kscans

Chapter 9 - Hunting and Work

A week had passed since my deadly encounter with the bandits.

Ever since that incident, I had been strangely drawing attention.

'He's a promising rookie,' or 'I wish he'd join my party,' and all sorts of other comments. But I had no intention of joining a party. It's because my main job is a hunter, and adventuring is more of a side gig. I was worried that people who made their living as adventurers would find that unpleasant.

I made a point of not looking at the party recruitment notices.

I acted strictly as a solo adventurer. In fact, there were other solo adventurers, which was a relief.

During this week, I began my work as a hunter in earnest.

First, I hunted monsters for their materials—Wolves and Falcons. Then I went to the forest on the opposite side and hunted snakes, monkeys, and a giant mantis. Along the way, I fought a group of about ten Goblins. The result was a complete victory.

I wiped out the Goblins using fire magic.

Specifically, I unleashed that move from my favorite manga.

"Goblins, I'll burn you to a crisp with this! CHESTO!"

With a shout, I threw a straight right punch, launching a fist of fire. The Goblins who were hit were burnt to a crisp.

As proof of subjugation, I had to take the magic stones from their bodies, so I did. It's a hunter's basic principle to make effective use of any prey.

Incidentally, magic stones have colors corresponding to their attributes, and attaching them to accessories or weapons doubles their power. Unfortunately, Goblin magic stones are colorless. These are usually crushed, taken to a blacksmith, and used as material to increase the strength of weapons. I learned this when I took a colorless magic stone to the Guild.

Realizing this, I thought it would be useful for making weapons and armor.

I asked the receptionist.

"Is it okay if I hunt monsters and keep these colorless magic stones for myself?"

To this, she replied.

"You can, but without processing and smithing skills, they're just pebbles."

There was no problem.

Since then, whenever I saw Goblins, I would acquire their magic stones and bring them back, immersing myself in making weapons and armor. The weapons I made were a dagger, an axe, a spear, and a great hammer. For armor, I made a breastplate, a helmet, and shoulder guards. The helmet was a Japanese-style Oni Kabuto with horns. This level of detail was enough to satisfy my desires.

My ultimate satisfaction, by the way, was full plate armor.

When I saw that armor in a weapon shop before, my chest tightened and my breath became ragged.

I restrained myself so the shopkeeper wouldn't think I was strange, bought a leather breastplate for reference, and went home.

I still can't forget it.

The shape of that full plate armor, the way it was constructed from foot to neck, with only small gaps at the joints where a little skin was visible. It was a perfect creation.

Now, the armor depicted in Japanese manga and anime on Earth often has steel parts only on the chest, legs, and arms, with the rest being clothes. Some even have things like bikini armor, which is more like a swimsuit than armor.

In the first place, armor is not only for protecting the body but also for concealing the physique of the person inside. It's something that protects you even if the size is a little off. It's meant to be worn snugly against the body to prevent chafing, and because of that tightness, even if you look cool before a battle, the fatigue afterwards is much more intense than usual.

When a woman wears it, what at first glance seems unappealing... the body line visible over the armor reveals the wearer's figure, and the expressions and gestures shown in fatigue after battle are indescribably exciting.

Yes, I have an armor fetish.

I'm such a fanatic that I buy manga, anime, and even doujinshi featuring female knights in full plate armor.

It's a turn-off, so I've never told anyone.

Anyway, after a week like that, I saw an investigation request on the quest board.

Apparently, there was an unknown bird in the rocky mountains to the northeast, and they wanted someone to check if it was harmless.

I wouldn't take this request as an adventurer. But as a hunter, I wanted to see it.

With that single thought, I left the Guild silently.

My destination was the rocky mountains to the northeast. I would see this unknown bird, and depending on the situation, hunt it.

It was said to be a journey of over half a day on foot. But I had developed something that allowed me to arrive in about two hours.

It was a motorcycle. And not just any motorcycle.

Normally, a motorcycle needs rubber tires. Otherwise, the balance would be poor and it would be difficult to control.

But I have the `Matter Conversion` skill, and what's more, I can control the converted material as long as I'm touching it. Using this power, I made a steel motorcycle. First, since buying a motorcycle would be pointless, I bought a bicycle. I rode it to understand how it moves and turns, and got a feel for it through repeated practice.

Then, I bought a model motorcycle and thoroughly learned its construction. After that, I used `Matter Conversion` to create a steel motorcycle and controlled the rollers to move it.

The result was excellent. There were no problems with speed or turning.

This was much faster than walking. Moreover, the magic consumption was low. After running for two hours without a break, my breathing was only slightly ragged, and my stamina was fine. In this way, I arrived at the rocky mountains.

The area was all rocks, and it seemed undeveloped, a complete wilderness. It was a difficult place to walk.

After walking for a while, I reached a place with a good view and saw a certain bird.

It was huge. It was probably three times the size of a Falcon, looking like a mid-boss giant bird from a video game.

And I knew immediately that this bird was a carnivore.

Because it was eating the flesh of a monster right in front of me. Being a carnivore of this size, there was a possibility it would eat humans, so I couldn't just let it be. But if it was a gentle creature, I might be able to leave it alone. With that in mind, I approached it without any defenses or hostility.

But the moment the giant bird saw me, its eyes lit up as if it had found prey, and it took to the sky and attacked.

It was fast, and I was doing all I could just to dodge.

Conclusion: it was a target for hunting.

My work as a hunter began.

The giant bird circled in the sky, observing me. In response, I looked at the weapons I had on hand: a katana and a sword, two daggers, and in my tool bag, two potions and two antidotes. No ranged weapons.

I felt like I had come here to commit suicide with such a lack of ranged options.

My only long-range attack was magic.

But my opponent was flying high in the sky. If I shot carelessly, it would just be dodged. I had to fight while conserving my magic.

The giant bird came in a glide. Even if I dodged with all my might, I couldn't counterattack immediately, and it would just ascend again. In that case, there was only one thing to do: a razor-thin exchange of blows, drawing my sword as we passed each other.

I dodged the giant bird's attack to the right. The wind pressure was considerable, but I endured it and drew my sword, slashing at the bird's leg. Blood spurted out, but it wasn't a fatal wound. The giant bird immediately ascended and became wary of me.

(Well, I didn't think I could defeat it with just that. Now, what will it do?)

As I was thinking this, the giant bird opened its beak.

Wind swirled around its mouth, forming a large sphere. The bird then fired it at me. Surprised, I dodged with all my might.

It was a close call. The spot where the sphere hit formed a small crater. Quite a bit of power.

Seeing this, I thought.

This thing has a magic stone, and an attribute-infused one at that.

I wanted to hunt this thing no matter what. As a hunter, and as a curious human being. I came up with an idea.

The giant bird seemed to have no intention of getting close. It was flying around, observing. It was probably looking for the right timing to shoot its wind magic.

Then, it was my turn.

I concentrated lightning magic in my left hand.

Seeing this, the giant bird opened its mouth, and a sphere with a larger size and swirl than before began to form. I don't know if it was the pride of a powerful monster, but it seemed to want a head-on confrontation. Seeing this, I planned to use the lightning as a decoy, and once the bird dodged it, I would unleash the fire I had concentrated in my right hand. But I abandoned this plan and showed the fire magic in my right hand without hiding it.

The moment both of us finished charging would be the bell for the match.

The giant bird unleashed its wind breath.

I shouted.

"Lightning Flame Twin Demon Palm!!"

I yelled the technique's name and unleashed it.

Magic clashed. The man and the monster watched, their powers equal. I felt the illusion that this moment would last forever.

However, the stalemate gradually began to crumble.

I was being pushed back.

I held my ground. I put so much force into it that my feet sank into the ground.

At this rate, I would lose. But the option of running did not exist. My mind was empty. As if the details, the future, everything didn't matter.

"Get blown away!"

I released all my magic. The power of the lightning and fire increased, and the tables turned.

The lightning and fire pushed back the wind and headed towards the giant bird.

The bird couldn't dodge, and it was a direct hit.

The sky exploded.

From beneath the black smoke, the giant bird fell.

It was a close call, almost falling off the cliff, but I was glad it landed nearby.

I approached cautiously, thrust my sword to confirm if it was dead. Even when stabbed deep, it didn't even twitch.

I began the dismantling process.

I searched inside the giant bird, near its heart. And I found the magic stone. Just as I thought, it was a green stone, large enough to be held with both hands.

With this size, I could process it however I wanted. I was excited to see what I could make. But this was no time to be celebrating.

The giant bird's meat was edible, its bones could be processed, but its feathers were burnt and useless.

As a hunter, I wanted to bring all of this back, but it was too big. I thought about making a large cart like in a manga and loading it on. I felt like I had less than half my magic left, but I made it with sheer grit.

I didn't want to camp out here. I didn't know when a monster might attack.

I yelled.

"FIGHT! ONE MORE SHOT!"

With that shout, I acted.

I transformed my motorcycle into a cart, loaded the giant bird on it, and sat in the driver's seat.

Normally, you would hitch a horse to the front to pull it, but there were no horses, so I decided to control the cart itself.

At first, I traveled at ten kilometers per hour, taking breaks along the way back to town. I figured I would arrive around evening, so I moved with a bit of a hurry.

At that time, I made a mistake.

When I found the giant bird, I should have used `Detection`. I had assumed there was no one else here. I didn't know that someone had been watching the entire battle.

A man who had been hiding in the shadow of a rock appeared after I left.

"Heh, not bad. I didn't know there was an adventurer like that. Maybe I'll head back to town for the first time in a while."

The man, with a great axe the size of his body on his back, chuckled to himself.