NOVEL NEXT Chapter 24 - Coming of Age Ceremony (4)
My head was dizzy. My hazy consciousness was suddenly swept up in a torrent of information, as if rising to the surface.
Feeling a headache piercing my mind, my consciousness gradually became clearer. My body felt heavy. Unlike my clear mind, my body felt as if weights were attached to it.
“…Ugh.”
As I lifted my eyelids, which seemed glued shut, I saw a campfire.
Blinking at the sudden light, I adapted to it, and only then did I notice my body. My recovery ability must have improved a lot, as the various cuts and burst wounds had healed and scabbed over.
“Brother―! Are you awake―!”
As I was blankly examining my body, a booming voice not only pounded my eardrums but also seemed to strike my head. As I moved my stiff neck at the reverberating impact, I saw the ragged figure of Karakt.
“Your recovery is really fast―!”
“…Could you speak a bit quieter? My head is ringing…”
“Oh, sorry about that.”
As I furrowed my brow and looked at his face, Karakt lowered his voice apologetically. Yes, now it’s a bit more bearable.
“How long has it been?”
“The sun set not too long ago.”
Lifting my stiff neck to look at the sky, I could see that the blue moon was indeed still climbing the sky.
Even so, night is night. Given my poor physical condition, we should probably just camp here.
I forcibly raised my creaking body and adjusted my posture to sit properly. As my tail adjusted comfortably, Karakt sat down next to me.
“Hmm―. Are you uncomfortable anywhere, brother?”
“Right now, it’d be faster to find places that aren’t uncomfortable.”
“Ha―ha! That’s true!”
Karakt laughed heartily and stretched. Although his entire body was covered in minor wounds, fortunately, it seemed he hadn’t suffered any major injuries.
“By the way, brother, your blood was hot, are you alright?”
“Ah, that. It’s fine now.”
“When I tried to carry my brother, I was surprised by how hot your blood was. I almost got burned!”
I smiled bitterly at Karakt’s words. Karakt laughed as if it was nothing, but when I glanced down, I saw blisters on his fingertips.
He tried to hide it skillfully out of consideration for me, but with so many, how could they be hidden? He probably carried me here regardless of whether he got burned or not.
“Thank you.”
“Hm…? For what?”
At Karakt’s question, I shrugged and took in the night sky. Perhaps because the moon hadn’t yet reached its zenith, stars that were usually invisible had revealed themselves.
I chuckled at the sight of them seemingly burning themselves up to imprint their existence before being obscured by the moon.
It must have been tough. I was being uncharacteristically sentimental. Stars shine, they don’t burn themselves up.
I received a piece of meat that Karakt had adequately roasted over the campfire and took a bite. It was burnt in places, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth, and it wasn’t seasoned, but it was edible.
The azure moon tinged the night sky, and the starlight faded. I closed my eyes while watching the starlight struggling as if trying to leave its mark until the very end.
“Ugh―.”
Numerous orcs, including myself and Karakt, carried the bear’s corpse on our backs as we headed towards the village.
We advanced through the forest, which had been widened by the bear’s destruction, using as workers the orcs who had come looking for us when we didn’t return after a day.
Even though we had to clear trees broken at awkward heights as we passed, thanks to the large number of people, we were able to reach the village before sunset.
Considering the distance, I had prepared myself for another day of camping, but we arrived quite quickly.
Upon reaching the village, Korba and other shamans began dismembering the bear along with the workers. Given its size, just the dismemberment would take quite a while.
Leaving behind the orcs making a racket with saws, I headed towards an open space in the corner of the village.
Unlike the quiet square, the open space was noisy, probably because workers had been called to the dismemberment site. As we got closer to the open space, loud noises reached my ears.
Whoosh―! Clang―!
As we approached the open space, the sound of clashing metal and heavy breathing could be heard.
Then, as we stepped into the open space.
Clang―!
-Woooah―!
I saw the sight of a large sword flying through the air. A sword that looked more like a saw with gaps here and there flew through the air, then stuck in the ground, and an axe was extended to the neck of the now unarmed warrior.
As the warrior bowed his head, acknowledging defeat, enthusiastic cheers filled the open space.
“Woo―ooh―ooh―!”
-Kar―t―! Kar―t―!
Riding on the cheers of the orcs, Kart raised his hand holding the axe. The orcs became even more excited at this sight, and Kart waved his arm with a pleased smile.
‘Seems the training is going well.’
Although the orc who lost his sword and was defeated seemed quite skilled, Kart had managed to secure victory, perhaps due to his improved skills.
True to their reputation as a race of struggle, they were howling with joy despite being covered in their own blood from wounds all over their bodies.
After watching this scene for a moment, I turned away. It seems the training results are showing, so once the elixirs and magical items are completed, the preparations should be finished.
Chik-chik and Lulu weren’t in the village, perhaps not having returned yet. With so many elixirs to make and materials to gather, they must still be struggling.
Rubbing my somehow empty-feeling back of the head, I headed towards the house provided to us.
My body, heavy as if submerged in water, seemed to crave rest. As soon as I lay face down on the floor and closed my eyes, my consciousness sank.
Korba began drawing tattoos on Kart’s body with blood-red pigment on his hands.
As he drew a tattoo resembling a bear scaled down to orc size, steam erupted and the pigment dried instantly.
“Are you okay?”
“Hmm―. It’s a strange sensation. Somehow… like I’m not myself…”
“It’s a tattoo that assists the effects of the elixir and magical items. It will reduce the sense of dissonance when you transform and enhance your abilities.”
Korba then said this and took out the elixirs and magical items that had been prepared for over a week.
The leather cloak, based on the bear’s skin, had somehow been reduced to a size an orc could wear. The hood part was made from the bear’s head, structured to be worn like a helmet.
“After you put on the head, you should drink this elixir. Then, just think about wanting to become a bear.”
He then took out the elixir. The milky liquid sloshed around, emitting a refreshing scent.
“This will start losing its effect if it touches skin. It’s contained in a bottle made of ground bones, so please be careful.”
At these words, Kart carefully received the bottle and tucked it away. His awkward posture of covering it with his hands looked like he was advertising that he was carrying a precious object, but since it was going to be consumed today anyway, it probably didn’t matter much.
“The effect should last about half a day.”
“Understood―.”
Half a day… Considering a bear’s stamina, it might be a bit tight, but we’ll have to trust Kart.
“Let’s go.”
“Hmm―!”
We set off, leaving the village. Karakt took the lead again this time, and fortunately, there was another bear’s hunting ground nearby.
“There are quite a few bears.”
If there’s any consolation, it’s that bears rarely leave their territories. If that wasn’t the case, no tribe or village could have settled in this forest.
“The one we’re looking for this time is a bit younger.”
“Is it okay if it’s younger?”
“It’s not that young, so it should be fine.”
-Our ancestors aren’t such unscrupulous beings.
Karakt said this and moved on, but it wasn’t very reassuring. He probably emphasized the word ‘bit’ because he couldn’t believe it himself.
If the ancestors were really that flexible, we would have just gone to hunt a young one. No, they wouldn’t have asked to hunt a bear in the first place.
I pushed the anxiety unrelated to combat into a corner of my heart and moved on. Since it’s not easy to encounter only fully grown bears, as if they were deer or rabbits, I’d better just pretend not to know.
After following Karakt through the forest for a while, he raised his hand to stop us.
“This is the edge of its territory.”
“Kart.”
“…Hmm! I’ll be back―!”
Kart, with a face full of determination, gripped the bottle containing the elixir from his chest and stepped forward.
As Kart took a few steps forward, a chilling atmosphere suddenly brushed my spine.
At the same time, the sound of something breaking and falling came from ahead.
“Kart―!”
“Whoa―!”
Kart calmly put on the bear head, then opened the bottle cap and poured the elixir into his mouth.
Bang―! Crack―!
“Grooar―!”
The bear, apparently quite impatient, revealed itself, running at an incredible speed while breaking trees.
A body one head smaller than the one we had hunted before. Scars here and there on its legs. A slightly lean body, as if it couldn’t eat enough to be full.
It was a normal bear, just a bit smaller, probably because it wasn’t fully grown. Not inexperienced, but not a seasoned hunter who had been through thick and thin either – a typical predator.
I sighed in relief at the sight, but regardless, the beast fixed its gaze on Kart in front of it. Confused by the sudden emission of light, its loud roar was tinged with uncertainty.
“Groo?”
“Guh…, Grooar―!”
Light burst from Kart’s body as he howled in pain, and the skin he had put on slowly began to swell.
The skin, which had swollen rapidly like a balloon, soon began to slowly take shape. Skin and fur grew, becoming arms and legs, and new legs grew in the middle. Long, sword-like claws grew on the tips of all six feet.
A bear one head larger than the one in front of us, completely identical to the one we had hunted, appeared.
Kart, now a massive bear, roared.
“Grooar―!”
“Groo?!”
As Kart roared like a beast, the bear froze, seemingly confused by the sudden appearance of a fellow bear.
“Groo?”
In fact, Kart also seemed uncomfortable in the bear’s body, only looking down at his own feet with creaking movements.
“Come to think of it, can he move properly in that?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure. I’ve never done it myself.”
Kart continued to move his feet with awkward movements. His front legs seemed to quickly become natural, but the middle legs were still awkward, moving jerkily like robot arms.
“Groo?”
Fortunately, the bear remained frozen, confused by Kart’s sudden transformation into a bear. The two large beasts stood blankly as if in a stalemate.
Soon, as if adapted, Kart lightly threw a punch and planted all six feet on the ground.
“Grooar―!”