Chapter 39: Wyvern

On the afternoon of the day they encountered the Griffon, they were once again in trouble.

Both of them hid behind a large boulder, popped their heads out slightly, and looked ahead.

They saw two Wyverns pecking at what seemed to be a boar.

“Wyvern came over because Abel wished for it.”

“I did not wish for it!”

The two whispered to each other.

“There is no path to detour so we’ll have to wait here until their meal is over?”

“They’ll likely notice us before then. And there’s no guarantee that a third one won’t come.”

“Ryo … Are you planning to fight?”

Abel looked at Ryo with a face that questioned what this guy was saying.

It would be natural to have such a face.

Normally, 20 adventurers of C-rank or higher were required to subdue a Wyvern.

Moreover, it requires many Fire-Attribute Magicians who have strong offensive power. The more there were, the better.

Now … they had just two people, a Swordsman and a Water-Attribute Magician … and against two Wyverns?

That was just suicide.

“I believe there will be quite a few Wyverns ahead. I think fighting is inevitable. In that case, don’t you think it’s not a bad idea to experience when there’s just two of them?”

“Not just two, there’s actually two …”

That said, he could understand Ryo’s point.

Six Wyverns attacked the Behemoth.

Compared to that, two was…

He shook his head violently when he came to that thought.

“Even one is a difficult opponent.”

He spoke to correct his thought process that was being influenced strangely.

“But …”

Yes, there was a “but”.

As long as he decided to cross this mountain range and return to the city, he will eventually have to fight Wyverns.

He saw them fighting against the Behemoth and there were two right in front of him.

There seemed to be no doubt that quite a few Wyverns were inhabiting this mountain range.

“I guess it is unavoidable …”

Abel’s gut was tied in a knot.

“Even if we plan to kill those two, how are we doing to it?”

“Are Wyverns still troublesome if they are brought to the ground?”

“No, if they are on land, they still can fire Air Slashes but not Sonic Blades. Of course, those claws are dangerous too and their bodies have wind magic protection so swords can’t penetrate through them. However, their eyes have no wind magic protection, so when they are on the ground it is possible to aim for that. Compared to being in the air where my sword can’t reach, grounded Wyverns can be said to be considerably easier opponents.”

Upon hearing that, Ryo thought for a moment. And nodded once.

“Water-Attribute Magic has something perfect for this situation.”

Abel pulled out his sword and was ready to jump out at any time.

“All right, here I go, Abel.”

Abel nodded and watched the two Wyverns.

The Wyverns were still eating without noticing anything was wrong.

“”

Four Icicle Lances formed silently in the sky.

Of course, it wasn’t necessary but Ryo chanted something suitable because he felt it was cool.

As soon as they formed, the Icicle Lances fell, pierced each of the Wyverns’ wings, and sewed them to the ground.

“Guiishiiiiiii.”

The screams of the Wyverns echoed.

Abel jumped out from the boulder at the same time Ryo chanted “Icicle Lance 4”.

Thick ice spears fell from the sky and pierced the wings of the Wyverns in front of his eyes.

Moreover, they pierced through and did not disappear.

As a result, the Wyverns were sewn to the ground with their wings, unable to shoot air slashes, and unable to use their claws to attack the approaching Abel.

Moreover, they were stuck to the ground with ice spears so the target 『eyes』 were within reach if he jumped.

“I’ll end it with a single strike. Combat Arts: Perfect Pierce.”

The shining red magic sword was thrust into the left eye of the Wyvern in front.

The sword pierced the eyeball and reached the Wyvern’s brain.

It collapsed without a sound.

Abel, however, didn’t care about the collapsing Wyvern and thrust his red magic sword into the right eye of the other Wyvern.

“Guguiii”

It squeezed out the last of its air and died.

It was a complete victory.

“Icicle Lance followed by Abel’s rush. Yeah, this collaboration seems to work.”

“Yeah, it was over surprisingly quickly.”

“I see, Abel is dissatisfied. After all, Abel wants a blood-boiling, flesh-scraping, soul-shaving, close battle. I’ll take note of that.”

Ryo pretended to take notes on his hand.

“No, wait, I don’t need such fights. It was perfect today. Splendid. Let’s go with this plan the next time too.”

In a hurry, Abel grabbed Ryo’s shoulders and nodded strongly as he praised him.

“Well, if Abel is okay with it, we’ll go with this.”

“Phew. Oh yeah, the monsters so far weren’t a big deal so we ignored doing so, but I think it’s better to extract the magic stones from Wyverns. You can sell them at a surprisingly high price.”

With that said, Abel immediately plunged a knife near the heart of one of the Wyverns.

“I see. Then, I’ll collect the other one.”

Ryo said and headed for the other Wyvern.

Michael’s quality knife will get to see action for the first time in a long time! Ryo thought to himself in secret.

(Now that I think about it, Wyverns were not listed in the 『Monster Encyclopedia: Beginner’s Edition』 prepared by Michael (pseudonym)… It goes without saying that Behi-chan and Griffon were not listed, but I guess Wyverns do not fall into the category of being listed in the 『Beginner’s Edition』 too.)

Ryo harvested the Wyvern magic stone while thinking about that.

“It’s pretty big.”

It was not as big as the golem’s magic stone, but it was a fist-sized, beautiful green magic stone.

(If this was an emerald, it would cost tens of millions of yen)

Of course, that was Ryo’s arbitrary estimated price.

“Oh, this is a pretty amazing stone. Its color and shade are both excellent so it’ll carry a hefty price.”

“Assuming we reach a town.”

“Ugh.”

Ryo’s comment pierced Abel’s heart.

“For now, we’ll carry one each. I also have a bag now.”

In that manner, they acquired a way to hunt Wyverns 『safely』 and 『quickly』.

Even though the mountains were 7,000 meters high, it did not mean that it was impossible to cross the mountains unless they climbed to the peak of 7,000 meters.

Some spots where the water from thawed ice flowed would naturally shave down the mountain and such places were connected to the foot of the mountain.

But still, Ryo imagined that they would have to climb to an altitude of at least 4,000 meters.

If it was 4,000 meters … he felt that it was still an altitude that won’t cause altitude sickness … maybe.

And as Ryo and Abel climbed, some beings attacked them one after another.

Yes, Wyverns.

The mountain range could even be called a Wyvern’s nest as it seemed that a large number of them inhabited it.

After hunting the two at the foot of the mountain, Abel had lost his tension when facing Wyverns and was relaxed.

It could be said that he was defeating all the Wyverns that appear in front of his eyes in battle.

“I knew Abel was a battle junkie …”

“Shut up! Since they are bound to get in the way, it’s the same if I kill them now or later. And if we annihilate all of the Wyverns that come attacking, we’ll likely face fewer attacks as we cross this wide mountain range. So let’s proceed while hunting with gusto!”

Ryo would sew the attacking Wyverns to the ground with Icicle Lances and Abel would pierce their brain through the eyes with a sword.

With this cooperation, they exterminated numerous Wyverns.

Needless to say, it took longer to collect magic stones than to defeat them.

Each of their bags was being filled with Wyvern magic stones at about the same rate as they were consuming dried meat.