"One, two, one, two."
"Power to your elbow, Caelen."
"Thank you, Raudr! One, two, one, two."
Farming is the best...
Caelen was taller now. And he was broader. Still, he was smaller than the others around his age.
185 centimeters at the age of 18? It wasn't good enough for a barbarian.
Well, it didn't matter. He wasn't a barbarian anyway. Not anymore.
He was a farmer now, thrown in one of the Barbara villages.
It had been three years now.
When he touched the crystal three years ago, nothing happened.
There were only two reasons this could happen.
One, if someone wasn't a barbarian.
Of course, that wasn't possible. His Crest of War shone a bit before the light dimmed out.
And the second was... when someone didn't have any talent at all.
This wasn't failing.
When his master, Taek, told him that he needed to pass to be with the real barbarians, what he meant was that Caelen needed three beams.
One or two were already the same as failing for him.
But no beams? That was unthinkable.
The crystal didn't only measure the current power a barbarian had. It also measured the potential.
One beam meant that the barbarian had minimal potential, while two meant that they had a higher chance.
Only when there were at least three beams, a barbarian was called a true warrior.
Sure, those first or second stages would also get stronger, reaching third, fourth, and even higher stages.
But it would take time and the path would be slow.
I'd be fine with one beam... even half a beam...
He had been measured once every year since then. But the results were the same.
Caelen had to work as a farmer now. It was a humiliating job, but one he had to put up with.
Only soldiers had pride in Barbara.
The others... well, it depended on the situation.
Some farmers were retired soldiers. They had retired early after either earning enough achievements or being disabled after a fight.
Both of them lived with pride.
But war slaves, those who didn't want to fight after being measured as first-stage, and those who couldn't fight for various reasons... they worked without pride.
Caelen had to leave his home since his family lived in an area where only the high-ranking barbarian warriors lived.
In the last three years, he had only seen his family once.
He could have seen them more, but he didn't want to. No matter what, Caelen was a barbarian. He had pride.
He couldn't face his parents. Or his master.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Ah, old man, don't scare me like that."
"Hehehe! You shouldn't doze off while working," the old man said, pointing behind Caelen.
Caelen looked back, only to see that the dirt he had hoed was not deep enough.
He sighed and went back to the last spot he had hoed well enough to start again from there.
"Are you still thinking about home?"
"Home? Barbarians don't have such things. Our home is the battlefield."
"Young man, you shouldn't lie. That is not your thoughts, it is only what you are told," the old man said.
Of course, you would think so... You were a great warrior once.
Caelen only thought of this. He wouldn't dare say it aloud.
"What does it matter? I am here now, and this is my battlefield."
"I see. Then, is this your home?"
Caelen didn't answer. He just looked down.
"Well, it is okay. Will you come and train with me tonight?" the old man asked.
"Can I?"
"Why not. Don't you come every day?"
"Well, nothing changes even if I do... But I will still come."
Caelen, even though he was a farmer now, didn't stop training. Not even once.
It was in his blood. No, more like it was in his crest. He was a barbarian, so he liked training.
Not that it changed anything. He still didn't get any results. But it was at least fun to spar with this old man.
Of course, he wasn't just an old man. As a once-great warrior, he still had skills.
He also wasn't disabled, so he fought almost as good as his old master, Taek.
"Then, I will see you after dinner," the old man said and left.
---
Caelen swung the sword in the air twice. It was a real sword. Barbarians didn't train with wood.
Since he was using farming tools the whole day, he needed to readjust to the weight of a sword.
In the last three years, he hadn't used a shield once, but he was still using a one-handed sword, unlike the other barbarians.
They generally used two-handed heavy swords. Of course, in a barbarian's hands, the heavy swords seemed like a light Zweihänder.
The old man, being a barbarian, also held one of them.
"Are you ready? Today, I will only use one hand."
"Old man, don't regret it later."
"Hehe! You couldn't even hit me once yet. Do you think it will be possible today?"
Caelen didn't answer, instead, he rushed toward the old man.
He positioned his sword in front of him. His advantage was his speed. Not that he could be faster than the old man, of course.
It was just that Caelen was faster than he was strong, especially since he was using a one-handed sword.
He stabbed the sword forward when he approached the old man.
The old man swung the heavy two-handed sword and blocked Caelen's sword.
He is much faster than I... Even with the two-handed sword, the old man was faster.
Taking a step back, Caelen jumped again. This time, he tried to attack from above.
But the old man's sword was in front of him again. Caelen dodged back to avoid being hit by a counterattack.
"You run back after every attack. If you stayed, you could hit me while I counterattacked."
Then I would die! Don't you see the sword in your hand?
Of course, he, once again, abstained from saying it aloud.
But what the old man said was correct. Since the day he stopped using a shield, he tended to dodge back after each attack.
He didn't know why, but it was like an instinct. Even though he wanted to stay, his body dodged.
Also, he needed to use the time the old man swung his sword, as he said.
Thankfully, the old man wasn't mocking Caelen. If he wanted, he could use both hands and slice Caelen together with his sword.
It would be easy for the old man.
Also, he didn't use any barbarian abilities in consideration for Caelen.
Since his crest wasn't activated when he was fifteen, he couldn't use the barbarian abilities that came with the Crest of War.
Caelen readied his sword once again and swung it toward the old man.
"Are you bravely coming from the front? That is the barbarian spirit!" the old man said with a smirk on his face.
Of course, there was nothing brave about what he was trying. He just wanted to check if he could spot an opening.
Sigh... This won't do. I should increase the pressure a bit, the old man thought, and swung his sword from up to down.
After seeing a sword suddenly appear on top of him, Caelen dodged to the side in fear.
But in the process, his arm was grazed, causing blood to drip from it.
Caelen looked at his arm, and his eyes opened wider.
Hundreds of thoughts passed his mind in the mere second his arm was grazed.
Was he okay? Maybe his arm was gone but the pain hadn't been triggered yet.
No, his arms were okay. But it was bleeding. Would he be able to continue using it?
In the meantime, his heart also started pumping faster.
It was so fast that he could even hear his own heart.
Ba-Dump
Ba-Dump
Ba-Dump
Caelen closed his eyes and then reopened them. He didn't know this, but this was the reason barbarians were strong.
They didn't fear getting hurt. Because when they got hurt, they got stronger.
And this was the first time Caelen had been hurt in the past three years.
Time seemed to slow down. No, there was nothing about time going slower. He was just stronger.
He felt like his punch could easily break down any wall it encountered.
This was the "Barbarian Spirit" everyone talked about.
Barbarians didn't research their own features like others. They just named it as barbarian spirit and used it.
That was why no child knew what it was until they experienced it.
Of course, most experienced it around the age of ten while play-fighting with their friends.
Unfortunately, Caelen had never joined them. Even when he was fifteen, he had used a shield.
So he had never experienced the barbarian spirit.
And no one had realized it or told him about it since the barbarians didn't think, they just did.
So, Caelen wouldn't know what the barbarian spirit was for a while longer.
Caelen was still filled with fear, of course. He didn't know what was happening, and he was injured.
His mind was also working at full capacity.
But his instincts, or maybe his anger, overpowered his mind. Instead of stopping and thinking, he wanted revenge.
His arm was hurt, so he needed to retaliate.
He jumped again. This time, he didn't aim for an opening. He just swung his sword toward the old man.
If his sword was blocked, he would break the opponent's sword.
If it wasn't blocked, then he would slash the opponent.
No matter what, he would cause at least an injury to this old man's body.
Then, his eyes closed.
Did his crest just shine? The old man thought as Caelen dropped to the ground, knocked out.