Episode 14: Magic Beast Hunting
“Haaaaah…! Take this!!”
Shio yelled, catching the Barghest as it pounced.
A tribeswoman, with tanned skin and lean, muscular arms. Her build was rather petite, but the thickness of her arms was quite sturdy for a girl.
However, those were still “human” arms, and they shouldn’t stand a chance against a beast… especially a “Magic Beast.”
But here she was.
“GYAGAAAAAAAH!!!!”
“Damn you! Take this! Hiyah!”
A girl was brawling with a monster the size of a grizzly bear, and actually holding her own.
If you looked closely, the air around Shio’s body was shimmering, as if there was a heat source nearby…
And a pale blue light was glowing in her eyes…
To someone like me, who could “see” it, it was clear that an aura like blue flames was clinging to Shio’s body.
In other words, what did this mean?
…The power of “Magical Power.”
In this world, wizards were indeed extremely rare, and even casting a simple fireball required years of training.
However, there were more people who could wield “Magical Power” than wizards.
This technique of using Magical Power to enhance physical abilities and weapons was called “Magic Skill” in this world…
“Damn it, you…! Eat this! ORAH!”
“GYAHI?!”
For a first-rate warrior like Shio.
The art of enveloping the body in Magical Power to enhance strength and defense, the “Adamantine Body,” was a skill they had to master…!
That’s why Shio could fight this giant Magic Beast in hand-to-hand combat, and swing her massive Greatsword around with one hand.
“Alright, just keep it pinned down!”
“I-I can’t hold it for long!”
“It’ll be over soon! ‘קיבוע מטרה, קרן פירוק(Disintegration Beam)!’ “
And then, I unleashed my magic.
Disintegration Beam… a green beam.
This was a beam that disintegrated anything it touched.
“GYAH?! GUOOOAAAAAAAH!!!!”
When hit, the appearance wouldn’t change, but the muscle fibers and capillaries inside the body would rupture, the cells would burst, and the body would gradually collapse.
This time, I wanted to preserve the materials, so I wouldn’t completely disintegrate it.
Well, yeah, they wouldn’t buy a completely disintegrated lump of meat.
“GYAAAOOOOH!!! GUOOOAAAAAAH!!!”
The Barghest, hit by this beam, would experience pain as if needles with barbs were being repeatedly inserted and pulled out of every nerve in the affected area.
Being “disintegrated” alive was that painful.
“Ooooh! I-Is it working?!”
“Now’s your chance! Finish it with your spear!”
“Got it! URYAAAAAAH!!”
“GYAAAAAAH!!!!”
Shio, using the Magic Skill called “Adamantine Strength,” which enveloped her arm in Magical Power, unleashed a single spear throw.
It pierced the Barghest’s eye socket, which was writhing in agony from my Disintegration Beam!
Shio’s strength was tremendous. The spear, imbued with the power of a siege weapon ballista, entered through the eye socket, severed the eyeball, and destroyed the brain. The overwhelming power continued, and the tip of the spear pierced through the skull from the inside, with the spearhead half-protruding.
With a massive death cry, the Barghest collapsed…
“…We did it! We defeated it!”
…The subjugation was complete.
On the way back.
“Wow, that was amazing! What was that magic?”
“Disintegration Beam.”
“I’ve never seen that before…? Usually, magic is about shooting lightning or fire, right? But you shot a green light.”
“Well, I’m using a ‘True Word’ that no one knows.”
“Heeh, does that mean you die if you get hit by it?”
“If it hits a human, they’ll melt and die in ten seconds.”
“Melt?”
“Yeah, they’ll turn into a gooey slime, or something like that…”
“So, the Barghest was suffering because it was being melted? Scary~…”
“This is a secret, okay?”
“I know, I know!… But still, why a Barghest? I know they sell for a lot… but wouldn’t a Gold Duck be better? They’re delicious.”
“Ah, well, I’ve been making a new Magic Sword as a hobby lately…”
“Eh? Huh? Wait? A Magic Sword?!”
“I needed Magic Beast carapace as a material for the Magic Sword. And the strongest Armored Magic Beast around here is definitely the Barghest, right?”
“Eh, eh? A hobby? This is your hobby?!”
“Oh, of course, the carapace is my share, so you can have a bigger cut of the reward, okay?”
“Eh, ah, okay…?”
“I’ll show you the Magic Sword when I finish it.”
“W-Wow, I’m looking forward to it…?”
While having such pointless conversations, Shio and I returned to town…
And then, the guild.
“Nyaaah?! A Barghest?!!”
Mirei, who was serving at the tavern, was so surprised that she almost fell over.
Well, yeah, it was a pretty big deal.
At least, it wasn’t something that two people could hunt.
But well, I was a Third-Class Strider, and Shio was a high-ranking Second-Class Strider. We had credibility, so they accepted it without suspicion.
The amount we received was… a whopping two million two hundred thousand Lido!
Taking into account that I received a portion of the carapace, I gave Shio one million two hundred thousand… twelve gold coins.
“Wow! With this, I can buy a new Greatsword… and it’ll last me a month! Thanks, Dru!”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Wanna grab a drink later? We won, after all!”
“Sure, but I’ll stop you if you drink too much, okay? Don’t waste too much money.”
“Okay!”
And so, I hunted with Shio and earned a lot of money.
It was life-threatening, but well, it was a fun activity…