The Dragon Slaying Secret Technique
“Hey, Peasant. How about we compete in this week’s Weekly Assignment?”
As soon as the teacher announced the Weekly Assignment and left the classroom, my Holy Priest classmate came up to me and said that.
…I have a pretty good idea what this guy’s going to say next.
“If you lose, you and that woman will be my slaves, got it? You’ll accept, right?”
“Hah, I refuse.”
“Huh?”
There’s absolutely no upside. To be honest, as a former JRO addict, I don’t think I’d lose in any conflict in this world, no matter who the opponent is, but a bet that would trouble Ragna was out of the question.
“Just as I thought, a peasant is a peasant after all. If you don’t have the guts to accept a challenge, you should just quietly listen to what I say.”
Saying that, I slapped away the Holy Priest’s hand as he reached for Ragna.
“…And what if you guys lose?”
“Hmph. There’s no way I’d lose to a peasant, but let’s see. If we lose, you can do whatever you want with us – boil us, roast us, anything. Well, not that we’re going to lose, though.”
These guys, laughing vulgarly like that, are definitely getting burned at the stake or boiled alive.
And so, with all that, I took Ragna with me and immediately headed to the Adventurer’s Guild to tackle the Weekly Assignment.
◇
At Hero Academy, classes are held three days a week, with a total of nine periods, each lasting 90 minutes.
Although this is considerably less class time compared to other academies or universities, there are two main reasons why Hero Academy is Hermenia’s most prestigious school.
One is the regular exams. If you don’t score well on these monthly tests of academic ability and knowledge, your evaluation drops, and your class rank might be lowered in the next semester. For Class E, it seems there’s a strict measure: failing means expulsion.
And the other is this thing called the Weekly Assignment.
It’s said that because of these two things, Hermenia Hero Academy can foster outstanding heroes despite having fewer class hours.
Well, I guess it means that those who would be heroes must be able to strive on their own.
That’s why the request we accepted to complete this week’s Weekly Assignment was “Forest Dragon Behavior Survey and Subjugation.”
If I lose, I’ll become that Holy Priest’s slave, and on top of that, Ragna might suffer terribly. Given that, I’m aiming for the S-rank dragon hide from the Weekly Assignment.
…I think my academic performance at the academy could also lead to getting back together with Reina, and I don’t have any other concrete plans, so for now, I just want to focus on what’s in front of me.
◇
To obtain the S-rank dragon hide for the Weekly Assignment, we need to defeat a dragon. But in JRO, creatures called dragons exist on almost every map.
Forests, volcanoes, deserts, lakes, dungeons.
By the time a typical player can easily defeat these unreasonably strong enemies—which appear not as bosses but as random encounters on those maps—their level is usually already over 70.
However, in JRO, there are many players who defeat dragons on various maps under extreme low-level restrictions.
…And the lowest level for that is an astonishing Level 10. The ‘Profession’ of the player who accomplished that was, naturally, Peasant.
So, for today… or rather, for this week’s Weekly Assignment, I’m thinking of defeating a dragon under extreme low-level restrictions.
Now, there are two main preparations absolutely necessary for this.
First is the ‘Peasant’ profession. If I could level up freely, other professions might be fine, but well, I’m a Peasant, and there’s no sign I can change professions anytime soon, so I’ll try my best utilizing ‘Peasant’.
And the second is—the ‘Seed of the World Tree’.
This is a rare item that can occasionally be found right here in the ‘Great Gracos Forest’, where we’ve come to investigate the Forest Dragon’s movements. In JRO, it’s a common doping item that slightly increases HP and MP when used.
In JRO, one was considered enough, but this is reality, and if I die, there are no do-overs, so I’d like to have a bit of a margin and get three.
I found the first one earlier, so depending on the situation, I might try with just one, but…
“Haito!! I found some! Two of them, even!!”
“Whoa, nice one, Ragna!!”
Ragna, who had come to this forest with me, let out a joyful cry.
Ragna scampered over, hopping lightly, and handed me the seeds. She then tilted her chin up with an expression that seemed to say, “Praise me!”, so I stroked under her chin.
“Thanks, Ragna.”
“…Hmph, if I’m to be Haito’s bride, this much is a given! By the way, why did you want those seeds?”
“That’s because… with these seeds, we’ll be able to defeat the Forest Dragon.”
“Huh?”
Ragna showed an expression as if she didn’t understand at all.
“N-no. I think you’re amazing, Haito, but even if you eat all those seeds, your HP and MP won’t even increase by 10, you know? Defeating a Forest Dragon like that is just reckless!”
“It’s not like I’m planning to eat these seeds to do something. Well, this is more like a secret trick for dragon slaying…”
Saying that, I proceeded straight through this Great Gracos Forest. Then, we came out to a slightly open lakeside.
In JRO, this area was where encounters with Forest Dragons were most likely to occur. I quickly scanned the surroundings…
“…There it is.”
“…F-Forest Dragon.”
A giant Komodo dragon-like creature, currently drinking water. Its massive, stout body had wings like a bat’s membrane, rather small for its size—there’s no way it could fly with wings that small, and it’s a mystery what they’re even for.
Ragna and I held our breath, observing the Forest Dragon from behind cover.
“Ragna. I’ll skip the detailed explanation, but stay hidden so the Forest Dragon doesn’t notice you. If by any chance it spots you, run with all your might.”
“…Of course, that’s the plan, but… what will you do, Haito?”
“I’m…”
I clutched the ‘Seed of the World Tree’ in my pocket, suppressed my presence, and crawled towards the Forest Dragon.
The detection range for a Forest Dragon was supposed to be about 7 meters—at least in JRO. I approached right up to the Forest Dragon’s aggro line and threw the Seed of the World Tree.
And then, I chant. The only spell initially granted to a Peasant.
“Feed on all creation, take root, and sprout—’Seeding’!”
Consuming almost all of my MP. On the Forest Dragon’s moss-covered green scales, the Seed of the World Tree I planted began to sprout rapidly.
“Grrrrrrr…”
All that’s left is for the Seed of the World Tree to drain all of the Forest Dragon’s life force and magical power…
“Runnnnnnn!!”