NOVEL NEXT Chapter 123: Karan’s question- Part one
A beastly sound echoed in the Goblin Forest.
The sound came from none other than goblins. With axes made by grinding stone and attaching it to a stick, and poorly maintained rusty swords, they attacked someone while letting out rough voices.
The person being attacked showed no sign of panic, and strongly swung a longsword.
“Seryah!”
The tip of the sword drew a perfect arch and cleanly severed the head of a goblin, before its lifeless body dropped to the ground.
The other goblins seemed shaken, but it was too late to get away, and they were all fed to the sword.
“Ahh…”
Karan took a deep breath after defeating the goblins, but showed no sign of exhaustion.
And then, applause could be heard.
“Yes, good job Karan. It seems you are getting used to it.”
“You’re starting to look good with that sword too.”
Karan smiled at Bond and Sem’s compliments.
The three had gone to the Goblin Forest to conquer it as a way to train for Thousand Sword Peak.
“Yes, but it’s a little light.”
“But it is the thickest one we could buy.”
Said Bond, as Karan casually waved the sword.
It was by no means a small sword, but it was shorter and thinner than Karan’s Dragon Bone Sword.
“And what about you Sem?”
“I’m not used to blades, not even short swords.”
Sem said as he shrugged.
“It is not as though you are weak, but you only use blunt weapons… Perhaps it would be better for you to use a smaller, blunt sword and use it as though it were a hammer.”
“Giving up on cutting and focusing on hitting… That does make sense.”
“You can use healing magic in Thousand Sword Peak, so perhaps you should focus on protecting yourself. You can use support magic as well.”
“Yes.”
Karan agreed.
“Let’s keep going then.”
Said Sem, but Bond’s expression suddenly changed.
“Mu… Adventurers are approaching.”
“Oh? Newbies?”
“No, they seem to be walking with purpose, and with no sign of hesitation… In fact…”
“What?”
“It seems to be a dragon person and one of the humans we recently met.”
Karan’s face stiffened as she heard this.
“So Karan’s sister, Suisen then?”
“She appears to be her height, and there are not many dragon people, so probably.”
“What are they doing here…?”
“Most likely the same as us, training. They are operating under the same conditions.”
“…So what should we do? If we continue our exploration, we’ll probably bump into them.”
“Yes, what shall we do…”
Sem and Bond looked towards Karan, who timidly responded.
“…L-let’s watch them for just a bit.”
“I do not mind but…”
“Then, let’s hide!”
The three then cleaned up the goblins’ bodies and quickly hid in the bushes.
◆
It was Suisen and the swordsman named Marcus.
Suisen held a very normal looking staff made from ordinary looking wood with a blade at the tip, and Marcus held a large two-handed sword, although not as large as Karan’s Dragon Bone Sword.
“Your movements are splendid. You should think about being an adventurer again.”
Suisen had defeated a group of five goblins in the blink of an eye.
By utilizing the length of her staff to its full potential, she slaughtered them all with one hit each.
“Don’t be silly. It’s just this one time.”
“What a waste.”
“I’m going back home anyway…”
“Well, I won’t ask too much about that.”
“What I need to do now is to get back into shape. It’s been a long time, and if I’m rusty I’ll be doing a disservice to Mister Bellocchio.”
Said Suisen before she started taking deep breaths.
Karan seemed confused as she saw this.
“…Uh?”
“Karan, be quiet.”
Said Bond.
“Y-yes.”
They were squatting behind bushes a little far away.
They could barely hear them from that distance, but thanks to Bond’s excellent hearing, he could relay to them what was being said.
Before long, a haze of sorts started enveloping Suisen, and a pure aura shrouded the area.
“What is it?”
“I feel a lot of strength. Dragon people are incredible.”
“Can you attack me for a bit?”
“Are you sure?”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t. Goblins are a bit too weak, but training in other labyrinths might be dangerous.”
“Alright, but I won’t give it my all since we’re just training.”
“You can hold back, but don’t be careless on purpose.”
Marcus held his sword high and swung it at Suisen, with no intention to stop before hitting her.
“Guh… Hard…!”
Suisen blocked the sword with her arm as if it were a shield, but there was not a single scratch where the sword hit.
“…Ahh.”
“That went well don’t you think?”
“It’s not enough. A few years ago, I was stronger and I didn’t take this long to prepare.”
“It can’t be helped, you were raising a kid.”
“Ki…?”
“Mu? Is that a monster?”
Karan was unable to contain her surprise for a second, and although it should have been barely audible from that distance, Suisen and Marcus got ready to fight.
“…Ou, a boar piglet?”
Coincidentally, a small boar ran past Marcus.
“There are actually boars and birds in this forest. I guess boars are actually stronger than goblins.”
“Kids are tough, even animals.”
“Alright. Let’s go take down the hobgoblin, and if that’s not enough, we can sparr later or something.”
“Thank you.”
Suisen and Marcus said as they disappeared deeper into the forest.
“What a strange power. It looks a little different than support magic.”
“That appears to be something exclusive to the Dragon race. I imagine other races cannot use it.”
“Do you know what that is Karan?”
Sem asked, but Karan stayed silent.
“Karan?”
“Ah, h-hum, that’s… It’s not much different than my Fire Dragon Slash. I think its power is being used to cover the body and raise defense instead of in a weapon.”
Answered a flustered Karan.
“But… I can’t use it without my Dragon Bone Sword, and even if I had it, I can’t use it like that only on defense. How did she do that…?”
Karan’s mumbling sounded a little fake. Sem and Bond felt as though she was not really curious. Or rather, her interest was in something else.
“…Is there anything else that stuck out to you?”
Asked Sem, and Karan nodded.
“…My sister eloped.”
“Yes, I heard that before.”
“…And she mentioned a baby.”
“Yes.”
“So… Where’s her husband? And if she eloped, why does she want to go back?”
Sem thought Karan’s questions made sense.
If Karan’s sister preferred to live with her husband instead of her hometown, she would not be telling Karan to go back with her, and if she only wanted to visit, she would not be so forceful about it.
Karan did not know what her husband looked like, and Suisen had never talked about him either.
“It really is strange…”