Chapter XXXV - Tanagar Mountain (part 1)

The next morning is just like any other morning.

The morning of the Office is really something I longed for. There weren't many people here, but the atmosphere was still quite lively. It's pretty much just like every morning in the Office.

By the time I arrived, Valey and Barett were already seated in the cafeteria. The two of them are currently eating their breakfast. And since I haven't eaten any breakfast, I decided to join in on them. I greeted them first, then headed to the ordering desk on the front left.

And while I was eating, the two who hasn't arrived yet begun to come one by one.

"Oh! You guys are here already! I had to eat breakfast at my place first."

"Good morning everyone! I hope I wasn't late!"

Hod and Cony came one after another around a few minutes after me. The whole team has finally arrived, and we talked about some stuff while waiting for me to finish my breakfast. As usual, I ordered baked bread and a little bit of potatoes, which has a different name here, apparently.

After I finished my meal, we talked a bit for around five minutes before going on with the mission. Hod said to everyone that we should try grinding at the skeleton cave he and I went to before. Cony asked for more details, and Hod answered that he simply did a mission with me just to help.

However... Cony seems to tell something else much more important than that.

"Only to help?"

"Yes. Just to help."

"Help, help?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then~."

I'm not sure what Cony's intentions are, but I can tell from her mischievous smirk it's nothing good. The others didn't seem to mind it, so it seems like it's just a Cony thing.

"Maybe not now, but later. Grinding there could prove useful for training and looting. You guys will know later."

"Hehh~... Then, what should we do now, Boss?"

Valey asked Hod from my left. She seemed to be a bit more relaxed when in a team, unlike before when the three of us are facing three hundred red orcs.

"For now..."

Hod turned to the mission board from where he sat, and we all understood.

"Let's pick a mission first."

The team then got up after clearing the table, and we went to the mission board to look for a nice mission to do.

Five minutes later, we picked a mission from the Blue ranks. They thought it would be much safer if we were to do a simple Blue rank mission for my sake. I told them Yellow ranked missions are fine too, but they insisted.

So, we picked a Blue ranked mission about finishing a horde of wyverns.

Wyverns are weaker than lesser dragons. And to add it, they can't throw fire from their mouths like dragons do. They just looked like dragons, but with a flatter face and smaller body. Also their hands are merged with their wings. Unlike dragons who have four legs like any beasts do, the Wyverns had to walk with two legs and two wings, which makes it a little more like an oversized reptile bat.

But in the end, they are all just a bunch of giant lizards.

"All right, I got the mission scroll."

Hod handed the mission scroll to us after signing up the team at the receptionist desk with Keila. Barett was the first to read it, and he read it for a second before handing it to the others to see.

"This mission will be a bit different, because the one that issued this mission isn't from Mazino."

"Does it matter...? Where are we going, anyway?"

Cony asked before she was handed the mission scroll. She looked at it for a second before finally understanding it completely. She then passed the scroll to me for me to read.

Wyvern hunt. Hunt down all the wyverns in the area. Any loot obtained can be sold to the Office. Location: Tanagar Mountains, Veldonia.

Oh, dear... it's in the territory of another kingdom.

"All right. Is everyone ready?"

We all nodded at Hod's word, then we left the Office.

The ride straight to Tanagar Mountains doesn't exist. Instead, we will have to ride to the large town close to it, which will take forty minutes of walking to the mountains. Quite far if you ask me, but that's the adventurous life of an adventurer.

The trip to the town will take even longer. It took us more than an hour to get to the town. It's almost like we are in another kingdom already, which we are.

According to Hod, the town is in fact inside the territory of another kingdom, so it wasn't really our territory. Then again, all the kingdoms used the same currency, so it wouldn't affect much if they asked for the help of Mazino's adventurers.

The town was in fact quite large. They have their own castle walls and stuff. It's not as large as a capital city of any kingdom, but more like a trading city or something. 

I have never been here before since most lower ranking missions never really went very far from the kingdom. Only the higher ranking adventurers are trusted with missions far away from the kingdom, so the lower ranks had to stick with the same location over and over again.

We arrived at the gate before the town. And we didn't have to enter, since our target was quite far from the town itself. How far is forty minutes of walk, anyways?

When we asked the guard where the Tanagar mountains were, they simply pointed towards a direction. When we follow their gaze, we can see it.

It's actually very close.

"Are you guys the adventurers sent from Mazino?"

The knights asked us after we arrived at the town. We're now by the gate that is stopping any visitors from entering the town without permission, and the knights seemed to know that there will be adventurers coming.

"Yes. If you already knew us, then you must know why we are here."

Hod answered so confidently, which made me realize that Hod seemed to know his way of talking as the leader. On the other hand, the knight also knows his role.

"I was notified by my higher ups that certain high ranking adventurers from Mazino will arrive here. I was ordered to show you guys where the location is."

The knights then quickly called his friend from the barracks behind him. The other knight quickly ran back inside the door.

"By any chance, is the one who issued the mission your higher ups?"

Hod asked from his side, but the knight looked back at Him with a grin.

"Actually, the one that issued is the town itself."

He answered quite cryptically, which made all of us wonder. He then pointed at the mountains again to explain.

"Those wyverns have a high possibility of attacking this city. We can't really do much since they are quite difficult to handle. The mayor of the town already asked the capital for help, but they seemed to think that it was just a simple problem, so we are down to rely on mercenaries from another kingdom."

"Ahh... I understand the situation now."

Hod just nodded to the knight's answer. Funny how he didn't mention anything about their government or about the capital. If it's me, I would totally shit on their king for not helping their own. That would cause trouble, of course.

After a while, the knight's friend came out with a carriage. It wasn't luxurious, but it's certainly better than those carriage normal people in Mazino used to get from town to town.

"We will take you to the location with this carriage. We are asking for your help, after all."

Slowly we climbed on to the carriage, one by one. When we all had been seated inside, the driver lashed the horses to start moving. The trip to the top of the mountain took faster than we once thought.

We arrived ten minutes later, near the top. The driver couldn't take us to the top because he feared the wyverns were going to be alerted by the horses. Instead, he will wait for us down here, under the trees where it's safe. So, we just left him and walked to the top.

"Rize, have you fought a wyvern before?"

Cony asked from my right during our walk, and everyone else seemed to be listening. We are hiking the mountain at a slow pace, reserving our energy to fight. As such, such a slow walk tends to get really boring, so the youngest of us decided to make a fuss.

"I have. It's just an overgrown lizard."

"W-Wow, that's so easy to say."

Valey chuckled from her side. She already saw me in a battle, but Cony hasn't. And after asking that, Cony didn't really ask anything else.

We arrived on the top, and apparently there's a huge crater on top of the mountain. The diameter is around thirty meters, which made me wonder if this place was a volcano once.

Inside the crater, no less than 20 wyverns are chilling. It's like this place has become their new nest. Some of them are eating the dead corpse of a large animal, some others are sleeping. For sure, this is more serious than we thought.

"This is a nest."

Hod stated the first thing, and we all agreed. His gaze is focused towards the giant blue wyvern in the middle that is bigger than the other wyverns, and we all realized that the blue one could be their leader.

"Could there be more wyverns out there?"

Barett asked, and Hod shook his head. He and Hod were able to keep their heads cool, but Valey and Cony were surprised to the point where speaking is difficult.

"There might be, but that's the least of our concerns. For now, we have to clean up the ones present first."

Hod commented after studying the situation, and he turned his eyes to his friends. Everyone is indeed quite on the edge, considering we're facing so many large flying lizards at once.

However, only one person seemed to be smiling.

"R-Rize..."

"Hmm? What?"

I asked him from being so confused, and everyone else turned their gazes to me. I became even more confused by them, because they all look so surprised by something on my face.

"... Is there a wyvern behind me?"

"N-No. It's just that you look so calm."

Hod pointed out, and I am indeed calm. I don't see why we should freak out by anything.

"Well... is there any reason to be panicking?"

I said jokingly, and everyone else quickly realized. Hod turned chuckling, probably because he seemed to have forgotten that I'm also here. Valey also brightened up, leaving Cony and Barett the only ones confused.

"Say the word Hod."

Valey confidently stepped forward on my left. The bow in her hand is loaded with arrows that's enchanted with crazy powerful magic. Everyone noticed that she is more than ready to fight, and they all prepared themselves.

"Ready?!"

Hod shouted, and I took out both my swords from my ring. Two scabbards, one from the knights and another with a dragon crest. The two blades got summoned out of thin air with blue particles in my hip, and I unsheathed both of them without a single noise being made.

Hod took out his thin sword and unsheathed it. He pointed the sword at a wyvern, then created an ice shard to shoot at from the edge of the sword.

Barett and Cony also took out their weapons, and it seems like they are ready as well. Hod noticed we're done preparing, and the time is now.

"Begin!!"

ZRIINNNGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!

He didn't even chant, and he shot a powerful shard of ice and the speed of a bullet towards the first wyvern. It went through the head and the brain as if it were a piece of paper.

BAMM!!!!

The first wyvern died without being able to scream, but the sound of its body hitting the ground alerted the rest of the wyvern group. The other wyverns let out multiple shouts and screams, making everything nearby and below the mountain heard it. 

The combined screams reached all the way to the kingdom. The knight guard that we met earlier clenched his fist when he heard the screams. The rest of the knights also seemed to be tightening up security.

If the wyverns decided to flee from there, it could be disastrous.

The wyverns started flapping their wings. Soon, around seven are airborne, while the rest rapidly approach our position at the edge of the crater.

Hod looked back at the rest of his team, still standing straight.

"I thought I said begin..."

"Well, I'm still surprised at your straight shot."

Valey chuckled from concern, and I can tell she was a little shocked by the wyvern's combined screams. Everyone else seemed to be the same. The wyvern screams were very frightening since they all screamed at once.

Hod was simply confused. He turned to look at me for assistance, and I turned my gaze to the wyverns flying on the air above us.

"Take care of the ones on the ground, I'll go for the airborne ones."

I took out my waterproof hood and put it on. I'm guessing this will go a little bloody. I still haven't bought a new mask, so I will have to deal with my face drenched in blood later on. 

This will definitely suck for my face...

Hod nodded to my words, leaving everyone in confusion. He looked back at his teammates and realized they are still disarrayed.

"Guys! Let's take care of the ones on the ground!"

His words snapped the others back to reality before he started moving. He used his ice magic to attack the first wyvern that was closer to us, clearing a path.

"C-Come on guys! They are just wyverns!"

Valey regained her confidence and picked up more arrows, and she started shooting at the wyverns on the ground. Barett and Cony finally snapped out and followed Hod down, who is currently freezing a wyvern.

The two seemed to be concerned for me, but in the end they trusted Hod, and Hod trusted me. They had no choice but to leave me up here to fight the airborne wyverns.

I put up the hood and turned my gaze towards the wyverns in the air. They are currently eyeing their prey at the crater, which is Hod and the others. 

They dare ignore me, huh?

I lifted both of my hands and faced them to my target. I closed my eyes and imagined creating a whirlwind of flames on my palms, but condensed very heavily. I kept on pouring magic energy towards it. When I opened my eyes, I could see a spinning big ball of fire, one meter in diameter. 

This is different from a normal fireball. It's spinning, and it's very condensed.

Like opening the lid, I opened up a small opening at the front part where I will be shooting the flames on the ball. And just like that, the whirlwind of flames shoots out at a high speed with a huge area of effect towards the wyverns on the skies. 

VWOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!

The wyverns weren't paying attention to me. They didn't realize my attack until they were already cladded in flames and charcoal.

Just like a volcano shooting its lava, my whirlwind of flame is like a breath of flames that gets bigger and bigger. That huge aerial flame took down five wyverns from the air, leaving them in a black charred state and falling down.

Everyone down at the crater saw my attack with wide eyes. The wyverns are also shocked as they stare at their dead comrades, charred to coal and falling from the air.