Chapter 151

Threads of Fate (2)

The Frost Trial Grounds.

The training grounds where the soldiers of Whitewolf county received military instruction and training and conditioned their bodies. Until recently, they had consisted of little more than simple wooden structures erected on bare dirt. Now, however, they looked completely different.

The wooden posts and bars had been reinforced with steel. Massive stone walls surrounded the Frost Trial Grounds in place of wooden ones, and sturdy paving covered the dirt floor, designed to withstand powerful impacts.

The dwarves had given the Frost Trial Grounds new life.

BOOM!!

The tremendous crash shook the entire training grounds. Fine cracks spread here and there across the stone floor from the impact.

Cracks appeared in the expressions of the soldiers training there, too.

"Th-that's insane..."

Every gaze was fixed on Adrian in a corner of the grounds. Each time he took the weight, the muscles in his arms bulged like tendons, looking ready to burst.

"Wh-what... is that?"

They simply couldn't believe it.

Of course, they knew Adrian's training was insane. Even so, it had still fallen within the bounds of common sense. Insane, but at least understandable—no, something they could at least try to understand.

But now...

"Isn't that... a boulder?"

"I-I think it is?"

He had finally gone beyond all limits and shattered common sense itself. How could a person possibly lift a boulder? And an enormous one at that—a boulder whose weight they couldn't even begin to estimate.

Yet Adrian was lifting it as though it were a toy.

Having thrown off his shirt, Adrian flexed his sweat-drenched upper-body muscles once more.

"From there... again?!"

"Wait, he's doing another one from that position?"

The soldiers' eyes widened. The Vister recruits in particular stared so hard their eyes looked ready to split.

"How can he lift that much weight with his bare hands?!"

"Th-that's possible?!"

Of course, they knew. Adrian had defeated the colossal beast in Violess. Naturally, they knew he was terrifyingly powerful.

Even so, it had still fallen within the bounds of common sense. Insane, but at least understandable—no, something they could at least try to understand.

But now...

"D-don't tell me... he's going to throw it?!"

"Come on, there's no way he could throw that much—"

BOOM!

The enormous boulder sailed through the air. Just before it fell, Adrian moved swiftly and caught it again.

BANG!

The impact of the catch shook the entire Frost Trial Grounds. Every soldier's jaw dropped.

He wasn't human. He was a monster.

Not merely like a monster—he was an actual monster!

Just look at him.

"Not heavy enough."

Even after lifting all that weight, he looked utterly dissatisfied. What else could anyone possibly call him but a monster?

"That's downright Monstrian!" one soldier shouted.

"Huh?"

"... Monstrian?"

"You know, Lord Adrian the Monster."

Monstrian.

A state or act of casually accomplishing the impossible through transcendent strength or abilities, like Adrian.

Or a difficult problem or task that no one short of Adrian could possibly handle.

"Don't even ask. Today's training was Monstrian-level."

"Lucia! You worked all night yesterday. You're not some Monstrian—you'll ruin your health!"

And that was how a new word was born in Whitewolf county.

* * *

THOOM!

A heavy crash reverberated through the Frost Trial Grounds.

"Waaaaah!"

"Now that's Monstrian-class!!"

The soldiers' cheers(?) followed, ringing across the training grounds. They were getting worked up, trading strange expressions with one another.

"We're going Monstrian-level too!!"

"Crank the training intensity up to maximum!"

"We are Monstrian's soldiers!!"

"Yaaaaaaaaah!!"

A training craze suddenly swept through the Frost Trial Grounds.

'What is this?'

I wondered what had gotten into them, but I didn't particularly mind. There was something more important to deal with.

I examined my body's condition carefully. Evolved through using Predation[S+] on the ogre, it had been reconstructed into something on an entirely different level from before.

The muscle fibers tightly compressed by Hyperdense Myofibrils[A+] couldn't be cut even with a steel sword. Add Rigid Body Transformation[U], and even an aura sword would struggle to leave a scratch.

Without an aura blade, it was practically impossible even to penetrate my skin.

My strength output, however, still fell short of the ogre's. I couldn't unleash its natural-disaster-level power.

There were two main reasons. First, I wasn't receiving the amplification effect of the hybrid skill Impregnable[S-].

And the second reason—

'Was the ability expended on increasing my muscle-fiber density?'

The magnitude of muscular force is proportional to a muscle's cross-sectional area. In other words, the larger the muscles, the greater the force they can produce.

The ogre's natural-disaster-level strength was possible because of its enormous, twenty-meter body. I, on the other hand, wasn't even two meters tall, let alone twenty. Precisely 177 centimeters. Nor was my build particularly bulky.

My Predation[S+] had recognized that limitation. It had therefore used the genetic material for the ogre's Hyperdense Myofibrils[A+] to increase muscle density rather than size.

This was similar to brain evolution. A larger brain performs better, too, but the space inside a skull is limited. The brain cannot keep growing. Instead, it develops folds to maximize its surface area and increase the density of its neural networks.

As a result—

["The brain becomes far more precise and efficient within a limited space."]

The same principle applied here. Instead of increasing my body's size, Predation[S+] had improved the efficiency of my muscle-fiber arrangement and nervous-system structure. Within the same limited size, my strength output had evolved to become far more precise and powerful.

Simply put...

'Have I unlocked a new growth ceiling?'

I now had the potential to break past the stats that had been capped at 99 and grow stronger than the ogre. I was weaker than it for now, but with steady conditioning, I could eventually surpass its strength.

That wasn't all. Thanks to the multilayer neural-network structure of Enhanced Sensorimotor Control[A-], I could now increase my Agility through training, something that had been difficult until now.

In other words, it seemed safe to invest the stat points from I Alone Level Up[EX] into Mana.

'With this...'

Keeping Predator[M] active at all times wasn't merely a dream. Even now, I felt I could withstand the physical overload.

I had grown incomparably stronger than in my previous life, and a path to further growth had opened up.

Perhaps that was why.

'Not heavy enough.'

Even the boulder I had torn out of the snowy mountains was disappointingly light. It couldn't put my muscles under sufficient load.

'I'll need some new equipment.'

But if even a boulder wasn't enough, ordinary equipment wouldn't stand a chance. A simple lump of iron would struggle even to stimulate my muscles, let alone overload them.

'Hmm.'

Just as I was wondering what I could train with now...

"Ah, there you are!"

A voice called for me from the entrance to the Frost Trial Grounds.

"Little Monster Brother!!"

Thrandul, the steelmaster, strode toward me on his short legs.

"You've only been awake a few days, and you're already training? Just what I'd expect of you, Little Monster Brother!"

Thrandul raised a thumb, as though I had lived up to every expectation. Then he looked at the soldiers' training craze sweeping the grounds.

"They're all bursting with energy, just like you!"

He laughed heartily. I put my thoughts aside and asked, "What brings you here?"

"Ah! It's about the ogre's carcass."

The dwarves had carefully salvaged the ogre's carcass while I was unconscious. Seraphia had shredded the lycanthrope beyond use, but the ogre was a different matter.

"Have you got a use for it?"

"I haven't had anything particular in mind."

"Then would you mind if I worked on it?"

"By worked on it, you mean...?"

"There are a few things I'd like to try making."

Thrandul's eyes gleamed.

The ogre, a perfect form of biological evolution, was itself the equivalent of top-grade material. Its massive twenty-meter body also offered an immense quantity of usable parts.

And Thrandul was a master of the highest level of refining—a blacksmith whose refining skills rivaled Brumbar's.

"If you've got no particular use for it, I thought I might make a few things for your brothers, Little Monster Brother."

"That sounds excellent."

Naturally, I had no reason to refuse. In fact, it was exactly what I had hoped for.

"I think I saw some Blue Sandalwood as well. Could I use some of that too?"

Formerly Veneron timber, it was the finest-quality tree native to what was now Whitewolf County 2.

"You can cut down and use all of it."

Even with that permission, Thrandul wouldn't fell trees indiscriminately. Dwarves were elves—dark elves who simply hadn't wanted to be bound by nature.

Mining or cutting more Resources than necessary wasn't the dwarven way. They were a race that knew how to give back as much as they took from nature.

"Hahahaha! I'll make you my finest work!"

The county's soldiers, armed with equipment made from the ogre. They would more than merit the name of a knightly order.

Indeed, it would be no exaggeration to call them an elite knightly order surpassing most others.

"Then, as for payment—"

"Payment! How could you say something so hurtful?!"

Thrandul cut me off with a booming voice.

"If anything, I ought to pay you! You've given me the honor of making equipment from an ogre!"

Thrandul, the steelmaster. He really hadn't changed since our days in the allied army.

"More importantly, if it weren't for you lot, we'd all have died there! And then we couldn't have protected Feractrum either!"

Thrandul thumped his chest.

"Little Monster Brother, Little Wolf Brother, and Frost Sister are our kin!"

Dwarves were deeply trusting by nature. They simply seldom acknowledged anyone as a brother. Once they did, though, you were their brother to the end.

Betray them, however, and they would split your skull with a pickaxe.

"Our brothers' land is our land! Payment is out of the question!"

That was also why the Frost Trial Grounds had been completely transformed. And not just the grounds—the entire county now looked utterly different thanks to the dwarves' handiwork.

They had freely shared dwarven techniques that were difficult to obtain even for untold riches. Thanks to them, the county had achieved unprecedented development.

"When our brothers need us, we dwarves will help, even if we have to turn an entire rocky mountain upside down!"

And we would be able to maintain a good relationship with the dwarves going forward. That, too, was precisely what I wanted.

As it happened, I had a favor to ask, so I continued.

"If you don't mind, may I ask a personal favor?"

"A favor? Just say the word!"

"Could you make me a piece of training equipment as well?"

"Training equipment... You mean exercise equipment?"

When I nodded, Thrandul tilted his head. Then he spotted the boulder beside me and burst out laughing, apparently understanding immediately.

"Hahaha! You went toe-to-toe with an ogre, Little Monster Brother. A rock like that wouldn't come close!"

He thumped his chest as though telling me to leave it to him.

"I'll make exercise equipment perfectly suited to you, so don't worry!"

The dwarves' technical prowess wasn't merely a matter of being good with a hammer.

Magical engineering (Arcane Engineering).

A discipline and technology born anew through the combination of magical studies and dwarven techniques. I didn't know the details, but a technology blending metal and magic? That was roughly how I understood it.

It used aether (Ether), the energy closest to mana, but could be designed for use even by someone unable to manipulate mana—for instance, by manipulating gravitational fields.

In other words, it could artificially create a high-weight environment heavy enough to put my muscles under load. Just when I had been at a loss about physical training, no solution could have been better.

Everything was falling smoothly into place.

Except for one thing.

"I'll make you something so merciless it'll have your muscles screaming, Little Monster Brother! You'd better brace yourself! Hahahaha!"

Why was Kai Little Wolf Brother while I was Little Monster Brother?

Well, he did call Ian 'Little Mad Brother.'

"... Oh, right! More importantly, is Frost Sister all right?"

That would mean Seraphia. 'Sister' was a term dwarves used with both respect and affection for a woman they acknowledged as kin.

For men, it was little brother or elder brother; for women, sister or elder sister.

In that sense, Iliana was Starlight Sister, and Isolde was Golden Thread Sister.

And the Spirit Mage...

'They called them a leaf-lover, I think?'

In other words, the dwarves hadn't acknowledged the Spirit Mage as kin.

Elves and dwarves—or, more precisely, elves and dark elves—weren't on particularly good terms because of their differing views on nature. Despite their shared roots, they didn't really regard one another as kin.

Anyway...

"If you mean Seraphia, she'll be all right."

She wasn't all right yet. But she would be soon.

"Speaking of which, is Chief Brumbar all right?"

"The Chief? Oh, the Chief will be fine in no time."

With Unbreakable[A+], that was only to be expected, but still.

"An incredible chief, truly."

I agreed. Being able to move with those injuries was beyond impressive—it was astonishing. Without the slightest exaggeration, that condition was worse than the physical overload from Predator[M].

Anyway...

"How are the repairs to the Arcanoheart coming along?"

"Almost finished. It still needs more stabilization work before full operation, but we'll be able to start it up soon."

"Is there anything I can help with?"

"Nothing right now, but we'd appreciate a hand when we dig the tunnels."

Thrandul's eyes glittered strangely as he looked at me. Somehow, he seemed even more expectant than when looking at the ogre.

"Digging eleven kilometers down is quite difficult even for us."

I was beginning to understand why he called me Little Monster Brother.

"Understood. Let me know when you're ready."

"Hahaha! We're counting on you, Little Monster Brother!"

With that, Thrandul promptly left, as though he had nothing more to say. Then or now, Thrandul was Thrandul.

Anyway, I had an ogre-sized pile of things to do myself.

'I'd better go to Frecce now.'

It seemed this would be my only chance. With runesteel mining about to begin, I also needed to prepare to reel in the Emperor.

There was plenty to do in Frecce on several fronts.

* * *

Beneath the high ceiling of the vast papal hall, hundreds of candles flickered, casting a faint light. The many faithful gathered below were busy preparing for the sacrament.

Holy Communion.

A sacred rite honoring God's grace and taking His will to heart. Although performed daily, it carried no small weight. Only someone of noble faith could therefore preside over it.

The attendant priest hurried to find Isolde, who was staying in the chapel to purify her heart through prayer before the sacrament.

The chapel was filled with a quiet, reverent atmosphere. Soft candlelight along the walls illuminated the way.

The attendant priest stopped at the chapel door, bowed his head, and spoke cautiously.

"Your Eminence, Holy Communion will begin shortly."

But...

"... Your Eminence?"

There was no answer. Had she been so absorbed in prayer that she hadn't heard?

The attendant priest stepped closer.

"Your Eminence, Holy Communion will begin shortly."

He spoke a little louder, but there was still no answer.

"Your Eminence, pardon my intrusion."

He cautiously opened the chapel door.