Got a Gallery in the Wild

There were several reasons why Ludwig wanted to test Grills’ abilities, despite not having fully recovered.

The first.

Although his body was not yet in perfect condition, a simple sparring match posed no problem.

He didn’t know whether it was thanks to the honey he had been eating the previous day or the fish porridge, but his condition had improved tremendously.

Up until then, he had felt as weak as someone suffering from a severe case of the flu.

Now, all that remained was a slight feeling of fatigue.

The second.

He needed to adapt to his new leg.

After spending his entire life with all four limbs intact, he had suddenly ended up with a mithril prosthetic.

If he wanted to continue surviving in the Forest of the Four Seasons, he would have to get used to it as quickly as possible.

And the third.

He was curious about the strength of someone who had managed to survive in that forest.

What kind of place was the Forest of the Four Seasons?

It was a cursed land regarded as the worst demonic domain in history, a place no one even wanted to approach.

Ludwig himself had experienced firsthand why it was given such a title.

However.

Grills had survived there for almost an entire month.

He understood it immediately after seeing the marks carved into the wall.

‘Being able to use mana alone isn’t enough.’

If he had been able to use mana.

Would he have survived in the Forest of the Four Seasons?

Honestly, he couldn’t say for certain.

After all, all kinds of absurd creatures appeared there.

Had he used the abilities Ludwig saw the previous day properly?

Or had he simply overpowered everything with brute strength?

Or was there another reason?

Simple curiosity drove him to want to face Grills.

Clang!

Ludwig’s Mithrilcon sword collided with the shield.

Even though neither of them was using mana, a piercing metallic clang echoed throughout the area.

Grills immediately tried to counterattack.

But he stopped.

The sword in his hand was HeavenlyDemon’s sword.

If he made a mistake.

It could end in tragedy.

Whoosh.

Thinking that, he tossed the sword aside, as if saying.

Wait a second.

Ludwig immediately understood his intention and stepped back a few paces.

Unlike the speed with which he had approached, he was now walking with a limp.

‘Can he really not use mana?’

While carefully observing Ludwig, Grills picked up HeavenlyDemon’s sword and placed it somewhere safe.

From that single exchange, he had already gotten a good idea of how strong Ludwig was.

Hadn’t the Head Moderator said that an experienced martial artist naturally infused their body with mana, making themselves far stronger than an ordinary person even without actively using it?

He started to think that what the Head Moderator had said.

That Ludwig could defeat him even without mana.

Wasn’t an exaggeration at all.

‘In any case, I’m not going to use mana either.’

It would be a purely technical match.

Even if he used mana, it would only be to reinforce his body.

After putting HeavenlyDemon’s sword in a safe place, Grills returned with the Mithrilcon sword.

It had an edge as well, of course.

But at least it was much safer than the other one.

‘Later on, I’ll have to make wooden swords for training.’

Everything was ready.

Grills moved the tools scattered around until the area was clear.

Perhaps the animals sensed that the atmosphere was different.

“Come over here.”

“Kyuu!”

“……”

They all began watching from a distance.

At one point, the giraffe proudly tried to join the fight, but Lackey ended up leading her away.

That left Grills and Ludwig standing face to face.

With a completely tense expression, Grills waited for the first attack.

‘He’s waiting to block first and then counterattack.’

Ludwig observed Grills, who held his shield in front of him.

It was one of the most basic tactics of a sword-and-shield warrior.

Relying on the shield’s defensive capability to launch a counterattack.

It was a very effective strategy.

Even knowing it was coming, it was difficult to avoid falling into it.

‘Though it has the drawback that the counterattack is usually unstable.’

It would be different with an axe.

But because of the center of gravity characteristic of a sword, the counterattack tended to lose stability.

Keeping that in mind, Ludwig slowly advanced, limping.

He knew perfectly well that, no matter how calmly he approached.

Grills would not attack first.

Finally, when Ludwig stood directly in front of him.

Shing!

He forcefully swung the gray Mithrilcon sword.

The moment he saw the movement, Grills raised his shield to block.

‘…Huh?’

But, contrary to all expectations.

The sword never struck the shield.

There was no impact.

There wasn’t even the sound of clashing metal.

For an instant, Grills was bewildered.

Then he saw Ludwig disappear to the other side of the shield.

‘It was a feint!’

Another of a sword-and-shield warrior’s greatest weaknesses.

They were especially vulnerable to mind games.

Since they almost always operated under the premise of blocking first.

A single feint was enough to leave another area completely exposed.

Up until then, Grills had only fought enemies like the gorilla chief, who smashed through the shield with sheer force.

It was the first time anyone had used a feint against him.

And, of course.

It caught him completely off guard.

‘From the right!’

Clang!

However, aside from how bewildering the situation was, Grills’ response was quite good.

He immediately turned his shield toward the spot where Ludwig had disappeared and blocked the attack.

Thanks to the reflex and dynamic vision training he practiced every day with Sloth, he was able to react instantly.

‘Not bad.’

His dynamic vision and reaction speed passed with flying colors.

Ludwig had attacked with the genuine intent of catching him off guard, yet despite being momentarily bewildered, Grills managed to defend himself immediately.

‘Not bad.’

But there was another reason why sword-and-shield warriors became less and less valued as they reached higher levels.

‘If you fail to block, you lose.’

Because the shield’s defensive capability gradually lost its importance.

In a world full of masters capable of cutting through steel as if it were tofu.

Trying to stop them with a shield?

It was practically the same as hanging a sign around your neck that said.

Please, cut me down.

Of course, there were also experts capable of using a shield in extraordinary ways.

But they were exceptional cases.

And Ludwig was curious to see whether Grills would turn out to be one of them.

‘In my current condition, I can’t break through his defense. So…’

Ludwig decided to attack the shield’s true weakness.

Or rather.

The rigidity of Grills’ fighting style.

“Hah!”

But before he could do so, Grills took the initiative.

After blocking once, he seemed to think it was now his turn.

Slash! Slash!

Grills swung his sword with all his strength.

And yes.

He swung it.

Just as Ludwig had noticed before, he put so much force into every strike that his posture resembled someone swinging a club.

The absurd part was.

Even so, he was fast.

Fast enough to rival a competent knight.

All thanks to his physical strength.

Ludwig couldn’t help letting out an incredulous laugh.

Clang!

“Hmm?”

But what truly surprised him happened afterward.

Taking advantage of an opening, Ludwig launched a counterattack.

And Grills, as if he had anticipated it.

Deflected the strike with his shield.

A parry.

A technique that could only be executed by anticipating the opponent’s attack.

‘What kind of strength is that…?’

Performing a shield parry wasn’t particularly difficult.

What truly caught Ludwig’s attention was Grills’ strength.

Ludwig himself had attacked with considerable force.

Yet not only was his arm knocked backward.

He also felt such intense pain that it seemed as though it had been dislocated.

It was, quite literally.

Absurd strength.

He had noticed it before, but the difference in their raw physical strength was completely ridiculous.

“Hup!”

Even so, the fight wasn’t over.

After executing the parry, Grills launched a diagonal slash.

Ludwig’s torso had been left completely exposed after the deflection.

If things continued like this.

The sword would hit him.

Whoosh.

But Ludwig remained unfazed.

He simply took a couple of steps back and effortlessly dodged the attack.

It was the supreme art of distance control.

A skill every martial artist had to master, though very few could actually apply it in real combat.

Ludwig, however, retreated with complete composure.

His vast experience spoke for itself.

Shing!

After the attack missed, the initiative returned to Ludwig.

He regained his balance and forcefully brought down both arms, which had been raised.

Clang!

Grills gritted his teeth as he blocked the downward strike.

His torso also leaned slightly forward.

Normally, that would have completely broken his balance.

But that was precisely what Grills wanted.

His eyes locked onto Ludwig’s legs.

His favorite strategy had always been to limit his opponent’s mobility.

Ludwig already had mobility problems.

But that didn’t matter.

‘I’m sure he’ll try something.’

The moment that thought crossed his mind.

Grills launched a horizontal slash.

The sword’s trajectory was aimed directly at Ludwig’s ankle.

If it continued like that.

Ludwig would end up needing another prosthetic.

But.

Clack!

As if he had anticipated the attack from the very beginning.

Ludwig calmly stepped on the sword.

The decisive strike failed.

And on top of that.

Grills’ sword was pinned beneath Ludwig’s foot.

“Not bad.”

“……”

“Normally, very few people think of attacking the legs first.”

Ludwig’s voice came from above his head.

At the same time.

Grills felt the cold steel brushing against his neck.

Ludwig’s Mithrilcon sword was resting right there.

“…I lost.”

“Mm.”

Although neither of them understood the other’s language, Ludwig perfectly understood what Grills meant.

He withdrew his sword and took a step back.

Grills also straightened up and regained his stance.

‘He sees through every single one of my movements.’

Just as expected of a veteran knight.

Fighting Lackey had been relatively easy because he suffered from a major vision problem.

But Ludwig was completely different.

‘If he’s this fast with reduced mobility, just how strong was he originally?’

As Ludwig calmly wrote something in a notebook, Grills watched him.

He had heard for a long time on the Gallery that Ludwig was incredibly strong.

And now, after that spar, he finally understood.

‘So even someone like him struggles to survive if he can’t use mana because he can’t use his techniques.’

While Grills was once again realizing the importance of mana.

Ludwig was thinking something entirely different.

‘In the wilderness, technique matters far less than physical strength. It’s no coincidence that elephants are the kings of the savanna.’

No matter how dangerous that land was.

He now understood why Grills had managed to survive in the Forest of the Four Seasons.

It all came down to one word.

Physique.

His technique was a mess.

But he possessed monstrous physical abilities, accompanied by ridiculously powerful aura.

Would learning techniques make a huge difference?

Honestly.

Ludwig didn’t think so.

‘The best approach is to turn him into a sword-and-shield warrior. More than technique, he needs to make use of his physique.’

It wasn’t that he lacked talent.

On the contrary.

His combat instincts were excellent.

This wasn’t a matter of teaching a human how to defeat a gorilla.

It was teaching martial arts to a gorilla to make it even stronger.

Was it too much to compare a person to a wild animal?

In Ludwig’s eyes.

Grills wasn’t all that different from that white gorilla.

Abandoning an advantage as enormous as his physique just to focus solely on technique would be genuine stupidity.

‘He also improvises extremely well. And he knows how to observe his opponent’s movements. If he had been outside the forest, training him would have been incredibly rewarding.’

Grills didn’t possess the divine talent of the Heroine, Asella.

But he had been blessed with a different kind of talent.

One that was a joy to cultivate.

If you taught Asella one thing.

She would learn ten.

Or even a hundred on her own.

Grills was different.

If you taught him one thing.

He would find multiple ways to apply it.

And above all.

His physique.

He might not have been born with extraordinary talent for martial arts.

But he possessed an exceptional gift related to his constitution.

There are people who, no matter how much they eat, never manage to weigh more than sixty kilograms.

And others who eat only a little more and easily exceed one hundred.

He still needed to observe him further.

But Grills clearly belonged to the second group.

‘First, I’ll teach him how to cut properly with a sword. If it turns out he has no talent for it, then I’ll have him use an axe.’

Deep down, Ludwig almost hoped Grills had no talent for the sword.

There was no better weapon than an axe to take advantage of such monstrous physical strength.

Though it would also be a shame.

After all, Grills had already invested time training with the sword.

And above all.

It would be a waste of HeavenlyDemon’s sword.

Ludwig knew perfectly well the quality of that sword.

It was a genuine legendary sword.

“Here.”

“Thank you.”

Ludwig handed Grills his evaluation.

He had written quite a lot.

The moment he received it, Grills immediately uploaded it to the Gallery.

He would have preferred to ask the Head Moderator directly.

But he couldn’t keep bothering someone so busy.

“Hey.”

“Hmm?”

It was then that Lackey, who had been silently watching the entire time, approached Ludwig.

Ludwig looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“You. Fight. Me.”

“What?”

“Shuk shuk. Fight. Once.”

Lackey began making gestures with his hands, inviting Ludwig to spar.

After watching Grills and Ludwig fight.

He apparently felt the urge to fight as well.

Ludwig stared at the white gorilla for several seconds.

‘…No matter how many times I see him, I just can’t get used to it.’

His white fur was strange enough.

But on top of that, he wore glasses.

And around his neck.

A mana inhibitor like the kind worn by prisoners.

Grills had already given him a general explanation.

Even so, it was still difficult to get used to.

‘Does this forest only produce mutants?’

That thought had barely crossed his mind when.

“All right. Let’s get ready.”

“Thank you. Teach me.”

The moment Ludwig accepted, Lackey performed the traditional greeting of the Central Continent.

The fist salute.

A sign of respect between martial artists.

And an extremely unusual gesture.

Grills, who had watched the entire exchange, no longer knew whether to laugh or cry.

“Hey. Then why do you never greet me like that?”

“You are beast. Worse than beast.”

“What did you say, bastard?”

“……”

As Ludwig watched the two of them.

Or rather, a man and a gorilla.

Conversing as though they understood each other perfectly, he could only think one thing.

‘I’m starting to wonder whether I’ll ever get used to this place.’

Without a doubt.

That forest truly was a village of three-eyed beings.