Chapter 3: The old man wields the divine sword.

We began our journey on our dependable Raptor carriage to the village of snow and ice, Kritarus. After passing through the road east of Grannel, we began heading towards the northern mountains. At our current pace, we would most likely arrive within five days, which was half the time a normal horse carriage would take.

As usual, I was on the horseman seat while Luna was sitting on my lap leaning her back onto my body.

[Yuuya, it’s starting to feel cold.] (Luna)

[You’re right. It’ll only get colder from here. Let’s stop by a store to get some winter clothing later.] (Yuuya)

Luna was much more forceful than usual in leaning her body onto mine.

It was already the second day since we left Grannel but the chilly northern winds have already started to blow as she swiftly moved her tail up from under her crotch and hugged it.

[It’s so fluffy and warm~.] (Luna)

That was extremely cute.

[That looks nice and warm.] (Yuuya)

[Uhn. In that case, Luna will share the warmth with Yuuya.] (Luna)

Just as she said that, she turned around with her tail in front of her and kept it between my stomach and her body before hugging me like a koala. While pressing her tail onto my body, her face was resting onto my shoulder.

[It’s warmer than I thought. Plus it’s really fluffy.] (Yuuya)

[Foxes are awesome. Because it’s Yuuya, Luna will share the fluffiness and warmth.] (Luna)

[Thank you for that. By the way, remember to put on your hoodie. It’ll keep your ears warm.] (Yuuya)

[Okay.] (Luna)

Luna was currently wearing Phil’s hand-tailored fox-hoodie. Since Luna’s ears were extremely sensitive, she prepared the hoodie for Luna to prevent sand and dust from affecting her ears. It also served well as a winter clothing.

[Now Luna is perfect.] (Luna)

She looked so strange that I smiled unintentionally.

[Now then, it’s time to pick up the pace otherwise we won’t make it by tomorrow.] (Yuuya)

In response to my thoughts, Raptor began to accelerate while letting out a loud cry.

Eventually, we began to overtake one carriage after another.

As expected, our Raptor carriage was just great.

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We arrived in an open field on one of the mountains and prepared to set up camp.

As I was taking out the tent from my bag, Phil began to prepare dinner by taking out her mobile cooking kit as usual.

[Oneechan, what are we having today?] (Til)

[Since we’ve been having nothing but meat recently, I’m thinking of preparing some seafood instead. Since we still have plenty of shrimp (Average), I’m going to be making shrimp pilaf for dinner.] (Phil)

Shrimp meat dropped in large chunks of meat that was clearly not from a shrimp however it’s taste was equally thick and rich. Just listening to Phil mention shrimp pilaf is making me hungry.

[Luna loves meat but shrimp is great too!] (Luna)

[Me too!] (Til)

[Truthfully, I have never tried eating shrimp meat. This will be my first time.] (Selene)

[Well it is quite unhealthy compared to standard dishes.] (Yuuya)

[That isn’t the case. The main reason is the geography of the land. Shrimp can only be obtained from the sea and because it is an ingredient that spoils quickly, it’s difficult to transport it all the way to the Laluzulu Kingdom. There weren’t any merchants who have a Magic Bag that were doing this either.] (Selene)

[Speaking of which, I’ve never eaten it either until I met Yuuya-niisan. My village was located in the middle of the mountains too.] (Selene)

This was the reason for the spike in the Magic Bag’s price. With the ability to transport fresh seafood deeper inland while retaining its quality, this would allow them to monopolise the distribution of seafood inland. The main problem wasn’t the lack of willing merchants, but the lack of ability to distribute.

[Now then, I can’t let everyone down tonight since it’s Selene’s first time after all.] (Phil)

[Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to it.] (Selene)

It’ll surely be an amazing dish since it’s Phil afterall.

Suddenly, Luna’s fox ears began to twitch.

[Uhn. Luna found something. Two hundred metres ahead, one monster. Feels like a deer. It’s walking slowly without making a sound.] (Luna)

Most monster’s detection abilities ranged were about fifty metres with some exceptions. In the case for Presence Detection, it will start moving once you enter its range. One characteristic that every monster with Presence Detection had, was their high level. This deer monster was likely one of them and a strong monster at that.

[It might be a natural monster, or a dungeon monster that strayed from its dungeon. Does anyone want to do a light exercise before dinner?] (Selene)

[Luna wants to go too!] (Luna)

[Of course, I will go too!] (Til)

I shook my head despite the duo’s enthusiasm.

[No, let me go alone this time.] (Yuuya)

[Yuuya-niisan, why would you be going alone.] (TIl)

[This blade is as sacred as it is cursed. There’s a rumor saying that once this blade is drawn, if it is returned to its scabbard without bathing in the blood of its enemies then the blade will bring about its owner’s downfall. Selene, how was this blade treated by the royal family?] (Yuuya)

[It was an ancient hero’s precious blade. A story was passed down about how the hero drew Dainsleif and defeated thousands of monsters in order to protect the Laluzulu Kingdom. However, nobody knows about it’s true ability. It’s been passed down to the best knights of the kingdom and returned once they retired or slain in combat. At the very least, none of the knights has been able to draw the blade in the past few hundred years. This was why the blade is just a testament to being the best knight of the kingdom. However, I believe that Yuuya-ojisama will be the one to draw the blade. If it is truly a blade capable of defeating over a thousand monsters, then it is a tremendous power boost if you could draw it.] (Selene)

The sacred blade Dainsleif was only a sword in name in the game. It was just displayed in the royal castle as an antique and cannot be obtained. However there were several rumors floating around it. In the library for the game, there were several written scriptures about the blade.

By sacrificing your life, you will obtain an undefeatable power.

Never draw the blade, lest you turn into a beast.

A blade that shines in blood, is nothing but a curse blade.

The blade was never available to the players, however several players managed to datamine the game files and discovered hidden data about the blade. Due to this, the player base was convinced that the blade would one day be available in a future event.

….The reason this sword was being treated as a divine sword was likely due to the flow of time. With the hero’s feat of destroying a horde of monsters, the details were forgotten over time and all that was left was the amazing feat of destroying a horde of monsters as well as the myth that no one would be capable of pulling the sword out of the sheath.

[In any case, It is entirely possible that I will lose my sanity drawing the blade and end up cutting everyone unintentionally. If my abilities were multiplied several-fold and I attacked any of you without hesitation, then are any of you confident of surviving that? You’re free to tag along if you are confident of doing so.] (Yuuya)

[…Impossible. Luna will die if Yuuya seriously attacked.] (Luna)

[It’s even more impossible for me you know!] (Til)

[Then both of you will stay here.] (Yuuya)

[But Luan doesn’t want you to try something so scary in the first place.] (Luna)

Luna pulled onto my sleeves with a worrisome look as I looked at her while stroking her head.

[Don’t worry about that. According to the legends, I’ll be able to sheathe the blade once it is soaked in blood. I’ll only draw the blade if I find the prey. Even though it’s dangerous, I can’t overlook the possibility that I might become stronger with this blade. Luna, I’m sure you understand what I’m trying to say.] (Yuuya)

[Luna understands but don’t overdo it.] (Luna)

[Of course I won’t.] (Yuuya)

This blade might end up being extremely valuable as insurance once I test it out since it could be our saving grace in a worst case scenario. I was confident that the blade would have been implemented in the game, so I am sure that there would be some way of using the blade effectively.

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After inquiring Luna about the monster’s location, I hung my black magic sword and Dainsleif on the sides of my waist and ran in its direction. Even if I appraised the item, in its sealed condition, only its name as well as its sealed state would be revealed.

I immediately sharpened my senses as I felt a wave of bloodlust crawl around my body.

Looking at the direction of the bloodthirst, I saw it. There was a monster hiding behind a gigantic tree.

Judging from it’s black mottle fur and level, this was a monster I was familiar with.

[It’s a Darkhorn Deer. A huge one.] (Yuuya)

It was level forty two and among the deer-type monsters, Darkhorn Deers was the strongest although it’s size wasn’t the largest. It mainly went after prey which stumbled into its range of Presence Detection and erasing its presence. The moment its prey shows an opening, it would rush forward with its horn while using Horn Crush, gouging its prey and finishing its prey in a single hit.

It also possessed exception attack power and agility making it an extremely dangerous monster. Parties that lacked a Thief capable of using Presence Detection often have accidental deaths due to this as it would be easy for a common person to walk past it unknowingly.

I expected the Darkhorn Deer to approach me as I proceeded into its range alone.

Utilising its overwhelming leg strength, it jumped from left to right so as to avoid being detected while closing the distance.

Three jumps until it was within my attack range.

It’s time to see if I possessed the qualification to pull the sword.

With my hand on the handle, I began to wiggle my finger as the blade slid out of the sheath smoothly without any sound.

It was a beautiful but ominous blade. Just like the black magic sword, it was a curved sword that specialises in cutting. However, it’s special feature was its red pattern engraved into its silver blade as if the blade possessed its own blood vessels.

Suddenly, its red pattern began to shine.

[GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!] (Yuuya)

Its bloodthirst overwhelmed me as I screamed in pain.

I hate it… I wan blood… I want to kill..

The red vessels in the blade began to extend to the handle and to my arms as negative emotions began to fill up my mind. Even though it felt like my mind was overtaken, I felt strangely conscious.

It was as if the fiery passion in my mind and my rational will was in perfect harmony.

My enemy suddenly approached me as it used its Horn Crush one step away from my range and approached me without any preliminary movement.

With my current status, I couldn’t dodge it at this distance as I adjusted my stance to deflect the attack.

However, rather than following my battle pattern, my body jumped to the side as it followed my natural instincts. As a result, I dodged an attack that shouldn’t be possible.

The Darkhorn Deer was a cowardly monster as it began to run the moment it realised it couldn’t win the battle. After it’s Horn Crush missed, it continued to run at full speed without losing any time. The Darkhorn Deer’s specialty was its agility and attack power, with both values being drastically higher than mine making it impossible to run after it.

However, my body didn’t listen to my voice of reason as I ran after the monster, quickly catching up to it. Then, a thrust utilising the full momentum of the rush sunk into the neck of the beast. The beast’s shriek echoed throughout the area as my wrists continued to turn rapidly, widening its wound.

[GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH] (Yuuya)

I let out a war cry as I felt my primal urges become stronger and stronger. Even though the enemy was killed and the blade was soaked in blood, the bloodthirst wasn’t dissipating at all.

As I let out the war cry, I saw small bird perched onto the tree branch as I kicked up the trunk of the tree and began running vertically towards the bird and swung my blade, slicing it into two. Immediately afterwards, I scanned my surroundings to look for the next life as I found a small mouse, jumping off the tree and thrusting my blade forward.

My body wasn’t listening to me at all.

I could reason and think as much as I wanted, but my body was dominated by my instincts, following the urge to take every single life around me.

This can’t go on, at this rate..

If the girls came to find me because I was late, they’ll all get killed.

No matter how hard I tried, all my willpower amounted to, was just grinding my back teeth…

But that alone was a matter of life or death.

Behind my molars was a special item that could recover any abnormal status effect, an Elixir.

As a solo adventurer, the moment you are inflicted with any status abnormality in a dungeon, whether it be paralysis, a curse, petrification etcetera, you will die without a doubt. In the event that occured, I prepared the Elixir behind my teeth and made its container easily chewable so that they could be ingested without any effort.

Just as that happened, the fiery heat in my body began to dissipate as the red vessels eroding my arms began to disappear and I began to regain control of my body.

Thankfully, my condition was considered an abnormality as I stabbed Dainsleif into the ground with all my strength.

[Just, what in the world is this.] (Yuuya)

I sat away from the blade which lost its ominous red glow standing in the ground.

[Sigh.] (Yuuya)

Suddenly, I heard a dull sound as my bones began to break and I began vomiting blood.

A sharp pain began to run through my body from my knees as I began to scramble around, quickly chugging down a recovery potion. Afterwards, I quickly took out the appraisal item from my magic bag and looked towards Dainsleif. Previously I couldn’t read any information besides the fact that it was sealed, but what about now?

[I see, so that’s what it was.] (Yuuya)

I finally understood the mystery that was Dainsleif.

Firstly, the reason why none of the knights before me from the Laluzulu Kingdom could unsheath it was because you required both high physical and magical stats in order to pull it out of its scabbard.

Putting aside the physical requirement, for knights whose profession resulted in a decrease in magic power, it was a value that they would never be able to reach unless they cleared the Tower of Trials and reached the upper level limit.

Secondly, Dainself itself had such a high performance that even god-tier equipment wouldn’t have the same raw stats that it had.

Lastly, it provided a special effect.

Status Infliction:Berserker.

All stats are tripled until every living thing in the area is destroyed. Condition will be removed once everything is killed. Once the effect ends, damage proportional to the duration of Berserker will be inflicted.

[It is practically useless… No one would use it even if it was implemented into the game..] (Yuuya)

Until all life in the vicinity is snuffed out, the user would continue to attempt to kill it with all of its strength regardless of its will. Just like before, I killed not only the monster, but even the birds and mice in the area. I’m glad that Luna or Til didn’t tag along as I’m sure that even your own allies would be designated as a target.

If that was the only downside, then solo players would use it but the backlash from the Berserker state wasn’t something to laugh at. Based on the damage I took earlier, it seems that I would take about one percent of my health in three seconds, which meant that it would be an instant death if it didn’t end within three hundred seconds. Furthermore, there was no way of surviving this damage by using a recovery item…

Although, tripling all stats was extremely attractive. Even magic enhancements couldn’t perform any buffs to this extent.

[… It may be a good thing if I never have to pull out Dainsleif. It’s far too unfriendly to use.] (Yuuya)

In exchange for a tremendous power boost, the blade can’t be put into its scabbard until it has shed sufficient blood. More specifically, in exchange for tripling your stats, the abnormal status will continue until all surrounding life is killed and the amount of backlash received is proportional to the duration of the condition.

As for its usage, the blade can only be used in a situation where everyone but me is annihilated. Or when everyone has escaped the vicinity with a Return Stone.

Both are equally difficult to think about.

[Looks like this will be the absolute last trump card. Until then, it’ll stay in my magic bag.] (Yuuya)

After making my decision, I put Dainsleif back into the bag and replaced it with my treasured longsword that I kept in my bag the entire time. Looking towards where the Darkhorn used to be, I saw its item drop, the Darkhorn. It was a popular ingredient for conducting medicine.

It’s about time for me to head back.

I’m hungry and I’m sure everyone is worried about me.

… After returning to camp, I told everyone that I couldn’t pull Dainsleif out of its scabbard. Even though she didn’t know anything, I’m sure that Selene would deeply regret gifting me such a dangerous item.

<End of Chapter>