A few days ago.
Whoosh
"Ah! The mountains are close, it feels refreshing."
Halli had arrived at the Iron Fortress, on the border of the Tuluc Kingdom, adjacent to the northern mountain range.
There were various ups and downs before he, who announced his start as a mercenary in Tarak, reached this place.
The world is wide and full of madmen.
There were fools who picked a fight with Halli, despite seeing his beautiful and mighty muscles, calling him uncivilized and whatnot.
Thats the guy who smashed Ralph's gang..."
Shh! Dont make eye contact.
They seemed to have some reputation, attacking with a certain confidence.
They were skilled individuals who could handle Aura, the energy wielded by warriors, at a high level.
He crushed all the bones in his limbs with his bare hands, didnt he?
I heard even swords hardly penetrate.
When the initial confrontation occurred, Halli, who had never fought humans before, was unsure how to respond.
He couldn't just recklessly kill people in the city, being an aspiring hero who couldn't control his strength.
'So I just grabbed each one of them and gently twisted their bones!'
That way, there was no risk of accidentally killing them!
In the process, he learned how much force the human body can withstand, which was a helpful experience for him.
'And I also learned how to use Aura.'
The struggling fools' bodies stiffened rapidly along with the rising mist, becoming much harder.
But even then, they just broke with a snap when he applied more force, although the increase in physical ability itself wasnt bad.
'Its good that I pressed them to learn their techniques...'
The problem was that his body couldnt use them.
His body was closer to that of a demonic beast than an ordinary human.
It was natural that he couldnt use techniques designed for human bodies.
It was a dilemma; his current form was much stronger than if he transformed his body to use human-like Aura.
'Ill learn whatever I can now, it might be useful later.'
With a sense of regret, Halli licked his lips and moved towards the northern mountains in search of prey that would make him stronger.
***
"Roarrr!"
"Ha ha ha ha! Die!"
Halli, with eyes gone wild, burst into laughter as he swung his ax at a large bear-shaped demonic beast.
As the ax in his right hand chopped through the creature's knees standing on two legs, the ax in his left hand buried itself in its thigh.
"Roarrr!"
The bear's front paw struck down swiftly.
With just a step to the side, he deflected the attack and plunged the ax in his right hand into the bear's elbow.
Halli's ax technique was sophisticated, an unexpected contrast to his wild appearance.
The twin axes in his hands sliced elegantly through the demonic beast's entire body.
Crack!
"Grooar..."
In that moment, as the beast staggered under the repeated ax blows,
"Huuh!"
Halli, taking a deep breath, rushed towards the beast, twisting his waist to the fullest.
His muscles swelled, and with the recoil of the rotation, he delivered a powerful low kick to the bear's leg.
Snap!
The demonic beast's leg bones shattered instantly, and its body spun ninety degrees in the air before crashing to the ground.
"Uratcha!"
Seizing the opportunity, the hunter Halli immediately jumped and struck the bear's neck with his ax.
"Grrrak!"
The ax blade didn't penetrate deeply into the tough hide and steel-like muscles.
If at first it doesn't succeed, keep trying.
He began a spirited series of ax strikes, alternating hands swollen with bulging muscles.
After a brief time...
"Hahaha! Quite a tough opponent!"
Halli, standing triumphantly over the lifeless demonic beast, burst out in a refreshing laugh.
He then threw his ax aside and plunged his sharply transformed hand into the prey's heart.
His fingernails dug deep into the sturdy body of the beast.
Soon, a fist-sized magic stone emerged in Halli's grasp.
He casually wiped off the blood and popped it into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully.
'...Being unarmed is stronger than using weapons...'
A harsh truth I had tried to ignore.
Despite having acquired and refined his ax skills, they were practically useless against the monsters!
The physical strength of these creatures, which utilized mana infused in their bodies, was beyond imagination, making weapons without any imbued energy ineffective.
For now, he could overpower them with brute strength, but continuing like this would eventually ruin even the toughest dark steel ax.
But if he held back his strength, he couldn't inflict enough damage, ironically making his bare body stronger when exerting full power.
This made him no different from a hidden master who conceals their true power!
'Hmm? That's not a bad idea...'
The temptation lingered briefly, but it wasn't aligned with his goals.
"Phew Shall I collect the quest items now?"
Feeling the change in his body's composition through the magic stone, Halli sharpened his nails again.
He then slit the bear's belly to extract the gallbladder, the item requested.
'Using the "Body Mutation" to harness the power of the demonic beast makes things easy, but why with weapons... Huh?'
Suddenly, his motion halted.
The power of magical beasts, life force, transformed by the mana within their bodies.
The power of warriors, Aura, refined mana absorbed and processed within their bodies.
'Either way, it's about processing the energy within the body to suit oneself. The difference lies in the method of handling it.'
Magical beasts instinctively used mana with their natural bodies, bypassing the complex process of refinement.
Humans, on the other hand, developed the techniques of refining and handling Aura through acquired effort.
Although the methods differed, the goal was the same.
So, combining the advantages of both...
'Could I skip the refining process and control the life force by using Aura techniques?'
The most important and complex part of Aura training was the process of refining mana.
Such high-level techniques were closely guarded secrets, passed down within various factions.
However, the method itself was not a profound secret.
After all, it wasn't such a complicated technique.
Based on my previous knowledge about Aura, I immediately started working.
There were several trials and errors.
Using 'Mutation' and 'Body Mutation', I analyzed the differences between a human body and my current form, adjusting the disparity.
Dark magic power, blood magic power, holy power.
Thanks to my experience in handling various energies, the work progressed swiftly.
When my energy waned, I ate bear meat to maintain focus on controlling the life force.
Then, a flash of insight struck my mind.
[The individual has achieved enlightenment under certain conditions. Special skill 'Life Aura' acquired.]
A faint mist emanated from the ax in Halli's hand.
Huh... Hahahaha!
Halli's roaring laughter echoed.
It was the moment a monster in human form gained the power of humans.
***
Swoosh!
A large severed head fell to the ground.
Boom!
The huge body of the ogre collapsed, sending vibrations across the land.
Khehehe... That guy was incredibly strong.
Halli, sitting down, collapsed backward.
His condition was far from normal.
Blood covered his entire body, and blood still flowed from his mouth.
'Regeneration' was continuously active, but his shattered left arm was still being restored.
Gurgle
Amidst this, an intense hunger overwhelmed him.
The energy he had accumulated was depleted due to the battle, using 'Body Mutation', 'Life Aura', and 'Regeneration'.
Grr... I need to eat something to regain strength.
Staggering to his feet, Halli approached the fallen ogre, overlaying Aura on his right-hand ax.
The ogre, nearly 5 meters tall, had a body filled with overwhelmingly dense muscles, providing extraordinary strength and agility.
Its senses were so sharp that, despite being attacked stealthily while it was carelessly lying down, it immediately responded with a counterattack.
It's too tough because its all muscle.
During the battle, his bones broke multiple times, and his organs ruptured, but he kept going with 'Regeneration', gradually depleting the ogre's strength using 'Life Aura'.
Hahaha! But in the end, the winner is me!
Finally, laughter burst forth.
Thanks to 'Gourmet Predator', it seemed he had finally regained enough strength to smile.
"The stronger the prey, the better the effect. All the effort in hunting paid off!"
His body reacted immediately after he filled his belly with energy and chewed on the magic stone.
His muscles swelled and compressed repeatedly.
His bones became more robust, nerves sharper, and skin tougher.
"Phew... nice."
Feeling satisfied with his stronger physique, he finished dismembering the ogre's carcass.
After collecting enough rare materials to fill his spatial magic tool, and retrieving the left-hand ax he had missed earlier, he looked around to decide where to go next.
"Now, where am I?"
In the dense forest.
The fierce battle with the ogre had turned everything upside down, making it hard to discern direction.
Halli promptly climbed a nearby tree to scout the surroundings.
The vast expanse of the forest spread before him, a sea of trees.
"Ahaha! Seems like I've gone too deep in the excitement of the hunt."
In the past few days, he had been tracking various prey using the heightened sense of smell of the beasts, blindly following new scents deep into the forest.
An accident resulting from his focus on diverse genes and neglect of the vastness of the Northern mountain range.
"Well, I can just use the stars to navigate at night!"
It wasn't a big problem.
Having lived in Outerica for over a year, I had learned to use the stars for navigation, so there was no need to rely on a teleportation circle.
Not that I could use it right now, given its cooldown.
Descending from the tree, I decided to hunt more until nightfall.
As dusk approached...
Sniff sniff
"Hmm?"
His sensitive beast senses detected a very familiar energy.
It was reminiscent of his homeland, a nostalgic sensation.
"The scent of dark magic?"
It was faint, like a residual magic signature suppressed by a concealment charm.
Having spent considerable time in Hans' secret lab, he was certain about it.
"A dark wizard hiding here?"
After a moment's thought, he stealthily moved towards the source of the scent.
The familiar energy he sensed through his beast intuition was somewhat unsettling.
There he found it.
A barrier erected using black magic.
'This feels familiar.'
Halli immediately recognized the barrier through his eyes, and Hans interpreted its nature.
The barrier was one of the early types Hans encountered right after becoming a demilich, using a fragment of the first Immortal King.
It was a concealment barrier used by the Oath of the Reversal.
'They were hiding here too? It makes sense; they seemed too large to be confined to the Talia Kingdom alone. There was also a restriction on them back then.'
All the souls had been drawn out somewhere.
The current Hans might ignore that restriction, but he hadn't even thought about looking for them, busy hiding from the saint's pursuit.
'But now, I've found them like this.'
In the midst of an inexplicable sense of gladness...
Huh?
Hans, detecting subtle fluctuations of dark magic through Halli's keen senses, provided a new analysis.
'A sacrificial ritual in progress? And this is...'
He analyzed the situation using the dark magic knowledge from 'Forbidden Knowledge'.
Such a level of sacrificial ritual would inevitably leave traces.
Normally, one would move locations immediately after performing such a ritual, as the dark magic residue from the sacrifice is used to create a shadow-dimensional gate for escape, making tracking nearly impossible.
In other words, if they lost them here, there was no telling when they might find them again.
"Heh, having finally found them like this, I should at least see their faces."
Baring his teeth in a fierce smile, Halli drew his axes and focused.
The mist around the axes thickened after hunting the ogre, now enveloping them completely.
The life energy generated from his entire body infused into the two ax blades.
"Hahaha! Shatter!"
The two axes, swung over his shoulder, struck the barrier with a massive trajectory.
Boom!
A loud explosion opened a hole in the barrier, revealing a hidden cave.
Despite the bustling noise inside, Halli confidently entered without hesitation.
"I can never stand to see your kind thrive."
These were the same people who had betrayed Hans, massacring villagers.
If there was any chance to exploit them, it might be worth considering, but in this case, they deserved full-force disruption.
And if he could gain something from it, all the better.
If things got too dicey, he could always escape!
Its definitely not because Im holding a grudge.
As he charged into the heavily dark-magic-infused area, a group of humans emerged from within.
"What?! Who are you?"
"Block him!"
They were minions of the dark wizard.
One of knight-level and five mercenaries.
No need to wait! Go full power right away!
Halli's leg muscles bulged, and he crouched like a predator about to pounce.
Then, in an instant.
Boom!
He was already in front of the knight-level opponent.
"Ugh! How dare you!"
The knight's sword glowed with surging dark magic.
Despite the sudden attack, he skillfully swung his weapon, deflecting Halli's ax.
Clang
"What?!"
But that was his fatal mistake.
In the moment his body wavered under the unexpected, immense brute strength,
Swoosh!
The ax in Halli's other hand had already sliced through his neck.
Complacency is often one's greatest enemy.
The knights skill in wielding weapons and his level of dark magic suggested he shouldnt have been defeated so easily, but his underestimation of Halli as a typical warrior hastened his demise.
"Kahaha! Come at me all at once!"
He burst into a maniacal laugh, charging at the remaining minions.
After a short while,
Halli, splattered with blood, was racing down the corridor again.
The lackeys werent worth worrying about. Are all the dark wizards further inside?
As he prepared himself for the final showdown with them,
He felt something rapidly approaching from underground.
Whats this trick now!
Though there was no malice felt, anything freely approaching him in the enemy's lair couldnt be friendly.
Just as he was about to swing his ax,
Eek!
A small girl suddenly popped out of the ground.
Her ragged clothes and the black shackles around her neck couldn't hide her cute appearance.
She was an elf girl with pointed ears, lime-green hair, orange eyes, and holding a branch in her arms.
In that moment, Halli realized who this girl was.
"Hahaha! This is quite a predicament!"
He laughed heartily, scratching his head to hide his confusion.
"So, little lady, what's your name?"
He asked, to be absolutely sure, while trying to smile as gently as possible.
Despite being suddenly questioned by a muscular man in a den of dark wizards, the elf girl shyly but obediently answered his question.
"Ce... Cecily... My name is Cecily."
In the heart of the Oath of the Reversal' hideout,
It was the moment when the High Elf candidate Cecily met the barbarian warrior Halli.