Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 5



Only Noblemtl

Episode 5. Predation (3)

If the tentacle’s existence is discovered, you will die, but whether it is useful or not is a secondary problem.

Isaac wondered if he should run away from the eyes of the Code of Light even now. I didn’t want my long-awaited second life to end with nothing more than a pile of ashes on the stake.

But where does that mean you can run away?

‘Even the Immortal Cult chases nameless chaos!’

Isaac looked up at the night sky for a long time.

But soon he realized that he had to do something.

‘I guess I’ll just have to hide it well.’

No matter which denomination you go to, there is always a risk of being caught.

However, the Code of Light is large in scale and has the largest number of believers due to its wide tolerance. It’s easy to hide your identity

A paladin is also a profession that requires you to prove your faith, but it is not as difficult as a monk. Because it was not a job where one would just stay in a room and study hard like a monk, personal training was more important.

‘It may be difficult to receive a miracle, but it may still be possible to use the authority of the church… … .’

In addition, if you invade a distant pagan territory, you can become the lord of that land. Of course, the principle is to donate it to the denomination, but in the end, how can the denomination rule over such a distant place? Only the reputation is given to the denomination, and the real power remains with the denomination.

Of course, you would have to establish a monastery or pay a reasonable amount.

First, get everything you can to become a paladin, then hide it as long as you can. You can run away after being caught.

No, I had to become a paladin just to survive.

The tree was told to hide in the forest.

If you become a Paladin of Paladins that no one can doubt, no one will be able to think of you as a nameless follower of Chaos.

Let’s find the holy relic, reclaim the sacred site, and completely destroy the Immortal Church.

Then no one will think of you as some nameless tentacle monster of chaos.

Isaac decided to use all his special abilities, talents, and information to become a Holy Knight. No, he had to do it to survive. In the end, if these tentacles are going to twist your life, it is safer to go deeper into the Code of Light.

‘I have to train myself well because I have to fight directly with my body… … ‘You’re still young, so there’s plenty of time.’

A nameless follower of chaos becomes a paladin within the Church of the Code of Light.

The more Isaac thought about it, the more he felt it was a good idea.

As long as you don’t get caught.

***

“You want to help me hunt rats?”

“yes.”

Isaac thought that since he had made up his mind anyway, he needed a way to consistently supplement his protein intake. Ordinary monks would be satisfied with just one potato, but this was not Isaac.

‘Even though you can’t taste it through the tentacles, it’s a good opportunity to get all the nutrients you need.’

Isaac’s body was not small compared to other children his age. In other words, the soil is not bad. If you can get enough nutrition, you will be able to grow quickly.

As a result of what I have observed, all of the preyed objects are slowly ‘digested–absorbed’ by Isaac. I checked while defecating in the bathroom for a few days, but no hair, teeth, or claws came out.

I literally felt like I completely absorbed it. Thanks to this, my complexion improved beyond recognition and I no longer suffered from hunger.

“I’m not too busy to lend a hand to the little one. Does catching rats look like fun?”

“Besides rat-catching, I’ll help with other things as soon as I have time.”

There are many tasks that Gebel takes on at the monastery. Because the monks had so little energy to make a living, most of the chores were handled by Gebel. I was already thinking of asking for help, but Isaac came by at just the right time.

“I need the monk’s permission to take the little boy with me. “Did you tell me?”

“I spoke to Monk Alec.”

In any case, the purpose is to teach children about ‘labor’ itself, rather than saying that working in the garden is actually very helpful. On the contrary, Gebel’s work was so difficult and dirty that children avoided it.

But it wasn’t Isaac.

‘Right now, the only way for me to take care of my health and skills is to follow Gebel.’

Isaac’s eyes sparkled with greed.

A rat catcher is also a rat catcher, but Gebel is a paladin.

A paladin was considered a formal paladin if he could take on at least ten ordinary soldiers not only with his blessings but also with his swordsmanship skills.

‘Moreover, a veteran with extensive combat experience who has even experienced the battlefield? If you miss this, you’re a fool.’

Even if you just think about it for a while, there is a high possibility that he went beyond an ordinary paladin and rose to the level of commanding and teaching. It was clear that following him around and becoming a little closer to him and building relationships would be of great help on his way to becoming a Holy Knight.

Gebel snorted loudly and shot back.

“If you get in my way, know that you will get a spanking. okay?”

“yes!”

From that day on, Isaac followed Gebel and helped him with his work.

Although it is called rat hunting, more accurately, it means collecting rats caught in traps or burying rats caught in large quantities by Gebel somewhere.

To be more precise, the rats were fed to the tentacles.

It was a lot of hard work, but it was better than working in the garden or doing menial chores.

Rather, it was simpler work for Isaac than garden work.

More than anything, the feeling of gaining muscle each day and the sense that work was progressing smoothly made him excited.

***

Gebel was steadily watching Isaac.

Gebel had actually been observing Isaac ever since he was brought to the monastery. His one-month evaluation was all about ‘a pretty but silent and quiet boy.’

‘All the villagers were killed, but the only child who survived… … However, Carlsen and the members of the Immortal Church all disappeared as if they were being chased, so I thought there was something to it, but was it just luck?’

There may have been another reason why Isaac survived.

Thanks to this, Gebel’s impression of Isaac was that he was just a lucky survivor. If he had wanted something more, Gebel could not help but feel regretful.

But over the past few weeks, something had changed in Isaac’s demeanor.

‘Pretty much… … ‘No, you’re good at it, right?’

I have become a different person, as if up until now I had simply grasped the situation.

Gebel had no choice but to raise his evaluation of Isaac several notches. I tried to give him a positive evaluation even if he showed just moderate effort, and he was doing surprisingly well.

By this time, many children had come forward to help him with his work.

Because I don’t want to study, because working in the fields is hard, etc.

However, Geber’s work is more dirty and arduous than field work. At the same time, it was difficult to be recognized because it was not noticeable. However, Isaac followed Gebel around every day without even missing his studies.

Even though you are 14 years old, if you can read letters and do calculations, your brain is not bad. Later, he could focus on more convenient tasks or studies, but Isaac was devoting all his free time to helping Gebel. Thanks to this, Gebel was already feeling a lot of pressure off her.

What was even more surprising was that Isaac continued to try to learn something from Gebel.

Isaac did not overlook even the simplest things and tried to explain the principles and reasons. He might have been annoying as a crab, but he had no difficulty because he could understand the rest after just teaching him once.

Isaac was learning how to cut down a tree, set a mouse trap, chase animals, care for a horse’s horseshoe, identify medicinal herbs, etc. with just one look.

Of course, this alone could not be said to be an ability worthy of being a ‘survivor of Carlsen’.

Isaac was just a child with maturity and talent befitting his age.

But other than that, Gebel liked Isaac.

Before he knew it, he was getting used to having Isaac as his assistant.

Meanwhile, the other children were looking at Isaac with uncomfortable eyes as he started playing separately.

Isaac was a child who suddenly came in among the children and became aloof. But instead of making an effort to get along with them, he only hung out with adults and almost completely ignored the children. Since the monks liked the dignified Isaac, he naturally became an object of jealousy.

But either way, Isaac had no interest in his reputation among his peers.

It is not enough to cling to everything just to survive. In the meantime, there was no reason to pay attention to the kids.

He continued to study only for himself in a place where no one was watching.

It was a study about tentacles.

‘If we’re going to stop this damn thing from running wild, we need to know how to use it and control it.’

According to what Isaac has learned about tentacles so far, it is as follows.

However, ‘digestion’ does not occur immediately.

Contrary to my belief that everything would be digested when I woke up, I did not feel hungry for almost a few days and the abilities gained through ‘predation’ did not disappear. Thanks to this, Isaac ended up in a somewhat difficult situation where he had to force himself to eat even though he wasn’t hungry.

However, as long as this state was maintained, Isaac was able to retain the abilities he had absorbed from the prey. In addition, no matter what you eat, it is absorbed into the body with a fairly high efficiency.

Although it was an effect that was difficult to feel right away, it was a very useful perk because in this era, people died from poor nutrition and trivial causes.

Second, I don’t know why ‘Tentacle’ is friendly to Isaac.

It was strange that the tentacles protruding from inside the body, cutting through the skin, were friendly, but the tentacles were actually kind to Isaac. The moment he unconsciously stretched out his hand to pick up a cup of water that had fallen far away, a tentacle shot out and grabbed the cup of water and brought it to him.

Fortunately there were no other people around, but it was a moment that almost made Isaac’s heart drop. But thanks to him, he learned that he could take out the tentacles for more than just ‘predation’. His name sounded like a skill, but in reality, he was just another arm.

‘How can I use this well?’

It was not just for use, but for living.

Nameless Chaos is an entity that is hostile not only to the Code of Light but also to the Immortal Church. If Isaac’s identity was revealed at any time, he would have to survive alone. In the end, the only person you can trust is yourself. And these tentacles were either Miu or Gouna, and in the end, they shared a shared destiny with themselves.

Monk Alec said that ‘nameless chaos’ is still spreading its tentacles from beyond the horizon to invade this world.

And now its tentacles were flailing around, devouring the mouse.

‘But if this guy wasn’t around, I would have been chewing potatoes.’

Crack, cluck.

Isaac saw a tentacle swallowing a rat in front of an empty pit. The tentacles seemed to be thicker and the number of strands had increased. As Isaac got healthier, his tentacles also got stronger.

‘First, we need to learn how to control this properly.’

When the tentacle wanted to disappear, it quickly entered the skin. It was fortunate that it disappeared in time when I wanted it to disappear, but the moment it appeared was difficult to control.

‘Mainly when you want to help me, or when you think it will be helpful, or when I’m in crisis…’ … .’

Isaac suddenly thought that the tentacle might not be as stupid as it seemed. If tentacles had popped out every time those conditions were met, Isaac would have been caught and hung long ago. But that didn’t happen. That means tentacles have their own sense of humor.

It also meant that I had my own sense of self.

I didn’t know yet whether that was good news or bad news.

‘For the time being, we will have no choice but to trust the tentacles and find a way to control them.’

***

A mouse was loitering near the mousetrap bait. The guy seemed to be interested in the bait and wandered around sniffing it, but after hesitating, he soon gave up and turned around. The surrounding area was already filled with the smell of dead compatriots.

Sweet.

At that moment, the guy noticed something strange and started running furiously. But in an instant, my body was pierced by a sharp sound that cut through the wind.

Quad deuk.

The rat pierced by the tentacle trembled and then fell limp. Isaac had a shocked expression as he looked at the tentacle chewing up the mouse and swallowing it.

‘It’s definitely thicker and longer than before.’

The more protein he consumes, the healthier his body becomes. The tentacles were also getting thicker and longer. However, while Isaac’s body did not easily become healthy due to his constitution, his tentacles were quickly becoming thicker and longer.

‘This may be related to religious ability.’

The tentacles are also a power granted by the nameless Chaos Faith. The fact that it was so powerful that it did not match its level seemed to be related to the Nephilim’s unique high faith level. At first, it seemed good to use when there were no weapons, like now.

Isaac inspected the trap as he ate the mouse.

Gebel liked to use traps where bait was set up on paths where rats could walk and tightened the moment they were eaten, as well as traps where the bait was placed inside a large bucket with oil.

It was a good trap. Three or four rats had already been caught in the barrel and submerged in bitumen.

‘The number has decreased significantly compared to before.’

So far, the results have been pretty good, but now the results are slowly falling off.

Not only did the number of rats decrease significantly, but it was also because swarms of clever rats began to figure out how to avoid traps. Isaac took this problem seriously because fewer rats meant less protein supply.

‘I need to check the condition of the mousetrap.’

As Isaac observed the trap, it occurred to him that he could make some modifications.