After finishing breakfast with Prim’s anticipation, we resumed our climb.
We defeated quite a few monsters yesterday, but I wonder what today will bring.
Well, since we’re heading towards the Feather Drake’s nest, it’s a certainty that Feather Drakes will attack us.
“…Or so I thought,” I muttered.
“I understand how you feel,” Prim replied.
Both Prim and I walked on, bewildered by the unexpected turn of events.
It’s already past noon, and we haven’t encountered a single monster. I don’t expect encounters to be extremely frequent, but given our location, this is unbelievable. Prim is even prepared, wanting to test out her Iron Spear, so why aren’t any monsters showing up?
“It’s true that we’re making good progress because there are no monsters appearing. I think we’ll be able to see the summit soon, and then we’ll definitely have to fight, so don’t let your guard down, okay?”
“Of course not. That’s why we came here.”
I wasn’t exactly letting my guard down, but it’s also true that I was a little underwhelmed. I need to refocus now.
“Still, I never imagined that even Feather Drakes wouldn’t show up as we get closer to their nest.”
Feather Drakes live in the high mountain forests. The air gets thinner as you gain altitude, but the vegetation is entirely different in this world. Mylight has a height similar to Mount Fuji, and considering we saw what looked like the summit earlier, we’ve climbed quite high.
Yet, the forest we’re walking through is overgrown with subtropical plants that make it feel like a jungle. And it’s not just dense trees; there are moderately wide clearings in places, and we even encounter areas where an Evil Drake could presumably move around without issue. It’s utterly baffling. These clearings do allow us to see the adjacent mountainside, which helps us roughly estimate how high we’ve climbed, and that’s been a lifesaver.
“Huh? Hey Yamato, what is that over there?”
While taking a short break in one of those clearings, Prim pointed to something on the neighboring mountainside. Although it’s quite far, I can see something enormous moving strangely.
“Could that be it?”
“Yamato, can you use Dolphin Eye?”
“I can, but Eagle Eye is better suited for here. The distance is a bit concerning… but I think I can manage.”
I activated Eagle Eye, a wind-element C-rank exploration-type spell similar to Dolphin Eye and Mole Eye. This is the first time I’m using it this way, but it’s the fastest way to confirm.
“It really is an Evil Drake. Its feathers are purple, so I’m sure of it.”
As expected, the accuracy isn’t great. I can discern the silhouette and feather color, which is good enough.
“I can’t believe it’s on the next peak. And what is it doing?”
“It looks like it’s hunting. And its prey is… a Gryphon?”
“A Gryphon? Here?”
Even if she asks, there aren’t any other monsters with the head of an eagle, wings, and the limbs of a lion. From this distance, it’s hard to tell, but its legs seem a bit long. Well, considering this is a different world, it’s probably just a variation.
More importantly, there’s a Gryphon here?
“Yes, there is. Though they only inhabit labyrinths. But Gryphons are M-rank monsters, right? And an I-rank Evil Drake is hunting it?”
I’m not sure why she’s asking me, but monster ranks are created by humans to indicate the danger level of monsters—they wouldn’t consider the monsters’ own situations. Plus, abnormal species are often more aggressive, which might be a factor.
“The size difference is too great. I can’t be precise from this distance, but it looks about three times larger.”
“That much? I heard Gryphons are about the same size as horses…”
If a Gryphon is the size of a horse, then that Evil Drake is unnaturally huge? Or maybe, based on what I’ve heard, that’s just about right?
“That might be true. But this is problematic. With this much distance, it’s impossible to know how many days it would take just to travel there, and more importantly, there’s no guarantee it will still be there. This is going to take longer than I expected.”
That’s right. Descending and then reascending the next peak would undoubtedly take us until tomorrow or the day after. Moreover, there’s no guarantee the Evil Drake will stay put; it’s more likely to move. The Mylight Mountains are vast, and if we miss it here, we don’t know when we’ll find it again.
…There’s no other choice. It might hurt Prim’s pride, but I’ll have to use that.
“Prim, please bear with me for a moment?”
“Eh? Eh? Eeeeeh!?”
I scooped Prim up in a bridal carry. Then, activating Fly Wind, a wind-element B-rank target-interference spell, I leaped off the ground.
“Haa… Martial arts are amazing, aren’t they? I wish I could fly freely like that too,” Prim murmured from my arms.
It must be a pretty big deal for the Winged Tribe, who take pride in their wings, to be able to fly freely without any.
Conversely, I could also see a hopeful glint in her eyes. Flying is Prim’s dream, and it might actually come true, so it’s understandable. Fly Wind is a spell that can affect targets and carry them, but by making oneself the target, one can fly freely for a short period. My limit is thirty minutes, but Mother can fly for up to two hours when she’s feeling good.
Using interference spells on humans, not just Fly Wind, carries the risk of side effects, which is why prolonged use is prohibited. In fact, my uncle passed away at a young age due to such side effects.
It’s fine to use it to fulfill Prim’s dream, but I have to be extremely careful about that aspect.
“I’ll think about it when we get back,” I said.
“Thank you, Yamato.”
Prim flashed a smile, and she’s quite adorable. However, I’ve heard that the Winged Tribe is proud of their wings. She might feel conflicted if that pride is simply overcome by magic infusion. I need to find a way to address this.
“Yamato, that’s a Hippogriff.”
“A Hippogriff?”
The creature I thought was a Gryphon indeed had the head and wings of an eagle and beast-like limbs. However, its legs were slender and long like a horse’s. Its forelimbs looked like a lion’s with eagle talons, but its hind limbs were clearly hoofed, like a Battle Horse’s, with three split hooves. Wait, its torso looks lion-like, and upon closer inspection, its long legs aren’t as long as a horse’s, and they seem to be attached more like a carnivorous animal. And isn’t a Hippogriff a hybrid of a Gryphon and a horse?
“It’s a subspecies of Gryphon and a G-rank monster. But like Grantpus and Battle Horse, it’s a monster that tends to be friendly towards people. There aren’t many of them, and they often live deep in the mountains, so few people have contracted with them. However, they make excellent beast-mounted steeds and riding beasts.”
So, if things go well, it might be possible to contract with it and make it a summoned beast. If that’s the case, we *definitely* have to defeat that Evil Drake!
But with such ulterior motives, I’ll probably just end up letting it escape. We’ll leave whether we can contract it or not to fate, and prioritize defeating the Evil Drake with all our might.
“Then, shall we go all out?”
“Yes!”
I activated Fly Wind, targeting Prim, and released the arm that was holding her. Prim began to fall, but then she spread her wings, activated Extreme Flame Wing, gripped her Mithril Halberd, and charged towards the Evil Drake at incredible speed. As I accelerated, I activated Blood Shaking on the Multi Edge I had generated, enveloped it with Aqua Arrow, a water magic I developed, and fired it towards the Evil Drake.
The Evil Drake, caught off guard by the aerial attack, managed to inflict small wounds all over its body, as expected of a G-I rank monster. It immediately turned towards us and opened its large mouth. It was probably about to unleash a Fire Breath.
However, even small wounds were enough for Blood Shaking to vibrate the blood. The heavily injured Evil Drake, with blood vibrating throughout its body, staggered and fell to the ground.
That’s when Prim, engulfed in extreme flames, pierced the Evil Drake through the base of its neck.
Simultaneously, I activated Ozone Decline, a wind-element C-rank target-interference spell, on the Evil Drake and extinguished the flames engulfing it. I wasn’t sure how effective it would be against Prim’s extreme flames, but I was relieved to have extinguished it before it completely burned.
Ozone Decline is a spell that reduces oxygen, so it’s quite lethal for a C-rank spell. Well, if you can use Martial Arts, it’s not difficult to counter.
“Are you alright, Prim?”
“Of course. What about the Evil Drake?”
“Judging by its lack of movement, I’d say it’s dead? I haven’t tried putting it in storage yet.”
Our completely surprise attack from the sky was successful. The Evil Drake probably died before it even knew what happened. However, given that abnormals are tenacious and have high durability, it’s possible it just fainted. Storage doesn’t allow living creatures, so checking if it fits is a convenient way to confirm. There’s no fooling it with a feigned death.
Ah, it fit.
Still, it went down easier than I expected. Being vibrated by Blood Shaking, pierced with a gaping hole by Prim that looked like it could sever its neck, and then having its oxygen depleted by Ozone Decline—a normal creature wouldn’t be able to withstand all that.
“We defeated it safely, so isn’t that good? By the way, where is the Hippogriff?”
“Over there. I think it was probably the parent.”
There were quite a few fallen Hippogriffs. Most of them were no longer moving, but only two were still alive. Since they were small, they were probably the young.
Still, to wipe out an entire pack of G-rank Hippogriffs by itself… The Evil Drake was G-I rank, which is equivalent to P-rank. Furthermore, given its nearly ten-meter colossal size, it might have even been equivalent to M-rank.
“…I heard that Hippogriffs usually live in pairs, but they gather in flocks during the breeding season. Then, they are said to find a mate before they fledge and stay together until they die.”
So, this must be the breeding season. There are other small Hippogriffs lying there, so these two seem to be the only survivors.
“What should we do, Yamato? I think they’re likely newborns, so they’ll die quickly if left here. There’s the issue of food, and more importantly, if Orcs or Feather Drakes find them, they’ll just become easy prey.”
That’s easy to predict. Given that we’ve encountered this situation, I think taking care of them is a possibility. However, the problem is how to bring them back, and whether bringing them back will cause any trouble. If we can contract with them, I’m prepared to handle some commotion.
“Kwaa…”
“Hm?”
As a Hippogriff that was on the verge of death let out a cry, the remaining two young Hippogriffs looked at us. The ones that were still alive also started crying one after another.
“W-what in the world…?”
As we were surprised, the young Hippogriffs walked towards us and shook their heads as if to bow. Could this mean…?
“Are they entrusting these young to us?”
“Kwaa!”
The first Hippogriff to cry out, likely the pack leader, let out a loud cry as if in affirmation. As if signaled by that, the Hippogriffs that were still alive began to cry.
“Yamato, the blood.”
“Right.”
A summoned beast contract is established by exchanging each other’s blood and channeling magic power. Originally, it requires making wounds on the body, but since the young Hippogriffs are also injured, it was fortunate that we didn’t have to inflict more wounds. Prim and I cut our palms and placed them on the wounds.
““Following.””
As we chanted simultaneously, our blood and the young Hippogriffs’ blood mixed and formed a magic circle, which moved to the foreheads of the young Hippogriffs and then disappeared.
“Your name is… yes, Jade.”
“Your name is Fluorite. Nice to meet you.”
As soon as we gave them names, the wounds on Prim and me disappeared, as did all the wounds on Jade and Fluorite. Upon summoning, the contract magic also has a healing effect to prevent immediate death. It’s a bit different from Bestowed Magic or Guild Magic, but in a sense, isn’t this the first healing magic I’ve ever used? Well, it doesn’t really matter.
It seems Jade is male, and Fluorite is female. The two cried out happily towards us, then looked sadly at their parents. After witnessing our contract, the parent Hippogriffs let out satisfied breaths and passed away.
Then, the individual who seemed to be the leader, using Jade and Fluorite, had us gather the bodies of the Hippogriffs. It then used its dying strength to expel Fire Breath to cremate all the bodies, but it ran out of power midway. I felt a final will: “You can do whatever you want with my body, but don’t harm my companions.” I was surprised by the intelligence of the Hippogriffs, but having gone this far, I have no intention of betraying their wishes. Prim agreed; she used her Extreme Flame Wing fanned by Air Vortex to incinerate the remaining Hippogriff bodies, leaving no bones, while I stored the leader’s body in storage.
“Kwaaaa……”
“Don’t cry, Jade. You have to protect Fluorite from now on.”
“We’ll use his body for you. So, please… Stop it, you’re tickling me.”
Jade and Fluorite cried out loudly again and nuzzled against us. They’re so affectionate.
