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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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Eldmia Egga.
Among those engaged in adventuring activities in the capital, there was no one who didn’t know his name by now.
Although he initially had all sorts of ominous nicknames like the Rabid, the Madman, and the Human Hunter, he soon became known by different names among the skilled ones.
Two nicknames remained after filtering through them all: Lightblade and Counterattack.
The former was a nickname given because, as those who witnessed it unanimously said, an accelerated slash was wielded every time his blade shined.
The latter arose because no matter how someone touched him, they would invariably get struck back.
It was obvious, but if one led a normal adventurer’s life, there would be no reason to witness a scene befitting the nickname Counterattack.
That’s why Eldmia Egga was commonly known by the nickname Lightblade.
However, in an extremely brief moment, his companions could clearly understand why he was once called the Human Hunter.
“What are you doing, friends, camping in the middle of the road with a bonfire?”
After reducing the distance to a certain extent, Eldmia naturally dismounted from his horse and approached the men with a smile.
Momentarily taken aback by his lack of even an ounce of wariness, they soon burst into laughter and began to surround Eldmia.
Even so, Eldmia’s back remained utterly at ease.
As the completely let down bandits surrounded him and were about to draw their weapons, Eldmia moved.
“Aura…?”
Yekaterina had only swung her massive war hammer using her innate physique, having not yet awakened her aura.
However, her natural abilities affected not only her body but also her senses, and even though she couldn’t use aura herself yet, she could accurately grasp the foreign energy generated by the flow of mana and aura.
That’s why she could notice that Eldmia had used something completely different from the aura she had seen and felt until now.
The force he wielded with a heavier and more profound unknown sensation seemed similar to aura at a glance.
She thought that perhaps this was how aura felt at a realm she herself was unaware of, but the fact that it was a feeling she had never experienced before remained unchanged.
The moment she felt that, it took less than 20 seconds for Eldmia to disarm the bandits’ weapons, stab three to death, and critically injure four others without even drawing his own sword.
“What a breathtaking skill.”
Even Gaendal couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration at the sight.
His eyes, having experienced the most diverse battles among the group, were filled with astonishment.
As if originally choreographed, Eldmia seamlessly snatched, slashed, stabbed, and threw the bandits’ weapons, then repeated the same actions with another bandit’s weapon.
There was not a hint of hesitation in that series of movements.
Rather, his bold and uninhibited actions made the bandits hesitate and panic, creating new openings.
While the remaining three, who were relatively unscathed, chose to flee in a daze without even being able to scream, Eldmia grabbed two axes taken from the dead bandits.
He lightly tossed one to gauge its weight, then threw them one by one at the fleeing figures, and charged at the last one.
His companions, witnessing the two axes accurately splitting the skulls of two, and Eldmia catching up to the remaining one, pulling out the dagger from his waist, and stabbing it into his spine, applauded with sincere appreciation.
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Honestly, I had only one thought when the bastards surrounded me.
Equilibrium.
The scene of John Wick jumping into the midst of six men to shoot them while fighting to save a dog remains one of many memorable scenes etched in my memory.
I never imagined I would have a body capable of doing that with cold weapons instead of guns.
Anyway, the gaps created by the mana-enhanced physique and the careless bandits enabled a perfect ambush beyond my expectations.
I had intended to check if the wound on my palm from meeting Lagnis would be bothersome, but it ended cleanly without the slightest inconvenience.
Since beheading Delt, my combat philosophy is that ambushes always yield advantages and grow firmer by the day.
“Magnificent! It feels like watching a seasoned mercenary! Even if I used aura, I wouldn’t be able to display such movements!”
Drowned out by Gin’s resounding exclamation and applause, the other members also clapped, seemingly satisfied with my skills.
In fact, compared to the guys we have to fight from now on, it’s an embarrassing level.
With this, I shouldn’t have much difficulty asserting my opinions according to the situation when combat begins, rather than just being dragged along.
“I share the same thought. The aura you exude is minimal, yet you handle it so skillfully. It’s only a matter of time before you rise to Silver-rank.”
I couldn’t tell him it was mana, not aura, so I smiled and responded to Gaendal’s praise while dusting off my hands.
“It’s embarrassing to hear such words just for dealing with bandits. But it’s not bad to prove I’m not dead weight.”
“Dead weight? On the contrary, I’m starting to think you might be the most suitable for this request. Even though I formally took the leader position, I feel like it would be better to change it.”
Unless Engrim chose Gaendal by a coin toss, there was absolutely no reason to doubt his abilities.
“Commanding and fighting are separate matters. I’m only good at fighting.”
In the end, the reason I can do this much is thanks to training my entire life to kill a single demon, not because I’m outstanding.
The result of devoting time that should have been allocated to common sense and education to combat, relying on memories from my previous life.
If I didn’t have those memories, I would have been a killing machine to the point of being incapable of daily life, having spent such a biased amount of time.
Naturally, commanding troops was not included in that, so I decided to draw a clear line before their misplaced expectations turned poisonous.
Responding appropriately like that, as soon as I mounted my horse, Yekaterina approached and said something quite surprising.
“If you have time later, would you like to spar at the guild training grounds? The aura you used earlier seemed a bit unique, so I’m interested.”
She was the first person to call my aura usage unique.
Others either couldn’t feel it at all or simply regarded it as faint aura.
“Unique, you say?”
“Yeah. Don’t you know it yourself? It feels heavy, so to speak. It’s definitely different from the aura I’ve felt until now. Even though I can’t use aura, my ability to sense it is incredible.”
“What? You swing that without using aura?”
It’s no joke.
Yekaterina’s war hammer is not of a typical size.
We call it a war hammer because there’s no other way to describe it, but it boasts an outrageous size with an anvil attached to the hammer head.
I wouldn’t be surprised if someone believed it was a siege weapon.
Moreover, to support that weight, there’s not a single component made of wood.
It’s literally a mass of metal from head to toe, and she swings that pure iron weapon with pure muscle strength to a level suitable for combat?
“I swing it purely with muscle power! That’s my pride!”
“Don’t you have too many things to boast about? I don’t think I could swing that without using aura either.”
“Hahaha! I’m glad to hear you say that! Anyway, let’s definitely spar!”
I was speaking sincerely, but she took it as empty praise.
Still, there was no reason to confront someone who was departing in a good mood, so after looting just the money pouches from the bandits’ corpses, we took off again.
After that, except for resting once in the middle for the horses’ sake, we ran non-stop and could only take a proper break after reaching the woods near our destination.
“I feel like my pelvis is shattered…”
Rellie, who inevitably had the least physical activity, groaned in pain, unable to dismount properly, and Yekaterina laughingly lifted her off.
“I’m a bit tired too, actually. We should have rested a bit in the middle.”
“It’s better to push through and rest properly than take half-hearted breaks for this kind of thing. It doesn’t sit well with me to cause delays in the plan because of myself.”
Whenever I’ve met mages in this other world, which I can count on one hand, they’ve all been such admirable people.
While Gaendal, who had ample scouting experience, went to survey the surroundings alone, we decided to set up camp and let Rellie rest some more.
In any case, the immediate tasks were just gathering firewood, pitching tents, and preparing meals, so the division of labor itself was quickly settled.
If it were as usual, we would have camped with just sleeping bags and no tents, but the guild had personally packed tents for us up to the safe zone we had settled in after completing their investigation, so we had one more task.
Yekaterina and Gin, seemingly unfamiliar with tent camping, tilted their heads, while I confidently stepped forward and decided to prepare the tents.
With Rellie’s help, we finished the setup and could satisfactorily put down the hammer.
“Wow. So this is how you pitch this tent.”
The reason I could take the lead with confidence despite never having camped in either my previous or current life was simple.
What the guild provided was none other than the A-frame tent I had seen ad nauseam in the military!
When I first saw this damn shape, I felt dizzy as if I had re-enlisted, but fortunately, it was an item so good that it would be sinful to even compare it to the military version.
The frame wasn’t just two poles, but an assembly-type ㄷ-shaped frame, so Rellie roughly holding it was enough to avoid worrying about the frame collapsing with every hammer strike.
Above all, the tent fabric was clearly something that provided perfect waterproofing and insulation at a glance.
As expected, Rellie, who noticed this immediately, analyzed it and said it was a magical item.
“I’m not sure what monster the material was obtained from, but with this level of completion, it would be the latest among the library’s inventions, right?”
Even if it was just a temporary loan, Engrim was providing solid support.
I made up my mind to definitely get one later when I finished everything and went on a trip with Asirye.
After quickly completing the men’s and women’s tents like that, laying mats inside, and putting in our luggage, I went inside for a moment and felt a genuine coziness I couldn’t feel even a poppy seed’s worth in the military.
“Is this mat also enchanted?”
“No, that’s just a regular mat.”
As I thought, even the mats in the military were crappy. I guess the memory of the stark difference when I received a new mat just once compared to the old ones wasn’t a misperception.
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