WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

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◈ Surviving as a Warrior in a TRPG World ◈

Chapter 64: The Way Back (1)

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"Phew..."

Once the pain had completely faded, Gerik let out a short sigh of relief and took a drink from his waterskin. After catching his breath for a moment, he rose and slowly looked around.

His eyes fell on the massive corpse sprawled across the floor.

Looking at the creature with an owl's head, Gerik thought,

'Looks like they managed to kill it.'

It seemed Ilvern and the others had somehow succeeded in killing the Grizzly Owl. However, judging by how its hide was still intact, they must not have had time to process the corpse.

There had been another Grizzly Owl outside, and Minos's condition had been critical. It made sense.

'Then again, the Ashburn family probably wouldn't care about a single hide.'

With that thought, Gerik cautiously approached the Grizzly Owl and examined its corpse.

'It's in surprisingly good condition...?'

At least ten days had passed since Gerik had fallen during the battle. Even so, the Grizzly Owl's corpse was in better condition than he expected.

'So magical beast corpses really don't rot easily...'

What Grimdal had told him seemed to be true. An ordinary animal would have already started decomposing, but although the huge creature before him had been dead for quite some time, its form remained intact.

As Gerik looked at the intact corpse, a sudden sense of regret washed over him.

'I should've learned how to tan hides.'

If he had the skill, he could have skinned the undamaged parts and taken them with him. But Gerik did not know how to remove the hide or tan it so it would not rot.

Grizzly Owl hide was such valuable material that sellers could name their own price. If he could have secured it properly, he would have earned a considerable reward.

'What a waste...'

He could not bring himself to simply leave behind the creature that had put him through so much hell.

Hoping there might be something else worth taking besides the hide, Gerik carefully examined its body and recalled the past. His enhanced Intelligence naturally brought Grimdal's words back to mind.

"The creature's body has no part that goes to waste! Its eyes and beak are famous magical materials, not just its hide. And that's not all. Its claws are as hard as steel, so they're well known for being useful in making weapons!"

Remembering that, Gerik's gaze naturally shifted to the Grizzly Owl's eyes and claws.

Grizzly Owls normally kept their claws retracted like cats, only extending them when hunting or fighting.

Because of that, if one was caught through an ambush or a trap, special treatment was needed to extract the claws intact.

But perhaps because this one had died in the middle of a fierce battle, its claws had stiffened while still extended.

'The claws... I should be able to secure those without professional skills.'

The eyes, however, were a different matter.

The Grizzly Owl's eyes, which had once glowed faintly like yellow full moons, had already rotted into a grotesque mess.

Even if magical beast corpses resisted decay, the eyes were softer and more moisture-rich than hide. They could not avoid rotting forever.

'Even if they were intact, I couldn't have taken them.'

The eyes were special materials, so they would have been useless without proper processing techniques. Gerik consoled himself by telling himself they had never been his to take in the first place.

After sorting out his thoughts, Gerik drew his shortsword and tried cutting through the muscle surrounding one of the claws.

'It's damn tough.'

True to a creature whose muscles and hide had withstood Slash, Gerik's blade could barely penetrate deep through its hide. Just like during the battle, even after several cuts, he could only leave shallow marks on the surface.

'Well, its hide withstood Slash. A shortsword isn't going to do much...'

Still, it was not entirely pointless.

As he continued cutting, Gerik gained a rough understanding of how its bones, muscles, and claws were connected.

'I shouldn't cut through the muscles. I need to cut away a weak point entirely.'

Gerik put down his shortsword and picked up his longsword. Then he aimed at the relatively soft wrist joint, which was not connected directly to the claws, and began striking it with Slash.

Shhk! Shhk!!

Once, twice.

Gerik's sharp Slashes struck the Grizzly Owl's wrist without pause.

Even though the powerful attacks could have cut through a solid log, the hide and flesh of the tyrant that ruled the forest endured those terrifying blows.

'What a fucking monster.'

As Gerik swung his sword, he was once again astonished by the Grizzly Owl's absurd durability. At the same time, he felt a little proud that he had somehow managed to injure it.

Crack!!

After striking the same spot about ten times with Slash, the massive creature's forepaw finally came off with a sickening sound.

'It's damn heavy...'

As Gerik lifted the Grizzly Owl's arm, its weight bore down through his hands.

'It has to be at least thirty kilograms.'

It was too burdensome to carry through the Demonwild Forest.

Still, most of that weight came not from the claws themselves, but from the flesh surrounding them. Gerik decided to reduce the weight further.

'I need to leave as little as possible besides the claws.'

Using Slash, Gerik cut away as much unnecessary flesh around the claws as he could. He carefully stripped away layer after layer of meat and muscle without damaging the claws, eventually reducing the weight to around ten kilograms.

'They're definitely... incredibly light for their size.'

Grimdal had not been joking when he said the claws were harder than steel but incomparably lighter. At the same time, Gerik became certain that claws like these would sell for a high price.

Encouraged, he cut off the other forepaw as well. After repeating the process one more time, he succeeded in securing both sets of claws.

'I should take the beak too, right?'

Fortunately, since it was part of the face, the beak was easier to remove than he expected.

Once he finished dismantling the corpse, Gerik untied the scabbard and leather straps slung across his back. He tightly bound the beak and claws together into a single bundle.

It weighed well over twenty kilograms, but carrying it was surprisingly easy.

That was thanks to the Wild Blessing he had received in the ruined world, which had enhanced his strength and health.

It also helped that the beak and each claw were only around thirty centimeters long, so the bundle was not very large.

'At least I got some compensation.'

As Gerik felt somewhat repaid for his desperate battle with the Grizzly Owl, his heart grew a little lighter.

He secured the bundle firmly to his back and slowly stood up.

It was finally time to leave this miserable place.

Carrying the spoils, Gerik relied on his enhanced Intelligence to retrace the path by which he had entered.

"Huh...?!"

But before long, an unexpected sight unfolded before him.

The exit he had entered through had been completely destroyed.

'...Was there an earthquake?'

He had risked his life to climb the cliff and make it back here, only to find that the way out had collapsed. Gerik could not hide his bewilderment.

As he frantically looked around, unsure what to do, his enhanced Perception detected something and sent him a signal.

A faint breeze was blowing from beyond the nearby darkness.

It was such a weak current that the old Gerik would not have noticed it at all.

But his Perception, enhanced by two points through the Psionic Awakener, did not miss the subtle change.

Guided by his Perception, Gerik raised his torch and carefully moved toward the breeze as though enchanted.

'A passage...?!'

Sure enough, another passage stood open in the darkness.

Gerik's sharp Perception also caught a deep footprint on the ground at its entrance.

'This... looks like Ilvern's.'

Based on its size and depth, Gerik guessed that the footprint belonged to Ilvern.

Holding up his torch, he examined the many scattered traces around him and vaguely pieced together what had happened to the group.

'Did they leave through here to avoid the other Grizzly Owl?'

It seemed that when the second Grizzly Owl outside had tried to enter through the exit, his companions had destroyed the original passage to stop it, then escaped through this alternate route.

'They must have escaped safely.'

They were veterans with dozens of times more experience than Gerik. He was certain they would have escaped without much trouble.

Without hesitation, he set out along their trail.

Gerik walked and walked for a long time.

Normally, the endless path ahead would have gradually filled him with anxiety.

But thanks to his enhanced Perception, Gerik could easily find the traces his companions had left behind. Because he trusted their experience, he was able to keep moving forward without wavering.

'Huh...?'

After a considerable amount of time had passed, Gerik noticed that the air was gradually becoming fresher.

Encouraged, he quickened his pace. The faster he moved, the cleaner the air that filled his nose became.

"An exit...!!"

Before long, the distinctive scent of the forest began filling his nostrils.

It was different from the clean forest scent he had smelled in Braktul's world. This smell was strangely damp, carrying the scent of soil and grass.

"Finally...!!"

It was the smell that symbolized the dangerous Demonwild Forest, but perhaps because he was relieved to have escaped, Gerik found it welcoming.

Just as Gerik's heart swelled with joy at finally achieving the escape he had longed for, a savage roar filled with fury struck his ears from nearby.

Awoooong!!!

It was a contradictory roar, mixing the sharp cry of a bird with a deep, heavy growl.

Just hearing it made Gerik's legs tremble.

His enhanced Perception blared warnings of danger.

'...A Grizzly Owl!'

Gerik immediately recognized the owner of the roar and crouched down.

There was no way he could fail to recognize it.

It was the creature that had driven him to the brink of death.

His enhanced Intelligence vividly recalled the Grizzly Owl's cries from the fierce battle not long ago.

Based on the volume he remembered, Gerik realized that another Grizzly Owl was very close.

'I'm screwed...!'

The thought that he might encounter another powerful enemy as soon as he escaped the ruins after going through so much hell sent chills down Gerik's spine.

'Forget following my companions' trail. I need to get the hell out of here right now.'

Holding his torch high, Gerik desperately fled in the exact opposite direction from the roar.

Even in his panic, though, he did not use Charge.

The skill's distinctive boom might reveal his location to the creature.

"Haa... Haa..."

As Gerik ran mindlessly, the nightmare from not long ago came vividly back to him.

Feeling cold sweat run down his back, he sprinted like mad.

In a way, it was an incredibly dangerous thing to do.

All kinds of vicious monsters lurked in the heart of the Demonwild Forest, and moving so recklessly was the perfect way to draw their attention.

But in the end, it was the right decision.

The Grizzly Owl's roar gradually grew more distant, and the other monsters Gerik had feared never appeared.

In truth, that was only natural.

The monsters that lived in the heart of the Demonwild Forest all possessed cunning intelligence.

Naturally, there was not a single low-intelligence monster in the area foolish enough to confront a Grizzly Owl that had lost its mate and was rampaging in a fury.

Ironically, the area around the crazed Grizzly Owl was empty and safe because of its presence.

After fleeing for a long time, a familiar ruin finally came into Gerik's view.

'That place...!!'

When he saw the ruins, Gerik realized he had returned to the place he had visited with Minos and the others not long ago.

'Ah, I went in the opposite direction from the exit...!!'

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