“Foolish─!”
Ashuk, the eldest of the three idiots and son of Tarak, possessed extraordinary talent for his age. This was true for Amal and Fatun as well. Compared to warriors who had just passed the trial, they were more than competent.
But that coward? He didn’t have the predatory instincts of Ashuk, the immense physique of Amal, or the exceptional weapon skills of Fatun. When Khan passed the warrior’s trial and left Hoarfrost Gorge, Ashuk was confident he could easily beat the coward senseless.
“I’ll flatten you! Dwarf!”
Dropping down from above to attack naturally adds more force. Though common sense dictated avoiding the first strike and counterattacking, Ashuk never doubted he would win. No warrior in Hoarfrost Gorge was weaker or smaller than Khan. Even Fatun, the smallest among the three, was larger than Khan.
From Ashuk’s perspective, deciding to counter Khan’s move was the logical choice.
But unfortunately, the Khan he knew from those days had evolved into a completely different entity. The moment he parried the mysterious iron club Khan wielded, he felt something was terribly wrong.
Crack. Crick.
A disconcerting sound came from Ashuk’s arm holding the battle axe. Unable to withstand Khan’s overwhelming strength, his bones broke. The sheer power took Ashuk by surprise, his eyes widening in shock, almost ready to scream.
“Karyaan-!”
But Ashuk was a barbarian of Hoarfrost Gorge. Instead of a scream, he let out a battle cry, grasping Khan’s fur cloak with his still-functioning left hand. He was employing Kartus, the hand-to-hand combat technique of Hoarfrost Gorge.
Though taken aback by the unexpected strength, with one arm broken, he’d simply fight with the other. If that broke, he’d use his legs. And if those were unusable, he’d crawl and bite Khan to death.
Ashuk planned to slam Khan into the ground. With Khan’s feet off the ground, Ashuk had the upper hand in Kartus. However, Ashuk had yet to learn that overwhelming power disregards any advantages or disadvantages.
“Looks like Pashantu taught you well.”
“You…!”
“Is that how you talk to your uncle, you disrespectful brat?”
Khan, pressing down on Ashuk’s shoulder with his free hand, smirked.
“Time for some discipline, don’t you think?”
Thud──!
Before Ashuk had a chance to resist, he was slammed headfirst into the ground. The noise was loud enough to be amazed that Ashuk’s barbarian body didn’t fracture further. He lay there limp, unconscious.
He had been knocked out cold.
“You dwarf─!”
At that moment, Amal, who was at least a head taller than Khan, let out a beastly roar. Even among fully grown warriors, Amal was exceptionally large. His anger and charge carried the pressure of a troll berserker.
Indeed, his strength promised to mirror that comparison.
“Watch your back!”
The old tanner, who had been chasing after Khan, arrived just in time to shout a warning. Seeing the chaos at the scene, he hurriedly tried to alert Khan of the perilous situation. He knew how formidable the three barbarian settled in the port city were, but he was unaware of Khan’s true level of strength.
“Oof.”
Given Amal’s massive size, the old tanner couldn’t see what was happening clearly. He naturally assumed that Khan must have been overwhelmed and injured by Amal’s attack.
‘That’s why I said he shouldn’t tackle this alone!’
The tanner inwardly criticized Khan for attempting to resolve the situation alone. Was it pride, or did he think this was a barbarian matter to be settled among themselves?
“What are you all doing, just standing around?”
Convinced Khan was in trouble, the tanner grabbed a saw to intervene, swinging it to get between Khan and Amal. But what met his eyes was unexpected.
Whoosh- Thud!
Amal, who had charged at Khan, suddenly collapsed as if he had fallen asleep, lying on his side unmoving. Meanwhile, Khan stood there, perfectly fine, dusting off his wrist.
“What are you doing, old man?”
“I thought… I thought you were hurt…”
“Hurt? If I were this weak, I wouldn’t have passed the warrior’s trial—”
“We’re still in the middle of a fight!”
Suddenly, a spearhead darted between Khan and the tanner, then swiftly changed direction. From a thrust, it transitioned into a sweeping motion, aiming to dominate by sheer force. Such agile and powerful maneuvers were impossible without a barbarian’s physicality and strength.
“Fatun.”
“You’re stronger now!”
Khan smirked as he narrowly dodged the advancing spearhead, finding it amusing. Normally, if someone believed a coward had grown strong in just a few years, they’d think they had made a pact with a demon. But Fatun’s straightforward acknowledgment was surprising.
‘Or maybe it’s to be expected.’
Even though they hadn’t taken the warrior’s trial, the barbarian of Hoarfrost Gorge were virtually priests of the Warrior God. They revered strength, honored warriors, and despised cowards as part of their faith.
“I’ll acknowledge you!”
Fatun, daughter of Omar, slammed the spear into the ground and declared.
“You are strong, Khan, son of Gordi! Perhaps even as great as the warriors of Hoarfrost Gorge themselves!”
“So, are you saying we should call it quits now?”
“Hahaha! No way!”
Fatun, buoyed by the excitement of Khan’s strength, burst into laughter and charged at him. The outcome was predictable: Khan emerged victorious once again.
“You sure made these kids look like a bloody mess.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“It is.”
Having roamed the port city of Northland to procure the needed supplies, Ludmilla returned to find the three barbarian sprawled on the ground.
These young barbarian, each built heftily enough to rival an orc, had a certain youthful softness to their faces, creating a discordant image. Khan, smaller in stature but with a more mature appearance, stood in stark contrast to them.
“Are they special, or are you on the smaller side?”
“Didn’t Pashantu give you a clue? It’s the latter. In Hoarfrost Gorge, my nickname was ‘Dwarf’.”
“Wow. How can someone your size be called a dwarf?!”
Alejandro’s reaction was quite justified. Khan himself easily surpassed the average height of Midland’s inhabitants, and calling him a dwarf seemed absurd.
“… Then I must also be a dwarf,” Eson muttered.
“Well, you could say that.”
“Geez, am I gonna get teased the same way…?”
Eson, who had followed Khan to grow stronger and overcome his own weakness, seemed terrified at the prospect.
From Khan’s perspective, Eson wasn’t entirely wrong. However, he added that the people of Hoarfrost Gorge didn’t dismiss everyone with a smaller stature indiscriminately.
“My being called a dwarf wasn’t just about my height; it was also because I acted unlike a warrior.”
“My lord, you are the greatest warrior…!”
“Yeah, slaying dragons and demons—if that’s not a warrior, then what is?”
Maya and Alejandro quickly reassured him, but the truth was that the past Khan—before the modern-day office worker possessed his body, he indeed hadn’t met Hoarfrost Gorge’s standards of a true warrior.
In many ways, ‘Gordi Khan’ seemed more suited to modern times than to the brutal traditions of Hoarfrost Gorge.
“That was then. So, don’t mind how they treat me in Hoarfrost Gorge. Don’t bother asking too many questions, either.”
Talking about his past was a touchy subject for Khan. He had no plausible way to explain the changes that occurred after an office worker from the modern day possessed Gordi Khan’s body.
‘Everyone here has met me after I possessed this body…’
Despite this, the need to keep the possession itself a secret remained crucial. Possession in Midland was often associated with demons, witches, or dark sorcerers—figures universally feared and despised.
If his secret were discovered, it could turn allies like Aries against him.
“If you understand, just focus on our original goal. Remember, we came to Hoarfrost Gorge to track down the mage’s traces,” Khan reminded them.
“Of course, I haven’t forgotten. But it seems like we’ve hit a snag, right?”
Ludmilla’s observation was on point.
“Those three idiots are still considered minors by our clan’s standards.”
“To call someone a minor despite their massive build and appearance… it’s hard to believe. But seeing you, it makes sense. Cough…!”
Maya silenced Alejandro with a nudge as she nodded for Khan to continue.
“… In Hoarfrost Gorge, we have something called the warrior’s trial. It’s both a coming-of-age ceremony and a way to prove one can shoulder a person’s worth of responsibilities. Only after passing this trial can one venture out to test their bravery as they please.”
“Like how you ventured into Midland?”
“Exactly.”
Back in those early, clueless days, Khan had gritted his teeth and passed the warrior’s trial out of sheer desperation. Without passing it, there was no way for him to set foot outside the continent. But these three idiots hadn’t even taken the trial yet left Hoarfrost Gorge.
It’s generally unheard of. Such freedom isn’t granted to those who haven’t become warriors.
“So, something must’ve happened. I have no clue what, though.”
Khan spoke as he approached the three idiots lying on the ground.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
His kicks, strong enough to shatter rocks, brought the unconscious trio back to their feet with a start. Despite the force, they stood up, blinking in confusion. Khan had to stifle an exasperated sigh at their clueless faces.
“You’ve become stronger, Khan, son of Gordi!”
“A true warrior, at last!”
The sharp-featured, wild-looking Ashuk and the somewhat innocent-looking Amal, with his thick eyebrows, spoke simultaneously, making Khan’s head throb even more.
“Let me ask you one thing. As a warrior of our clan, answer me truthfully before the Warrior God.”
“Children of the clan do not lie!”
‘I wish you would lie, you idiots….’
These brutes, who could snap an orc’s spine, had run away from home and terrorized an innocent port city? What were they thinking?
“It’s normally forbidden for you to leave Hoarfrost Gorge. How did you manage it? Did someone from inside help you?”
“No one helped us!”
“Ashuk suggested we leave, so we just walked out!”
“Same here!”
“That makes it even stranger.”
No internal help, and they just walked out? The warriors aren’t sentries, but they wouldn’t just let that happen.
The answer, however, came from Ashuk’s lips when he felt pressured enough.
“The Great Warrior received a summons from Karyan! That’s why the warriors left for the sanctum, and we slipped out during their absence….”
‘Karyan?’
Why would the Warrior God suddenly summon the Great Warrior?