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I grumbled as I put what happened a week ago into the back of my mind. Even though I was duped by a goddess, I couldn't do much about it. At least I had ten years to find something out. Which was the silver lining I suppose. Right now, I'm in the dungeon blowing off the steam that I was feeling by smashing Goblin and Kobold heads in. The dungeon was happy to comply with my death wish as it spawned more for me to break over my knee. I even encountered some Dungeon lizards finally, and finding out they dropped their hides upon magic stone removal.
Needless to say, I was gonna have a big haul today. I wasn't even using magic yet! Just pure brute force!
After an hour or so of mindless combat, I calmed down enough to get all the magic stones with a new knife I bought. It was sharp and strong enough for the task and that was all I needed. Once I was sure that I collected all that I could, I packed them away. As I was doing so, I heard an unusual cry of a monster. I whipped around and found myself face to face with a giant rooster-like bird. I could tell that it was once a Jackbird, but that was about it.
I could hazard a guess that someone had left magic stones lying around and the Jackbird ate them. But the better guess had to do with the entrails around its legs. That, I didn't want to know or think about.
I slowly raised my knife in my left hand and prepared to cast magic in my right. But then I made a big mistake, I blinked. At a speed faster than I could blink, the Mutated Jackbird disappeared and a cut appeared on my shoulder.
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'Fast!' I thought as I whipped around to find the Jackbird pecking at its foot trying to get the entrails off.
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I took my chance and launched a bolt of Lightning at it, which just bounced off its feathers like it was a small stone thrown at it. I nearly shit myself as the bird turned its glowing red eyes towards me. Then it disappeared again as another cut opened up on my stomach. All I could do was defend myself as I got cut again and again.
I racked my brain to find an answer as I covered my vital parts. Right now, I have two options, run away or fight. And running was out of the question. My eyes flickered to and fro to try and keep track of this monster. My mind then thought of several ideas that I didn't dare even try as they were too dangerous at my level. One of which was transmuting the Dungeon itself. I didn't have time to draw a transmutation circle and this monster wouldn't give me time to do it.
As my mind raced I heard the caw of the Mutant as it stopped and looked at me from a distance. I could tell that it was playing with me, as a cat would play with a mouse before eating it. And I was the mouse in this situation. I could feel its blood lust as it stared right at me. Acting quickly on a stray thought, I reached into my bag and pulled out several magic stones. I dumped as much mind as I could afford into them before chucking them at the Mutant. The Mutant Jackbird didn't even bother to dodge as it let them bounce lightly off its feathers which gleamed like polished metal.
The Mutated Jackbird just looked at me like I was an idiot. But, before it could even squawk at me for my ridiculous plan, the stones began to glow. The Jackbird looked at them curiously, before they detonated. The entire dungeon shook as the multiple explosion shockwaves bounded off the walls. Smoke filled the cavern as I covered my face to protect it from debris. Soon the smoke began to clear and still standing there was the mutated Jackbird. However, its feathers were now ruffled and it was leaning to one side with a leg possibly broken. I knew if I survived this, I would be qualified for a level-up as those explosions could damage a level new two with just one. I threw four.
This monster was a level higher than that. As I struggled with what to do, I heard voices rushing to my location. My mind briefly flashed with hope then I realized that I needed this to grow. I wasn't a stupid anime protagonist that wanted to grow stronger. I wanted to live damn it! Without any worries and to make Hecate proud!
So I breathed deeply and stood my ground. I brought up my left hand in a defensive stance with my right hand on the back of the blade. With my right hand, I began to channel mana into the knife, turning it into a rudimentary magic blade. I would only have one shot at this as the blade would break right after.
Sliding my feet across the ground slightly as I got ready. The Jackbird sees this as a challenge and crowed, which sent shivers up my spine. Soon enough I heard the voices get closer and then stop. I could feel the gazes on my bloody back as I ignored them and focused on the beast in front of me. As I did so, I enhanced my body to the limit with magic.
Without warning, we both rushed at each other.
As we closed the distance, I waited for the right moment. That's when I saw it, it lagged a step before we clashed. With all the strength and speed I could muster, I rotated my body and aimed a slice at the Jackbird's neck. The Jackbird could see it coming but it was moving too fast to dodge it.
My magic-enhanced blade arced beautifully and found purchase in the monster's neck. I felt my mind drain rapidly and the blade sunk deeper and deeper. Then it broke. The blade was halfway through before it broke. As the sudden break caught me off guard, I stumbled and caught the mutated Jackbird's wing across my stomach again. Its feathers slicing me open like a hot knife through butter. Thankfully it wasn't deep enough for me to have to hold my guts in, but it will bleed a good amount. I could hear the crumpled form of the mutated Jackbird gaging on its own blood before it went silent.
I stumbled, caught myself, and stood tall. Turning around, I made out the Half-dwarf Captain of Hephaestus's familia looking at me with some of her familia there as well. I managed a small smile before my legs gave out and I fell. Blacking out as I hit the ground.
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|Tsubaki's POV|
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When I heard the explosions, I thought someone was crazy enough to try and blast a hole in the dungeon. Little did I know what really happened. As I and members of my Familia rushed to stop or help the crazed man or woman that caused the explosions, what we found was a sight to behold. A blond-haired man stood there while facing what appeared to be a Jackbird. But its feathers were like polished steel and the speed at which it moved rivaled a speed-based new level three. If those explosions were anything to go by and add to the damage done to the Dungeon itself, it had the endurance too.
Honestly, it felt like it was capable of taking us all on and coming out without a scratch. Yet, this newbie, I could tell due to his ruined outfit and lack of equipment besides a knife, was taking it head on. My familia went to move in but I stopped them. There were unspoken rules in the dungeon and unless he asked for help we wouldn't interfere. That, or he'd died then we could take it on.
Then the amazing happened, he challenged the Jackbird and it accepted it. As the two faced off, I could feel the magic that the man was using as he was doing something to his knife. Then in a breath, the two of them vanished before meeting in the middle. The Jackbird stumbled and the man capitalized on it and drove his knife into its neck. But the knife was of poor quality and snapped halfway through the Jackbird's neck. However, it was enough as the bird crumpled to the ground and died due to it drowning in its own blood.
The man then stumbled and caught himself before turning around. Our eyes met for a brief moment and then he smiled before collapsing. His golden eyes seemed to be full of mirth and his smile never left his face. We then raced over to him, potions and first aid at the ready to heal him. When we arrived, we began to treat him and bandage him up. Unfortunately, we had to remove his coat, jacket, and undershirt as they were ruined. As we turned him over, we found that while his god or goddess locked his stats, they forgot to make it disappear. So we have the emblem of his patron.
It was a simple staff with a three-pointed crown floating above it with a simple star in the background. I knew most of the major and minor familias but this was new to me. I shook my head and continued to bandage him. Once he was bandaged and had been force-fed a potion, we were sure that he would survive.
Then we all looked over to the jackbird. It was in the unspoken rules that another party shouldn't take a different party's hard work. As we discussed what to do, we came to a decision. We would carry him back up with his kill before explaining to the guild about what happened and leave him there. After all, it was the least they could do.
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'Something tells me I should send a letter to Lady Hephaestus about this," I thought as we made our way back up to the surface.
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Two of my familia members carried the man while the other two carried the Jackbird. As we ascended the stars, we got many looks. Mainly because four of our familia were carrying two very different things. A possible corpse of an adventurer and the body of a monster. Once we made it to the guild, I called upon a guild employee to help us and take us to a backroom. Once inside we asked if there was any information on his Familia Emblem. But before we could ask, a knock sounded on the door.
The one who entered was Misha Flott.
According to her, she was his advisor and his name was Edward Elric. When asked who his Patron was, I was surprised as it was a newly descended goddess, Hecate. I made a quick plan before sending one of my familia members out to grab the Goddess after getting her address from Mish.
Minutes later, an exhausted goddess in purple robes came running in.
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|Edward's POV|
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I groaned awake as I felt my body hurt like I had just been run over by a truck for a third time. As I struggled to open my eyes, I felt a soft hand run its way through my hair. Forcing my eyes open was a mistake as everything was far too bright, everything looked like it was in a blurry white haze.
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"Rest now, my child, you've earned it."
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I could vaguely recall the voice from somewhere but I can't remember where. But I knew that I had to sit up or I might pass out again. So with a herculean effort, I pushed myself to sit before trying to rub my eyes. I then took a deep breath and slowly opened my eyes. I wasn't as blinded as before, but it was to a manageable degree. Looking around the room, I spotted Misha, my goddess Hecate, and the Tsubaki of the Hephaestus familia.
I was groggy like I was hungover from heavy drinking the night before. I didn't want to seem like I was a weak level one, so I did my best to concentrate and began to ask questions. Like where I was and what happened to the mutated Jackbird.
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"We're not sure," Tsubaki, who introduced herself, spoke up. "When my Familia and I heard plus felt the explosions, we thought someone was trying to summon a variant monster or something. When we got there, we saw you fighting that Jackbird, at least we assumed it was a Jackbird. Once you defeated it, we rushed to your aid as we could tell that it wasn't a normal monster. After we treated you, we carried you and it back to the guild." She explained, "We were hoping you could fill us in on the details."
"That's right, the Jackbird," I spoke but my head throbbed, "I remember. I was blowing off some steam due to a bad deal I had got. But as I collected the drops, I heard a scream that I never heard before. When I turned around, it was there." I couldn't say more before I swayed and fell back into the coach I was on.
"Then it's safe to assume you fought it," Misha who was silent and writing things down had spoken. "Based on the investigation that we sent into the Dungeon while you were out, we can estimate that the Mutated Jackbird, or 'Slaughterbird' as they dubbed it, was at least at the level of a new level three." She then sighed, "We did find a body while we investigated the Dungeon. The body was too far gone to determine what familia it belonged to. But it was safe to say that this person had Magic Stones on him and the Slaughterbird ate them before evolving."
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Hecate, who had been listening, pulled my head onto her lap and was running her hand through my hair. She pointed out that a few things could have happened with the Slaughterbird to make it more possible for me to defeat it. Misha agreed as so did Tsubaki. Long story short, I got extremely lucky. That's it, nothing more or less.
Finally, once Misha was done with her report, she stood up and asked if they could take the bird for further examination. I was too tired to answer so Hecate did, noting that she wanted any drops from the bird once they were done along with I drops I collected. Misha complied and wrote that down before exiting. Tsubaki, on the other hand, stayed behind to ask Hecate a few questions I didn't hear as I passed out again.
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