I dropped down from the sky, releasing my [Shadow Wall] and turning myself visible.
Just to make it more dramatic, I’ve also used one of my new spells in Lumenmancy, [Spotlight], that creates an orb of light in the air.
Battle music that showed off the strength of a thousand men was already playing in the background thanks to my [Heed Thy Call] boon, making me feel much more epic at the moment.
Naturally, I landed in the classic three point landing pose with my wings flared out for dramatic effect.
All eyes were on me as I straightened myself to my full height, cutting a pretty dramatic pose as my [Spotlight] intensified its light rays on me before slowing fading away.
I lifted my chin at the wyvern, “Hey, why don’t you take someone your own size?”
The wyvern let out a roar before leaping at me, a move that I was already used to seeing after I fought its counterpart in the dungeons multiple times.
I moved my right foot forward and lowered my centre of gravity with my hands held out in front of me.
The moment he reached within striking distance, I reached out and grabbed the wyvern by the jaws.
My back foot absorbed the impact and I redirected the force upwards, lifting the entire wyvern upwards over my head as the momentum flipped it over.
Shifting my body weight, my hands moved and slammed the giant monster down on the ground behind me in the throw that I’ve performed hundreds of times.
I pulled back my right hand and formed into a fist, taking a moment to look down at the wyvern that was looking up at me with wide eyes.
[Shadow Forge]
[Lightning Clad]
[Body Current]
Shadows wrapped around my upper arm to form a massive gauntlet with hardened spikes at the knuckles a moment before lightning gathered along its length. With it fully charged, I slammed my fist down right on top of its head, smashing it and the ground underneath it.
The force was enough to lift the rest of the wyvern’s body up into the air before it slammed back down with a resounding boom.
Experience tells me that it wasn’t dead yet so I casted another [Lightning Clad] and punched it again, hearing the satisfying crack of its skull shattering in the next blow.
Two blows and it’s dead. Easy.
I stood back up and flipped my hair, giving my audience a wide smile, “So, what are you girls doing here?”
It took them a while to recover from the shock of what just transpired.
The surprising thing was that they weren’t as welcoming of my presence as I thought.
Those that could move levelled their weapons at me, some of them looked fearful while the others looked resolute.
I thought I would need to disarm them but Ardiolyta called out while still pinned by the ice block, “Sisters!! Stand down!! Lower your weapons!!”
The others looked to their leader and hesitated for a moment before obeying, though they still watched me warily.
There was a groan before the block of ice pining Ardiolyta was shoved away, that strength stat of hers is indeed no joke.
Ignoring everyone else, she immediately went to Odeta’s side, holding the little girl up who was looking at me with wide eyes.
“Odeta! Odeta! Are you alright?!”
“Eh? Ummm… Owww… I… I think so, sister Ardi”
The larger woman sighed in relief before trying to pick her up, only to stop when she noticed that part of the little girl’s leg was bent at an odd angle, a clear sign of the bone being broken.
It seems like her adrenaline has not worn off yet for the little girl to notice the broken leg.
She took a moment to think before turning to me, “I thank you for the rescue stranger… But I must ask… What is a Mesletar doing here?”
I tilted my head at her, “What am I doing here? I live here.”
She blinked a few times at me.
“You… Live here? In this forest?”
“Well not exactly. Further north from here by the edge of the cliff.”
“You… You were granted permission to live here?”
Granted permission? What, does a king or queen own this land or something? Maybe some dragon monarch reigning over the Dragon Sanctuary? But Mother never mentioned such a thing though?
But since she’s living here, that must mean she does have permission from whoever to stay right? And by extension, it applies to me as well, right?
Erm… Even if I didn’t I guess I should just play along first.
“Yes, I was. Is there a problem?”
Her face brightened up slightly, “Ah! If you are granted permission… Then this might be too impertinent of me but could I beg you to allow us use of a space for us to recuperate? Just for a few days? We can pay you.”
“Mmm… I do not have beds for more people though.”
She then gestured to the backpacks that a few of them were carrying, “We can camp and we will make our own food so you do not have to provide for us. We just need somewhere to stay while we tend to the little one’s injuries.”
I was going to point out that they should be able to carry the little girl away until I noticed that the rest of the group was also not in the best of shape. That’s also not considering that they had withstood a frost breath from the wyvern earlier.
They should be able to move on their own but to carry another person while moving through the forest and keeping a lookout for monsters? That’s going to be difficult.
“In that case, perhaps you should answer my question first. What are you doing here?” I asked.
She reached her hand behind her waist and fished out what looks like a card, “We are Mercenaries from the Guild. We received a quest to hunt a Frost Wyvern around here and to deliver its materials back to our client. Though we managed to kill one, we were unprepared when a second one showed up. The group here was meant to be a diversion to draw the second wyvern away while the rest retreated.”
I received the card and realised it was sort of like a membership card. It had a picture of her, her name, and an emblem that I assume to signify either the Guild or something stamped at the bottom right corner. Under the title ‘Affiliation’, it’s printed there that she’s a Mercenary as she claimed.
Beside it were the words ‘B Rank’, which clued me in about the ranking system they had.
Also… Though I’m still growing so I’m still not at my full height, but Ardiolyta is massive. I think she’s definitely more than two metres tall and the other Amraps were also the same. Only Odeta looked about my height.
After handing the card back, I gestured to the dead wyvern, “I take it this is the second wyvern that showed up?”
“Yes, miss…”
“Aster.”
“Miss Aster. I am Ardiolyta and this is my sister, Odeta.”
The little girl bowed her head even while seated, muttering a word of “Hello” shyly.
She did not introduce the rest of her companions to me but I did not ask either.
I thought about their request and eventually decided there wasn’t any reason to deny their request. I can also learn more about the Guild and also Amrap culture from them. There’s also plenty of space in front of the house for them to camp so I don’t exactly have to prepare anything to accommodate them either.
I can also station a few of my summons to watch over them in case they plan to do anything so it’s a win-win for me.
“Alright then, just let me get the Mana Crystal from the wyvern and I’ll show you where you can stay.”
She bowed her head, “I thank you, miss Aster.”
Ardiolyta then turned to her companions and the reason she didn’t introduce them to me was brought to light.
She took one of the backpacks from them and instructed the rest to link up with the main group, passing them the message that they are to return with their prize to their client and complete their quest first before returning for her.
I guess she’s still wary of me and didn’t want me to know more than I needed to.
While they were still talking, I had already dissected the wyvern and took out the Mana Crystal, storing it in my Pack of Folding.
I would normally also carve up the wyvern for its parts, but I’ve already killed it so many times and I have way more wyvern materials than I know what to do with. Plus, I didn’t want them to know I could use [Shadow Summon] just in case I needed to use it on them.
The others left quickly, leaving behind Ardiolyta and Odeta with me.
The elder Amrap had already made a makeshift splint for her little sister before shifting her onto her back, “I am ready, miss Aster.”
I nodded, “It’ll be quite a walk though, unless you can fly?”
Ardiolyta shook her head, “It’s fine, I can deal with it as long as it won’t take a night to get there.”
“In that case, follow me. If any monsters appear, just let me handle them.”
“That’s very reassuring. Once again, thank you for your assistance, we are in your debt.”
I waved at her to show that it wasn’t a big deal before leading them in the direction of my home, wondering what new things would happen now.