The Infiltration of Yggdrasil

In Midvalen, skills and weapons could not be used outside of the restricted field called the ‘Arena.’

That’s why when disputes arose between guilds, they would meet here to reach an agreement or have a conversation, which is why it was called the ‘Neutral City.’

Of course, if you caused a disturbance, you would be exiled by the governor, Baalzeph, or if you wanted to settle down, you would have to pay a reasonable price, but basically, visitors were not kicked out.

Moreover, if you were in a critical condition, it would even kindly guide you with a shining marker like a lighthouse on the sea, so it was always bustling with various races.

Therefore, whether it was a player, an NPC, or a monster, there would be no one who didn’t know the location of Midvalen, so why in the world was this an S-class artifact?

“That, map.”

As I was shaking the parchment with a dumbfounded face, feeling like I had been thoroughly fooled, a low, sunken voice reached my ear.

“…How did you find it?”

‘Huh?’
‘I just saw it.’
As I was about to answer without thinking, I gasped.

Karvan’s usually expressionless eyes were shining brightly.
As if he were a person who had seen light for the first time in his life.
Overwhelmed by his glittering gaze, I inadvertently held out the map of Midvalen.

“If you need it, you can have it. I don’t need it.”

Without a second thought, I rolled up the golden-shining paper and handed it to him.

As I looked at him as if to say, ‘Hurry up and take it,’ a gray mist flowed from behind the man who was staring intently into my eyes.
The mist, which had been swirling, formed the shape of a tail, wrapped around the parchment, and then disappeared with a slither.

‘Can it also store items?’
‘That’s a very convenient skill.’
As I was staring at the scene blankly, I suddenly asked.

“By the way, what are you going to use that for?”

“It’s a map of a place I’ve been looking for for a long time. ‘Dowongyeong’.”

‘Hmm,’
‘Come to think of it, I think I heard it from the Sura.’
‘He was imprisoned in the Nemea prison to find information about some place, and the reason Karvan was always wandering outside was also to find that place.’

But, that was Midvalen?
I don’t know why, but I had a strange feeling.

“Why there? It’s not a particularly interesting place.”

“……”

“No! I mean, it’s a neutral city that everyone knows about. So why go to such lengths…”

“It’s a city that the Varg can’t enter or even see.”

“…What?”

“It was once a place where the Varg lived, but after the Ruin, we were kicked out and even the right to set foot in it was taken away.”

‘So, it was originally the Varg’s homeland?’

But that couldn’t be.
Since the vampire race, the ‘Empire,’ had won the user vote in the early days, the ruling race of Midvalen had never once changed.

From the launch, the Empire’s emperor, Baalzeph, had reigned as the governor, so it was a place where the Varg originally lived?
To think that the homeland they had been so eagerly searching for was Midvalen.
I couldn’t understand what he was saying at all.

‘Could this also be a memory that was twisted by a bug in the process of deleting the Varg.’
As I was hesitating whether to tell him the truth or not, Karvan’s pale complexion caught my eye first.

“First, let’s find the antidote and drink it.”

With the ‘Corpse Disposal Squad’ skill turned on, I started to move busily again.
I was planning to feed it to Karvan right away to heal him, and also to take the finished product just in case.

“Ouch, hot! Huh? Found it! Karvan, here!”

After peeking into dozens of cauldrons, I finally found the right antidote.

“…Is your hand okay.”

“Of course. It’s fine. More importantly, hurry up and drink it, does it have an effect?”

There was a small incident where my hand almost got burned by the anti-theft barrier, but in any case, I was able to find the antidote and feed it to him safely.

The eagle, as befitting a bird called the king of the sky, has no fear.
It confronts opponents larger and stronger than itself without hesitation.
Also, it has a strong sense of ownership over its nest and territory, so it persistently drives away external intruders.

“…Hey, you guys. I know you’re angry, but.”

I smiled awkwardly and tried to persuade the eagle beast-kin, the Igra.

Although the Hyena tribe’s passive and everything had already been released, I wanted to avoid a fight if at all possible.
Because I wanted to go back quickly and give the antidote to the Varg.

“You guys attacked first. So, we’re even…”

“Shut up! How dare you crawl into our Igra’s nest?! I heard from the lion bastards, but you have a terrible habit of stealing! You thieving cat of a wench!”

“I just came secretly because I didn’t want to fight. And you guys poisoned the village well!”

“Hmph, it was just a brilliant plan! Something you foolish land-crawlers could never imagine!”

“It’s not that we couldn’t, we just didn’t, you bastard! Because innocent civilians and children would be harmed! Don’t you even have a sense of commercial morality?!”

“Where is such a thing in the cold world of competition, you foolish human!”

As I was raising my voice and having a fierce mouse battle with the Igra, I heard the sound of a sword being drawn.

“That’s enough.”

It was Karvan, who had been watching me, who had stepped forward to talk first, from behind with his arms crossed.

“It’s just a waste of breath to talk to a birdbrain.”

“What, a birdbrain?! You reeking…”

Arrows flew from all sides, but an ice wall that was created in a round shape like a snowball enveloped us.
The arrows that flew at us, thud, thud, thud, through the transparent ice couldn’t even scratch the wall.

[<Karvan Baharga> has cast <Prison Shield>.]

No matter how I looked at it, since it was a defense-type skill, it would consume mana continuously.
‘Isn’t it hard for him to maintain it?’
As I was glancing up, thinking that, he had one hand stretched out and the corner of his mouth was raised, so he was 100 percent enjoying it.

I rubbed my throbbing head.

There was no need to ask if what he had drunk earlier was the antidote.
‘In fact, wasn’t it something like an adrenaline booster.’

“Are you okay? How’s your body? Is it working?”

A little while ago, in the Igra’s laboratory.
The man, who had drunk the antidote, just looked at me quietly as I asked if he was okay.

“Do you feel better? If it’s not working, I’ll look for something else.”
“……”
“Why, is it too bitter? You can’t eat bitter things either?”

No matter how much I asked, Karvan didn’t answer.

He just looked at me as I was impatiently urging him, and then he suddenly put me down on the floor and took a couple of steps back.

‘Uh, uh? Don’t put me down…!’

[The mounted state with <Karvan Baharga> is released.]

Then, of course, the effect of the Hyena tribe’s ‘Kinship’ skill, which was applied together, was also released, and because of that, the Igra researchers, who had detected the presence of a hostile race, rushed in.

After easily dealing with those guys, he turned all the charging scouts into ice sculptures and walked out of the main gate with dignity, which was his achievement so far.

“Karvan! I told you it was an infiltration plan! The Maha…”

“If no one saw us, it’s no different from an infiltration.”

“What?”

Whether I was looking at him in disbelief or not, the man was tapping his shoulder with the sword he had summoned at some point.

Swoosh.
A fluffy, mist-like fur wrapped around his shoulder, and he looked back at me with eyes that were shimmering with fighting spirit.
It was a look that said he was surprised that I was hesitating.

“You were so brave against the Urf in front of the Fox tribe. Are you not confident in fighting the Igra.”

‘…Who’s not confident!’
‘No. Let’s not fall for such an obvious provocation.’

I looked at Karvan’s relaxed face and shook my head.
Since he was acting as he pleased, I had to keep a clear head and act rationally.
I had also promised the Maha to avoid fighting as much as possible.

“No. Still, for now, we should…”

As I was shaking my head firmly and about to say we should go, he lightly touched my cheek and said.

“If you’re so scared, go back to Bahalgras first.”

“……”

“I’ll follow you soon.”

The gaze that was looking down at me, as if doing me a favor, as if I were cute, made a cracking sound.

The sound of my pride cracking.
‘…This bastard.’

[Awakener ‘Shinbi’ has summoned <Leviathan>.]

“…Who said I’m scared?!”

And so it began.
This mess.

[<Karvan Baharga> has cast <Freeze Spinel>.]

The ice spears that were floating in a circle around Karvan flew in order and rained down on the Igra.

“Kraaah! You monstrous bastard!”

‘…That, that broken character.’
I glanced at the man’s ice spears, which were piercing the Igra tribe, with a disgusted expression.

[Ice Fang: ‘Ice Attribute’ is granted to basic attacks. (※ Attribute can be changed when a special item is applied.)]

Not to be outdone, I tried using the newly plundered skill.

I didn’t know because it was my first time plundering the Hyena tribe, but the buff skill was surprisingly useful.

‘…This is fun?’
I happily threw and caught the Leviathan, which was imbued with the ice attribute.
Thanks to the ‘Death Transmission’ trait, when one was frozen, the lightning skill would spread to the surroundings with a crackle, so the damage was also considerable.

Just then, trumpet sounds rang out, and the sky turned pitch black.
It seemed that the Igra who had been out in other places had returned after receiving a request for support.

“There are too many of them.”

My mana was starting to run out.
I hadn’t planned on fighting in the first place, so I hadn’t made many potions, so how am I supposed to deal with all of them.
As I was looking up at the sky in a difficult situation.

“That, the ball of fire you dropped on me.”

“…Huh?”

Thud, thud.
The man, who was tapping his shoulder with his sword, said to me.
As I was wondering what he was talking about, I realized.

“Ah, the fire skill. Should I try using it?”

He seemed to remember the skill I had been throwing at him when we dueled in the Fox village.

Fire-type skills look incredibly powerful at first glance.

Especially Meteor was always in the top rankings if there was an ‘impressive effect popularity poll.’
But, the problem was.

“That, it’s a bit slow. It won’t hit those fast guys.”

“I’ll make it hit, so just drop it.”

‘…How are you going to make it hit?’
I frowned, but I obediently used the skill.

“‘Sunflower Meteor’.”

[Awakener ‘Shinbi’ has cast <Sunflower Meteor>.]

A few seconds after chanting the skill name, fireballs that flew in from outside the orbit formed the shape of a sunflower.

Soon, they began to fall slowly, and with a roar, they gradually picked up speed.

Fire skills have high one-shot damage, and their effects are also very flashy.
Even if it’s a glancing blow, it can cause at least a ‘burn,’ and a direct hit can even cause instant death.

Nevertheless, the reason it never became a top-tier skill was because of the drawback that the stronger the skill, the slower it was, and the trajectory was so obvious that it was easy to dodge.

But, the man offset all those drawbacks.

“It’s going to fall in the forest.”

“No! It’ll fall in the front yard of the nest. Can’t you tell just by looking.”

Karvan, who was watching my skill, which was falling as slowly as a rolling stone, stretched out his hand as he looked at the Igra tribe, who were leisurely betting on where it would fall.

Swoosh, the silvery mist that spread out covered the Igra tribe.
Frost began to form on their bodies, regardless of whether they were on the ground or flapping in the sky.