Heaven and earth shuddered with a bone-chilling tremor.
The giant’s presence was overwhelmingly surreal. Perhaps “surreal” was the only word that truly fit. I had been banished to the spiritual world by the Orc Elder’s shamanism. Since this was a realm of spirit rather than reality, the common sense I knew did not apply here.
However, I didn’t know how to fight in a spiritual world. Concepts like the Middle World, the spiritual realm, or the separation of soul and body were subjects for the witches of the Sky Empire. All I knew was how to handle a sword and how to fight. So, instead of agonizing over the unknown, I did the only thing I could do.
Just as my Master had taught me.
I gripped my sword.
It was a pitiful, shabby blade compared to the colossal giant before me.
But it was all I had.
* * *
What kind of sword should I choose to fight a giant?
The swords I currently possessed were 「Needle」, 「Fang」, and 「Twilight」.
Each of these three swords had distinct characteristics and had been a great help whenever I faced difficulties. But in this moment, my sword arts felt like nothing more than cheap tricks.
「Needle」, which pierced the enemy’s vitals from various angles to subdue them instantly, was useful against humans but would be worthless against a giant as large as a mountain.
What about 「Fang」, which contained the dark techniques of the assassin of the Free City? Naturally, it was useless. It was impossible to assassinate a giant hundreds of times my size with a dagger. This was a scale that required siege weapons or a magic corps, not a mere blade.
And Petel’s knight swordsmanship, 「Twilight」? I couldn’t expect much from that either. Petel’s sword was exquisite and solid—a combination of fundamental swordsmanship and wrestling designed to subdue an opponent. That was a weapon for fighting humans. It was impossible to topple such a giant with wrestling. None of the forms Petel practiced in his life would be able to block the giant’s attacks.
Then how was I supposed to fight?
What weapons did I have left…?
“Whew.”
The giant was drawing closer. I took a breath. My second heart, the 「Mana Heart」, surged, pumping superhuman strength through my entire body. Starting from my heart, numerous 「Paths」 took control of my surroundings. The giant stepped into my 「Path」 without hesitation. In that instant, I could read the giant’s strength in vivid detail.
This is insane.
The giant’s body was made of muscles possessing terrifying power and skin like solid rock. Fortunately, my Doubt found a weakness within the presented information: sustainability.
It won’t be able to move for long. That body is inefficient.
This was a characteristic of large species like giants. Creatures with unnaturally massive bodies cannot move for extended periods because a larger body requires exponentially more resources. No matter how much this was the spiritual world, such laws would still apply. Observing the giant within my 「Path」, I decided to move.
「Fight back.」
Whoosh! I kicked off the ground and ran.
Then, I began to climb the giant’s body as if scaling a mountain. The giant’s skin was as hard as a rocky trail. The surface beneath my feet felt like stone rather than living flesh. Was it even possible to pierce this and cause a wound? Grimacing, I pulled 「Fang」 from my thigh and stabbed it with all my might. It dug in slightly, but the blade wouldn’t go deep.
「Does a mountain crumble just because children dig holes in it?」
Liam’s analogy was correct. I retrieved 「Fang」 and began to climb higher. Even a giant needs to breathe to sustain life. If the heart doesn’t beat, oxygen isn’t supplied, and blood doesn’t circulate, it returns to the earth. Reading the biological signals of the giant within the 「Path」, I grasped that information. A giant dies if its breath is cut off. And no matter how massive the creature, vitals still exist. The neck, the airway inside the throat, the lungs, the heart, the temples near the brain, the eyes…
I had to fight smart.
I grit my teeth and climbed the giant’s body. It wasn’t time for the three swords I had devoured. Now was the time to unleash my own sword. Doubt. My innate way of doing things.
“Uu… gh…”
As I climbed the giant’s body with everything I had, a massive mumble echoed like a thunderous reverberation. It was the giant’s voice. Along with the grand sound of boulders crashing together, the giant’s face, which had been hidden above the clouds, slowly began to reveal itself. It was looking down. As it lowered its head, I saw a single large eye, a blunt nose, and a mouth with protruding fangs. That massive eye was staring right at me, with an expression as if it were looking at a bug stuck to its body.
“Uu… ah. Aaaa.”
A voice laced with annoyance flowed out. The sheer volume felt like it would burst my eardrums. Enduring the roar, I continued to climb when the giant’s heavy hand swung toward me. If it hit me, I’d die. Even if I tried to parry it, I’d die. If I could deflect a mass of flesh swung with that kind of momentum and speed, I would have become a 「Sword Runner」 or a 「Sword Expert」 long ago. I had to dodge.
In that moment, countless 「Paths」 unfolded. I moved like an acrobat along the path that appeared most clearly. I spun in mid-air to avoid the giant’s hand and gripped its skin tightly so as not to be blown away by the resulting gale. I felt like the skin on my face was being peeled off by the powerful wind. Dammit.
If I had taken a direct hit, my body would have exploded. Like a fly.
It was a monster. Even though I hadn’t been hit directly and had only experienced its power indirectly, I knew. This was a monster on a different dimension from me. Naturally, my fingertips began to tremble. Not just my fingertips—my whole body was shaking violently. It was an instinctive fear.
But I didn’t despair.
「Are you afraid?」
“Yes, I’m terrified.”
「But you won’t run away.」
“There’s nowhere to run now that I’ve come this far, is there?”
Even if I was afraid, I had to face it.
As I always said, succumbing to fear and being unable to do anything once was enough. That would never happen again in my life. Even if I were to be bent and broken, I would face it. Head-on.
Huu— I took a deep breath. My 「Mana Heart」 pulsed loudly, calming my tension and sending a surge of vitality through my body. I gripped my sword and steeled my resolve.
The dwarf-made steel sword Daisy had given me was a magnificent piece of work. It could slice through ordinary iron swords like radishes and was a weapon capable of facing a knight in full plate armor. However, it was impossible to cut through the giant’s entire body. The problem wasn’t the weapon; it was me. My physical strength was insufficient to swing the sword with enough force, and the weight class difference between the giant and me was too great. So, what should I do?
With my strength, it was difficult to break the giant’s bones, tear its muscles, or pierce its hide. But I possessed more than just pure strength from my muscles. Special blood flowed through my veins. The blood of the 「Caravan」. The talent left behind by the greatest Swordmaster who ever made a name for himself in history. I ran toward the giant’s head with all my might.
“Hup!”
I inhaled as much as I could. Then, gripping the sword with both hands and bracing the pommel, I widened my eyes. Simultaneously, the 「Paths」 I saw gathered together, becoming thin and vivid. It was the 「Line」. The Path of Steel granted to the Caravans, who could break anything. It was the great weapon that had even broken the sword of a 「Sword Runner」.
Crunch!
As I expected, the 「Line」 was intense enough to pierce the giant’s hide and break what lay beyond. By the time I reached the giant’s chest, I succeeded in gouging a hole the size of my head. But even that wasn’t a fatal wound for a creature this massive.
I have to put a hole in its neck. I have to make it so it can’t breathe.
A wound of this level was nothing more than a mosquito bite to the giant. Even if I pierced its chest, it was impossible to penetrate the muscle and ribs to destroy the heart. I couldn’t draw a 「Line」 that powerful yet. I was still too inexperienced.
“Uugh.”
I felt the giant’s cold gaze piercing down on me. I moved nimbly to avoid its hands, clinging to its body like I was on a cliffside, careful not to be blown away by the aftershocks. A single mistake meant death. It was similar to the experience of climbing the rugged mountain range to the Orcs’ Holy Land. I had to climb and climb, struggling with everything I had. To survive, to win.
「Be more careful, young descendant.」
There were moments of crisis.
The giant shook its entire body and swung its arms. Its thrashing was like an earthquake, and a shock more powerful than I could handle surged through my body. The skin on my palms was torn, and it felt like my fingers would be ripped off due to my lack of grip strength. Even so, I endured. With everything I had.
Upward, I headed further up.
The giant’s hand reached out. I dodged it by a hair’s breadth.
The giant’s finger brushed my torso. I swung my sword from bottom to top, extending the 「Line」 to deflect it. It would have been great if I could have sliced the giant’s hand off, but having used the 「Line」 once already and with my shallow breathing, it didn’t have the proper power. Deflecting it was all I could manage.
My breath was caught in my throat. I climbed the giant’s body with bloodied hands.
The path to the giant’s head was treacherous. The incline became steeper, and once it reached a point where I could no longer walk up, I began using 「Fang」 like climbing gear. I slammed the tip of 「Fang」 into the giant’s skin to support myself as I ascended. My arm muscles throbbed, and my grip was failing; I felt like I could fall at any moment. The sensations were so vivid it was hard to believe this was the spiritual world.
What would happen if I died? If my soul vanished, would my body die too? Or would my soul return to my body, having been recognized as a warrior for fighting well enough? If so, had I already fought a magnificent battle just by getting this far?
Liam had said that the Orc coming-of-age ceremony was a trial to verify a warrior’s will to overcome fear and limits. Isn’t a warrior’s will synonymous with bravery? Then wouldn’t it be enough to just fight sufficiently without necessarily winning? If so, isn’t this enough? Even if I’m crushed by the giant now, wouldn’t I be recognized…?
Trivial thoughts sprouted in my mind. It was human instinct. My steadfast heart was weakening in the face of crisis. This is enough. I did my best. I want to stop now. Such thoughts kept rising.
This was the difference between humans and orcs.
Orcs are simple. They do not fear death and face any enemy with bravery. For orcs, death is not the end.
But humans are not simple. They think too much, worry too much, and are fragile beings who quickly grow weak in the face of death. I was one of those humans.
I was afraid of dying. I had reasons why I couldn’t die. To me, death was the end, and there were reasons why everything couldn’t end here.
“Hah!”
Surprisingly, that is why humans become strong.
Because they fear death, because they each hold a reason in their hearts why they must not die, they can become stronger than the other six races.
— No matter what happens, don’t even dream of revenge.
I was the same.
I couldn’t die here.
Therefore, I had to struggle.
Like a beast.
— I will let you live. So forget today and live your life.
The terrible moment when a monster more terrifying and powerful than any giant took everything from me. The day I did nothing but shiver, frozen in fear. The rage from that day forced my exhausted body to move.
Even if this coming-of-age ceremony was merely a test of bravery to verify a warrior’s will, even if I didn’t need to win, I would fight to the end. I would not let go of my sword until the very last moment. That was the proof of my life.
And the proof of the life I would lead from now on.
The memories and emotions contained in the three swords I had devoured, the memories of people built up over countless years, were erased. In their place, only the rage of Arhan Caravan remained in my mind. Only the boy who lost his family, his neighbors, his friends, and his home—the boy who craved revenge—remained.
“Hee, hu, uwaaa, uwaaaaaa!”
I let out a war cry that sounded more like a beast. It was a meaningless shout. A roar filled only with rage and resentment. Pouring out my emotions as if vomiting blood, I slammed 「Fang」 into the giant and climbed higher, toward the top. Suddenly, the giant’s face was close. Close enough to feel its breath. Its one-eyed pupil glistened. In that moment, I gripped 「Fang」 with one hand and drew the sword at my waist with the other. I inhaled to gather mana and prepared to create a 「Line」.
But—
“Ah.”
Instead of grabbing me with both hands, the giant was protecting its own neck. As if it already knew that as long as it guarded that spot, I couldn’t harm it.
Now that my output has dropped after using the Line several times, I can’t pierce through those hands and put a hole in its neck. Absolutely not.
I judged the situation the moment I saw it.
I could see the end of this fight. Defeat.
I looked up at the giant’s face with hollow eyes. The giant was watching me with cold eyes. With a face that seemed to be mocking me.
* * *
“Kukuku, puhuhu. What an interesting fellow.”
The Orc Elder watched Arhan’s coming-of-age ceremony unfolding in the spiritual world with interest.
“A giant larger than a mountain… he was a human harboring quite a massive monster.”
The monster that appears in the coming-of-age ceremony manifests the ‘monster’ the participant harbors within. For young orcs, it was common for fierce wolves, ogre warriors, or beasts of the deep forest to appear.
“His momentum is good, but is it just momentum? Puhuhu.”
The Orc Elder had sufficiently confirmed Arhan’s fighting spirit. He had clearly seen his bravery as a warrior. It was magnificent enough not to pale in comparison to other orcs. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he had already passed.
Originally, the orc coming-of-age ceremony was a warrior’s proof. Orcs undergo a life-and-death struggle in this ceremony, meeting death at the hands of a monster and being born anew. Therefore, this ceremony was designed from the start to be unwinnable. It was a test that evaluated the process within a predetermined outcome.
The Orc Elder saw Arhan struggling in the spiritual world. Even if he died to the giant like that, the Orc Elder intended to give him a passing grade. He didn’t like that the race was human, but he had shown enough ‘orc-like’ courage.
“Hmm.”
However, the Orc Elder did not end the ceremony.
Because.
“Show me more.”
In the Orc Elder’s eyes, Arhan had not yet shown everything he possessed.
“Prove that you are harder.”
Arhan still had something left.
And the Orc Elder wanted to see it.
“Are you not the Successor of Steel who has reappeared after hundreds of years?”
He wanted to see the greatness of the now-forgotten 「Caravan」.
“Prove a hardness that does not break under any adversity. If you do… I will give you a gift more special than the sacred relic you desired.”
For the first time in a very long while, the Orc Elder felt his heart race.
In the distant past, in an era now forgotten by history, the Masters of Steel were revered by all seven races of the continent. He wanted the thumping heart he felt when he faced them. If he could feel that again, the Orc Elder could give this human anything. No matter how precious it was.
“Hurry.”
* * *
The hand gripping the sword trembled. My physical strength was now almost at its limit.
Unknowingly, I looked down at my feet. It was an insanely dizzying height. The fight could be considered almost over. Even if the giant’s active time was short, it would last longer than me. Even if the giant just took its time and shook its body, I would eventually tire and fall off. If I lost my grip on 「Fang」 and fell, I would plummet to my death. That was the rational conclusion.
However, I did not give up.
My Doubt did not stop.
I swung the blade in my hand with everything I had. Blue light scratched the back of the giant’s hand. Bone and muscle flew up. But it couldn’t penetrate to the neck muscles.
Even so, I doubted.
How can I win? What must be mobilized to kill this monster of overwhelming size? My brain spun rapidly. My head felt hot, as if it were about to explode.
“Uwaa, uwaaaaa—!”
I let out a roar. Straining my arm muscles until they felt like they would burst, I slammed 「Fang」 in and crawled like a beast toward the giant’s nape. Then, I wedged my knee between the giant’s fingers, leaned my body, and stabbed my sword with all my might. To somehow put a hole in its neck.
“You, son of a—”
In that process, the memories of the swordsmen I had devoured or exquisite sword arts were not involved. There was only a boy holding a blade, wanting to kill his enemy. Only a human remained, whose reason was erased and who was filled with rage and resentment. Yes, only wildness remained.
A sword without even a form was thrust and swung, thirsting for blood. My breathing became ragged, and my strength faded. Yet, I did not stop, repeating the same action. In the process, when the giant’s body shook, I continued to thrust my sword in time with the violent movements.
The giant’s body lurched. My body shook violently and collided with the giant’s rock-like frame. While my balance was shaken, one of the giant’s hands swept through the air. A powerful wind blew, as if it would tear the skin off my entire body. I tasted blood in my mouth. Thump! My body was tossed. The tip of the giant’s swinging hand brushed against me. Just that was enough for a shock like a lightning strike to rattle my bones and flesh. My consciousness almost flickered out for a moment.
Why was I suffering and fighting in a place like this?
What was the meaning of continuing a fight that seemed absolutely unwinnable? My reason constantly questioned me. It screamed at me to run away, to give up. Who would even know if I did? It was already this difficult; was it truly possible to reach the heavens as a Swordmaster?
Rational and reasonable questions tormented me.
Even so, I couldn’t stop.
Within my fading consciousness, I moved somehow.
I swung my sword. In my subconscious, the sword arts I had devoured poured out. I twisted the angle of my wrist and stabbed the giant’s skin. Zip! There was the sensation of piercing flesh, but it was shallow. The giant let out a roar. It felt like my eardrums would burst. A high-pitched ringing echoed in my ears.
I stabbed my sword again and again. Then, I pulled 「Fang」 from my thigh and stabbed frantically. Using 「Fang」 embedded in the giant’s skin as a foothold, I unleashed Petel’s 「Twilight」. But nothing changed. It was like a cat scratching a city wall, leaving only small marks. A city wall does not crumble to a mere blade. No matter how much I unleashed the swords I possessed, nothing changed.
— Young Master, you must forget. Only then can you live. Only then…
It felt as if the world were mocking my efforts.
At that point, I completely discarded reason. Only instinct and wildness remained. In that moment, I was not a human, but a beast. A beast with a fanatical obsession with victory.
Resentment erupted.
Rage surged. Fiery emotions whirled in my chest.
The moment I let go of reason, strangely, my senses began to sharpen as if the world were slowing down. All my thought processes and five senses were mobilized for battle.
I lifted my head.
I saw the giant’s face. The one-eyed giant looking down at me mockingly while clutching its neck. The face of Swordmaster Carlos overlapped with the giant’s face. No, it wasn’t just Carlos’s face. I saw my mother’s face telling me not to think of revenge, the butler’s face sobbing as he left the estate, and the faces of the estate residents heading elsewhere with their belongings as if fleeing. And all of them said to me:
To give up, to forget, to not even think of facing it.
That I could never win.
I still could not obey their words.
I simply gripped my sword in silence.
And within that moment where my consciousness felt like it would fly away.
“…”
A single 「Path」 began to appear.
One that was clearly different from anything I had seen before.
A 「Path」 of light, shaped like a single beam, flickering like a comet piercing the night sky.
