C the ground in a rge shadow and dwarfing every other creature in the forest, a majestic yet terrifyi flew in the sky as it left strong bursts of winds in its wake.
Spanning more than 7 meters ih and with a wingspan more than 13 meters, it could easily carry an elephant if it wao. Its body covered i-bck plumage and eyes deeper than sapphire, it was like a ruler parading on the sky which was its domain.
It was a very rare sight that one normally wouldn't be able to experien a lifetime. A sight which will truly leave anyone in awe.
??Appraisal?? ［Grey］
-----------------------------------
[Beast]
[Species] Thunderbird
[Status] Healthy
[Sex] Male
[Age] 29 (Adult)
[Mana Capacity] 1,783 [Mana Quality] C
[bat Power] 887 [Threat Level] C
[Attribute] Lightning
[Intelligence] 58
[Description]
A rge bird-type beast armed with a deadly set of talon and razor-sharp beak, often reag a wingspan of more than 12 meters upon adulthood. It be easily distinguished with its pitch-bck plumage and a set of silver-tipped . Its meat is sidered a very exquisite delicacy all over the world.
-----------------------------------
k! It was the most powerful creature Grey had entered so far, be it outside or ihe dungeon.
Just the size of the Thunderbird alone was bigger than a fighter jet's. If one siders its bat power which easily destre buildings in a sirike, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they fight a fleet of fighter jets alone.
But her of those matter in the eyes of Grey. To Grey, only ohing from its status s had caught his attention, and that was...
"A very exquisite delicacy..." ［Grey］
As soon as Grey saw those words, he quickly salivated as he imagihe different dishes he cook with its meat. Not to mention just how much meat he would get from hunting one.
In Grey's eyes, rather than a majestid terrifying creature, it was just a rge and juicy chi flying in the sky, just waiting for him to cook it.
With a quick calcution, the creature was about 60% strohan Grey. Of course, that was only if the calcutions were based on bat power alone. With the equipment Grey is wearing, he could easily go toe to toe with it. If it was in the ground, he might even overpower it.
As he is totally safe in the dungeon, a fight with it will serve as a real training which actually endanger him. Of course, when worse es to worst, he always use the "Diviions" which are gathering dust in his "Iory".
Of course, he could also just let it be and go home safely, but it was an enter which might never happen once again. He could totally miss out on fighting a thunderbird if he ever loses this ce.
"Looks like it's decided! Alright, I'm going to make fried chi out of you!" ［Grey］
Motivated by the taste of the Thunderbird's meat, Grey hastily stored the wild pig he just caught into his "Iory" and came chasing after the Thunderbird with great enthusiasm.
After reag E-rank, Grey had unlocked the sed effects in all his abilities, and the the sed effect of his "Divine Eye" erfect Vision" which allows him to see every siail at a much farther ra eve him see things in slow motion.
For his "Divine Mind", he was able to get the effect "Perfect Record" that allows him to record aio sight or hearing, perfectly and store it in his "Memory Bank".
With his "Perfect Vision" and "Perfect Record", Grey easily tray target and chase them as long as they are close to his range. In other words, unless he loses i, the Thunderbird will never escape.
"Hahahahahaha! Just wait for me, ye k of meat!" ［Grey］
As he tracked the Thunderbird, Grey dashed his way into the deep forest, running faster than he ever had in all his life. With his speed much faster than a cheetah and mastery over the terrain, Grey was able to tail the Thunderbird. But...
"Haah... Haaah.... Haaahhh.... That damned chi.... Haahhh..." ［Grey］
It has already been almost 2 hours since Grey had started chasing the Thunderbird, and the Thunderbird still showed no sign of perg or even slowing down.
During the chase, Grey had already exged his mana into stamina to tinue running at top speed, but even mana ot stop fatigue from accumuting, so Grey eventually had to stop a.
Grey had already tried to fire spells from below but the Thunderbird's altitude was too high for the spells to reach. If it had flown half the altitude, Grey might have been able to reach it.
Having no other choice, Grey had decided to give up chase a uhe shade of a rge tree. He then grabbed an ented water jug to quench his thirst and rehydrate.
"Puhaa～ This water really is the best!" ［Grey］
Grey shouted as he finished drinking a rge amount of water which equal a few cups in a siime.
Every time Grey goes out, he always makes sure to refill all his water jugs. And si came from "God", it had an effect to store 10x its physical volume. For some reason, the water stored in it also bees a little sweeter and much refreshing.
But even if he had quenched his thirst, his leg muscles were ag like hell from all the running he did. If he was any normal person, he would, no doubt, have died from exhaustion.
Grabbing the opportunity, Grey took his time to cool off and breathe in the fresh air whilst enjoying the sery the forest had to offer.
Birds of different colors flying in all dires and singing a harmonious melody as they perch. Large trees that bear all sorts of fruits and berries. Cascades of water streams gushing down the mountains. Small critters hopping on the ground and climbing trees. It was such peaceful sery.
With the serenity of the forest and the melody of the things coexisting inside of it, Grey couldn't but be at peace. Soon, the world faded to bck as he fell asleep from such a beautiful lulby.
"Howahhhh～" ［Grey］
While rubbing his eyes gently, Grey let out a rge yawn. It was a yawn of someone one wouldn't imagio have slept under a tree.
"Huh...?" ［Grey］
As he opened his eyes, Grey was immediately woken up by the sery he had withe once picture perfect forest was now ruined with a rge n of smoke rising a few kilometers where he was.
Even though it was quite a distance away, the n of pitch bck smoke was in no way small. One could only imagine he the fire that gave rise to the rge n of smoke was.
"Wait... The forest!" ［Grey］
Thinking about the welfare of the forest, Grey immediately rushed towards the in of the smoke in order to prevent it from spreading any longer. After all, he is also a residence of the very forest that is currently burning.
The only thing b Grey was the in of the fire. From Grey's knowledge, there shouldn't be any fire-attribute beasts living in the Haltea Great Forest. There also aren't any magical or natural structures which could cause such fire.
There was only one clusion one could reach from these key points, and that was someone or something deliberately caused it.
Without wasting any time, Grey ran as fast as he could and swiftly maneuvered over any obstacles along the way. Any animals as that saw him immediately fled and hid in panic.
The clrey came to the source, the rger the n of smoke became, it was rge enough to cover a rge portion of the sky if you were a few hundred meters away from it.
It took him a couple of minutes before arriving at the source, and when he did, a se worse than his imaginatioed him openly.
Dozens of houses were being buro the ground, the trees in the surrounding already became charcoal as they were swallowed in fmes, and a putrid smell wafted the viity as corpses of people were burnt to ashes. It was a se of a vilge in the midst of its cruel destru.
If it was the previous Grey, he would have probably thrown up by now from how cruel and grotesque the se before him was. It seemed that his training against monsters has helped him in ways bee stronger in ways more than one.
Unfortunately, unlike monsters, people don't turn into mana after they die. As they slowly turn into ashes, Grey couldn't help but feel devastated from how cruel the fate those people suffered.
??Rain?? ［Grey］
As Grey dowedly murmured those words, rge clouds slowly formed in the sky and in just a few moments, rain started to fall upon the ground below, slowly putting the once aggressive fmes into slumber.
The oninant n of bck smoke was repced with smaller ns of white smoke as the fmes were extinguished and vapor rose up to the clouds.
"Rain" is an intermediate-level spell which pours down rain into a small area as long as the user maintain it. Normally, a ker wouldn't be able to use such spells for a long time because of the spell's high mana ption. Normally, that is.
Along with the other abilities, "Subspace" also unlocked its sed effect which was "Mana Bank". This effect allows Grey to infinitely store excess mana into a separate spad use it any time iure.
While the effect allows Grey to have more mana, his mana capacity limits him into how much mana he use simultaneously. So even if Grey has a lot of spare mana, his bat power wouldn't increase.
After the spell was dispelled, what is left are the remnants of the retly burnt down houses and the burnt corpses covered in mud. It was them that Grey realized how much damage there really was.
But whilst Grey was pting, behind the curtain of steam, a rge silhouette was revealed before him. Although smaller thahunderbird before, the silhouette was still fairly rge.
Gurruukkk Arukkkkkk Rrrrrrrukkkkk
"So you're the one responsible for this." ［Grey］
As the smoke cleared out, what was revealed was a rge samander-like creature with a red and bck skin pallette which resembles a stream of va. Other than its size, the only differe has with a samander was that it only had 2 front limbs.
??Appraisal?? ［Grey］
-----------------------------------
[Beast]
[Species] Magma Crawler
[Status] Healthy, Agitated
[Sex] Female
[Age] 32 (Adult)
[Mana Capacity] 2,275 [Mana Quality] C
[bat Power] 1,094 [Threat Level] B
[Attribute] Fire
[Intelligence] 43
[Description]
A rge samaype beast native to Pokras Volic Pteau. It is known for being aggressive and oftes fire breath to scory intruder. Although it is fully blind, it has a sharp sense of thermoception.
-----------------------------------
Seeing the cause of the fire ahs of the vilgers, Grey ched his fist as hard as he could and gritted his teeth as tried to trol his anger. Just the menag looks of his eyes alone, one could easily tell the magnitude of his rage.
Grey wao immediately eliminate his oppo, but there roblem that it was about 3x strohan him. Even with his cheats, he isn't fident that he could beat the Magma Crawler.
Another of Grey was the information in the beast's status s. It was supposed to be native to the Pokras Volic Pteau, yet it is in the Haltea Great Forest which is more than a thousand kilometers away.
There was also the fact that it was "Agitated", meaning someone is deliberately trying t harm to the vilge or the forest itself.
Guraaaaakkkkkk
As soon as the Magma Crawler noticed Grey, it immediately charged straight into him like a bull to a matador, as if it is holding a deep grudge to people.
In response, Grey used his wind magic to quickly propel himself out of the way, and jumped upwards where the Magma Crawler's head and back were exposed.
??Magnum Caliber?? ［Grey］
The moment Grey was in rah the Magma Crawler's head, he immediately thrusted his fist into it and delivered a strong blow which could shatter rge boulders with ease.
Guakkk
Receiving the impact of Grey's punch which was boosted by the gaus, the Magma Crawler let out a low cry and became mitated.
The Magma Crawler tried to swing its massive tail to hit Grey, but Grey once again used his wind magianeuver himself in the air, barely avoiding the attack.
??Gale Waltz!?? ［Grey］
The moment Grey nded on the ground, he immediately fired off a spell which shot a barrage of high-speed bdes of wind to the Magma Crawler.
Uo prehend the situation, the Magma Crawler received the brunt of Grey's attack head on. Receiving little wounds from each bde of wind that ects to its body.
'Damn it! Its skin is too tough!' ［Grey］
While the Magma Crawler did receive little wounds from Grey's attack. They were not so signifit that they could affect the tide of the battle. The pap betweewo was simply te.
Sensing Grey's location, the Magma Crawler bsted a breath of fire trey in an attempt to kill him in a sirike.
Unfortunately for the Magma Crawler, the moment it opes mouth, Grey hastily made a run for it and avoided the Magma Crawler's breath of fire which is able to melt iron upon tact.
??Gale Waltz!?? ??Gale Waltz!?? ??Gale Waltz!?? ??Gale Waltz!?? ［Grey］
ging his position every so often, Grey unched a barrage of attacks before the Magma Crawler could keep up. With the beast's turning speed, it made it easy frey to avoid meeting its fire-breathing mouth up front.
The moment the Magma Crawler tries to charge towards him, Grey would immediately jump away from it and deliver a "Magnum Caliber" on the same spot of the Magma Crawler's head.
Guraaaaaakkkkkkkkkkkk
As though its patience ran out, the Magma Crawler looked up towards the sky and shot out a rge beam of molten rock towards upwards. The moment the molten rocks reached its maximum height, it then came raining down like a rain of fire.
Grey skillfully evaded each debris of molten rock by predig where they might fall. But as he was focused dodging the rain of fire, the Magma Crawler quickly charged up a breath of fire and fired it trey.
"Crap! ??Barrier!??" ［Grey］
From reflex alone, Grey immediately erected the stro barrier he could muster in order to block. Unfortunately, the barrier wasn't enough to receive the full might of the Magma Crawler's attack.
Suffering from the attack, Grey came rolling down a few steps before ing to a stop. Thankfully, with the "Divine Amulet's" help, he was able to survive with only a few scratches and light burns from the attack.
"Haha... You're one ing lizard, aren't you?" ［Grey］
Grey ughed off his pain as he quickly stood up from the attack he just received, and as he realized it was his first time near-death experience sining to Merusia.
'I really o be more careful.' ［Grey］
Having trained Ihe special dungeon, Grey never really had a sense of danger as he always khat he'll survive no matter what. But having experie, he hit a realization about how dangerous the world beyond the dungeon really is.
If Grey had known beforehand how difficult it was to fight a Magma Crawler, he would have chosen to tinue chasing the Thunderbird at any time. Unfortunately, he couldn't turn back time ahink his choices.
Regaining his footing, Grey took the initiative and charged towards the Magma Crawler, causing the tter to whip its tail in panic.
Grey once again evaded the tail attack with a high jump and skillfully nded on top of the Magma Crawler's head. Ihan a sed after he nded, Grey thrusted his fist towards the ter of the creature's head.
??Megaton Shotgun!?? ［Grey］
Guwwaaaaaakkkkkkk
What Grey unleashed was an evolved version of the "Magnum Caliber" which works best at the closest distahe moment the attack ected to the Magma Crawler, a slight crack could be heard if one listened closely.
The Magma Crawler who was hit by the attack wriggled in agony from how painful the attack was. It tried to shake off Grey, but Grey held on with all his might and delivered another punch.
??Phantom Caliber!?? ［Grey］
Uhe other punches which delivered a strong physical force, "Phantom Caliber" ecialized in damaging the insides of the target as it sent strong shockwaves throughout its body.
While it may be a powerful art, it wouldn't work if there is no gap for the shockwaves to travel through, but Grey's previous attacks created that gap in the ter of the Magma Crawler's skull. Coupled with the gau's ability to spread impact, it became an unstoppable force which crushed and damaged every an ihe Magma Crawler.
Gurarakkkk
Suffering internal damage all throughout its body, the Magma Crawler struggled to remain upright aowards the ground with a loud thud.
With little life left in it and hatred burning deep in its heart, the Magma decided to do a final struggle and used up all its mana and focused it into a single point, preparing to release its most powerful attack, desperate to do anything to take down its attacker.
In a single very powerful breath of fire, the Magma Crawler fired an attack trey in hopes to take it down with it.
Just from a single gnce, Grey could already tell that he wouldn't be able to survive that attack. Of course, he could just resurrect after death, but he'd rather stay alive and not waste any of those ces to resurrect if he ever needs it iure.
"I'm not going to let things go your way!" ［Grey］
Deg to bet everything on a simple strategy, Grey drained all his mana stored in his "Mana Bank" which he had been saving for months, and unleashed dozens of barriers in succession, each created with mana equal to his mana capacity.
One... Two... Three... Four... Five... Six...
The fire breath quickly ruptured its way through the first few spells, but as it broke more than a dozen, its momentum slowed down until it vanished into thin air. As for the Magma Crawler whileashed the attack, it has already passed away after unleashing it.
Relieved from the result of his effrey lost the strength in his legs and helplessly fell kneeling to the ground from exhaustion.
"Haah... I'm never doing this again..!" ［Grey］
CHAPTER 4 END
