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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: The One Who Sharpens Names (2)
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"...Hoo, haa."
Rough breaths escaped his lips, his face flushed beet red. His broad shoulders and thick forearms twitched uncontrollably, while sweat poured down his forehead like a sudden downpour.
No one could look at Kadim and call his condition normal.
"Wh-what's wrong, my lord! Ah, no, a man who can tear demons apart, how did you end up like th... Ah!"
Duncan had a hunch. He rushed over to Kadim and checked the area just above his chest, where a dry cloth was wrapped.
It was just as he feared.
When he peeled back the cloth, thick pus oozed out from the hole. The inside was festering badly, on the verge of rotting away completely. It was the wound from the paladin's spear earlier.
'Ugh...'
Duncan barely held back his urge to vomit.
"Why didn't you say anything until it got this bad! We shouldn't have moved out today after all. You needed a few more days to recover in the village..."
"...Haa, haa."
Kadim slowly shook his head.
A few more days of rest wouldn't have healed a wound like that. It seemed that 'holy spear' carried a blessing deadly to demons.
'Damn it, I should've realized sooner...'
Such blessings had no effect on humans, of course. But Kadim was the exception. As a berserker who drew power from demon blood, he could be affected briefly after consuming it.
Oblivious to the truth, Duncan offered misguided advice.
"M-my lord! What if you... drank some of that demon blood? I'm not sure, but it seemed to fill you with vigor whenever you did..."
"..."
The very thing that had made him this sick, and he wanted him to drink more? It was like telling a tuberculosis patient to light up a cigarette. Kadim tried to scoff, but it came out as violent coughing instead.
Still, it wasn't as if he had no way out of this crisis.
'Probably by tonight...'
Kadim fixed his bloodshot eyes on Duncan.
"Hoo, listen... What did the moon look like last night?"
"Y-yes?"
"The moon's phase. Haa... Was it a complete new moon?"
"Uh... Yeah, I think so."
"Then... Untie the knife from my belt first, haa, and set it beside me."
Kadim's unique trait wasn't just Blood Berserker.
There was another one he could activate on nights when the moon was fully hidden, amid the starry haze of midnight.
If he could use that, he might just pull through this crisis.
The problem was...
'...Damn it, I have to stay conscious until then.'
The time was dusk, when clouds were soaked in deep crimson. Midnight was still hours away. It felt like it would be an eternity of bitter endurance.
He forced down the porridge Duncan had brought to regain his strength, but stomach acid surged up, and he vomited it all back out. All that remained was the nauseating twist of his guts and a dizzying shake to his vision.
As a stopgap, Kadim pinched his thigh to stay alert. Soon, it was covered in bruises. Duncan paced anxiously, stealing glances at the barbarian.
How much time passed like that?
Finally, the sun set, and night deepened. It was almost time now. Kadim gripped the knife hilt in one hand and his thigh in the other, gasping for breath.
But the world was no gentle cradle to soothe weary travelers.
The dark forest bared its fangs.
– Awoooo...
– ...Woooooo!!!
– ...Yap, yap yap!
– Grrr, yap yap!
Eerie howls echoed from afar at first, then closed in quickly. There were more than one or two. A murderous presence encircled the campsite.
"M-my lord, th-this sound..."
Duncan's face went pale as he trembled. He looked more like a patient than Kadim now—and truthfully, closer to death.
"Haa... Hide behind the campfire, merchant."
"Y-yes? B-but, my lord, you're in no state to..."
"Then, haa, you'll fight... those monsters?"
Duncan scurried behind the fire without a word.
Kadim gave a wry smile. Even in this state, he had no choice but to fight. He used his sword tip as a crutch to barely haul himself up.
'Damn mutts... Couldn't you visit a sick man a little later...'
Glowing blue eyes flashed through the thick underbrush. Ferocious beasts with fur stiff as steel bristled.
– Yap, yap yap!
– Grrr, yap yap!
A pack of blade wolves descended on the campsite.
Kadim's hand went to his thigh. Reflexively, he yanked out a hand axe and hurled it. The blade gleamed in the firelight before vanishing into the night.
Whoosh—thunk!
– Yip yip!
It struck the lead wolf's foreleg. The beast lost balance and tumbled. Kadim seized the opening, driving his sword tip into its nape. The blade wolf convulsed, paws twitching, then went still.
He'd taken one down easily, but Kadim's expression remained grim.
'Damn, I aimed for its brow, not the leg... Vision's shaking too much... Can't aim straight.'
In his condition, he had no confidence in a proper fight. One or two he could handle, but there were too many.
More wolves charged, heedless of his plight.
– Grrrrr!
Crack!
– Kyang!
He clenched his fist and smashed the lower jaw of one timed perfectly. Its neck snapped from the impact, and it flipped belly-up, never to rise. Kadim dispatched two more the same way in quick succession.
But in that moment, a wolf snuck up from behind and chomped his calf.
"Gh!"
Squelch!
– Gek!
He immediately bashed its skull with his sword, so the wound wasn't deep. The problem was his already awkward movements grew even worse. A shadow of worry crossed the barbarian warrior's face.
"Eek! G-get away! Shoo!"
– Grr, grrrr...
– Grrrr...
And now Duncan was surrounded too. He swung a glowing stick desperately, but it wouldn't last. Any gap, and they'd tear into him.
Becoming wolf chow alongside the merchant was only a matter of time.
"..."
Kadim's hand finally went to his belt.
He uncapped the canteen, releasing a fishy stench. In his state, it was like poison, but he had no choice. Better than dying right now, at least.
The barbarian warrior gulped down the demon blood.
– Grk? Grrrr...
– Yap, yap yap!
– Grrrr...
The blade wolves sensed the threat with their beastly instincts.
No time to bother with the scrawny human behind the fire. The wolves encircled the hulking man whose aura had shifted.
– Yap, yap!
– Grrrr, yap yap!
The pack leader barked the order to attack. Silver beasts bared fangs and charged as one.
But Kadim was no longer the sick man who couldn't even throw an axe straight.
Slash—crunch!
A blade cleaved through the air like lightning.
The wolves couldn't even comprehend what happened. They didn't see the motion—only the result: one wolf with its head split open.
His crimson eyes locked on the pack. Kadim kicked the bisected head aside and murmured dryly.
"...Dogs that bite people deserve to die."
– Grr, yap yap!
– Yap yap!
He decided to personally teach these unruly mutts some manners.
– Yap yap! Grr, yap...
Thud!
– ...Yip!
He hurled his hand axe into the noisiest one's crown. Then he gripped his sword and charged the pack. He severed one wolf's neck entirely and pierced the gut of the next in a single stroke.
Squelch!
– Kyeng, kyeng kyeng!
A whirlwind of blood, flashing blade slicing tough hide and burrowing into flesh. Arterial spray and ruptured organs spilled out. No time for the blood on the blade to dry.
The wolves fought back too. But their claws and fangs never connected. Kadim dodged with exquisite precision, weaving swiftly into their midst. Movements too fast even for animal senses to track.
– Kyeng, kyeng!
– Yip, yip...
In the end, the pack tucked tails and fled as one. Kadim wiped the blood droplet from his cheek.
'Hoo... That demon bastard was annoyingly nimble, and sure enough, this is the effect...'
The Blood Berserker buff varied by the demon blood consumed. This time, it was likely 'Agility Boost'. Thanks to it, Kadim forgot even his leg wound and moved with superhuman speed.
Unfortunately, it was an effect that burned bright but brief, like a candle flame.
"Hahk, ugh..."
As the bloodlust faded, even worse agony burrowed under his shoulders. Like pouring boiling metal into his festering wound and stabbing iron spikes into his flesh walls. Pain no human could endure. Kadim's shoulders shook as he crumpled to the ground.
It was all too predictable. After suffering so much from demon blood before, drinking more? If not for his hardy barbarian physique, he'd have gone into shock and died already.
– Grrr...?
– Grr, grrr...
Blue eyes gleamed again from behind a tree trunk. The wolves sprang forth once more. The merchant clung to Kadim's shoulder in terror.
"M-my lord! My lord! Are you okay? Y-you have to snap out of it! Uh, uh? B-behind you, behind!"
The other wolves flattened ears and parted. The pack leader, who had watched the fight, stepped forward.
– Grrrr...
Twice the size of a normal blade wolf. Its enraged howl could sap the will from even the boldest. Jagged fangs like saw teeth gleamed below its twisted snout. Anything caught in those would be severed clean, no matter how thick.
But Kadim wasn't worried.
On this night when the moon overlooking the world had fully vanished, his heart pounded like war drums, his eyes flashed with the twinkling stars.
Midnight had arrived.
The great warrior of Atala from the barren wilds beyond the mountains closed his eyes reverently and intoned.
"[Lord of myriad weapons who knows no defeat, Atala. Place your blade in my hand, bless this great warrior thirsting for struggle, quench my throat with the red blood of foes. On this night when eyes surveying the vast earth are hidden, by your bloodied name, I sharpen this blade]."
⟨ The One Who Sharpens Names ⟩
Hummm—
A brilliant red aura enveloped the blade. Crimson light scattered in all directions. The dark forest was dyed like a battlefield aflame. Even the monsters froze, momentarily forgetting their savagery in the overwhelming presence.
Kadim's second unique trait, The One Who Sharpens Names.
A trait that borrowed Atala's power to bestow a 'name' on a nameless weapon, granting it a special effect befitting that 'name'.
In the game, it was utterly worthless. Rare items with stacked effects were easy to obtain, and you could enchant special effects yourself.
But not here.
In this game world turned real, even sturdy normal weapons were hard to come by, let alone rares. Being able to add special effects without materials was a huge boon. Without it, he never would've survived the resource-scarce early first playthrough.
Somehow, he'd endured until the required condition: 'midnight on a moonless night'.
Now, to decide what 'name' and 'special effect' to grant this sword.
"..."
He'd originally planned for 'self-healing'. Until recently, that would've sufficed. But now his body was too far gone for weak regeneration.
⚙ ATALA'S VOICE ⚙ [What 'name' will you bestow upon this blade?]
Not a voice, but a clear inner resonance spreading through him. He'd felt it in the first playthrough, so it was familiar.
Kadim chose the weapon's name. Only that effect could save him now.
"Mosquito."
⚙ ATALA'S VOICE ⚙ [...]
"I name this blade 'Mosquito'."
Hummmm—!
The sword gleefully accepted its new name and resonated.
The dispersed red energy compressed and was sucked into the blade. The worm-like glow solidified into crimson runes on the steel.
...Unreadable ancient script, but surely meaning 'Mosquito'.
The reason Kadim chose that name was simple. Only that special effect was guaranteed with it.
He tested the new power.
– Grrrr...
Slash—!
The arc stretched toward the thick nape. The pack leader dodged hastily, but Kadim's swing was faster. It grazed the hide lightly, a single droplet of blood welling along the edge.
The blade greedily absorbed it and offered it to its wielder.
Smoke rose faintly from Kadim's skin as the wound healed ever so slightly.
"Hoo..."
Vampiric.
A special effect restoring life force with every hit dealt.
"Now I might actually live."
– Grk, grrr...
"...Still a long way off, though."
The berserker's lips curved like a new moon.
A smile thirsting for more blood.