[Barbarian] Chapter 3 – To The Academy (1)

It has been six months since he returned back to the past.

The meadows turned white and were covered in snow.
It signaled the arrival of winter.
Perhaps because of the strong blizzard, no one was walking around.

Except for one, Ulan. 

He strode forward, his axe sharpened to a fine edge.
His direction was toward the dense forest that lay beyond the meadow.

‘I have work to do today.’ 

One of the regrets of his past life. 

Winter had just come to an end, and the third day’s dawn had arrived without the sun rising.  A certain ‘beast’ that lived in the forest once attacked the village. 

Ulan was out on the hunt at the time.

As a result, the village’s remaining warriors banded together to confront the beast.
The village was destroyed, but they managed to stop the beast.

And in this process. 

Ulan’s older brother, Alk, was killed. 

‘I can’t let my brother die again.’ 

Alk was his only real brother.
He had a good reason to live. 

Because he had to take Ulan’s place as the Chieftain of the clan.
Then Ulan can naturally free himself from his duties as a chieftain and take action with ease to achieve his goal.

So, as soon as he entered the forest, he moved forward purposefully, not attempting to blend in.

To provoke him, he cut down trees.
When he was causing a riot while brandishing his axe, he could feel a distant gaze, a strong hostility lurking within.

He turned to face it.

Thud! Thud! Thud! 

The ground rumbled loudly. 

Ulan could smell fishy blood in the swaying wind.
He stared straight ahead with unwavering eyes. 

It was a huge beast. 

It was as big as a boulder, with two pairs of horns sprouting from its head and six legs. 

‘The Guardian Deity of the Forest, Gethuch.’ 

A spirit being that has lived for a long time.

However, his appearance now was far different from that of a spirit being or guardian deity.
His eyes were brimming with malice and hostility. 

A mouth smeared in blood and pieces of flesh as if he had voraciously devoured something.
Even the evil energy that radiated from his entire body.

There was another name for this beast.

‘Demonic Beast.’ 

A demonic beast was a beast whose original magic power has gone wild for some reason or has been swallowed up by an evil force. 

And a beast that has evolved into a demonic beast like this cannot be changed back.
Killing them as soon as possible would be the only way to make it easier.

The moment Ulan silently grabbed the ax. 

“Kreur! Aagh!”

With a scream, he rushed in first. 

A raucous rush.
Crushing all obstacles in his way with his horns, he reached Ulan’s nose in an instant. 

But it’s not something Ulan would succumb to.

He kicked and jumped up the tree like a flying squirrel, then grabbing his horn, he immediately swung his axe. 

Kaaaang! Cadeuk!

It’s hard.
It’s a bit stuck, but that’s not enough.
The beast was writhing like crazy.
Perhaps he was intent on dropping Ulan. 

But Ulan didn’t budge.

Ulan pulled out his axe while still clinging to his horns.
His eyes flashed red, and he tightened his hold on the axe.

And then.

Woo woo woo! 

The axe shook violently, and it turned bright red in an instant. 

‘Spirit.’ 

A technique used only by those who have proven their worth as warriors.
It arouses killing intent and fighting spirit, and imbues the weapon with the latent spiritual power within, increasing its durability and cutting power.

Hearing this far, it would feel like a special power, but in fact, the spirit was not much different from the power called ‘mana’ outside the meadow.

In other words, the reddish glow of Ulan’s axe was also strengthened with mana.
Just like the mana sword used by knights outside the meadow. 

‘If this is enough…’ 

…enough to tear his skin apart. 

Ulan slashed the red axe straight down. 

Kwagak! Crackling! 

The hard leather was deftly cut.

The axe blade that tore through the flesh simultaneously dug into the boiled neck bones.
The Gtuch’s head then quickly fell off his body and clattered to the ground.

A completely detached head.
And yet, he was not dead.

“Khaaaaaa!”

Ulan saw the grotesque sight of a fallen head screaming.
The headless torso flailed about, trying again to drop Ulan.

‘The demonic beast dies only when the nucleus is extracted.’ 

A source of power and mana. 

The demonic beast doesn’t actually die until the nucleus, which is somewhere in the body, is discovered, removed, or severely broken.

For this reason, witches, shamans, and wizards are crucial in a battle with demonic beasts.
They must sense the magic’s flow in order to locate the nucleus.

But Ulan used a different approach.

There’s no need for a wizard.
Neither a witch nor a shaman.
All he required was a tool that could pierce the skin and break bones.

‘If I dig it out until I get a nucleus, that’s it.’ 

Immediately after making an ignorant decision, Ulan swung his axe like his madman. 

Kwadeuk! Kududeuk!

The scene was reminiscent of a slaughterhouse.

The demonic beast, once called a spirit being, began to disintegrate like a mere lump of meat.
He screamed and struggled, but to no avail. 

And some time later. 

After the beast’s body was torn into hundreds of pieces, Ulan, covered in blood all over his body, stood up.

“Found it.” 

It was accompanied by a blunt answer. 

The core was on the fifth leg of the beast. 

To be precise, it was embedded in the thick thigh meat as if hiding.
When he grabbed it and ripped it off, the demonic beast immediately stopped moving. 

‘Now with this…’ 

… Alk will not die.

Ulan smiled in satisfaction.

Then he looked at the core of the demonic beast in his hand. 

A crimson mass of meat throbbing and pulsing like a living heart.
Ulan brought it to his mouth with a grunt and started chewing.

Crunch! Crunching!

A ravenous meal had begun. 

If a wizard outside the meadow had seen such a sight, he would in all likelihood be horrified. 

Because the core of the demonic beast was a mass of mana that ran amok.
Instead of getting a much greater power if you absorb it without refining it, the likelihood of losing control is much higher.

‘If I can’t tame the rampaging mana…’ 

One of two things will happen.
You’ll either bleed to death, or you’ll be consumed by the demonic beast, and a new demonic beast will be born. 

Either way, it’s just as insane.

Of course, Ulan ate all of the Demonic Beast’s core anyway. 

Gulp! 

When the gluttonous meal was over, his whole body heated up quickly.

Pusss! Pusss! 

His body radiated a powerful heat that could melt the snow as soon as it touched it.
The unstable mana that had entered his body started running wild like a madman. 

Ulan, on the other hand, was expressionless. 

He skillfully suppressed his mana. 

He suppressed his mana only with force, not with any grasping techniques. 

In the process, there was a dizzying pain that tore at the skin of his body, but Ulan simply endured it calmly. 

How long had it been? 

The mana that had been rampaging like a mad foal slowly subsided.
After absorbing all the mana, Ulan let out the breath he had been holding back. 

“·······Whew.” 

His gaze deepened.

For the past half year, Ulan had been hunting beasts near the grasslands in this way and absorbing the nucleus.
As a result, Ulan’s spirit had become very powerful. 

He is, to put it mildly, approaching the realm of a great warrior.
Outside the grasslands, such a state is known by this name. 

‘Master’s realm.’ 

A monster that transcends mortals. 

In his past life, Ulan reached the threshold of becoming a Master at the age of 26.
On the other hand, the present Ulan achieved equal achievement at the end of his sixteenth year. 

A full decade faster.

This was only possible because he hadn’t neglected his training and had steadily built up his spirit by utilizing his years of experience.

After a short reminiscence, Ulan opened his closed eyes. 

“What about that, by the way?”

His gaze turned to the wreckage of the demonic beast scattered on the floor. 

Beast’s teeth, horns, claws, etc. 

Although hard, it was not suitable for smelting into weapons.
In other words, it’s an item that a warrior doesn’t really need. 

But it’s different with a shaman. 

Those who wield mana are fascinated by the by-products of the beasts. 

“I’ll have to give it to Azur.” 

After making a decision quickly, Ulan turned around. 

⊱ ────── {⋈} ────── ⊰

After washing off the blood and flesh from his body, Ulan headed to Azur’s cabin.
He, as usual, sought instruction. 

‘I’ve learned a lot in the past half year.’ 

For Ulan, the quest for knowledge was an uncharted territory that he has never explored before.

Maybe that’s why? Ulan made learning fun.
His eyes lit up with motivation at the prospect of learning.

‘What will I learn today?’ 

In his mind, Ulan wanted to learn the knowledge needed to enter Arsene Academy.
Because it was Ulan’s personal goal to enter the academy before he turned 20 at the latest. 

While he was thinking about this and that, he eventually arrived at the cabin.

Bang!

After knocking on the door, as usual, he went inside. 

But today, the atmosphere was a bit different.

“Welcome, Ulan.”

A very different expression and voice.

The outfit was different from usual, a figure clad in the skin of a giant snake.
Azur only wore it for important events and ceremonies. 

So he was just about to ask why. 

“Huh? What is that?”

Azur spoke first. 

It was an expression of interest in the teeth and horns of the demonic beast brought by Ulan.
Because he was going to give it anyway, Ulan handed the present.

“I picked these up on the way.”

“No, what the hell did you pick up——.”

Had she ever felt the scent of such a dense mana? Azur picked up the teeth and sniffed it, and was soon horrified.

“This, this!”

She was right to be surprised.

It was the first time she had seen the teeth with such a strong reverberation of mana.
Also, the huge horns were no by-product of an ordinary beast. 

All beasts have grades.

It’s a grade that humans outside the grassland decided at will, but it surprisingly matched well, so Azur remembers it too. 

Ratings from 1-star to 9-star.

The higher the number, the more powerful the beast.
When it reaches the 9-star level, it is said to be almost as powerful as a monster from the legends.

‘With that in mind, these horns are——.’

A 5-star beast at the most. 

Outside of the grassland, it was a monster that could only be captured if the knights and wizard corps were mobilized. 

“Where the hell did you find this——?”

“I found it inside the forest.
I thought it would attack the clan if left alone, so I killed it beforehand.”

“Ho, by yourself?”

“It didn’t need two.”

Ulan responded indifferently. 

On the other hand, Azur was speechless. 

Azur, no matter how powerful a shaman she was, could never guarantee victory against a 5-star beast.

But he said he caught this by himself? And without a single wound?

‘What a monster!’  

Azur shuddered.

She’d recognized it when he passed the Trial of a Hero, but he was by no means ordinary. 

‘——This will be our best bet, then.’

Azur’s eyes lit up once.
A gleam of unspoken determination. 

Moments later, she beckoned to Ulan. 

She said to come and sit down.
Ulan sat down without saying a word, and Azur handed him a clean envelope.

“A letter?” 

“Yes, it’s a letter asking for a letter of recommendation.” 

Immediately after answering, Azur continued, “Give this to Count Dermore.” 

“What? The Count?” 

He furrowed his eyebrows at the word Count. 

Because this was a term referring to the titles of nobles outside the meadows. 

“You can’t be asking me to leave the meadow——.”

“It’s about time.”

Right after he stopped talking, Azur said in a serious tone, “Go to Arsene Academy, Ulan.
I have nothing more to teach you.
Go wherever you wish and learn all you can.” 

She was afraid to finish the word. 

Ulan’s eyes flashed for a moment.