X775, The Kingdom of Fiore.
The mountains of this world are fucking ridiculous.
I mean, mountains are meant to be extremely high and capped with snow, symbolizing the beauty and danger of nature.
But this is too much!
I boosted myself with my Semblance as I continued climbing the towering rock that jutted into the sky as if it had beef with gravity.
Right now, I am in the mountains east of Crocus, the capital of this kingdom known as Fiore, searching for a Vulcan that had taken over the body of a knight from the capital.
Now, one might wonder why the other knights are not the ones freezing their ass off in this godforsaken place to retrieve their companion and why it fell to an unaffiliated 'mage' like me to do the job instead?
The answer is simple: pride.
The current Leader of the Knights Order, whose name I didn't even bother to remember since that fat pig doesn't deserve it, said that if a knight was incapable of even defending himself from 'vermin' like a Vulcan, how can he be expected to guard the capital of their glorious kingdom?
The sheer arrogance and ignorance in his words are enough to make my blood boil and feel disdain for the people in charge of this kingdom's forces.
Technically speaking, he is not wrong in saying that Vulcans are viewed as vermin most of the time. However, the caveat here is that it is only true for strong mages.
For those below a certain level, Vulcans are a dangerous beast. A creature that uses a form of Caster Magic called Take Over, which allows it to, as the name suggests, take over the body and magic power of any human that it chooses.
Fortunately, it is only capable of taking over the Ethernano reserves and the fighting skills, not the magic itself, of its victim. If not, it would be considered a far more dangerous foe.
I wonder if that fat fuck can still remain as arrogant if I threw him into a den of Vulcans and watched as they take over his body at best, or tear him apart limb from limb and eat him at worst.
After the merger of David Thornton and Jaune Arc, my hatred for people like him has increased exponentially, as both versions of myself have seen people like him on both Earth and Remnant.
It was why I decided to take this request, despite the paltry pay of a mere 1000 Jewels of reward that the fat bastard was willing to pay for such a dangerous hunt.
Because I did not want good men to suffer such a grim fate because their boss was an incompetent, arrogant, fat, fucker that deserves to die the worst death possible.
Besides, I always did want to see what the top of a mountain would look like in both my lives.
Although if the top is just as chilling or worse than right now, then I may come to regret this wish deeply.
With a sigh that blew mist into the air, I started my trek to the top once again as my Aura did its best to shield me from the cutting winds and freezing temperatures that would probably freeze water into a solid block in an instant.
Thankfully, it did not take long before I found the cave I was looking for.
How did I know that this cave belonged to a group of Vulcans?
I think the stench of dung and rotting corpses is enough to indicate that something carnivorous lives in there. And given the temperatures and winds up here, the possibility of this being the den of any other animal or creature is rather low.
….Unless it's a Blizzardvern, a variant of Wyvern, den, which is absurd even by my luck's standard. Not to mention that those things are herbivorous and rarely eat meat as long as they have other options, which they do since these mountains have lush forests at the bottom.
Thinking of the Wyverns, my mind inevitably went back to the memory I had of that Grimm Dragon that attacked Vale all those decades ago.
I wonder which is stronger between the Wyverns of this world and that abomination of darkness?
A thought for later, I have much more important things to do right now.
Bringing out Crocea Mors and turning the sheath into its shield form, I slowly proceeded into the cave, ready for any ambush or magical barrages.
As I slowly moved deeper into the cave system, I started to realize that it might not be just a handful of Vulcans in here.
No, the size of the den and the piles of bones and dung show that there are at least a dozen, maybe even more, Vulcans living here.
Which is kind of strange since the knights of the capital usually wipe out any such 'pests' within the range of their city for the sake of the safety of their people.
Questions for later, for now, I have a job to do and foes to fight, I can't allow any distractions.
I pulsed my Aura to ripple into the surroundings with the help of my Boost, functioning like a sonar, as they would brush upon the souls of the surrounding lifeforms and bounce off them, allowing me to locate the living creatures around me.
I felt it brush against the souls of the monsters deep within the caverns and return to me in the tight space of the cavers.
It is as I feared. There are twenty Vulcans, from what my Aura sonar picked up.
This is going to be a tough fight.
With their location now confirmed, I started heading deeper into the cave, as the light from some kind of fire flickered in the distance.
While it is true that Vulcans are considered monsters and vermin, nobody can deny that they had a primitive sort of intelligence that allowed them to understand and use the human language, albeit in a broken way, and build primitive tools for their use.
Which I feel makes them even more dangerous than your average monster.
After all, it was Humanity's ingenuity and intelligence that allowed them to ascend from being a deformed chimp to the top of the food chain on Earth.
For another creature to possess the beginnings of such intelligence, no matter the situation, is much more dangerous than anyone is willing to give them credit for.
That is why I will take no chances in the upcoming battle.
With a thought, my Semblance came into play as I boosted myself to the limit.
Yes, I will take no chances at all.
With a gait that nearly silenced my footsteps, something that I learned from Ren, I sneaked upon the large group of monsters that were hooting in enjoyment and dancing like loons around the small fire that they had built for themselves in this chamber.
The fools would have choked on the smoke long ago if not for the conveniently placed opening in the roof of the cave that diagonally opened into the air outside.
…..Or maybe it is because of this natural ventilation that they chose to build a fire?
Questions for later.
Out of the twenty Vulcans, I could see some of them having crude weapons and armors, made from stone and animal hide, which were slightly larger than the rest. Likely the elite of this group.
However, there was one that caught my eye the most.
A Vulcan that was nearly twice the size of its kin, with armor made up of multiple steel plates that looked like they were forcefully bent into shape by its hands, while it wielded a proper sword in its hand.
Granted, it looked more like a knife than an arming sword in the hands of the beast, but it was a proper weapon nonetheless compared to the ramshackle mess of its companions.
That must be it.
Given the way it unconsciously tried to walk in a trained stance, but failed due to its disproportionate body failing to mesh with the instincts within it, there is no doubt that this must be the one that took over the body of the missing knight.
'Alright, let's see here.'
My mind worked to its limit as I observed the creatures and started to formulate the most efficient way to end the threat.
The first step must be to get rid of the average Vulcans, the ones without armor.
There are fifteen of them, so they can easily swarm and kill me with sheer numbers if I don't take them out first.
The second step should be the elites.
The leader is heavily armored and would take a bit of effort to defeat, time that I cannot afford, as long as the elites live, since they would prove to be a challenge with their numbers.
The final step is the leader.
That thing requires a delicate approach.
I can't kill it directly since I would also end up killing the victim of its Take Over. That means I will have to incapacitate it enough to knock it unconscious. A difficult endeavor given its equipment and possible magic reserves.
'Alright. Here goes!'
First step, the rabble.
I picked up a pebble from the ground and threw it into a nearby tunnel with all my boosted might, causing the pebble to explode when it impacted the wall of the cave and creating a thunderous noise that instantly attracted the attention of the beasts.
I watched from the shadows with bated breath as the Vulcans stopped their dance and stared in the direction of the explosion.
The leader growled something, causing five of the lower ranks to start running towards the source of the noise.
It is not optimal. I wanted all the lower ranks to move towards the cave, but I can work with this.
As the Vulcans moved into the cave with caution, I sneaked behind them and pulled my Aura into Crocea Mors.
With a single Aura Slash, which was aimed much better than when I fought that oversized pig more than a year ago, I cleanly sliced their heads off their shoulders, killing them before they could make any noise.
With the deed done, I ran back to my hiding place and waited.
My wait did not last long as the smell of blood reached the others, making them hoot as the rest of the lower rank Vulcans moved as one, and even one of the elites moved with the group.
Shit! That was not the plan!
Looks like I need to improvise.
Just like before, I waited until all of them moved into the cave and unleashed another Aura slash to kill them.
However, the elite must have sensed something since it ducked below the attack, saving its life while the rest of its kin died instantly.
'Damnit! There goes the element of surprise!'
"HUMAN! HUMAN!"
Its howl resounded across the cavern as I heard the hoots of the other Elites and the rumbling roar of the leader.
Shit! This is bad.
I put up my shield and braced myself as the Elite swung its club with all its might, causing a resounding crash to echo across the caverns and make my hand ache a little.
Thankfully, my Aura and Boost held up and healed the minor damage instantly.
I did not give the beast any more chances to swing as I moved my sword in a vertical slash, my speed and strength boosted so much that in a flash of light, its arm was severed from the shoulder cleanly, while I barely felt any resistance from it.
With its arm holding the club gone, it was time to take it down before the others arrived.
With a horizontal slash, I severed its head cleanly, killing it. Just in time for my senses to pick up a sudden fluctuation in the air around me, indicating an incoming attack from behind.
I rolled forward, avoiding the swing of a stone axe as another elite threw a spear made of wood and stone at me.
This time, I did not have the time to roll, so I used my shield and angled it slightly to deflect the spear.
Once again, I was forced to dodge as another elite threw a large boulder at me at great speed.
Damnit, now it's three on one.
I need to take care of this before the leader arrives. And based on what my Aura sonar can tell, I barely have ten seconds before it arrives.
I watched the three elites as plan after plan formulated within my mind based on the deep well of experience I had within me, thanks to my life in the Ever After.
'Ok, let's do this.'
I sent an Aura Slash at the elites, making them scatter and giving me a second to breathe.
Using that second, I shot towards the nearest elite, the one with the axe, and sheathed my sword in the shield.
Let's see if I still remember how to do this.
The Vulcan looked at me with surprise when I sheathed my sword, but that did not last for long as my palm strike connected with its chest and my Aura flooded its body, wreaking havoc within its internals.
Then, I compressed my Aura within its body to the extreme and used my boost to compress it even more.
Then, I released my control over it and jumped back, pulling my sword back out.
Just in time for the Aura within it to explode like a bomb, scattering its remains across the cave.
'Thank you, Ren! For teaching me this cool technique!'
All in all, it took me four seconds to complete this entire set of actions.
Which meant I have a mere six seconds before the leader arrives and my ass is grass via the age-old strategy of quantity over quality.
'No pressure!'
Before the other two elites could overcome their shock, I dashed towards the one who threw the spear earlier, since he was now without a weapon, hence easier to deal with.
This time, I used my pure speed to blitz the beast and plunge my sword straight through its chest, killing it then and there.
Two seconds left!
The last elite woke up from its stupor and tried to scream and retreat.
But I did not let it.
Once again, I used my boosted speed to swing my sword at its neck.
However, it raised its arms and put them in the way, allowing it to deflect the blow at the cost of one of its arms.
Then, I felt a powerful blow connect to my side, which threw me to the far end of the cave, and I felt disoriented because of the blow.
My Aura worked quickly and healed the damage, allowing me to roll out of another attack, allowing me to see the leader who had plunged where I was just a second ago.
Damnit! Out of time!
The last elite was already picking up another rock with its only arm, with rage clear in its eyes, while the leader wound back for another attack.
Looking between the leader bound in steel plates and the elite who was already in the process of throwing the rock, an idea appeared in my mind.
'Ok, let's try this'
The moment the elite threw the rock, I slightly dodged the incoming knife strike from the leader and caught its hands with my own.
It only had a split second to give me a confused look before I hauled its entire body and put it between me and the incoming rock, allowing it to smash into its unprotected back.
The scream of pain that the leader let out gave the elite a momentary pause. One that I took advantage of and threw the leader into the elite.
The Vulcans are capable of using Take Over on their victims and stealing their magic reserves, along with any physical skills that they have.
This Vulcan has taken over a Knight of the capital, which means that it probably has access to those skills, which may or may not be better than my own, given the nature of this world.
This means that I cannot allow the damned thing even a single moment to gather itself and employ those skills. I know it is paranoid of me. The possibility of this thing out-skilling me is very low due to its different body structure compared to the knight who it took over. But I will not base my survival on something as nebulous as a guess and luck.
The moment the two Vulcans crashed, I was on them like a wrathful missile.
First things first, the steel plates must go. If my knockout plan does not work, I need a way to do some serious damage to the beast with my sword, and that armor is in my way.
I sheathed my sword again and grabbed the plates on the leader, who was disoriented with the throw.
With my hands firmly gripping the plates, I pulled as the terrible screech of metal tearing rang out across the cave.
I don't know how this thing did it, but the steel plates are fused together to form its armor, so the only way to get it off is to tear the metal apart with my bare hands.
Which is precisely what I did.
The screech of metal was enough to bring the leader back to the world of the living and throw me off it.
But my purpose was already complete as the armor pieces fell off it like rain as I threw the large chunks of it in my hand.
Before it could raise its dumbfounded eyes from the armor, I plunged towards it with my sword.
The instincts it inherited from taking over the knight warned it of the incoming blow as it instinctively raised the sword to protect itself.
Unfortunately for it, my guess was right. The instincts and skills it used were created for humans, not Vulcans, so it miscalculated the stance required to deflect my blade, allowing me to use the flat of my blade to hit its head like a club.
Combined with my boosted strength, it was a clean knockout blow that sent its consciousness fleeing into the abyss.
For a second, everything was silent in the cavern before the one-armed elite screeched in fear and tried to escape.
Before it could make it to the entrance, however, I picked up a nearby boulder.
"You like to chuck rocks at people, right? Have a taste of your own medicine!"
With all my strength, I threw the rock at the Vulcan, crushing it into a paste as it was crushed between the cave walls and the boulder.
By this point, I was already exhausted, both physically and mentally, which made me collapse onto the ground.
"Damned Vulcans. I really hate fighting intelligent monsters."
I could not be bothered to look as I saw from the corner of my eyes as the leader's body shone with light, showing that the Take Over was being undone.
The quest and the check-up on this knight can wait. For now, I need rest, and no one is stopping me from taking it. No one.
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Mountain Vulcan Image: (click here)
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