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Chapter 2 – Sky Mountain Range (2)
A grizzly bear could be seen through the tall grass. It was a terrifying beast. Many warriors had died while hunting its kind.
Creak.
Urich pulled the bowstring taut. His bow was at least twice as thick as an ordinary bow. Its limbs had two additional layers of wood added on the sides, and the bowstring was coiled up multiple times more.
“Oomph.”
The veins in Urich’s forearms bulged. He clenched his teeth until his face turned red. He used every single muscle in his body to pull the bowstring back.
Thunk!
The bowstring that held a tremendous amount of tension was finally released. The sound of an arrow ripping through the air resounded.
Fffft.
It pierced into the grizzly bear’s nape deeply. However, grizzly bears didn’t die from just that.
“Fire!”
A volley of arrows followed. The grizzly bear roared and charged towards them.
“Spear!”
The warriors pulled out long spears. They scattered left and right to surround the bear.
“Stab it!”
The warriors that were targeted by the bear would step back and create time while those in its blindspot would aggressively attack. The bear’s wounds steadily increased as they continued their strategy.
“Hey, you idiots. You’re damaging the fur too much. Aim for a single strike to the head, the head!” yelled Urich while dodging the bear’s front paws.
“Do you think it’s as easy as you say it is?!”
“Whatever. I’ll do it, then.”
After saying it as if it were something simple, Urich threw a spear at the bear’s head. The bear swung its arms and struck down the spear.
The basic weapons of a hunter were the spear and bow. However, Urich’s favorite weapons were the dual axes. His favorite thing to do was to charge in with an axe in each hand.
Shiing.
Urich pulled out two handaxes from his waist.
“Humph.”
He breathed deeply, preparing to hold his breath. His chest swelled up to a great degree. From this point, he had to move sharply without taking a moment to breathe.
‘Right paw.’
Urich didn’t close his eyes. Even if dirt got into them, he would stare straight ahead while forcing his eyes wide open.
WOOOSH!
The bear’s strike grazed Urich’s hair.
Urich stepped further in.
‘Left paw. Its movements are simple. Stay calm. If I do, I can dodge them.’
Urich did a flip as if he were doing acrobatics. The bear’s claw grazed his chest.
‘My turn now.’
He laughed, feeling an exhilarating thrill. He crossed the line between life and death to close the distance and strike the beast’s neck.
SLASH!
The dual axes sliced the air and pierced the bear’s throat. He then violently dragged out the axes that were lodged in the bear’s neck. The wound opened wide, and a fountain of blood poured out.
“He’s going to go down soon. Everyone, step back.”
Urich leisurely stepped back while ordering them. The bear wobbled in place and eventually tumbled over.
Swoosh.
Urich spun his handaxes in his hands to shake off the blood and fat.
‘Are you not even afraid of death, Urich?’
The warriors were at a loss for words. Everyone saw Urich’s form as he charged in with handaxes against a bear. It’s something difficult to do if you’re not at least a little insane. It was even more ridiculous that he succeeded in doing such an insane act.
“No matter what anyone else says, you’re the next chief, Urich.”
“Stop talking nonsense and help take off the hide. Carry as much meat as you can and appropriately spread out whatever is left to the wild animals.”
Urich spoke to them nonchalantly and sat on top of a rock. His shoulders were still burning from adrenaline. Hazy steam rose up from his muscles.
“Other warriors would brag about this for the rest of their lives, and yet you’re acting like it’s something so easy. Hah.”
The warriors looked at Urich with envious gazes. But Urich didn’t show off for things like that. He just casually did what others couldn’t and laughed.
“It’s hot.”
Urich grabbed his hair with his hands and pulled it back as he gazed up.
‘We came this far, but we’re still not halfway up the mountain.’
What was there beyond the mountains? Was it really a world for the deceased like the shaman and elders said? Do they all become souls after they died and flew beyond the Sky Mountain Range?
Urich wanted to see it. He was curious about what was beyond there.
The warriors dismantled the bear while Urich blankly stared at the skies and mountains.
Rustle.
Suddenly, the bushes moved.
Urich focused his eyes on it, reading the movement of the shrubs. He saw something glimmer and quickly dropped to the ground.
“Get down!”
However, the flash was faster than Urich’s voice.
Fssss.
An arrow flew towards them, splitting the air.
The warriors who were struck by the arrows that followed rolled on the floor and looked for cover. Urich grabbed a fallen warrior with one hand and pulled them behind a tree.
“Damn it, who is it? Another tribe?”
“Load your arrows! Shoot them back!”
The warriors reacted quickly, spraying a volley of arrows back in the direction of their attackers.
Urich pulled out an arrow from the ground and thought, ‘This arrowhead is sharp and elaborate. I have never seen an arrowhead as detailed as this one.’
The enemies were on higher terrain and could one-sidedly shoot arrows. The warriors were at an overwhelmingly disadvantageous position.
‘They have more range than us and are already on higher ground.’
Furthermore, they were ambushed and had two injured members suffering from severe bleeding.
Krrrrk, krrk.
Urich ground his teeth and held a ferocious gaze.
‘I was the one who told them to come deep into the mountain range. I have to take responsibility for it.’
Urich looked at the warriors who were capable of moving.
“Take the injured and go down the mountain first. I’ll stop them”
“We’re not going to run away and leave you behind. Urich, we are brothers.”
“Bullshit. It’s better for me if you guys aren’t here. It’s easier for me to fight alone. Get down the mountain before I break that stupid head of yours, Vold. It’s important to die together, but saving your brothers is also important,” urged Urich.
Vold smiled bitterly.
“Come back alive, Urich.”
“The old hag already said it before. I will become a great warrior. I won’t die in this place. I am Urich, slayer of thirtyyyy!”
Urich raised the bear’s hide high and ran up the mountain range.
The arrows pierced it but couldn’t reach him.
Ssshhhk.
The other warriors quickly went down the mountain range while dragging the injured. Urich confirmed that the warriors went down before grabbing his spear and throwing it at the enemies.
“Foooh.”
The enemies stopped firing for a second. Perhaps because they were surprised as well. Urich gathered his breath and threw the bear hide covered in arrows.
Fwip.
He pulled out his handaxes and charged in, running between the trees and swaying back and forth to dodge the arrows.
‘There.’
He tensed up his thighs and leaped towards them as if he were trying to reach for a tree branch. Urich, who closed the gap in an instant, then grabbed a handful of rocks and threw them.
FWOOOSH!
“Urgh!”
“Kaak!”
He heard them scream. He cut down the tall grass to see his enemies.
‘It’s the first time I’m seeing clothes like this.’
Urich confirmed the existence of his enemies. They were humans with weird appearances. Unlike the members of his tribe who were mostly naked, his enemies wore clothes that only revealed their faces and hands. What was so embarrassing about their bodies that they covered it all up?
Urich had a hunch.
‘Humans from beyond the mountain range!’
These people came from beyond the mountain range.
The strange enemies looked at him and said something. They spoke different languages, so conversation was impossible.
‘In any case, the moment you laid hands on my brothers, you weren’t returning alive.’
Urich spun his body and swung his axe, akin to a lion leaping into a herd of deers. The enemies split up to run away from Urich.
“Can you guys only fight with bows?! You cowards!”
Urich’s voice thundered. Suddenly, something moved in between the fleeing enemies.
Creak. Creak.
A man stood up wearing full plate armor. He was waiting for the barbarian to come close to him.
“Sir Pordgal!”
“I guess it was a good thing that I wore armor.”
Pordgal raised his sword and shield as he went to confront Urich.
‘I’ve never seen a fighting form like that. Never seen armor like that either.’
Urich’s eyes were wide with shock. The tribe lacked iron to smelt into a weapon, so he never once imagined that someone could wear it as armor. Armor in the tribe was essentially just pieces of rawhide roughly patched up together.
Clang.
Pordgal threw his shield behind him.
“Sir Pordgal! Your shield!”
“It’s only a barbarian’s axe. He won’t be able to pierce this armor.”
He confronted Urich without any sense of worry.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but you threw away your shield. You must be really confident in your armor, huh?”
Urich spun his axes in his hands.
Their words had no effect on each other.