Chapter 20 – Ash Tower (1)  

Juan infused mana into Talter’s sword that he’d been using for hunting. Streaks of blood could be seen on the gray-colored short sword. As Juan cut into the deer’s skin, the metallic smell of blood filled the air. The blade easily separated the hide and meat from the corpse.

‘This is pretty useful.’

Besides, infusing Talter’s mana which had yet to fully assimilate in Juan’s body into the short sword made it several times stronger. Talter’s consciousness might have disappeared; however, his mana was still active and filled with evil energy. It was only a matter of time until the assimilation process was completed, but it was still unstable. There were instances when Juan had used too much energy when activating Talter’s mana. The density of Talter’s mana was much higher than expected, even when he had set the colosseum on fire.

‘It could be influenced by my emotions, but it does not hurt to be careful.’?

Having the ability to amplify his explosive power could come in handy in the future. Besides, combining it with Talter’s short sword would increase the synergy several times over. It could be a good thing to a certain extent that Talter’s mana had yet to fully assimilate with Juan; there were instances when madness was more necessary than meticulously calculated actions.

Juan had no qualms about using the weapon of the god of blood and madness, which was created using countless sacrifices. After all, it was just a tool, and Juan was not in any way repulsed by the idea of using the spoils he had obtained from his enemy. Juan had obtained much better equipment back when he was still the emperor, but he had them all sealed or destroyed. However, he was now lacking in every way.

‘And the number of lives I’ve taken is in no way lacking compared to Talter.’

.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call Juan a butcher if he were to include his time as the emperor. It would be ridiculous if he refused to use the sword, considering the lives he himself had taken.

Juan dismembered the deer in no time, hanging its hide on the tree, and left its meat for the other beasts in the forest, since it was too heavy for him to bring everything along.

Juan sensed a massive presence. It was to be expected, since the odor of blood had filled the air. This wasn’t anything like a wolf, as it was causing tremors with each step it took. A brown bear as big as the trees came out from beyond the trees.

‘Is this a demonic beast?’

Looking at the deformed muscles, teeth, and unusually gigantic size, it had to be due to the mana in the area.

The brown bear looked at Juan and just snorted, not giving a damn about Juan as it was attracted to the delicious-looking deer behind him. It wouldn’t chase after Juan even if he ran away now, but Juan grasped his short sword.

“It’ll probably take the whole day to skin this guy.”

***

The smell of blood traversed the village where most villagers made a living by hunting. Hunting the beasts attracted and affected by the Ash Tower’s mana was their main source of income, but the beasts were also highly dangerous, contributing to the high fatality rate of hunters in the village.

For the hunters who had such a hard time hunting those demonic beasts, the sight of a hooded young boy dragging a pile of hide larger than himself was absolutely horrifying. Moreover, there was a bear’s head on the top of that pile. The bear’s eyes were so huge that Juan could probably fit through their sockets. A few of the hunters tried talking to Juan, but their comrades held them back. Uneasiness filled their eyes.

Juan stopped in front of a store that had various pieces of leather laid out on display. The owner of the leather store had been watching Juan from afar, wide-eyed, and ran out quickly when Juan arrived at his store. “You… really killed the demonic brown bear all by yourself?” The store owner asked.

Juan nodded with a tired expression on his face; the brown bear had been a much tougher opponent than he had initially thought. Unlike those demonic beasts he had fought in the colosseum, the demonic beasts in the mountains were on a completely different level. They were several times more dangerous.

It was to the point that when the demonic beasts threatened the village’s safety, every hunter would be mobilized, and they would at times also hire mercenaries to eliminate the threat.

However, Juan had just killed one of those demonic beasts all by himself.

Juan touched his chest, which felt numb as the massive brown bear had broken several of his ribs when it collapsed on him. It wasn’t that bad, considering the fact that he had taken it down without using any mana at all. Juan had decided to not rely on mana for the time being since he needed to restore his body’s condition back to normal. He might not be able to use mana at all even during emergencies.

“Ho, I thought there was something different about you. I guess those who come from beyond the border are different, huh...? I guess I should tell the master that there’s no need to form an expedition anymore, though some of them will be disappointed,” the store owner said happily after confirming the authenticity of the hides. In fact, the man had helped Juan a few days back out of compassion, thinking this young beggar boy had gathered the hides from corpses lying around in the forest.

While he knew that Juan was from beyond the border just by his black hair, Juan didn’t look dangerous at all. It was only when he found out that Juan had killed the demonic beasts with that short sword alone that he finally felt fear. However, his greed for money overrode that fear.

The Church didn’t have any actual influence deep into the mountains, and they definitely didn’t have any influence over this village. Thus, the leather merchant decided to put Juan to good use instead of worrying about whether the poor boy was possessed by evil spirits.

His belief in Juan did not fail him, but the leather merchant hadn’t expected the young boy to be able to kill a demonic beast himself.

“I’ll be generous with your reward this time around, so kill more demons and bring them to me.” Satisfied with the harvest, the store owner paid Juan a sizable amount for the hide. Not only could the hide fetch a high price, there was even a high bounty for killing the bear. Thus, it was a good deal for the store owner.

“What the hell?!” A loud voice could be heard from across the village as one of the adventurers in a group shouted at an old hunter.

Embarrassed, the old hunter tried to appease the adventurers. “There’s nothing I can do about this situation either… What can I do when he has lost his leg?”

“Go to the hunter association and get someone to replace him, then!” the hunter shouted back.

“I told you already, didn’t I? There have been frequent sightings of demons recently... And there were some terrible rumors about what happened in Tantil. Who would want to go into the Ash Tower at a time like this? You should just go back and stop being so reckless,” the old hunter responded.

“DAMN IT!” The leader of the party shouted as he grabbed the old hunter by his collar but got pulled away by the other members of his party. Most of the villagers were either a part of the hunter association or the old hunter’s family. Picking a fight with him, who was like the village’s elder, would do no good to them.

“Oh… it’s that young man who entered the Ash Tower half a year back and returned with a pale face. Seems like another one gave up their expedition this time round,” the leather merchant mumbled.

“They’re trying to go into the Ash Tower?” Juan asked the store owner.

“Such brats appear from time to time. They are drawn by the rumor that His Majesty kept the treasures of the heretics in that tower and sealed it. Disregarding the impertinence of their intentions to mess with the seal placed by His Majesty, there’s no way that seal can be broken by mere adventurers like them,” the store owner said as he laughed at the adventurers, but he turned away when they glared at him.

The old hunter continued to appease the adventurers, “There’s nothing I can do to help anymore. We’ll definitely reward you handsomely if you hunt a demon near the Ash Tower and bring it back, but there’s no one within the hunter association that’s foolish enough to follow you there.”

“I spent everything I have on this expedition!” The party’s leader exclaimed.

“You may try looking for another party member in another city then. You might be able to find someone who wants to commit suicide there,” the old hunter snorted.

The adventurers were angry but they couldn’t say anything. It seemed like one of the members had dropped out because of an injury.

As Juan looked at them, he was reminded of the group that he had started and traveled the continent with. He snorted unwittingly and thought, ‘Something like that probably won’t happen again.’?

Juan realized that the adventurer party was staring at him. He turned to look at them, but they quickly looked away. He knew why they were staring at him.

‘Guess it’s time to leave.’ He had stayed in this village for long enough; it was about time the rumors that started from Tantil reached this place. While he couldn’t move faster than the rumors, he wanted to avoid unnecessary conflicts.

***

Juan left the village as soon as he got the store owner the items he needed.

As he had expected, the adventurers that had made a fuss in the village started to follow him soon. Although they tried to follow Juan secretly, Juan could sense them easily.

‘Five of them, all armed.’

Juan heaved a sigh; he did not want to get into an unnecessary fight, but he had no intentions of letting the situation get worse.

Juan picked up his speed and then suddenly hid in the trees. Not long after, the adventurers that were looking for him frantically passed by. There were exactly five of them, as he had sensed. Juan decided to hunt them like he hunted the beasts. He charged toward the hooded woman in the rear.

“Ugh!” The woman gasped and fell as Juan placed the short sword on her neck and kicked her in the thigh. It was only then that the other party members turned around.

“What do you want?” Juan asked. He could still kill them after hearing what their objectives were. And since they were heading to the Ash Tower, it’d be hard for any of them to come back alive anyway, so Juan didn’t feel sorry about having to kill them.

“Wait a minute!” It was the adventurer who was yelling back in the village. He looked like a warrior, as he had a sword and a shield. Juan assumed that he was the leader.

“Brat, are you alone? Where are the others?” The adventurer asked.

Juan didn’t feel the need to answer; instead, he applied light force on the woman’s neck. The woman groaned as she started to bleed.

“If you’re too noisy, I’ll make you quiet for good, so don’t push it,” Juan said to the woman.

The woman understood Juan’s words and immediately became quiet. The attitude of the leader changed after seeing the horrifying scene.

“I’m Huxle. What’s your name?” the leader asked.

“Juan,” Juan replied curtly.

Just then, one of the adventurers whispered to Huxle, “Boss, this guy’s hair color...”

Huxle quietly nodded as he noticed Juan’s hair color.

Juan had expected that. People were always curious and scared of those who were from beyond the borders; gods were believed to still exist there, since the blessings of His Majesty had not reached them.

The residents of the empire could not understand the people who lived beyond the border where it was unstable, but Huxle reacted differently as compared to the usual reaction.

“It seems you’re alone… We don’t intend to fight you,” Huxle told Juan.

It wasn’t the first time that Huxle had seen someone from beyond the borders. They were typically sensitive like beasts and cautious to the point of paranoia. While they were useful and good to hire, they caused the other team members to be uncomfortable around them, and Juan looked very similar to those from beyond the borders.

“You said you’re Juan? Can we talk?” Huxle asked.

“We’re talking right now, aren’t we?” Juan retorted.

“Yeah, you’re right. So... where were you heading to?” Huxle asked.

“I’m the one who asked a question first,” Juan answered.

It was obvious that Juan knew they were following him, so it was pointless trying to avoid Juan’s question, and what they were after was probably what Juan had already guessed. In that case, he had a few more questions for them.