And so, like the good boy that I am, I immediately proceeded toward the forest in question
Come on, telling me not to go somewhere when there's something like a dragon hiding in it? Now that's just bonkers. I mean, we're talking about dragons here, one of the strongest creatures in this world, capable of wielding the most powerful and destructive magic spells in existence
In ancient times it was said that dragons once ruled the land and skies. Their scales were extremely tough that even the highest level of spells could barely pierce through them, they also had the ability to fly high in the sky and lay down whatever magic they could throw at us. This, along with their other abilities, made them an apex predator that was nearly unmatched
Only being second to the Great Gods that were said to be the ones that create this realm...
Elder dragons were said to be so powerful that they permanently changed the landscapes of this world as we know it. And even a juvenile dragon is capable of destroying entire countries on its own...How rad is that?!
But sadly, their reign didn't really last long...
One of the crucial weaknesses of dragons is their reproduction rate. I've read stories saying that it takes about an entire year for a female dragon's egg to be fertilized. And over twenty years for a baby dragon to be fully hatched
And if your very existence makes you an enemy to many creatures who want to kill you, then you'll need numbers. And this is something that isn't on the side of dragons. As time passed, many of them were hunted down until only a few remain in this world
Which is exactly why I need to see this one!
If they're powerful as the legends say, then I'll be able to see cool spells that I've never seen before. And if I was able to defeat it, I'd be able to use their body parts as excellent material.
I've heard that dragon blood has some impressive healing factor, which would make them a wonderful material for potions. Since their scales are nearly as hard as diamonds, then they'd be very useful as well...
Ahhh! Just the thought of seeing it makes me thrilled! I haven't been this wild about something ever since I mastered my first level 9 spell or during my first Oscar award!
So with the excitement building up in my body, I took a stroll in the forest
Considering my other duties as an aristocrat, as well as my sister beating me to a crisp every morning, this would be the only good time to head out. Sleep never really sat right with me since it was a waste of time, so I pretty much continued pumping magic onto my brain so as to stay active
"Ah, Elgior forest. It sure has been a while"
Lenington city was mostly surrounded by plenty of mountain ranges and forests, Elgior forest was one of them. Walking through this forest gave me a bit of nostalgia. I remembered coming here when I was a child to test out the magic spells that I'd learned. After all, this place was the perfect place to hone my skills...
Why? Well that was simple
Because it's one of the most dangerous spots in the entire Empire
It's home to many ferocious monsters that have an appetite for human flesh. Be it day or night, no one is really safe if they wander around this place. In fact, there was this one time I watched a caravan protected by Imperial guards go into the forest only to be shredded by a pack of heartless beast
So yeah, it is pretty vicious around these parts...But not really for me...
Sure, it was a bit dangerous at first. But as time flies and I learned more spells, I just found these guys to be very convenient punching bags to test my spells on. But unlike punching bags, these guys fight back, and they also give me very useful materials when I kill them so I guess they're even better
And after twelve years of hunting down deadly monsters, I just found them to be cute now
"Grrrrrrr...."
Like these guys for example
They're called Shadow wolves and are extremely feared for their sheer bloodlust and tenacity. They're over four times bigger than the normal wolves back in my old world, and they have sharper and more durable claws and teeth.
And most of them are capable of piercing through weak magic defenses that people put up
As if that wasn't enough, they also hunt in packs and are extremely cunning so as to how they corner their prey. And they're also one of the greatest ambush predators out there. Some people even failed to notice them even if they were right in front of their eyes.
There are many things said about this creature, but one thing is certain. Once these fuckers bite, they never let go
There's only one appearing in front of me right now, but I could sense that there are twelve more that are hiding in the trees. Each of them was ready to maul me to death...
And to signal the start of the hunt, one of the Shadow wolves pounced at me and took a bite at my arm. This was one of their hunting tactics, to literally disarm their opponent first. Once it had its jaws on me, which are capable of snapping bones as if they were twigs, the others began their attack as well
One of them positioned themselves and bit my legs, while there was another who jumped from the trees and was ready to deliver the finishing blow by crushing my skull like an eggshell.
Most people would have their life flash into their eyes at this point but me...I found them to be quite adorable...
If you look past their big stature and intimidating presence, they really do seem like oversized pups trying to play around. I mean look at one of these guys, he seems confused as to why my arms aren't being snapped in two
Silly little thing, you can't break through my magic defenses like that
"You'd have to use something with a bit more power and precision. Something like this, [Windcutter]"
I activated a level 6 spell which summoned forth an array of sharp winds that literally sliced the puppy into mincemeat. It seems that I went a bit overboard with it, seeing as the nearby trees, as well as the other things that were in the spells trajectory, were now in pieces
Once they saw their comrades shredded like that, they immediately released their bite from me and began to back off
"...So much for not letting go..."
They might've fallen back, but that didn't mean they'd given up. They continued watching me from a safe distance while growling and showing their sharp teeth at me. I honestly found the fact that they're scared shitless but still chose to fight me because of their pride to be adorable
"Fine then, I'll play with you guys for a bit. [Arms of Gia]"
I activated one of my favorites level 7 spells which caused the ground to shake momentarily. Afterward, over twelve gigantic arms made of greenery and soil begin to rise from the ground and began to head toward the wolves...
The wolves tried to dodge them, but it was awfully fast for something of its size so most of them were crushed
I can make as much as I want, but this was more than enough. Seeing them run for their lives as they watch their other members be squashed like flies is hilarious. And as this continued, I saw one of the wolves head for me and took a strike at my head once more...
"Hmmm, seems that you guys instinctively know that the head is our weakness. I'll give you props for that"
The wolf could only stare at me blankly before it was crushed by one of the giant arms. I let out a sigh as I took my handkerchief and wiped some of the blood that got into my face
Once I've confirmed that all the wolves were crushed, I deactivated the spell which caused them to turn back to dust. And all that was left was lumps of crushed meat. It was a shame, they could've made amusing pets
But my sister would try to tear me a new one if I bring them home, and I'd rather not experience that...
So after leaving the scene, I continued searching for these ancient ruins that they were talking about. It really shocked me to know that something like that was able to elude me all these years. Sure, I was pretty much walking around in random directions, killing everything that tries to kill me, but still...
Ancient ruins should've been something I found years ago
But the problem is that I don't know where it is...
I tried to sneak into the room of my parents and take a sneak peek at the reports, but it seems that they already expected that an outsider would try to look into it because it was all encrypted gibberish
Sure, I could try to do some mind control to force them to tell me and erase their memories afterward but that takes way too much mana, and even someone like me would have a hard time managing that.
So I had to go out and do it the hard way. Right now, I'm releasing my mana into the atmosphere in a three-kilometer radius and pulling it back in to get a shape and feel for my surroundings. Basically, I'm acting like a walking radar. Considering that this spell was a prototype that I recently created, it isn't really perfect, but it gets the job done
Yet despite this, I still notice no signs of a dragon, nor an ancient ruin
"Hm?...Wait, this is..."
But I did notice something interesting. There were quite a few life signatures that were huddled up together somewhere in the forest. They number to about twenty to thirty and I thought that they were monsters at first, but looking at their mana, they seemed to be people
And the fact that there were this many of them during the night, and in Elgior forest out of all places, told me that they weren't just a bunch of hikers. So I immediately headed towards their direction and began to spy on them once I was close enough
Just as I had expected, there was a camp that was set up. And it was quite big too. I was initially on the idea that they were a part of the elite forces that were sent from the capital to subjugate the dragon, but looking at their clothing, equipment, as well as their mannerisms, that doesn't seem to be the case...
"If anything they looked like..."
Once the realization crossed my mind, I couldn't help but smile like a child that was just given a present...
"Bandits!"