Chapter 5 – Missions and Miracles
Edric's POV
I was walking out of town with a quest paper in my hand, I asked the innkeeper to read it to me, according to him it's a quest to eliminate a group of goblins that have settled in the forest near town. What is a goblin in the anyway?
"Excuse me sir knight." I heard someone calling me, when I turned around I was face to face with a woman holding a boy in her arms.
"How may I help you miss?" I asked the woman.
"It is true? Is it true that you healed a blind man?" The woman asked me.
What is she talking about? Yes, I healed an injured beggar, but I doubt very much that I can cure blindness.
"Miss, all I did was heal that man's injuries; please don't believe the rumors that spread around." I said as I turned around, but the woman grabbed my wrist.
"Please, my son is sick! I don't know how much longer he has to live! Please help him!" The woman said with tears in her eyes.
Hearing this, I paid more attention to the boy the woman was holding, he was sickly pale, there were dark circles under his eyes, his fingernails were discolored and he was dangerously thin. Once again I was reminded of the Defilement Valley, so many sick, physically and mentally, abandoned by the world and left to rot.
"Fine." I held my Talisman of God in one hand and placed the other on the boy's head, then cast Recovery.
"It's done." I said to the woman as I walked away, I hope she doesn't blame me for anything that happened.
If Edric had waited a few more seconds, he would have noticed that the boy's appearance began to change; the color returned to his skin, the dark circles disappeared from his eyes, suddenly the boy's eyes opened.
"Mommy? What happened?" The boy asked his mother who looked at him with tears in her eyes; she just hugged her son tighter.
"Thanks! Thanks!" The mother called out to the knight, but when she looked around, he was already gone.
Edric's POV
Looks like this is the place, I thought as I hid in the middle of the forest bushes, in front of me there was a small camp made up of tents made of wood, bones and fabrics, the camp was set up in a circle with a large tent in the center and three smaller tents around.
The camp was inhabited by small creatures with green skin, with pointed ears and noses, they were equipped with armor made of worn pieces of leather, daggers and bent and rusty swords, and some of them wore pieces of bone as armor and covered themselves with rags.
This shouldn't be so difficult. But how will I prove to the guild that I killed the Goblins? Maybe if I take their heads? It should do. I equipped the Guillotine Ax in my right hand and the Silver Catalyst in my left hand, and then I pointed the catalyst at the camp and cast Flame Throw several times.
Fire rays flew and hit the tents of the camp, the goblins when they saw this began to panic and tried to put out the fire, then I cast Cloak, becoming invisible, I ran towards the camp.
The goblins were caught unprepared, fire bolts came out of nowhere and set their camp on fire, the goblins tried to put out the fire, but unfortunately there wasn't enough water in their camp for that. Two goblins were in front of a burning tent without knowing what to do, suddenly the head of one of the goblins was separated from its body, and the head flew until it hit the ground a few meters ahead.
The remaining goblins looked scared at their comrade's body that fell to the ground, but there was something strange, part of the blood that spurted from the body when the head was cut off seemed to be floating, suddenly the thing where the blood had splattered revealed itself, it was a knight named Edric carrying a great ax with a short handle, the goblins quickly drew a dagger and leapt towards Edric, he should have run instead.
With a swift movement Edric decapitated the goblins with his axe, blood covered the knight, after decapitating the goblins the knight kept their heads in his bag, Edric had his attention called by the sound of footsteps, when looking around Edric realized he was surrounded by a group of goblins, from the middle of the group came a goblins bigger than the others, probably the leader.
The leader of the goblins was tall enough to come up to Edric's chest; he wore a wolf skin cape, a human skull for a crown, and carried a rusted battle axe.
Pointing his ax at Edric all the goblins jumped towards Edric, with his Talisman of God Edric cast Wrath of the Gods, a shock wave shook the camp and hit all the goblins who jumped towards Edric, the goblins were crushed by the wave of shock leaving only the leader alive.
The leader of the goblins, seeing his companions dead, roared and jumped towards Edric, Edric aimed his catalyst at the goblins and cast Ignite, a blast of fire came out of the catalyst and threw the goblins away, Edric ran towards the goblin and he swung his ax towards the goblin's neck, the goblin ducked letting the blow go over his head, then the goblin tried to cut Edric's legs with his axe, Edric rolled backwards dodging the blow.
The goblin leader then jumped with his ax raised, holding it with both hands, when the goblin descended towards Edric his blow had been blocked by the Adjudicator's Shield, the goblin's blow bounced off the shield throwing the goblin's arms back, this caused the goblin to lose its balance, the last thing the goblin saw was Edric's ax coming towards him.
Seeing that the fight was over, Edric began to cut off the goblins' heads and stuff them into his pouch.
TIMESKIP
Edric's POV
I went back to the guild to confirm the success of my mission, upon entering everyone stared at me; I approached the counter and rang the small bell.
DING!
"Yes, how can I help… Edric, are you okay?!" Reha asked to see me.
"Yes I am. Why the question?"
"You are covered in blood!"
"Don't worry, the blood isn't mine. I came here to collect my reward, here is the proof." Said to Reha.
I turned my bag upside down, several bloodied goblin heads landed on the counter.
"AAAHHH!" Reha screamed as she bounced back in her chair.
"Can I have my reward now?" I said as I extended my hand to Reha.
With a trembling hand, Reha handed me a small bag with some bronze coins, it's not much, but I can't complain since this is my first mission.
"Thanks." Said to Reha and walked away.
One of the guild staff approached Reha and handed her a mop and bucket "You are going to clean up this mess!"
All Reha could do was cry and try to clean the blood and goblin heads off the counter.
TIMESKIP
Edric's POV
It's been five days since I started doing quests, after doing several E-Rank quests, I finally rose to D-Rank, a bronze plaque was hanging around my neck, now I was on my way to do a new quest, a group of bandits had robbed a caravan of merchants that were coming to the city, it seems that these bandits took refuge in a cave, it seems that this is a known group of bandits, according to the mission description the reward will be greater if the bandits are captured alive.
"Hey you!" I heard someone calling me, when I looked in the direction of the voice I saw an old man sitting in a wheelchair being pushed by a younger woman; I suppose to be his granddaughter.
"Please heal my legs, due to an accident at my job I have lost movement in them." The old man begged me.
Why are people looking to me to be healed? Are the priests of these lands refusing to use miracles? In Boletaria all church members knew a basic miracle of healing. Never mind, my Fragrant Ring will regenerate my magic anyway.
I cast Recovery on the old man and then left, let's take care of some bandits.
After Edric left, the old man's eyes widened, he was feeling something he hadn't felt in a long time, his legs, the old man jumped out of his wheelchair and danced down the street, and at the end he hugged his granddaughter with tears in his eyes. What Edric didn't know is that his miracle not only healed the old man's legs, but also cured all the aches and pains in his body that came with old age.
TIMESKIP
"You bastard!" A thug screamed as he tried to slash Edric with his scimitar, luckily the thug couldn't finish his blow as he was interrupted by a punch to his mouth causing several of his teeth to be knocked out.
Edric had a weapon called an Iron Knuckle in each hand, the weapon was a flat piece of metal with a back part to hold with a closed fist, this weapon was used by Stonefang miners to dig tunnels and extract ores at the base of the punch, and now Edric was using them to capture the bandits alive and get a bigger bounty.
"AAAHHH!" With a war cry another bandit came running after Edric, with a scimitar raised in the air, Edric seeing the sloppy attack elbowed the bandit in the stomach making him bow, and then Edric hooked the bandit's chin throwing him up, Edric then grabbed the bandit's arm and hurled him over his shoulder toward the ground.
"Fire!" The leader of the bandits shouted, he had his back to a cave that was his hiding place, in front of him there were three of his men kneeling and with crossbows in their hands, at the command of their leader all the bandits shot Edric.
Edric quickly removed the Adjudicator's Shield from his back, placed it in front of him and began to run towards the bandit group, the crossbow dice were not strong enough to penetrate the shield, seeing Edric approaching the bandit leader ordered for his men to fire again, but they weren't quick enough.
Edric collided with the group of men, throwing them away, the bandit leader tried to draw his scimitar, but all he managed was to get his nose buried in his face from Edric's punch, the bandit leader fell unconscious to the ground. .
"Hm! There must be a rope here somewhere." Edric said as he searched the bandit hideout in the cave, amid all the stolen goods he managed to find a rope, Edric then tied all the unconscious bandits together and started dragging them towards the guild.
TIMESKIP
Edric's POV
CRASH!
I kicked open the guild door as I had my hands full dragging out the bound bandits. As I approached the counter, I heard the comments from the other guild members around me.
"Did he defeat this band of bandits by himself?" A pointy-eared person with a bow asked.
"Defeated? More like spanked! Look at them! Black eyes, puffy faces, knocked out teeth! It looks like they were lynched by a mob!" A short man with a long beard spoke.
"He probably got help from someone." A man wearing dark leather and a hood commented as I passed.
I didn't care; the important thing is that I completed my mission.
DING!
I rang the bell on the counter.
"Hello, how can I help… Oh! It's you." Reha said to see me.
"I have come to seek my reward." Said as I handed the rope in my hands to Reha, she accepted the rope and handed me a bag of coins, this time the reward was a mix of bronze and silver coins, a welcome raise, as I left the guild I heard Reha call me.
"Hey what is this rope for?!" Reha asked.
"To keep the bandits locked up." I replied to Reha and left shortly thereafter.
"Bandits?"
Leaning over the counter, Reha saw a group of beaten men unconscious on the floor; Reha jumped back in surprise and stared between the rope in her hands and the beaten men.
"That idiot! Why didn't he take those criminals to the guards?!" Reha screamed as she kicked one of the thug's unconscious to relieve her frustration.
One of Reha's coworkers shook her head at her companion's actions.
TMESKIP
Edric's POV
A week has passed since I started doing D-Rank quests and now I've risen to C-Rank, a silver plate was hanging around my neck, I feel like I'm taking too long to rank up, at this rate I won't be able to request the demon Five quest.
Another problem I face is my locomotion, not all missions take place near the city, for example, the mission I plan to carry out is located in the Land of Sands, a creature called Ankheg has been attacking the few villages in the region, the guards cannot stop the creature and the demon Two has been shown to be unavailable, contrary to the information given to me about her.
To get to the Land of Sands I need to get to an airship station, whatever that means, on the way to the station I noticed a group of people in front of me, a woman with a baby in her arms, a man with crutches and an old woman leaning on a boy younger than her.
I sighed. Where are the clerics of these lands? Does the church charge absurd amounts to heal someone with miracles?
"Excuse me you are…" I didn't let the woman with the baby finish, just touch the child and I cast Recovery, I did the same with the man and the old woman, I don't know why people come to me instead of a cleric, my miracles they're not that good.
"Wait…" The old woman spoke, but I didn't stop to listen, I'm wasting time here, I started to walk faster out of town.
"Thanks!" The group of people shouted behind me, due to my helmet it was not possible to see the smile on my face.
TIMESKIP
Why wasn't I told that an airship is a type of flying ship? I thought as I gripped the bars on the side of the ship with all my might, the bars were slowly crushed.
Despite the height this type of transport is something impressive, the bottom part consists of a large wooden and metal ship without masts with green symbols shining on its hull, attached to the ship at the top there were two large metallic balloons also with green symbols, below and behind the ship there were rotating metallic objects, according to the captain of the airship these objects are called propellers, speaking of the captain here he comes.
"HAHAHA! Fear of heights?" the captain asked as he slapped me on the back.
"N-no, not at all." I replied trying not to show my fear.
"HAHAHA! Don't worry boy, a few trips your fear will soon be gone, and you'll realize how wonderful the sky is!"
"I hope captain! Could you tell me how much time is left until we reach the Land of Sands?"
"We have two days of travel ahead of us!"
Two days? At this rate I won't be able to rank up until the party takes place, I need faster transport.
"I recommend enjoy the view kid!" The captain said to me as he went back to his crew.
He's right, maybe taking advantage of the view will help me spend the trip better, I was wrong, I ended up making the mistake of looking down, and I ended up realizing the height I was. Wants to know? I'll spend the rest of the trip in my cabin, I thought as I ran to my cabin on the aircraft, it was a small room with a bed, a desk, a trunk to store my things and a window.
I decided to lie down on the bed, let's try to sleep for most of the trip.
TIMESKIP
Finally I had arrived at the Land of Sands, it was a desert place, sand and ancient ruins as far as the eye can see, when I arrived at the Land of Sands I passed through a small village, when I asked about the situation the population told me that Intoner Two would normally take care of the situation about the Ankheg, but for some reason upon her return from Cathedral City Two she never appeared in public again.
Now here I am, walking through the dunes in search of this creature, the sun and heat didn't bother me, suddenly the ground started to shake, the sand below me, it was being thrown up, there was something below the ground, I rolled backwards, but I ended up being thrown away by the thing that came out from under the sand, when I got up I saw the thing in front of me.
The best way I can describe it is that it was a giant ant, the creature had a carapace on the upper part of its body, the creature had six legs, two on the back of its body, two in the middle, and two on the front, plus the On the front of its body the creature had two arms with pincers at the end, on the creature's head there were two large pincers on the sides of its mouth and coming out of the top of its head were two antennae. That must be Ankheg.
The Ankheg looked around until it noticed Edric, letting out a mighty roar the Ankheg slid across the sand towards Edric, its armored head pointing at Edric like a battering ram, Edric rolled to the right dodging the blow, as he passed Edric the Ankheg turned around still trying to crush Edric, this time Edric rolled to the left letting the Ankheg pass him.
The Ankheg stopped its attack giving Edric the opportunity to slash it across the right side of its body with the Blue Blood Sword, three powerful slashes to the Ankheg's legs and torso, the Ankheg then pivoted its body, its left pincer open, ready to slash. Edric in half, Edric rolled back, but the Ankheg did not stop, its body sliding across the sand the Ankheg repeatedly attacked Edric with both pincers.
Left, right, left, right, one blow after another, the Ankheg forced Edric to retreat, then the Ankheg threw its head back, opening and closing the pincers of its mouth repeatedly, then the Ankheg threw its head forward trying to break Edric with his tongs.
Edric rolled back one last time, the Ankheg's blow hit the ground creating a great cloud of sand, bouncing behind the dust Edric pierced the Ankheg's right eye with his sword, the Ankheg roared in pain and began to thrash around causing Edric lost his balance, as he stood up the Ankheg swung his left pincer in an arc, seeing the pincer coming towards him Edric raised his Adjudicator's Shield to protect himself from the blow, but the force behind the blow was such that he ended up throwing Edric away.
The Ankheg then started to make regurgitating noises, suddenly the Ankheg spit a jet of liquid see towards Edric, upon seeing the jet coming towards him Edric rolled across the dunes, grabbing his sword on the way, as he dyed the place where Edric was, the jet of green liquid began to hiss and steam, it was acidic.
"Hm! That could be a problem." Edric pointed his Silver Catalyst towards the Ankheg and cast Soul Ray, three rays came out of the catalyst, two hit the Ankheg in its armored head, leaving burn marks, but not piercing, the third hit one of the Ankheg's antennas ripping it off, the Ankheg's antenna fell to the ground, leaking yellow blood and flailing a little.
The Ankheg roared again and dove to the sands below disappearing underground, Edric placed his shield on his back and tucked the Blue Blood sword into his pouch and withdrew a Greatsword and held it in both hands.
(Author's Note: The Greatsword is basically the Zweihander from Demon's Souls.)
Looking around there was no sign of the Ankheg, it was quiet, very quiet, suddenly the sand began to shake, in the distance Edric saw the sand being thrown up, there was something coming towards him, Edric braced himself, the Ankheg was moving underneath the earth forming a line of sand being thrown upwards, upon getting close enough the Ankheg leapt out of the sand, its whole body flying towards Edric, its mouth open ready to devour him.
But before the Ankheg could devour Edric, a great ball of fire came from the sky and hit the Ankheg on the right side of his body throwing him away, a large shadow formed on the surface of the desert, looking up Edric saw a shape blocking him. the sun, this shape flew towards the surface of the desert the shape collided with the sand of the desert right in front of Edric, raising a large cloud of sand, when the sand dissipated Edric saw a familiar being, a black dragon.
"We meet again human." The black dragon said with amusement in his voice.
"Quite a coincidence, isn't it?" Edric answered as he turned towards the Ankheg.
"It's not a coincidence when I can smell you from across the desert."
"Serious? Do I smell that bad?" Edric asked as the Ankheg rose.
"I wouldn't say stench, but like a different smell, as I said before the smell of something old."
The Ankheg snapped out of its confusion and roared toward Edric and the dragon.
"I see you are in trouble. I wouldn't mind helping, for a price of course." The dragon said to Edric as he smiled.
Edric growled in irritation, Edric could defeat the Ankheg, but the help of a dragon would make the fight much easier.
"What is your price?" Edric asked the dragon.
"When we kill this beast, I would like you to cook its meat for me."
"So you mean you flew all the way out here just to get free food cooked by me?"
The black dragon looked left and right, trying to disguise that Edric guessed exactly why he had come to the Land of Sands.
"No, I was looking for a strong opponent to entertain me a little; it was pure coincidence that I found you here."
"Coincidence of course."
The Ankheg began to slide across the sand towards the dragon and Edric.
"Hm! I accept your help."
"Well done human, you should be honored that I, a black dragon, one of the greatest warriors, if not the greatest of the proud dragon race, decided to help you!" The dragon said as he puffed out his chest.
"You like to hear yourself talk, don't you?" Edric said as he ran towards the Ankheg.
"How daring." The dragon said as he turned to Edric but was confused to see Edric running towards the Ankheg, the dragon not wanting to be left out of the fight flapped his wings and took off.
The Ankheg leapt from the sand and dove towards Edric, at the last second Edric rolled to the right dodging the Ankheg, as he rose to his feet Edric swung his Greatsword and slashed off the middle leg on the Ankheg's left side, roaring the Ankheg spun around trying to cut Edric with its pincers, but the Ankheg was stopped by the black dragon that collided with its body, pushing it back with a head-butt.
Edric, taking this chance, raised his Greatsword and swooped down towards the Ankheg's left hind leg, slicing it off as well, the Ankheg tried to use its pincers, but the black dragon bit its right pincer and ripped it off, the Ankheg was running out of options. So as a last resort the Ankheg started spitting acid on the black dragon.
The dragon didn't have time to dodge, so he used one of his wings to protect himself from the acid.
"AAAHHH!"
The black dragon roared in pain as the acid began to melt its scales and tear its flesh, the Ankheg began to approach the dragon spitting even more acid. Edric seeing this began to run towards the dragon with a great leap Edric landed on the dragon's back and ran for its neck, as he stepped on the dragon's head Edric leapt forward, the Greatsword pointed downwards towards the Ankheg's armored head. .
A combination of Edric's superhuman strength and the Greatsword being enhanced to the maximum, the Ankheg's carapace was pierced, the Ankheg began to struggle trying to get Edric off of him, Edric planted his feet on the Ankheg's head and grabbed the sword harder, eventually the Ankheg fell dead, his brain pierced by the sword.
Edric removed his sword from the Ankheg's head and turned towards the black dragon, the dragon came towards Edric in a hurried step, and suddenly the dragon turned its body hitting Edric with its tail sending him away.
"Why did you do that?!" Edric asked as he got to his feet.
"Never climb on my back again! I will not allow a human to climb on me!" The dragon said to Edric as it bared its teeth.
"Fine! Next time I will let you be melted by acid!"
TIMESKIP
Edric's POV
It was already night in the desert, the dragon and I were sitting by a fire next to some ruins, I had cut some pieces of Ankheg meat and was roasting them in the fire, and the dragon was beside me licking its wounds.
"Is ready?" the dragon asked.
"You know the answer." Said to the dragon, he was silent.
As I sat in front of the fire I couldn't help but think about the time I have left, it will be two more days of travel when I get back, at this rate I won't be able to rank up in time, the quest locations are getting farther and farther apart, travel by land is not an option and aircraft are not fast enough. I need something faster like a…
I took a deep breath with what I was about to do, I swung my Rapier towards the dragon, the piece of meat came loose and the dragon ate it, while the dragon chewed I asked a question.
"Could you carry me for my future missions?" I asked the dragon.
"What do you mean by that?" The dragon asked with interest.
"In a month, Intoner known as Five will have a party, I need to be S rank in the guild to be able to request this mission, but at the rate I am, I won't be able to reach this ranking in time due to the distance of the missions. I would like to know if you are willing to take me to the mission's location."
"Hm! And why do you seek out one of the Intoners?"
"To kill her."
"And why do you want to kill her?"
"I do not wish to kill only Intoner Five, but all other Intoners, there is a dark power within them, for the sake of the world, I cannot allow that power to continue to exist."
"Hm! That power you felt is the flower."
"The flower? What is it?"
"The flower is a creation of God just like the dragons, but we are natural enemies, the flower aims to destroy the world, I have no idea how those girls got their power, but they won't be able to control it for long."
Another monster created by God. First the Old One and now this flower, what cruel God is this who wants so much to see the end of the world he created? There is another thing that bothers me, the Intoners are human, but according to the dragon they are not possessed by its power, yet. Will I have to kill another rational human? Will the situation of Astrea be repeated? Will I have to kill a good person for possessing demonic power?
"Continue."
"For now the Intoners control their power, but slowly they will be corrupted by the flower, they will go mad and cause calamities across the world. If a dragon devours the flower, it will gain great power and its form will change, yet I refuse to devour such a disgusting creature."
"Dragons can change form?"
"Yes, in two ways, devouring a great source of power or winning enough battles. I prefer the second way to devouring the flower. Unless of course you're willing to let me devour you?"
"If you try, I will break all your teeth." I said as I took the Dragon Bone Smasher out of my bag and stuck it in the ground next to me.
"HAHAHA! I like to hear it! It wouldn't be fun if it were easy!"
"You still haven't answered my question. Are you going to carry me on missions?"
"What do I get from that?"
"Roasted meat and the chance to face strong enemies during missions."
"Hm! I accept, but I will not carry it on my back."
"Good enough for me."
"I will not help you kill the Intoners; I have no interest in your human affairs."
"I don't see a problem with that, I can fight for myself."
"I'd like to see you say that when facing Intoner regeneration."
"Can Intoners regenerate?"
"Yes, from any wound, even if you cut off their heads, they will still live on and regenerate over time. You need the power of a dragon or something that counteracts their regeneration, and as I said before, I have no interest in fighting Intoners."
I put my hand in my bag and pulled out a Katana, I could feel the sword draining my health; I removed it from its sheath, and watched its blade in the moonlight.
The dragon became interested in the sword as he approached the blade and smelled it.
"Smell of curse." The dragon said with a growl.
"Yes, this is the Magic Sword Makoto, a sawed-edge katana, this sword has a curse that causes wounds that never heal, but in return, drains the health of its user. That should be enough to finish off the Intoners."
"You amaze me more and more human, to possess such a terrible weapon."
I didn't answer the dragon, I put the sword in its scabbard and then in my bag.
"Tomorrow we will return to the guild and then we will get more quests. I hope I can count on you." Said to the dragon.
"As long as I can get enemies to fight and meat to eat, I don't see any problem."
"Great, let's rest for today, we'll travel early tomorrow." I heard a snore, when I looked to the side the dragon was already sleeping.
I think it's better to do the same, I leaned against one of the ruins and tried to sleep, but some thoughts wouldn't leave my head. Are Intoners as bad as I believe? At first I thought the people of these lands were being manipulated, but their happiness seems genuine, they talk about how terrible their lives were before the Intoners arrived. Am I doing the right thing? It wouldn't be the first time I've killed an innocent for the sake of the world.
Intoners, whatever happens, I want you to know that I don't do this out of hate, but because it's my duty as a Slayer of Demons.
TIMESKIP
Edric's POV
I finally rose to rank B, a gold plaque was hanging around my neck now, and thanks to the black dragon it only took three days, at the moment the dragon was carrying me on its paw towards the Land of Forests, a creature called Manticore was terrorizing the local population, she was last seen near a village called Oslebelle.
"Hey dragon, what is a Manticore?" I asked the dragon.
"A large creature with a human face, a lion's body, a scorpion's tail, and bat's wings."
It looks like one of the monstrosities created by the Old Monk.
"Fly lower! Let's look for that Manticore!"
"If you insist."
The black dragon flew lower, I took my telescope out of my bag and started to observe the forest below, eventually I found a village hidden among the trees, and this must be Oslebelle.
"I found the village! I propose we go down!" Said as I pointed to the village, the dragon saw where he was pointing and flew towards the village, he circled over the village, descending slowly until he reached the center of the village, the dragon glided slightly above the ground, the dragon opened its paw letting go, I landed on the ground below and the dragon landed behind me.
The village was quiet, looking around I saw that the village was built between the trees or inside them, there were doors and windows in the trunks of the trees, wooden bridges passed above me, the village had small paths made of stone with grass around. Where were the people?
"Hello! Is there someone here? My name is Edric, I'm a guild member, and I've come to solve the Manticore problem! No need to worry about the dragon, he's working with me!" I said as I extended the gold plate hanging around my neck.
I saw something moving behind one of the windows of the houses, then in another, shadows moved on the bridges above me, suddenly the doors opened and several people began to come out, men, women and children. These people were thin, fair-skinned, and had sharp facial features, their most distinguishing feature being their pointed ears and youthful appearance.
"Who are these people?" I asked the dragon.
"These are the elves. Have you never seen elves before?" The dragon answered.
"No."
"Where did you come from exactly?" The dragon asked me.
I didn't have a chance to respond as one of the elves stepped out of the crowd and walked towards me, he looked older than the other elves but still had a youthful appearance. He had long white hair that reached his shoulders, wore a white shirt with a brown coat over it, brown pants, gloves and boots; he also carried a wooden cane that he used for support.
"They only sent you?" the elf asked me.
"Yes, but the dragon is with me too." Said while pointing at the dragon behind me.
The dragon saw that the elves around him were afraid of him, so the dragon started to release smoke from his nostrils as if he was going to spit fire, all the elves cowered in fear, the dragon lightly laughed at this.
"Well, a dragon's help is still better than no help at all. My name is Tiberius, Sir Edric." The old elf said with a sigh.
"Only Edric is good. Could you explain to me what happened here?"
"A few days ago a Manticore made this area of the forest its territory, the creature sees us as food, no one can leave the village without being devoured, and sometimes the Manticore invades the village in search of food, that is, us. But we are not the only ones affected, our neighbors, the fairies, have been driven from their home near the big tree where the Manticore made its nest."
"Hm! Could you tell me the location of that big tree?"
"Yes, through that gate. Follow the trail and you'll come to the big tree." Tiberius pointed to a large wooden gate on the other side of the village.
"Thank you sir Tiberius, come on dragon, I can tell you are excited to face the Manticore."
"HAHAHA! You read my thoughts."
Tiberius ordered the elves to open the gate; the dragon and I went through it.
"I wish you luck Edric." Tiberius said as the gate closed.
TIMESKIP
The dragon and I had been walking along a path for some time, trees the size of towers were to our left and right, the sun was barely making it through the dense foliage above us, strangely on the way to the nest I heard children's voices all around me.
"Who is this human?"
"He is different."
"He is not human! He is something ancient!"
"A creature! A strange being!"
"A demon bathed in blood!"
"A killer! A monster! A mighty being!"
"He smells like magic."
"A strange magic."
"Powerful magic."
I looked around for the source of the voices, but I couldn't find them.
"And who is that accompanied?"
"A dragon!"
"A cruel dragon!"
"A foolish old dragon!"
"A Stinky Dragon!"
"I don't stink your annoying pests!" The dragon yelled upwards.
"You stink a little." I said to the dragon.
The dragon opened its mouth to say something to me, but suddenly little lights formed around us, red, blue, yellow, green and more.
"What are those lights?" I asked the dragon.
"Fairies, annoying and arrogant little creatures, they think they are better and smarter than all other races of Midgard." The dragon said as he swung his tail, driving away some of the fairies around him.
I stared at the dragon upon hearing that statement.
"What?" The dragon asked me.
"Nothing." I turned to walk away, but ended up face to face with one of these fairies, she was standing at the edge of my helmet.
The fairy looked like a small human that would fit in the palm of my hand, she had small wings of blue light coming out of her back, pink hair that reached down to her back, green eyes and fair skin, the fairy wore fabric clothes that would fit on a doll, a sleeveless white fabric shirt and a red skirt, the fairy wore no boots or gloves.
The fairy looked at me with interest, cocking her head to the side in curiosity, the fairy started to walk across my helmet towards my face with her arms behind her back, the fairy then stood a few inches from my face, if leaned forward and touched my helm with both hands and glared at me.
"You are weird." The fairy said as she tried to peek inside my helmet.
"It's not the first time I've heard that." I said to the fairy as the dragon and I walked down the path.
"I don't know how to explain it, but you are between something human and non-human, several people inside the same body, but simultaneously, you are not a mixture of consciousness's, and deep down I feel an ancient power, magic and the power of ancient beings. Who are you human?" the faerie asked as she sat cross-legged on my helm.
Suddenly, the number of lights around me increased, I was surrounded by fairies talking simultaneously.
"Hey! You fool! Tell me how you got like this!"
"Humans always seeking more power, but will never be satisfied!"
"I wonder how he got that way. How many people did he kill? How many terrible things did he do to become so strong?"
"He smells of blood, steel, magic, death and poison!"
"Dragon, can you tell me why the fairies are so interested in me?" I asked the dragon who was getting more and more angry.
"When you appeared out of nowhere, everyone in Midgard felt magic felt you, it's something hard to explain, but the power you carry is something from time immemorial, something similar but different from the creations of God I faced in my youth. You are like a beacon to those capable of sensing magic." The dragon explained to me.
I think I understand, the dragon is talking about the souls and Demon's Sous in my body, souls of warriors, demons and their superiors, the Arch demons, absorbed into my body and transformed into strength, spells and weapons, I think that's why I already referred to me as several people in one body. The Old One and the demons were created by a God, but I'm not sure the God the dragon is talking about and the God who created the Old One are the same.
The faerie on my helm was still waiting for my reply "I am called Edric."
"E-edric… Eeedric… Edric!" The fairy kept repeating my name until she got it right.
"Hm! Strange, usually faeries insult your entire bloodline instead of trying to learn your name."
"My name is Eupherbia." The fairy said while pointing at her.
"I… Eupher… Eupherbia!" I said managing to pronounce the fairy's name.
"Yes, that is my name." The fairy said as she got up and flew around me.
"Tell me Edric, where are you from?" Eupherbia asked me.
"Boletaria."
"Never heard of this place."
"From the looks of it, no one in Midgard has heard, Boletaria must be a distant land for the people of Midgard, probably across the ocean."
"That explains why you are so ignorant of Midgard." The black dragon beside me said.
"And what are you two doing here in the Land of Forests?" Eupherbia asked again.
"We came to kill the Manticore."
Eupherbia was silent for a few seconds "This is dangerous, the Manticore is a terrible monster, it drove us out of our home in the big tree and made our home its nest."
"Why do you worry so much? This is not normal for your species." The black dragon asked as he glared at Eupherbia.
Eupherbia cowered in fear and hid behind me.
"Pay no attention to him; he's just a grumpy old dragon." I said to Eupherbia, she stopped hiding behind me and landed on my left shoulder. The fairies around us started talking again.
"They will die!"
"They will be eaten alive!"
"Torn to pieces!"
"No one will hear your screams!"
"RRROOOAAARRR!"
All the fairies flew away in fear due to the black dragon's roar.
"How dare you say that I will die?! I am a black dragon, the greatest warrior of our race! I will not die to a pathetic Manticore!" The dragon screamed into the forest for all to hear.
Eupherbia uncovered her ears when the roar stopped, but up ahead on the path the dragon and I saw a light, as we crossed the light we came to a clearing with rocky ground, the clearing was circular and the path rose above it, the dragon and I we jumped off the trail towards the clearing below.
CRACK!
When we landed we ended up stepping on a lot of bones, looking around we saw that the clearing was full of bones, probably the victims of the Manticore, on the other side of the clearing there was a big tree, the biggest I've ever seen in my life, further down the tree there was a hole in its trunk with two large rocks on each side, this must be the Manticore's nest.
"Looks like this is the place." I said to the dragon.
"Yes, I can smell death." The dragon answered.
"The Manticore is just ahead." Eupherbia said as she got off my shoulder.
Well, let's go then, I've prepared my Blue Blood Sword and Adjudicator's Shield.
CRACK!
I heard bones cracking behind me, and then felt a familiar dark sensation. Spinning my body quickly, I had my sword pointed directly at the face of someone I didn't expect to find so soon.
"Hello! We meet again." Intoner Three said while smiling at me.
"Lady Three!" A bizarre-looking old man shouted as he ran towards Three, the old man had slicked-back white hair, a long mustache and beard, purple eyes, he wore gray clothes with a coat and scarf, one of his most distinguishing features were the slippers that made him 20 centimeters taller and the large metallic rings he carried in his hands.
The old man pulled Three behind him and pointed his rings at me "Lady Three get away from that man, there's something wrong with him!"
"I know Octa! And that's why he interests me!" Three walked past Octa and came towards me, I was ready to pull Makoto out of my bag and end it here and now, but we were interrupted by a roar.
"RRROOOAAARRR!"
The roar came from the hole in the tree trunk; it seems that our discussion had drawn the Manticore's attention. The sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the clearing, from the hole came a large creature, it had a human face with a lion's mane around it, attached to the head was a lion's body, behind the creature was a scorpion's tail and on its back bats wings.
"I'll deal with you later; I have bigger problems at the moment." I said to Three as I turned to Manticore.
"See you later!" Eupherbia said as she flew away from the clearing hiding among the trees.
"Hump! Fairies, cowards who show their true colors when in danger." The black dragon said as Eupherbia flew away.
"I hope you don't mind if I join. I believe this is an opportune time to study you." Three said as he stopped beside me and opened and closed his scissors.
"Apparently there is no other way. Hope we can have some fun later Lady Three." The old man called Octa said as he turned the rings in his hand.
The Manticore roared and flapped its wings, leaping towards us, the black dragon did the same, intercepting the Manticore in the air, the two rolled across the ground, the Manticore used its paws to push the black dragon away, the two got up and As they faced each other, the Manticore reared up on its hind legs and tried to slash the dragon across its face with the claws of its left front paw.
The Manticore was interrupted by a Soul Ray conjured by Edric and a Chakram thrown by Octa that hit it on the right side of its back piercing and slashing it, the dragon then turned its body hitting the Manticore with its tail and throwing it away.
Edric cast Homing Soul Arrow and rushed towards Manticore.
"You have some interesting magic, how does it work? Does it come from your body? Your mind? Did you have to study to learn this magic? Or were you born with it? Is it an inheritance from your lineage or the result of experiments? And the silver wand in your hand? Is it the source of your magic? Did you assemble it? Or did you buy it from someone else? Can you cast spells without it?"
Three asked question after question trying to satiate her curiosity as she ran after Edric.
"I wish Lady Three would show that much interest in me, it makes me a little jealous." Octa said sadly from behind Three.
"Concentrate on the fight in front of you." Edric said as he approached the Manticore, the soul arrows above him shot towards the creature's face making it close its eyes and retreat.
This ended up giving Edric the opportunity to slash the Manticore across his face from left to right just above the nose, the Manticore roared in pain and tried to pierce Edric with its stinger, Edric raised his shield blocking the attack, but the Manticore continued to force Edric back, Edric planted his feet on the ground and entered into a contest of strength against the Manticore.
"How did you get such strength? Through training? Surgery? Magic enhancements?" Three asked as she stepped on Edric's shoulders, using him as a springboard and landing on the Manticore's back, slicing into its back with her scissors.
The Manticore roared as it took its focus off Edric and scrambled to get Three off its back, Three was thrown out of the Manticore but was caught by Octa before she hit the ground.
"How about when we're done we go to my room? I study the art of pleasure lately; I can take it to heights with just my hands." Octa said as he put Three down.
Three ignored Octa and ran towards the fight, Edric was being pressured by the Manticore, blow after blow as the Manticore tried to slash Edric with its claws, but Edric kept blocking the attacks with his shield. Eventually one of the Manticore's blows landed on the side of the shield knocking it out of Edric's way, the Manticore seeing this slashed Edric across the chest with its claws.
"Hump!" Edric gave a grunt of pain as he rolled away from the Manticore, but his wounds began to heal due to the regenerative enchantments of his shield and Ring.
Suddenly a ball of fire came towards the Manticore, the Manticore seeing this flapped its wings taking flight and soaring high in the skies, the black dragon that had spit out the fireball also took flight going after the Manticore, meanwhile Three stopped at the beside Edric and began pestering him with questions.
"Can you regenerate? How you do it? With magic? Magic items? Or is it something natural?"
Edric ignored Three's incessant questions and removed his White Bow from his pouch, then Edric put a White Arrow on his bow and tried to aim at the Manticore that was fighting the dragon in the sky. Unfortunately, Three saw Edric withdraw an entire bow and arrows from a small pouch slung around his waist, which piqued the Intoner's curiosity, which led to even more questions.
"How did you do it? Is this bag enchanted? Is there a limit to the size and amount of items that can be stored?" Three said as she reached out to take the bag from Edric's waist.
SLAP!
"Ouch!" Three screamed in pain as she rubbed the hand Edric had just slapped.
"Stay away from my equipment. Instead of wasting time asking questions, why don't you focus on the fight?" Edric said to Three as he returned his sights to the Manticore.
"Fine! But I want you to answer my questions later!" Three said as she stood beside Edric and watched the Manticore fight the dragon.
The dragon and the Manticore collided several times in the air, but neither managed to gain the upper hand against its opponent, the dragon and the Manticore collided once more, this time the black dragon managed to bite the Manticore in the neck, the Manticore decided to do the same to the biting the black dragon on its neck, the two stayed that way as they fell towards the ground.
Edric began to follow the fall of the dragon and Manticore with his bow, at the right moment Edric launched the arrow, the White Arrow, flew while spinning the air forming a spiral around him, the dragon seeing the arrow coming towards him released the Manticore and kicked it away with its paws, the White Arrow hit the Manticore on its left wing opening a big hole, the Manticore couldn't keep itself in the air and started to fall towards the ground.
The Manticore collided with the ground raising a large cloud of dust, Edric didn't give the Manticore time to recover, Edric ran towards the Manticore with his Blue Blood Sword ready, Three and Octa decided to do the same.
Edric slashed the Manticore across its face, the Manticore tried to pierce Edric with its stinger, but Edric blocked it with his shield, Octa then threw one of his Chakrams towards the Manticore's tail slicing it off, the Manticore roared in pain at having one of its her tails cut off, but was soon silenced by Three who slit the Manticore's throat with one of his scissors.
Then the black dragon dove down from the sky, its mouth wide open ready to bite the Manticore, and as it did, the black dragon sank its teeth into the right side of the Manticore's torso and bit down with all its might, the dragon then began to slam its body of the Manticore against the ground, this continued until the light disappeared from the Manticore's eyes, the black dragon then let out a great roar of victory.
"Did you have fun?" Edric asked as he approached the dragon.
"Surely human, today we will have a feast!" The black dragon said as he looked at the large dead Manticore at his feet.
"HOHOHO! That fight sure got my blood flowing, especially to my nether regions." Octa said while laughing, thinking of the reward Three would give him after the fight.
"Interesting, my interest in you only increases, if you don't mind I would like to invite you to stay overnight in my sanctuary. There we can talk properly and you can answer my questions." Three said as she approached Edric and tried to pull him by the arm, only to have Makoto pointed at her neck.
"Do not approach me demon." Edric said with Makoto in his hands.
"Lady Three!" Octa yelled as he prepared his Chakrams.
Three was smiling all this time, the gravity of the situation not affecting her as every action Edric took became an opportunity for Three to learn more about the person that interested her.
"It's okay Octa, today's experiment was a success. Hope to see you again Edric." Three said as she waved at Edric and walked past Octa.
Octa took one last look at Edric and the black dragon and then followed his Intoner.
"I expected you to cut off Intoners head here and now." The black dragon said.
"Not the best time. I have a duty to fulfill, but I also need to be patient, a better opportunity will arise. Let's prepare the meat of the Manticore, but leave the whole head, we need it to prove that we completed the quest."
Before Edric and the dragon could carry off the Manticore's body, Eupherbia came flying out of the trees.
"You are alive! And managed to kill the Manticore!" Eupherbia landed on the edge of my helmet again.
"Look, the little coward decided to come back when the danger was eliminated." The black dragon mocked the fairy.
The fairy was going to say something, but was interrupted by several fairies that appeared around us, and among them was a fairy that shone more than the others.
"What a surprise, the stupid human and the stinky dragon managed to kill the Manticore. Now you can leave my kingdom and never come back." The fairy said.
"And who are you exactly?" Edric asked the fairy.
"I, you ignorant human, am the Fairy King, and you should be kneeling in my presence, but I will be willing to overlook your transgression if you hand this traitor over to me." The Fairy King said as he pointed at Eupherbia.
Eupherbia hid behind me.
"Traitor? What did Eupherbia do to be considered one?" Edric asked the Fairy King.
"Do you think the Manticore chose our tree as its nest purely by coincidence? No! That cursed traitor had the bright idea to play a trick on the Manticore, and when the Manticore raged and tried to kill her, Eupherbia fled here, and the Manticore followed!" The Fairy King shouted.
"That's true?" I asked Eupherbia.
"Yea." Eupherbia replied in a low voice.
"Now, if you can hand her over, I will prepare for her execution." The Fairy King spoke.
"Are you going to execute her?"
"Of course! I will not let the damage done to my kingdom go unpunished!"
"Well, I wouldn't look for other ways to have fun like pranking a Manticore if you weren't all a bunch of motherfuckers!" Eupherbia screamed as she pointed at all the fairies around her.
"GASPH!" All the fairies sighed at what they heard.
"Yes! That's true! All of you motherfuckers who only know how to talk bad about each other."
"Fuck you!" Eupherbia said as she pointed to a fairy.
"Fuck you!" Eupherbia said as she pointed to another faerie.
"You're cool!" Eupherbia said as she raised her thumb to a fairy and the fairy returned the gesture.
"And you!" Eupherbia said as she pointed at the Fairy King.
"You are nothing but a fat, incompetent swine that has been ruining Faerie kingdom since your father's death, you raise taxes, take most of the food for yourself, execute or exile all who defy your will, and you care little for the security of the kingdom. If you really wanted to, you could have taken out that Manticore the very day it arrived, but you're nothing but a coward who hides behind bravado of courage. Then FUCK YOU!"
Eupherbia was red in the face and catching her breath from her speech.
The silence that followed was broken by the black dragon's laughter "HAHAHA! That's what I was talking about! That is the true nature of fairies!"
HAHAHA!" The black dragon's laughter was accompanied by the laughter of the faeries around the clearing, this slavishly adding to the Faerie King's shame and indignation.
"HOW DO YOU DARE?! I AM THE KING OF THE FAIRIES! THE WISE, THE STRONGEST! NO ONE COMPARES TO MY GREATNESS! I WILL ORDER YOU ALL TO BE EXECUTED! I… I… I…"
CHOMP!
The Fairy King never got to finish as his last vision before he died was the black dragon's row of teeth closing in to devour him, and that's what happened, the Fairy King met his end by becoming the meal of the black dragon.
All the fairies were silent, paralyzed by what just happened, suddenly all the fairies started to fight each other.
"THE KING IS DEAD! I PROCLAIM MYSELF AS THE NEW KING!"
"NO, I AM THE KING!"
"YOU ARE WRONG, I AM THE NEW KING!"
"Are they really going to kill each other to see who becomes the new king?" Edric asked the black dragon.
"These are fairies, selfish beings and they betray their fellows at the first opportunity they get. Let's go, I'm tired of wasting time with them." The black dragon said as it dragged the Manticore's body.
"Eupherbia what are you… Eupherbia?" Edric looked around, but there was no sign of Eupherbia anywhere, but if he had looked down at his waist, Edric would have seen two small legs entering his bottomless bag.
Edric then shrugged and started to accompany the dragon out of the clearing, there was no time to waste, the day of the feast was approaching and he still hadn't risen to S rank.
_
The Law of Causality dictates that an event A and a second event B are linked, provided that the second event is a consequence of the first. Some call this fate, causality, or the cause and effect principle, which holds that current circumstances are the result of past actions.
For example, the wind carries large golden robes that once belonged to a monk, eventually the wind takes the robes to a river where it is carried by the current, later on in the same river a fisherman in search of fish ends up catching the robes, seeing the quality of the robes, the fisherman considers selling them for a great price, but first the fisherman takes the robes to his wife to wash.
When washing the robes and hanging them on a clothesline, the robes end up being stolen by a thief, the thief sells the robes to a merchant, the merchant travels to the Land of the Forests in search of doing business, but is unable to sell the robes, for all those capable of feeling magic in the Land of the Forests say they get a bad feeling when they approach the robes, frustrated the merchant throws the robes away, which ends up causing them to be carried by the wind again.
Until finally the robes are taken to the shrine inside a large tree, the robes landed at the feet of a purple haired girl, the girl approached the robes with interest, only for the robes to leap at the girl like a snake and begin to wrap around your body. The girl tried to fight, but soon stopped and started laughing; she started laughing with everything the robes showed her.
A monk dressed in yellow, a large tower, creatures created from unholy experiments, and everything she ever wanted to create the perfect doll, the robes also showed her what ingredient was needed to create these dolls.
The girl heard a call, the call of something ancient, the call of an animal, the call of a hungry child.
"Bring me more souls."
END OF THE CHAPTER
Hi! Thanks for reading this far! Before you go, I'd like to give you a few warnings.
First of all, as you can see in this chapter I have included a new character, the fairy Eupherbia, first of all I would like to say that I don't plan on turning Eupherbia into a good fairy, she just won't be as bad as other fairies. One thing that worries me is that this story ends up looking like another Drakengard Fanfic, it's called Flower to the Dead, it's a Drakengard 3 crossover with Kingdom Hearts written by Preferably Bitter 52, and this fic can be found on the Fanfiction website. Net or on AO3 by Catch358, it's one of my favorite fanfics, if you're a fan of Drakengard and Kingdom Hearts I recommend you read it. Coming back to the subject, I'll do my best so that my story and Flower to the Dead don't look too similar.
That's it for now.
Until the next chapter!