Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Blessing (2)

Blessing (2)

If you want to embark on a path of revenge, dig two graves.

It’s a saying by Confucius.

However, the book I read only had that sentence, it didn’t explain the intention behind it.

Then what was Confucius trying to say?

The importance of resolve?

Or just how self-destructive and dangerous revenge is?

I have no way of knowing as a 21st-century person, so I just interpret it in a way that resonates with me more.

That when you’re about to hit someone, you have to be prepared to get hit too.

‘But it seems like he didn’t know that.’

I click my tongue and stare at the child.

The child, who insulted me as soon as we met, is staring blankly into space, as if he’s lost his mind.

“What… what do you mean? I don’t understand…”

I didn’t use any difficult words.

So, if he doesn’t understand, it means he doesn’t understand the ‘situation’, not the ‘words’.

Hmm, is that right?

“Why, why don’t I have a mother!!”

The child shouts, glaring at me, and I ask briefly,

“Then do you?”

“No, she passed away, but…”

The child flinches and trails off.

Honestly, I’m also a bit flustered.

I can’t believe he answered ‘yes’ to that question.

Of course, it’s not a problem.

“As expected.”

I nod as if I knew it.

He really doesn’t have a mother?

So what?

Bjorn Yandel also grew up without a mother.

And besides, considering the Dragonkin’s characteristics, he’s probably older than me, even though he looks like a child.

There’s no reason for me to stop punishing him for his first attack.

“Bu, but how… how did you know…?”

“It shows.”

“It… shows?”

“Yes, if you had received a proper upbringing, you wouldn’t tell such a lie.”

The child grits his teeth as I say it matter-of-factly.

Even though there are no parental insults in this world, words related to family are still sensitive…

Uh, is this also wrong?

“Apologize, barbarian! A lie? I didn’t lie!”

The child, having somewhat recovered, explodes in anger at being accused of ‘lying’.

I feel a pang of sympathy.

For him to deny it so vehemently…

…it means he was truly serious when he said I was ugly.

Bjorn Yandel would have been hurt.

But this isn’t a problem either.

A K-barbarian with the Korean spirit of returning a blow for a blow.

That’s me.

“You don’t even know that you lied…”

I look at the child with pity.

“Oh dear, don’t tell me you don’t even have a fa—”

“I do! I have a father! You crazy bastard!!”

The child shouts, cutting me off.

So I also stop messing with him.

He should have learned by now that he could suffer greatly if he messes with a barbarian.

And besides, this is the Dragonkin’s home ground—

‘Uh, but why is the elder just standing there?’

I finally sense the dissonance and turn around.

And I see a Dragonkin elder watching me with an amused expression.

“You’re amazing.”

Huh?

“You’re the first person to make Penitaseauro angry like that.”

He’s too emotional for that.

He’s still glaring at me, breathing heavily.

But I focus on something else.

‘-nim?’

The elder used an honorific after his name.

In other words, it means this child has a high status within the Dragonkin tribe.

Wait, don’t tell me…

“Is he the shaman?”

The Dragon Shaman.

It’s a similar position to the barbarian tribe’s sole shaman.

In short, only he can use ‘blessings’.

“Ah, you didn’t know?”

“······.”

How would I know if you didn’t tell me?

The child is now glaring at me with a confident look, unlike before.

“What? Are you finally going to apologize?”

There’s a clear sneer on his lips.

I hesitate for a moment and then decide to continue with my attitude.

“Kid, why should I apologize?”

“…You said you wanted to receive a blessing, right?”

That’s true.

But even if he’s the shaman, he’s still below the chieftain, the Dragonkin man. If he gives the okay, this kid will also have to give me the blessing.

“That’s for the Ancient Dragon to decide.”

The child smirks at my words.

“Ah, my dad?”

“······.”

I freeze, still smiling.

No, don’t tell me he’s the Dragonkin man’s son…

______________________

The tribe’s shaman and the Ancient Dragon’s son.

It’s a truly impressive status, but I erase the option of apologizing from my mind.

It’s not barbarian-like.

And most importantly, if I apologize, it would be like admitting that I’m ugly.

“…What are you looking at?”

“No? I wasn’t looking.”

After the child’s shocking revelation, we have a subtle battle of nerves in an awkward silence.

And after some time…

“Both of you, stop it.”

The elder mediates.

No, to be precise, he scolds both of us.

“Bjorn Yandel, your words to Shaman-nim were very rude. This is a sacred temple where our spirits reside. Even if you’re a barbarian, you need to show respect.”

The elder, who calmly and logically pointed out my mistake, then turns his gaze towards the child, who’s secretly smiling.

“Shaman-nim is also at fault.”

“…Me too?”

“Bjorn Yandel is the Ancient Dragon’s guest and a benefactor of our tribe. It was rude of you to comment on his appearance when you first met him.”

“But I wasn’t lying.”

“There are times when you have to stay silent, even if it’s the truth.”

The child hangs his head low, looking dejected.

But I don’t feel any satisfaction.

No, actually…

‘…What? Is he subtly scolding me?’

To stay silent even if it’s the truth?

It means he also agrees that I’m ugly, but it was wrong of him to say it.

“Then I’ll be going now since I have to attend the meeting.”

The elder then leaves me, whose bones are aching, and returns to where he was before.

I just sit down on the floor since I can’t just stand there.

A suffocating silence follows.

The child is the first to speak.

“Tell me a story.”

“…?”

“You’re an explorer, right? Don’t you have any interesting stories?”

“…Why should I?”

The child glares at me at my question.

“Words have power. And I have the ability to sense the nature of that power.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Ah, so I have to get used to your wavelength to engrave the blessing on you later. My dad probably sent you here early for that reason.”

It’s the first time I’m hearing about the power of words and wavelengths. But there’s something that interests me more.

“You’re talking as if it’s already decided.”

“If it were a rejection, you wouldn’t be here.”

“Then what’s that meeting they’re having about?”

“Well? Maybe they thought it was too easy to just give it to you.”

Hmm, it seems plausible.

“Anyway, just say anything. I need to hear you talk to read your wavelength. It will also be less burdensome on your body when I engrave the blessing.”

Although I’m not used to his overly reasonable words, unlike our first encounter, I obediently follow his request.

“Anything you’re particularly curious about?”

“Why you became an explorer.”

“That’s a strange question. We’re born warriors. We die if we don’t fight.”

“So you became an explorer because of taxes?”

Well, to put it simply, that’s right.

“Our situation isn’t as good as yours.”

“Ah, I see…”

Dragonkin don’t pay taxes.

It’s because they made a great contribution in a war thousands of years ago. On the other hand, the other races are struggling with taxes every day.

“I heard that tribes usually lend money to pay taxes, but not barbarians?”

I smile bitterly at his question, which seems genuinely curious.

“Right, not us.”

Dwarves get tax exemptions if they become blacksmiths.

Beastmen and fairies are financially well-off because they use their unique abilities to help with agriculture and livestock in ‘Gnometree’.

So they give interest-free loans for up to two years, and they rarely have to sell their hearts.

But barbarians?

They just get a weapon.

‘If I become the chieftain, I’ll collect donations and change everything.’

Barbarians are the most disadvantaged.

They need improvement in many aspects.

But does my expression look bad?

“…Forget about that, tell me about that.”

The child changes the subject first.

“That?”

“You said you fought my uncle… no, the Dragonslayer, right?”

Ah, that.

Since it’s our only common ground, I explain what happened, slightly embellishing the story.

It’s nothing special, I just omitted the parts that could be disadvantageous.

How I obtained the Ogre essence, and the things that could make me seem suspicious as an evil spirit.

But it’s still an interesting story even without those parts.

“Liol Wobu Dwarkey… It’s a name I think I’ll remember for a while.”

Just like everyone else who heard this story, the child listened most intently to the part about Dwarkey.

Honestly, I feel a sense of pride when I see this kind of reaction.

It’s like he’s being acknowledged by others.

“Sword… So that’s how you got it. You’re really an idiot. Anyway, so? What happened next?”

After the Dragonslayer story ends, we naturally move on to the part about finding new companions, and I hear something interesting.

“You know? My older sister could have joined that team.”

He seems to be talking about the 2-year contract ‘companion’ that the Dragonkin man offered…

“What kind of person is your sister?”

“She’s kind. Although I don’t see her often because she’s busy.”

No, I was asking how strong she is.

I try to ask a few more questions since I’m curious, but I can’t.

The door opens.

“So you two are getting along?”

The Dragonkin man, who enters, smiles as he sees us chatting amicably.

Thanks to that, I realize one thing.

That elder didn’t tell him what I said to the child. If he had heard about the upbringing talk, he wouldn’t be making that kind of expression.

“So, is there a result?”

“Yes.”

Geez, he could have just told me the result.

“What is it?”

“We decided to accept your request.”

“I see.”

I nod and glance at the child.

I’m starting to think that what he said might be true. The decision has been made, and the reason why the meeting lasted for an hour was just because of their pride?

‘And in the first place, wasn’t that why they were asking those strange questions?’

That’s when, as that rational doubt arises…

…the Dragonkin man mutters softly,

“However, there’s one condition.”

“Condition?”

“We confirmed through the Leathlas Church that you received an oracle. You’ll probably meet Regal Vagos… the Dragonslayer, again someday.”

“I understand, just tell me.”

“When that happens, if you can kill him, bring us his heart.”

“…His heart? Why do you need it?”

I ask for the reason first since it’s a meaningful condition.

And the answer comes from the child.

“It’s because of me. I was the one who cursed my uncle back then.”

“Curse…?”

It was a curse that made him a Dragonkin who wasn’t a Dragonkin.

Because of that, Regal Vagos was restricted in using Dragon Speech, and he couldn’t properly wield Dragonslayer, which he obtained by betraying his clan.

“Wait a minute, but wasn’t that a curse left behind by the previous Ancient Dragon?”

“That’s what’s known to the public. But it was our daughter who actually cast the curse.”

“…I see.”

It feels like I’m listening to a Dragonkin legend.

But that’s not what’s important right now.

“So what does the curse have to do with you needing his heart?”

“My time stopped as the price for casting the curse. I’ve become unable to leave this temple, even a single step.”

“So you can return to normal if you have his heart?”

The child doesn’t answer my question.

The Dragonkin man just mutters sadly,

“At least, that’s what we believe.”

I suddenly have a thought.

Maybe that’s why he offered to assign a companion to my team for two years.

So that they could follow me and kill the Dragonslayer when he appears and bring back his heart.

‘But then how old is he?’

At first, I thought he might be a few years older than me, but now it seems like it’s not just a few years. It’s been over 30 years since the previous Ancient Dragon died.

Well, he looks and acts much younger than his age…

‘…He’s only lived in the temple, so that might be the reason.’

“So what are you going to do?”

“Alright, if I kill the Dragonslayer, I’ll definitely bring back his heart.”

“Then it’s settled.”

I accept the offer without any further negotiation since it’s not a difficult condition.

Now it’s time to receive the reward in advance.

“Then when can I get the blessing engraved?”

“If you want, we can do it tonight.”

The child answers my question.

“But I should ask this first. What kind of blessing do you want? I need to know to prepare.”

“What kind of blessings are there?”

I ask to confirm.

There might be differences between the game and reality.

“You didn’t know? I thought you were asking for this because you knew.”

“I only know one for sure.”

“Really? Then I’ll have to explain the rest.”

The child explains each one in detail, although he looks annoyed.

It seems like there aren’t any changes from the game.

“The first is the Earth Dragon’s Blessing.”

Earth Dragon’s Blessing.

If you engrave this blessing on your body, the additional stats you obtain from essences increase by 20%.

It synergizes well with me, since base stats are important.

Well, actually, what wouldn’t synergize well with this?

“The second is the Volcano Dragon’s Blessing.”

Volcano Dragon’s Blessing.

If the first one is about stats, this one increases the effectiveness of all skills.

I think it’s about 30%.

In other words, if I choose this, the size of my [Gigantification] state will increase even further, and the performance of [Iron Hide] and [Swing] will also increase significantly.

“And lastly, there’s the Sea Dragon’s Blessing.”

Sea Dragon’s Blessing.

It’s a blessing that increases a fixed stat, unlike the other two.

The effect is Soul Power +100.

Considering that your Soul Power increases by 10 every time you level up until level 5, you can imagine how high that number is.

If I choose this, the duration of [Gigantification] will increase several times over.

I probably won’t have to worry about running out of MP until I absorb a few more core essences.

“Alright, the explanation is over. So which one will you choose?”

The child says he can give me more time if I need it, but I firmly refuse.

“I’ll go with this one.”

I’ve already made my decision.

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