Between the towering Yavan trees, a wyvern soared at high speed. Its flapping wings sliced through the leaves. It was bleeding heavily, and clearly being chased. But by who? The wyvern kept fleeing, and after a while, the sound of extremely fast footsteps could be heard—someone was running.
The sound of grass being lightly trampled echoed. The runner was moving at a crazy speed. Upon closer inspection, the person wore leather armor and simple clothes. They carried several short and long swords, and had black-furred ears. Her hair reached her neck. She was a demi-human girl of werewolf origin—Etomi.
She stared at her prey as it continued to flee, and she kept pursuing it. She didn't want to let it go. After some time, the wyvern slowed down to avoid a giant tree in its path. Suddenly, one of its wings was severed and it fell to the ground—along with Etomi, who held a thin, long sword. Then the wyvern itself collapsed, too exhausted to fight after all that running.
Etomi calmly followed behind it as it tried to crawl away desperately. She then pulled out another sword from her waist. In the blink of an eye, she appeared in front of the wyvern, her blades now covered in blood that wasn't there a moment ago. Suddenly, the wyvern's head was sliced off and fell to the ground. Etomi then swung her swords to shake off the blood.
This was the fifth wyvern Etomi had killed that morning. It seemed she'd been training ever since arriving in Yavan. After losing a major battle and her number one rank, she didn't give up. She had begun a new adventure in the Yavan forests, seeking the strength to defeat the Sleeping Dragon. Right now, that was the goal of this adventurer—adventurer number two.
Far from Etomi and her passionate morning, in one of the settlements, Ralce—the number one adventurer—was walking with his party, the three girls. Everyone around them was watching with awe and excitement. After all, they were the strongest party in Iveleth and Yavan. Seeing them up close was not a common sight for beginner adventurers in this area. As they walked, people whispered.
"That's Ralce… the number one adventurer."
"I can't believe he surpassed Etomi."
"He cleared the western dungeon alone."
After a while, Ralce and his party moved away from the crowds and continued walking between the thick Yavan trees. Ralce looked somewhat pleased, and so did Rommy, but Lisa and Nowy seemed annoyed, which piqued the curiosity of the guy in the green armor. Still, he held back and asked a different question.
"You dumb, are you sure you can fight?" Ralce asked, staring at the Red Hood.
"I told you a hundred times—yes. The wound is closed, and I don't even feel any pain when it's hit," Rommy answered.
"Fuck you," Ralce muttered.
"By the way, you two—why aren't you happy?!"
"I hate fame," Lisa quietly replied while holding her staff.
"Me too," Nowy added.
"You two are such dumbasses. We just achieved something amazing! You weren't even known before this—how are you not happy?!" Rommy shouted.
"Can you shut your mouth?" muttered the silent witch, who seemed to have given up on being quiet for once.
"So, girls, do you know why we're here?" Ralce asked loudly while picking a peach from a tree.
"To kill the Sleeping Dragon," Rommy answered.
"Are you insane?! You want to kill a dragon like that? One that rivals one of the strongest people in the kingdom—Gaziel?!" Nowy exclaimed.
"Come on, why so pessimistic? I'm stronger than Gaziel. Don't you think so, Lisa?"
"Stronger than him… in humor."
"God, you girls never encourage anyone."
"But at least we're standing by you," muttered the dark elf.
"Yeah. Even after you made such a reckless decision, we're still following you," added the blonde girl, looking into Ralce's eyes.
"Because you're the leader…" Lisa whispered quietly, looking at the ground.
"By the way, I heard that, Lisa," Ralce replied.
After that, the party ventured deeper into the forests. They fought some monsters, like wyverns and snadras. This was one of their adventures—getting familiar with the Yavan areas and gathering experience to prepare for the decisive battle against the Sleeping Dragon. A fateful battle that would be decided by strength. What we know now is that this dragon has become the target of the two strongest adventurers.
◆ ◆ ◆
In the village of Bloomy, a group of kids were playing. They ran around happily—and a bit recklessly. One of them bumped into Laos, who was heading to the tavern. The child fell to the ground and got a small scrape on his knee. Laos reached out and healed it with his spell. The kid then got up, thanked him, and ran off.
"I see you can use healing magic too," said Nhor as he approached Laos.
"It's just a Lowspell I got after a short prayer. It only heals minor, non-serious wounds," Laos replied.
They headed to the tavern, and this time, the scene was disturbing—very unpleasant to Laos. Inside, there were a lot more adventurers than usual. Unlike before, the dryads were no longer the dominant group. Today, the number of adventurers had increased dramatically, and the place now felt like a tavern in Iveleth. Laos frowned as he looked around.
"What did I tell you?" Ponier said, suddenly appearing with a cup of tea.
"It's annoying," Laos muttered.
"Very. By the way, I know a good tier 6 boss location," Ponier added.
"Thalesa, do you think it's suitable?"
"Better than wyverns."
"Good. I'll eat breakfast, then we'll go."
I headed to one of the tables and ordered my meal. The place was crowded—just like Fiona's tavern. These adventurers… Fuck, the place has become terrible. Or maybe I just don't like it anymore. It's been two weeks, and I've gotten used to Yavan's calm. While sitting, I overheard some adventurers talking.
"Looks like another competition between Etomi and Ralce is starting."
"Yeah, and the winner will be the one who kills the Sleeping Dragon."
Another competition? Killing the Sleeping Dragon—looks like adventurer number one is absolutely insane. It's funny that I want to surpass her, but now she's become adventurer number two. So, my goal should be to become number two, not number one… I need the power or fame that will flood me with money. But, I have to level up and enter this competition… that is, kill the Sleeping Dragon myself.
Imagine if I did it. That would be crazy. I'd become the number one adventurer, my name would spread across the capital, and Linda and the others would hear about me. Yoooh, life would be so beautiful. So, so beautiful. Of course, after I buy a house. But yeah, that would be crazy—and impossible, naturally. But still… I have this strong desire to do it.
"Let's go. You ready?" said Ponier as he stood up.
"Let's buy some potions first."
We left the crowded tavern on our way to the potion shop. Unlike before, there were actually adventurers inside. Before, no one was there—not even the dryads. Bloomy has really changed. It's amazing. Look at the effect of just those two adventurers. Just two, and they managed to change the goals of every adventurer—maybe even mine.
"Where are you two going?" Rose asked after suddenly appearing with a little girl, Feefy.
"To fight a boss," I replied.
"Oh… good luck. Take care of yourself, our savior," said Rose.
"I will. You take care of yourself too."
Savior, huh? Is it modesty, or do I just hate that title because I'm a failure who doesn't deserve it? It's impossible to see myself as a failure anymore. I beat a wyvern by myself. It's impossible to see myself as a failure. Still, for some reason, I don't like the title. Wyvern Slayer sounds much better. Maybe I don't have enough confidence… but then how do I have the desire to defeat the Sleeping Dragon?
Oh, I get it. Maybe I just hate the title because it feels heavy. When I hear it, my brain thinks the village depends on me—and the thought of someone relying on me feels bad. But why don't I feel that with Maris? She relies on me, and I don't feel bad at all. I don't understand what's happening to me right now… yeah, I've officially failed to understand myself this time.
"Man, the Dark Eye moved to Yavan," Ponier said as we walked out of Bloomy.
"Yeah…"
"Don't you want to go back to Iveleth?" Ponier asked.
"Never… By the way, what happened with the guild master?"
"He was cleared a while ago and returned to work. Seems like he has no connection to the killer."
We kept going deeper until ruins started appearing—looked like a temple. Crumbled ruins wrapped in trees and plants. When we entered, the place was big, filled with trees growing out of the ground. It was hard to walk, but we managed to reach a deeper point inside. That's when we heard the sound of burning flames.
"All right, the boss is here. It's a shamon from tier 6."
"You mean shaman?"
"No, you idiot. Shamon is a different species of shaman. They're always the leaders. They also have stronger spells. And careful, it's said to have a sleep spell."
Ponier checked the potions while I checked my swords, then we went deeper. The sight was kind of scary—flames burning with someone sitting in front of them. It was thin, dark-skinned, and looked human—but no, it didn't have a jaw or a nose. Just two closed eyes. Its clothes were human-like, and it held a long staff—clearly a magic staff.
"That's it. The shamon," Ponier whispered.
Suddenly, it let out a terrifying, insane scream—like something from a horror movie. Then the shamon turned toward us—or rather, its head turned, as if it didn't even have a spine. Its eyes opened, and they were terrifying. Then, it fired a fast gray magic ball from its staff. It wasn't targeting me, so I just kept watching it.
"Shit!" Ponier shouted as he dropped to the ground, dodging the spell just before it smashed into the wall and vanished.
"That was the sleep spell."
After that, the shamon floated while still sitting. That was seriously creepy. It closed its eyes and moved away from the fire. The area was a massive hall inside the ruins, full of plants and small bushes. There was a moon symbol, which made it clear this was once a prayer hall. The shamon was calm, doing nothing but floating with its eyes closed. Was it gathering magic?
Suddenly, Ponier charged it, and I got ready to move in too. When Ponier tried to attack, he hit something—empty air? He quickly pulled back after bumping into an invisible barrier that was protecting the shamon. I fired some slashes, and in a surprising turn, they actually hit it and made it scream while it floated away.
"How? That's a magic barrier made of Nemesis power—how did your attack go through it?" Ponier asked.
"Maybe it's a barrier that gets pierced by magic," I replied, staring at the shamon as it raised its staff high.
"Oh."
The plants around us started moving and quickly shot toward my legs. I jumped fast, but they managed to wrap around my right leg. I cut them off quickly, and saw Ponier charging again. Just like before, he ran into that invisible barrier, then came back to help me cut the moving vines.
"Looks like I can't do much. I'll leave it to you," said Ponier.
"It'll be easy. Just protect me from those plants," I said, pointing Astral Sword at the shamon's head after switching to the second form.
I fired a bunch of frozen spikes at it, and as expected, there was no barrier. They hit it easily, making it scream and bleed. Then it started casting a bunch of spells at me. There were too many, so I fired a huge ground wave at high speed, using the third form to boost its power. The wave blocked all the spells, leaving it stunned.
Just as I expected—it's going to be an easy fight. Astral Sword's power is terrifying. Suddenly, tons of vines wrapped around me. I tried to escape, but it was too late—I was fully trapped. Then, just like I guessed, the shamon started casting its spell. I looked around, and of course, that fucker Ponier was the only one there—completely unreliable.
"You fucker! I told you to protect me from them!!" I shouted while cutting the vines.
"I didn't see them!"
Finally, I broke free—but at the worst possible moment. The spell was already too close. In a reflexive move, I struck it with Astral Sword. Then something happened that none of us expected—not me, not Ponier, not even the shamon. When the spell hit the blade, it vanished like it had hit a wall. It was the same as when I blocked monster fire. But this wasn't fire!
"What?!" Ponier muttered in shock.
This... this sword is just way too powerful. When I realized I had crushed its spell, a surge of excitement rushed through me. I moved toward the shamon and started launching large water balls. It couldn't dodge them, so I hit it with all of them. It fell to the ground, bleeding violet blood. I stood right in front of its soaked corpse, staring down at it.
"Easy," I said.
"What was that?!" Ponier murmured behind me.
This power… this sword… maybe I can do it. I can kill that dragon. Not Etomi. Not Ralce. I will be the one to kill it and become the number one adventurer. I know it's a hard goal, but I'll do it. I'll crush anyone in my way and keep getting stronger. I'll become a machine that exists for power—for this impossible goal. That Sleeping Dragon… will be my ultimate prey.