The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 37: Love and Hate (2) (Part 1)

The snow-covered peaks of the Snowy Mountains.

Staring quietly at the summit rising toward the sky, the boundary between the heavens and the mountain blurred, making them look like one seamless mass.

Thick layers of snow blanketed every ridge and valley of the mountain.
The rough surfaces of the rocks wore a soft, white garment like delicate skin.

A heavy snowfall had fallen over the Snowy Mountains.
It was a landscape that looked like an endless, pure white world.

◆ Storing Snow in the inventory.
◆ Retrieving Snow from the inventory.

I repeatedly stored and removed snow from my inventory to clear a path.

My current Strength stat was 29.
In other words, I could clear out up to 1,160 kilograms of snow in one go.

Clearing a path blocked by snow wasn’t particularly difficult.

I continued climbing the Snowy Mountains.

First, to find an Ice Troll.
Second, to collect monster meat for sale during the next merchant run.

With the Ice Drake—once known as the ruler of the Snowy Mountains—now defeated, I had nothing to fear.

I was the ruler of these mountains now.
There was no creature left here that could threaten me.

I searched the Snowy Mountains without hesitation.

And just like that, I spent an entire day in the mountains.

But unfortunately—

“…Nothing.”

There was nothing.

Not only was there no Ice Troll, I couldn’t find a single monster.

Well, with the harsh season approaching, monster activity was bound to drop.
Especially now, with the snowstorm, it would be even harder for anything to move.

“Still, it’s strange.”

Even so, it was strange.
There shouldn’t be this little activity.

I had scoured the entire mountain range.
Even in this weather, at least one monster should be wandering in search of prey.

Even if it wasn’t an Ice Troll.

And yet, there was nothing.

Only the sound of the wind in the distance whispered through the silence of the mountains.

“Did their habitat shift after the Ice Drake disappeared?”

That was possible.
But it didn’t explain everything.

“Hm…”

I thought about it, but no answer came to mind.

“Good thing I stocked up on food for Regeneration while I was in Frecce.”

My Regeneration [B-] skill required food.
Until now, I’d been using monster meat, but that would now be sold as product.

So I had to find another way to supplement nutrients for [Regeneration B-].
Thankfully, I had bought a sufficient amount of replacements in Frecce.

“With this snowstorm, continuing the search would be pointless.”

It seemed I’d have to check again once the snowstorm passed.
That didn’t mean I’d sit idle until then.

“My current stats are…”

As I muttered, a translucent window appeared in front of me:

==「Player Info」==
[Name] = Adrian Whitewolf
[Title] = Ruler of the Snowy Mountains
[Level] = Level 28
[HP] = 2,200
[MP] = 0
[Stats] = Strength: 29 (+5) | Agility: 28 (+5) | Endurance: 21 (+5) | Mana: 6 (+5)
[EXP] = 34.7%

After completing the Territory Quest [Though It Begins Small, Its End Shall Be Grand!] in Frecce, I had reached Level 28.

Compared to when I first returned to the past, my growth was undeniable.

But I still couldn’t be satisfied.

“This isn’t enough—not for an Emperor, not even for a Monarch.”

What is a Monarch, really?
I couldn’t even beat a Commander.

I had absorbed Ian’s abilities, not just copied them.
That meant my own growth was just as important as finding Ian.

“My Agility stat has come up nicely, at least.”

That made sense. I had been investing all my level-up points into Agility.

As a result, Agility had nearly caught up with the other stats.

“Endurance has already been overtaken.”

Still, I didn’t plan to invest in Endurance anytime soon.
I would continue putting level-up points into Agility.

Which meant I’d have to train Strength and Endurance manually.

“Guess today’s a physical training day.”

With that decision, I descended the Snowy Mountains.

Frost Arena, where soldiers usually trained.

…Or rather, it was supposed to be.

Today was different.
A bizarre scene had left all the soldiers in stunned silence.

A black-haired man lifting a massive steel bar.

Huff—! Huff—! Huff—!

Adrian let out sharp, rhythmic breaths like a metronome.

He was training his body in the Frost Arena.

But—

“What the heck is that thing?”
“What’s he lifting?!”

The steel bar Adrian was lifting was clearly not normal.
It was completely different from the barbells he had lifted before.
No such equipment existed anywhere in the County.

“That… Adrian-nim bought it from Frecce.”
“From Frecce? That thing?!”

The item had been acquired during his latest merchant run.
The soldiers who had accompanied him verified it.

It was a solid rod, formed by compressing round steel bars into high density.

Its weight?

“1,500 kilograms.”
“What?! 1,500kg? You mean… 1.5 tons?”
“Insane, right?”

The soldiers could only gape in disbelief.

They said 1.5 tons, but who could lift that?

Calling that thing exercise equipment was a joke.
It was closer to construction material.

And sure enough, Adrian’s muscles were constantly being torn and compressed under high density.

But his body didn’t look bulky.
At a glance, Adrian’s physique wasn’t that large.

That alone proved his muscles were compressed to a ridiculous degree.

Adrian didn’t even grimace.
Despite the unbearable pain of muscle tearing and compression, his expression didn’t twitch.

Huff—! Huff—! Huff—!

Without breaking rhythm, he silently lifted the steel bar.

An astonishing display of mental strength.

The soldiers watching couldn’t help but move past admiration to outright awe.

“He’s incredible…”
“I’m seeing it with my own eyes, and I still don’t believe it.”

Perhaps because of that—

“Who do you think would win? Sir Kai or Adrian-nim?”
“Well, uh…”
“Before, I would’ve said Sir Kai, no question…”

Naturally, the soldiers’ attention turned to Kai, who was practicing swordsmanship.

As soon as he felt their eyes on him—

Kai’s blade sliced through the cold air. His footwork was fast and fluid, never breaking his balance.

Was he imagining an enemy before him?

Suddenly, he twisted his waist to dodge an incoming strike and followed up with a flash of his sword like lightning, drawing loud gasps from the soldiers.

“Whoa—!”
“What the heck was that?!”

The sudden cheer rippled through the crowd.
But Kai didn’t lose focus.

He swung his sword with one hand, keeping balance with the other. His entire body moved in perfect harmony.
His icy blue eyes were focused entirely on the blade.

Kai, First Knight of House Whitewolf.
Even the Royal Guard had their eyes on him.
The soldiers now fully understood why his talent was considered extraordinary.

On one side: Adrian.
On the other: Kai.

Two very different but equally inhuman forms of training continued simultaneously.

“Hyah—!”

Suddenly, a thin and clear voice rang in their ears.
It was distinctly female.

Naturally, the soldiers all turned toward the source.

“Yup—!”

There they saw Serapia lifting a steel bar with her slender arms.

To be fair, calling it a “steel bar” was generous.
Compared to what Adrian was lifting, it looked like a toothpick.

Still, her arms trembled violently.

“Hyop!”

The soldiers couldn’t help but worry she might break something at this rate.

The weight of an empty barbell without any additional plates was about 15kg.

But even that was too heavy for Serapia to lift.

Translatin_Otaku

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