Chapter 51

The wyvern has the appearance of a two-legged dragon.

Its color is predominantly red, and its wings, unlike those of birds, are smooth and slightly glossy.

The wings are supported by six bone-like structures on each side.

Spikes protrude from the ends of these bones.

Naturally, it would be impossible for it to take off by flapping these wings.

It is likely that it flies through some magical means, or perhaps the wings are magically enabled to function.

Its body shape is somewhat plump, like a slightly chubby bird.

Its size is incomparably large, with a wingspan of nearly 30 meters when spread.

While observing, I closed the distance quickly and landed on the wyvern's side from a diagonal front without slowing down much.

I almost rolled over but used acceleration magic to forcefully brake and stop.

As soon as I landed next to the wyvern, its claws were swung down at me.

The speed was faster than the magic I can cast without a staff, but on the ground, it is possible to avoid such attacks.

Since it only has two legs, I thought it might lose balance, but the wyvern seems to maintain balance using its wings.

One of its two legs is on the ground, but it might not need to be.

I will channel as much mana as possible into the magic armor to buy time.

I will attack afterward, ideally with a magic sword to cut it.

This tactic is very advantageous on the ground.

At low speeds, the efficiency of acceleration magic is better, and I can avoid attacks using my legs without expending mana.

Fighting in the air would drain my mana more.

The next attack was a wing strike.

Despite its stats, it wasn't very fast.

I could easily dodge it by casting a spell and moving slightly afterward.

Since the distance between me and the wyvern is less than 2 meters, it can perform close-range attacks but not use its breath attack.

Even if it could, it would be easy to avoid from this position.

With some spare time, I tried a test cut.

Using a staff blade might be dangerous if it bounces off and leaves me vulnerable, so I used a magic sword.

Attacking a hard opponent with a staff blade usually results in injury, but in this situation, it could be fatal.

In this regard, the magic sword is reliable.

The magic sword I swung at the wyvern's wing penetrated as expected, but it stopped after about 3 cm.

I quickly pulled the sword out just as a claw attack came.

The sword came out easily, but I didn't have enough time to dodge, so I took the hit with the magic armor. It didn't feel like the armor was being stripped away like with a breath attack.

The armor's consumption from the claw attack could be replenished before the next attack.

Continuing to block while reinforcing the armor might allow me to maintain the armor even as my speed decreases.

At this point, I felt something odd.

It felt like the rate of magic armor reinforcement had increased compared to before.

When I hit the wisp, my mana increased, but this time it seems to be an increase in instantaneous output.

Could it be that the sword is acting as a medium for this effect?

I would like to test it, but I don't have the luxury of time.

The wyvern used not only its claws and wings but also its tail for attacks.

The tail, which is long and thick with spikes, is difficult to avoid.

The weight when the tail hits is much heavier than the claws.

The larger movements make it less likely to come in rapid succession, which is a relief.

I chased the wyvern as it pulled back its tail and deliberately cut its wing at a lower position.

The sword only made a shallow cut, about 1 cm deep and 5 cm long, but it didn't stop.

It seems that the cut is healing quickly, as not much blood is flowing.

Well, it's good that I can use a lot of mana.

I dodged the claw attack and attacked again.

As I continued to make shallow cuts on the wyvern, I could feel the magic output increasing.

It seemed to have increased to about 1.5 times its original level.

The magic armor had also recovered to the point where it could withstand two breath attacks, so I decided to make my move when the wyvern swung its tail.

Continuing the fight on the ground might be advantageous, but if it gains altitude, it could become problematic.

I wanted to deal as much damage as possible before that happened.

If the magic output increased, it would be a two-for-one deal, and if the damage to the wings prevented it from flying, that would be even better.

I put the staff blade back in the item box and used acceleration magic to close the distance quickly, then thrust the magic sword into the wyvern's wing with both hands.

The sword slowed down after penetrating about 5 cm but did manage to pierce it.

"GAHAAAAAAA!"

This is the first time it has made a sound.

It tried to knock me off with one of its wings, but the attack wasn't very powerful due to the position.

The armor had more than enough capacity.

However, the way the sword was embedded was a bit awkward.

The sword was embedded in the edge of the wing, which isn't very thick, but it is still over 30 cm.

Despite my best efforts, the sword only penetrated about 1 cm per second.

It felt more viscous than hard.

The sword did penetrate, but not quickly.

When the sword had penetrated about 10 cm, the wyvern started swinging its wing with me still attached.

The attack wasn't very effective, but since the wyvern's wings don't have much support, I was almost thrown off.

I tried to resist with acceleration magic, but I was thrown off after about 3 seconds.

The wound I inflicted seemed to be healing, but more slowly than the shallow cuts.

The magic output had increased to about 30 per second, making defense much easier.

However, I couldn't tell how much damage I was dealing, so I decided to check the wyvern's status again.

Taking a hit was better than fighting blindly.

Ignis Wyvern

RANK: A

HP: 2566272/2578200

MP: 5246724122/5722415129

STR: 561

INT: 2767

AGI: 448

DEX: 250

Skills: Wyvern Breath, Flight

I checked the status while being careful of the breath attack.

The damage was minimal, less than 1%.

...Wait, the overall stats seem lower than before.

And the MP consumption is significant.

Is it being used for healing?

I made another shallow cut on the wing and observed.

Ignis Wyvern

RANK: A

HP: 2566116/2578199

MP: 524669769/5722404388

STR: 561

INT: 2765

AGI: 448

DEX: 250

Skills: Wyvern Breath, Flight

Ah, it's lower.

It's working.

The damage I've dealt so far doesn't seem to match the MP consumption, but there must be a reason.

It's definitely working.

I decided to continue the strategy of making shallow cuts with the magic sword.

As I continued to cut the wyvern with the magic sword, I noticed a common point where the sword would suddenly stop working.

The sword would turn black.

The part of the sword that was embedded in the wyvern would gradually turn black, and when it reached the base of the blade, the sword would stop working.

The black part would then reach the handle and disappear at the point where I was holding it.

It seems the sword is being prevented from turning completely black.

Ah, I'm not just absorbing it; I'm absorbing it.

I checked my status.

Name: Suzumiya Kaede

Age/Race/Gender: 21/Human/Male

Level: 30

HP: 1091/1091

MP: 129771393/129771393

STR: 190

INT: 280

AGI: 209

DEX: 214

Skills: Information Manipulation Analysis (Hidden), Complete Mastery of Foreign Languages (Hidden), Magic Aptitude, Martial Arts Aptitude, Otherworlder (Hidden), Affinity with All Elements (Hidden), Fire Magic 3, Earth Magic 3, Water Magic 3, Pressure Magic 1, Wind Magic 5, Perception Magic 4, Healing Magic 2, Swordsmanship 2, Explosion Magic 5, Barrier Magic 5, Magic Element Adaptation Unknown, Magic Element Activation

My MP has indeed increased.

The wyvern's MP hasn't been reduced by even 10%, but I'm getting a significant boost.

The Magic Element Activation skill might be increasing my mana consumption rate.

This means the wyvern's corpse might still be worth cutting up after it's defeated.

First, I need to kill it.

With that in mind, I attacked the wyvern again, but it finally took flight, having learned that it couldn't win on the ground.

Closing the distance in the air would risk another breath attack, so I pursued it with magic, but it was nullified.

The nullification was similar to what happened with the wisp.

The wyvern maintained a height of about 200 meters and flew toward the sea.

I accelerated and pursued from just above the ground.

The first breath attack I took wasn't a direct hit and the distance wasn't very close.

With my mana increased by more than three times, I had enough spare capacity in my armor, so my goal was to minimize damage rather than avoid the attack entirely.

Ideally, I would attack it when it landed, but if it kept flying, I would have to attack from the air.

The wyvern's acceleration was fast, but its cruising speed wasn't very high, so I could keep up.

It didn't seem to be actively attacking or using its breath, but it occasionally turned to face me, indicating it was aware of my presence.

It would be helpful if it consumed MP while flying, but from the status, it doesn't seem to consume more than 1 MP per second.

It's better than nothing, but it's not enough to make it unable to fly.

After flying at about 300 km/h for about 10 minutes, the wyvern landed on a nearby island.

The wyvern didn't seem to be paying attention to me and was lying down.

It might be trying to heal.

I increased my altitude to check the island.

The island was roughly circular with a radius of about 5 kilometers.

Most of the island was forest, but a 100-meter square area had different plants growing.

This area was close to the wyvern, and it seemed like a good place to land, so I landed while being careful of the breath attack.

These plants look familiar.

I think I saw them somewhere during a trip.

I decided to identify them.

Sugarcane

Description: A plant that produces sugar. It grows in areas with high magic elements.

Oh! Sugarcane!

Great! I can finally have something sweet!

...What am I doing near the wyvern?

I resisted the temptation of the sugarcane, cut dozens of stalks with my magic sword, stored them in my item box, and headed toward the wyvern.