Ch.9Chapter 9: Assault.

The journey upward proceeded incredibly peacefully.

Because of this, they were able to travel faster than expected.

Both the guard captain and the caravan leader found it strange.

‘How… can it be this peaceful?’

But the truth is, there were numerous behind-the-scenes stories.

Would bandits leave a caravan alone for no reason?

Scouting a caravan to assess its strength is an essential part of banditry.

During that assessment process, all the bandits had the same reaction.

“Hey, shit, that’s a barbarian over there!”

“Y-yes, boss. Why is he traveling with them?”

Due to the southern region’s characteristics, many people from the central lands have encountered barbarians at least once.

“Hey, we won’t even break even. Don’t touch them at all! Looking at his build, he must be a Great Warrior class.”

“R-right? This can’t be the only caravan. Let’s just let them pass.”

It seems Valt’s muscles came equipped with a passive skill that grants free passage from bandits.

But there are exceptions everywhere.

Just once.

“Who cares if he’s a barbarian! Kill them all!”

Some bandits with more guts than brains attacked the caravan, but…

They got to experience what it feels like to be birds, thanks to Valt’s throwing.

Fortunately, he adjusted the height so they didn’t die, but several ended up with all their limbs broken.

Naturally, those who witnessed this were shocked.

Still, the guard captain from the 3rd floor of the Aura Tower could tell that Valt hadn’t used his full strength.

‘He-he’s a monster. But it’s reassuring!’

A barbarian would be terrifying as an enemy, but having one on your side couldn’t be more comforting.

Now they were about a week away from their destination.

Over the past 25 days, Valt’s enchantment magic had developed to the point where he could quickly imbue multiple stones with hardness.

The strength of the enchantment had increased as well.

It was exciting for Valt when people exclaimed that it was like magic when they saw him knock down a massive tree with a single stone.

He wanted to learn higher-level enchantment magic, but Lisa didn’t know any, and there were no mages in the caravan.

Mages were premium personnel, after all.

‘Still, we’re almost there. I can easily complete the quest.’

There were still 30 days left on the quest timer.

Although the failure penalty was enormous, Valt was fortunate that the quest wasn’t as demanding as he had thought.

Thanks to his muscles, of course.

He had also carefully analyzed his own condition.

Valt’s level was 12. Originally it was 10, but the occasional hunting over the past 25 days must have helped him level up.

At first glance, it might seem like a low level. Nevertheless, his stats were absolutely insane.

Hadn’t someone mentioned that all abilities of a level 10 ordinary villager would be around 5?

That means a villager’s total stats would be 30.

But Valt currently had an insane number of 302.

An ordinary villager would need to gain over 50 levels to have similar stats to Valt.

Thinking about it that way, he really felt that this barbarian body was completely broken.

Valt understood why barbarians were given such a severe penalty to magic power.

But what about himself?

Though modest, he had learned magic and had increased his magic stat by 10 more, reaching 67.

With this, couldn’t he aim to be among the strongest in this world? He just needed to learn magic well. Just magic.

The caravan was traveling along a narrow mountain path.

These are typically the areas most preferred by bandits.

Surrounded by rocks on one side and a cliff on the other.

With nowhere to escape, it’s an optimal terrain for ambushes.

Sure enough, some fearless fools appeared.

A loud shout came from the vanguard of the escort forces.

“A-ambush!!”

But after glancing at Valt, strangely, none of the caravan members seemed worried.

“Arghh!”

That peaceful thought was short-lived as the death cry of someone rang out, rapidly reversing the atmosphere.

The guard captain shouted to all caravan members.

“Everyone, prepare for battle!!”

With his excellent eyesight, Valt noticed that the approaching figures wore similar masks to those who had attacked Lisa before.

Sure enough, Lisa, who also recognized them, shouted.

“Th-those guys!?”

“No, they’re not the ones who were chasing you.”

The pressure they exuded was different, and their temperament was different.

Even Valt could sense that.

They weren’t the same people, but they were stronger.

‘They’re strong! Who are these guys?’

The caravan’s strength consisted of the guard captain at mid-3rd floor of the Aura Tower, the other squad leaders at mid-2nd floor, and the rest of the forces approaching the 1st floor level.

The masked figures before them were much stronger.

Each one seemed to be at least 4th floor of the Aura Tower!

The mounted guard captain moved forward to confront the masked figures.

Clang!

“Ugh! Where did these guys come from?!”

Though the masked figures were only ten in number, their skill was so exceptional that it seemed impossible for the caravan to stop them.

Still, being well-trained, they managed to engage each enemy with five people, but with just 1st and 2nd floor skills, they couldn’t stop 4th floor experts.

Slash!

“Arghhhh!”

One by one, the escort forces were dying, and the caravan turned into a scene of carnage.

The cooks and support staff were retreating under Lisa’s lead.

“Run! Run!! Don’t look back, just run!!”

It was uncertain if running would save them, but there wasn’t any other option at the moment.

A decision had to be made.

Whether to fight alongside the caravan members or to flee.

Though their objective was unclear, from their actions, it seemed they weren’t just aiming to kill someone but were after the caravan’s goods.

They probably planned to kill everyone and then loot the goods.

A 4th floor expert would be equivalent to a 4th circle mage in magical terms.

Valt quickly assessed the situation.

‘I need to run. There’s no need to stay loyal to these people. No significant gain, and getting involved would only be troublesome.’

Just as Valt was about to pick up Lisa and run!

Ding-

‘Damn it! Curse it!!’

【Sudden Quest: Protect the Artifact!】

<Description>

The caravan was transporting a very precious artifact! It seems a mysterious force has sent troops to seize it! If this is stolen, bad things could happen to the world!

<Completion Condition>

Preservation of the artifact.

<Reward>

Success – 5 Stat Points, Reward from the caravan leader

Failure – Duke Illuin’s wrath.

‘Damn, why is all this anger directed at me? Duke? A duke’s wrath would be no joke… And an artifact? Was there such a thing?’

Artifacts are incredibly valuable treasures.

Of course, there are many items in this world, but those with exceptional performance are called artifacts.

Lisa, who was being held by the now-frozen Valt, shouted.

“V-Valt! P-put me down!”

As Lisa struggled, Valt gently set her down and said.

“Save yourself. Prioritize your life. Protect the people.”

After Valt put her down, Lisa drew her sword, gripped it firmly, and took a stance.

“Understood!!”

Having said that, Valt picked up stones at his feet and enchanted them.

“Hup!”

In an instant, five stones flew towards the masked figures.

Whoosh! Boom!

“Ugh!”

As expected of 4th floor experts, this level of attack wasn’t effective.

‘The enchantment needs to be stronger. Their aura is stronger than my enchantment.’

This means the enchantment magic isn’t strong enough to break through a 4th floor aura.

‘Alright, let’s try that.’

The battle cry that had been there from the beginning!

Valt opened his mouth wide, exerted force, and used the skill.

【UWOOOOOOOOO!!】

In that moment, a roar erupted from Valt that was so powerful it momentarily froze everyone, and in that split second, only Valt could move.

Thud!

Picking up a stone from the ground and enchanting it, Valt charged forward, kicking off the earth.

“U-ugh! What? A Great Warrior!?”

In fact, the battle cry is a supportive skill exclusive to barbarians, usable only by Great Warrior class. It boosts the fighting spirit and morale of barbarians and makes them forget fear.

Non-barbarians become psychologically intimidated and experience stiffness.

In other words, it’s a kind of Fear-type skill.

It’s unclear how barbarians, who can’t even use mana, can do this, but it’s just because they’re barbarians? It feels like the power of muscles being released through the voice.

Approaching the nearest masked figure, Valt brought down the stone on the figure’s head.

Seeing this, the surrounding people thought.

‘How brutal!’

It’s okay to slice someone with a sword, but smashing their head with a stone is brutal? The standard seems strange, but looking at Valt’s appearance now, such thoughts would vanish.

At that moment, as if the stiffness had worn off, the masked figure desperately pulled up his aura to defend his head with all his might.

“Urghh!!!”

But the head was just a feint!

Valt had hunted with stones before and knew that if they remained attached to the body, they would be classified as direct hits and couldn’t inflict damage.

It’s only natural. Otherwise, one could wield weapons too.

Only objects that leave Valt’s hand can inflict damage.

Valt changed the direction of the stone he was holding and threw it at the opponent’s abdomen.

Splurt!

Befitting a 4th floor expert, his body didn’t burst, but because he had urgently pulled all his aura to his head, his abdomen’s defense was weakened.

Taking Valt’s physical magic there, it was a foregone conclusion that he would be retired in one go.

“Urghhhhhh!!!”

The masked figure was hit by the stone, spat blood, and flew away. All eyes were drawn to this terrifying sight.

Having instantly dispatched one, Valt flexed his trapezius muscles and said.

“Next.”