Chapter 159: Live Test Subjects

Early Morning - Early Spring : Syashara, Siratha

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Not long after Thyra apologized, things calmed down and we got to the road.

"So how long is this route?" I spoke up to break the ice as we ran through the canopy and jumped between huge branches.

But even after I broke the ice, the demihuman man was the only one to seem interested. "If we keep this pace, we will make it to the city in 3 days. If you stay on this path through the city though, in around 2 weeks you can make it all the way to the northern coast."

"Oh, we're that close to the coast?" It was far closer than I thought.

But just because I thought it was close, didn't mean everyone would agree. "Y..yea.. s..sure.." 

Completely ignoring his awkward response, I tossed out another question. "So are there coastal cities and towns along the beaches?"

There was still a bit on hesitation still in his voice. "Y..yeah, actually. Although the elves usually aren't too fond of the sea, quite a few demihumans enjoy the warm and shallow coastlines."

-Warm and shallow? Like the Bahamas?- Although I wanted to say the elves were missing out, I couldn't help but think their worries were extremely well founded. -That colossal crab was big enough to traumatize people for generations..- "So are those towns built on the ground?"

This time, one of the elves finally spoke up. "Sometimes, but they are almost always stilted if they are near the coast. I'm still not too sure why they don't just build in the trees like regular people." She showed a clear dislike of the idea.

Her reaction just reinforced my curiosity. "What don't you like about stilted towns?"

"Ugh.. don't even get me started, I could list out reasons for days.." To me, it seemed like an overreaction, but it was so genuine I couldn't really tell.

-Now you got me interested..- A sly smile crept onto my face as we continued to chat.

After a few hours though, the idle chatter had quieted down and a slight fatigue could be seen on everyone's faces. -It's pretty impressive they've lasted this long.. but.. why are we stopping?- We had slowed down in the treetop and made our way into what looked like a supersized bird nest.

In the middle of the nest, there was a small and dim light artifact illuminating a sign that read, 'rest area'.

-What is this place..- "Why are we stopping here?"

"Shh.." Thyra looked back at me with a serious expression. "There's a few wyvern right below us.. some pretty big ones too." After peeking over the edge of the branch, she pulled her head back in and 'relaxed'. "Hooh.. lets just take a break here. If we continue, we'll get caught in a bad spot.."

Although what she said was reasonable, it didn't totally make sense to me. "What do you mean we'd be in a bad spot? Couldn't we just kill them?"

Everyone in the group looked at me like I was crazy. "Not only are we not strong enough to take on three, fighting wyverns is far too risky in general."

-Seriously? You guys are that weak?- Although my scale of strength was a bit warped, considering their auras, they should've been able to take a couple wyverns without too much issue. 

"Haah.." I let out a deep and disappointed sigh as I thought about what to do next.

As I did though, Thyra's face filled with an unusual amount of confidence. "If you are so confident, why don't you just kill them yourself?"

-You're finally showing your true colors huh..-

"Don't you think that's a bit much?!" The muscular demihuman man, Bjørn, quickly voiced his objection.

The elves didn't seem to care though. "If he thinks he's strong enough to go kill those wyverns, why don't we let him?"

"Yeah, if he wants to jump to his death, who are we to stop him."

Bjørn glanced at me with a distressed look. "But.."

-Is he defending me because I'm a 'demihuman' like him?- Although I was a bit curious, I didn't think too much about it. "It's fine Bjørn. Thanks for your concern though." As I slowly stood up, I glanced towards Ilios. "Stay here for just a moment okay?" 

"Woof!" Quickly sitting down, he gave a determined nod.

"Haha, alright, alright. I'll be right back." -Ill leave it to you buddy!- As I turned to walk out of the big, nest-like 'rest area', I noticed Thyra secretly reaching for a vial of black liquid on the back of her belt loop.

Slowly getting more excited that something fun was going to happen, a happy smile crept onto my face. -Lets see what you can do, miss actor!-

As I jumped off the nearly two hundred meter high branch and finally got a good look at the wyverns, I didn't even reach for my sword. -I won't even need it for you guys!-

Quickly changing course of action, I decided It was time to test out my improved volume control on a live target.

-You first!- I started with the smallest of the group, a 14 meter tall gray wyvern. -Lets see if this magic works like it does in theory!-

Before it even noticed me, I threw an incredibly heavy punch into the top of its head and amplified the impact shockwave as much as I could.

The shockwave that came out of the bottom of the wyvern's head turned the air into a solid pillar and smashed apart the ground on impact.

*BBAAANNGGG*

As I landed on the rubble and blood covered ground, I felt a ridiculous sense of satisfaction and excitement. -It worked.. IT WORKED SO WELL!-

Although it was much harder and far more inefficient to control mana inside a dense solid than a gas (like the atmosphere), my increased volume control let me control mana in solids on much larger scales than before.

-What if I did that in my dragon form..-

As I fantasized about the possibilities, one of the wyverns mustered up the courage to breathe fire at me.

*Chik-fwoosh*

-Wow..- It was so weak I didn't even need much vacuum magic. "That doesn't even deserve to be called fire.."

Walking forward, through the fire, I reached up and gripped onto one of its horns and stuck my other arm into its mouth.

As it stopped its breath to chomp down on my arm, I gave the creature a crazed smile. "This is real fire!"

*Psh-FWOOOSH*

Not even bothering to channel the blast like with thruster magic, the flame got blasted straight down the wyverns throat and out the side of its mouth which ended up grazing me before I could react.

"Tch.." I gritted my teeth slightly as the scorching flame instantly charred part of my stomach. -I got carried away..-

Immediately halting the spell, I jumped back and gripped my stomach. -Sh*t that stings..- It wasn't anything that hurt too bad, but the stinging was just enough to be irritating.

Glancing up at the wyvern I saw that its neck was completely blown off its body and was covered in charred holes.

-Now then.. only one left..-

Too agitated to care about testing anything else out, I got ready to mercy kill the last one.

The much larger, nearly 20 meter wyvern was shaking from fear as I walked up to it, but I couldn't blame it.

"Curse the world for reincarnating you as a pest." I gave an agitated gaze as I touched its chest and used earth magic to instantly shred its brain.

The instant I did it, the horrified eyes of the wyvern lost their light and its body came crashing to the ground.

*Crash*

-To think I really got hurt in a fight with a lowly wyvern..-

Looking down at the small charred area on my stomach, I used magic to cut off the charred cells and clean up the area to let the cells heal easier. -That should be fine... If only I could go into my dragon form for a bit..-

As I patched up my clothes and fell into deep thought though, I felt something enter the outside of my aura.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked up and saw an arrow coated in a black liquid zipping towards me.

It was a scene that filled my mind with confusion. -She still shot even after seeing me slaughter the wyverns?-

Looking past the arrow, I saw Thyra's rage filled face that oozed bloodlust, but before I could think about how to play with her, a blinding white cone shot out of her stomach and my ears were met with an indescribable yet beautiful noise.

*BRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMM*