Rulid Village lay at the World's End of the Human Realm, on the northernmost border of the Norland Calus North Empire, one of the Four Great Empires that divided and ruled the Human Realm.
Though the village had existed for three hundred years, its residents lived in considerable poverty because it was surrounded by treacherous mountains to the north, east, and west.
If the villagers wanted to expand their farmland or grazing land, their only option was to clear the forest to the south.
But in that southern forest, the roots of the Demon Tree, Gigas Cedar, had absorbed every last bit of nourishment from the soil.
If the village was to prosper, they had to fell Gigas Cedar, the obstacle blocking their path.
Yet there was a reason Gigas Cedar was called the Demon Tree.
Not only did it greedily drain the nutrients from the surrounding land, but its trunk was harder than steel. Only the Dragon Bone Axe, passed down through the village for generations, could so much as damage it.
Kirito and Eugeo's Divine Duty was that of Engraved Hands—the axemen who wielded the Dragon Bone Axe... or, more simply put, tree cutters.
Put simply, a Divine Duty was one's profession in the world of Under World.
At the age of ten, people in Under World awakened their Divine Duties. When they performed work suited to those Duties, they could achieve twice the results with half the effort.
There were combat Divine Duties and everyday Divine Duties, and the former generally had far better prospects than the latter.
After all, those with Divine Duties such as swordsman or Knight could easily leave a remote mountain village like this and apply to become soldiers of the Empire in a large city.
Those with everyday Divine Duties, on the