Chapter 7
Barbarian Quest
Chapter 7 – My Name is Urich (4)
Urich, who had been chased out of the arena, returned to the brothel as he always did. The prostitutes took his coat for him, as if they were waiting for him to arrive.
“How was it today?”
One of them handed a hookah pipe to Urich, who only glared at it.
“Take it away.”
Even though they didn’t know what he said exactly, they understood his intent from his voice.
“What about alcohol?”
This time, they shook a bottle in front of him. Urich grabbed the bottle and chucked it at the wall.
SMASH!
The bottle shattered into pieces. All of the prostitutes turned deathly pale and slowly backed away.
“Damn it.”
He felt like shit. However, killing someone wasn’t the issue.
‘I wasn’t able to control my own strength.’
There was nothing more humiliating to a warrior than being unable to control themself. To be unable to prevent your body from becoming dull. It put a scratch on Urich’s pride.
“Did I cross the mountain range to do this shit? To get high off drugs and mess around with girls? Huh? Urich?!”
SLAM!
Urich kicked the table, and it broke as it hit the ceiling.
“Kyaaaak!”
Prostitutes ran away, screaming.
“Damn it, that Urich is causing a mess again.”
The thugs who managed the brothel were looking at each other to make the first move. Urich’s reputation was well known throughout Ankara. The Undefeated Champion. Moreover, he killed someone today with a single punch. The thugs were scared and refused to approach him.
“Where’s Donau?”
“He said he had to do something and left.”
The prostitutes and thugs left the VIP room and left Urich to himself.
Shiiing.
Urich searched his belongings and pulled out a sword.
“Pordgal’s sword.”
Urich brought Pordgal’s sword with him. Its blade was smooth and shone in the light.
‘This sword is made out of good metal. All of the weapons that I used before look like blunt rocks compared to this.’
A warrior often felt entranced whenever they saw a good weapon. It was a partner that they would entrust their life to. If the weapon broke during a fight, it was the end for the warrior as well.
Swish.
Urich took a stance and closed his eyes. He thought about the time he fought Pordgal.
They fought on the Sky Mountain Range during a blizzard with their lives on the line. There were no excuses necessary for what happened at that time. It was survival of the fittest, and no one was to blame.
He focused on a single point.
‘The reason why I turned my back on my home and came here…’
Whoooosh.
Urich slowly swung the sword. Sweat started to form on his muscles.
‘It was to see all the things I didn’t know existed.’
His vision became clearer. The fog in his head lifted.
“I’ve spent enough time here. It’s time to leave now.”
He swiftly spun the sword and sheathed it.
The time he spent in Ankara was fun. Every day felt as if he were in heaven. However…
“Warriors go to heaven after death. Not when they’re still alive.”
Urich was a man who was walking the path of a warrior.
* * *
* * *
Donau called over Urich saying he found a new way to earn money. Urich planned to gather travel funds for the last time and leave Ankara.
‘Wherever I go, I’ll need money.’
Urich had already adapted to the economic systems there.
‘If I really need to, I can just plunder, but… it’s too much to do by myself. It would have been better if I had at least two of my brothers.’
For the first time in a long time, Urich’s head was clear. He stayed away from women and didn’t smoke marijuana. Neither did he drink alcohol.
His clear mind drew a circle around himself. He had confidence that he would be able to cut down anyone who entered his circle.
“It’s a big one this time. If we do this well, we can have fun for months.”
Donau snickered while tapping Urich’s back.
‘I owe you a lot for everything up to now.’
Urich planned to separate from Donau after this job.
‘Thanks to him, I’ve finished adjusting to life here.’
If he entered Ankara by himself, he would have already been arrested and spent time in prison.
“Arena?”
Donau and Urich arrived at the arena. Urich looked at his companion with a perplexed face.
“Today, we’re not fighting with fists. You’re going to use swords. Obviously, it’s a wooden sword, so don’t worry,” said Donau.
He didn’t expect Urich would understand anyway. He just had to act appropriately.
“There are no audiences.”
There were only a few people wandering around the arena’s audience area, and amongst them were armed people.
“Oho.”
Urich looked at their eyes. He could feel their sharp gazes.
‘These guys have killed before.’
People who have killed before exuded bloodthirst. They wouldn’t hesitate to kill someone.
Grasp.
Urich’s fingers instinctively went to his sword.
Someone in the audience spoke, “He’s pretty good? He’s immediately preparing his sword. He has a lot of combat experience.”
“I see. I could tell with a glance that he’s worth buying. I have quite the eye for people.”
The man who spoke was a middle-aged man who wore extravagant clothing. He was a slave trader that primarily handled gladiators.
“There’s no need to whisper. He doesn’t know how to speak the Empire’s language,” yelled Donau.
“I will take into consideration the fact that he doesn’t know the Empire’s language when pricing him.”
The slave trader lightly laughed while speaking.
“Does a gladiator slave need to know how to talk? Just watch his fighting skills.”
A wooden sword was planted in the middle of the arena.
A gladiator with a wooden sword in hand stepped forward from the center.
“Urich, my man. Go show off your skills!”
Donau spoke to Urich while pointing at the wooden sword.
Urich narrowed his eyes.
‘What? It was something like that? They’re planning to test me.’
Urich raised the wooden sword. It was light as it was a hollow sword. He thought that, even if he swung it hard, the opponent wouldn’t die.
“A new slave gladiator. I’ll teach you a lot, newcomer.”
The opposing gladiator spoke to him. He was a free gladiator.
Step, step.
Urich and the gladiator both held onto their wooden swords while pacing around in a circle.
‘Please make it look cool when you beat him up so I can get a lot of money.’
Donau sneakily laughed. If he sold Urich as a slave, he could earn at least millions of cil. If he does well, he could potentially earn tens of millions.
“Huaaa!”
The gladiator swung his sword.
“Your shout is good. But you’re slow.”
Urich leaned back his body and dodged the wooden sword. His eyes chased the gladiator’s neck.
Grab.
Urich’s hand moved. He grabbed the gladiator’s wooden sword and stole it.
“Huh? Huuuh?”
The gladiator didn’t understand how his sword was stolen away.
“Haha, want it back?”
Urich laughed while tossing the sword back to him. The gladiator’s face turned red.
“You bastaaaaaard!”
Urich threw away his sword. He wagged his finger to taunt the gladiator.
“Bring it.”
“I’ll kill you!”
The gladiator furiously swung his wooden sword. Even though he swung with his emotions, swordsmanship techniques were still instilled in his strikes. Unfortunately, he had a bad matchup.
Crush!
Urich stole the opponent’s wooden sword again. This time, however, he broke the opponent’s wrists to steal it.
“I want to stop this child’s play now. I’ve been using a real blade ever since I was five.”
Urich threw the wooden sword away again. He lost all motivation. His opponent was weak, and it wasn’t a fight where their lives were on the line.
“Keuk.”
The gladiator held onto his wrists while backing away.
“Stop! I don’t need to watch anymore!”
The slave trader who had been watching spoke.
‘He’s a gem amongst gems.’
The slave trader’s smile spread from ear to ear. He called Donau out right away.
“How much is he?!”
Donau thought quickly. It was time to bargain now.
“Tell me your offer first, Mr. Horus!”
“5 million cil.”
“You must be joking? I’ll take 15 million cil. Didn’t you see his skills? He’s amazing! You won’t find anyone else like him!”
“Haaah, it will take months to educate him as a slave. 8 million cil.”
“I’ll give up a bit and go below 10 million cil. 9.5 million.”
“Alright, 9 million. Let’s agree at this price!” the slave trader Horus shouted.
“9 million… Okay. Give some of it in advance first. I’ll use that money to properly feed him and let him sleep in a nice place.”
Donau couldn’t stop laughing.
‘Thank you, Urich. Not only did you save my life, but you also earned me so much money.’
Horus pulled out shiny gold coins from his pocket.
“I’ll give you 3 million cil first. The rest will be when it’s finalized, Donau.”
The swindler stretched out his hands to receive the coins. He kept smiling while looking at Urich.
“Urich, my man! We’re rich now! Hehehe. Why don’t we play to our heart’s content tonight?”
Clink, clang, clink.
The coins in Donau’s hands kept hitting each other.
“Hm.”
Urich scratched his head. His eyes were reading the room.
‘Two armed warriors.’
There was a guard next to Horus. They were yawning while waiting for the trade to be finalized.
“Urich, look at these gold coins. Haha!”
Donau was absorbed into the coins and couldn’t stop laughing. His greed prevented him from noticing the situation.
Clang.
It was an instant.
Urich stole the yawning guard’s sword and pulled it out. His hands were quick.
Clink, clang.
Gold coins rained down to the floor. Donau also fell on the floor, screaming.
“My hand… M-My hand. U-Uwaa—guhhh.”
Donau’s right hand was sliced off, and his blood was on Urich’s sword.
No one reacted to Urich’s movements. If he wanted to, he could have killed Horus as well.
“U-Urghhh! Uergh!”
Urich grabbed Donau by his hair and threw him.
The other guards were looking at Horus, but the slave trader did not stop Urich.
“Open your mouth. I’m going to slice off your tongue, Donau.”
Urich spoke in the Empire’s language. It was sloppy, but it was undeniably the Empire’s language.
‘Since when was he able to speak it? No, did he know it from the start?’
Donau was shocked, trembling as he lowered his head.
“Urich, sir. P-Please let me go this one time. W-We were best friends, weren’t we?”
“Speak slowly. If you talk fast, I can’t hear it well.”
Urich spoke while wiping off the blood on the sword.
“Spare me. I’ll do anything. Anything.”
“Shut up and just open your mouth.”
“U-Uwaaagh! Urgh!”
Urich put his fingers inside Donau’s mouth. He grabbed Donau’s slippery tongue with his fingernails and yanked it out.
“Why don’t you say farewell to your hardworking tongue?!”
SLASH!
Urich swiftly swung the sword, and Donau’s tongue fell on the floor.
A terrifying scream filled the arena. Urich sloppily wiped the blood off his hands with his pants and stood up.
“Uwughh, uwwwh.”
Donau was rolling on the floor, wailing. He clawed the floor, causing a mess. He was dying from excessive blood loss, yet no one tended to him. He scrambled on the floor like a bug before dying.
Sliiide.
Urich’s eyes were calm even after killing Donau. He wasn’t swept away by his rage, nor was he furious about the betrayal. He just calmly did what he had to do and tossed the sword back to the guard.
“It’s a good sword. You must have treated it well. I used it well.”
Urich shrugged his shoulders.
‘He’s terrifying.’
Horus had cold sweats. He was sweating so much that his clothes were sticking to his body.
‘That is not a beast that I can tame.’
Horus didn’t even think about calling the guards to stop him. Urich was a mad dog that wouldn’t serve its master.
“It looks like there was a misunderstanding between us. We’ll just go. I won’t report it to the guards. No matter how you look at it, it was justified.”
Horus spoke while slowly picking up the fallen gold coins.
“Go? Where do you think you’re going? You have to continue negotiations with me.”
Urich put back the fallen chair. He sat down and lazily crossed his arms.
The wrinkles around Horus’s eyes got deeper.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll work as your gladiator. You go around here and there and do business with arenas, right?”
Horus was perceptive and calculating. He sat down.
“If you’re a free gladiator, you earn half of the money earned in a match. But in turn, we provide meals, clothing, and shelter.”
“What about women?”
“Well, wouldn’t that be included as ‘meals’?”
Urich laughed heartily after hearing that.
“Hey, I like you. Let’s shake hands.”
Urich put forth his hand. Horus remembered Donau’s hand and hesitated, but he eventually did his best to calmly shake it.
“I’ll introduce myself again. I’m Horus, a middleman for gladiator fights. I also dabble in slave trading.”
“My name is Urich.”
“Welcome, Urich.”
A deal had been made.
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