Battle Against the Wyvern

The wyvern immediately noticed the oncoming scholar. It turned its head towards Fei, its claws ready to pounce at any moment. Fei runs sidewards, hoping to get into the wyvern's blind spot.

The wyvern, seeing that Fei was getting closer, started to ascend to a higher elevation. Like its earlier attack, it positioned itself directly toward Fei and dove at tremendous speed. The sound of the air as the wing slashes is deafening.

She anticipated the wyvern's attack and produced a pillar of earth towards the wyvern. Her actions are more like a distraction to break the wyvern's descent, rather than damaging the creature.

Seeing the oncoming pillar, the wyvern halted its descent and prepared for another plunge toward Fei. Each and every time the wyvern attacked, Fei would hurl large earth pillars toward it.

(Wow!)

Sofia was still hidden, her hands clasping the parchment of paper with the detailed instruction from Fei.

So far, Fei was easily dodging the oncoming attacks of the wyvern. However, sooner or later, one of them would run out of steam, and the wyvern is known for its endurance. Fei knew that she would lose in a battle of attrition.

"Haze!" she shouted the name of her spell.

Black smoke starts appearing around the wyvern. The wyvern tried to disperse the smoke away, but it was far denser and quicker to spread than normal smoke would. Plus, the dark appearance of the smoke blocks the keen eyesight of the wyvern.

"Vindr!" she cast another spell. She manipulated the direction of the smoke by using the wind-attributed spell. Her efforts are focused on the wyvern's upper body.

Wyverns are closer to reptiles. Like other reptilian species, robbing them of their sight would decrease the stress on the creature. Fei used her knowledge to calm down the rampaging of the wyvern.

The wyvern started to descend, its temper visibly lowered as it reached the ground. Now, the creature is more like a confused beast than the rampaging tyrant it was before.

"Now!" Fei shouted in Sofia's direction.

Sofia could be seen standing, her wand raised up high, all the while chanting a spell.

"God of Light, protector of the Weak. Give us strength to purge the wicked!"

She pointed her wand in the direction of the wyvern, still confused by the Haze spell.

"Shackles!"

Several strings of light emerged from the earth. As if having a mind of their own, they started wrapping around the wyverns' legs, tails, and wings.

Now immobilized, the wyvern is now nothing more than a big lizard.

Not wasting any second, Fei rushed towards the wyvern. The effects of the Haze spell are now slowly dissipating, meaning that the wyvern will soon resume its rampage. She pulled out a piece of what looked like a talisman from her pocket.

As soon as the Haze spell was gone, she placed the talisman at the forehead of the wyvern. The Wyvern was late to react, all the while being restrained by the Shackle spell.

Feeling the effects of the talisman, the wyvern convulsed violently.

"Woah! Ms. Fei, are you sure this will work!?", Sofia asked Fei as she runs towards the immobilized wyvern. The wyvern is completely stunned, with its eyes out of focus.

"Yeah... I used a taming talisman to temporarily disable the wyverns movement," she told Sofia.

"Temporarily, not permanently?" Sofia asked Fei.

"Of course. The success rate of taming is equivalent to the talent of the tamer. In my case, I am not a tamer, so the chances of success are low. However, even with no success, we can temporarily render the wyvern immobile for a short period of time," she explained to her junior.

"Hmm ... OK, now that makes sense," she said after comprehending the earlier explanation of Fei.

"With the wyvern immobilized, let us collect the verification items for the quest and head back," Fei said as she started walking toward the scattered remains of the Imp Devil.

"What about this wyvern?" she asked.

"Leave it be. It will regain control of itself in a few minutes, so we better hurry," she explained.

"Still, we cannot leave it be like this. I'm sure there will be a quest for it someday, so shouldn't it be easier to exterminate it now that it's defenseless?", Sofia asked Fei.

Fei stopped for a short while then turned to look back towards Sofia.

"That we can't do. Wyverns are territorial. It means that they are fierce towards protecting their domain. No other wyvern can be seen several kilometers from here, just this one," she said.

Seeing Sofia cocking her head sideward, she continued her explanation.

"So, if this wyvern would suddenly disappear, the area would now be open for new occupants. Several rogue wyverns who have yet to set their territories would compete for this place," she added.

"Let me ask you, what would happen if there would suddenly be dozens of wyvern in the area?", she asked Sofia.

Sofia thought for a moment before speaking.

"That would mean that the area would be overrun by monsters, then the Guild would be requested to handle these wyverns?" she answered, unsure if her answer was right or wrong.

"Exactly. We have the choice to not have those scenarios happen now. We are lucky that this particular wyvern does not cause trouble to the surrounding areas, so my recommendation is to leave it alone for now. When it finally decided to wreak havoc on the nearby areas, only then should we exterminate it," she said as she started reaping off the fangs of the dead Imp Devils.

Seeing Fei starting to collect the fangs, Sofia joined in after her. They were able to collect more than a hundred Imp Devil fangs. By the time the wyvern broke free from the effect of the taming talisman, the two are already on their way back towards Ancdam.

-------------------------------------------

"Ms. Fei, can I ask you a question?" Sofia asked her as they were on their way towards the city.

"Sure," was Fei's curt response.

"Why did you decide to be an adventurer?", she asked.

Fei was at a loss for words. She cannot say that she doesn't specifically aim to be one, it's just that certain circumstances led to her being an honorary adventurer by the Guild. Still, she felt that Sofia's question was more of a question directed to herself, rather than her, so she decided to answer her in earnest.

"Well, If I have to point out a reason, I think it would be because adventurers are free. They are free to do whatever they like as long as they have the ability to do so," was her response to Sofia's question.

"It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you enjoy doing it, you are making the correct choices in life," she added.

(Now that's what a senior would sound like), she thought to herself, proud of being able to say some wise things once in a while to a troubled girl.

"Enjoy life ... huh", Sofia said in a whispered voice.

She looked forward, towards the city now in sight. Darkness started to consume the scenery, so the light from the city standout like a sore thumb.

She looked at Fei, walking in front of her, her steps getting giddier as soon as she saw the city.

"Maybe it's not that bad, once in a while," she said.