Thud! Arad landed in the middle of the charred forest, staring around. ^I’m sure I sensed a faint hint of intelligence here.^
Considering how low the intelligence he sensed, Arad expected the adventurer to be dying. That’s one of the main reasons he came here first.
“Probably buried under the…” CRACK! As he mumbled, a palm smacked his face, sending him flying and shattering the burned trees.
BAM! Arad’s body stopped. His eyes glared forward, his vision a bit blurry. ^What was that?^ He gasped internally. He didn’t sense any intelligent creature around him, nor magic.
Thud! A large foot stepped on the ground where Arad stood before, a hand pulling on a tree as a massive three-meter-tall naked woman walked out.
After a careful look, Arad determined she wasn’t always naked. The flames burned her clothes off. She probably didn’t count on that before charging into the flames.
Arad stood, leaning on the tree, “That low intelligence, a barbarian,” He smiled.
The woman’s eyes glared at him, “Dora hit, Dora crush!” She growled and pulled the tree to use as a club.
Arad used his void eyes to inspect her body. He was wrong earlier. There is magic inside her body, but it’s hard linked to her heart.
“You got a magic crystal stuck inside your chest. Ever thought of taking that out?” Arad stood, taking a stance.
ROAR! The barbarian woman roared like a beast, veins emerging on her whole body. BAM! In the blink of an eye, her massive bulk disappeared.
“Hehe!” Arad giggled, seeing her foot almost at his face. ^She’s fast, but her attacks are simple,^ With a grin, he took the hit. His body spun in place, but he used that momentum to punch her in the guts.
“GRA!” She gasped, her body rolling back.
CRACK! Arad lunged forward, clenching his fist, “Come! Stand up!”
ROAR! The woman growled, standing up and swinging her fist at Arad’s face.
BAM! THUD! BAM! THUD! The two exchanged fists without even bothering to block or dodge, tanking each other’s hits like they were nothing.
Unlike Arad who remained almost unscathed thanks to his tough scales, the woman’s skin started to show purple patches from his fists. “Nice, I like this,” Arad smiled, catching her wrist and drilling her head to the ground with a round kick.
Arad stood, cracking his neck, “Finally unconscious,” with an exhausted face, he pulled a white blanket from his stomach and covered her body.
[Void Step] ZON!
Arad appeared back in the soldiers’ camp, dropping the barbarian woman in front of the healers’ tent. A nun who was walking out with a bowl of water dropped it, “Gura?!” She stared at the barbarian woman with a shocked face.
“I was trying to get her out of the forest, and she attacked me. Had to knock her out,” Arad scratched his head. Not only did he knock a bunch of B-rankers. He also knocked this one out.
“Forget that! I worked for the guild for ten years, long before she became an adventurer, but I never saw her in need of healing!”
“Really? But now that you mentioned it, the flames didn’t hurt her.” Arad looked at Gura, noticing the bruises on her body had faded.
“Well, it’s a long story.” The nun started casting a spell on Gura to heal her.
Gura’s mother was an adventurer, a fighter with exceptional power, and almost reached A-rank. But one day, she retired upon getting pregnant. Soon after the child was born, everyone knew that the father was a giant.
By the nature of her blood, Gura wasn’t that smart and almost only acted on instinct but had immense strength and grew to two meters tall by the age of five.
When she became an adult, the only job she could do reliably was work in the mines, helping haul magic crystals.
One day, a hoard of behirs attacked the mine, killing almost everyone there. As she tried to run, a bunch of crates filled with magic crystals crumbled and fell on her.
Seconds later, the crates shattered as Gura raged, a glowing crystal stuck to her chest. The mines only remember her tanking the behirs lighting attacks and swinging them around with her bare hands.
Arad stared at Gura. The shard in her chest absorbed magic and output as passive regeneration.
“A rare birth mixed with a freak accident created an A-rank adventurer.” Arad turned, “I still have to find the rest,”
[Void Step]
As Arad landed once again in the forest he looked around carefully. He can’t be as careless as with Gura. A-rankers can damage him with a solid hit, and considering they have a far vaster fighting experience. Thinking they might be able to take him out like what Alcott did isn’t that far-fetched.
“By the heavens, isn’t it Alcott,” A voice came from behind Arad, and he turned around, surprised.
^I can’t sense him at all, no magic, no faint breaths, and no aura. His mind must be as clear as the void itself,^ He glared. A wrinkled old man stared back at him, sitting on a charred tree, a katana in his hand.
“Got the wrong person,” Arad replied with a smile, “What’s with everyone mistaking us?”
The old man laughed, “Knowing you bastard, you probably drank something and got younger.” He jumped down, his body weaving with the katana in his hand.
“Been a while since we last fought. Want to see how much I improved?” The old man’s eyes closed.
“Don’t want to!” Arad gasped, “I’m not Alcott, and can I get you out of the forest? You’re injured, right?”
“Humph! That blast of earlier? Won’t get even a scratch from such a weak thing,” The old man growled. The crackling in his voice said otherwise. His lungs have sustained a lot of damage. Arad could smell blood in the air. The old man wouldn’t last without healing. ｂｏ𝚟𝚕.
“I can smell it,” Arad growled, “You’re bleeding into your lungs. Soon you will drown in your own blood,”
The old man giggled, looking down, “You couldn’t even play along. How arrogant have you become,”
“What?” Arad got even more confused. Did this man hit his head or something?
“I shall not die, not to magic,” The old man took a stance, and Arad got alert immediately.
^This old man! He knows he’s dying and wants to die in a fight. It wasn’t that far from dragon mentality. They much rather die in battle than of old age.^ Arad smiled, “Not, I’m taking you to the soldiers camp.”