"247…248…249…250!" Eric gasped out as he finished his final rep, collapsing to the ground with a relieved groan as he felt the muscles across his entire body aching after finishing his daily exercises.
"And 250 weighted handstand push-ups. Not too bad considering you couldn't even do ten push-ups when you started three months ago." Bacchus said with a grin and Eric just groaned as he gave a thumbs-up, taking a minute or two for his stamina to return before he sighed as he pushed himself up to his feet.
Catching sight of the golden four on his right bicep that was encircled by a wolf-like tail in black, Eric couldn't help the giddiness in his body as he was still shocked about the fact that he was now a real authentic mage with magic & everything.
While he was a bit disappointed that he couldn't have joined Fairy Tail, Lamia Scale or any of the other guilds, he had to admit that Quatro Cerberus really embodied his ideal group of people: nothing but dudes working out & kicking the shit out of each other for 'training purposes' while drinking from before dusk to nearly midnight.
"I've never seen anyone look at the guild mark with as much happiness as you do." Bacchus' voice knocked Eric out of his daydreaming and he gave a smirk as he stood to his feet while taking off the ankle & bracelet weights that tried pulling him back into the ground, groaning as he felt the heavy pressure on his limbs disappear.
"What can I say? Being a mage is every young boy's dream if they have magic and I managed to achieve it, so of course the happiness is not going to go any time soon." Bacchus chuckled at his words before they looked to the side as footsteps approached, Guy giving them an amused smile as he waved.
"Yo! Master said that you two would be up and training already."
"You were taking too long to get here."
"Well, I'm here now. So, how goes the magic training?" Guy asked as he turned towards Eric, the young man nodding as he took a deep breath and a light violet sheen of energy clung to his body.
With a simple step, Eric felt the air carrying his body as he rocketed a few meters forward with ease before he jumped up, smirking as he leapt past the trees before he nodded as his body slowly floated back down & landed with a soft tap on the ground in front of the other two.
"As you can see, pushing and pulling my body is getting much easier to do compared to how much I struggled a month ago, although I can't keep my body afloat for long."
"That makes sense. What about the other things we were working on?" Guy asked and Eric smirked as he pointed a finger at Bacchus before swiping it down, the smirk on the drunk man's face not disappearing even as five times the area's gravity pushed down onto his shoulders before it disappeared.
"Damn, how strong are you?" Eric asked with a frown and Bacchus chuckled as he took a swig of his gourd.
"Enough to kick your ass while I'm still sober. That's enough training from me, so I'm going back ta drinking." Bacchus said with a grin and a wave before he walked away, Eric & Guy watching him leave before both men sighed and shook their heads.
"Is he actually the Ace of the Guild?"
"Regrettably, but enough about him. You've mastered the basics of your ethernano training which is all I can teach you as from here on, all you need to do is master your magic to its utmost limits and you might reach S-Class."
"Hey, do you think you can teach me Archive magic?" Eric asked and Guy blinked confusedly at the question before he shrugged.
"A weird request to make out of the blue, but sure. Just don't have any hope as Archive magic is only able to used by a select few who have the mental fortitude for it." Guy answered with a shrug and Eric grinned excitedly as the other man rolled his shoulders before a series of orange holographic screens appeared in the air around him.
"It is essentially just using your magic to create a holographic computer in front of you that doesn't use any kind of lacrima to be used. What I see it as is your mind is turned into a computer, with your short term memory as a USB, your long term memory as a hard drive and your magic as the electricity. Once you picture that and imagine the screens in front of you, it doesn't take much to activate it."
'Okay, I see. It's like using a VR headset & projector but without the headset or the projector. All I have to do is imagine my mind being turned into a computer and my eyes being the projector lenses that displays the screens & keyboard in front of me. Once I do that, it's easy.' And as he finished that thought, Eric grinned at the small keyboard appearing in front of him as well as the three screens floating above the keyboard.
"…Seriously? It's that easy for you?" Eric turned as he heard Guy speaking, surprised to see the man looking a bit shocked at the screens & keyboard in front of him.
"Wasn't it supposed to be?" He asked and Guy sighed as he shook his head.
"No, not unless you either have an affinity for that type of magic or you've understand the inner works of the spell perfectly."
"…Then I guess I have an affinity for it."
"Nope. Archive is in the same Utility magic affinity as Requip and we both know it took you a month before you finally mastered its basics."
"Don't remind me of that." Eric grumbled as the screens disappeared and Guy chuckled as he shrugged.
One would think that having Gravity magic, which is kind of Spacial Magic, would help him understand Requip & pocket dimensions better, but it took him an entire two weeks to learn just how to create a pocket dimension with his magic and another two to learn how to store things on the fly.
Even then, he takes at least two seconds to open his pocket dimension to store something compared to what Guy & Bacchus told him of those that specialize in Requip magic who are able to open & close their pocket dimensions nearly five times within just those two seconds.
It was a good thing he had his Gravity magic or else, he would have lost his mind already.
"Anyway, the Master wanted me to come fetch you. He says that he's got important news." "Okay, could you tell him I'm going to shower up first?" Eric asked and Guy gave a thumbs-up as he turned and walked towards the guild hall, Eric sighing as he took a deep breath before following after to wash off all the sweat & grime from his training.
"Yo, Master! You wanted to see me?" Eric exclaimed as soon as he walked into through the door that led to the living quarters of the guild hall and into the front area, nodding back at the guys that nodded at him while Goldmine chuckled as he nodded.
"I figured you might be getting cooped up in this old place, so here you go." And Eric's eyes widened as the sunglasses-wearing man handed him a pamphlet, more focused on its contents as he swiftly read through it.
Monster Hunting Job:
We send this request out to any mage that wishes to take it. Near our beloved Onibea Town, we have been hearing rumbles of either a large beast or a group of beasts and a few young people have gone missing.
We ask of any mage that sees this request that if possible, would you kindly come and vanquish this beast/ beasts and save our Town?
Reward: 200, 000 Jewels
"Seriously?" Eric asked in shock as he looked up and Goldmine snorted as he nodded.
"Seriously. Both Bacchus and Guy think that you're ready to finally go on your own mission, but they both just left on an S-Class Job, so I decided that this one should be fitting for you. Don't worry, it's just a simple monster extermination job, so most likely it's just a few Vulcans or perhaps a few tribes of them. In other words, easily beatable."
"…How long do I have?" Eric asked as he looked back down at the page and Goldmine hummed as he looked to be in thought for a second or two before he shrugged.
"It came in a week ago and monsters usually take about two weeks before they get too reckless and impatient enough to invade a human settlement, so I'd say another week. Perhaps a day or two more."
"…Hmm, okay then. I guess I'll take it." Eric answered as he smirked and Goldmine smirked as he nodded, taking the page from Eric & holding it against a large binder that he pulled out from under the bar counter.
Eric watched in fascination as Goldmine touched the page against the binder and the page glowed before a copy of it appeared in the binder as Goldmine nodded.
"This is a Collection Binder. When a job posted on the mission board is taken, the guild uses this to inform both the one that put up the job and all the other legal guilds that a mage from our guild is currently undertaking the job."
'So, it's like Fiverr but with magic? That's pretty cool.' Eric thought with a hum as he nodded, turning around & making his first step towards his first mission before he stopped as he turned back to an amused Goldmine with a sheepish grin.
"Hehe, uh…where is this Onibea Town exactly?"
'How much money does the guild have to just easily give me a hundred thousand for supplies?' Eric thought with a shake of his head as he made his way down the path that led out of Oak Town and was a straight path towards Onibea Town, which thankfully was only a few kilometres south of Oak Town.
Yes, Goldmine said that he had to pay it back when he returned with the mission rewards, but still, 100 000 Jewels was probably the equivalent of $1000 from his old world and for a guild to just give out that much money without any hesitation…
He wondered just how rich the actual rich people of this world was.
'No time to think about that shit. Firstly, let's get this mission done.' Eric thought with a frown as he adjusted his new backpack, which was filled with a few water bottles, a meal or two and new clothes that he had decided to buy.
The bag had Jutsu Shiki runes written on the inside of it which both preserved the contents inside of it and expanded the inside of it to fit everything that he brought with him.
He had tried his hand at Jutsu Shiki during the three months of training, but let's just say…
He did not currently have the imagination, the mental capabilities, the hand writing or the drive & determination needed to even attempt it let alone try & master it, which was fine because Gravity Magic had quite the few applications that he wanted to test out and this mission was going to give him the chance to.
'Man, it still feels surreal even after three months of being in this world.' Eric thought with a soft smile as he continued down the path, a skip in his step as he hummed while walking.
"Halt! Who dares to walk upon my road?!" Eric blinked as he heard a voice shouting, looking to the side and blinking confusedly at the sight of a man walking out of the bushes, dressed in a dark cloak with the hood of the cloak hiding the top of his face from view.
"…Not going to lie, my guy, but that shit sounded really corny."
"Are you insulting me, light filth?!" The man growled and Eric blinked before he shrugged as he put his backpack on the ground.
"Hey, I have to ask. Are you a part of any guild of sorts?"
"Hah! So, you've finally recognized my brilliance, have you?! I am Lyrilac, mage of Death's Hand Caucus and I am here to capture any stupid legal mage that tries to use this path!"
'Isn't that the guild that those Trinity Raven people that worked under Jellal during the Tower of Heaven arc are from?' Eric thought with a subtle frown that he quickly hid with a smirk as he readied himself for a battle.
"So, you've been hiding here and capturing every weak mage and/ or civilian that you can find in order to take them back to your guild, where they are most likely sold into slavery? Did I get that right?" Eric asked with an amused smirk, his smirk growing as growls came from under the hood of the dark mage.
"You dare ridicule the great Lyrilac?! You shall pay for your insolence with your li-!" The dark mage was cut off by the air around him heavily crushing his body from all sides, unable to even scream as the wind was knocked clear out of it.
Eric didn't waste any time as he rocketed himself forward with his magic while also cancelling the crushing force, the mage unable to gasp as his body was forced forward and directly into Eric's fist.
Eric knew that his new move was really painful as he shifted the gravity behind his opponent to force them forward while also pushing his fist forward to boost its punching power.
Case in point: Lyrical could barely stay conscious for a second under the crushing force before he blacked out, Eric quickly cutting off the magic and catching him as he sighed.
'Damn, still too much magic used in that move.' Eric thought with a frown as he felt a third of his ethernano gone, feeling it quickly replenishing as he shook his head while staring down at Lyrilac's unconscious form.
On the one hand, Eric couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed at the fact that the battle was barely even a minute long, but on the other hand, he was grateful that he was able to get the drop on the dark mage & easily take care of him without sustaining any injuries.
'Thanks to my huge IQ, or should I say my paranoia, I thought of this.' Eric thought with a smirk as he walked back to his backpack, reaching into it before smirking as he pulled out his arm along with a few meters of rope & hand cuffs.
Having to explain why he needed rope and hand cuffs to the attendant led to how he needed it in case he captured dark mages along the way and how it's not for the bedroom.
Walking back over to the mage, he smirked as he quickly cocooned him in the rope and tied it in a few tight knots before he groaned as he picked up both the tied up mage & his backpack whilst making his way back to Oak Town.
The mission has a few more days that it can wait.
First, he needed to go see if this guy had a bounty of his head.
"…Are you kidding me? It's not even been half an hour since you left the town." Goldmine muttered with a sigh as both he & Eric watched the Rune Knights taking away the struggling Lyrilac and Eric gave a sheepish chuckle as he quickly counted off the hundred thousand he owed Goldmine before putting the rest of the money inside his backpack.
How the hell that one guy was worth 1,300,000 Jewels, he didn't know, but at least it was easy money.
"Hehe, I guess it's my bad luck. Well, I'm off again." Eric said with a grin as he picked his backpack up and started making his way to the exit once more, Goldmine just waving him off as the guild master made his way back into the guild hall.
'Money is a good motivator, isn't it?'
A few hours later, Eric groaned in relief as he finally walked into Onibea Town, his new body not used to having walked nearly five kilometres in one go.
'When I'm getting back, I'm definitely upping the training because I can't be winded just by walking a few kilometres.' Eric grumbled as he shook his head and started making his way into the Town, noting how the people he passed gave him wary glances before their faces grew hopeful at the guild mark on his bicep.
Walking through the streets, he finally made his way to the municipal building on the far right side of the town, which was also conveniently the largest building in the town.
'Plot convenience for the win.' Eric thought with a smirk as he made his way up the stairs and into the building, locking instantly on the elderly man pacing in the middle of the entrance while a secretary sat behind a desk & caught sight of him walking in.
"Mr. Hubert." The assistant said with a smile and the elderly man blinked as he looked up before his eyes lightened up at the sight of Eric walking towards them.
"Are you the mage from Quatro Cerberus?" He asked and Eric smiled as he turned to show the guild mark on his shoulder, Hubert giving a sigh of relief before he grinned happily as he held a hand out.
"Hubert Rosier, mayor of Onibea Town. Pleased to meet you."
"Eric Creed, new mage of Quatro Cerberus. Likewise."
"New?" Hubert asked with a concerned smile and Eric nodded.
"Yes, I've only been a mage for the past three months. This is my first actual job."
"Then you must be quite the prodigy for Master Goldmine to sent you." Hubert said with an ecstatic smile and Eric just chuckled as he shook his head.
"Not at all, Sir Hubert. I'm just a simple mage."
"And humble too." Hubert chuckled and Eric reciprocated it before the mood turned serious as the old man sighed.
"Well, I suppose I must get to why you are actually here."
"Yes, it said that there were rumours of a beast or multiple beasts on the outskirts of the town, but no description of what the beasts actually are. Could you provide more information on that part as well as where the monsters were spotted most of the time?"
"Of course, anything to help make your jobs easier. Now, no one has managed to get a good look of the monster, but people did say that they saw it crawling on all fours and that its growls were deep. Also, the spottings have mostly been near the water reservoir & the farms near the south-east outskirts of town, but the growls have been the deepest and loudest near the outskirts on the western side."
"And when are the times that it goes to eat and/ or drink?" Eric asked and Hubert frowned as he gave it a deep thought.
"Uh, the citizens that live on the farms say that it's mostly near midnight, but usually about two to three o'clock in the morning, they'll hear it lumbering about and crawling away from the farms, most likely going away."
'Okay, that sounds easy to figure out. It's a quadrupedal beast that's also some sort of herbivore or omnivore that is smart enough to figure out that the western side is the safest place to sleep on considering it's near a swamp that's very dangerous for anyone that is not a mage and it also chooses the best time where no one is around or awake to feed & drink water. However, the fact that it's at those times means that it is cautious of interacting with any kind of human.' Eric thought with a frown as he processed the information before he nodded as he smiled at Hubert.
"Okay, then. I appear to have gotten the gist of everything and don't worry, Mr. Mayor. By tomorrow evening at the latest, this beast shall have been dealt with, but first. Do you perhaps have an inn in this town?" Eric asked with a smile and Hubert chuckled as he nodded, using his cane to walk out of the building as Eric waved at the secretary with a polite smile before following after the old man.
"Hahaha! Sure! I have just the place for you."
Eric frowned as he sat in a tree in the swamp on the western side of the city outskirts, watching vigilantly as he kept an eye out for anything that might catch his eye, having been seated here for almost a few hours.
It was only after he let out a sigh that a loud crack quickly made him look up, his body instantly on alert as the sound of something big dragging itself across the muddy waters echoed throughout the sound.
Focusing his eyesight, Eric's eyes widened at the sight of a large beast, nearly triple his height, making its way through the muddy swamp, dark brown scales covering its body with a pair of wings for arms and hindlegs as thick as oak tree stumps that helped support it as its pair of dark gold horns reflected the moonlight shining onto it.
'A fucking wyvern?…Well, shit.' Eric thought with a frown as he lowered himself further into the shadows of the branches around him, watching as the beast crawled towards a large cave that he had seen earlier during his surveillance.
'Okay, remember everything I read about Wyverns in those encyclopaedias at the guild. They're durable on every point of their body except for the eyes, the inside of their mouths and their underbelly. Their fangs, claws and talons are powerful enough to carve through forged steel like a hot knife through butter and the Desert Wyvern & the Blizzard Wyvern can breath out scorching sands & freezing ice respectively. Now, the preferred method for dealing with one is to either attack unexpectedly with an ambush or if possible, strike from the underside & destroy its heart. However, getting close enough to do that will prove difficult since a wyvern also has very acute senses. I need some sort of opening or…wait a second. What's that?' Eric stopped his train of thought as he narrowed his eyes, a slight smirk appearing on his face as the wyvern had turned while looking for any enemies to reveal a raw jagged scar on the left side of its body as well as the slight limp of its left leg.
While the scar was not fresh, it was not fully healed and so, a drop of blood could be seen dripping out of it every minute or so.
'Okay, now that's a good thing. Hah, okay. Time for my first ever actual battle.' Eric thought with a deep breath as he rolled his shoulders & cracked his neck, feeling the ethernano drumming loudly in his chest as he waited until the wyvern lowered itself to try & sleep before he struck.
A/N: Another chapter, another day!
Three months of training and now, the next chapter is the first actual battle for Eric against his first serious foe.
How will it go, I wonder?
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…
Ba-Bye~!
