First Mission
The first place we reached after leaving the base was a sweltering forest. Celion strode forward without the slightest hesitation, as if the woods were an old familiar path.
“Hey, see that?”
“Yes.”
Celion pointed to a bright-red fruit hanging from a massive tree. It was a bit large, but its shape looked just like an apple.
“Looks like an apple, right?”
“Meaning it’s not an apple?”
“Similar, but a different species. People can’t eat it. Because it looks so much like an apple, the first pioneers who came here often picked them up and ate them—then spent the rest of the day clutching their stomachs.”
“Hmm…”
I nodded at her words and pulled a small booklet from my pocket. It was the Monster Island guidebook that had been issued to every new pioneer before we arrived.
Just as Celion said, the booklet had an entry on the red fruit. Because its tempting appearance fooled people, it had been named the False Apple.
Like that, Celion dragged me around and taught me the basic common knowledge of Monster Island. What surprised me most was the appearance of the goblins that lived here.
The goblins of this island had extremely long arms and mostly traveled by climbing through the trees.
“Weird-looking, aren’t they?”
I nodded at Celion’s question. Watching them swing through the branches with those long arms reminded me of the gibbons back on Earth.
“Most of the goblins here look like that. They evolved that way to survive. They usually live off tree fruit.”
“It almost feels like they evolved specifically to avoid the monsters on the ground.”
“Yeah, exactly. Because of the mana storms, monsters evolve pretty fast around here. In another ten years the goblins might even grow wings on their backs.”
“That fast…?”
I couldn’t quite wipe the skeptical look off my face. Through Calvein’s Forest I already knew mana had a huge effect on monster ecology, but the idea that goblins would sprout wings within a decade was hard to swallow.
“Ten years might’ve been a bit much… Anyway, that’s how fast things change.”
“Hmm.”
“Anyway, shall we go deeper?”
“Yes.”
The week I spent with Celion flew by in a blur.
She taught me all sorts of things—everything from tracking monster signs and building traps out of the surrounding environment to butchering the monsters we hunted. Skills so precious I could never have learned them even if I’d paid a fortune back in the Karuma Empire, and she shared them without holding anything back.
“Think you can handle it on your own?”
“Yes!”
I nodded firmly at Celion’s question. Now that our week together was over, I had been given a mission to hunt a designated monster—to prove I could actually put what she’d taught me to use.
I wasn’t the only one. All twenty new recruits who had arrived on Monster Island with me received similar missions.
The monsters we were assigned to hunt varied, but since we were allowed to team up if we wanted, some people had already formed groups.
I left the base with Nightmare and unfolded a stiff sheet of paper. On it were the habitat, name, and appearance of the monster I had to hunt.
Found in the southern rocky mountains, the Eagle Drake is a monster with the body of a giant lizard, the head of an eagle, and a pair of wings.
It is born with large wings and can fly from birth, but while its body continues to grow, the wings do not. Once it reaches adulthood, the increased weight becomes too much and it loses the ability to fly.
When an adult Eagle Drake can no longer fly, hard scales replace the feathers on its wings. The wings then change function—from organs of flight to shields and weapons for defending its body.
A fully grown adult measures roughly three to four meters, though size varies greatly between individuals. The presence or absence of feathers on the wings is the usual way to tell adults from juveniles.
My mission was to hunt an Eagle Drake and bring back the white feather that decorated its head.
I checked whether any of the other twenty recruits were heading to the rocky mountains as well, but none of their missions overlapped with mine. Unfortunately, I would have to set out for the mountains alone.
“All right, shall we get going too?”
Nightmare gave a soft snort.
Together we began racing through the forest. Because few people ever came this way, there were no proper roads, yet Nightmare galloped along the narrow forest paths without the slightest trouble.
The week with Celion had brought big changes to Nightmare’s body. All the extra activity had burned away the plump layer of fat, restoring the sleek, powerful frame of before.
When we finally broke free of the tight forest trails, a long river stretched out before us. If we simply followed the water, we would reach the northern rocky mountains in no time.
Nightmare and I ran along the riverbank.
Winding paths like this meant frequent encounters with monsters. Small, weak ones fled on their own, crushed by Nightmare’s presence, but larger beasts or those that hunted in packs charged straight at us instead.
Thud—thud—thud—!
This time a giant lizard appeared. It looked similar to the ones I had faced in Calvein’s Forest, but its back was smooth with no strange organs, and its body was a little smaller than those earlier lizards.
Kreeeek—!
If I had checked the pioneer guidebook I would have known its name, but there was no time for that now. I yanked Nightmare’s reins and veered hard to the side.
I wanted to avoid fighting any monsters that weren’t my actual target, but the lizard was so persistent that a fight seemed unavoidable.
Still gripping the reins, I drew my sword from my back. Nightmare and I had fought side by side through countless adventures; the horse instantly understood my intent, wheeled around, and charged straight at the lizard.
Is this what it feels like to charge a giant truck?
Staring at the lizard’s massive jaws, I kicked off Nightmare’s back and leapt into the air. Nightmare nimbly changed direction and slipped clear of the monster’s attack.
Damp, humid wind tousled my hair, giving me a brief moment of weightlessness. I immediately steadied my posture and swung my sword down at the lizard’s head below.
Skreee—!
The falling blade scraped across the lizard’s scales. Sparks flew as if I had struck solid iron, and a powerful rebound jarred my sword hand.
“Hup…!”
I hit the ground after raking the lizard’s head and had to roll desperately—its tail was already whipping toward me.
Boom—!
The tail smashed into the empty earth where I had been. The ground caved in as though struck by a massive club.
Cold sweat ran down my back at the sight. A second later and I would have been flattened into dried fish jerky by that enormous tail.
During the week with Celion she had handled most of the monsters herself, so I had never been exposed to this kind of direct danger.
Remembering the guidebook’s warnings about how dangerous Monster Island truly was, I set my stance to swing again.
Humm—!
The Mana Circle in my heart spun, and at the same moment the lizard lashed its tail once more. The strike was sharp and fast, yet with all my preparations complete it no longer felt truly threatening.
I dropped low and swung my sword with both hands.
Just before the tail reached me, the Emblem of the Great Warrior flared vividly as mana filled it, reinforcing my body another notch.
The flow of mana did not stop there. After activating the emblem on the back of my hand, the mana surged straight into my sword and wreathed the blade in seven points of starlight.
In that instant my sword and the lizard’s tail brushed past each other. The shock that raced up my wrist was considerable, but I kept my grip, and the giant tail was severed with a clean shhk—!
Thud—!
The long tail hit the ground at the same moment Nightmare galloped to my side as if to guard me.
Having lost its tail, the lizard seemed to lose all will to fight; it fled across the river in the blink of an eye. A creature that gave up and ran with impressive speed. I watched it disappear and let out a long breath.
Nightmare snorted and nudged my back with its nose, staring after the fleeing lizard as if asking whether we were going to chase it.
“It’s fine. Just let it go.”
I could have pursued it if I wanted, but my goal was the Eagle Drake, not this lizard. Besides, thrashing around the forest after it would only raise the odds of running into another giant monster.
And it wasn’t as if I had nothing to show for the fight.
I walked over to the massive tail still twitching on the ground.
Even severed, the nerves in the muscle kept it writhing, which looked a little grotesque.
“Let’s see…”
I pulled the guidebook from my pocket and flipped through the pages until I found the entry for the monster I had just faced. A quick riffle of the small booklet brought up detailed information on the giant lizard.
A monster that inhabits every region of Monster Island. It is characterized by long-tail attacks delivered with a lengthy tail covered in hard scales.
Body size and scale color vary according to the environment of its habitat. The largest specimen recorded so far is said to have approached thirty meters in length.
Its scales are both hard and light, making them a favored material for armor.
“Hmm.”
I nodded as I confirmed the book’s contents.
This was the perfect chance to put the monster-butchering techniques Celion had taught me to the test. I took out the small dagger I kept in my bag and began stripping the scales from the tail.
Nightmare showed intense interest in the tail meat. Standing right beside me, repeatedly flicking its tongue and clicking its teeth, it clearly thought the tail looked delicious.
I cut off a piece of the exposed meat after peeling away the scales and tossed it to Nightmare.
Whinny—!
Nightmare chewed the meat with a blissful expression. Watching that happy face, I hurried to finish dressing the rest of the tail.
The severed length alone looked to be a good two meters. Once I had stripped off the covering scales and stuffed them into my bag, the previously flat pack bulged full and round.