Haroon Volume 2 Chapter 6 Part2

 As the orcs were defeated, the merchants became lively once again. Even though there was no extra news from the Mercenary leader and others, but there couldn’t be happier news than no sacrifice was made killing more than 100 Orcs and an Orc Warrior.

 Haroon, who contributed most in the battle, has lost his consciousness and was lying in one place. At least, his life was safe, said Meilan.

 The mercenaries naturally found their work to do. Some were skinning the Orcs, some were uncovering the clothes that covered eyes and noses of horses to prevent them from getting frightened by the battle. It was a short time, but there was no distinction between the Merchants and Mercenaries.

 It was in the late afternoon, almost at dinner time when Haroon woke up. But his consciousness was not back totally. He remembered hearing some UI sound that alerted him the death of the Warrior, and some other UI sounds as well, but that was the end of his memory.

 Then he realized that he was unconsciousness for a while, and he wanted to open his eyes to see the situation, but he couldn’t. Somebody was talking to each other. Not far from where he was lying down.

 “By the way, grandpa, is his throwing weapon that awesome? I heard some say he might be a legend somewhen.”

 Haroon could hear a kid’s voice, and he found out that he was talking with an aged man. They were talking about him. He got curious what they would talk about him, so he decided not to open his eyes.

 “Indeed, it is something awesome. After all, those knives and daggers are light enough to be thrown by hands, but it loses its power when the target is more than 20 steps away.”
“Huh? But that Warrior was at least 50 steps away.”
“He must have put some mana in the dagger or some unknown force. Or else, that distance cannot be covered.”

Listening to the voice, Haroon realized this aged man is quite old.

 “Then could he really be a Legend? I heard the mercenaries say they’ve never seen someone who could kill the Warrior by a throwing weapon. Whoa, he is AWESOME.”
“Hmm, when I do agree with that he is awesome…….”

As if the kid noticed something odd from his voice, the kid asked once again.

 “What’s the matter, grandpa? It is awesome at his age, innit?
“It is. But he is impulsive, and he’s still immature.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”

 Haroon almost wide opened his eyes. ‘But I’ve just killed an Orc Warrior, that even 4 sword experts couldn’t defeat, and you call me impulsive and immature for that? You have no idea how hard I fought,’ he thought. He got upset and angry at the old man.

 “If the warrior wasn’t exhausted by the mercenaries continuous attack, and if the warrior wasn’t running away from the battlefield, the Warrior would have never died from that attack. No orcs, neither any human would have expected the throwing knife to reach from that far distance. This means that the Warrior was in a defenseless state when it got killed.”
“But it is still cool that he killed the Warrior.”
“While that’s very true, he didn’t need to. Especially not when he had to use every bit of his power. Moreover, he threw that dagger without making sure that his friends will protect him when he loses his consciousness. This only meant he was either greedy about the fame, or he couldn’t resist his hot blood. What if he had his personal enemy nearby? What if the orcs came back with a reinforcement?”
“B-but, it didn’t and it was cool! Everyone is looking him differently.”

 The kid seemed uncomfortable by the Old man’s disagreement. He complained with an upset voice as the old man was criticizing his new idol.

 But that wise words were the chills going down Haroon’s spine, and he got goose-b.u.mps all over. Just as the Old man said, if there was anyone who had bad personal feelings on Haroon, he was very vulnerable to them.

 “That’s why I’m saying he is immature. To survive in this cruel world, one needs to hide one’s own strength. Not only the people with weapons but ordinary people as well.
“Why?”
“It might look cool at the moment, but mercenaries are originally ignorant, and violent people. This meant being ‘cool’ can be one’s weakness. Back in my days, when there was no concept of guilds, it was quite regular to see how mercenaries suddenly change into the bandits on their escort. There are some, still. To not to get betrayed, and live wisely, one needs to hide their own strength.

Haroon was embarra.s.sed. He was embarra.s.sed that he got way too much excited to lose control of himself killing the orcs. He even determined not to get full of conceit.

 “Look what those fellows are doing. They’ve just skinned the Warrior and put that in their bags. I can a.s.sure you they won’t even come back to thank him when he wakes up.”
“How can you tell?”
“One gains eyes for people with my age, my boy. It is best not to even think of helping those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. They’ve never come here to check how fine this young one is. They would even try to fight him for the Warrior’s skin. They’ve seen all of his cards already, and people fear what they don’t see. If they’ve seen it all, what is there more to be afraid of? Throwing weapons are most effective when it is used in the darkness. Therefore, Sword Experts, like them, won’t be afraid of throwing weapons.”
“But I still admire him. You can’t deny that he is strong enough to kill a Warrior.”
“Hyuh-hyuh-hyuh! Yes, he is strong. But the one that survives until the end, that’s the one we call the real strong one. And to survive, one needs fortune, and solid bases.”

And they continued for a while and left the place.

 ‘d.a.m.n me, why am I so careless? He was totally right! It wasn’t necessary to kill the Orc Warrior when it was running away. And I have shown my limit as well, so if there was any enemy nearby, I would have been dead.’

 Late regret made him suffer. He realized his body wasn’t moving. It seemed his body was in the worst state possible.

  ‘I won’t do such stupid thing ever again. As the old man said, the real strong one is who survives until the end.

 He blamed himself for a while, then opened his eyes when his mind was finally at calm.

 “He waked up! He is awake!”

 A little girl noticed him and gladly shouted. The Quad w.a.n.kers heard her voice and made to him with haste.

 “Boss, are you all right?”

 Haroon could see Gitan, Serinn, Ritrina, and Philip worried about him. He felt guilty about it as he was deceiving them.

 “What happened?” Haroon asked.

 Of course, he knew what happened. But asked Philip to act as if he just woke up.

 “Nothing really. You just have killed the Warrior and fell unconsciousness.”
“Mm…“

 Haroon raised his upper body up. Then he could see he was lying next to Doran’s cart.

Some mercenaries heard he is awake, and came to thank him for saving their lives. Just as the old man said, some mercenaries didn’t come at all.

Soon, Meilan came with a mercenary to see Haroon.

 “You are awake. Don’t worry about your situation. Your body is just exhausted.”
“Sorry for the trouble.”
“No, don’t be. We were worried about you as you fell down like that after helping us. Your mercenaries told me that you have used an elemental power. It was a relief to know that you fell down because you have spent all your mana. Oh right, and this is my brother Tain, the leader of Rotem Mercenaries,

 The man next to Merilan seemed middle-aged. Like her, he had a clear-cut face, and he had a profound atmosphere. He seemed more like a knight rather than a mercenary.

 If he remembered correctly, he hasn’t seen Tain on the battlefield. Despite what he saw, his chainmail was quite in a ma.s.s. It meant he has gone through a serious battle too. Though, it doesn’t seem he was hurt.

 “I heard from your man that you are only a grade D mercenary, and I heard you did amazing work today.  Is it Haroon, again?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Though the Warrior may be running away, exhausted, I heard you killed the Warrior with a dagger using the elemental power. I have never heard of such a skill.”

 Haroon knew he was complementing, but he couldn’t say anything. What about killing a warrior, if he needs to fell unconsciousness for a half of the day. His face was turned red.

 “I was just lucky.”

 Tain held Haroon’s hands and pat it for few times.

  “No. If what I heard is right, it wasn’t just a luck. I had to lure the portion of orcs away from the battlefield because there were simply too many. So I couldn’t witness your skill with my very own eyes, but if what I heard is right, that is a really amazing skill.”
“Thank you, but I just wasn’t myself. If you told me to do it now, I wouldn’t be able to.”

 Like the old man said, he decided to hide his capability.

 “I’m pretty sure this will be a legend of the mercenary history. It was very fresh, and surprising attempt. Not to mention how you could put the power of the spirits in the throwing weapons. If you acquire that skill, I can’t imagine how much you could improve.”
“I can’t remember how I did it myself.”

 Haroon said it as sadly as possible. Though, Tain seemed he understand what he said.

 “I see. That moment doesn’t come anytime, young man. Moreover, I imagine you were in a trance. I heard some does experience that moment. To feel that moment again, you will need to put lots of effort. Who knows? If you can remember what you did in that moment, it may be your own skill. Anyway, I really thank you and your friends.”

 The people around him seemed satisfied to know what really happened to Haroon.

Haroon thought it would be great if what Tain said was true. But what really happened was that Brat has acted by its own mind. Haroon could roughly remember that he felt all of his power being sucked out from him. It wasn’t like how Brat worked on the graduation day.

 “Well, take some rest, and don’t be too anxious. If you can practice with patience, maybe you could acquire a skill that could be a legendary one,” said Tain.
“Yes, you need to take some rest. Anyway, I really appreciate your help, thanks to you, no single sacrifice was made in this battle. Thanks.”

 Meilan seemed very grateful to him. Though she may be experienced, she was feeling nervous on the battle. If it wasn’t Haroon, she knew many sacrifices would have been made.

 After Tain and Meilan went away, a few more mercenaries came to him to thank him.

  “Seeing that his face is still pale, I don’t think he is well yet. Let’s leave him alone so he can rest well,” said Philip.

 The Quad w.a.n.kers and others went to a different area so Haroon can rest well. Just as Philip said, his face was pale as a white paper, and his eyes were very dull too.

 Haroon ate the soup a merchant gave him to relieve the hunger and closed his eyes leaning on the wheel of the cart. His stamina and health point were so low that he had to struggle to move his own body.

 ‘Only if I had a cla.s.s, I would have leveled up, restoring all the health and mana.’

 that reminded him how wasteful killing the Warrior is. Since he was the one who lastly hit the Warrior, he would have leveled up a few times.

 ‘Doesn’t this game has a force-disconnection system? If it was that dangerous to make me fell unconsciousness, not only the system but still Bell would have disconnected the connection. Then wasn’t it that dangerous?’

 Haroon decided to ask Bell later, and he remembered something.

 ‘I think I heard something before I fell unconsciousness.

 Haroon opened his status window and checked H.P., M.P, and E.F.P.

Name: Haroon
Race: Human
Cla.s.s: –
Level: 10
t.i.tle: Orc Warrior Slayer (and 2 other)
H.P.:30
M.P.:5
E.F.P:1

“Holy s.h.i.t!”

 His H.P. was originally a little bit less than 500. All his H.P. and M.P. was gone. Especially, E.F.P. was at 1. The other stats were crawling on the bottom as well, but at least he gained 5 S.P.

 ‘…Come to think of it, did I told Brat to use the skill?’

 He couldn’t remember ordering Brat to use the skill ‘Spirit-guided throwing knives’. Moreover, that skill was way too weak to kill the Orc Warrior.

 ‘That’s strange. And I don’t believe Brat would have worked on its own mind without my order.’

 He couldn’t understand no matter how much he thinks about it. He wanted to ask Brat, but he wouldn’t be able to summon it now. If it goes wrong, he will die from lacking mana.

 ‘And I remember hearing some UI sounds too.’

 Haroon checked his inventory. There were two new items. A small stone that has creates strange atmosphere and a short sword that was about 50cm long. Haroon took out those items and checked the info of it.

Mana Stone (misc)
Cla.s.s: Uncommon+

Some monsters gain strength and intelligence to rule the others by eating mana stones. These mana stones can grow larger in the body, and you can acquire these mana stones by hunting those mutated monsters. It stores denser mana, and filling or extracting mana from the stone is way faster than those stones mined in nature. These types of mana stones are very valuable to Magicians.

‘This is amazing!’

 Haroon shouted, into his mind. It wasn’t something that you would expect to get hunting down the orcs.

Haroon checked the other one as well.

Short Sword
Cla.s.s: Uncommon
durability: 60/60
Attack damage: 30~35
Requirement: –

 Can be used for slashing and throwing. It has a great cutting force and attack damage. Seems made by a great Meister.

He needed this kind of weapon. The short swords he had was about 20cm long and they were too light to be capable of long-range throwing. If he has at least one of these weapons, it would be great for an emergency situation.

 ‘The orcs have given me great items beyond my expectation.’

 Though his body may be in the worst state, he felt proud of the result of battle. He decided to check his skill window as well.

 “Skill window!”

Spirit integrated throwing knives (Intermediate): Lv.1(3.20%)/Lv.5

 If the caster has a spirit with enough intelligence, the caster can unite the spirit with a throwing knife to increase the impact of the weapon. The effective range is 50 meters at level 1. It can avoid obstacles and hit the vital point of the target. Uses 50 mana and 10 elemental force point per second.

Just as he thought, there was another skill added. Moreover, it was an intermediate skill, not a basic one. He wasn’t sure if it was systemically possible to obtain an intermediate one, but his smiled ear to ear.

 Haroon read it over and over again, enjoying the mood. Then one sentence came into his eyes.

 ’50 mana per second? d.a.m.n, so that’s why!’

 Haroon finally found out why he pa.s.sed out.

 The effective range of throwing weapons are up to 30~40 meter if it was thrown by pure strength. If one uses their mana, effective range might increase, but the precision drops gradually. Therefore, an intelligent spirit, which was Brat, the essential spirit, in this case, must have integrated with the dagger to hit the Warrior, avoiding the obstacles.

 ‘And I feel so tired.’

 Even he has been unconsciousness for a half of day, he still felt sleepy. His low health and low mana made him sleep.

Haroon woke up again in the middle of the night. He could see the Quad w.a.n.kers guarding him. They were resting, sitting up and leaning their head on the side of the cart. They could have set up the tents and get some sleep, but for some reason, they chose not to.

 He again felt guilty, thinking he doesn’t deserve this much care. He’s been looking them with mixed feelings and met eyes with Serinn.

 “Boss, you woke up,” said Serinn.

 Philip heard her and faced Haroon.

 “Oh, you are awake. Here. Drink these.”

 Philip took something out from his pocket. It was two small gla.s.s bottle with caps on.

 “Well…… I forgot these when you woke up last time. There were some health and mana potions among the items Tain gave us.
‘And NOW you are giving me these.’

 Haroon felt angry, but who was he to blame? As Bell said, the potions existed in this world that restores mana and health over time. He took the bottles and checked the labels. It was written ‘low cla.s.s’.

 ‘But that’s still something.’

 Low-cla.s.s potions cost 50 silver in the Magicka shops, whereas the ones that the Temples sell costs 3 gold per one. It is valued highly for its rarity as mana potions are used by the magicians. Also, it was hard to obtain the material used to make it: Troll’s blood.

 As he drank them, the mana slowly regenerated. He could feel the energy being restored in his body. Soon, he felt his body as light as feathers as if he took a long rest.

 “Thank you for caring me,” said Haroon.
“Hehe, don’t mention it. If it wasn’t you, Boss, I would have been slain by the dirty orcs.”
“You have saved my life, too. I can’t remember what exactly I did, but I remember that my beautiful face wasn’t cut away by the orcs’ rusty swords all thanks to those throwing knives.”

 Serinn and Ritrina were smiling at him to thank him. Philip and Gitan put their thumbs up to congratulate Haroon’s achievement.

 They couldn’t sleep like that, so the Quad w.a.n.kers left the place and set up the tents. The night deepened, and Haroon was the only one awake from the party. He couldn’t sleep as he slept for a long time, and he still wasn’t awake from the excitement of his first large-scale battle.