Chapter 15: Wyvern Variant
About three days had passed since I started hunting wyverns around the northern mountains. I hadn’t been attacked by a Red Dragon, and the hunting had been going smoothly. However, once my level reached 50, hunting wyverns stopped increasing my level. Just as I was thinking it might be time to stop hunting here, a wyvern different from the usual ones appeared before me.
Species: Wyvern (Variant)
Name: None
Rank: B+
Level: 55
HP: 348/348
MP: 226/226
Attack Power: 305
Defense Power: 276
Magic Attack Power: 299
Magic Defense Power: 209
Agility: 243
Skills:
Life Detection Lv7
Flight Lv16
Roar Lv13
Breath (Wind) Lv12
Wind Magic Lv11
Wind Resistance Lv11
The deep green wyvern seemed to be a variant. It was a size larger than the wyverns I had defeated so far, and while it didn’t match the Red Dragon, its stats were quite high. It surpassed me not only in attack and defense but also in agility. For a moment, I considered running away, but it seemed that was no longer an option. Its eyes had already locked onto my silver form.
If it had noticed me, there was no helping it. I moved as before, trying to lure it into the forest.
However, the wyvern variant didn’t enter the forest, instead pursuing me from the sky. Even though my figure should have been hidden by the trees, it was closing the distance with surprising accuracy. I checked its stats again and understood.
(Damn, it has Life Detection.)
The variant had the Life Detection skill, so it could pinpoint my location even without seeing me. However, I also had Life Detection. I decided to strike first before it caught up, and I fired three consecutive Poison Bullets at the variant I had detected with Life Detection.
The variant, which was just about to descend and attack me, tried to evade the Poison Bullets fired as a counter by spinning in a corkscrew motion. It seemed to have barely dodged the first and second shots, but the third one was unavoidable. It grazed its foreleg, causing it to lose balance and crash into the trees. I managed to shoot it down, but unfortunately, I couldn’t inflict a poison status.
Still, the impact of the fall seemed to have reduced its HP somewhat.
I immediately headed towards the variant’s crash site, but it hadn’t taken that much damage. The wyvern variant had already regained its footing and was letting out an angry roar.
Since we both had Life Detection, hiding was pointless, but I approached the variant while using the trees to block its line of sight, hoping to prevent a breath attack. Ignoring me, the wyvern opened its mouth wide.
(A breath attack!?)
I reflexively braced myself, trying to discern the trajectory of the breath. However, nothing appeared in my sight. I thought it might have misfired, but my magic detection picked up something flying towards me at an incredible speed.
(Damn it! This variant is ‘Wind Attribute’!)
This wyvern variant had Breath (Wind). In other words, the breath it exhaled was a mass of wind. Looking closely, I could see the air distorting. I immediately tried to evade, but I was blown away before I could fully dodge.
(Guuuuh)
Blown away by the wind breath, I crashed into a tree next to me. In that opening, the variant unleashed a 4th tier Wind Magic, “Air Shot.” Smaller than the previous breath, but a much denser mass of wind struck me continuously. My silver body was sent flying, smashing through trees.
However, while I was hit directly by the magic, it was actually a good thing that it was a magic attack. The variant’s attack power far exceeded my defense, but magic attacks were a different story. My magic defense was higher than the variant’s magic attack. I was blown away by the impact, but I didn’t take much damage. The “Hardening” and “Pain Resistance” skills played their roles well.
I immediately counterattacked. I couldn’t win if it came to close combat. Now that we were separated, it was my chance to attack with magic. The wyvern variant had “Wind Resistance,” so wind magic would be useless.
(Shining Arrow!)
“Shining Arrow,” the 4th tier Light Magic, was the fastest to activate and the fastest among my magic. The moment it flashed, a light arrow had already pierced the variant’s shoulder.
(As I thought, magic attacks are effective.)
I followed up by firing Poison Edge into the wound created by Shining Arrow. It was a strategy to pour poison into the wound. The variant, staggered by the Shining Arrow, was hit by a second Poison Edge in the same wound.
(Alright, it’s in a poisoned state.)
If I could inflict a poisoned state, I could defeat it by stalling for time. However, it would be pointless if it charged at me and defeated me instead. Since its agility was higher, it wouldn’t be wise to just run away. To buy time, I shouldn’t let up on my attacks.
I unleashed Water Bullets, Stone Needles, and Shining Arrows. The barrage of magic attacks was so intense that even the variant couldn’t move. My magic continued to inflict more and more wounds.
(Gaaaaaaah!)
The wyvern variant let out a loud death cry and collapsed onto the ground, its body covered in wounds.
(Phew, that was close. If the variant had attacked with physical attacks instead of magic from the start, the tables might have been turned.)
I confirmed it was dead and stored it in my Item Box.
The variant’s level was 55. Just defeating this one increased my level by three, bringing me to level 53. As expected, fighting opponents stronger than me gave a lot of experience points. However, aside from the Red Dragon, the wyverns were the highest level monsters around here. There probably weren’t many variants, so I needed to start thinking about leveling up somewhere else. There might be stronger monsters deeper in the mountains, but I couldn’t have a Red Dragon appearing every time.
(Maybe it’s time to move to another place.)
I had grown attached to this place, having survived many life-and-death battles since my reincarnation, but I couldn’t stay in this forest forever for the sake of my noble goal. I wanted to see more of the world and eventually blend into human society. It might be a bit difficult in my current form, but I had the “Special Evolution” skill. If I continued to evolve, I should eventually be able to obtain a body that could live in human society.
I returned to my base, filled my Item Box with a large amount of tree sap for food, and on the 100th day since my reincarnation, I left my home forest.