While Arlie and friends were off at the temple, Hikaru had taken a quest that led him to journey into Ukova. A region that neighbored the Varixyies region. Ukova was known for its rolling grasslands, broken by the occasional small forest or river. He had recently reached the point where the road through the forest opened up on the grasslands. It was a welcome sight, as he most certainly didn’t appreciate tripping on roots or stumbling on uneven ground. The roads weren’t even paved. They were dirt paths that had been cleared of plants and evened up as best the workers could. Marker stones placed at regular intervals that helped ward off most monsters, but not all.
Still, he barely focused on the new sight. His mind occupied with trying to figure this world out. He was a summoned hero, and he should be living the life of a protagonist. So far it had been anything but that. He had failed to stop the dragon the village wanted him to confront, and no mysterious figure had shown up yet to tell him how to rescue the girl. He looked around and off in the distance he noticed the spires of what he was told was the Red Temple. Circling the structure was a massive dragon. At this distance, he couldn’t really make out the features, but he knew it had to very big. As it was clearly just as large as the visible part of the temple, which was towering over the trees of the great forest. Thinking of the forest he had been a little shocked when he learned how vast the Varixyian Forest was. It literally covered the entire region, and penetrated in some areas into the Ukova region. Although he was still trying to figure out the local distance measurements. The fact that crossing the region was considered a journey of several months was telling though.
It wasn’t the only thing he had to get used to. For one the beds were barely comfortable, and then they didn’t even have clocks. They had sundials, but no one had a clock. Magic was nice though, and he had even seen a few devices thanks to it that would have been straight out of science fiction. He couldn’t afford it, but someone had been selling a hand laser at the market. They had called it a Beam Crossbow, but to him, it was clearly a man-portable laser rifle. Even if it looked like a crossbow with strange runes and crystals on it. Not to mention it had a terrible fire rate, but at least it had power. He was sure it had its uses, but it clearly had flaws that needed to be fixed. In addition to the laser bow, he had even seen magical force fields and energy shields for sale at the Arc’s town market. The items were made and sold at high prices by the local mage clans. The item that interested him the most was a sword. It was mostly hilt, and its blade was a beam of light. It was literally one of the most iconic items in science fiction, although that had an entirely different name for it. They called it a Mana Blade, and apparently it was very good at cutting through physical matter, but struggled against anything that has been warded with mana.
Then there were the local women. They were all stunning, and even the peasants looked pretty. That thought brought him back to Arlie. He had made a few mistakes with her, and she was a very cute girl. If this world had followed the tropes he had expected, she would have joined his party as the obligatory loli. Instead of having women hanging on his every word, and trying to get into his pants he was still alone. He was beginning to find that a hero’s life just isn’t what it is cracked up to be. None of this meant he was going to give up. In fact, the reason he had taken this quest was so that he could get stronger. Even if he didn’t have the convenient system trope to measure his strength. He wanted to get stronger so that he could defeat the damn dragon that used him as a play toy, and rescue the girl he had failed to protect.
Suddenly the road crested a hill, and a ruined village came into view. Like most villages in this world, it was surrounded with stone walls. The walls were broken in several places, and the houses were broken. The roofs collapsed, and everything was charred. He had taken a quest to investigate this village. Something strange had happened here recently, and the guild had put out a decent reward for the party to figure it out. Looking over his shoulder he spoke to the three adventurers he had teamed up with. He was with two slightly older men and a young woman. The girl was dressed in the robes of a mage. During the long trip, he learned that she had left her clan on a journey of self-improvement. She was a talented ice mage, and also knew a handful of water spells. He already knew magic was respectable, and that she was both the parties magical support and their healer.
As for the girl herself, she was a bit taller than the average with a lovely figure but her breasts were disappointingly flat. She had lovely shoulder-length green hair, and slightly pointed ears. Apparently she was a half-elf named Ally, and to his surprise, he learned that no one discriminated against her for ancestry. It turned out that the kingdom had a sizeable elf population, especially in the Varixyies region, and because of this interspecies marriage was not uncommon. Discrimination against half-elves existed just not in this kingdom.
As for the two men, they were about average in looks and clearly twins. The one on the left was a good archer, and the one on the right was fairly talented with the sword and shield. Despite being twins they were different enough he could tell them apart. The twin with the sword and shield was bulkier and more muscular. Not to mention he had a few extra scars, including a very visible one that cut from above his eye and across his cheek. While the archer guy, didn’t have any visible scars, and he preferred lighter armor. He still had trouble remembering their names, but it wasn’t his fault. Their names were really, really long. At least their nicknames were easy to remember. The guy with the bow went by the name Swiftshot, and the other went by Silverblade.
“Looks like we made it to the village,” said Hikaru. Amy sighed in relief saying, “That’s good, but I could use a rest first. My foot is killing me.”
Hikaru didn’t blame her for wanting to rest. They had a run-in with a pack of Lyzardi. The pack was too large to fight, so they were forced to run, and during their flight, she somehow lost her boot and her foot got skewered on something sharp. They had treated her foot, and used a valuable potion on it afterwards, but the bone and flesh was still tender. It would be a while before it toughened back up. He looked around and saw some convenient rocks nearby they could use and pointed them out.
She nodded and headed for the rocks, and the two twins said that they were going to gather some firewood. He went over and settled on a rock next to her. Placing his bag next to himself he looked up to see that she had pulled her boot off, and was using a healing spell on her foot which had clearly swollen a bit and had blisters.
“So what do you think happened in the village?” asked Hikaru. She glanced at the broken walls, and burned husks, and replied, “Not sure, Hobgoblins and Orcs have both been known to raid settlements, and the results are similar. Problem is that neither species lives this far north. The largest populations can be found on the outskirts of the Great Elven Forest in Southern Dragonsreach. They’re complete pests.”
“So if it isn’t Hobgoblins or Orcs, who do you think did this?” asked Hikaru
“As I said, I’m not sure. There are a few monster nests in the area, but none of the local monsters are intelligent enough to use siege weapons. If I had to guess, a new opening into the underground realm must have opened around here,” said the half-elf thoughtfully.
Hikaru shifted as this was the first he had heard of an underground realm. So he curiously asked about it, and she explained happily, “The Underground Realm!? Sure I can share what I know about it. It has a number of names, the Underworld, the Underdark, and the Subterranean network to name a few. There is a massive network of tunnels and caverns beneath our feet. Most of them are the work of Wyrms a dragon species not capable of flight. Others are the work of Dwarves or Dark Elves. Anyway, the network runs through the entire continent and is home to many species. It is also home to its own monsters, some of which are quite intelligent. Trolls, specifically Rock Trolls are a famous example found in the Underground Realm. A tribe of Rock Trolls could be responsible if an opening has appeared. Especially if it was led by an Iron Troll.
Honestly, I hope it isn’t Trolls. They have extremely thick skin, and a very high natural regeneration. Not to mention they have some rather disturbing eating habits, but less so than their larger and dumber cousins.”
Hikaru was a little surprised and exclaimed, “I thought Trolls are stupid!”
She chuckled, and replied, “Depends on the species. Rock Trolls are about half as intelligent as Humans, but the stronger Iron Trolls are just as intelligent. Further along the same evolutionary line, the Steel Troll is smarter than your average human. About as intelligent as High Humans are.”
Hikaru had actually thought to do some reading so he knew a thing or two about evolution. All species including monsters and sentients could evolve into a stronger version if enough mana built up in their body. Mage Clans tend to be made up almost entirely of High Humans who have changed to be smarter, and better suited to using magic than normal humans. Still, the book he had read was a little sparse on information, and it left him with a lot of questions. Then he looked over and saw a large animal that looked like a Rhyhorn with bushes growing out of its back, blue-gray skin and a longer thicker horn. Pointing it out he asked, “I have never seen one of those, but what is that?”
She glanced at it, and said, “Oh, that it’s just a harmless Crepeakis. They wander the fields and are only aggressive when they feel threatened. They are considered to be a species of plant, but they have been known to catch and eat small animals. Their vines end with a special stinger that they use to deliver a paralytic venom, and their horn is a formidable weapon as well. Just don’t threaten it, and it will leave you alone.”
Hikaru blinked, and looked towards where the twins went to gather firewood and saw them coming back, “I think I have heard of them. I believe they are quite common here in Ukova, right?”
She shook her head, and said, “Only here in the Eastern Hills. They aren’t the most prolific of races, and they have been over hunted a bit too much. The king and the guild have passed edicts to restrict the hunting of Crepeakis.”
Hikaru was a little surprised to learn that even a magical world with a clearly medieval level of technology they had hunting regulations. That was not something that happened often in stories. Normally they depicted monsters as breeding rapidly enough or other strange phenomena to the point that overhunting wasn’t a concern. Clearly in this world that wasn’t actually a concern. Before he could say something the twins returned with the firewood. They started a fire, and started making a quick meal. They would start the investigation in a couple of hours.
Seem the younger daughter of the she-dragon as a little ... used too much power to kill the pesky mind-eating-plant ? Poor little town ... bad young dragon
. Well, can't make homurice without break some eggs ! Hope some people have survive to this sh1t.
Fun to read story about the summoned hero. Like the realistic wiew about it, and spit on all the common trope (who are, in fact, pretty much dumb for most of them).