Chapter 8: A Challenge

The following days passed in relative peace. Wyn would wake, the two would take some commission, then they’d return, a silver gul richer. The commissions that they were taking were nothing special, taking out weaker monsters, mapping more pieces of Gigant Forest. Then, as Wyn was asleep, Magus would spend his entire night at the party hall, drowning himself in beer as he made his fellow adventurers a lot richer at the tables.

This day was panning out to be like any other.

“Wyn, I believe we should battle a strong monster today.”

At the very least, it was supposed to.

“Do you now…” Wyn asked, suspicious. She dabbed the side of her mouth with a napkin, wiping away any traces of breakfast. “And why is that?”

“Yesterday night, I was issued a challenge. The one who defeats the strongest monster wins. Now, monster strength is difficult to judge, so the table agreed that the monster with the highest reward would be the winner.”

“Right…” Wyn sipped at her drink. “And I should care why?”

“They said that only a weak coward would back out of this challenge. Are you a weak coward?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I am appealing to your pride, and instigating you.”

“Wow… real subtle. But, fine, we might as well.”

The two head to the commission board.

“Wouldn’t the Grim Diubh be the strongest monster?”

“Right, but they said that it technically didn’t have a bounty, so it wouldn’t count in the challenge.”

“Hmph. Bunch of cowards. They’re just not willing to pick a fight with something stronger than them.”

“Are you?”

“...” She huffed. She was sure if she really wanted to, she could take it down. It just wasn’t worth the hassle, that’s all. Wyn went back to scanning the board. A few new monsters had shown up, and there were quite a few familiar faces still pinned.

Magus snapped down a poster, waving it in Wyn’s face. “How about this one?”

With how dense the canopy was, Gigant Forest was constantly cast in green shadows. It can make one forget how bright sunlight really was. With that, the top of the forest was like a whole different world. The dense foliage gave the appearance of lush grass, and the wind was unfettered. Wyn took a deep breath, her arms spread as she basked in the warm light. The dense network of leaves and branches were large enough to support their weight easily. Wyn hopped up and down, the springy leaves giving her jumps extra bounce.

“Woo! You think these leaves are worth anything?” She shouted.

Magus didn’t seem to care at all, however. As soon as they reached the top, his eyes immediately began scanning for their target. The Speireri Oich. A massive bird whose wings are said to blot out the sun. An apex of the sky. Unfortunately, there was no hint of anything at all up here.

The territory of a Speireri Oich was vast, covering kilometers of canopy. For such a massive bird, who knew what they ate to maintain the energy they needed. They were a rare sight, especially since they only lived at the very top of the Gigant Forest. Honestly, their bounty is probably disproportionately high compared to how much danger they actually posed, since who would ever bother climbing up here? Who would pay a whole gold gul to hunt this? What idiot climbed up here and managed to actually spot one?

Although if one was in the area, it wouldn’t be hard to spot.

“Wyn, when we find this thing, I want you to leave the fighting to me.”

“Excuse me?”

“This was my challenge, after all. I should be the one to fight it.”

“No way! I didn’t climb up all this way just to waste my day watching someone else fight! You don’t think I’m strong enough to handle my own?”

“I did not mention your strength is the slightest. But you were not the one issued the challenge. It would be… what did they say… cheating! Yes, it would be cheating if you were to battle it instead of me.”

Wyn huffed. Whatever. He wanted to fight it by himself, sure. Well, she was going to go down and do something productive instead. As she was descending, Magus grabbed her by the shoulder.

“Hey, what are —”

With his other hand sticking straight to the sky, Magus released a massive beam. Wyn could feel a noticeable drop in her mana as the light dissipated into the sunlight.

“What are you doing?”

Wyn’s question was drowned out by a sudden, deep cry. A massive resounding bellow that shook the leaves they were standing on. The sheer volume of the cry resonated through Wyn’s very bones. A tremble coursed through the trees as something took to the skies. A dark blob came soaring over the horizon, growing exponentially every second. Each beat of its wings caused another tree quake, each second darkness overtook light. Even from there, Wyn could feel the air beat against her body, threatening to tear her apart with the constant undulating waves.

“My apologies, Wyn. I believe I have made a mistake.”