Welcome to the True Man’s World – 1.9

Helen could feel many eyes on her. She was used to that every time she passed through a human settlement. This time, it was a bit more justified than usual, considering that Mr. Max had stolen the boat at swordpoint only to head into the sea and act as bait for the great white serpent.

But at the same time, it wasn’t justified at all. The townspeople screamed, ran away from the shore, and hid, but they still found time to stare at her, as if she were as dangerous—or even more dangerous—than the monster nesting at their doorstep.

It was irritating. Her mother had raised her to be tolerant, but it was still irritating. Just like Mom, she thought. Helen bit her lower lip hard. There was no time to dwell on those thoughts now. She just had to focus on helping Mr. Max.

He had needed her, and she had shown up. He had risked his life a second time for the corpse of a stranger. So now that he needed her, she would be there. She wouldn’t fail him. She couldn’t fail the only person she had in the world now.

“That boy’s out of his damn mind. If he’s so eager to die, let him die, but he better not drag us down with him,” someone muttered among the villagers.

Helen clenched her teeth. No one believed in Mr. Max. A single person, no matter how well-equipped, couldn’t defeat a giant monster. That was common sense.

But Helen believed in him. Even if she couldn’t see the path to victory, Helen had faith in him. The chosen of the god of war, Lord Ares himself, should be able to defeat a creature of this level with ease.

In any case, Max wasn’t like other humans. He had a good heart. He wouldn’t turn his back on her or the people of this village, even though they rejected his help, spat in his face, and would only start praising him when the serpent’s head hit the ground.

But it didn’t matter. Max wasn’t doing it for himself or for those people. He was doing it because he felt it was the right thing to do. Because he believed that was what a good person would do.

Helen had felt his kindness. She had faith in that.

——

I shouldn’t be here. It had been a bad idea from the start.

How was he supposed to kill this monster with just a sword, no matter how well-made it was? Those teeth were so massive they could bite him in half, crushing his armor like a soda can. He wasn’t even sure if ignoring this quest would have brought about the consequences mentioned in the notification. Maybe he would’ve been perfectly fine if he’d fled to the other side of the world.

Maybe Ares...

Would have let that kind of insubordination slide.

No, of course not. He had placed Max here for a reason. Unreasonable? Definitely, but not much more than expecting him to defeat those wolves with a broken sword. Until he became strong enough to decapitate the bastard and take his throne as the new god of war, Max was basically at Ares’s mercy. He didn’t like it, but that was the way it was. What the god had given, he could take away just as easily.

At least he’d made it clear that this was mostly entertainment for him. That he wouldn’t try to control Max, that in most cases, he would merely observe.

After spending the last years of his life the way he had, Max needed control over his own life, and he’d do whatever it took to keep it. Even kill a god.

Even kill this thing, he thought, though he still had no idea how.

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After being repelled, the serpent pulled back but quickly charged at him again, displacing a massive amount of water in its wake. It moved like a torpedo fired from a submarine. Well, he’d only seen something like that in movies, naturally.

But it was so big that it didn’t matter how fast it was. At least its attacks were easy to see coming.

He blocked this attack as well with his sword. The force of the impact traveled from the sword to his shoulders and then spread throughout his body.

He thought he would drop the sword, but he managed to hold on.

The serpent roared, frustrated, and struck the boat directly with its tail. It didn’t destroy it, of course. Helen had promised twenty minutes, and the fight had only just begun.

But it did displace the boat.

The damn thing spun like a top about ten meters back. Max lost his balance, stumbled forward, and almost fell into the unforgiving waters. Almost. So close. Every heartbeat pounding in his chest felt like a hammer blow.

Before the accident, I was a great swimmer, he thought. But I’ve never had to swim with a freaking shark. Only this thing was a thousand times worse than a shark, obviously.

A stupid thought, disconnected from reality.

The only kind of thought you could expect from someone so close to death.

He could see his reflection on the water’s surface. What it showed was the image of a boy. Not a man, definitely not a fearless warrior. Why had fear hit him only now, precisely now, when he couldn’t back down?

The great white serpent came at him for the third time.

The shore wasn’t so far away. In fact, it was closer now than at the beginning. He still had time to turn back, to retreat... Only the serpent would devour him with ease before he could get out of the water, wouldn’t it? And he wouldn’t even be able to fight back.

Max didn’t block the third charge. His arms were trembling too much for that, and not just from the strength of the impacts his body had absorbed. Twice. Instead, he threw himself to the side, nearly falling into the water again. The serpent missed, crashing into the water. Its body scraped over the boat, which, if not for Helen’s protection, would have been destroyed like a toy.

To his credit, Max didn’t waste time. He attacked the beast several times, slash after slash against its body. Deep cuts, making it bleed more of that cursed acid. He’d drain the magic energy—or whatever powered the barrier, the acid—faster than physical attacks would. Either way, what was done was done.

Its blood, like acid, splattered the deck. Most of it ended up in the sea, but an uncomfortably large amount nearly fell on him. Max flinched. He had no desire to find out what that stuff could do to armor. He saw the creature’s shadow twisting beneath the water, as if waiting for the right moment to resurface.

I’m not equipped for this fight. It was time to admit it. It was like trying to beat the final boss with a level-one character. Sure, an expert player could probably figure out some strategy after dozens or hundreds of tries, with enough experience in the game’s mechanics. But he only had one shot and a few hours of experience. Nothing more.

This is rigged. Could it be? Ares having fun, giving power and hope to a kid who’d died of cancer, only to send him to die right away? While eating popcorn and laughing his ass off. Max gritted his teeth. Intolerable. He wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

The great white serpent changed direction, heading toward the shore. It seemed to be smart enough to realize it hadn’t finished off its prey yet, thanks only to the elf’s efforts. His heart leaped into his throat.

“Run!” he shouted.

But Helen didn’t move. She wasn’t paralyzed by terror, that much was obvious. But she didn’t retreat either. Why? For him—why else?

Then he got a notification:

You have one skill point to allocate.

Do you wish to upgrade the Sword of the War God class skill?

Max accepted without a second thought. There was no time to ponder, and anything was better than nothing. A skill point? From when? It must have been from the cave, of course. There weren’t many other options. Maybe one of the notifications that had interrupted the funeral, the ones he’d tried to ignore, which had eventually disappeared.

He upgraded the Sword of the War God skill. But he didn’t feel any different at all. And he had no idea what it did now. Max clicked his tongue and made a snap decision, abandoning the boat. A choice made entirely on instinct, but it turned out to be the right one because the beast changed direction again, rushing toward him. Now that he was an even easier target, practically defenseless in the middle of the water, it wouldn’t bother fighting the elven mage.

It was as if it knew he was here to kill it.

Like I’m something special, almost.

“No, sir, please, get out of there!” Her screams sounded so desperate.

Max frowned, gritted his teeth. Now he understood. It was easy not to feel fear when you were fighting for someone else.

“Come at me, you bastard.”

A new notification appeared before him:

Sword of the War God, Phase 2.