Once again, I trek up a mountain. This one is bereft of any snow since these mountains are not that high up.
Not that I am complaining since it's all part of the adventure.
But I will admit that I feel a tad bit afraid of what awaits me at the top.
One half of me was a regular man from Earth, so there was no advice I could draw from him for this quest. As for the other part, he was heavily traumatized by a Grimm Dragon at the fall of Beacon, a trauma that took nearly a century of isolation in the Ever After to cure.
Safe to say, there is no prior experience or advice I can draw from to tackle this situation.
So I guess I'll just have to wing it.
'Let's go through all the info I know about Wyverns'
Fortunately, Wyverns are a clearly documented species with most of their details written down and spread across the kingdom for any mage to read up on.
With scales durable enough to shrug off most low-level magic and be resistant to high-level magic, Speed, Agility, and Strength that are solidly in the high ranks for a monster, and the additional advantage of flight, these things are a dangerous hunt even for an experienced team of mages.
Usually, whenever a Guild tackles these beasts for a commission, they gang up on these things with at least four powerful mages for the sake of ensuring that it dies and does not just flee when its life is in danger.
Some variants of the Wyverns are also able to use some level of magic.
For example, Blizzardverns can use low-level ice magic in a defensive manner by coating their scales with ice to make them slippery and harder. Some anomalous Blizzardverns have also been known to alter the weather of mountain tops with their magic to create a perpetual storm.
Similarly, Woodland variants of Wyverns are sometimes born with the ability to use low-level wood magic.
Fortunately, the probability of such anomalies being born is roughly the same as Mages being born amongst the human race, which is to say that they are very rare.
....Actually, now that I think about it, why am I even attempting such a dangerous task as a fucking 14-year-old?
Ah! Right. For that sweet, sweet money, my sense of adventure, and my childhood dream from my life on Remnant, where I always dreamed of being a Knight, slaying the Dragon, and rescuing the princess.
...fucking dreams man, they will always be the death of ya.
Shaking my head to get rid of those depressing thoughts, I continued trekking up the mountain.
It did not take me long before I finally found the cave where the Wyvern was supposedly holed up.
'Ok. Since it's a Forest Wyvern, it will need to come out for food much more frequently compared to a Blizzardvern. Given the lack of any attack near the town in the last week, it will probably attack in a day or two at most since it needs to eat at least once a week to keep up its strength.'
'Best way to deal with this is to act like a dirty camper and spawn kill it in its sleep.'
With a tentative plan in mind, I drew Crocea Mors and got ready for the hunt.
I slowly ventured into the cave as a feeling of Déjà vu filled my mind.
'Walking into random caves for my hunts is getting real old, real fast.'
Just like with the Vulcans, I used my Aura sonar to pick up on the lifeforms within the cave.
However, what I felt from within sent a chill down my spine.
Two lifeforms.
The Wyvern is not alone in here.
Suddenly, I heard the roar of the Wyvern echo across the cave.
'Fuck! It knows I am here. Time to employ the Joestar secret technique!'
Without even looking back, I ran out of the cave with all my might, boosting myself to the limit.
And none too soon, as I felt vibrations across my body when the massive creature flew over my head and circled me in the sky.
Just like Dawn told me, it was an old specimen.
Its green scales had faded into a dull color with scratches and cracks across the surface. Its underbelly was similarly discolored with many scars, showing its experience in fights.
One of its eyes was blind with a massive scar starting from above the eye to near its jaw.
All in all, this was an extremely experienced, fearsome, yet old Wyvern.
For some reason, I remembered an old saying from back on Earth.
'Beware of an old man in a profession where men die young'
Fuck! Just what kind of quest did you send me on!? Dawn!
Even as I prepared for the fight of my life, I still kept an eye on the Aura bounce back from within the cave, waiting to see if the other lifeform would jump me during the fight.
Fortunately, it would seem that it was staying within the cave. In fact, it was retreating deeper into the cave.
Huh, I guess that is not a threat for the moment, then?
Whatever, good news for me!
I got into a stance and held up my shield, ready to respond to any attack that the beast would unleash on me.
However, as the seconds ticked by, the Wyvern did not attack. Instead, for some strange reason, it kept circling in the air around the cave, watching me with its baleful red eyes.
….Ok, something isn't adding up here.
Wyverns are extremely territorial creatures. This means that any creature that dares to wander anywhere near its home is judiciously eviscerated most of the time.
Logically speaking, that thing should have already swooped down on me the moment it sensed my existence within the cave, intending on killing me then and there.
Now here is the thing. These damned creatures are as intelligent as a human child, and this intelligence only grows as they become older. This means that the thing in the sky, which is old enough to die of natural causes according to Dawn, must be at least as intelligent as a teenager, maybe even an adult human.
That means it is planning something, which does not bode well for me.
Fuck it, we ball!
I turned around and shot into the cave with all my speed, hearing the roar of the Wyvern the moment I turned around.
Yup! That thing was definitely planning something, and I thwarted its plan by running into the cave like this.
Maybe. Hopefully. I sure hope I avoided its plan.
Now, this just leads to one tiny problem.
The other lifeform in the cave.
For now, since I can sense it and it is not moving, I put it as a secondary concern.
First things first. I need to kill the old Wyvern somehow.
As I continued running through the cave, I heard the thumping of its feet and wings across the cavern, signaling that it was chasing me just like I wanted.
Unlike with the Vulcans, I did not have the chance to scope out the caves before engaging the enemy, so I am making things up as I go, but I think luck is still on my side since I can see that this cave is rather unstable.
Meaning, a cave-in was very much possible with just the right effort.
'Ok, let's do this. Step by step plan like last time.'
Step one. Lure the discount dragon into the cave. An easy task, given how it's been running after me all this time.
Step two. Make sure it's smack dab in the middle of the cavern. Slightly difficult considering the battlefield is an unpredictable place, but possible with enough concentration.
Step three. Drop the ceiling on it, crushing it underneath the weight. This is the hardest part.
The walls look unstable, but not unstable enough to fall with a simple attack. If they were that weak, I would never have risked it by running into such a place.
This means I will have to damage the cave significantly to cause a cave-in. Probably boosting five times at least.
I'll definitely feel that in the morning.
Fuck! Let's do this. Not like I have much of a choice since all my plans went out the window the moment that thing turned the tables on me at the cave entrance.
With the plan ready, I stood at the far end of the cavern, waiting for the Wyvern to find me while holding a rock in my hand behind my back.
There is no telling how intelligent this Wyvern is, so I'd rather not risk it.
I did not have to wait long before the Wyvern tumbled into the cave and spotted me at the end, making it snarl in anger.
A chill shot up my spine as I saw the dull coloration of the spikes on its back that were glowing when I saw them previously at the entrance.
Yeah, this thing was definitely planning something at the entrance. It was definitely a good thing that I ran for it the moment I sensed trouble.
Probably because it was too angry that I escaped its ambush, it barreled towards me without any thought while roaring its heart out.
'Hold!'
The smell hit me first before anything else. The stench of rotting flesh that nearly made me puke.
'Hold!'
The wind pressure from its wings that it beat in the air, trying to lift off, only to be forced back to the ground due to the low height of the cavern, nearly pushed me off my feet.
'HOLD!'
The sheer hate and cruel intelligence in its eyes was something that I had only ever seen in the eyes of the Grimm back on Remnant.
This thing is a monster, there is no doubt about it anymore.
'NOW!'
The moment it stepped into the kill zone, I threw the rock in my hand with all my might towards the ceiling, causing it to crack with a mighty boom.
The Wyvern stared with fear etched into its gaze as it realized what was happening, giving me a single moment where I dashed across the cave and exited the splash zone.
'Take that you damned lizard-wait, what!?'
Unfortunately for me, the universe decided to play a sick joke on me as the unstable rocks in the ceiling that were shaking with the intent of crushing the Wyvern just a few seconds ago slowly started to stabilize again, leaving a dead silence in the system.
For a moment, neither of us moved as I stared blankly at the ceiling.
'Fuck!'
This is some real bullshit I tell you.
Somehow, it seems that the Wyvern was just as dumbfounded as I was to see the result. But that shock only lasted for a few seconds before it turned back to me with violent intent.
'Alright! Enough of this bullshit!'
"You wanna go? You overgrown lizard!? Well, come at me!"
I held up my shield and got ready for whatever shit that thing would throw at me.
And yet, not attack came my way.
It was only then did I noticed the anomaly.
The Wyvern was shaking in place, not from rage or fear, but exhaustion.
I could make out blood slowly leaking out of some of its old wounds.
A closer look at its eyes also revealed that the blood vessels in there had burst.
The most important thing, however, was the involuntary convulsions that its body was experiencing
….It almost looked like it was having a heart attack.
"Are you for real!? After all that bullshit, you are going to die of a fucking stroke?"
Unfortunately for my ego, my guess proved to be correct as I simply stood there, watching as the Wyvern breathed its last and fell to the ground dead.
"…Fuck you, Dawn. Seriously. I am never taking another quest from you, ever again. Where is my promised adventure? Where is my legendary battle where I pit my wits and skills against a dangerous foe? You basically sent me to fight a retired veteran!"
With a shake of my head, I broke off one of its spines as proof for completing the quest and put its body into my Requip pouch.
Wyvern meat fetches a lot of money since it is considered a delicacy, and its hide can be used to make some seriously sturdy equipment, not to mention that its bones could be used for making magic tools.
Simply put, its body is a walking treasure trove, and there is no way I am wasting it like I did with the Vulcans.
Requip pouch for the win!
With the main task complete, I started heading deeper into the cavern where the other lifeform was with my shield up.
'Better safe than sorry'
Fortunately for me, my preparations proved to be pointless since what awaited me was not some threat to my mental and physical health like that jumpscaring Wyvern.
No, it was arguably something far better, or worse, depending on how you see it.
It looked exactly like what the Wyvern would look, with the same green scales and soft underbelly, with a stubby tail that barely showed the spikes that would one day grow to be a menace to society. Its tiny hind legs barely supported its body as it hobbled around in fear while tucking its head into its underdeveloped wings.
A Wyvern hatchling.
...Now it made sense why that old thing was causing so much havoc outside.
It was trying to feed the hatchling as much as it could before it died of natural causes, like it just did.
I could not help but curse under my breath.
"Damnit Dawn, did you know about this?"
"What the hell am I going to do now-what the-!?"
Suddenly, the hatchling reacted to my whispers and peeked out from beneath its wings.
The moment it spotted me, however, it started to hiss like a cat with its hackles raised.
Unfolding its barely functional wings and standing tall on its hind legs, the beast let out a mighty roar to terrify the prey in front of it.
Except, the small wings did not make it look big as it hoped, and neither were its legs able to support its form, making it tumble down in a cute way. As for its roar? I doubt even a rat would be afraid of the pitiful mewl that it gave.
Somehow, for a split second, it felt like I was looking at Arthur all over again when I went to the adoption center all those years ago.
The little ball of fur was just as judgmental and scared of strangers. It took me a lot of effort to calm him down when I adopted him, and longer still before he trusted me.
I felt my heart soften at the adorable sight, as I could not help but smile gently.
Slowly sheathing Crocea Mors and turning it back into its sheath form, I crouched before the little hatchling that started to shiver in fright at my approach.
"It's okay, little one. I won't harm you-Ouch!"
The moment my hand neared its snout, it bit me with its needle-like teeth. While Aura protected me from any damage, it still stung a little.
"Quite the feisty one, eh?"
Once again, I slowly put my hand near its snout. Not touching it just yet, but close enough for it to smell my scent.
Given that I still had the residual scent of the Wyvern from before after handling its corpse, it did not take long before the little thing warmed up to me, allowing me to pick it up in my arms.
"You know, I walked in here, expecting a legendary fight and an adventure worthy of storybooks. Instead, I now have to deal with an old thing that dropped dead the moment it was scared stiff and a little thing like you. Sometimes, it feels like the universe is going out of its way to rain on my parade."
The little one did not reply and continued sleeping peacefully in my arms as I left the cave behind.
Time to collect my pay and punch that bastard Dawn for good measure, before I can resume my adventure again.
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Wyvern Image: (Click Here)
Blizzardvern: Image: (Click Here)
Wyvern Hatchling Image: (Click Here)
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