through the wound Kai had cut. Piercing its hide with my bare hands was difficult, but with a Strength stat of 22, I could easily tear out its already half-severed neck bones.
CRAAACK!!
The sound of bones snapping rang out—quite literally. The Gelu Drake struggled, but its strength was already spent. Having even used Ice Breath, its last line of defense, it could offer only the feeblest resistance.
I kept pulling, wrenching out its neck vertebrae. Only when the connected section of its spine came out with them did the Gelu Drake finally topple.
THOOOM!
Its massive body sank into the mountain snow, sending a tremendous tremor through the ground. Almost simultaneously, a series of translucent messages appeared before my eyes.
◆You have slain the Gelu Drake!
◆You have gained 8,180 combat experience!
◆You have leveled up!
◆You have leveled up!
◆You have leveled up!
That meant the Gelu Drake was dead for certain.
"Haa...!!"
Only then could I relax. As the tension left me all at once, so did every ounce of strength. Even though Regeneration[B-] had repaired my damaged body, I had no energy whatsoever.
I flopped onto my back atop the Gelu Drake's carcass and checked the messages. But... that experience reward was extraordinary.
None of the monsters I'd hunted so far had given more than 200 experience. An ice troll gave 120, a Dermexus 200, and Alacrons and Rexes gave 100 and 80, respectively.
Yet the Gelu Drake had given a whopping 8,180. And that was for killing just one.
That alone made it clear that the Gelu Drake was a monster I should never have been able to hunt at my current strength. It wasn't called the master of the snowy mountains for nothing.
I'd truly almost died this time.
As I panted, equal parts relieved and elated, another set of translucent messages appeared before my eyes.
◆You have cleared the Sudden Quest [Think You're So Strong?! Follow Me to the Snowy Mountains!]!
◆You have gained 16,500 quest experience!
◆You have leveled up!
◆You have leveled up!
◆You have leveled up!
◆You have leveled up!
◆You have leveled up!
Clearing the Sudden Quest triggered by my encounter with the Gelu Drake had given me an enormous number of levels as well. There were too many notifications to check individually, so I went straight to 「Player Information」.
==「Player Information」==
[Name] = Adrian Whitewolf
[Level] = Level 21
[HP] = 26
[MP] = 0
[Stats] = Strength:22 Agility:8 Stamina:15 Mana:1
[Experience] = 22.8%
<Additional Stat Points +8>
Over the past two weeks, I'd sacrificed sleep and battled the cold to hunt, and all I'd managed was five levels. That had put me at level 13 before the Gelu Drake hunt.
Yet taking down this single Gelu Drake had earned me eight levels. I was now level 21.
And experience wasn't the Sudden Quest's only reward.
◆M-my goodness!!!!!!!!
A stream of thoroughly overexcited messages appeared before my eyes.
◆You stood your ground instead of fleeing and seized victory!!!
◆And against the Gelu Drake, the master of the snowy mountains, no less!!!
◆Oh my goodness!! Oh, what do I do!!!
◆This achievement is beyond amazing—it's staggering! I'm hopping this way! Hopping that way!
◆My jaw is dropping all on its own!!!
◆As a reward, you receive 'Title - <Master of the Snowy Mountains>'!!!
'A title?'
The title <Master of the Snowy Mountains> had been awarded for the Sudden Quest. As if reading the question in my mind, another stream of translucent messages soon appeared before me.
* * *
A [Title] is an honor bestowed upon a [Player] who accomplishes a great feat bordering on the impossible.
The difficulty of obtaining a [Title] varies enormously depending on how impossible the feat is. Some [Titles] possess effects that increase the player's stats or values such as attack and defense. The easier a title is to obtain, the weaker its effects.
For example, a title such as <I Knew My Luck Was Too Good Today>, awarded to a [Player] killed by lightning in the field, is purely honorary and grants no special abilities.
A [Player] may acquire and hold multiple [Titles] simultaneously, but may select only one whose effects will apply.
* * *
I thought I more or less understood how it worked. With that in mind, I checked the <Master of the Snowy Mountains> title I'd just earned.
==<Master of the Snowy Mountains>==
[Acquisition Requirement] - Defeat the Gelu Drake.
[Effect 1] - Terrifies all monsters inhabiting the snowy mountains. Terrified monsters suffer a 15% reduction in stats.
[Effect 2] - Increases all of the player's stats by +5.
The title's effects were... incredible. [Effect 2] in particular increased my stats by a total of 20 points. In other words, this one title alone was practically equivalent to a full twenty levels.
'Isn't this broken as fuck?'
It was so overpowered that the thought came unbidden. No wonder the quest had made such a fuss.
Just as I was marveling at the effects of <Master of the Snowy Mountains>, another message appeared.
◆You have cleared the Affinity Quest [Don't Get the Wrong Idea. This Alliance Is a One-Time Thing]!
The translucent message that suddenly appeared before my eyes announced the completion of Kai's Affinity Quest, which I'd had absolutely no intention of clearing.
◆Kai's affinity toward you rises significantly!
◆Kai's affinity toward you has entered the [Anger] state!
◆A person in the [Anger] state harbors negative feelings toward you.
◆This person disapproves of everything you say and do.
◆However, unless you do something out of the ordinary, these feelings will gradually subside over time, reaching the [Conflict] state.
◆You have gained 32,320 quest experience!
◆You have leveled up!
◆You have leveled up!
◆You have leveled up!
◆You have leveled up!
◆You have leveled up!
It spewed out a stream of messages all on its own, then handed me even more experience than I'd earned from hunting the Gelu Drake.
'What's this all of a sudden?'
Just as that question occurred to me...
"What in the world are you?"
Kai approached me with a meaningful look on his face.
* * *
Kai's mind was in utter turmoil. A jumbled, tangled mess—a veritable stew of confusion. The reason, of course, was Adrian. Specifically, the fact that Adrian had demonstrated enough combat prowess to stand against the Gelu Drake.
He was worlds apart from the Adrian Kai knew. Of course, what Kai had seen of him lately had made it clear that he'd changed somewhat. But that hadn't meant he could take on a Gelu Drake.
The Gelu Drake was a monster deemed impossible to subjugate. The only way to deal with it was to stay out of its territory.
Against this ruler of the north, even Kai could give himself only a thirty-percent chance of victory. Yet Adrian had held it off all on his own.
With his bare hands, no less.
That... should have been impossible.
Of course, unlike knights who used long weapons such as swords, there were those called martial artists who used their own bodies as weapons. Their combat prowess was by no means inferior to that of knights.
Fundamentally, they were people who studied and trained specifically to kill. They devoted ceaseless effort to systematically researching and refining more efficient ways to take lives.
At first glance, Adrian's fighting style resembled theirs. But martial artists also used aura. The human bodies they fought with were ill-suited to serve as weapons on their own.
That was why their use of aura had developed around strengthening their bodies. Bodies reinforced that way could readily withstand aura swords, and sometimes even shatter them. A martial artist who reached the rank of Master possessed physical combat abilities comparable to an ogre's.
Therefore, Adrian couldn't be called a martial artist. He couldn't wield aura. Forget aura—his talent for mana itself was practically zero.
Kai could say that with certainty because he'd seen it clearly with his own eyes. Adrian hadn't used any aura or mana whatsoever in his fight against the Gelu Drake. In other words, he'd faced it using nothing but his physical body.
And that wasn't all. The real reason for Kai's confusion was something else.
'How did he stop the Ice Breath...?'
Adrian had blocked Ice Breath single-handedly. Even Kai couldn't do that. He'd managed to stop an avalanche in these mountains, but he had no confidence he could stop Ice Breath. Even pushing his aura to its absolute limit wouldn't be enough.
Yet Adrian had done exactly that without using any aura at all.
"What in the world are you?"
Just who was Adrian, really? He was so different from the Adrian Kai knew. It was almost... as if he'd become someone else.
In particular, there had been his order to pull the soldiers back. Rather than sacrifice them, Adrian had volunteered to be the sacrifice himself.
CRUNCH!
Kai had even thought he'd abandoned him as bait and fled, but that hadn't been true either.
CRACK!
Even with his life on the line, Adrian hadn't run. And though it was difficult to admit... they'd worked perfectly in sync. Without a word, each had understood exactly what the other wanted.
CRACK, CRUNCH!
It was as though they'd been partners trusting each other with their backs for decades. Fighting the Gelu Drake alongside Adrian, Kai had even felt an inexplicable exhilaration.
CRACK!
Perhaps that was why he'd come to acknowledge him... just a little.
CRUNCH!
Not merely acknowledging that Adrian was no longer the wastrel of House Whitewolf, but accepting Adrian himself as a person, if only ever so slightly—
CRUNCH! CRACK!
"...?"
Kai's head tilted of its own accord. His swirling thoughts came to an abrupt halt.
CRUNCH!
That bizarre noise he'd been hearing for a while now... Kai slowly raised his eyes, but for some reason, Adrian was nowhere to be seen. He'd been right in front of him just moments ago.
Surely he hadn't shot up into the sky?
Of course not.
Then had he sunk into the ground?
Of course, that couldn't be—
CRUNCH! CRACK!
... Actually, that wasn't entirely wrong.
The bizarre noises were coming from the Gelu Drake. Each time another rang out, its body jolted. It wasn't alive. The Gelu Drake was most certainly dead.
Which meant...
"Surely not..."
Kai's face went slack. Just as a frantic chorus of surely not, surely not tore through his mind...
CRUNCH.
From inside the Gelu Drake's body came that sound, faint but unmistakable.
* * *
After calling out to me, Kai simply stood there blankly. His eyes were lowered a little, and he looked as though he was mulling something over. Apparently, he had something to say to me.
I didn't know what it was, but whatever it might be, I had no time to listen to that crap. The Gelu Drake's carcass was cooling rapidly. Once a heart lost all its vitality, I couldn't devour any genetic material from it.
I'd already wasted considerable time checking the quest rewards. If I delayed any longer, I might not be able to devour any genetic material at all. After everything I'd gone through to kill this Gelu Drake, how could I let it go to waste?
So I paid no attention to whatever Kai might be babbling about. I wasn't interested, either.
Unfortunately, my sword couldn't cut through the Gelu Drake's hide. An ordinary sword without aura couldn't even scratch it. I had no choice but to dig through its severed neck. I'd have to enter the Gelu Drake's body myself, find its heart, and pull it out.
CRACK, CRUNCH!
It was a full ten meters long. Just reaching the heart took ages. Still, the inside of its body was remarkably warm, proof that it hadn't been dead long.
With considerable effort, I burrowed my way into the chest where its heart lay. After all that trouble, I finally found it. Fortunately...
'It's still good.'
The heart's vitality hadn't faded completely. It was also in excellent condition, thanks to my desperate efforts to keep it intact. Without hesitation, I brought the Gelu Drake's heart to my mouth.
Then—
CRUNCH!
As I crushed the heart between my teeth...
◆Kai's affinity toward you plummets rapidly!!
All of a sudden, Kai's affinity nosedived into the abyss.
◆Kai's affinity toward you has entered the [Loathing] state!
◆A person in the [Loathing] state dislikes and detests you!
◆The [Loathing] state does not involve active aggression toward you, only a passive aversion and a desire to avoid your company.
Honestly. First one way, then the other.
'But it isn't Hatred?'
◆Well, isn't that a relief!!!