After my Clairvoyance took a screenshot of the spot for our teleportation, I held Sister’s hand and casted Warp to the location. Just as I said before, we are standing in the plain within the dense forest.
“You’re right. There really is a plain. A grassland to be exact.”
We are standing at the boundary of the forest and the grassland. The tall trees behind us clearly shows the abnormality the the plain. There are areas in the forest where plains occurs, but not as vast as we are facing right now. 𝒷𝓭ℴ𝓋𝓵.𝒸ℴ𝓶
It stretched for several kilometers that my Omnidirectional Perception cannot cover its vastness. From the grassy soil where we are standing, our vision were filled with grass and only grass.
“The vegetation here is not as rich as the forest. It really like any other ordinary plains in the world, not being enhanced with magic. It’s like its not located inside the Great Forest of Darkness.”
“Nice observation, Sis. The grass does not overgrow and the concentration of mana is not as thick as of the forest. There’s barely a tall tree standing, just thickets of average trees. But before we get answers to our questions, let’s take care of that one…”
We raised our heads looking at the blue sky and saw a fast object flying towards our position. We took a big step back to avoid the approaching opponent. The momentum was so strong that it creates a big crater.
As the dust settles, the silhouette of the opponent take form. Using its massive wings, it blows the remaining dust and revealed its majestic appearance.
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
Race: Griffon
Title: Dragon Slayer, Sky Queen of the Plains
Condition: Normal
LV: 624
MP: 6260
STR: 16898
DEF: 5882
MAG: 5478
MDEF: 6512
AGI: 19654
Unique Skill: Hypersonic
Extra Skill: Intimidation, Auto-Recovery, Telescopic Eye
Skill: Magic Sense, Martial Art: 3, Enhanced Senses, Danger Detection, Weakness Finder, Detection, Though Acceleration, Parallel Thinking, Wing Blast, Steel Wing, Bullet Plume, Claw Attack, Screech, Feint Attack, Sky Dive
Magic Skill: [Elemental: Wind: 5, Fire: 3, Lightning: 2, Earth: 2] [Non-Elemental: Force: 3]
Resistance: Exhaustion Resistance, Pain Resistance, Fear Resistance, Mental Attack Resistance, Physical Attack Resistance, Magic Attack Resistance, Blast Resistance, Impact Resistance
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
“We stepped on its domain and it’s attacking us.”
“So this plain is the territory of the legendary Griffon. Can I have this one?”
“Sure. After all, I’m not good in aerial combat.”
After having permission from my sister, I charged myself to the Griffon and unsheathe my blade. The Griffon raised one of its talons and slashed at me as I entered its range. I did a quick side step and barely avoided its sharp claws.
(It’s agility and strength were at five digits. I cannot let my guard down.)
A strong slash combined with speed creates a high momentum attack. With its sharp talons, the thin surface area only increases the attack output.
The Griffon’s attack is enough to slice a boulder like butter. If I was hit by its attack before, my body would have been seriously injured.
Griffon could move freely in the sky faster than the speed of sound. The odds are against me if I stay on the ground while my opponent is flying in the air. That’s why I have to fight it evenly.
“Aerial Maneuver.”
Using a Level 4 Force Magic spell, I launched my body thirty meters above the ground. It is a spell for flying that is faster than the Level 3 Flight.
Seeing me floating in the air, the Griffon flapped its majestic pair of wings, with a wingspan around thirty feet, and charged at me.
The sharp talons of its front limbs glowed, the Griffon use Claw Attack and tried to grab me. I flew upward to avoid the attack and shoot a Level 4 Wind magic spell at the same time.
“Wind Blade!”
I waved my empty left hand and a crescent shaped blade of air released from my swing. The magic flew at high speed and aimed at the Griffon’s back.
“?!”
The Griffon sensed the danger of the incoming attack. It rotate its body to avoid my magic spell. The spell did not hit its back but it scraped its left torso, leaving a trail of red line along the way.
“…”
The Griffon didn’t even flinch of having a wound, though it’s shallow. The wound slowly closed and healed after a while. The Griffon it body turned back and face me again.
Without a warning, the Griffon charged at me again way faster than before. It direct its glowed talons against me and use Claw Attack again.
I catch the claws with my sword and was knocked back trying to stopped the momentum of its charge. We stop in midair as we are pushing each other.
“Parry!”
I deflected the talons by using a Sword Art technique. I swiped my katana upwards and knocked back the Griffon. The screeching sound of clashing metals vibrated in the air. The Griffon looked at its left talon just to see that one of its nail is missing.
I clipped its nail as I parried its claws. Even though its claws were harder and sharper than iron, it were nothing compared to my crimson sword.
Then the atmosphere around the Griffon suddenly changed. It means that it will take this battle seriously from now on. I have fought a Hippogriff before, so I knew some of its pattern.
The body of the Griffon glowed several times, indicating that its casted several skills and spells. Its wings change its hue to metallic gray. The plumes becomes sharper and more durable.
The Griffon flapped its lustrous wings at once and then its plumes flew towards me like bullets. Its not just soft feather, but sharp and durable steel plumes.
I then instantly raised my katana and successfully blocked the first plume. Move my sword again to block the second one. I repeatedly moved my sword and blocked and deflected the upcoming steel plumes. The clashing of metals rung in the plains again.
Seconds after the steel plumes being stopped by my sword, the steel plumes turned back to feathers again and slowly and gently fall to the ground.
The Griffon flapped its wings again and shoot another round of steel plume bullets. I can see every plumes approaching me. I readied my katana and waited for the right timing.
“Hundred Slice!”
I used the meat grinding technique of Mother. I concentrated my focus and slashed my katana a hundred of times in a split second.
Each strike parries each of the flying steels. The collision of my blade and the plumes creates sparks of lights and noises of clanking metals.
The steel plumes flew at all directions and turned back to feathers. Sister avoid some of the flying plumes but caught one with her bare fingers and watched it turned to a brown feather.
(How can you catch something that flew that surpassed the supersonic speed? Well, she has higher agility than mine after all.)
Seeing I repelled all of its steel feathers, the Griffon flapped its wings so fast and lunged to me at Mach 5 speed. Its flap even caused a blast behind causing the ground to crumble, even we were fighting twenty meters above the surface.
As I was about to swing my sword to meet the Griffon, it suddenly flew upwards and my sword hit nothing but air. Then the Griffon charged at me and with the same speed. I slashed my katana again but the Griffon instantly vanished.
(Feint Attack!) I exclaimed internally then—
Clank.
I reflexively turned my body around and instinctively slashed my sword upwards to parry the incoming Claw Attack. The Griffon flew back again and without me noticing, there are now several flickering Griffons surrounding me at all directions.
(Afterimages!)
I shouted the name of the technique inwardly. It is a Level 9 Martial Art technique where the user move between two places at incredible speed, creating motion pictures.
It’s a Level 9 Technique even though the Griffon’s stats shows it had Level 3 proficiency in Martial Arts. The numbers beside Arts and Magic does not means the highest level of techniques and spells the person can do. It is the number of level of techniques and spells a person learned.
For example, a few years ago, Mother finally acquired the Ultra Skill World Magic: 1. Even though the number shows one, the spell that Mother learned was a Level 5 World Magic spell.
Another example was my blacksmithing tutor. He has Fire Magic: 3 but could use Smelting Heat, which was a Level 6 Fire Magic.
With its Unique Skill Hypersonic, the Griffon reached the speed of Mach 9 creating six afterimages. The images simultaneously attack me from all directions with their claws.
The real attack were mixed with the feints. I ignore the feints and only block, deflect, or parry the real claw. The barrage finally stopped after I repelled all of the dozens of its attacks. Then green magic circles manifest in front of each images.
“That magic circles… Level 5 Wind Spear.”
After a second, six spears made out compressed air are coming at me all together. The speed of each spears surpassed sonic speed.
It’s hard to deflect of it at once. I can just Wrap myself to somewhere safe but facing a formidable opponent with a Unique Skill like this Griffon is a rare opportunity. I want to overcome this situation and improve myself.
My katana will just pass the air and rendered useless. For me to repel it, I have to use magic.
“Mirror Attack Reflection.”
Six rectangular ice panels with mirror-like surface surrounded me on the area where the spears will hit. The spell that I used was a Level 7 Water Magic spell that reflects magic projectile attacks to the shooter.
As the Wind Spears hit the mirrors, the mirrors just absorbed the spears. A second later, the spears from before were released from the mirrors and shoot directly to the afterimages with the same velocity. The spears flew towards the Griffons but it just passed through the images.
Then the images flapped its shining steel wings and shoot its steel plumes again, but this time, from all directions. The plumes flew at supersonic speed and easily shatter all of my mirrors. The plumes weren’t magic attack so the mirrors caught it and broke.
But before the plumes hit me, I already activated one of my trump cards the moment the Griffon fired its plumes. I just float in the air, do nothing, and let my body being hit by hundreds of fast and sharp steel plumes.
Clank, clank, clank, clank.
As if stopped by an invincible wall, the plumes halted a centimeter from my skin. It transformed back to feathers in midair as it gracefully fell off to the earth.
“What will you do now?”