Chapter 37. Love and Hate (2)
The peak of the Northern Snowy Mountains was covered in pure white snow.
As I silently gazed at the mountain peak soaring toward the sky, the boundary between the sky and the mountain faded until they appeared to be a single mass.
Thickly accumulated snow covered every ridge and valley.
The rough surfaces of the rocks had been clothed in something as soft as white skin.
The Northern Snowy Mountains had been buried beneath heavy snowfall.
Amid scenery resembling an endless, pure-white world—
◆Storing Snow in the Inventory.
◆Removing Snow from the Inventory.
I repeatedly stored the accumulated snow in my inventory and removed it elsewhere, clearing a path forward.
My current Strength stat was 29.
In other words, I could clear an astonishing 1,160 kilograms of snow at once.
Clearing a path blocked by heavy snowfall was not particularly difficult.
I continued climbing the Northern Snowy Mountains.
My first objective was to find an Ice Troll. My second was to obtain monster meat to sell on our next trading expedition.
Now that the Gelu-Drake known as the Master of the Snowy Mountains had been subjugated, there was nothing to hold me back.
I was now the Master of the Snowy Mountains.
Nothing in these mountains could threaten me. I searched the mountains without hesitation.
I spent an entire “day” searching them.
Unfortunately—
“....There’s nothing here.”
There was nothing.
Forget finding an Ice Troll—I could not find a single monster of any kind.
Well, since the season of bitter cold was approaching, the monsters naturally had to reduce their activity.
Moreover, the current heavy snowfall made it even more difficult for them to move around.
“Still, this is strange.”
Even so, something felt wrong.
No matter how harsh the conditions were, there should not have been this little activity.
After all, I had searched the entire mountain range.
Even in weather that made movement difficult, there should have been at least one monster roaming around in search of prey.
Even if it was not an Ice Troll.
Yet there was nothing.
The distant sound of the wind was the only whisper breaking the silence of the mountains.
“Did their habitats change after the Gelu-Drake disappeared?”
That was possible.
However, that alone could not explain everything.
“Hmm....”
I thought about it, but no particular answer came to mind.
“At least I bought plenty of food in Freche to fuel Regeneration.”
The Regeneration [B-] ability absolutely required food.
Until now, I had eaten monster meat, but from now on, monster meat needed to be sold as merchandise.
I had to replenish the nutrients required by Regeneration [B-] through other means, so I had purchased plenty of substitutes in Freche.
“It would be unreasonable to keep searching in this heavy snow.”
It seemed I would have to investigate again after the snowfall stopped.
That did not mean I intended to remain idle until then.
“My current stats are....”
As I muttered, a translucent message appeared before my eyes.
== 「Player Information」 ==
[Name] = Adrian White Wolf
[Title] = Master of the Snowy Mountains
[Level] = Level 28
[HP] = 2,200
[MP] = 0
[Stats] = Strength: 29 (+5), Agility: 28 (+5), Stamina: 21 (+5), Mana: 6 (+5)
[Experience] = 34.7%
By completing the Territory Quest [Though the Beginning May Be Humble, the End Shall Be Grand!] in Freche, I had reached Level 28.
I had grown incomparably stronger than when I first returned to the past.
However, I could never be satisfied with this.
“At this level, forget the Emperor—I wouldn’t stand a chance against even a Monarch.”
A Monarch?
Forget a Monarch.
I could not even defeat the Legion Commanders.
Moreover, rather than replicating Ian’s ability, I had “absorbed” it. That meant my own growth was just as important as finding Ian.
“Still, my Agility has risen considerably.”
That was only natural, as I was currently investing every stat point I gained from leveling up into Agility.
As a result, my Agility stat had nearly caught up with the others.
“It has already surpassed my Stamina.”
Even so, I had no intention of investing my level-up stat points into Stamina.
I planned to continue investing them in Agility.
In other words, I needed to train my strength and stamina consistently.
“I should do some physical training today.”
Promising myself that I would return, I descended the Northern Snowy Mountains.
* * *
The soldiers should have been in the middle of training at the Frost Trial Grounds.
However, that was not the case today.
Every soldier stood frozen in amazement at a rather shocking sight unlike anything they normally witnessed.
A black-haired man was lifting an enormous metal bar.
Huff—! Huff—! Huff—!
Adrian breathed with a rhythm so precise that it seemed measured with a blade.
He was undergoing physical training at the Frost Trial Grounds.
However….
“What in the world is that?”
“Just what is he lifting?”
The metal bar Adrian was lifting was far from ordinary.
It was completely different from the barbell he had used last time.
It was a piece of exercise equipment that had never before been seen in the County.
“I heard Lord Adrian purchased that in Freche.”
“In Freche? He bought that thing?”
It was an item Adrian had purchased during the recent trading expedition.
The soldiers who had accompanied him on the expedition had said so themselves, so there was no chance the story was false.
It was a metal bar with circular iron plates compressed to an extremely high density.
Its weight was an astonishing….
“I heard it weighs 1,500 kilograms.”
“What?! Fifteen hundred kilograms?! You mean one and a half tons?”
“Insane, isn’t it?”
All the soldiers could only stare with their mouths hanging open.
One and a half tons might be easy enough to say, but was that a weight a human could lift?
How could anyone possibly call that exercise equipment?
It would be more appropriate to call it construction material.
Sure enough, Adrian’s muscles were continuously tearing, rupturing, and becoming compressed to a higher density.
As a result, Adrian’s body was not excessively bulky.
From the outside, his physique did not appear particularly large.
That was clear proof that his muscles had been compressed to an exceptionally high density.
Adrian did not so much as frown.
Despite undoubtedly feeling the horrific pain of his muscles tearing, rupturing, and compressing, he did not even furrow his brow.
Huff—! Huff—! Huff—!
Without allowing his breathing to falter, he silently continued lifting the metal bar.
It was truly extraordinary mental fortitude.
The soldiers’ gazes toward Adrian contained something beyond respect.
They contained “awe”.
“He’s truly incredible….”
“I can’t believe it even though I’m seeing it with my own eyes.”
Perhaps that was why—
“Who do you think would win if Lord Kai and Lord Adrian fought?”
“I-I’m not sure….”
“In the past, I would have said Lord Kai without hesitation....”
The soldiers’ gazes naturally shifted toward Kai, who was practicing his swordsmanship.
The moment their attention focused on him—
Kai’s sword sliced through the frigid air.
His footwork flowed swiftly and smoothly, yet he never lost his balance throughout the movements.
Perhaps he was envisioning an imaginary enemy before him.
Kai suddenly bent backward, evading an incoming strike.
When he swung his sword like a flash of lightning, the soldiers simultaneously erupted in admiration.
“Woooow—!”
“What was that just now?!”
The soldiers’ admiration caused an enormous commotion.
However, Kai did not lose his concentration.
He wielded his sword with one hand while using the other to maintain his balance.
His entire body moved as a single, interconnected organism.
His blue eyes—
They remained focused solely on his swordsmanship, oblivious to everything around him.
Kai, the Chief Knight of the White Wolf family.
The soldiers could see that the exceptional talent coveted by even the Royal Guard was no exaggeration.
Adrian trained on one side.
Kai trained on the other.
As both continued training in ways that seemed inhuman for entirely different reasons—
“Hyaaah—!”
A thin, clear voice suddenly reached the soldiers’ ears.
It was unmistakably a woman’s voice.
Their gazes naturally turned toward its source.
And there—
“Hnnng—!”
They saw Seraphia lifting a metal bar with her slender arms.
Calling it a metal bar was somewhat questionable.
Compared to what Adrian was lifting, it was no different from a toothpick.
Even so, Seraphia’s arms trembled violently.
“Hyaah!”
The soldiers could only worry that her arms might snap.
The empty bar, without any additional weights, weighed approximately fifteen kilograms.
However, even that was too heavy for Seraphia to lift.
After struggling for a while, she eventually had no choice but to give up.
In the end, she compromised by using a one-kilogram dumbbell as though it were a barbell.
“Hyaaah—!”
Yet she was still struggling like this.
‘How does my brother...?!’
How could he do this every single day?
Moreover, he was lifting a metal bar weighing thousands of times more than hers.
“Hnnng—!”
Adrian seemed even more incredible to Seraphia now.
Her arms trembled so badly that she could no longer raise them.
When she finally managed to lower the dumbbell, her entire body was drenched in sweat.
Her long silver hair had become wildly disheveled and soaked with perspiration, causing it to cling constantly to her neck and cheeks.
Seraphia gathered her wet hair behind her head with both hands.
She tied the gathered hair once with a ribbon and allowed the rest to fall naturally.
With a few strands hanging beside her face, her hair looked exactly like a horse’s tail.
Her silver ponytail resembled the tail of a unicorn.
Although comfortable, this hairstyle completely exposed the back of her neck, so she had been unable to wear it until now.
The dark bruises left by Adrian had still been visible there.
‘It’s all right now.’
However, the bruises had now healed completely.
As a result, Seraphia could enjoy the cool breeze brushing against the back of her neck.
Her mood brightened for no particular reason.
With a smile on her face, Seraphia surveyed the Frost Trial Grounds.
There was a reason she had suddenly begun exercising. She wanted to watch Adrian while he trained.
By doing so, she hoped to grow even slightly closer to him.
Adrian continued lifting the heavy metal bar with rhythmic breaths.
According to the soldiers, it weighed 1,500 kilograms.
She could not even lift one kilogram without trembling, so how could he possibly lift that?
‘He truly is incredible….’
Booooom—!
When Adrian lowered the heavy metal bar, the entire Frost Trial Grounds shook.
Hot steam rose from Adrian’s firm body after he had removed his shirt.
Just as Seraphia tried to avert her eyes out of embarrassment—
‘Oil...?’
Adrian began pouring an entire container of it into his mouth.
She froze and stared at him.
The oil was extremely dark.
It looked bad enough to be called waste oil.
In other words, it did not appear remotely appetizing.
‘Why would he drink that….?’
What reason could he possibly have for drinking such oil?
If he needed nutrients, he had all the delicious food he had brought back.
Adrian himself had obtained that food.
He could simply eat it, so why would he deliberately drink oil—
‘Could it be for the residents?’
After all, the food Adrian had brought back was not unlimited.
“How long do you intend to keep staring?”
They would have to conserve everything they could to survive the approaching season of bitter cold.
Therefore, Adrian had yielded the food to the residents while he himself—
“Can’t you hear me?”
Adrian’s voice suddenly pierced her ears.
Seraphia flinched in surprise, and her entire body trembled.
When she hurriedly refocused her gaze, Adrian was already glaring at her as though he wanted to kill her.
“Y-Yes?! W-What did you say...?”
“I asked how long you intended to keep staring.”
“Ah…. Well….”
“Stop staring. You’re distracting me.”
“......”
Seraphia answered with a dejected expression.
He had not said anything when the soldiers watched him, so why did he only complain when she did it?
Even so—
‘He spoke to me first….’
Coming here and struggling through this exercise had been worthwhile.
Like this, one small step at a time, she might gradually grow closer to Adrian.
Of course—
“Yes.”
“Hyaaah—!”
Her arms would probably break before long.
* * *
Seraphia’s gaze had been bothering me for some time.
Only after I finally told her to stop did she cease staring at me.
“Hnnng—!”
Monster meat provided approximately 250 kilocalories per 100 grams on average.
Oil, however, provided an astonishing 900 kilocalories per 100 milliliters.
The difference in calories was nearly fourfold.
However, since oil contained nothing but fat, it provided none of the other nutrients, such as protein.
Naturally—
Seraphia lifted her dumbbell while making strange little grunting sounds.
I wondered if her arms might break, but I did not particularly care.
I poured more oil into my mouth.
It was oil I had purchased in Freche—used waste oil at that.
It had been inexpensive, allowing me to purchase a massive quantity.
‘Oil really does contain an enormous number of calories.’
◆You may consume calories to synthesize [Protein].
◆Surplus Calories—93,200 kilocalories.
◆Would you like to use the skill Nutrient Synthesis [B-]?
Since I possessed Nutrient Synthesis [B-], it was not a problem at all.
When the ability advanced to rank [B-], its efficiency and the range of compounds it could synthesize had increased dramatically.
Furthermore, because oil was a liquid, it could be digested and absorbed quickly.
In other words, oil was the most efficient food available to me.
There was only one problem.
‘Ugh.’
A sickening greasiness surged from the depths of my stomach.
If I could overcome the sole disadvantage of abandoning the pleasure of eating, this diet offered nothing but benefits.
I poured every last drop of oil into my mouth.
The container I had just emptied held ten liters.
I had fifteen more ten-liter containers in my inventory, meaning I had prepared a total of 1,350,000 kilocalories.
‘I’ll burn all of it today.’
Burning those 1.35 million kilocalories was my goal for the day. I had no intention of getting up until I had burned every last one.
‘Shall I begin again?’
I gripped the metal bar once more.
* * *
While swinging his sword, Kai watched Adrian lift the unimaginably heavy metal bar.
That was undoubtedly something no human could accomplish.
As long as one was born with the limitations of a human, it should have been absolutely impossible.
However, Kai no longer doubted or denied Adrian.
The power to make the impossible possible—
Kai now believed that Adrian possessed such a power.
That was why Kai immersed himself even more deeply in his training.
If he did not want to fall behind Adrian, he needed to work even harder.
More importantly, the recent events had taught him something.
He could not protect Seraphia with mediocre strength and martial prowess.
Kai did not possess talent like Adrian’s.
However, he did possess an innate talent for Aura and swordsmanship.
Therefore—
He needed to surpass them.
He needed to transcend the limits of Aura and swordsmanship.
Just as Adrian was transcending his limits, Kai also needed to overcome the boundaries imposed upon him.
He needed to become stronger and stronger until he could effortlessly cut through something as trivial as the season of bitter cold.
Swoosh—! Swoosh—!
Kai’s sword movements grew increasingly swift.
Just as he lost himself completely in his training—
Clang—! Clang—! Clang—!
Urgent bells rang throughout the Frost Trial Grounds.
* * *
◆An Emergency Quest has arrived!
A translucent message suddenly appeared before my eyes.
Clang—! Clang—! Clang—!
At the same time, urgent bells rang throughout the Frost Trial Grounds.
The bells were coming from the castle’s tall watchtower, which surveyed the surrounding area.
They were warnings rung only during emergencies, such as an enemy attack.
“The monsters of the Northern Snowy Mountains have formed a legion and are attacking the County!!!”
One of the soldiers urgently reported to Kai, who had been training.
Kai’s eyes immediately widened.
Mine did as well.
My eyes opened just as widely as Kai’s.
No wonder I had not seen a single monster in the Northern Snowy Mountains.
No matter how much I considered it, their complete absence had made no sense.
Apparently, all the monsters in the mountains had gathered together.
That was why—
My widened eyes contained an emotion beyond mere surprise.
They contained “horror”.
“A Monster Legion...?”
My words resembled Kai’s question, yet the reason behind them was entirely different.
After all, the words Monster “Legion”—
‘The Monarch of Beasts!’
......
They signified the Monarch of Beasts.
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