Chapter 141

There Cannot Be Two Suns Under Heaven (2)

What he had witnessed back then went beyond extraordinary into the downright bizarre. Their training defied even a dwarf's common sense, to the point that he doubted they were the same kind of living creatures as him.

First, there was the human man named Kai. His sword hand showed no hesitation, and his eyes, like blue opals, were cold and deep. His was the strength of a survivor, something only endless training and countless battlefields could forge.

Above all, there was the power he had displayed while supposedly training his aura. Even Brumbar could not confidently predict victory against him.

Then there was the human woman named Seraphia. She looked small and frail, and her stamina was pathetic. But the power dwelling within that little body was anything but insignificant.

He could not tell what it was. Yet instinct told him it was something even he would not dare approach.

And above all... Brumbar scanned his surroundings. There was one human missing.

"Adrian. That human is definitely stronger than I am."

"Huh? How do you...? D-don't tell me! Did you fight my brother?!"

Fortunately(?), Brumbar shook his head.

"The runesteel vein was eleven kilometers underground. That's why no one had discovered it. No one would ever have found it, either."

And yet...

"Adrian. That human dug a tunnel eleven kilometers deep himself and found it."

"My brother did?"

"Yes. And not just in one place. I found signs of tunnels he'd dug all over."

"... Oh! Oh, so that's why he was late."

Seraphia nodded as though she finally understood.

Kai considered this for a moment before speaking.

"And what of it?"

"Do you not understand what a tunnel eleven kilometers deep means?"

At that depth, it was far beyond mere mining.

"Even I couldn't do that."

"Not even you, Chief?!"

Brumbar nodded gravely. Jumping into an existing tunnel without equipment was manageable. Digging his way down himself was another matter entirely.

"It would be difficult even with the Arcanoheart's power."

In other words, it was a feat barely within reach even with every bit of technology the dwarves currently possessed. Yet Adrian had dug down there with his bare hands. No, even if he hadn't used his bare hands, the point remained.

"I don't need to trade blows with that human Adrian to know he's stronger than me. The earth doesn't lie."

That was why he had pleaded with him.

"Adrian. I thought that human might be able to take on an ogre."

"Oh."

Seraphia nodded. Kai, apparently satisfied as well, asked no further questions.

"But are ogres really that strong?"

"You must not know much about ogres."

If she did, she would never have said that.

"I've only read about them in books..."

"Human woman. Whatever you read probably had a fair amount of imagination mixed into it."

"Imagination?"

"No one has seen an ogre up close."

"Pardon...?"

"To be precise, no one has survived."

That was why ogres were called natural disasters and the strongest predators on land. Thus, the name prompted two kinds of reactions: curiosity from those who had never seen one, and terror from those who had seen one even at a distance.

But the emotion that had flashed through Adrian's eyes at the mention of an ogre was not curiosity. Nor was it terror or fear. It was exhilaration, or perhaps delight.

How many humans... no, how many living creatures could react that way at the mention of an ogre? Brumbar certainly couldn't.

On that note—

"Where is that human Adrian?"

He hadn't seen Adrian for some time.

"Oh! My brother is probably scouting the area."

"... Scouting the area?"

Brumbar tilted his head to the left.

* * *

Feractrum, the kingdom of the dwarves. A land long removed from humans, with rugged terrain that had no paved roads and was inaccessible even by carriage. In other words...

SKREEEEEECH!!

The route to Feractrum was full of "rare monsters" worth using Predation[S+] on.

An antlike body. A giant insect reaching two meters in length. Long feelers protruded from its head, and countless coarse bristles sprouted from its thorax and legs. Something like panels covered its back.

And Predatory Instincts[S] identified it as—

==<Entity Information>==

Entity: TremoAnt

Classification: Monster Kingdom, Class Insecta, Order Hymenoptera, Family Formicidae

Sex: Female

Age: 11 years

Traits: Vibrational Perception[B-]

TremoAnt. An ant that sensed vibrations, hence "Tremo-." Translated literally, a vibration ant. In short, a monster born from a mutation in an ant's ability to detect the vibrations of seismic waves.

◆Vibrational Perception[B-]

: Upon acquiring this skill, the player's [Merkel Cells] and [Pacinian Corpuscles] at the skin's surface develop to an extreme degree, enabling the detection of minute airborne vibrations. By analyzing vibrations at [Specific Frequencies], the player can detect enemies using [Stealth and Invisibility].

<This is a passive skill and takes permanent effect upon acquisition.>

Using this ability, TremoAnts constructed resonance networks and remembered their routes through their sense of vibration. That was why they had no eyes. Their vision had degenerated, in other words. They hunted blind, relying entirely on vibration and hearing.

TremoAnts detected their enemies' nerve signals to anticipate attacks, and even read heart rates to gauge their prey's condition. It was practically ESP.

What if I could make that ability mine? I could approach the state Ian had spoken of: Lumen Pax. The ultimate state in which mind and senses were perfectly aligned, allowing clear perception of an opponent and every aspect of the surrounding environment.

Of course, I couldn't reach Lumen Pax because I couldn't manipulate mana. But I could approach it through Spectrum Vision, a "biological Lumen Pax."

Vibrational Perception[B-] and Low-Light Vision[C]. These were the key abilities I could combine to create biological Lumen Pax.

◆Activating evolved skill, Slime Fluid[U]!

Friction vanished from my body, reducing the sound of my movements. TremoAnts detected vibrations and sound. By eliminating both, Slime Fluid[U] effectively served as Assimilation[B] against them.

SKREE?!

As expected, the TremoAnt was bewildered. The long, tentacle-like antennae on its head perked up and darted about, but it still struggled to locate me.

SKREEEEEECH!!

Then it let out a shrill cry. This was no ordinary shriek. The TremoAnt before me was eleven years old. Normally, they lived for one to three years. Only one kind could live for eleven: a queen.

The queen could vibrate her body at a particular frequency to summon her soldiers.

SKREE!! SKREEECH!!

SKREEEEEECH!!

Monstrous cries rang out from every direction. Soldier TremoAnts gathered in a seething mass in moments. They might not have been a legion, but they certainly qualified as a swarm.

'I was wondering when you'd call them.'

In fact, this was exactly what I'd hoped for. One queen alone would hardly be enough to evolve the ability to its fullest.

More importantly...

'This should build up quite a bit of Sanity.'

I needed to stockpile Sanity ahead of the showdown with the ogre.

... For some reason, I found myself missing that effortless, one-click Authority of Oblivion today.

'Maybe I should lock Blake up when I catch him.'

With that thought—

◆You have defeated a TremoAnt!

◆You have gained 40 combat experience!

I hunted down the TremoAnt swarms.

* * *

Several days passed as I continued conditioning my body and searching for rare monsters.

==「Player Information」==

[Name] = Adrian Whitewolf

[Title] = Master of the Snowy Mountains

[Level] = Level 109

[HP] = 11,985

[MP] = 0

[Sanity] = 527/? 0

[Stats] = Strength:104(+5) Agility:149.9(+24.9) Stamina:118.85(+19.85) Mana:11(+5)

[Experience] = 4.1%

Without the effects of my <Ruler of the North> Title, my overall stats were lower than they had been in the county. But my base stats had increased considerably. Through steady training, my base Strength and Stamina had both reached 99. That was equivalent to possessing the strength and stamina of ninety-nine adult men, but...

'They just won't go any higher than 99.'

I had been forcibly increasing my Agility stat with the stat points from I Alone Level Up[EX]. But I was raising Strength and Stamina through training alone.

'It'll be hard to increase Strength and Stamina any further through training alone.'

That could change once I used Predation[S+] on an ogre, though.

In any case, once I stopped training, our pace picked up. That allowed us to reach the vicinity of Feractrum, the dwarven kingdom, sooner.

"Wait here."

But perhaps because he couldn't reveal Feractrum's location to humans, Brumbar would only let us come this far.

"I'll be back soon."

With that, he left.

Well, since things had turned out this way, and I had no particular need to train my body, leaving and having something happen in my absence would only cause trouble.

'I'll practice Vibrational Perception.'

I decided to relax and wait.

* * *

Watching Brumbar stride away, Seraphia murmured inwardly,

'... What a shame.'

'I wanted to see where the dwarves live for myself...'

Her lips pushed out in an involuntary pout. But she couldn't throw a tantrum. Putting aside her disappointment, she looked for Adrian.

A barren, rocky mountain. Adrian was sitting at its summit. When had he climbed all the way up there? She couldn't make that climb to save her life.

Seraphia gazed up at the rocky mountain and sighed quietly.

'I wanted to spend some time with Brother...'

She would have to give up on that, too.

In the end, she plopped down on a nearby rock. Gently brushing back her windblown hair, she was enjoying a brief moment of leisure when—

"Count."

Kai approached cautiously. But there was something unusual about his expression. She had only a moment to wonder what was wrong.

"Forgive me for overstepping..."

He spoke quietly.

"I hear you received a marriage proposal from His Highness Leon."

"Oh...! Ah, um..."

Flustered, Seraphia kept averting her gaze. But she couldn't hide the bright red flush spreading across her face.

"W-well, you see..."

"Do you have feelings for His Highness Leon?"

"W-what...? That's—"

It happened at that very moment.

KABOOM!

From atop the rocky mountain, an explosion shot out in a straight line, tearing through the air.

* * *

HUMMMMM.

A strange vibration brushed my skin. The TremoAnt's ability, Vibrational Perception[B-]. It seemed the dwarves were coming.

But what Vibrational Perception[B-] picked up wasn't the dwarves themselves. It was a powerful biological wave. In other words, Dragon Fear.

'... Already?'

He'd said he'd be back soon, and he really meant it. I'd have been in serious trouble if I'd left.

A little while later, an enormous spherical structure came into view in the distance. Its overall form was a rounded sphere reminiscent of a heart. Three rings floated and rotated around it, while numerous conduits and connecting cables extended from the bottom of the core.

Streams of mana light flowed along the conduits. Each time the sphere pulsed, blue and red currents rose here and there, making it move as though it were alive.

'It's bigger than the one I saw in my previous life.'

Back then, it had been smaller and more sophisticated. This must have been a prototy—

That was when it happened.

RUMBLE.

Vibrational Perception[B-] picked up another sensation. But there was nothing else in sight. The Arcanoheart and the dozens of dwarves transporting it were all I could see from atop the rocky mountain.

Yet Vibrational Perception[B-] was definitely detecting something else.

RUMMMBLE.

And it was getting stronger?

I extended my senses farther.

'... Underground?'

RUMMMMMBLE!!

A tremendous shock wave was erupting underground. ... Something was charging straight toward the Arcanoheart. The distance was shrinking rapidly. There was no time to weigh my options.

◆Using derived skill, Dragon Burst[E]!

My left wrist burst as the released explosion instantly tore through space—

KABOOM!

The underground shock wave's trajectory abruptly veered off course. Then the ground swelled dramatically—

RUMMMMMBLE...!!

An enormous, bizarre creature emerged, shedding cascades of earth. True to its origins as a mutated whale, it was nearly twenty meters long.

The elephant was called the strongest animal. But this creature's overwhelming bulk seemed to prove that elephants held that title only because whales had retreated to the sea.

==<Entity Information>==

Entity: Ogre

Classification: Monster Kingdom, Class Mammalia, Order Artiodactyla, Family Neocetidae

Sex: Male

Age: 26 years

Traits: Impregnable[S-]

It was, quite literally, an impregnable living creature.

ROOOOOOOAR!!

The strongest predator on land: an ogre.