Dragonslayer’s Class Regression 65

Chapter 65

Felix immediately searched for a suitable camping spot at Zeke’s suggestion.

Once they chose the location, they set up a surprisingly comfortable camp using camping equipment Zeke retrieved from his inventory.

Felix fetched water and built a fire under the soil to boil it.

He made an impressive meal by adding jerky, seasonings from Zeke, and mushrooms gathered nearby.

“Sir Zeke, it’s ready. Please try it.”

Zeke slurped the soup Felix handed him.

He drank it without hesitation, knowing his immunity would filter out most poisons anyway.

Fortunately, there was no poison and the soup tasted good.

“Excellent cooking, Felix.”

Felix smiled sheepishly and replied.

“Haha, I worked briefly at a restaurant before, so I’m quite confident in my cooking.”

“Good. There’s no better companion in the field than an excellent cook.”

Then Felix said to Zeke.

“You seem quite familiar with field operations. I suppose you receive such training at Valhalla.”

“Well, something like that.”

Zeke gave a vague answer and focused on eating his soup.

After finishing their meal, they agreed to take turns keeping watch.

“I only need a short rest, so wake me in two hours. I’ll take watch after that.”

With his infinite stamina passive skill, Zeke didn’t need sleep and just lay down to rest.

He monitored Felix’s movements with his eyes closed, but nothing unusual occurred.

Two hours later, Zeke woke up and kept watch, surveying the surroundings.

He thought about the monster that had drained all the bodily fluids.

‘A monster that can absorb bodily fluids without leaving a trace.’

In his previous life, Zeke had seen similar corpses.

He and his master tracked it for days but ultimately lost it.

It was incredibly difficult to catch due to its intelligence and careful behavior.

Zeke compared the traces he saw back then with the footprints found near the fence.

‘These traces don’t match that monster. Perhaps different species appeared simultaneously.’

While uncommon, such occurrences weren’t impossible.

Zeke considered all possibilities while thinking of ways to track the monster.

Then it happened.

Crack!

The sound of a falling tree came from beyond the forest.

Zeke immediately stood up and looked in the direction of the sound.

‘2 kilometers west.’

He woke Felix.

“Felix.”

“Mmm! Yes? Yes, Sir Zeke!”

“There’s something in the forest. Stay here. I’ll return soon.”

Leaving these words with Felix, Zeke launched himself toward the western forest.

Whoosh!

Using Wind Step, Zeke instantly arrived at the source of the sound.

He observed the situation while hiding behind a tree.

And encountered an entirely unexpected species.

‘Is that a Barbarian?’

Barbarians lived deep in the Giant Mountains.

Though similar to humans in appearance, their physical strength was unmatched.

Their build and strength could overwhelm even Ogres, earning them recognition as descendants of the giants who once ruled the mountains.

One such Barbarian warrior was fighting something.

“Kraaagh!”

A monster, its form barely visible in the darkness, swung its tail at the Barbarian.

Swoosh!

The Barbarian rolled to avoid contact with the monster’s tail.

Then he uprooted a nearby tree and swung it at the monster.

Whoosh!

The monster quickly dodged the tree and retreated.

Watching its movements, Zeke realized it was the same creature he had failed to catch in his previous life.

‘Master called it a Gaguk.’

There were special creatures like this Gaguk among monsters.

Zeke’s master called them ‘Ancient Species’ and warned to be especially careful of them.

They were far stronger and smarter than ordinary monsters.

It moved quickly and cautiously like a monkey.

Additionally, contact with its tentacle-like tail would drain life force.

The victim would instantly become mummified, like the corpse found earlier.

‘The Barbarian must have taken the livestock, while the Gaguk took the humans.’

Though he understood the general situation, Zeke decided to observe further to understand why a Barbarian and Gaguk were fighting here.

“Kiaaagh!”

The Gaguk bared its sharp teeth, threatening the Barbarian.

Suddenly its throat bulged, and it spat something at the Barbarian.

Swoosh!

What shot out at incredible speed was a sharp, skewer-like tongue.

The Barbarian warrior crossed his arms to block it.

Thunk!

But the Gaguk’s tongue pierced through the Barbarian’s sturdy body, entering through his abdomen and emerging from his back.

Thud!

The Barbarian collapsed to the ground.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The Gaguk looked at the barbarian and laughed grotesquely, splitting both corners of his mouth.

The Gaguk slowly began approaching the barbarian.

Just as the Gaguk got close and was about to wrap his tail around the barbarian to absorb his life force.

Flinch!

The Gaguk stepped back as if sensing some unseen danger.

Then he lifted his head and began looking around the forest.

But as if finding nothing unusual, it soon tried to approach the fallen barbarian again.

At that moment, Zeke’s hidden sword grazed the Gaguk’s neck as he approached the barbarian.

“Kieeek!”

Startled, the Gaguk blended into the darkness and quickly fled.

Zeke felt disappointed seeing the Gaguk disappear in an instant.

“Disgustingly quick.”

Even when master and Zeke combined forces in his past life, they couldn’t catch this creature.

Though smaller in size compared to then, it seemed even more sensitive than before.

“Urgh.”

Zeke looked down at the barbarian warrior collapsed on the ground.

His face had turned blue as if poisoned.

After contemplating, Zeke shouldered the barbarian warrior.

He entered a nearby cave carrying the barbarian who was over 2 meters tall on his shoulder.

Then he examined the barbarian warrior’s wounds.

“Hmm.”

The area where the Gaguk’s tongue had pierced through had turned black.

It seemed it indeed had been carrying poison.

‘One way or another, it is dangerous.’

Zeke took out his dagger, heated it with fire power, then stabbed the barbarian warrior’s wound.

Sizzle!

Black blood spurted from the wound site.

He took out an antidote from his inventory and poured it on the barbarian warrior’s wound.

“Urrrgh!”

The normally stoic barbarian warrior writhed in pain.

He was only alive because he was a barbarian with a sturdy body – if he were a normal human, the poison was vicious enough that he would have already melted into toxic water.

Zeke took out another bottle of antidote and thoroughly applied it to the wound.

The antidote began neutralizing the poison as bubbles frothed up.

The poison appeared somewhat neutralized, so Zeke took out a healing potion and put it in the barbarian’s mouth.

However, strangely the healing potion had no effect on the barbarian.

“Does the potion not work if they’re not human?”

Even with the poison neutralized, there was a high chance of death from shock due to damage to vital organs.

After contemplating, Zeke decided to try a skill he had never used before.

“Area buff skill… not sure if this will work.”

Zeke placed his hand on the barbarian’s wound and used the area buff skill.

[Which skill would you like to use for the area buff?]

Zeke chose Healing Factor.

Then a bright light spread widely from Zeke’s center.

Whoosh!

As golden waves swept through the surroundings like a tide, the barbarian’s body in front also began glowing golden.

Soon after, the barbarian’s wounds gradually began healing.

“Oh, it works. Similar effect to when I used healing before.”

In his past life, he could use healing not just on himself but on others too.

In this life, since he was using it through the system and the skill had changed to Healing Factor, he had forgotten the fact itself that he could heal others.

The barbarian warrior himself seemed to have high recovery ability too, as the serious wounds had almost completely healed leaving only scars.

Zeke pressed on the barbarian’s wounds to check if his internal organs had also recovered.

“You got lucky. You would have died if it weren’t for me.”

Just then.

“Urgh!”

The barbarian warrior regained consciousness as if the Healing Factor had definitely worked.

But since it should have been virtually impossible to regain consciousness this quickly even with healing, Zeke flinched before nodding his head.

‘Ah, right, barbarians are beings outside common sense after all.’

The barbarians Zeke had seen in his past life also routinely did things unthinkable for humans without batting an eye.

Suddenly, the barbarian warrior’s eyes flew open.

Then he jumped up, looked around, and discovered Zeke.

“Graah!”

He threatened with a battle cry while quickly backing away on guard.

Zeke spoke to the barbarian warrior in a calm manner.

“Calm down.”

The barbarian warrior was shocked when Zeke spoke in their language.

“Know our words?”

The barbarians’ language was very simple so expressions weren’t diverse.

Zeke nodded and answered.

“Know. I save you.”

The barbarian examined the wound he had received from the Gaguk earlier.

The wound that had definitely been pierced through and poisoned was cleanly healed.

The barbarian approached Zeke in surprise.

“You save?”

Zeke nodded.

“Yes. I save.”

The barbarian warrior suddenly hugged Zeke while tearing up.

“Thank.”

When the barbarian warrior calmed down, Zeke asked him.

“My name Zeke. What your name?”

“Me King Fist. Nice meet Zeke.”

“Nice meet King Fist. Why here? Your home that way.”

“Me warrior test.”

“Hunt?”

“Yes. Must succeed hunt become warrior.”

Zeke was surprised hearing the barbarian warrior’s words.

He had thought he was already an adult warrior who passed the warrior test given his good physique, but hearing him talk, it seemed he wasn’t yet an adult.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

“How old are you, King Fist? You already look like a warrior.”

“I’m sixteen. Stronger than the village warriors.”

“I’m seventeen. Older than you.”

From what could be inferred from the conversation, King Fist, who was already stronger than a warrior, was given a test to catch a Gaguk, a powerful beast in the Barbarian territory, to determine an appropriate passing test.

The problem was that while his strength was greater than an adult warrior’s, he hadn’t yet learned the techniques of hunting.

As a result, while he managed to chase the Gaguk, he couldn’t catch it, and after continuous pursuit, he ended up at the Troy Principality below the mountain range.

‘Walking from Barbarian territory to Troy Principality just by crossing mountains.’

Indeed, the Barbarians were beings beyond common sense.

At that moment, King Fist showed a gloomy expression.

“Hunting too difficult. I think I’ll fail.”

Then Zeke said to King Fist.

“Want help with hunting?”

King Fist was surprised.

“Really?”

“I want to catch that beast too.”

King Fist hugged Zeke again, whimpering.

“Zeke, thank you.”

Then Zeke patted King Fist’s back and said.

“I’m your older brother.”

“Ah.”

* * *

After deciding to catch the Gaguk with King Fist, Zeke first took him back to the campsite where Felix was.

Felix, who had been waiting for Zeke’s return, was startled when he brought a giant over 2 meters tall.

“Si-Sir Zeke. Th-that…!”

When King Fist tried to let out a battle cry at Felix’s intense reaction, Zeke quickly stopped him.

“He’s my subordinate.”

“What’s a subordinate?”

Among Barbarians, all were equal warriors except for the tribal chief, with no hierarchy.

Zeke pondered how to explain ‘subordinate’ in Barbarian language.

But without a proper word, he roughly said.

“Foot wiper?”

King Fist seemed to understand and nodded at Zeke’s words.

While Zeke momentarily pitied Felix who instantly became a foot wiper, he let it slide as there wasn’t a better word.

King Fist looked around the campsite, rummaging here and there for food.

Seeing him like that, Zeke took out jerky from his inventory and gave it to King Fist to eat.

However, the portion was too small for a Barbarian, and it was gone instantly after he threw it in his mouth.

‘No wonder he came down to villages and stole livestock.’

Felix, who was observing King Fist up close, said to Zeke with a pale expression.

“Si-Sir Zeke. Isn’t th-that a Barbarian?”

“Yes.”

“Go-good heavens, a Barbarian. Is-is this alright?”

At Zeke’s words that defied common sense, Felix wore an expression as if his soul had left his body.

Zeke carefully observed Felix’s reaction.

‘When he first saw the Barbarian, he froze without drawing his sword. If he’s acting to this extent, he must have received extraordinary special training.’

If not for the aura of horror he sensed, he would seem like a truly ordinary guide.

‘Am I being too sensitive?’

Zeke became increasingly curious about Felix’s identity.

Just then, King Fist suddenly stood up.

He said to Zeke.

“Brother Zeke. I smell something.”

Zeke asked King Fist who suddenly started talking about smell.

“What smell?”

King Fist’s eyes were gleaming with madness.

“It’s that beast’s smell.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​