Liam often praised my dazzling way with words, saying I would have made a successful bard. I had sweet-talked Tom, the fighting pit’s caretaker, into falling for my lies, and talked my way out of various other situations. It was one of my specialties.

Since I had fooled even clever humans, I thought dealing with an orc would be a breeze. But there was something I had overlooked.

“What are you talking about? You talk too much!”

Common sense did not work on orcs.

“Sum it up in one sentence! Keep babbling and I’ll banish you to the spirit world!”

Fuck.

* * *

Was it possible to get out of this situation in a single sentence?

No scholar in recorded history could have managed it. Not even the Heavenly Empire’s Great Witch, who was said to have mastered the truth, could have done it. Nor could the legendary jester of the Free City, who supposedly stopped a war with his eloquence.

“Sum it up!”

Anyone would be left dumbstruck before this fucking orc. Green-skinned orcs knew nothing of logic. This hot-blooded race, which settled everything through combat, was so naive that they looked ripe for a stab in the back. But there was something I had overlooked.

Orcs would never get scammed, wherever they went.

Because these bastards couldn’t be reasoned with.

“Do you think I’m lying? Orcs do not make empty threats!”

Seeing the orc elder raise a finger, I felt a very real threat. My instincts were telling me that the moment he snapped that finger, some mysterious power I knew nothing about would banish me to the spirit world. Of course, I didn’t know exactly what being banished to the spirit world entailed. But I could read the emotion in his voice.

The moment the orc elder snapped his finger, I was fucked.

That much was certain.

So I racked my brain as fast as I could.

And...

“I want the sword in your sacred ground. Who do I have to beat to get it?”

In an instant, I had managed to come up with exactly what the race known as 「orcs」 most wanted to hear. The elder paused at my blunt, undisguised words. He looked at me solemnly. Then his lips curled into a grin.

“Straight talk, without any fancy words! I like it!”

The orc elder let out a hearty laugh.

“Yes! The sword in the sacred ground... So you’re a human who came here coveting our sacred relic!”

“That’s right.”

“The sword is precious to us! But there’s no reason we cannot give it to a human who wins it in a proper contest! More than anything, I like your straightforward manner! I thought I was looking at one of our own warriors!”

I couldn’t tell whether that was praise or an insult.

I forced myself to keep my expression under control and smiled.

Now that I had fully learned how orcs spoke, there was no need to dress up my words. If you couldn’t avoid it, enjoy it—wasn’t that the saying? I decided to do just that.

“So who do I have to fight? Hurry up and tell me. This is frustrating as hell.”

“Bwahahaha! A human whose blood boils for battle!”

The orc elder laughed loudly again and slapped his knee.

SMACK!

I saw the air around him vibrate. And it wasn’t just the air. My 「mana heart」 surged. A single slap of his knee was shaking the Mana throughout the area. Liam had been right: he could send me to my grave with a snap of his fingers.

Watching those terrifyingly powerful vibrations, I gained an indirect sense of the elder’s strength. He bared his coarse fangs and spoke.

“Human! You came to our sacred ground and said you coveted our relic! That means you wish to take what is ours from our land!”

“Yes.”

“Then you must follow our wishes!”

The orc elder’s eyes gleamed. My reflection appeared in his enormous pupils.

“Human! Undergo the orcs’ coming-of-age rite!”

“Pardon?”

“If you pass, I will give you the sacred relic you desire! But if you fail, I will dismantle your soul piece by piece and engrave it into young orcs!”

The orc elder chuckled.

As his sinister laughter echoed, the voice that had been booming loudly enough to burst my eardrums suddenly grew quiet.

“I like your unusual soul.”

Strangely, his voice, now as quiet as a mutter to himself, sounded clearer than before. It seemed to resonate directly inside my head rather than entering through my ears.

“Heir to the great blood of steel, you already harbor three pieces of steel within your soul. If you cannot overcome this trial, I will personally tear that soul of steel apart.”

“...”

“Overcome the trial. Glory will follow if you do, and despair if you do not.”

Dizziness washed over me, as though my entire body were swaying in every direction. I even felt nauseous as the orc elder stared through me and spoke.

“That is the way of the orcs.”

* * *

The coming-of-age rite.

A long-standing orc tradition, a ritual through which they became true warriors. Orcs who passed received “ancestral inheritance,” in which the soul of an ancestor from the past was engraved into them, and were reborn as warriors far stronger than before.

Little was publicly known about the orcs’ coming-of-age rite. Part of that was simply because very few people took an interest in orcs. Even learned historians didn’t bother studying them. Only the occasional scholar with a perverse desire to be different from everyone else researched orcs.

Anyway, hearing the words “coming-of-age rite” actually came as a relief. I had been insanely tense, worried that the elder would suddenly demand to fight me himself. This race had so little common sense that they were impossible to predict. At this point, I thought I could accept it even if one of the many orcs over there suddenly challenged me to a duel because he thought my face looked fucking awful. I hadn’t been here long, and I was already sick of orcs. Now I just wanted to return to the village I missed...

「A coming-of-age rite. This will be a good experience.」

“Do you know about the orcs’ coming-of-age rite?”

「Of course. There is nothing I do not know, young descendant.」

Looking at the supremely confident Liam, I objected.

“Didn’t you fail to realize that I needed a medal to register at the Arena?”

「... I know everything about the things that existed in my time.」

“But wasn’t the fighting pit around in your time too, Master?”

「Dwelling on trifles is a bad habit.」

Watching Liam brazenly act as though his face were plated with iron, I thought he really was something. Did you have to be this shameless to become a 「swordmaster」? Perhaps one of the Caravan traits that all came down to steel was an iron-plated face.

While I was entertaining those useless thoughts, Liam spoke.

「Do not be too complacent. You would do well to stay on your guard.」

“Do I need to?”

「Why would you think you do not?」

The reason was simple.

“I already fought and beat an orc who passed the coming-of-age rite. Whatever the rite involves, if I beat an orc who passed it, shouldn’t I be able to pass it too?”

It was simple logic.

But Liam shook his head.

「No. You can only say that because you do not know what the orcs’ coming-of-age rite is.」

“...?”

「Their coming-of-age rite tests a warrior’s will to transcend fear and limitations.」

A warrior’s will?

Another vague explanation. I looked at Liam, and he continued.

「Young descendant, what sorts of beings have you fought so far?」

“The unwelcome visitors to our estate, fighters in the fighting pit, various knights including Petel, Seolyun, The Black Bride, and the orcs here.”

「Yes. You have fought many battles.」

Listing them out, I had won more fights than I expected.

Even I had to agree.

「But in the coming-of-age rite you are about to undergo, you will fight an enemy unlike any you have faced before.」

“What do you mean?”

「Young descendant, every enemy you have faced thus far has been an intelligent being capable of reason. Beings who thought with their heads, took up weapons, and could fight you blade to blade.」

Liam turned his eyes toward me.

「This time, you will fight a monster.」

“... Pardon?”

「And in your struggle against that monster, you must learn to fight through wildness rather than reason. As it happens, that is also the name of the sword you must eat this time.」

Liam smiled.

「You may look forward to it. This will be quite a different experience.」

* * *

Wildness.

A word meaning a rough nature in its natural or instinctive state.

It was not a word that suited swordsmanship. Looking back on the memories held in the blades I had eaten—「Needle」, 「Fang」, and 「Twilight」—their owners had all handled their swords with cool composure. Their lives had sometimes burned hot, but in battle, they were more often cold. Without realizing it, I had come to think that was what wielding a sword meant.

To wield a sword forged from cold metal, didn’t you have to become endlessly cold yourself? Wasn’t maintaining reason at all times the truth? That belief was directly connected to my suspicion. But Liam said wildness mattered too: a fiery nature close to an animal’s instincts. Thinking back, all the orcs had acted wildly and savagely in battle.

Could wildness truly help with the sword?

To be honest, I couldn’t understand it. But not everything that had happened since I took up a sword was something I could understand with my head. Some things I had only learned by experiencing them.

Perhaps this would be another.

With that thought, I walked up to the orc elder. Amid the countless gathered orcs, I blended naturally into their ranks, as though I were an orc myself rather than a human. The elder grinned, baring his fangs. Chuckling, he placed a hand as large as a cauldron lid atop my head.

“The orcs’ coming-of-age rite! Proves your worth as a warrior!”

“...”

“Here, close to the sky! Human, prove that you can stand proud as a warrior! I, Sherdik the orc shaman, will bestow the traditional trial upon you!”

At that, the Mana I could see around me began trembling wildly. At the same time, my 「mana heart」 beat, trying to resist the changes around me. It was instinct. My heart of steel awakened and tried to protect itself. But the orc elder crushed my second heart’s desperate resistance as though mocking it. His palm pressed down harder. With that, my surging 「mana heart」 stopped dead.

The orc elder spoke in a near whisper.

“Heir of steel, face indescribable terror and prove how hard you truly are.”

Then I was flung away, as though something had shoved me out. When I closed my eyes and opened them again, I was floating in the air. It was a strange sensation, like swimming underwater. Looking down, I saw my own body. How bizarre. I was looking down at my own body—what was this...?

「He has temporarily banished you to the spirit world. He has separated your soul from your body.」

Liam’s voice rang out amid my bewilderment.

But I could only hear his voice. He was nowhere to be seen.

「You will not be able to see me in your spirit form. The gulf between you and me is far too great.」

“...”

「Do not try to find me. Prepare for the struggle that is about to begin, young descendant.」

Liam’s voice reverberated around me.

While I was still struggling to grasp the situation, a fierce tremor rolled out from far away.

THUD!

I turned toward the sound and saw an enormous giant. Its head stood above the clouds, and its torso rivaled a mountain in size.

“What.”

As I stood there dumbfounded, Liam’s voice rang out.