Chapter 43: The Spear

“What, what is that!?”

“Everyone, gather here!”

Rian gave orders to the panicked group. This was precisely the kind of crisis where a leader had to take charge. Everyone ran to his position, with Rian and Budica stepping forward.

“No, why does it have to be a Diarwolf…!”

“Focus! If we’re careless, we could die!”

Rian scolded the frowning Budica and raised his shield. This time, it wasn’t to defend against needles but to counter the Magic Beast. Meanwhile, the wolf grew larger as it closed the distance.

“Crazy… That thing is the size of a three-story house, isn’t it?”

As Emilia pointed out, the wolf’s size was enormous. It was at least the size of a three-story mansion—maybe even four. The muscles bulging on its limbs looked like they could crush a person.

“Don’t you have any reinforcement magic?”

Emilia pulled out her spellbook at Rian’s command. The Academy had distributed standard spellbooks to prepare for situations like this. Fortunately, there were several reinforcement spells suitable for this kind of emergency.

“I’ll cast shock dispersion and durability reinforcement on the shield!”

“Hurry!”

She pressed the tip of her staff to the shield and began chanting the spell. The reinforcement spell’s incantation was long and complex, but what did that matter? If the spell wasn’t finished even a second sooner, everyone here would die.

‘Where’s Mr. Needle?’

For some reason, Needle hadn’t come to their side. He just stood still, staring at the approaching wolf. Even though he was strong, that massive Magic Beast was beyond his usual range. Sylvia shouted at Needle.

“Come quickly!”

But he didn’t seem to hear her. Instead, his hand stretched out toward them. Needle said to Rian, “Hey, hand me your spear.”

“Huh?”

Rian blinked in confusion as Needle flexed his fingers. No one knew what he was planning, but time was tight. Reluctantly, Riman grabbed the spear strapped to his back and threw it with all his strength.

“Here!”

Needle snatched the spear mid-air and caught it.

Swish.

He spun the spear around and nodded. Was he seriously going to fight that Magic Beast with such a short spear? No matter how strong he was, there was no way to withstand that.

‘Uncle Eugene fought one during the blizzard last time, didn’t he?’

Just as the reinforcement spell finished, someone shouted at Needle.

“Uncle! You’ll die doing that!”

“Hm?”

Needle turned to them with an incredulous expression. Judging by his furrowed brow, he was probably annoyed. He shot back with a look of disbelief.

“Do you understand my moon?”

Then Needle turned his head back.

Thud thud thud…

The heavy footsteps of the wolf shook the ground. With that size and speed, it was almost like an earthquake. Needle tucked the spear under his side and spoke to Riman.

“Watch carefully.”

He took a wide stance and readied to thrust the spear.

“This is the minimum I have to do.”

At that moment—

Grrrr!

The wolf suddenly closed the distance to just a few dozen meters. Its three eyes locked onto all of them. Saliva dripped from its gaping maw.

‘Ah…’

They couldn’t move. The moment they met the eyes of a beast, they didn’t even dare to twitch a muscle.

‘Is this… a Magic Beast?’

He had faced Magic Beasts with Uncle Eugene before, but the fear of confronting a man-eating beast was something else entirely. How naive to think one could just adventure the Magic Realm without knowing this kind of terror.

‘Well, what should we do…?’

Only Mr. Needle stood between them and the wolf. But even he was just a man standing alone. How on earth was this situation going to be resolved?

Thud thud thud…

“Hoooh…”

Matching the wolf’s charge, Needle took a deep breath. With each inhale and exhale, white smoke seemed to rise from him.

Grrr…!

‘Not this again.’

Just like before, his fighting spirit radiated around him. But this time, instead of enveloping Needle, the aura slowly gathered around Rian’s spear.

“The spear…?”

Rian noticed it too. The spear had started to shimmer. Needle’s fighting spirit was coating the spear.

Chaaang!

The wolf lunged forward and closed several meters instantly. Its massive jaws, capable of swallowing a grown man whole, opened wide, revealing dozens of razor-sharp teeth dripping with saliva.

“You smell bad, beast!”

With that shout, Needle twisted his waist. The spear moved along with his waist, and with the strength of his body, he thrust it toward the wolf.

Clang!

At the same time, the wolf snapped its jaws at Needle. Its massive mouth, big enough to swallow a man in one bite, was about to erase Needle from the world.

“Uncle!”

They shouted anxiously, but—

Crack!

A crushing sound came from inside the wolf. Just before it could swallow Needle, the wolf’s movement faltered. Its massive body began spiraling, twisting violently,

Grrk…the wolf groaned before shattering into pieces of blood, flesh, and fur. The remains of what was once a wolf scattered along the spiral path, and as if the wolf had never existed, its presence was erased.

“Ugh, disgusting.”

Needle flicked bits of flesh off his head and stuck out his tongue. He then tossed the broken shaft of the spear back to Riman. Technically, it was the shattered handle of the twin spear.

“Uh…”

Needle spoke to Rian, who was still stunned by the display of power.

“The spear’s too weak. Go claim compensation from Eugene.”

“Yes…”

But Rian’s attention was no longer on the broken spear. It was focused on Needle, who had just defeated the Magic Beast alone. The boy’s eyes were filled with admiration.

“Uh, excuse me.”

“Mercenary?”

Rian asked as Needle turned.

“If I train, can I become that strong too?”

“What?”

Needle chuckled at such an obvious question. He shrugged and replied casually.

“Of course. I’m a genius, you see.”

Then, with a teasing look, he added,

“But if you don’t put in the effort, you might not even get to the beginner level.”

It was clearly meant to motivate Rian for future training, but—

“Effort… to get stronger…”

Rian, already impressed by Needle’s strength, could only nod.

‘I’m going to train even harder from now on, haha…’

Anyway, the unexpected Magic Beast attack had been successfully dealt with. They halted training for now, unsure what other monsters might lurk nearby. They formed a defensive formation and waited for Eugene to join them.

“Guys!”

“Uncle!”

Finally, Eugene arrived. He was out of breath from running this far, and when he saw Needle, his eyes widened in surprise.

“Did you see a wolf around here?”

“Oh.”

Eugene had also heard about the wolf. That was why he suddenly rushed over. Needle answered on their behalf.

“I took care of the Diarwolf.”

So that wolf was called a Diarwolf. It seemed Needle had considerable experience with Magic Beasts in the Magic Realm. Eugene thanked him for his bold action.

“Really? Thanks for that.”

“Don’t thank me yet; I’ll bill you later.”

Needle shrugged while receiving the gratitude. Though he said that, it was just his way of speaking. Eugene chuckled and turned to address everyone.

“I’m heading back to the hunting grounds; I was just butchering some meat.”

But as he started in that direction, they noticed people approaching.

“Huh? People are coming this way.”

“Mercenary?”

Eugene looked toward the newcomers. They were wearing old-style guns and fur-lined cloaks, looking like hunters from a forest in a fairy tale.

“Oh… they followed us.”

“Huh?”

They wondered what Eugene meant by that.

“They brought the meat and followed!”

Among the group, a young girl carried five wrapped packages. It was clear these were the meat Eugene had been butchering at the hunting grounds. So these people were hunters they had coincidentally met there.

‘How kind.’

Instead of keeping the meat for themselves, they brought it all the way here. Even in this harsh and dangerous Magic Realm, there were still kind people. It was only right to return their kindness with gratitude.

“Thank you.”

“No, no, it’s nothing…”

The hunter girl shyly waved off the thanks with a smile.

“You should be the one thanking us, uncle.”

“What?”

Eugene looked puzzled.

“If you hadn’t killed the Diarwolf, this whole mess wouldn’t have happened.”

“Huh?”

They wondered what she meant.

“I knew it would get rough; tsk, tsk.”

Needle clicked his tongue.

“The male Diarwolf was more pissed off than necessary.”

“Oh…”

So the wolf was just trying to protect its territory. It was a sad story but didn’t make them feel guilty. In the harsh Magic Realm, their priority was survival.

‘If the wolf had taken a different path, this wouldn’t have happened.’

Just then—

“Oh? That dagger…”

“Mercenary?”

The girl noticed the twin daggers at Needle’s waist. None of them had recognized the daggers before, so it was surprising that a Magic Realm girl did.

“Mercenary?”

“Ah, are you…?”

She cautiously asked Needle, narrowing her eyes.

“The Fang of the South, right?”

*****

‘I didn’t even expect to meet this kind of figure.’

Eugene thought as he lay on the hunters’ cart. The girl leading the hunters had asked about Needle’s identity, and once he revealed it, she offered them assistance.

‘Because of that, we are moving to the next town on this cart.’

Eugene glanced at Needle, who also looked their way. Their eyes met briefly, and Needle clicked his tongue, seeming displeased with the situation.

‘The Fang of the South.’

He had heard the name somewhere before. Fifteen years ago, when a massive Orc army pushed all the way to the Great Forest, battles raged across the Magic Realm to stop the Orcs.

‘That’s why there are so many war legends in each region.’

In the southern Magic Realm, there was a famous legend, the Fang of the South, a nearly mythical figure. A boy who held the path against Orcs with only his daggers.

‘Even adult men were toys in front of a single Orc.’

At his feet lay the bodies of over a hundred Orcs. No one knew what became of the boy afterward, people assumed he died after reckless bravery.

‘So this guy is him?’

The Fang of the South, the one who slew hundreds alone. That boy had grown up to become a mercenary. Perhaps that incident was why he carried the honorary title of Free Knight.

“Why are you staring so hard?”

Needle growled with a harsh look. Having been recognized, he clearly disliked the attention.

“Why the long face, tsk.”

“None of your business.”

“Don’t heroes usually get praised?”

Everyone liked being praised. Especially when you’re treated like a hero, it felt great. That’s why some people became knights.

“Hero talk…”

Needle shook his head.

“People only call you a hero when they need you.”

“Someone’s been stabbed in the back, huh?”

No wonder he was so cynical. Once bitten, people tend to become bitter. It was understandable why Needle resented being treated like a hero.

Instead of answering, Needle snorted. He was too annoyed to deny it, but too truthful to refute.

‘How cute.’

Eugene chuckled inwardly as the cart jolted. Honestly, the journey to the next town would be tough on foot, but riding the hunters’ cart made it much easier.

‘Maybe we should buy horses and a cart too.’

It would be better than marching long distances on foot. Besides, they were still in the plains with few mountains. Once they reached the next town, they’d look into getting horses and a cart.

“Hey! We’ve arrived!”

Just then, the hunter girl announced their arrival at the town.