The biological experiments of Rogeris Juan.

As soon as I saw the name of the unknown Spirit Crafter I had turned into a Carcass, memories of the past came like a deluge.

An easter egg in the game.

Secret dungeon. Hidden piece[1].

A secret item.

"Master, are you alright?"

"Fine."

Callius actually wasn't in very good condition.

He wasn't hurt anywhere, but he was exhausted mentally and physically from a pretty intense battle.

The Chimera within the glass tube, Loas.

Rogeris's test subject that broke the tube and ran wild the moment Callius raised the sword.

It was not afraid of Callius' sword, and even when its limbs were severed, it devoured the monsters sleeping in the other tubes and regenerated.

There wasn't any time to ponder more deeply whether it was really a human, or a monster.

Callius used the Silver Flower Wave Sword, and chopped it into two pieces.

[Rogeris' Test Subject – Complete]

[Strength + 2]

Rogeris' Carcass turned into light and disappeared, leaving Callius two swords.

One, Lucen, the Life Sword left behind by Esther.

Another…

[Predator Sword – Loas]

Grade – Life Sword.

Inhabited Soul – A mixed soul.

Unique Ability – Predation.

Predation Count – 0.

Predator Sword – Loas.

A sword with a vicious, serrated blade, like the teeth of an animal.

The blade looked as if it had been deliberately broken, and pulsed with a greed for flesh and blood.

The Predator Sword wore the form of a single-edged sword, and had unique abilities despite being only a Life Sword.

It had a unique ability, that only Spirit Swords or swords of even higher rank were supposed to have.

Predation.

The name of the unique ability literally described the quality of one who preyed on flesh and blood.

Although it was only a Life Sword by its rank, if the predation count exceeded a hundred, the sword could grow further – and the same if it went over a thousand.

A sword that could become a Spirit Sword or even a Vision Sword.

That was the Predator Sword, Loas.

A so-called ‘growth type' sword.

"But why does it have a scabbard? As far as I know, a Carcass never has a scabbard.

"Originally, that's how it was supposed to be."

A Carcass has no scabbard.

Even Lucen was held in a temporary scabbard.

This is because a Carcass Sword is meant to finally return to the bosom of God, so a scabbard is meaningless.

However, for the Predator Sword that was made from a cadaver of something neither a human nor a monster, a scabbard came included. The soul of a mixed existence was a setting that God rejected.

That is the reason behind the scabbard.

Predator Sword Loas. A sword with no resting place to return to.

So, wrapped within a scabbard, it appeared in front of his eyes.

"Tch."

Callius clicked his tongue.

‘If something was going to come out, a different sword would have been better.'

The Predator Sword is literally a growth type.

It is a sword that has the advantage of being able to grow to a higher grade, but in the second half of the game, it will only become a hindrance. Because even if the grade goes up, the unique ability does not change.

Although the strength of the unique ability also grows stronger, compared to other Spirit Swords and Vision Swords, it's quite ordinary.

Devouring prey.

And growing stronger.

Just this. Compared to the top-notch swords that can breathe fire and cause natural disasters, the ability is rather shabby.

Cheok.

With the Predator Sword back in its sheath, Callius swept up his flowing hair into a lock and looked at Bruns.

"Did you find the exit?"

"Yeah! It's over here!"

He nodded and walked straight to the exit.

‘Of course, for now it's still somewhat helpful.'

Only, it was a bit sad.

There are many dungeons hidden in Carpe.

There are even many people, not just Rogeris, who conduct experiments forbidden by the Church, including biological experiments.

Among the dogs of the Empire, there are a lot of Spirit Crafters who do such baroque experiments. If you find and defeat such hidden dungeons, you can get better swords. But the problem is –

‘They're hard to find.'

The dungeons were not conceived by him, so Callius himself had no knowledge of their locations.

The idea of the Alchemists' Dungeons came from somebody else.

It was a part that the game director randomly put in during a meeting and he was not involved, so he only heard about it later from a company colleague. If it wasn't for Bruns, even Rogeris' laboratory would have been overlooked this time.

"Were you looking for it or something?"

"No?"

So, finding it was really fortunate.

But that's why it was even more disappointing.

‘Predator Sword.'

For Callius, who didn't even have a Spirit Sword, it was of course better to have the Predator Sword than not, but the human heart is fickle and grasping.

It was a bit disappointing to think that he lost an opportunity to get other, better swords.

‘But I can't help it.'

Until you find your own, true sword as a Pilgrim –

The more swords, the better.

Although high-grade swords do not, but swords below Spirit grade break often.

If you think about it that way, the Predator Sword is good.

Even if it gets broken, it will regenerate if you feed it with blood.

"Now that this has happened, as a Pilgrim, let's do some good deeds."

"Yes?"

Bruns, who did not understand the reason or circumstance, tilted his head in confusion, but kept his mouth shut when he saw Callius' face break into an eerie smile.

A month later, near the North.

The snowy mountains.

An impressive colony consisting of wooden fences and log cabins was nestled in the middle of the mountains. It was a haven for infamous bandits.

It was cold and covered in snow, so cold that breath steamed in the air, and easy to get lost in the white frozen landscape.

The snowy mountain, Anavati.

A notorious bandit group resided there.

The Double Axe Bandits.

The leader of the bandit group, Yurmati, had been resting heavily drunk despite it being broad daylight. He was roused at the call of a subordinate.

"Boss! Boss!"

"What the hell, it's too early in the morning!"

"It's broad daylight, wake up, boss! Something big has happened!"

"What the heck, my head hurts, so stop yelling! I'm dying."

As he laid his hand on the double axe by his side, his subordinate's voice became uneasy.

"You know those kids next door?"

"Those Bloody Bandits or whatever? Why are they invading our territory again, do they want another kicking?"

"No! No, they're all dead!"

"Huh? All?"

"Yes!"

"How?"

"No, well, I don't know. It's not just them. Bloody, Kalis, and the Fruit Bandits all died!"

"… All of them?"

"That's right!"

All the bandits in the area were annihilated.

When he heard that they all died from an unknown cause, Yurmati, the leader of the Double Ax Bandits, was also very confused.

"Did the Kingdom Army invade or something? Or is it the Church? What the hell. No, why would you suddenly annihilate us bandits after leaving us alone for so long! What did we do wrong! We're just innocents!"

"Uh, we're not innocents. Boss."

"Oh, that's right."

Bullying the villagers, taking their food, stealing, robbing money, kidnapping women… come to think of it, those evil things, we've done them all.

Kwaaang!

The leader was scratching his head in embarrassment, but at this time the outside became noisy.

Snowy mountain, Anavati.

A man with a red cloak and two swords suddenly appeared at the stronghold of the Double Axe Bandits.

"What? Who opened the gate?"

"We didn't open the gate! He broke down the fence and came in!"

"What? What nonsense…"

Since the snowy mountain was a place where wild beasts ran rampant, the sturdy fence was kept repaired and didn't leave a hole for even a mouse to get in.

There was no way it could be destroyed by mere human power.

That was then –

Puhak!

"What the fuck!"

Suddenly, the uninvited guest drew his sword and began to cut down the bandits.

"Come on, catch him! No, kill him! What are you doing standing around!"

The bandit leader, Yurmati, shouted like an enraged whale.

The bandits all pulled out their double axes and rushed at the sword-wielding visitor.

The Double Axe Bandits were quite famous and the largest bandit group in the area.

Thanks to this, the number of available personnel exceeded a hundred, and even included mercenaries with diverse backgrounds in their ranks.

If one counted the number of people, it was more than one hundred.

Besides, it was a group of talented people, not a bunch of random thugs.

The bandit boss, Yurmati, snorted and folded his arms.

He didn't know what kind of madman this guy was, but soon he would kneel before him drenched in blood, and that's all that mattered.

But after a while –

About a minute later, Yurmati unfolded his arms.

After five minutes, his complexion became pale.

Ten minutes later, he unwittingly grabbed the double axe that hung at his back.

"Fuck…"

Ten minutes.

After only ten minutes, the place became quiet.

This wasn't just an idiomatic expression. The bandits were all really dead.

Hundreds of corpses piled up like a mountain on the field, and in front of them stood a single swordsman with a fluttering red cloak.

His swordsmanship was smooth and beautiful, but there was no mercy in it.

The bandit boss saw the rosary hanging from the visitor's neck.

He was a Pilgrim.

He was a Pilgrim of the Sword, called by the Gods.

"Why! Why are you doing this to me!! Just go look for your sword, you crazy guy!"

He shouted in anger, but the bandit leader soon regretted his words.

And that regret was accompanied by his death.

After a while –

The Pilgrim could be heard mumbling, standing where the bandit chief's head had fallen.

"Not enough."

[Predator Sword – Loas]

Grade – Life Sword.

Inhabited Soul – A mixed soul.

Unique Ability – Predation.

Predation Count – 494.

"But since I got this many… Now, I just need to catch some beasts to reach five hundred."

The Pilgrim's name was Callius.

He was feeding blood to the Predator Sword – Loas. In order to raise the level of the Predator Sword, it was necessary to feed it moderately with the blood of monsters and humans.

So, while heading North for the past month, Callius slaughtered the bandits who hid under Carpe's eyes.

Because the northern part of the Kingdom was always barren and the snow was so heavy that it was out of reach of the Kingdom Army, many criminal groups hid there.

It was along the road North anyway.

So on the way, Callius found the famous bandits and wiped them all out cleanly.

After all, they were like cancer for society, so he had no reluctance in killing them.

The circumstances of each individual who became a bandit?

If you can't wield your sword because you care about something like that, it's better to put it down and become a Spirit Crafter.

"Heeok! Heeok! Master! I'm here too! Please don't just leave me behind!"

"Bruns."

Callius clicked his tongue and put the Predator Sword back into its sheath.

It was dripping with blood, but there was no need to wipe it off.

It'll devour it anyway.

"I thought you had a little bit of stamina when we started traveling. Is this your first time in the North?"

"Brr, it's the first time in the northern parts! Master! It's also because the bag is heavy!"

"Hmm."

Lately, I've gained a lot from wiping out the bandits.

Because the grateful villagers gave food as thanks, and gold coins and riches came from the bandits' dens.

The [Eldora's Cloth Bag], an artifact purchased from Tristar, couldn't handle the weight, so Bruns had to climb the mountain with a fairly heavy weight.

‘About a hundred kilos or so.'

That's why Bruns' body had improved a lot.

The upper as well as lower body muscles were torn and rebuilt, and it became a body that was worth seeing.

‘Honestly, I thought he'd run away by now…'

For a neighbourhood bully from the city, he had quite a bit of guts.

"Where are you going?"

"To check out the place. A place this size should be full of gold coins and wealth! You can't just throw it all away."

"But it'd be heavy."

The bag would become heavier.

"Even if I die early, I have to die with money!"

Although it was very different from when I first saw him on Tristar –

‘There is no change when in front of money.'

Now, or then.

When gold coins were on the line, he was still the same.

Callius, who was quietly waiting for Bruns to organize his thoughts, drew his sword again.

"Did they smell the blood?"

They were the beasts of the snowy mountains.

Also, the North was the North after all.

Even in these mountains, as if it was natural, there were magical beasts.

First was a snow leopard, white as snow.

Of course, the stature was larger than the average snow leopard, and it had much sharper claws.

"It's good."

It was time to feed the beasts' blood to his sword.

If you approach me by yourself, I'd actually be grateful.

Once again, Callius' Predator Sword was swung indiscriminately.

One, two, ten.

Even with the increasing number of beast corpses, strangely, they did not fall back.

‘It's a bit terrifying.'

Callius looked at the Predator Sword – Loas.

Loas, pulsing with a terrifying anticipation, was devouring the blood of the demonic beasts on its blade.

"It's like a demon sword."

This ominous sword probably had something that attracted the beasts.

Callius cut and cut, avoiding the claws and teeth of the onrushing beasts.

And after a while –

"Master! I think you should come over here! Heeik!"

Bruns ran out from a cabin somewhere and was startled.

It was because next to the corpses of bandits, this time the corpses of large beasts were forming a mountain.

“No, in a few moments, you've became covered in blood.”

"What's going on?"

Callius, who was drenched in blood, wiped his face with [Twilight Cloak] and approached Bruns.

"There's someone here, I think you should take a look."

"What's all the fuss about?"

"That is…."

Callius followed Bruns into the bandits' cabin.

It was actually a prison, holding several women who appeared to be servants, and one child.

"A noble?"

The child was wearing clothes made of a luxurious fabric and looked like the descendant of an aristocrat.

Callius, who had no interest, tried to rebuke Bruns for calling him for something like this; but after a moment, he looked back at the noble child, startled.

Black hair that seemed to be part of the dark night.

And gray eyes that looked like they were not of a human.

The attendants trembled when they saw the blood-drenched form of Callius, but the noble child was looking at him with both eyes clear and open, as if completely without fear.

"You, what's your name?"

When asked, the child got up from the seat with bright eyes and said confidently –

"Emily, Emily von Jervain."

A little child descended from the great noble family of the North.

The family that rules supreme in the North.

The same family as Callius, a famous family of swordsmen.

She was a noble child who had inherited the blood of Jervain.

Editor's Notes:

[1] 히든 피스 (lit. hidden "piece") Hidden Piece is an old slang term for game easter eggs like hidden classes, items, skills, races etc. Nowadays it's more common in web novels. See Namu Wiki.