A.N. (11/27/21) - Here's another chapter!
Early Days (4) - Dragon Slayer
Even though this was a martyr operation where survival on his part was minimal at best, there was some logic to sending him alone to face off against a dragon.
The element Elliot specialized best in was 'wind'. Although he was capable of using almost every single system of magic up to the advanced rank, the sole magic he was recognized as being best at was his control over the wind.
Not just saint ranked, but theoretically, he could be categorized as emperor ranked. Said confirmation was only theoretical due to the limits of testing such capabilities. After all, the need to use such large-scale magic was already rare in the case of saint ranked magic, let alone the more extreme version of king or emperor rank magic.
Fire saint magic, [Flash Over].
Water saint magic, [Cumulonimbus].
Earth saint magic, [Sand Storm].
Wind saint magic, [Violent Storm].
Amongst the saint ranked magic spells, three out of four could be categorized as weather manipulation magic. Depending on how the magician controlled the fire saint ranked spell [Flash Over], the artificially created wildfire could even transform into a firestorm by generating its own wind system, creating updrafts and forming into a tornado of fire, making it another type of pseudo-weather spell.
Basically, all saint ranked spells used wind in some form to rapidly increase the scale and destructive power of their spells. Because of that, an argument could be made that the other three saint ranked spells were just extreme forms of melded magic.
Only for the wind saint ranked spell [Violent Storm], the same amount of magic power was instead focused entirely on wind.
That same spell was capable of blowing away the effects of other weather manipulation magic, acting as a counter to weather changing magic.
This is because the spell naturally focused on what occurred in the air rather than on the ground. Naturally, for flying creatures of any size, such strength was capable of even knocking a flying dragon out of the sky.
It was probably due to that knowledge that the crown assumed Elliot was capable of subduing the rampaging dragon.
However, there was one problem.
The effects of such a spell were capable of causing a devastating amount of damage on the surrounding lands, making it unsuitable to use near civilian populations. Elliot highly doubted that the people would be glad if he managed to slay a dragon while causing even more damage than it did during the process.
As such, he had to improvise.
}-{
Standing in an empty field, Elliot raised his arm and shot forth a burst of fire that exploded in the air.
The improvised flare shone brightly as far as the eye could see, illuminating the sky above it. Elliot made sure to do so as far as he could from any areas of civilization so that any townspeople wouldn't be caught in the upcoming battle.
He was several miles south of the town where the dragon was last reported to be seen. Even at this distance, the potential damage that could result from a saint ranked spell was worrying. Especially since he was on a well-used path that most travelers and merchants used.
Ordering the roads to be closed for the day was the only concession he asked for when he prepared himself to fight. Elliot didn't want any bystanders to be caught in the crossfire.
Taking a deep breath, a chantless spell was cast as he cried out at the top of his lungs.
"UWWWWOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
His voice echoed throughout the area, magnified by his magic so that his voice reached as far as it could. The air itself seemed to shake as he continued to yell, calling to his opponent to come for him. He finally allowed his voice to slowly calm down and waited for a response.
A shadow could be seen in the distance, and Elliot knew it was time.
"Alright dragon." Elliot picked up the various harpoon-like spears near his feet and held one in each hand. "Let's see which one of us will make it out of this alive."
As the dragon came upon him, Elliot activated the first trap.
The air itself exploded as the dragon came into contact with the preset air mines that Elliot created a few minutes earlier. A mix of barrier magic and wind magic, by specifying a certain boundary in the air to target any solids that entered it with overlapping vibrational waves, the space undergoes repeated partial expansion and contraction. The rapid heating and cooling caused by this process create enough thermal stress to fracture and shatter objects caught within this field.
The dragon roared as its scales broke under the attack, and Elliot made his next move.
Crying out, Elliot threw the harpoons as hard as he could towards the exposed parts of the dragon. At the very last second, he used a basic wind spell to propel the projectiles forward, turning them into pneumatic weapons of considerable strength.
Stabbing deep into its flesh, the harpoons dug deep into the dragon's side as the chains attached to the end of the weapons began to drag along the ground until they grew taut. The large boulder fixed to each end of the chains made sure that the dragon couldn't fly away.
"Now you have nowhere to escape!"
He grabbed his staff right as a burst of wind propelled him into the air and his scarf unfurled. Gliding closer to the dragon, Elliot pointed his staff straight towards the dragon's mouth right as it turned towards him.
"Eat this!"
A large icicle shot forward and on reflex, the dragon shot forth a burst of fire to melt it. Only for the flames to do absolutely nothing as the large chunk of dry ice entered its throat.
The dragon let out an agonizing roar as its throat came into contact with the frozen carbon dioxide chunk, freezing the tissue inside and tearing it apart as the force propelled the ice further into its body.
Choking and struggling to breathe, the dragon collapsed to the ground with a crash, barely conscious but still very much awake.
Elliot slowly descended and gave it a pitiful look.
"I apologize for how brutal this all is, but I can't kill you simply with half-measures. No, this is something that needs to be done."
And Elliot raised his staff in front of him.
"This won't be a quick death, and I'm sorry for that."
A high pitching sound began ringing through the air before Elliot's magic manipulated it into a focussed beam targeting the dragon's head. The large creature's ears began to bleed as its eardrums broke, and even as its throat was already swollen from before, it continued to cry out in pain as Elliot's sonic attack continued.
It was only after a full minute passed did Elliot finally stop. Laying before him was the ruined corpse of the large dragon.
The truly scary part about this entire operation was that Elliot never once used anything stronger than intermediate ranked spells. If he was being generous, then some of his spells could be classified as advanced ranked in terms of the magic power invested. But the spells themselves were those that any intermediate mage should have been capable of casting.
No, it was only by exploiting the various weaknesses of the dragon that Elliot was able to brutally slay it without allowing it to even retaliate.
"Sheesh," Elliot stared at the large body sprawled on the ground. "Now, how am I supposed to bring this back to town?"
}-{
Never in his wildest dreams did Elliot realize that this incident would lead to numerous repercussions.
How his reputation would greatly increase once word of his accomplishment reached the kingdom.
His name later resounded far and wide throughout the kingdom as a mighty court magician and dragon slayer.
Tales of his prowess began to spread amongst the commoners and nobles alike.
And soon, the people began to call him by another title.
[Sky Saint]
Do I hear stupidly OP MC hype? Because that's pretty much what this entire chapter is.
The [Early Days] arc is just skimming past the first couple of years. I'm trying to quickly establish my SI as an experienced character within the world of Mushoku Tensei. Enough so that he can quickly get involved with the big names like the Seven Great Powers or Hitogami and his apostles.
And since Rudy is pretty proficient in Water and Earth magic, I decided to have my SI specialize in Wind. But instead of just using wind blades and tornadoes, I decided to focus on things like atmospheric pressure, temperature shifts, and even sound waves. Things that mainly rely on the SI's knowledge from Earth.