Chapter 65

With the enemy before him vanishing, Thor expelled the breath he had been holding in one go.

The sword, which he had been swinging effortlessly just moments ago, now felt unbearably heavy, pulling his arms toward the ground.

Trying to lift it, he was surprised to find that he could not muster any strength.

He realized that his arms were radiating intense heat.

Not just his arms, but his waist, shoulders, ankles, and back—all of his body felt as heavy and hot as lead.

Feeling that if he sat down, he might never be able to stand up again, Thor forced his body, from which steam was rising, to get up.

He managed to sheathe his sword, but his arms were not only hot; they were also visibly swollen.

He probably had muscle tears in several places.

Grateful for the <Pain Relief> trait that was slowly dulling the pain, Thor reflected that his ability to move properly was undoubtedly due to this benefit.

While he had been pierced multiple times by water spikes, he had still been able to move.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Thor recalled his recent actions.

From the moment he entered the monster’s range and swung his sword, it had taken less than two seconds.

He had counted to ten, but after that, he had been in a state of no mind, so he was unsure of what happened next.

However, judging from the results, he must have struck at least thirty times.

The combination of continuous <Restoration> at maximum speed and <Strength Enhancement> had indeed produced an incredible barrage of attacks, but the backlash was also significant.

Thor, with his battered body, firmly resolved to always leave at least one <Restoration> in reserve for the next time.

Worried about the girl who had likely used up all her magic with four consecutive <Reversals>, Thor turned his head to look back.

Next to the girl, who was slumped on the ground, a child had appeared at some point.

"Are you okay, Sora-nee? Who did this to you?"

"It's no good. Don't shake me... Muu."

"Leave the revenge to me, Muu! Rest peacefully now."

"I'm not dead. I'm still alive!"

As Thor approached, Muu ran up to him with a happy face.

"That was amazing, To-chan! Just as I expected from Muu's To-chan."

"Are you okay to move, Muu?"

"Yeah, I got hit, but Muu is tough!"

"Doesn't it hurt? Show me a bit."

The child, who had been fumbling around his chest, suddenly pulled out something.

It was the small leather pouch he had received from the armor shop owner.

Thanks to this, and Sora's <Reversal>, he had escaped unharmed.

Thor let out a small sigh of relief and roughly ruffled the child's golden curls.

Laughing, Muu clung tightly to his thigh.

The child, who had been smiling, suddenly seemed to notice something and loosened the string of the pouch to peek inside.

His large purple eyes widened to their maximum.

"To-chan..."

"What's wrong, Muu?"

"The, the food for O-hana is..."

"Oh, the magic stone must have shattered."

"Muu is done for, To-chan. Get revenge. Sora-nee can wait, but get revenge for Muu."

"No, I already took it. Look, I'll fix it later, so walk on your own."

Finally regaining some strength, Thor encouraged the child to walk, who was clinging to him.

If the monster had destroyed it, <Restoration> should be able to fix it.

Noticing Thor's approaching footsteps, the girl lifted her pale face and managed a weak smile.

"You did well, Sora."

"Yeah, I did my best. Praise me more."

"If you hadn't been there, I probably wouldn't have won. Thank you."

Satisfied with these words, the girl nodded and then slumped forward, drained of energy.

Lifting the exhausted girl, Thor stood up.

Finally, Rorolf and the others seemed to come to their senses and started moving.

"The tent over there shouldn't be wet. You and the girl can lie down and rest there."

"Should I help carry her, To-chan?"

"No, I can manage on my own. And by the way, I don't have a brother."

"Seeing such an amazing battle, I can't help but call you 'bro.'"

"Bro? Is To-chan a bro now?"

"Yeah, To-chan is a bro! I'm speechless, man."

"Indeed. I was thoroughly surprised by your <Restoration> skill, but to see such swordsmanship..."

Surrounded by the men, Thor approached the embankment, where the twins had already set up a place with the tent's supplies.

Tapa and Tari looked relieved to see the energetic child clinging to Thor.

They bowed deeply.

"...Sorry for the rash action."

"...Your sword skills were truly impressive."

"It ended well. Just be more careful next time."

Thor's response made the two nod and look at each other.

Laying the exhausted Sora in the tent, Thor sat at the entrance.

Though his body was fatigued, the heat and throbbing pain made it impossible for him to lie down and rest.

In the end, Thor endured until an hour later when he could use <Restoration> again, finally regaining some composure.

The fallen tent had been cleaned up, and the stone stove was back to its original state.

Rorolf and the others brought him a mug of warmed beer with the peel of a green yuzu.

"You seem to be back to normal, To-chan."

"Yeah, I caused you worry. By the way, about that red water spirit..."

"That's it. We have no idea why it appeared."

"We've been using this riverbank for nearly two years, but we've never seen it here."

The red water spirit only appears in places with a lot of elemental power, and the riverbanks where it appears are almost always the same.

Occasionally, it might appear and float on the river surface, but this time it appeared suddenly on the riverbank, which was different.

"I'm really sorry for involving you in this. I don't know how to apologize."

"No, unexpected things happen. If you worry about everything, you'll never get anywhere."

"...Thanks, To-chan."

"Don't worry. We'll continue hunting river slimes as planned. It's a good hunting ground."

"Hey, bro!"

"I don't have a big brother like you."

Rorolf and the others, wiping away the tears that had formed, raised their mugs of beer in unison.

"Then, to the completion of the bridge and the birth of a new bro."

"To the new bro!"

"Cheers!"

As Thor tilted his mug with a wry smile, a small scream suddenly came from behind him.

Turning instantly, he saw Sora, who had woken up, staring at her hand in surprise.

Noticing Thor's gaze, the girl, with wide eyes, lifted the object in her hand—a red-bordered adventurer's card.

"Look, To-chan! I finally did it!"

On the surface of Sora's adventurer's card, two points of light were shining, indicating that her skill points had exceeded two thousand.