WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Alyo
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◈ Surviving as a Warrior in a TRPG World ◈
Chapter 77: Promotion (5)
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'That said, going into the Boundary Forest without the guild's help would be too costly.'
Of course, he could enter the Boundary Forest without going through the guild.
But in that case, he would have to forgo the guild's rewards and sell his Spoils himself rather than through the guild, a reliable intermediary. The loss of time and money would be severe.
'I should stop by first thing tomorrow morning.'
* * *
"Oh my, it's been a while."
The next day, the first person to greet Gerik when he entered the guild after so long was a familiar receptionist. Unlike a few days ago, when she had been troubled by the interrogation, her face now looked much brighter.
"Hello. You've been through a lot, haven't you?"
"Hehe... I can't say I haven't. More importantly, I was really surprised when I heard the news. I heard you fought the Grizzly Owl for your life and came back alive?"
Embarrassed by the receptionist's unusually unprofessional wording, Gerik scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"I only helped. The one who actually drove it into a corner was the Ashburn family knight."
But the adventurers waiting in line behind him seemed to think differently. Their eyes all widened at his words.
'That kid...?'
'He fought the Tyrant of the Forest?'
The thought of a young man who still looked boyish facing the most dangerous monster in the Demonwild Forest seemed to have shocked them deeply. They kept openly looking Gerik over.
"Hehe. Let's leave it at that, then. Oh! Your rank has been updated thanks to this subjugation."
The receptionist stepped away from the counter and went to the bookshelf at the back, where she began searching for something.
"Here is your updated rank plate. Please return your old one to me."
The receptionist held out a Copper Plate engraved with his rank. Gerik accepted it without much reaction.
That lasted only a moment.
Gerik's eyes widened when he saw what was engraved on the identification plate.
'Copper Plate, Third Rank...?!'
When Gerik looked at her with disbelief, the receptionist gave a bitter smile and began explaining.
"Well... there are several reasons."
She counted them off on her fingers.
He had completed several difficult missions alongside Minos's party over the last month. He had played a crucial role in the Grizzly Owl subjugation. And there had been a reliable witness from the Ashburn family.
"On top of that, you completed the escort mission for a direct descendant of the Ashburn family splendidly, and you even saved that person's life. Each of those is a major achievement, so your score had no choice but to rise significantly."
"...Even so, two ranks at once?"
Even after hearing her explanation, Gerik remained doubtful. He was no longer an ignorant Wood Plate adventurer.
At the Copper Plate level, adventurers had to spend years just to rise a single rank. Yet he had risen two ranks at once?
No matter how much merit he had earned, Gerik thought this promotion was beyond common sense.
At his response, the receptionist let out a light sigh as though she had no choice, then discreetly looked around.
After hesitating for a moment, she leaned toward Gerik and lowered her voice.
"Well... you're right that those things alone wouldn't normally raise you two ranks."
Then she quietly whispered in his ear.
"You know there was a major incident at the guild this time, right?"
"...Ah."
At the receptionist's indirect mention of the heretical cult and its spy, Gerik understood what she was referring to and nodded.
Seeing his reaction that he knew the circumstances, the receptionist continued cautiously.
She said that the branch had already been backed into a corner simply because a heretical cult spy had held an executive position.
If even a direct descendant of the Ashburn family had died under those circumstances, the Stonecreek branch would have faced scrutiny far harsher than anything it had received so far.
"So the branch manager had no choice but to be deeply grateful to you, Gerik, for wrapping things up at an acceptable level."
"...I understand."
Gerik nodded with a bitter smile. In the end, this rank was not a result of his ability, but of the Stonecreek branch's political circumstances.
'Still... it's not a bad thing.'
But that thought did not last long. Whether through luck or political circumstances, he had benefited in the end. Gerik quickly changed his mind and got to the point.
"More importantly, I have a request. Could you check for combat missions in the Boundary Forest? This time, I'm thinking of going alone."
"...Alone?"
The receptionist asked in surprise when he said he wanted to wander alone through a place dangerous even for parties.
'There are plenty of reasons, but none I can tell her.'
Naturally, he could not say that he wanted to go alone so he could freely use his special class skills in real combat. So Gerik gave the excuse he had prepared beforehand.
"After going through it a few times, I think I can manage on my own."
"Hmm..."
The receptionist would have strongly discouraged the Gerik of the past, asking what he was talking about. But now, Gerik was an elite adventurer who had fought the Grizzly Owl and returned alive.
He had even made it back alone after becoming separated from his companions near the edge of the Boundary Forest. After considering it briefly, the receptionist nodded.
"If it's you, Gerik... all right! Please wait a moment."
She took several request forms from beneath the counter and spread them out before him.
'...This is it!'
Gerik's gaze stopped on one of the requests as he scanned the list.
'A Shadow Wolf pack sighting...'
Powerful monsters that lived in packs in the Boundary Forest. Tough hides, sharp teeth, inexhaustible stamina, and relentless tracking aided by their excellent sense of smell.
Other than forest trolls and Grizzly Owls, which could only occasionally be encountered near the edge of the Boundary Forest, they could practically be called the strongest monsters in the region.
'Perfect.'
As Gerik read the information on them, he became certain. There could be no better opponents for testing his newly promoted skills.
'Thanks to Katrin's exceptional scouting, I've never encountered them before. I've been curious about their combat strength, too.'
Having made up his mind, Gerik accepted the Shadow Wolf hunting request along with several gathering missions.
Then, after preparing for the journey, Gerik entered the Boundary Forest alone, without anyone accompanying him.
The Boundary Forest was a place he once would have had to grit his teeth and force his way through. But to the promoted Gerik, it was no longer a threat at all.
Even in the pitch-black darkness where not a single ray of light entered during the day, Gerik pressed forward without hesitation, relying on his sharp Perception and overwhelming memory, just as he had when he escaped the Boundary Forest alone not long ago.
He fought suitably strong opponents for practice, while calmly avoiding monsters that were needlessly powerful by sensing their approach.
Even when that took him off his route, he traced the terrain he had memorized in his mind with his enhanced Intelligence and quickly returned to his original path.
As a result, only two days after entering the Boundary Forest, Gerik found traces of the Shadow Wolf pack described in the request.
'Found them.'
Using those traces, Gerik carefully tracked them with his enhanced Perception.
Before long, he spotted the Shadow Wolves gathered in a pack some distance away.
'Five of them...'
Neither too few nor too many. Judging that he could handle them alone, Gerik immediately poured his will into Skyler's Quintet on his finger.
Swoosh...!!
His body blurred as if it had melted into the air, then disappeared. Wrapped in Invisibility, Gerik carefully moved upwind.
'That takes care of smell and sight... All that's left is sound.'
Shadow Wolves were magical beasts famous for their sharp senses. Even the sound of stepping on fallen leaves would be no different from a siren to them.
To minimize noise, Gerik used Telekinesis at his feet to lift himself slightly off the ground, then glided toward the pack like a ghost.
Only a few days ago, he had been making blind swings against Goblins because he did not know the upper limit of his power.
But perhaps because he had tested himself several times in real combat since then, Gerik now knew not with his head but with his body which skill to use, when, and how.
'Ten meters.'
Not long after he began floating with Telekinesis, Gerik reached the maximum distance from which he could ambush the Shadow Wolf pack.
He quietly opened his left hand and pointed at the nearest Shadow Wolf.
Crack...!!
At the same time, a greenish psionic whip shot from Gerik's left hand with a sharp tearing sound and struck the creature directly.
Rrraaargh...!!
The Shadow Wolf struck by the whip let out a terrible scream and collapsed on the spot.
Though not a single piece of skin had been torn, it began writhing in agony as though its brain were on fire.
'As expected. Even ambushed, a powerful magical beast won't lose consciousness.'
After using Thought Whip several times while traversing the Boundary Forest, Gerik had realized one unexpected fact.
Whether the target was aware of the skill affected Thought Whip's effectiveness.
Thought Whip was certainly an excellent skill. But when the target was aware of the skill, its effect was halved even if it struck just the same.
It seemed to be because it attacked the mind rather than the body.
'And the cooldown is considerable.'
Its power was exceptional despite its low level, but its limitations were equally clear. Gerik had therefore decided to always use this frightening means of incapacitation for his first strike.
Grrrr...!!
When one of their companions was instantly subdued by a human who had appeared from nowhere like a ghost, the remaining Shadow Wolves finally noticed the intruder and bared their teeth with growls.
"Come on...!!"
Though the Shadow Wolves charged at him all at once, Gerik did not so much as blink.
Instead, as though he had been waiting for this, he raised a Thought Barrier in the path of the one charging first from the right.
Boom!!
The Shadow Wolf rushing forward at full speed slammed headfirst into a wall that had suddenly appeared in midair. Since it had never expected it, the impact was doubly painful. It was thrown back and whined.
'...The consumption is heavy.'
Far more Psionics had been drained than when blocking attacks from Goblins or Boarmen.
The magical beast's sheer size was on another level, so the impact against the barrier must have been considerable. But Gerik did not care.
Hummm...!!
Gerik wrapped Thought Blade around his sword. Then he used Charge to close in on the Shadow Wolf farthest from the pack.
The charging Shadow Wolf's eyes widened when Gerik suddenly appeared directly in its path.
But only for a moment.
Like the skilled hunter it was, it opened its enormous jaws to tear Gerik apart.
'Charge...!!'
But as though mocking it, Gerik used Charge once more and rushed toward its flank.
He moved too swiftly for the Shadow Wolf to even react.
Slash!
He had only grazed its side.
But the unimaginable speed of Charge combined with Thought Blade's unique sharpness, and the creature's innards burst out and scattered in every direction.
Its hide, infamous for being thick and tough, might as well have been nothing.
'That's one down.'
Gerik had incapacitated three out of five in an instant. He used Thought Barrier once more to keep the nearest Shadow Wolf in check.
Grrr!!
Enraged at the barrier blocking its path, the beast began slamming its body against it.
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