Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  Back then, when facing the wind-style magus-archer, Linley had utilized the earth-style spell ‘Earthen Spear Array’. The skinny warrior of the fifth rank, Matt, had seized the opportunity to immediately flee. But Linley didn’t really care that he had ran away. After all, him and Matt didn’t have any special relationship.

  Honestly speaking, of the three people he had encountered, the only one Linley genuinely felt friendly towards was his own classmate, Delsarte. That big fellow, Kava, had also made a good impression on Linley. Linley didn’t have any special feelings for Matt.

  “Oh, it’s Matt. I didn’t expect that the two of us would meet again in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts after a month had passed.” Linley was still quite calm.

  Matt appeared very excited. “This is wonderful. This month, on numerous occasions, I was almost overcome by the magical beasts here. Fortunately, my luck was not too bad. Whoah – is that a Bloodthirsty Warpig? Linley, you were able to kill a Bloodthirsty Warpig? You really are formidable!”

  Linley smiled.

  “I’m getting a bit hungry. I’ve heard that the flesh of both the Bloodthirsty Warpig as well as the Vampiric Iron Bull are both extremely flavorful, and that it has a wonderfully chewy texture as well. I haven’t had lunch yet. You wouldn’t mind sharing some Warpig flesh with me, would you?” Matt joked.

  The Bloodthirsty Warpig was huge in size, with its corpse weighing at least several hundred kilograms. Even ten people wouldn’t be able to finish it all.

  “Of course not.” Linley withdrew his knife and began slicing off parts of the Warpig.

  “Linley, no need to trouble yourself. This Bloodthirsty Warpig corpse is part of your spoils of war. How can I trouble you to butcher it as well? Let me do it. My roasting abilities are quite formidable.” Matt immediately headed towards the Warpig corpse and withdrew a knife from his side.

  Playing with the knife, Matt began to expertly butcher the Warpig, although he only cut off the four legs, tongue, and tail. He then began to wash these pieces in the nearby spring.

  “Boss, he seems to be quite skilled. He doesn’t seem to be any weaker than you in this respect.” The little Shadowmouse, Bebe, leapt onto Linley’s shoulders and mentally said to Linley.

  Glancing at the little Shadowmouse, Bebe, on his shoulders, Linley couldn’t help but sigh with gratitude. When others saw this little tiny black mouse, perhaps they would just think that it was an ordinary little Shadowmouse, of little threat. But in reality…

  Linley could still recall how the terrifying sight of how the enraged Bebe so easily slaughtered that dark assassin, as well as that ‘kind’ young girl.

  “Can’t judge a person by his appearance. Same goes for magical beasts.” Linley sighed to himself.

  Matt quite quickly began to set up his roasting apparatus, and also withdrew some rough cooking salts and seasonings from his pouch. “Linley, these Warpig legs will definitely be very tasty. Its tongue, as well, is both soft and fragrant. The flavor of a Warpig tail is quite good as well.”

  As he spoke, Matt had chopped both the tail and the tongue into multiple pieces. Linley watched as Matt used flints to light a fire, not stepping in to help despite being in possession of fire-style mageforce. He watched Matt quickly and constantly roast each piece.

  After a period of time.

  “It’s about time. Have a taste.” Matt quite enthusiastically handed a large chunk of Warpig leg meat to Linley.

  But in turn, Linley flipped the Warpig meat around and offered it to Bebe. Bebe immediately accepted it happily, and began to chomp away in earnest. This Warpig leg was perhaps three or four times larger than Bebe, but in a short period of time, Bebe totally devoured all of the meat.

  This sight caused Matt to gape in astonishment.

  “He really is a magical beast. Even a little black Shadowmouse can eat so much.” Matt sighed while offering a piece of roasted Warpig tongue to Linley. “Linley, have a taste of my artisanship.”

  Linley smiled as he declined. “No need. I’m not used to eating tongues. Some of that leg meat will do just fine.” Linley took one of the other legs and began to eat without any reservations. Next to him, Matt laughed. “Then I won’t force you. If you won’t eat it, I will. Haha.”

  As though enjoying himself very much, Matt began to eat the roasted Warpig tongue and tail.

  By the time that Linley had finished eating the Warpig leg, Matt hadn’t taken a single bite of it yet.

  “You are done already? Haha, fine then. I’m half-full now anyhow. I’ll save this Warpig leg for when I am hungry.” Matt withdrew an oilcloth from his backpack and placed the Warpig leg inside it, then replaced the cloth within his backpack.

  Linley glanced at Matt.

  It seemed as though Matt wanted to travel alongside him.

  “Matt, here in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, I’m fine training by myself. Let’s part ways here.” Linley said directly.

  Matt immediately frowned. “Linley, this place is extremely dangerous. It’d be much safer if we travelled together. Honestly speaking, during this past month, I’ve been frightened during every combat encounter. I’m not even able to sleep well.”

  “Then do as you wish.”

  Linley didn’t mince words. He immediately headed deeper into the mountains, while Matt, smiling, followed him. But when his gaze fell upon the backpack Linley was carrying, a slightly sinister light shone in his eyes.

  “This backpack is different from the one Linley was carrying a month ago. And it seems much fuller as well.” Matt sneered to himself, but he still smiled in a very friendly manner. Matt was not the same as Linley. Before entering these mountains, he had trained himself in other places for many times.

  Matt sped up his pace. Smiling, he said, “Linley, you really are a wonderful fellow. Travelling with you, I feel much safer. After all, two people together are much stronger than two people separate. At night, the two of us can take turns sleeping. There’s no need for us to both be on full alert at night.”

  Linley was silent. His gaze was always focused on his surroundings, carefully keeping an eye out for the magical beasts in these mountains.

  ….

  They slowly made their way north, as Linley no longer dared to go further east. If they travelled further east, they would be entering the dangerous parts of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. Currently, in this area, Linley would only encounter magical beasts of the fifth or sixth rank.

  This entire time, Matt followed by his side, seemingly quite happy.

  Two days later.

  It was late at night, and the world was dark. Linley and Matt continued going forward in a single file line.

  “Linley, do you think it’s about time for us to go back yet? Honestly speaking, we’ve spent about enough time here in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts.” Matt said in a soft voice as he followed Linley’s trail.

  Linley just calmly shook his head, not making a sound.

  Matt felt a hint of anger. “Every night, this Linley fellow is extremely careful. He isn’t giving me any opportunities at all.” Matt didn’t have any confidence in his ability to kill Linley. After all, being able to survive here for so long was a proof of Linley’s abilities.

  “Hrm?” Linley seemed to have noticed something special. He turned around and stared at a copse of trees not too far away. Within that copse of trees, there was a hidden, indistinct shadow lying in wait.

  Matt, next to Linley, saw him turn his head, presenting his back to Matt. A look of greed appeared in Matt’s eyes, as well as a look of excitement. In a practiced manner, Matt suddenly drew his dagger and without any hesitation at all, stabbed towards Linley’s back….

  Linley suddenly turned and grabbed Matt by the wrist of his right hand, which was holding the dagger. At the same time, he stared coldly at Matt. His voice even colder, he asked, “What do you think you are doing?”

  “You!” Matt was shocked. He couldn’t believe that his attempted sneak attack
had apparently been noticed and blocked.

  Matt immediately smiled at Linley instead. “What do I think I’m doing? O mighty genius magus, let me tell you…I am going to kill you.” Matt was totally confident in himself. With the two of them in such close proximity, how could he, a warrior of the fifth rank, be unable to kill a magus of the fifth rank?

  Matt suddenly exerted some strength with his right arm, and he began to blaze with battle-qi, forcibly shaking off Linley’s grip.

  “Die!” Matt stared at Linley as he stabbed again at Linley with his dagger.

  “Rawr!!!!”

  A terrifying sound! “What?!” Matt heard the noise, and he couldn’t help but shudder. And then, Matt saw a very small black shadow appear in front of him.

  “What…what is this?” Matt could tell that this black shadow was actually the little Shadowmouse, Bebe, which spent every day on Linley’s shoulders. The little Shadowmouse opened his mouth wide, revealing a mouth filled with a horrifying number of sharp teeth, and directly chomped down towards Matt’s face.

  “Nooo-!”

  Matt immediately tried to retreat at high speed, while also jerking his head away.

  “Crunch!”

  The little Shadowmouse’s speed was far faster than Matt had imagined. How could Matt dodge? The little Shadowmouse reached out with his right paw, waving his sharp, knife-like talons at Matt’s head. With but a single swipe, half of Matt’s neck was removed from his body, and blood spurted out wildly.

  “Urk…gurgle…” Clasping a hand to what remained of his neck, Matt’s eyes were as wide as an ox. His disbelieving, terrified eyes were fixed upon the little Shadowmouse, and in his heart, he was utterly shocked. “Shadowmouse? Is this a Shadowmouse?”

  As he fell into death and as his consciousness dissipated, Matt was still filled with terror and disbelief. He had prepared so long to make this move, but he hadn’t figured the little Shadowmouse into his plans.

  A dark-colored Shadowmouse was the weakest level of Shadowmouse.

  But at the moment of his death, Matt finally realized that the adorable little Shadowmouse was actually a terrifying monster.

  “Thud!”

  Matt’s hands fell lifelessly from his throat to his sides, and then he himself collapsed as well. His fresh blood stained his clothes and stained the ground.

  Book 3, Mountain Range of Magical Beasts – Chapter 17, Bebe’s Prowess (part 1)

  Standing in front of Matt’s corpse, Linley couldn’t help but heave a sigh. At the same time, he couldn’t help but rub the scar on his chest.

  The scar here was one which had almost taken his life.

  “Compared to Nina [Ni’na], you are far too inferior.” Linley shook his head and sighed. This Matt actually didn’t have much of a friendship with him, and they were nothing more than temporary travel companions who met on the road. There was no way Linley would place too much trust in him.

  What’s more…

  After having experienced Nina, how could Linley so casually present his back to others?

  “Squeak squeak!” The little Shadowmouse, Bebe, came over carrying the backpack which was on Matt’s back. He urgently said to Linley through their link, “Boss, hurry up and take a look and see how many magicite cores there are here. In this month, all of the other assassins combined didn’t have as many magicite cores as that first assassin.”

  Doehring Cowart appeared by Linley’s side as well.

  “Linley, it seems like this little Shadowmouse that you’ve raised really enjoys counting magicite cores.” Doehring Cowart chuckled.

  “It does seem that way, just a bit.” Linley accepted the backpack and opened it while joking with Bebe, “Bebe, this time when you killed that Matt fellow, I believe you used your claws, instead of your sharp teeth. Why didn’t you use your fierce little teeth?”

  Bebe sat up straight, let out a few arrogant squeaks, then said mentally, “Boss, I, Bebe, have incredible prowess. My sharp claws are no less fierce than my teeth. And that Matt fellow was too vile. Biting him would sully my teeth.” After saying this, Bebe intentionally put on a display of ‘spitting’ out a mouthful of saliva.

  The image of the little Shadowmouse spitting out a mouthful of saliva was simply too human-like. Upon seeing this, Linley immediately started laughing.

  “That’s enough, oi, Bebe. Look, that Matt fellow had a lot of magicite cores in his backpack. There’s around thirty. Looks like he didn’t waste much time during this month. But the best core in these thirty is just a core of the fifth rank.”

  Linley carefully began inspecting the cores.

  During these thirty days, he had killed a number of magical beasts, as well as some people who wanted to kill him. All combined, he had nearly three hundred magicite cores, with a total valuation of perhaps around forty thousand gold coins!

  “Forty thousand gold. If father knew…then…” Fantasizing about his father’s reaction when he gave him all that gold, Linley couldn’t help but feel overjoyed.

  “It makes sense that you were able to acquire so much,” Doehring Cowart said. “Aside from those magical beasts you killed, of those three hundred magicite cores, virtually all of them came from other people’s backpacks.”

  Linley nodded in agreement.

  That very first assassin ended up donating him 15,000 gold coins worth of magicite cores. The others, all combined, had just a bit more than that first assassin.

  “The Mountain Range of Magical Beasts is extremely dangerous, so most people here have grouped up with others. But assassins rarely are willing to attack groups, because they generally specialize in killing someone instantly, which is why they prefer to fight one on one.”

  Doehring Cowart suddenly began to laugh, his white whiskers floating about. “Linley, look at yourself. Yes, you might be tall and strong, but your face is still filled with a childish air. And that fuzz above your lips? All of those prove something…”

  “You are just a kid!”

  Doehring Cowart laughed uproariously. “Linley, in this huge mountain range, when those assassins find a kid here for his first training exercise, with such a childish face, how can they possibly not make their move against you? That’s why, in a single short month, you’ve run into so many assassins.”

  “But those people travelling in groups might not encounter a single assassination attempt in a month. Of course, those five people we ran into that first day were exceptions. First of all, they were too weak. And secondly, their killer was really strong. But in the end, that assassin died by Bebe’s claws.”

  Linley laughed and nodded as well.

  He was only fifteen years old this year, after all. Although he was 1.8 meters tall, anyone with a good eye could tell that he was just a kid.

  “Most magi of the fifth and sixth rank would probably only acquire a few thousand gold coins worth of magicite cores in a month here. And all of those cores would be acquired through life-and-death struggles. After all, the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts is incredibly dangerous.” Doehring Cowart sighed emotionally.

  Linley nodded in agreement. “It is dangerous. I’ve stayed in the outer regions this entire time, and at most I have run into magical beasts of the sixth rank. But I’ve been injured several times already. If it weren’t for the Coiling Dragon ring, if it weren’t for the fact that I’m both a dual-element magus of the fifth rank and a warrior of the fourth rank, and if it weren’t for the fact that I have Bebe, I probably would’ve been done for, travelling on my own like this.”

  He turned to look at the little Shadowmouse, Bebe, who was currently playing with a magicite core.

  Calming himself, Linley collected the various cores, and then headed off once again, with Bebe in tow. He was going to continue his training in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. After all, based on his original plans, he was going to stay here for two months.

  …..

  Each day, Linley would fight against local magical beasts, and his abilities in merging his abilitie
s as a magus with his abilities as a warrior grew better and better. He was also growing in practical experience in using earth-style and wind-style magic in battle. Gradually, Linley began suffering fewer and fewer wounds in battle. Naturally, as Linley gradually drew closer and closer to the core regions, magical beasts of the sixth rank began growing more and more plentiful, and Linley began to be more cautious as well.

  On the 46th day of Linley’s entry into the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts.

  “Swish!”

  Ripples began to appear on the surface of the quiet little lake. A human figure suddenly emerged from within. It was Linley. Linley was using a piece of cloth to casually wash himself.

  The little Shadowmouse, Bebe, stood on the shore, watching Linley bathe with an envious look in his eyes. After squeaking a few times, he began hopping up and down before diving directly into the lake. Seeing this, Linley couldn’t help but chuckle, and then he continued to bathe himself.

  “Haha, that’s enough, Bebe, haha, that’s enough!” Linley suddenly broke out into uncontrollable laughter.

  “Oh, boss, you are afraid of being tickled?” The little Shadowmouse rose up into the surface of the water, guileless black eyes gleaming with a hint of mischief.

  Chuckling, Linley walked onto the lakeshore. Removing a clean set of clothes from his backpack, he put the new clothes on. Changing clothes after a nice bath was a very luxuriant event. And then, Linley began to wash the just-removed clothes in the lake, then hung them onto a tree branch to dry off. With a leap, Linley landed onto another branch on the tree. Lying down, he watched Bebe mess around in the lake water.

  He watched as Bebe joyfully leapt about in the water. Sometimes, Bebe would dive to the lake bottom, while at other times, Bebe would lie on his back on the lake surface.

  “Rumble” “Rumble” “Rumble” “Rumble”.

  The ground suddenly began to shake ever so slightly. Based on the rumbling rhythm, Linley surmised that it should’ve been caused by something walking. Linley couldn’t help but feel startled, and he looked directly towards the south, in the direction the rumbles were coming from. He saw a large, indistinct shadow appear from within the southern side of the lake, but after a short period of time, Linley was able to clearly see the figure.