Volume 1 Chapter 4: Part 3: Fight To The Death

 

For the past few days, it's rinse and repeat for Onyx and Vargar. Monsters kept coming toward them, and the two would destroy them like nothing. 

 

And at night, Onyx would read the books and hone his dark magic. 

 

Finally, after two days, Vargar and Onyx arrive in front of Starfall mountain. Numerous mountains came in front of Onyx. Vargar warns Onyx, 

 

"You have to be warier from this point forward. Once we enter the mountains, not only do we have to deal with ground monsters, but some monsters can also fly. So you have to watch out from the ground and the sky."

 

That's one reason why wyverns are tricky to deal with. They can fly and are really quick as well.

 

"Understood." Onyx nods, and the two enter the mountains. As they go up the lanes, Onyx realizes how treacherous and steep the road is. And then,

 

CRACK

 

"Woah!" "Onyx, watch it!" Hearing the shout, Vargar turns around to see one of Onyx's feet gone. 

 

"Don't worry, I'm good." Luckily, nothing happened to him. Damn. I need to be careful. Onyx knows he has to be more cautious of where he walks. It's not just how steep and treacherous the road was. The ground has multiple cracks.

 

Any light step would break it too. Onyx has to watch it now. 

 

But then, 

 

"RAAWWWRRR!" The sound of a monster roaring shook the ground! Vargar looks back at Onyx, and the latter nods back. 

 

They're getting close to the monster. 

 

The two stealthy move towards where the sound was. As they hide behind a boulder, they notice it. What they are looking at is a small dragon. Its wingspan is around the length of 3 humans! 

 

Talons and fangs, razor-sharp like swords. 

 

The wyvern is munching down on the prey it caught without a care in the world. 

 

Vargar whispers at Onyx, "I'll be the one to kill it. We can't let this one alert the others." The wyvern in front of them is nothing more than a foot soldier. Onyx is able to kill it. But not fast enough before it made a sound. 

 

The moment the wyvern cries out, it'll alert the others. Dealing with a bunch of wyverns would be the worst possible outcome. 

 

Vargar quickly moves closer to the wyvern without making a sound. 

 

Ghost-like. This is the only word that comes into Onyx's mind as he watches Vargar move. Nobody can see his movements clearly. Vargar blends in with the surroundings themselves. What people can see is a dark blur.

 

The wyvern continues to eat, not realizing death awaits it in the following moments. Before the beast can even notice, Vargar makes his move!

 

The monster's head slides onto the ground, only making a dud sound. 

 

It's a clean kill. 

 

Waving his hand, Vargar motions Onyx to follow him. Onyx nods and follows Vargar. As they continue to travel, more wyverns roam around. 

 

Vargar quickly kills them the same way. 

 

It only takes an hour before they arrive in front of the cave. Vargar's expression twitches and stops moving. They can hear the sounds of snoring coming from it.

 

"Let's wait a bit for them to wake up."

 

"Isn't this the perfect chance for us?" If they're sleeping, they can take advantage and strike them. 

 

Vargar shakes his head, "That'll work if only one of them is sleeping inside. But a majority are sleeping in the cave right now." If they kill off one, the smell of blood will wake the others up. 

 

Fighting in a confined space is a problem too. Vargar frowns. To kill the wyvern means the two have to go into the cave. That's tantamount to suicide. He and Onyx won't be able to move and would be surrounded by wyverns in every direction. 

 

Seeing how hard Vargar thought about this, Onyx suggests, "Maybe I can deal with them."

 

"Hmm? What do you have in mind?"

 

"I want to use my magic on them. I think I can take them all out if I use it." Onyx has been practicing a lot during the night. He even tried to trick Vargar as well. He woke Vargar up much later because he wanted to train his magic more. 

 

But Vargar found out and gave him a lecture. 

 

Vargar thought about it. But nods, "Alright, go for it. Take out as many as you can. If there are stragglers, I'll kill them." Noticing how hard Onyx trained his magic these few days, Vargar trusts his abilities. 

 

"Understood!" Onyx makes a confident smile. But then he turns serious as he begins to focus on his magic. 

...

Inside the cave, a bunch of wyverns slept together soundly. But slowly, darkness begins to move from the ground, creeping onto their bodies. Their mouth, their wings, and their tail. 

 

The darkness covers all of them. And the wyverns don't seem to realize it as they continue to sleep. 

 

And then, the darkness locks them down! The wyverns’ wake up, feeling the restrictions on their body!

 

Squirming around and trying to flap their wings. The wyverns try everything to break away. But they can't do a thing about it. They are locked to the ground. 

 

But they shouldn't be worried about their body being constricted. Spears blacker than the night itself formed above them. That's the death sentence. 

 

The spears bolt into the wyverns' bodies, stabbing through their vitals! Hearing no more squirming or growling, 

 

"I think I finished all of them." Hearing that, Vargar became surprised, 

 

Already?

 

It's only a few seconds after Onyx told him he'll do it. Taking out his torch, Vargar walks up to the cave to check. And when the light shines the inside the cave,

 

What he sees makes his eyes go wide. 

 

20 wyverns are pierced and riddled with holes throughout their entire body. 

 

"Should I go take out the demon crystals from their body?" Onyx asks him, not realizing how shocked Vargar is.

 

"Yeah, go ahead. But aren't you tired?"

 

"Nope. I'm perfectly ok!" Onyx smiles as he walks off and begins to collect the demon crystals off the wyverns. 

 

'Not tired after using this much mana? Vargar can't understand it. People will be exhausted and tired or even faint from using up all their mana. And what Onyx just did would have made anybody else faint from mana exhaustion. 

 

But seeing how Onyx moves around so much, Vargar decides not to dwell on it. There are more pressing matters he has to deal with. 

 

Why are there so many wyverns together? Wyverns will usually hunt in packs. But this is twice the size of a regular one. He turns over to Onyx, 

 

"Onyx, there are valuable parts on the wyvern besides the demon crystal. Let me teach you how to cut them off." 

 

"Ok."

 

After collecting all the materials from the wyverns, Vargar decides on something, "Onyx, there's something I have to tell you."

 

"Hmm? What is it, teacher?"

 

"I'm planning to go hunt for some more wyverns."

 

"But aren't we going back to the royal capital after this?" Onyx is confused. Why was he changing their objective now? 

 

"Something is going on, and I want to check it out." Vargar feels this is too strange. The goblins and now the wyverns' movement was too abnormal. 

 

This is supposed to be an ordinary trip. But now, it has turned into a grave problem.

 

"If you want to go back to the royal capital, I'll take you back, and then I'll bring a group of people to scout it." That's the idea Vargar has. Onyx shouldn't be placed into such a dangerous predicament. 

 

"I understand." Onyx packs up all the demon crystals and picks them up, "Let's go hunt more wyverns."

 

Huh? "Are you sure you want to come with me?" Surprised by Onyx following along, Vargar thinks he doesn't understand the situation. 

 

"It will take a few days for you to get back to the capital. Accounting when you return as well, who knows what might happen." It'll take too long for Vargar to bring him back and bring soldiers with him. 

 

"...You might die. Are you still sure you want to come with me?" Vargar warns him again. He wants to make sure the boy is prepared for death. 

 

"..." Onyx stays silent. Never did he think about death. But he looks back at Vargar, "I understand the risk. I'm ready."

 

If you say that Onyx isn't scared, you are dead wrong. Onyx's palm is sweating when he hears the idea of death. But then he looks up to Vargar, 

 

"More people will die if we don't act fast." Being scared or many people dying? It's an obvious choice for Onyx. 

 

"I am a hero. My job is to protect people's lives."

 

"..." Vargar doesn't know what to say to Onyx. You're shaking. Yet you still want to go? He realizes it as well. But Vargar realizes Onyx isn't going to back down. He sighs, 

 

"Alright. But if I think this is too much of a task for us, then we retreat, ok?" They aren't well equipped to deal with any crazy battle. 

 

"Understood!" Onyx nods his head. But then, Vargar notes, 

 

"Leave the materials here in the cave. It'll only weigh us down. We can come back for them later." The number of materials they got is enormous, too much for them to bring along. 

 

"Understood." Onyx places the materials somewhere in the cave. Vargar looks at him.

 

"I'll swear I'll protect you." Even though Vargar said Onyx could die, he will do everything in his power to protect him. 

...

As Vargar and Onyx continue to climb the mountains, they find other caves full of wyverns. Onyx rinsed and repeated as he used his magic to deal with the wyverns. 

 

Again? The number of wyverns in the cave is around the 30s. Vargar's thoughts are on the mark. Something is definitely going on in the mountains. He turns over to Onyx, 

 

"Take a break for now."

 

"But I'm completely ok, though. Teacher, look at me." Onyx begins to move his body around. Throwing his arms around and waving his legs to show he’s alright. 

 

"See, I'm ok." But Vargar doesn't buy it. 

 

"It doesn't matter if you can move like that. Always take breaks when you have the chance. Who knows when your body will shut down on you." Onyx has been using his magic consecutively. And it wasn't small-scale use either. 

 

The amount of mana used was enormous. If Onyx became exhausted now, that would be the best scenario. But if he becomes drained in the middle of battle, that's the worst case. 

 

"We need you to be at full strength later on. Also, we don't need to kill any more wyverns." If they continue to kill off so many, they'll destroy the ecosystem. 

 

"...I understand." Onyx begrudgingly agrees. 

 

"We'll be staying in this cave for the next night. I'll go scout out the area a little bit more." Vargar says as he leaves the cave. Hearing that, Onyx leans on a rock and starts to rest. 

...

"Wyvern trails?" As Vargar begins to scout the area, he looks down and sees the trails. But when he follows those footsteps, he notices something else near it, 

 

"Blood?" Vargar touches the blood and begins to rub it. This should be a few days old. 

 

Smelling the blood, wyvern blood. 

 

Why is there wyvern blood here?

 

Vargar tries his best to piece everything together. He has a good amount of information. 

 

But there's something missing. 

...

The next day, Vargar and Onyx continue to climb up the mountains. While they continue to travel, Onyx asks, 

 

"Teacher, is it just me, or are the trails becoming more?" The two are following the wyvern trails. But the more they follow, the more they see wyvern trails. 

 

"Mmhmm, we need to be more cautious." Vargar unsheathes his sword, ready to kill. Onyx does the same and takes out his two swords. 

 

As they walk, they arrive in front of something. 

 

"What in the-" "Ugrhhh!"  Vargar's eyes go wide while Onyx gags in disgust!

 

A dead wyvern. What is in front is a corpse. 

 

But it isn't just dead. The corpse is mangled up, almost beyond recognizable. 

 

Onyx continues to gag. But he didn't throw up. Killing those goblins and wyverns got him used to it for the most part. 

 

It wasn't killed for food or survival: this was for enjoyment. Vargar deduces this from the body. And this is the final piece he needed for his thought.

 

The wyverns are running away from something. They are huddling together in a large group to survive. 

 

And whatever it is, that thing is powerful. 

 

What kind of monster would do something like this? Before Vargar can think about what happened, they hear roaring! 

 

!

 

Vargar and Onyx turn to the path of the scream. The next second, they quickly run towards it. And what they see is something they can't believe. 

 

"What are they?" Onyx gasps as his face pales. What he sees are 3 beasts. They have the bodies of lions. The back of their body is the wings of a wyvern spreading out wide. 

 

One of the beasts is much larger than the other two. Its size made the wyverns look tiny. Having two heads; one of a bird with razor edge teeth and the other of a doberman. And the tail was the body of a snake, hissing. 

 

The other two are about a third of the bigger one's size. Each one had only one head; a dog and a shark. 

 

"Why are chimeras here?!" Vargar's grave expression says it all. All of it made sense. 

 

No wonder those wyverns have been grouping together so irregularly. It's because of these guys.

 

"What should we do next, teacher?" Onyx asks him, breaking his thoughts. 

 

Chimeras aren't strong in their infant stage. 

 

But when they're adults, it's a whole different matter. One of the unique traits of these beasts is that they grow stronger the more they eat! 

 

What made it worse is depending on the environment: whatever the monster eats, they'll gain the trait of their food!

 

Ergo, the wyvern wings on the chimeras' backs. 

 

"For now, it seems they haven't noticed us. If we fight now, we'll have a heavy disadvantage." 

 

Right now, those monsters are toying with a pack of wyverns. 

 

The only one who can cause real damage is the adult one. The big one is definitely the adult of the pack. Vargar watches the adult chimera swipe at one of the wyvern's heads. 

 

The head explodes like a coconut. 

 

It isn't surprising to Vargar. But then he turns over to the smaller ones, who are attacking a wyvern together. 

 

Their attacks aren't as strong, but they're quick and scrappier. The smallest one has more cuts and bruises on their body unlike the adult. 

 

The more Vargar continues to think, the more annoyed he feels. 

 

"We're retreating." Fighting them isn't an option. 

 

"Understood." Onyx was getting ready to flee. But as he walks away, 

 

"Watch out!" Vargar shouts and pulls him back! Onyx didn't have to understand why he did that. But a few milliseconds later, he understood. 

 

In front of his eyes, a shadow came swiping at his face!

 

Onyx falls to the ground. What was that?! His mind is too focused on what occurred to him to realize the liquid flowing down his forehead. 

 

"Onyx, you're bleeding on your forehead." If Vargar didn't say anything, he wouldn't feel it. 

 

Onyx rubs his forehead, "I'm fine. I only got grazed." Luckily, Vargar pulled him back, or his head would have been sliced open. 

 

"Good." Vargar sighs in relief, but he turns serious, "But now we got ourselves into some tough shit."