Chapter 49: Strange Kid

By the time Sigurd reached the northern valley, the roar that had drawn him deeper into Grauwald had gone silent.

He had spent nearly an hour following signs left behind by something considerably larger than the Ferocious Beasts roaming the outer regions, finding deep pawprints in patches of soft earth, claw marks several meters above the ground and sections of undergrowth flattened beneath enormous weight.

Whatever had passed through this part of the forest was worth investigating, especially when a Common Rank Demonic Core alone was worth ten points, but the trail eventually crossed a shallow stream and disappeared among the rocks on the opposite bank.

Sigurd searched farther upstream, then downstream, but found nothing fresh enough to justify choosing either direction.

He was about to climb one of the surrounding trees for a better view when a heavy impact echoed from somewhere east of the stream. Birds erupted from the canopy, and several seconds later another crash rolled between the trees, this one followed by the unmistakable sound of someone laughing.

Sigurd turned toward it with mild curiosity. Whoever was responsible clearly wasn’t in trouble.

The impacts continued as he moved east, becoming loud enough that he could distinguish the growls and roars of multiple Ferocious Beasts beneath the repeated crack of something heavy striking flesh and bone.

Sigurd increased his pace, crossed between two enormous roots and eventually climbed onto one that rose several meters above the forest floor.

A boy was fighting six Ferocious Beasts in the clearing below.

Sigurd recognized him immediately, although he still didn’t know his name. It was the strange wild-haired boy from the transport vessel, the one who had been sleeping with a staff across his lap before being called for Deployment Zone Thirty-Four.

His simple clothes were already stained with dirt and blood, his long dark hair had become even more disorderly than Sigurd remembered, and his clear eyes were bright with unmistakable enjoyment.

A huge grin stretched across his face as he stood surrounded by six ape-like Ferocious Beasts, each nearly twice his size.

Their arms were disproportionately long and thick, their dark fur covered bodies packed with muscle, and pale bone growths reinforced their knuckles and portions of their skulls.

Four carried Helheim’s black examination markers.

One of the apes charged from the boy’s right and swung an arm thick enough to break a normal man’s spine.

The wild-haired boy leaned backward just far enough for the claws to miss his chest, shifted his grip on the staff and smashed one end into the beast’s elbow.

CRACK!

The joint bent in the wrong direction.

The Ferocious Beast roared, but the boy had already stepped around its ruined arm. His staff came around from the opposite side and struck the beast across the temple with enough force to split the reinforced bone covering its skull.

Blood sprayed from the wound as the creature’s head snapped sideways, and before its body had even begun to fall, the boy ducked beneath the claws of another beast and drove the end of his staff straight into its mouth.

BANG!

Teeth shattered.

The staff continued through them and smashed into the roof of the beast’s mouth. Its jaw broke beneath the impact, blood pouring over the wood as it stumbled backward.

The boy followed without hesitation, shifted both hands farther down the shaft and swung upward beneath the creature’s chin.

The blow lifted its front feet from the ground. Its neck snapped backward with a sickening crack before the enormous body collapsed.

Sigurd watched more carefully.

The staff wasn’t being used like a harmless training weapon. In the boy’s hands, it was effectively a blunt killing weapon.

Every strike carried enough force to crush joints, cave in ribs or split skulls. More interesting was how naturally he fought with it.

His stance changed constantly, sometimes holding the staff near its center, sometimes near one end, occasionally releasing one hand entirely and allowing the weapon to rotate around the other.

There was no hesitation whenever circumstances forced him into an awkward position. He simply turned that position into something useful.

The remaining four beasts attacked almost together.

The boy laughed.

He rushed toward them.

The first ape brought both fists down, but the boy planted his staff against the earth and swung his entire body around it. The fists smashed into the ground where he had been standing. He landed beside the beast, shortened his grip and drove the middle of the staff against its exposed ribs.

CRACK!

Several ribs broke at once.

The creature staggered sideways directly into another member of its pack. The boy followed, swung from his hips and smashed the end of his staff against the injured beast’s head.

Its skull burst open.

Blood and fragments of bone sprayed across the grass.

The boy was already moving before the corpse hit the ground. A claw swept toward his back, and he dropped low enough for it to pass through his hair before spinning on one foot. His staff swept horizontally into the attacker’s knee.

The leg shattered.

The beast collapsed with a roar.

The boy reversed his grip and brought the staff down with both hands.

BANG!

The creature’s head slammed into the earth.

He struck again.

CRACK!

The skull caved inward. The final two Ferocious Beasts hesitated.

That proved fatal.

The boy charged the nearest one before it could decide whether to fight or flee. It opened its jaws, but he shoved the staff horizontally into its mouth and twisted.

The beast bit down instinctively, trapping the weapon between its teeth. Instead of pulling back, the boy grinned, stepped forward and drove his knee into the exposed lower jaw.

Bone cracked.

He ripped the staff sideways, taking several broken teeth with it, then smashed the opposite end into the side of the creature’s skull. The blow split the bone above its eye and dropped it instantly.

The final ape turned and ran.

The boy bent, picked up a fist-sized stone and struck it with the end of his staff.

BANG!

The stone shot across the clearing.

It smashed into the back of the fleeing beast’s skull and burst apart. The ape stumbled, took another two steps and collapsed face-first into the undergrowth.

Silence returned to the clearing.

Six Ferocious Beasts lay dead.

The wild-haired boy rested the bloodied staff across his shoulders, breathing only slightly harder than before, while the enormous grin remained on his face. Sigurd looked over the corpses again. Four markers. More importantly, the entire fight had taken less than a minute.

The boy was strong.

A rustle came from the vegetation behind him.

Sigurd’s gaze shifted.

Apparently there had been seven.

Another ape emerged silently from behind the bushes while the boy crouched beside one of the corpses. This one carried a black examination marker beneath its neck. It crept closer, keeping its body low, until barely several meters separated them.

The boy continued reaching toward the corpse.

The ape lunged.

Without looking backward, the boy suddenly thrust his staff beneath his arm.

The end struck the beast directly between the eyes.

CRACK!

Its forehead split.

The creature staggered, and the boy finally turned, bringing his staff upward beneath its chin. The blow snapped its head back, but before he could finish it, movement came from the opposite side of the clearing.

An eighth ape burst from the undergrowth.