SWNOVELXO Chapter 80 - Gathering Leather (6)
Chapter 80. Gathering Leather (6)
Yuri’s laughter, once started, showed no signs of stopping.
No, now he even openly pointed at Theresia, bursting into loud laughter.
“Puhahahahahet!”
“……”
Theresia’s delicate brow twisted violently.
‘This is the worst.’
As expected.
She hadn’t told him on purpose, knowing full well that he’d react like this.
But to be caught so bluntly on the very first day.
Theresia’s pale neck and ears flushed red with embarrassment.
Seeing this, Yuri smirked.
“Ah, so that’s why you didn’t tell me what gathering leather was all about?”
“……”
“Well, if I was going to catch on this quickly, you could’ve just told me, right?”
“……”
“Wait, did you really think you could avoid running into me?”
With each word that left Yuri’s mouth, he hit the mark so perfectly that Theresia’s shoulders showed no sign of relaxing.
And with it, her worries deepened.
‘Could I even take him down?’
She wanted to smack him on the back of the head as hard as she could.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, Yuri, as if reading her intentions, drew his sword and spoke.
“Why? Wanna go at it? Fine by me. Hmm… Seeing as Senior Tetsha is a wolf, I guess only those of recognized 1st rank can be wolves?”
“……”
“And that’s not all, there must be restrictions on the wolf role too, right? If we fight under those conditions, I’m all for it! Come on! Bring it on!”
Theresia let out a light sigh as she looked at Yuri’s finger, beckoning her arrogantly.
‘…This guy, he’s already figured out the rules of this quest to some extent.’
No, at this point, it was fair to say he knew almost everything.
The different animals and the restrictions placed on them.
Once you understood that, it became easier to strategize against them.
Considering how little time had passed since the quest began, it was impressive how he had found all this out… Truly astonishing.
Theresia pondered how to navigate the situation.
‘Should I just hand over the leather instead of forcing a fight?’
While she was contemplating that, a voice pierced her thoughts.
“If you just tell me a few things, I’ll let you go.”
Suspicion clouded Theresia’s eyes at his words.
“Really? You? Why the sudden change of heart?”
“I admit, the ‘you, why’ part is quite annoying… but hey, out of neighborly kindness, I’ll let you go this time. As long as you answer well.”
“…Neighborly kindness? Was there ever such a thing between us?”
“There wasn’t. Since there wasn’t, let’s just fight.”
“On second thought, maybe there was.”
“……”
“What do you want to know? I’m busy too, so ask quickly.”
Yuri’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Theresia.
‘Was she always like this?’
His first impression of her had been that she was aloof and haughty.
In fact, she had been at first.
But now, she was completely different.
‘She’s quick-witted, and quite cunning in her own way. She knows how to take care of her own interests too.’
Had she always been like this, only revealing her true nature once they got closer?
Or had she become like this after spending time with him?
Whatever it was, it wasn’t exactly a positive change for Yuri.
‘Sigh, it’s easier to take advantage of someone naive…’
Yuri sighed inwardly before opening his mouth again.
“From what I can see, it looks like there are defined zones, right? Rabbits on the outermost, then deer, followed by wolves, bears, and tigers? Is that correct?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Satisfied that his guess was correct, Yuri smirked slightly as he moved on to the next question.
“How many pieces of leather do wolves receive in total?”
“How do you know that…? Ha, well, if it’s you, you would’ve figured it out somehow. Wolves receive a total of 10 pieces of leather.”
“And what’s the restriction on wolves? The condition for attacking?”
“They can attack first, but they can’t exchange more than 200 blows. If they exceed that, they have to evade for 30 minutes.”
“Hooh?”
Yuri’s eyes gleamed.
‘This is good.’
In other words, once the wolf had crossed 200 blows, Yuri could beat them down without resistance.
Of course, most cadets would settle the fight within 200 blows.
Yuri, now with the “200 blows for wolves” firmly etched in his mind, asked his next question.
“Lastly, what’s the identity of the bear?”
Theresia hesitated at that question.
She sighed before answering.
“I don’t know exactly what the bear is. But…”
“……?”
“The only animal quests we regular cadets could choose were the rabbit, deer, and wolf. That’s all I can tell you. Can I go now?”
“Yes, yes, thank you for your hard work. You can go!”
“Thanks for letting me go, really.”
With a slightly sulky expression, Theresia left the area.
Yuri, who had really let Theresia go, stroked his chin.
‘Wolves won’t be a problem.’
As long as he could endure 200 blows, the battle was his to win.
No, there wouldn’t even be a need to reach 200 blows.
With his skill at the 1st rank, he could handle it before then.
‘Wolf territory? I’m the king here now!’
He didn’t know how many wolves there were, but if he wiped them all out, he could earn a massive amount of points.
Just thinking about it got him excited.
But that excitement faded as he looked deeper into the forest.
‘The bear…’
Theresia had provided enough clues.
‘The cadets’ roles only go up to the rabbit, deer, and wolf?’
Then the bear was obvious.
“The Black Sword Corps.”
The only ones who could take on the role of the bear were the Black Sword Corps.
Yuri let out a laugh of disbelief.
“Wow, isn’t this ramping up the difficulty way too fast?”
The Black Sword Corps members were at least at the 3rd rank.
So the bear, too, had to be at least at the 3rd rank.
If the goal was to hide or escape from them, it might be possible.
But facing them head-on was beyond even Yuri.
‘I shouldn’t enter the bear’s territory carelessly.’
Well, it didn’t really matter.
There was no need to go into the bear’s territory anyway.
All he needed to do was camp out in the wolf zone and take the leather from anyone who crossed his path.
“Puhuhuhu, how much will that all be worth?”
Yuri’s eyes gleamed with a manic light as he imagined the enormous points ahead of him.
He laughed as he watched the spot where Theresia had disappeared.
“See you next time.”
There would be no more neighborly sentiments when they met again.
With that thought, Yuri immediately set off.
Night had fallen in the Forest of Animals.
In the heart of the forest, within the deer’s territory, a small campfire crackled.
Crackle, crackle.
Sitting by the brightly burning fire, Yuri chewed on his rations while checking today’s haul.
“One, two, three, four, five…”
He counted each piece of leather with the utmost care.
As the number of pieces grew, the corners of Yuri’s lips gradually curled upward.
Finally, when his smile reached his ears, the day’s tally was complete.
“Thirty-two pieces from rabbits, twelve from deer, and two from wolves.”
If he exchanged them all, it would total 192,000 points.
Quite a hefty sum for a day’s work.
‘At this rate, or if I push myself a bit harder, in ten days…’
A faint glint of madness flickered in Yuri’s eyes.
It was an obsession with points.
If Johan had seen him, he would have said, “He’s always been like this.”
And he wouldn’t have been wrong.
Yuri had always had a strong attachment to wealth.
But it was also true that this obsession had intensified recently.
His fixation on points.
This obsession had begun when Yuri became aware of his problem—his lack of mana and magical power.
‘Losing because of my lack of skill… Sure, that could happen.’
But losing a fight because he suddenly ran out of mana?
‘I’d rather put a knife in my mouth and end it!’
Even the thought of it was horrific.
And this was the worry that had been slowly bubbling up inside Yuri.
He could somewhat foresee it.
That one day, he might truly lose a battle because of a lack of mana.
Just when this worry was starting to consume his thoughts, Yuri experienced something like a revelation after consuming a Low-Grade Mana Enhancement Elixir.
Whoosh!
The fullness!
The exhilaration!
The sense of accomplishment!
‘If a mere low-grade elixir feels like this…?!’
Having personally experienced the effects of the elixir, Yuri became obsessed with earning points to buy more.
Then, something poured fuel on that fire—a certain item fell into Yuri’s hands.
None other than Yuri’s treasured item, an Elixir.
[Listen up, you fool. Elixirs are legendary potions that appear in myths. The Bone Clan’s Elixirs share similar properties.]
The effects were so extraordinary that extending life was just the beginning, and rejuvenation was a bonus.
But above all, there was one crucial effect.
The true reason why every Magic Body Technique user dreams of obtaining an Elixir.
[An Elixir filters out impurities from the mana stored in the user’s body. Although there’s a slight variance, it can purify mana to over 90% purity. Theoretically, 100% purity is possible, but I’ve never heard of anyone achieving that, so let’s just say it’s over 90%.]
Over 90% purity.
When Yuri looked puzzled, not understanding how significant that was, Johan explained that his own mana purity was around 90%.
The same Johan, who wielded over a million units of magical power, had 90% purity.
Only then did Yuri realize just how precious the pendant in his hand was.
[The Bone Clan’s Elixir is something that might appear in the world once every hundred years. I don’t know how it ended up in your hands, but… you lucky bastard.]
Looking at Yuri with envious eyes, Johan offered one piece of advice.
[The Elixir only filters out the impurities in the mana stored in your mana core. So, gather every potion and elixir you can find in the Cradle and accumulate as much mana as possible.]
[Worried about the side effects of recklessly consuming anything? Why bother? The Elixir will cleanse it all in one go! Keep consuming until you feel like your stomach is about to burst… then take the Elixir!]
Johan advised him that taking the Elixir with his current pitiful amount of mana would be like throwing it into a trash can.
So, he told Yuri to accumulate as much mana as possible before taking the Elixir.
If he could do that, he could surpass what others achieve in decades in an instant.
That was Johan’s advice.
With such a prospect, how could Yuri not become fixated on earning points?
It was the fastest and easiest way for him to become stronger.
Whoosh.
Like the flames of the campfire, the flames of obsession burned brightly in Yuri’s eyes.
And at that moment.
“Ahhh, go away!”
A strange sound, somewhere between a scream and a cry, echoed.
Then, the sound of something approaching quickly.
Yuri swiftly gathered his precious leather and drew his sword.
Soon, a girl burst through the bushes.
Yuri tilted his head as he saw the blue-haired intruder.
“…Arin? What are you doing here?”
At the sound of her name, Arin turned her head toward him.
As if she had found her savior, she quickly ran to Yuri and crouched behind him.
“Hide me!”
“What, what are you doing?!”
Yuri was flustered by the sudden situation.
Something else emerged from the direction Arin had come from.
Rustle.
The first thing that appeared from the bushes was a pair of long, white rabbit ears.
“Kkangchung!”
And following closely behind was a purple-haired head.
“Kkangchoooong!”
Even though he wore a rabbit ear headband like the other rabbits, the man who appeared was mimicking rabbit ears with his hands.
When Yuri’s gaze met his, his lips slowly parted.
A bewildered mutter escaped from his mouth.
“…Why is he here?”
In the dead of night, a wild pervert had appeared.