Chapter 8
Squeak…
Squeeeak…
A dark sewer.
Leona pressed Eric against the wall as much as possible to protect him, biting her lip as she watched the monsters slowly closing in through the torchless darkness.
Damn… there are too many of them.
Just counting the vague presence in the distance, there were about sixty.
None of them were particularly strong individually, so even though it would take some time, it was a manageable number.
The problem was that she had to protect Eric at the same time.
It would have been better if there had been just one strong monster.
Although Eric stubbornly trained, contrary to the rumors, it had been less than a month.
Even a genius born with the goddess’s blessing wouldn’t have enough time to fully handle a fight alone.
There was no way this incompetent man had suddenly become strong enough to fight monsters.
“Master, please stay as close to me as possible.”
No matter how much the family viewed him as a disgrace, he was still the legitimate heir of the Arter family.
Even if she somehow managed to break through the encirclement, it would be impossible to avoid responsibility if he got injured.
Clap—
Kyaaah!
Kshhh!
For a moment, she warned Eric just in case. At the same time, with the splash of water from the floor, the monsters charged, letting out horrifying shrieks from the darkness.
Small as children, rat-shaped monsters moving in swarms.
Ratmen.
Kyaaak!
The tip of her sword dropped sharply at the first one baring its teeth.
Swish—
From the crown of the head to the bridge of the nose, a blue blade lightly swept over, and the gray-furred body, crudely armored, split in half.
Thud—
Kyaaah!
Kshh!
Beyond the split corpse falling to either side, two more Ratmen jumped forward immediately.
“Tch… where do you think you’re going!”
Swish—
Whether archer, mage, or cleric, the vanguard must protect the rear.
Thus, Ratmen, moving in swarms, were considered the trickiest monsters to deal with.
They charged relentlessly, unaffected by the deaths of their comrades. Small and easy to miss, when so many pushed forward, some inevitably reached the rear.
Kshh!
“Master!”
After slicing for a while, Leona gritted her teeth as she saw some of the Ratmen bypass her and head straight toward Eric. She had been swinging her sword deliberately wide to avoid missing them.
Damn! Too late…
Thunk—
“…Huh?”
Just then, as she turned her back to help Eric against the Ratmen that had reached so close, a sharp sword pierced through a Ratman’s chest right in front of her eyes.
“How…?”
“Leona, don’t lose focus.”
Kyaaak!
“Ugh!”
For a moment, she was stunned at how effortlessly he handled the monster.
Feeling pain rising from below, she hurriedly turned and saw a Ratman clinging to her ankle. She lifted her foot and…
Crack—
Squeak…
Thunk—
After that, having finished off the remaining monsters, Leona narrowed her eyes at the piled-up corpses that nearly blocked half the sewer.
Earlier, in the chaos, she hadn’t considered this…
It was strange for dozens of monsters to be roaming in the city rather than on a battlefield.
If only one or two had wandered here, it might be coincidence. But even for Ratmen acting in swarms, this many indicated someone was deliberately causing trouble.
Moreover…
She glanced at Eric, who was rummaging through the corpses as if collecting materials from the Ratmen.
The ease with which he had just killed the Ratman in one strike through the chest—
That was not the skill of a beginner who had been holding a sword for less than a month.
Merely stabbing an enemy could be luck, but hitting precise weak points while avoiding bones required skill gained only through long practice and experience.
Once or twice could be luck… but that expression—he looked experienced in battle.
All the Ratmen in front of Eric showed only a single wound.
A strike aimed diagonally at the heart under the chest and collarbone.
How he performed such a feat against small, darting Ratmen was beyond comprehension.
“Master.”
“Ah, Leona. Is your ankle okay?”
Leona wiped the blood off her blade, sheathed it, and moved toward Eric. Seeing the wound on her ankle, Eric spoke.
“…It’s fine.”
It was only scratched by the Ratman’s claws, nothing serious. With some medicine, it would heal quickly without leaving a scar.
“More importantly, how did you do that?”
“How do you mean?”
Leona pointed to the chests of the corpses with a glance, indicating the strike’s precision.
“Ah. Nothing special. Just stabbed straight. As usual.”
Eric understood at a glance and shrugged casually, as if it were no big deal.
Nothing extraordinary, and the Ratmen aren’t even strong. This level is enough.
Eric Arter
Level: -99
Strength [3]
Agility [2]
Stamina [3]
Mana [1]
Trait: <Indomitable>
Ratman
Level: 3
Strength [6]
Agility [13]
Stamina [6]
Mana [1]
Trait: <Rotten Claws>
Of course, under normal circumstances, I would have been overpowered.
Although his -99 level weakened his body, he hadn’t lost the experience from the previous game.
He had accumulated knowledge from repeatedly completing “Protect Humanity,” including Ratmen weaknesses, anatomy, and attack patterns in various situations.
If he could see where the monster would strike, he could place his sword in the expected position and pierce the weak points, avoiding bones.
For now, Ratmen were manageable, but with better equipment and skills, even dragons could be targeted.
“‘As usual,’ you say?”
As Eric imagined a hopeful future, Leona tilted her head in puzzlement.
All she had seen was him practicing on dummies in the training field.
As usual?
“Have you ever been on a battlefield?” she asked, unsure.
Considering how he instantly recognized the Ratmen’s work from the old man’s wounds, and fought without hesitation, it was reasonable to assume he had prior experience.
“No way. You know the rumors, right? Even if I wanted to, they’d stop me. Better not disgrace the family.”
Eric chuckled softly, shaking his head, but Leona’s suspicious gaze remained.
To her knowledge, Eric Arter had never been on a battlefield. Otherwise, his treatment wouldn’t have been so poor.
And his performance in training couldn’t have been an act. No sane person would pretend to be incompetent.
Furthermore, she had observed his two weeks of training, knowing he really was a beginner.
He lasted surprisingly long for a first-time sword user, but his hands were shredded, and his sword technique was a mess.
But then…
Genius.
After some thought, the word surfaced above Leona’s head.
Although his swordsmanship was still raw, his instinctive ability to find weak points was innate.
A disgrace of the Arter family, a worthless, unblessed incompetent—it was the last term anyone would use, yet the situation demanded it.
To strike down monsters on the first try with such a weak body and poor control of a sword could only be called talent from the heavens.
“Anyway, help me with this. There’s too much for me alone.”
“Yes. I’ll gather the rest, then take a short break… huh?”
Leona stared blankly at the strange corpses, astonished.
What… materials…
Under the reddish torchlight, teeth, claws, and fur glimmered faintly.
She had heard that the frequency of material drops varied with each person’s blessing, but this was far beyond normal.
From fifty corpses, she couldn’t even collect ten, while Eric had gathered every valuable part intact, including the embedded magic stones.
Just how much does the goddess hate him?
Those blessed more by the goddess typically gain strength faster but collect fewer materials from monsters.
Because humans grow stronger through absorbing the power of slain monsters proportional to their blessing.
The monster’s body parts, including the magic stones, condensed their power.
“All right, we’ve collected the materials. Let’s move out.”
Soon after, Eric got up from his rest, watching Leona finish gathering materials and fill her pockets.
“…What’s that sound? We need to return and report to the Duke!”
As he retrieved the torch and moved inward, Leona grabbed his wrist firmly, protesting.
“Return? Didn’t I say we’d clear all the monsters here?”
Eric looked at her as if she were speaking nonsense.
“But…”
“It’s fine. That’s why I brought you. Missing a few is okay. I can handle the Ratmen. You saw earlier, right?”
Trying to reassure Leona, Eric tapped the sword at his waist lightly.
“Even so, it’s not acceptable! Just because we met Ratmen, doesn’t mean there aren’t worse monsters inside!”
“…Tch.”
Faced with her stubbornness, Eric reluctantly pulled out a trump card.
A method he often used in the game to persuade her under his command.
“You need to do something here. It’s already hard to gain experience as the Master’s subordinate.”
“Experience…”
The word sparked Leona’s interest, her ears perking up.
