Chapter 11.2: Super Regeneration (2)
The deeper we went into the mountains, the more often we encountered monsters.
Besides the many beast-type monsters, including the Spike Bear mentioned by Khan, we also encountered a troll, a fairly powerful monster.
There were no attacks in the middle of the night, but in the middle of a bright day and breakfast, sometimes wild birds the size of humans suddenly flew from somewhere.
Not long after they started moving again, there were surrounded by a herd of wild boars.
These guys weren’t ordinary beasts either. They were monsters called Armor Boar, whose whole body was as hard as armor…
Chow!
As Asher swung her sword, the huge sword energy that spread horizontally cut them all in one blow. It stained the forest with blood.
She was playing the role of an escort perfectly.
If none of the monsters we encountered came within five meters of me.
I asked Khan.
“Do you encounter monsters this often every time you climb the mountain?”
“I don’t run into them that often. Usually, I’m strictly vigilant so that I don’t run into them.”
Khan explained that if he saw even an ominous sign, he retreated or turn in a different direction.
It meant that he was only going straight, regardless of whether he found a trail. He probably realized that there’s no reason to be careful after seeing Asher’s strength. It would be just a waste of time.
We arrived at the bottom of a cliff by the time the sun rose in mid-sky.
It was a cliff high enough to be dozens of meters high, but Khan spat out absurd words.
“If you go up here and move a little further, we will arrive at our destination.”
What?
I looked at him, wondering what kind of bullshit he was saying, and Khan only smiled awkwardly.
“Oh, I’m fine. It’s a terrain with many places to step on, and I’m used to it because I’ve already climbed this kind of height once or twice.”
“…”
No, I’m not worried about you, I’m worried about me.
I looked up at the cliff.
I forgot about it for a while but for the superhumans in this world, climbing a cliff with no gears was no big deal.
The cliff was not a blocked road, but a path that could only be climbed.
“…Is this the only path?”
“Yes? If we look for it, there might be another way, but it’s a long way back. Then, I’ll go up first.”
Khan said that and moved first.
The other probably didn’t think that I wouldn’t be able to climb this much.
Should I have brought a wizard as well?
Khan clung to the wall like a lizard and started climbing the cliff quickly.
I looked at him in dismay, then moved my gaze to Asher.
…Not that it came to this, there’s no helping it.
“Asher.”
“Yes.”
“Carry me up.”
“…Yes?”
Asher looked back with a doubtful expression, as if she was not sure if she heard me correctly.
I said it again as boldly as possible.
“I told you to carry me up.”
“…”
There was silence for a while.
She had a complicated expression on her face, showing that she couldn’t understand the intention of the order, but soon she knelt down and gave her back to me obediently.
Cooong!
And it took only a moment for us to arrive at the top.
It was because her body rose as if it exploded with just one cloud of footsteps, and we reached the top of the cliff without even stepping on the wall.
Most rides had a dizzying speed and the sense that your stomach was being emptied, but somehow I could withstand that and prevent myself from screaming.
…Uh.
I didn’t want to do that twice.
I calmed down the tingling aftertaste and got off Asher’s back.
Looking down, Khan was about a third of the way up. I thought he could come up soon.
If Asher helped him, he could arrive here quickly. But since it’s weird to ask Asher that again, I just waited.
“…”
Asher stared somewhere.
I reflexively looked where her gaze was directed, but there was nothing.
Instantly, the fishy smell stung my nostrils.
The smell of blood…?
It was a bloody scent that I could easily recognize.
Soon after, Khan, who arrived at the top, also looked around, shaking off the dust from his clothes, as if he also smelled the scent. He even commented;
“It looks like there are some dead bodies of monsters nearby.”
We continued to move.
The further into the forest, the stronger the scent of blood. We seemed to get closer to the source.
When we reached a certain point, everyone was at a loss for words at the sight unfolding in front of us.
“…”
The identity of the corpse was that of a huge snake.
A huge snake with a gray coat, the size of a head and the length of a human body. It was, without a doubt, a giant snake.
What stood out what that it was dead.
The middle of the torso was cut off… No, it wasn’t cut off, but the middle of the torso was completely gone.
It was as if something much bigger than itself had eaten it in one bite.
