Chapter 4 – Adaptation
#004.
Pak! Grasp!
The deeper we went into the forest, the thicker the bushes became.
I used the window to clear out the roadblocks and move on, but I heard a voice from behind.
“Me, over there. Mr. Vacation. What the hell was that just before?”
As Chorin struggled to chase her up the hillside, he asked questions to satisfy her curiosity.
Her torn skirt fluttered open, exposing her thighs.
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“You took down all those monsters by yourself! You are very good at it. Did you learn it?”
“Yes. 20… It took about a month.”
Gaon reflexively tried to say that she had learned over 20 years, but hastily changed it to 20 months.
Currently, Gaon’s physical age is 21 years old.
It doesn’t make sense to say that if she’s been learning spearmanship for 20 years, she started mastering it practically as soon as it came out of her stomach.
Chorin tilted her head while she was delighted that her prediction was correct.
It’s something I don’t understand.
Where is the place to learn spearmanship on Earth today? Even if there was, it was unreasonable to just understand that a young man who seemed to be in his early twenties at most would become strong enough to defeat five monsters in an instant.
‘I have to come up with a reason.’
If she found a place to rest, she was likely to follow up with further questions.
She had to prepare in advance so that she would not be in trouble then.
In that state, the two moved further for a while.
After about an hour, her stamina gradually decreases, and she begins to get thirsty.
Even on a mountain with a hiking trail, if you move nonstop for an hour, you will consume a lot of stamina, but this place did not even have a road.
Gaon glanced at her and turned her head to look at her Chorin.
Chorin was breathing heavily as if she would collapse at any moment. But even though she was drenched in sweat, she didn’t say anything like that because she said let’s rest and go.
Even Chorin knew it.
That she’ll suffer less later if she’s busy now. That they are still at risk.
Is it because Gaon is the only person I can rely on now? I don’t know if it’s because of his passive personality, but Chorin followed suit without complaint.
After checking that point, Gaon slowly began to check his body condition.
I felt the movement of her muscles as I swung her spear and slashed her bushes. As she measured the weight of the weapon in her hand, she realized the change.
‘Is it useful?’
Physical abilities were on the rise.
It is the effect of indomitability that was in the unique ability tab.
I had benefited quite a bit from the fight with the goblins earlier. Of course, even if it wasn’t there, the result wouldn’t have changed, but it helped. It was a good thing.
This is a performance that does not fall significantly compared to those who are called geniuses in the Union.
Of course, they are the incarnations of irrationality who are born with several unique abilities from the moment they are born.
Noble from birth. For example, in the case of high elves, they are basically born with an affinity for nature. And from there, additional abilities such as spiritism, archery, or tracking are added.
Of course, depending on each person’s efforts, their abilities are developed and strengthened.
Humans are honestly not that strong in Union. Strong people are not human beings, they are strong just because they are. The outside world is literally a world of weak meat.
‘Are you all here…’
Gaon, who was sorting out his memories by himself, saw a rock placed between two trees and nodded his head.
She has almost reached her nest.
Note that this is a kind of neutral zone.
Located in the middle of the area occupied by goblins and orcs, it can be considered safe except for occasional patrols passing by.
Not to mention, in an ambiguous time like now, he wouldn’t come unless it was a dire situation.
Gaon turned his back to look at Chorin.
“Lee Cho-rin. Let’s go get some rest. It is very difficult.”
Chorin, who had been struggling to follow step by step, slowed her steps as Gaon suddenly looked back.
“Yes? Oh, no. I’m OK.”
It can’t be okay
Even right now, if the shaking of the legs gets caught on a rock, it is ready to collapse.
Gaon said firmly.
“It’s because I’m having a hard time. Rest.”
Without answering, Gaon put his butt on the side of the rock. An exquisite place where the whole body would be covered by rocks if not the front. Seeing that, Chorin cautiously sat down next to him.
“… Thank you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Let’s rest for now.”
“Yes.”
Chorin smiled.
I was just grateful for Gaon’s blunt, but warm consideration.
***
The sun goes down.
Higher than the towering forest, the sun that had been stuck in the sky was leaning to one side, dyeing the world red. Darkness will come soon. It’s time for her to go to the nest she’s been thinking of.
“The sun is setting. We must hurry.”
“Ha… Yes.”
Chorin’s face was full of worry.
Even after she rested, she had already wandered the forest for several hours, but she hadn’t found a place to stay.
Of course, this is only Chorin’s own idea, and Gaon had a place he had already marked.
She was even circling around here, deliberately avoiding only that place. It’s not really to make Chorin suffer, it’s because the place is as poor as it is safe.
This is neutral ground.
The neutral zone is a place that does not belong to any power and exists between them.
Then, why didn’t the goblins and orcs expand their power here? That’s because, of course, this place doesn’t have much merit.
There are no creeks or lakes to procure drinking water in this area. Gaon and Chorin also have to go far to find drinking water and food tomorrow.
So, even if you go a little crazy, it’s right to take a break at the place you thought of as planned.
Bad news for Chorin, but tomorrow will be harder than today.
Under Gaon’s guidance, the two arrived at the same place.
A fairly large tree compared to other trees. Unfortunately, the root of the tree dug inward to form a space.
“Lee Cho-rin. I’m staying over there today.”
“Ugh… Yes. Go in.”
The place was so small that it would fill up when the two of them entered, but perhaps because of exhaustion, Chorin followed Gaon into the tree without much resistance.
It was also that I was deliberately going round and round because I was afraid of this. If I had found this place early in the day, wouldn’t I have asked to find another place?
Doing so will only make things more difficult.
Gaon and Chorin sat down on the floor facing each other with their backs to the wooden wall. The tree was quite cozy and nice, unlike what it looked like on the outside.
The walls aren’t rough, and they’re moderately soft, so you don’t have to worry about getting scratched while sleeping. This is perfect for an overnight stay.
The two of them rested quietly for a while without saying anything or moving. Not only Chorin, but Gaon’s body was still at the level of an ordinary human, so he was quite tired from walking for several hours.
Their breaths mingled in the narrow space.
Maybe 30 minutes have passed?
The sun completely disappeared, and the moonlight began to beat down on the ground.
Watching the sky turn black and the stars twinkling, Gaon turned his head to Chorin with a stabbing gaze.
She looked up to see if she had any questions, and when Chorin mumbled her mouth, her eyes met and she cautiously introduced herself.
“I’m late, but I’ll introduce you again. My name is Chorin Lee. She is 23 years old.”
“… Come on vacation I am 21 years old.”
As Gaon revealed her age, Chorin’s eyes twinkled.
Perhaps she felt her sense of distance diminishing a bit, she opened her mouth as if Chorin had become a little more comfortable.
“You are two years younger than me. And yet so calm… Great. Did she say Goblin earlier? He killed those monsters in no time. Thanks to that, I was able to escape. Thank you.”
“It was nothing.”
The moment she revealed her age, Gaon, who was worried that she might do something wrong, was somewhat relieved by Chorin’s reaction, and she answered indifferently.
She said, of course, that she didn’t really care.
She had learned spearmanship for years, but when she struggled against goblins or something, that time was wasted on the ground.
But that was Gaon’s idea, Chorin was different.
“No. That’s amazing! … Even in the clearing, she was confident that she could take care of it alone, right?”
“…”
Gaon didn’t say anything, but Chorin continued her words as if he had inferred the answer by himself.
“If I hadn’t interfered there, there wouldn’t have been everyone scattered… I did something useless.”
If Gaon had shown him crushing 10 goblins alone in the clearing, people who were trying to escape would probably have stopped halfway.
They must have united around Gaon, thinking that they would be safe with that person.
Chorin blames herself for ruining it by interrupting it on the way.
She was a stupid good woman.
“It is not. I made a mistake. Because I said something stupid and made everyone scared. If I had just kept quiet, it would have ended without any damage.”
“… Could it be? I hope others are safe.”
Chorin raised her knee and rested her chin on it.
Even when her own safety is not properly secured, she worries about others. It was a very cowardly act.
Why does she care about people she has only known for less than a day?
Gaon couldn’t understand it.
… She couldn’t understand it, but if such a hukou were an ally, it couldn’t be better.
Of course, if you can’t throw away that temperament and cause a nuisance, it can be said to be a serious problem, but in the end, it will be solved naturally if you live in this world.
So, it was time to seriously think about the future.
“Lee Cho-rin.”
When Gaon quietly called her name, Chorin answered by removing her face from her lap.
“Oh! Yes?”
“As you may have seen earlier, we have to survive for a month.”
“Yes. Yes…”
It’s a dull answer.
Up until now, I hadn’t had time to think about anything else because I had to squeeze my stamina to the limit right now, but it was probably because I realized the current situation through Gaon’s words.
Gaon called the status window and opened his mouth while looking at the tab for his unique ability.
“My ability is psychometry. We can gather information around us.”
“Yes?”
When Chorin reveals her ability out of the blue, she opens her eyes wide in embarrassment. It was because I didn’t know that this completely secretive man would reveal my information in the first place.
However, Gaon did not reveal this fact for nothing. It is a necessary action
Of course, the ability I was told was false, but I had to do this to use the information from my previous life.
It is a specification that is subject to unnecessary suspicion.
“I think it is important to build trust in order to go together in the future. To do that, you need to reveal your abilities. We need to know each other’s abilities so that we can rely on each other when the need arises.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Gaon stared at Chorin, who nodded her head in agreement. She also informed her, which means it’s your turn this time.
With his tenacious gaze, Chorin summoned her status window and looked at her unique ability tab to inform her of her abilities.
“I have the ability of life exchange. They say it can absorb or impart life force, but I don’t know.”
“It’s a life exchange…”
It seems to be roughly similar to the martial arts absorption law.
It’s because the explanation is quite unkind, but if you guess based on the information given, Lee Cho-rin seems to be able to handle the life force itself.
Life force is a very comprehensive concept, which implies various meanings. There must be a lot of different effects in it.
It’s a very good ability.
It is likely to have the effect of healing wounds like the priests.
“Sorry. Isn’t that a very strange ability?”
Chorin has apologized to her for how Gaon interpreted her thoughts while being silent for a moment.
She seems to have found it unhelpful.
“First… I’ll have to think about it some more. Do you know how to use it?”
“… No. It’s not even written like that. Sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize. It’s getting late, so let’s go to sleep. Let’s think about tomorrow’s work tomorrow. After a long walk in the mountains, I am tired.”
“Yes. All right. Hyuugaon-san, sleep well too!”
It wasn’t that deep a night yet, but what happened today was an event that consumed so much energy that ordinary people couldn’t bear it.
Gaon and Chorin, lying side by side, slightly apart, slowly closed their eyes.
In the case of Chorin, looking at her body, she wasn’t the active type. As such, the fatigue of the body will be enormous right now, and you will fall asleep in an instant. While waiting for that moment, Chorin suddenly raised her upper body.
“Miss Gaon!”
“… Why?”
“Can I just sleep?”
“Yes?”
“When you’re sleeping, monsters might come.”
“…”
Chorin wasn’t as stupid as I thought.
Gaon also honestly had no intention of falling asleep, but if he came out like this first, he would have no choice but to set a night watch.
“Certainly there is a risk. So let’s keep awake for 5 hours in turns. I will stand first.”
“Yes? No! Let’s make it fair. How about rock, paper, scissors?”
Gaon shook his head excitedly at the sight of her clenching his fist and sticking out as if he could not receive one-sided consideration. It’s just that she wasn’t trying to be considerate like Hogu. Gaon has other things to do.
“Please go to bed first. Thanks to my regular spear training, I can manage to endure it.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Rather, it is more difficult to argue like this.”
So don’t bother and get up quickly.
Chorin pondered at the firm determination, then cautiously nodded her head.
“Then I’ll go to sleep first. Do you have to wake me up in five hours?”
“Of course.”
Chorin was relieved only after receiving such a definite answer and laid her body down.
