“Wow, what a bastard,” Zich grumbled.
‘Hah, my personality has really become better. I actually let a guy like that go.’
If it wasn’t for Snoc, who Sam cared for like a brother, and the troll that appeared at the right time, Zich would’ve broken a couple of Drew’s limbs by now.
Hans approached Zich and asked, “What’s their relationship?”
“An adventurer and a miner. They don’t seem to have much in common.”
“Snoc fantasizes adventurers. He probably followed Drew to learn a couple of things. I heard him address Drew as ‘Teacher.’”
“Good for him.”
“I’m not sure about that,” Zich said negatively.
‘There’s no way a guy like that will raise a disciple.’
Moreover, Zich had never heard about an adventurer raising a disciple. Adventurers were people who were too busy with their day-to-day tasks of surviving.
‘At best, he will be a luggage carrier, and at worst, a meat shield. If he is unlucky, he will be used for something worse.”
Most people would have lost interest by this point, thinking, ‘It’s his life,’ but Snoc was someone his friend Sam dearly cared for, so the matter concerned Zich a tiny bit—as much as an ant’s teardrop.
However, he didn’t think of doing something amazing for Snoc. It ended at the level of: ‘Maybe I should give Sam a heads-up?”
“B-By the way, thank you, sir.”
“Huh? About what?”
Hans thanked him out of nowhere, so Zich stared at him strangely. If Hans was spitting out words in a mentally dysfunctional state, Zich was willing to hit Hans on the head a couple of times to cure him.
“Didn’t you get angry because you heard him insulting me?”
Not only did Zich treat him much better than usual, but Zich got angry in his place. So Hans felt a tiny bit moved, but Zich smiled in response. Then Zich raised his hand and struck his head.
Slam!
“Ah!”
Hans grabbed onto his head.
“Who took your side? Of course, I got mad. He dared to insult my servant, which is the same as insulting the great me. Truthfully, you are a weak-ass.”
‘What did I expect…’ Hans grumbled inside his mind and held his head.
“But still, that adventurer was strong, right? He caught a troll so easily.”
To Hans, who was barely able to defeat a troll, the adventurer named Drew seemed powerful.
“What?”
Zich’s tone was full of displeasure.
“Who are you calling strong?”
“Sorry? You know the adventurer…”
Rustle! Rustle!
The bush swayed again.
“Huh? Did they come back?”
“No.”
Zich took out his sword again.
“They are monsters this time.”
Craack!
A thick branch broke off and fell to the ground, and five trolls waddled into view.
Hans’ face grew pale. Even one troll was frightening, but five was an unimaginable number. Even that impressive adventurer, Drew, had taken a long time to defeat one troll. In a situation like this, most people would have grabbed onto their bladder to stop themselves from peeing and run away as fast as they could.
Clang!
But Zich was different.
‘I’m still annoyed, so this is perfect!’
Zich was glad to have some stress relief.
Step!
Zich jumped off the floor.
Uuuuurrrrr!
The trolls shrieked at the human running towards them and raced towards Zich. It was easy to imagine a scene where five gigantic monsters surrounded Zich and smashed him into a juice pulp with their clubs. However, the result was the opposite.
Swing!
Zich swung his sword widely. His weapon was a longsword, but it looked like a thin, wooden stick compared to the troll’s immense body. Yet, the powerful mana that permeated the sword made up for the weapon’s limited size.
Slice! Slice!
The first two trolls split into two. A dead-straight, silver line bloomed out of the troll’s heart and sliced their body, arms, and even their clubs. Everything under his sword’s touch split.
Splaaaash!
Blood poured out of their wounds and sprayed onto their companions. The trolls faltered—they had never seen their companions split into two pieces instantly. On the other hand, Zich lowered his body to avoid the blood spray and continued moving.
Push!
He pierced the stomach of the troll closest to him. It would have been a fatal hit for a human, but it was a medium-sized wound for a troll. The troll simply scowled in pain and didn’t feel a great sense of danger towards its life. But of course, that didn’t last long.
Wing!
The mana from Zich’s body traveled through the sword and began to flow into the troll’s body aggressively.
Blop!
Like a pig’s bladder filled with water, the troll bloated in an instant. In the next moment—
Pop!
The troll’s body burst out. Its skin, blood, bone, and organs scattered all over the place. It was an extremely disgusting scene, but the disintegrated troll pieces that contained Zich’s mana were even nastier.
Glop! Glop! Glop! Glop!
The troll’s remains stuck to the remaining two trolls. The trolls’ regenerative powers activated from the remains, but the consecutive bomb attacks of the remains exceeded their powers. The trolls couldn’t even scream, and they fell to the ground with huge holes in their bodies.
“Hm!”
In a blink of an eye, Zich killed five trolls and turned his back away from the mess of troll blood and remains. Surprisingly, his body didn’t have a single scratch or a smear of blood. After sheathing his sword, Zich called out to Hans who had his mouth hanging wide open.
“Let’s go.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
Hans looked at Zich’s back from a good distance away and gulped his saliva back down.
‘The adventurer named Drew is strong, but Sir Zich is on another level.’
Zich took care of those scary trolls like they were trash on the road, and Hans shivered from witnessing his mighty power.
* * *
A night in Iruce Mine was dreary. In the daytime, miners’ hearty cheers and axing rang through the surroundings, but now, it seemed like ghosts would wail out of the mines. However, in this desolate and ominous place, moving figures made long shadows on the ground.
A faint light lit up the mine. Snoc had his shoulders hunched as he walked forward with a lamp. It was his first time entering the mine without his colleagues.
“W-Will this really be alright?” Snoc asked Drew who was following him from behind.
“What do you mean?”
“Going inside the mine at night is dangerous…”
“I thought I told you I got permission.”
“Y-Yes.”
Snoc closed his mouth, but he still felt anxious.
“What? Do you not believe me?”
“N-No! I believe it! I believe it!” Snoc answered out of nervousness. Then Drew stared at Snoc with a dissatisfied expression, but he spoke with more kindness than usual.
“I know you are nervous, but an adventurer doesn’t know when he will fall into danger. That’s why experience is most important. That’s why I keep bringing you along for my monster hunts. Being an adventurer is not just like the storybooks.”
Snoc nodded. Sam and Zich, who weren’t really adventurers, also said the same thing.
“It’s the same this time. All of this is for you. If we have a mine like this, we should utilize it since there are many dungeons in caves like this. You can get experience from this.”
“I understand.”
Drew had warned him about the dangers of an adventurer and helped prepare Snoc’s mind and heart. Snoc pushed down the doubts that were beginning to appear in his heart. Furthermore, Drew mentioned a dungeon—wasn’t that an adventurer’s dream? Snoc couldn’t calm his rapidly beating heart.
“Ok, then let’s continue moving.”
“Yes!”
Snoc walked the mine with slightly more energy than before. From behind, Drew made a secretive smile. They continued to walk inside the mine, and since Snoc knew his way inside the mine, they didn’t need to worry about getting lost.
Drew asked, “Are you continuing to train your mana?”
The first and only thing that Drew taught Snoc was how to open his mana.
“Yes, I stimulated my mana this morning too.”
“Try walking while activating your mana.”
“Sure.”
Snoc brought out his mana, but because he had just learned to control his mana, it was a tiny amount. Furthermore, if he didn’t concentrate enough, it broke off easily.
“Wah!”
Snoc was so focused on his mana flow that he didn’t notice a jagged stone and fell to the ground.
“Ughh!”
He scraped his knees, and blood flowed out. Still, Drew didn’t show any signs of concern and ordered him to continue walking. Thus, Snoc hesitantly got up and began to walk again. Then he fell to the ground once more and the cycle repeated. After walking a good distance, Snoc’s body was covered in bruises and scratches.
Bam!
“Ugh!”
Snoc tripped over a jagged rock again and barely maintained his balance. He breathed a sigh of relief and lifted his head, but his eyes became still at what he saw. In front of him, there was a new mine.
“What is it?”
“I-It’s nothing.”
Snoc hurriedly answered and lifted his body up. Then, he began walking again. However, he didn’t even glance at the new mine that just appeared, as if the place was prohibited.
“We are not going that way?”
Drew looked at the mine and asked. Snoc bit his lips and pretended to be calm; then he opened his mouth again.
“It collapsed, so it’s dangerous. We shouldn’t go in. We’d only see debris and wrecks there anyway.”
“Oh, is that right?”
Drew didn’t ask any more questions. However, even as he followed Snoc, his eyes remained on the collapsed mine. His eyes sparkled mysteriously.
“Ah!”
Once again, Snoc had made a wrong step. From his ears, Snoc heard Drew’s exasperated sighs. Not wanting to disappoint Drew, Snoc ignored the pain he felt all over his body and tried to get up again.
Koo.
Halt!
Snoc’s body froze when he heard an unfamiliar cry nearby. He quickly picked up his lantern and lit the area where he heard the noise. A small shadow was crouching in the corner of the mine.
Koo! Koo!
The small figure pointed his nose and sniffed at Snoc.
“Oh, it’s just a mole,” Snoc sighed in relief. However, this mole was strange. Most moles ran away at any sign of movement, but this one didn’t. Instead, the mole placed his nose on Snoc’s ankles and kept smelling it.
Koo!
The mole cried as he looked up. Snoc was also interested in the mole. However, Drew didn’t let him linger.
“What are you doing? Quickly move.”
“Yes!”
Snoc quickened his steps.
Thud! Thud!
Tap! Tap!
Matching the sound of Snoc’s footsteps, a small animal moved. Snoc looked below him and saw that the mole was following next to him. The mole had his head raised as if he wanted to meet his tiny eyes with Snoc’s, and the way he followed Snoc around was cute.
Bump!
Snoc pushed the mole away lightly with the edges of his feet. The mole twitched a bit and tottered behind Snoc again. Snoc bumped the mole away again, but the mole came back. He did it again, and the mole came back again. Snoc’s mind became occupied by their little game.
“What are you doing?”
He heard a chilly tone.
‘That’s right—I’m training right now!’
“I-I’m sorry! I will continue!”
Snoc gathered up his mana again and walked ahead. He couldn’t place his attention on the mole anymore.
Koo.
However, the mole continued to follow Snoc. As if the mole wasn’t even aware that he could get stepped on, the mole kept lingering around Snoc’s feet. And from behind, Drew watched the whole scene with a mischievous smile.