Flesh Golem of the Labyrinth City - Chapter 35



34. Swords and Pickaxes

The great merit of not having the sword dangle while running.

“Thank you, Rubica..!”

The reason explorers bring ropes or hooks to break through the mountainous area is not because they have to climb high cliffs or dive off cliffs.

There are many lands with a height difference of just 3 meters to as high as 8 meters that you can encounter very frequently, and if you add the heavier body due to armor, muscles with high tension, and just a bit of a mistake…

Even jumping just 3 meters can surprise the muscles, stretch the ligaments, or crack the bones.

Jumping from the second floor of an apartment for fun? If you muster up the courage, it’s okay to do it once, fine.

But repeatedly jumping from the height of the second floor of an apartment when you have tens of kilometers left to go…? Of course, it puts a strain on your feet.

So, to minimize the strain on your muscles and bones, you bring climbing equipment like hooks or ropes.

“Here we go.”

Of course, this doesn’t apply to me. My physical abilities are so good that I can easily jump around 5 meters on bare ground, so lightly jumping down is no big deal.

Except for the fact that the ground is uneven and I can’t speed up, it’s no different from the forest below the sixth floor. You can occasionally see wild boars, but they don’t appear that often.

“That is….”

The difference is that large birds are flying overhead. But the trees are dense and there are many places to hide, so it’s not immediately dangerous. And even if they attack me, I’m not weak enough to be easily overpowered.

“Who is this?”

So, the first creatures I encountered on the seventh floor were goblins.

The raucous laughter that hits your ears, the light footsteps, the habit of moving in large groups. I quickly lowered my gaze and hid behind the surrounding terrain, then turned my head towards the source of the sound.

‘Two tall ones, about thirty regular ones.’

There’s no need to fight, but it’s a bit much to go to the ninth floor without any warm-up. Besides, goblins are useless by-products, and they look disgusting.

They also reduce the prey that other explorers need to hunt, and the things they do are terrible.

They’re utterly harmful creatures, so it’s best to catch them whenever you see them. Isolde said that if there are no elite individuals around, goblins are quick to flee in fear.

So last time, the goblin group without an elite individual ran away. But now there are two large elite individuals. It seems best to reduce the number of regular ones first and then fight.

More than anything, I want to try using the eyes of the Umbra Valkyrie.

“Whew.”

I appropriately distribute the muscles throughout my body. Cover the lower body with the muscles of Ursus, and most of the upper body with those of the leader individual. Then switch the lungs and heart back to those of Ursus.

‘Still not getting used to it.’

Replace the eyeballs with those of the Umbra Valkyrie.

“Ugh..!”

The sheer amount of information in my field of vision causes the Umbra Valkyrie’s eyeballs to go wild. It feels like they are screaming at me to target and crush the vital points of each goblin, such as their lungs, hearts, and heads.

This won’t do. I’ll save this for later. Taking a deep breath, I supply oxygen to my entire body.

“Sss..!”

I draw two swords from the ring, grip them in my hands, and immediately dash towards the goblins.

—Kerrrk!?

—Kyaaargh!!

I kick with all my might towards the grotesque faces that are horrifying no matter when or where I see them. As I strike the oversized heads with my iron-clad boots, the goblin’s head bursts open, scattering green skin and red flesh like a watermelon.

—Splat

I swiftly swing my sword and advance towards the surrounding goblins. One slash per goblin is enough. The dead ones are finished, and even if they don’t die immediately, they will bleed out and die eventually.

Those that aren’t properly cut lose their mobility and collapse to the ground. Either way, they can’t escape. With each swing of my sword, the goblins’ blood splatters like red crescents, painting the grass like spilled paint.

—Kuraak!!

—Kurrrrk!!!

Two large goblins advance towards me, each wielding two axes and a long two-handed sword. I switch the muscles in my left hand to those of Ursus and throw the sword I was holding towards the goblin with the two-handed sword. The one with the longer reach is far more dangerous.

—Thwack

“Okay.”

I aimed for the stomach, knowing I wouldn’t hit the head, but luckily it went a bit higher and pierced the chest. With a sword in its lung, it can’t fight anymore, so it’s effectively neutralized.

The remaining goblin, holding an axe in each hand, quickly approaches and starts swinging its weapons at me.

‘I’m not sure if I can block this..!’

It doesn’t have the same intimidation as Urs. Still, it’s big and the sound of it cutting through the wind is quite fierce. If you get hit wrong, it’s as good as dead. The safest way is…

“Hmph..!”

While keeping a proper distance and observing its movements, the moment an axe got stuck in the ground, I put all my strength into my legs and kicked its wrist.

—Kuraak!!

At the same time, I swung the sword in my right hand and cut off its remaining forearm, then thrust the sword horizontally into the belly of the creature whose arms were shattered.

—Buuuk

As I put strength into the cut and sliced sideways, yellow fat and smelly organs began to pour out from the swollen belly.

“Ugh, damn. Do you even eat garbage?”

The ordinary creatures around were mostly taken care of. Slowly approaching the one still lying on the ground and breathing, I delivered a soccer kick to its head, which was perfect for kicking.

Thud-!

Its neck skin tore, and its spine snapped, sending its head flying far away. While carefully noting the direction the remaining ordinary creatures were fleeing, I pulled out my Excalibur embedded in the elite creature’s lung.

Swoosh-

“Is it okay to just put this in?”

Normally, after using a sword, you remove the blood and fat, apply wax oil, and put it back in the scabbard. But come to think of it, the scabbard is to prevent the wax oil on the blade from evaporating or being wiped off by contact with other objects, so if it’s stored in an artifact, isn’t it unnecessary?

“Hmm.”

Still, I shook off as much blood as possible and stored it again. I’ll have to find out later if the fat-covered sword continues to decay inside the magical tool.

I need to farm the loot, but what could I possibly want from what the goblins have?

“The axe is… just logging trash.”

The axe the berserker goblin was holding was a low-quality, unimpressive weapon. The two-handed sword another one was holding was quite large and heavy, but as goblins do, they used the weapon very roughly, so it was damaged and in poor condition.

“Huh, you b*stard. Who did you steal this from?”

Judging by the pretty patterns drawn on the guard, it might have been a decent item at first. By my standards, it’s very light, but with average strength, it doesn’t seem like it can be swung for long. It must be around 2.5kg.

“Just take it.”

—Thud

I plunged the two-handed sword back into his belly. Others might take it if they need it.

The goblin’s physical abilities are insignificant. It’s fortunate that I have no legitimate reason to eat these green monsters. The smell is truly legendary.

They don’t have superior physical abilities, nor do they possess exceptional magical power. They fight with cowardice and numbers.

“Well, should I go find the cave?”

I saw the direction the remaining goblin stragglers were fleeing, but I’m slightly hesitant about whether I should follow them. Of course, making money is the main goal, but for now, I’m on my way to get the Aether Hyacinth blooming on the 9th or 10th floor.

“Let’s just take a quick look.”

It’s not like it’s a big detour from the direction I’m heading anyway. As I slowly walk in the direction they were fleeing, I see a cave entrance that goblins would definitely like.

“Here we are.”

Honestly, I was thinking of giving up and turning back if it was too far, but it’s closer than I thought.

“Is anyone there!!”

I shouted loudly at the entrance, and I could hear a very faint sound from inside. It’s certain that there are goblins inside. In that case, it’s important to move quickly.

Since neither Lis nor Isolde are here, I changed both my eyes to those of the direwolf leader and quickly entered the cave. What if there are prisoners? Rescuing them won’t be easy.

“Here you are.”

I slashed through the goblins I encountered inside, slicing them into unappetizing sashimi, and continued to move forward until I came to a fork in the path.

“Hmm, it’s the left one.”

Listening carefully, I could tell which path went deeper. It seems there’s nothing on the right side.

Unlike last time, there were no elite entities inside. It seems the two I had cut down were the only elite entities leading this group, which is rather convenient.

As I easily advanced, stabbing the backs of the fleeing creatures, I reached the end of the goblin cave.

“Weapons… and armor?”

There were no prisoners, but there were a few pieces of equipment that seemed to belong to explorers. A gauntlet that looked like it would break soon, and a chest plate. And…

“Is this… a war pick?”

It looked like a pickaxe used in battle. An effective weapon against monsters with hard exteriors, though not often used in these lower levels. A short war pick, and a single-edged machete with a broad blade and a heavy feel.

“A war pick and a machete… an unusual combination.”

But somehow? It felt good in my hands. The weight of the machete wasn’t bad, and the war pick seemed to be of high quality, very clean. It didn’t seem like it had been stolen for long. There were no signs of goblin use.

“Blunt weapons can be used more roughly than swords.”

Anyway, the two swords were stored in the magic tool. Carrying two weapons on my belt as usual was no big deal.

Moreover, as my strength increased, I tended to use swords more roughly, but I still didn’t have enough money to buy weapons made of rare metals.

A machete and a war pick, made for multipurpose use, seemed quite durable. Since I wasn’t someone who had learned swordsmanship in depth, if it felt good in my hand and I liked it, that was my main weapon.

“No young ones.”

Even if there were, I would have killed them outright. I didn’t have the capacity to capture and sell them right now.

“Phew, you are the Legend of the Pickaxe. And you… just a machete.”

With two new weapons in hand, I left the cave. A sword and a pickaxe in hand? Is this Minecraft?

Since I’m going to find flowers, it seems somewhat similar.