kscans

Chapter 11 - Bardos the Mad Axe

The next day, I arrived in Alum and started walking towards the Guild.

I hadn't hunted any prey today, so I had nothing to sell. I figured I'd just pick up a suitable quest at the Guild.

There was some kind of commotion near the entrance. I asked a nearby adventurer.

"What's going on? Did something happen?"

The adventurer replied.

"Yeah, it seems Bardos-san is yelling at the receptionist. It's too scary to get close."

Bardos? Ah, the B-rank adventurer the Guild Master mentioned before. The one who wasn't interested in anyone but the strong.

I figured a D-rank like me would be beneath his notice, so I went inside the Guild.

Inside, in front of the receptionist, stood a large man about two hundred centimeters tall. On his back was a double-bladed great axe as tall as he was. He had long green hair that reached his neck. For equipment, he wore chainmail except for a breastplate, black shoulder guards and gauntlets, and black Western-style armor on his shins. It was light armor, but his muscle definition was incredible. His physique was reminiscent of a gorilla.

The large man was saying.

"I told you, there's an adventurer who uses magic and a sword. Uses fire and lightning. I'm asking who that is."

The receptionist replied.

"There is no one here right now who uses a sword and magic. The only ones who come to mind are the members of 'Beautiful Sword', but they are currently on an excursion."

Bardos said.

"It's not 'Beautiful Sword'. That team is all women. I'm talking about a man. I've never seen him before, so he's probably a rookie. You must know that he can use magic."

The receptionist said.

"There are people who have joined recently, but I have not received any reports of them using magic."

The two of them were bickering back and forth. It didn't seem to have anything to do with me, so I decided to go to the quest board.

At that moment, Bardos turned around.

"Ah! There he is! This is the guy! The one who used magic to take down that huge bird in the rocky mountains."

Bardos shouted and pointed at me.

How did he know about that?

There was no one else at those mountains. While I was thinking this, Bardos approached me.

"Yo. You put on an interesting show yesterday. My name's Bardos. B-rank adventurer. What's your name and rank?"

He spoke in a friendly manner.

It felt less like a conversation with a stranger and more like talking to a friend. His speech was rough and his tone was condescending, but for some reason, I didn't feel annoyed.

On the contrary, he had the strange air of a generous big brother.

I replied.

"My name is Shinsuke. I'm D-rank. I think it's been about a week since I joined the Guild."

To this, Bardos said.

"D? With that much skill? The young lady here didn't seem to know you could use magic either. Why hide it?"

To this question, I replied.

"I don't want any unnecessary trouble. It seems there aren't many adventurers who use magic, so those who do stand out. I just want to do my adventurer work quietly here and focus on my job as a hunter."

Adventuring was just a side job. My main profession was being a hunter.

That was the intention I conveyed.

To this, Bardos said.

"A hunter? What's the difference between that and an adventurer? They both kill monsters, don't they?"

To this question, I replied.

"An adventurer is a profession with various jobs like monster subjugation, investigation, and escorting. A hunter just hunts monsters. That's it. I just want to stick to the simpler one."

Simple is best. That's my way.

I was tired of the complex work and relationships of modern society. That was one of the reasons I was working in this world. Bardos said.

"Hmm, you're a strange one. Well, whatever. Anyway, I have something to ask you. Is that okay?"

I didn't know what he was going to say.

It was hard to understand what people like him were thinking. He seemed like the type to act solely on emotion.

I nodded.

And then.

"Fight me."

He was exactly the type I thought he was.

I didn't understand what he was thinking. I asked why we had to fight all of a sudden.

"Why do we have to fight? I just met you today. Why?"

To this question, Bardos replied.

"Because you look strong. I wasn't interested in anything but strong monsters, but after seeing yesterday's fight, I really wanted to fight you. And just so you know, refusing is pointless. I'm a persistent guy."

I had no choice but to give up.

This type of person was truly persistent. Even if I refused, he would probably stick to me until I agreed. If he saw me going to Earth during that time, my troubles would multiply instantly.

Besides, in my heart, I welcomed this fight. I wanted to test the lightning power I had just acquired, and I wanted to try out the fire techniques, especially their names.

I said.

"Very well. Shall we fight at the training grounds?"

Bardos nodded with a joyful expression, and the two of us headed to the training grounds.

At the training grounds, we finished our preparations and stood facing each other.

There was a large crowd of spectators, probably out of curiosity.

It was a little embarrassing, but I had no intention of backing down.

I steeled my resolve, drew my sword, and took a stance. Bardos also held his axe with both hands and took a stance.

One of the spectators struck a gong.

"As a greeting, here I come!"

He charged, his axe raised high.

He was fast. Despite his large frame, he was quick.

However, from experience, it wasn't so fast that I couldn't dodge.

I didn't dodge. I blocked the downward swing of the axe with my sword. But the blow was heavy, and I couldn't fully parry it.

So, I slid my sword along his and circled to his side, landing a blow.

His chainmail blocked it. Zero damage. An impressive physique. I was impressed.

Bardos said.

"That's more like it! The fun is just getting started!"

He said, holding his axe horizontally and swinging it.

I ducked under it and thrust my sword at his stomach.

But the chainmail was tougher than I thought, and it didn't pierce properly. I put some distance between us.

Close combat was too disadvantageous. As I was wondering what to do, Bardos said.

"What's wrong?! Your power isn't just this, is it?! Use the magic you used to defeat that huge bird!"

He said, spreading his arms wide and exposing his undefended body.

After being provoked like this, if I didn't use magic, I would be the one to lose face. I gathered fire magic in my left hand. I had shouted a random technique name before, but it felt somewhat bland.

So, I decided to shout the technique name I had come up with myself.

"Burn Fist!"

I shouted and threw a left straight punch.

The fire shot straight towards Bardos with great force. He didn't dodge and took it with his body.

The force of the fire dissipated.

I looked, and Bardos was still standing. He had burns here and there, but it wasn't a fatal wound.

Bardos smiled.

"Hahahaha! Nice! This is great! To think there was someone like this. I thought the only strong ones were in 'Beautiful Sword', but I'm glad there are still strong people I don't know about! Now, I'll use my skill too."

Skill. The word put me on guard.

I had never faced an opponent with a skill before. I was wary of what kind of skill it might be, but given his personality, I thought it would probably be a physical type.

Bardos shouted.

"Skill, 'Berserk' activate!"

At that moment, Bardos's body swelled, and his muscle mass increased.

Bardos ran towards me, swinging his axe diagonally upwards with one hand. His speed was faster than before, and I was doing all I could just to dodge. Then came a storm of fierce attacks, a continuous assault that gave me no time to counterattack. I wasn't sure if my stamina would hold. I decided to take a gamble.

As I dodged an axe attack, I shot fire at his face.

The power wasn't great, but it served as a blind. I put some distance between us. Bardos stood still for a moment, but he quickly recovered.

Bardos said.

"Hahaha, that's it! Show me more of your power!"

Under the influence of `Berserk`, he seemed to have lost some of his self-control.

Was it something like a berserker? In that case, I wouldn't be able to win unless I went all out too. I decided to try out the lightning techniques I had seen in anime and manga.

"Thunderclap Incarnation!"

I shouted and cloaked my body in lightning.

The human body basically moves through electrical signals. So, if I amplified that electricity, I could enhance my physical body—a technique I had often seen in anime. I had tried it a little on Earth, and I felt my body become slightly lighter.

When I did a vertical jump, I leaped all the way to the roof of the two-story storehouse in one go.

With this physical ability, I thought I could compete. I moved.

I instantly stood beside Bardos. He was surprised and swung his axe, but his movements were slow, and I dodged with ease, slashing him three times with my sword. Each blow was light, but because I had struck the same spot three times, his chainmail tore, and blood spurted from his stomach.

Bardos was surprised by this. He touched his stomach and saw the blood.

And then he laughed.

"Hahahahaha! That's it! This is what I wanted to see! No more messing around! Let's settle this with the next blow!"

As he spoke, he began to rotate his axe horizontally above his head.

Was this the end? It was a shame, but this state wouldn't last long.

I also thought this was the decisive moment. I drew my katana and switched to dual-wielding.

Then, I imbued both weapons with fire. I had never tried it before. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. For some reason, I felt like I could do it.

The two of us stared at each other, and then Bardos moved.

"This is the end!"

He shouted and brought his axe down.

In that instant, I met him head-on.

"Lightning-Fire Cross!"

I shouted and clashed with the axe. Two swords against a great axe. We were evenly matched.

Bardos was slightly stronger. But I concentrated the power of lightning in both hands and amplified my strength.

And then, my swords deflected the great axe.

Bardos's body was left wide open. I didn't miss the opening. Spreading my arms wide, I spun like a top, took a step closer to Bardos, and slashed him.

It was an attack from a very reckless posture, an action without thinking about the consequences. It wasn't a bad feeling.

The match was decided.

Bardos spurted a large amount of blood from his stomach and fell backwards.

At that moment, Bardos's body disappeared, and a dummy was left in its place. It was proof that the battle was over.