Torres heard a strange cry coming from the forest long after Encrid had left.
“Shouldn’t we send support?”
A soldier, unaware of the situation, asked, and Hyoun from the Guard Unit answered instead.
“Support? Those four monsters could probably roast an entire territory.”
Hyoun, a swordsman from the northern tribes, had a strong sense of pride. His words carried weight.
Torres agreed.
“They’ll come back on their own.”
Who’s worrying about whom here?
Torres ordered his soldiers to gather the centaur tendons and intact beast hides, then burned the remaining corpses.
‘How many have died?’Dozens had died in the previous battle, and in the first battle, Torres himself had almost died.
Zimmer almost perished alongside him.
It had been that perilous.
Torres personally felt that running away might have been the right move.
In fact, Torres had made such a suggestion.
“Lord, Captain. If we stay like this, we’re doomed. Locking the castle gates and holding out is also limited.”
Though they had a watchtower, there was no moat. What if the centaurs came and kept pounding on the walls with those huge clubs made from entire trees?
What if they waited for reinforcements and they didn’t come?
“So, if we give up the castle walls, do you have a solution?”
The Lord asked in return.
There was none. Outside was even more dangerous.
The monsters were called centaurs. They were fast. Evading them was harder than holding out within the walls.
‘We were trapped on all sides.’
The only option was to request support.
It was a centaur colony. The leader was an unusual individual that made one’s knees tremble.
When it roared, it made your balls shrink.
There were soldiers who actually wet themselves.
Yet, such a crisis was resolved by fewer than ten people.
Fwoosh!
Tick-tick, tick.
The bodies of monsters and beasts, and three dead soldiers.
One had slipped and been crushed by a beast’s foot, and two had died showing off their eastern valor.
Only three had died.
The estimated number of monsters and beasts killed was unknown.
It was estimated to be at least two hundred.
The Madmen Platoon didn’t kill most of them.
They were merely the spearhead, the blade that slashed through.
The soldiers killed the rest of the monsters and beasts.
It wasn’t a sunny day. Looking at the sky, it seemed like snow might fall.
After an entire day, after tidying up the battlefield and taking a nap, Torres saw the returning group passing through the castle gate.
It was drizzling.
It was a day that would turn to sleet if it got any colder.
It had been a busy day since dawn.
The day after the battle.
A day to smile because they survived.
And he saw those who had given them that ordinary day returning.
Encrid and the Madmen Platoon, silhouetted against the hazy sunlight.
The heat of the battlefield had died down, and everyone felt a bit more relaxed.
Even so.
“Colony Slayer.”
Someone opened their mouth first, and the gathered soldiers near the gate all shouted in unison.
“Colony Slayer!”
“Long live the Madmen Platoon!”
“Hurrah!”
“You’re handsome!”
“Take me!”
“Damn it! Thank you so much!”
It was praise for those who had shown unbelievable strength, a mix of relief from surviving threats and crises, and the joy of victory.
The drizzle soon turned white, like frost.
It was a day when the temperature had suddenly dropped, so this was expected.
Torres looked at Encrid, standing in the rain that had turned into a mix of snow and sleet.
A wild horse with a strange aura followed behind, and the group was carrying some kind of chest. Rem was holding the glaive that the monster leader had used, but none of that mattered.
Torres stood upright, looking at Encrid.
He put his feet together and pressed his right hand to his waist.
Then he bowed his head in a show of respect.
It was a military salute. A gesture of thanks for saving him and this territory.
Encrid merely nodded at Torres and passed by.
Rem, following behind, asked.
“Do you know any good blacksmiths?”
“A dwarf has recently arrived on the outskirts of the market.”
“Oh.”
Rem continued walking, and the rest of the Platoon passed by indifferently.
The cheers did not hold them back.
“There’s a dwarf, you say?”
A master of metallurgy, smelting, and crafting.
Of course, not all dwarves are masters of metallurgy.
Elves have their own metallurgy, and among humans, there are outstanding craftsmen as well.
But on average, dwarven smelting and metallurgy are superior and fundamentally excellent.
So if a dwarf had wandered into a human territory, it would naturally draw interest.
They needed someone with such skills at that moment.
Even though dwarves are known to demand excessive prices in jewels or payment, no one here was opposed to spending Krona to buy weapons.
Isn’t it better to spend a bit of gold to get a good sword?
For those who live by the sword, a good weapon is another arm, and good armor is another life.
Encrid felt his right hip was a bit empty.
‘It would be nice to have another sword.’
A sword made by a dwarf would be very useful.
He had grown accustomed to wearing various pieces of armor, and he had recently obtained some beast hide under-armor that wrapped around his body like bandages.
As they were heading back, Lord of Martai himself came to express his gratitude.
“Thanks to you.”
“Think nothing of it.”
Encrid responded politely.
The Lord turned away, telling them to rest.
“There are no private rooms. It’s as bleak here as in the Border Guard.”
Torres followed behind, explaining.
Anyway, they were guided to their quarters, and Rem brought up the subject of the dwarf.
The quarters were a communal room with eight beds lined up.
As Torres had said, it was bleak. Other than the eight beds, there was no furniture.
It was a place meant only for sleeping.
“It’s a wild horse, so it won’t even consider going to the stable. Should we stake it down and tie it up here?”
A soldier skilled in handling horses approached, watching the wild horse’s reactions.
Snort.
As if understanding what was being discussed, the wild horse shook its head.
“Leave it be.”
Encrid spoke roughly.
He just felt like bringing it along, and so he did.
That was all.
If it wanted to leave, he would let it go.
Of course, the wild horse had no intention of leaving.
With monster blood mixed in, it had become half-beast, making it impossible for its herd to come near it.
The monster blood instinctively instilled fear in other animals.
For the same reason, it couldn’t go into the stable.
Similarly, the wild horse had to leave its home territory. That was the only way the rest of the herd could live safely.
As the leader of its herd, it was its duty. It even handled the disposal of the burning skull.
Though technically, it was the human in front of it who dealt with it.
Just as Encrid felt an unusual sense of kinship with the wild horse, the horse felt a strange closeness to Encrid. The world called this a bond.
“You’ve done well. Rest now.”
Neigh.
It looked as if the human and the horse were having a conversation.
Rem observed this and then spoke.
“Is that thing also going to turn into a human?”
“It won’t.”
It was different from Esther. It was just a gut feeling, but he was certain.
“Don’t be so sure. Who would have thought a panther could turn into a human?”
Rem made a comment that could make a dog bark, and everyone ignored him.
As they unpacked and sorted out the chest, Krais returned.
“What’s with this?”
As soon as he arrived, he saw the wild horse loitering in front of their quarters. He circled around and couldn’t take his eyes off the horse, speaking with a worried look.
Whatever he had been up to, even in Martai, he seemed busy. His big eyes were filled with disbelief.
“It’s a horse.”
Encrid replied. The wild horse standing idly without being tied up outside the barracks caught Krais’s attention.
“Does it also turn into a human?”
Krais asked. It clearly didn’t seem ordinary.
He asked because of the example of Esther.
“It’s a male. Just a heads up, if you approach it from behind to check, you might get your head smashed.”
Encrid warned in advance. Esther was fierce too, but the wild horse now had monster blood in it.
Who knew if Krais might end up with a horse’s hoof print on his chest?
“Do you think I’m as stupid as Rem?”
“Who called you an idiot?”
“I’m saying I don’t check a horse’s balls from behind either.”
“It was a precaution.”
Krais was quite an oddball too.
Krais wasn’t normal either.
“Hey, do you realize I’m standing right here, listening to all this?”
“Yeah.”
As soon as Rem spoke and got his answer, he smacked Krais on the head.
Smack!
“Ow!”
Given the conversation, Krais didn’t pout after getting hit.
He just rubbed the back of his head a few times and then moved on to the next topic. Specifically, as soon as he entered the quarters, something caught Krais’s interest. It had a scent. The scent of jewels.
“What’s with that chest?”
“Jewels.”
At Encrid’s answer, Krais’s eyes changed.
Whenever Krona was involved, human eyes had a mysterious way of turning into gold coins.
He whistled as he checked each chest.
“Quite a lot.”
“Have you seen the dwarf who came into town?”
Watching Krais admire the jewels and gold, Ragna asked.
Hmm?
Was Ragna interested too? Tired of using second-hand swords?
While considering this, Krais responded.
“Oh, I was just about to talk about that. It’s a real dwarf. It’s my first time seeing one, and they look quite beautiful, actually.”
Beautiful?
To understand what he meant, they would have to see for themselves.
They spent the rest of the late afternoon unpacking and practicing Isolation Techniques to loosen their bodies. They decided to visit the territory the next day.
Specifically, to see the dwarf blacksmith.
Encrid ate dinner and closed his eyes.
It was time to do what he always did.
Reflect.
‘What if I hadn’t lost track from the beginning?’
He had lost the monster leader, so he had to chase it.
And during the chase, he experienced a peculiar focus.
He had always mixed focus and Sensory Techniques, but at the moment he threw his sword at the leader’s head, it was different.
Did ‘Will’ move?
No, that wasn’t it. Now he understood what ‘Will’ was.
It was willpower, an intangible force based on it.
It’s a mystery difficult to explain in human language.
In some ways, it’s like a spell or magic, but it’s a power limited to the individual.
For those who train their bodies, wield weapons, or use their fists as weapons, it manifests.
So, that wasn’t it.
When capturing the monster leader, when he threw the sword at its head, Encrid felt something crushed and fused into one.
He could see what to do next, and it felt as if his five senses had fused into something new.
“It’s called Sensory Technique.”
He recalled what Jaxon had taught him.
In reality, it was countless sparring matches with Pel, continuous experiences, life lessons, mindset, and even the rejection achieved through ‘Will’.
It all came together to make it happen.
“There’s no need to divide it into the Gate of Sixth Sense or the Sense of Evasion. It’s just Sensory Technique.”
Damn Jaxon.
His explanations were as clear as mud, just like Rem’s.
At the time, it didn’t make any sense.
Encrid closed his eyes and merged his senses. He entered the realm of the sixth sense. Even without dividing his senses, he could hear, see, and feel.
With his eyes half-open, he saw Audin praying.
“Following the will of the Father, shepherd the young lambs and keep them from losing their way.”
Was he praying for Ragna?
That wasn’t important. Encrid felt as if he had opened a third eye.
Even though Audin wore a thick tunic and a wide coat over it, Encrid could feel his body.
That solid muscle, the explosive strength, the unwavering posture even while praying.
His body was something perfected.
As this sensory realization came to him, Encrid found himself partially opening his mouth, lost in thought.
He saw a new direction in the Isolation Technique.
By merging his senses, a new path became clear.
‘If you don’t train your body, it’s all useless.’
The beginning of everything is the body.
It was an unexpected realization.
But it was also something he already knew.
Revisiting what he already knew was also a form of realization.
Encrid determined the direction to train his body.
Of course, he would need Audin’s help.
Rem watched Encrid, who had come to this realization, with a quiet gaze.
“Hey, did you say there’s a temple in Martai?”
Rem asked. Krais, who was sitting next to him polishing a few jewels, answered.
“Yes, there is.”
It’s smaller than a temple, but there would still be priests. Despite the bad rumors, they were there.
“That guy is definitely broken.”
Rem muttered. Krais glanced up at Encrid. His mouth was half-open, drooling.
“He’s the same as always.”
It wasn’t the first time they’d seen him like this.
While no one paid much attention, Dunbachel made a big decision, half-opened her mouth, and tried to drool just like Encrid.
From now on, she would learn and follow everything Encrid did.
The first step was to do what he did, to understand if there was any reason behind it.
“Do you want me to crush your head? Why are you copying him?”
Rem scolded. Dunbachel stubbornly drooled.
Indeed, a madman.
The door to the quarters was half-open, and the wild horse, peering inside, thought for a moment.
‘Should I go?’
It briefly considered leaving.
It wasn’t just acting on Encrid’s words for no reason.
The horse had been very intelligent and clever even before it had monster blood.
So it could discern the situation.
If it wanted to leave, now was the time.
The horse thought so.
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