Morning, May 28th. Ferdinand, head of the Bordeaux guild, was in his office enjoying a cup of coffee before starting another day of work, when the door opened without warning.
"Mister Ferdinand!"
"Lucille? What's wrong? It's not your custom to enter without knocking!"
Panting and clearly worried, the secretary held a small piece of paper in her hands.
"I received this message from one of Rémy's assistants, it came by messenger bird this morning! He's dead!"
"Dead? Let me read it!"
Rising from his chair with a start and taking the paper from his secretary's hands, he read its contents with the utmost attention.
Claude, Reporting.
Master Rémy is dead. We have seen his body floating under a bridge near the center of Cognac. There were signs that he had been stabbed in the back, and his face had burn marks above his eyes.
While we were still in DuPont, we received a tip from an informant that a few days ago a large carriage had passed through there in the dead of night, heading towards Cognac. Its contents were not ascertained by the guards at the gates, so we assumed they had been bribed. Master Rémy took his horse and rode there while we gathered more information. When we reached the town in the morning, there was a commotion in the main square. A boy spotted the body and reported it to the guards.
Due to the nature of our mission, we were unable to claim the body, which is now in the care of the Cognac guild. We await further instructions.
Report closed.
Claude and Félix.
"Rémy, what happened to you…?" - Ferdinand said, sitting heavily in his chair.
"What shall we do now, Lord Ferdinand?" - Lucille asked, wiping the tears from her face.
"Send a messenger bird to Claude. Tell him I'm on my way right now. Put a wind blessing on the bird so it will be quick."
"Will you go in person?"
"Yes, I need to release his body to the Cognac guild. I won't allow him to be buried as an indigent. I'll take some men with me. Take care of things around here until I get back."
"Understood, Mister. Should I ask for support from the Coeur de Lion?"
"They're on hiatus after all that embarrassment yesterday. Call them only if there's an emergency."
"I'll do that. Have a safe trip."
"I hope so."
Afternoon, May 27th. Rikko and Inako had been walking for a little over an hour since leaving the Alvernac Forest.
"Hah, hah, Mister Rikko, how long until we get there? My feet are killing me."
"What? We haven't been out of the forest long, how can you be in so much pain?"
"You're being insensitive to me! Before I found you, I'd already been walking around for days! And my zori straps are almost breaking."
"My bad. Hang in there a little longer, we're almost there."
"Maybe we could hitch a ride on a cart…"
"That would be great. But we haven't come across any in all this time, that's not going to happen now."
"You're such a pessimist, you know?"
"I'm a bird born to be eaten, pessimism has been with me since I hatched."
"Oh… that's right. I'm sorry."
"Forget it."
"...Huh?"
Inako stopped complaining and stood silently in the middle of the road. She put her hands to her fox ears to sharpen her hearing.
"What's wrong, Inako? Do you hear some car-"
"Shh. Wait a minute."
"…?"
"Something is coming. It's really big and heavy. It's crawling along the ground and it's coming from that side." - Inako pointed towards a group of large bushes.
"Dragging? That's getting really bad- SNAAAAAKE!"
"UWAAAA!"
They barely dodged it, each one jumping to a different side. A gigantic snake with blue scales emerged from the bushes. Its head was as big as an adult pig and its body had not yet emerged completely even though it had projected itself with the attack.
"How huge!"
"These snakes must have something against me, it must be!"
"What?"
"Nothing! Run away"
Each one began to run in a different direction, but it was too late. The snake was as fast as it was big and with a blow of its tail it knocked Inako down, throwing her far away and was about to devour her.
"INAKO!"
"Unngh, how painful… AAAAAAAHHH!"
Rikko needed to act fast. Forgetting his fear, he charged at the reptile to save his traveling companion.
"STEEL CLAWS!"
Even with such a large body, the snake's scales were not so hard as to withstand Rikko's blow without taking damage. Dark blue blood flowed from its wounds and the pain served to change its target.
"HISSSSSSSSSSS…"
"That's right, big one! Did it hurt?"
The snake stared at him with its red eyes and straightened its body.
"My claws are hurting, the leather and scales of this thing are too strong!"
Warning:
Serpent Indigo
-Its color makes it impossible to blend in with nature, but its size, venom, and tough skin more than make up for this disadvantage. If you encounter one, it's either flight or fight.
"That last part is so obvious... I'd rather know how to kill that thing."
"MR. RIKKO! IT'S GOING TO EAT YOU!"
"THANK YOU FOR WARNING ME!"
"HISSSSSSSSSS!!!"
"WING BURST!"
Rikko launched his wind attack as hard as he could as the snake lunged at it with its mouth open, but it only resulted in a contest of strength with Rikko fluttering his wings nonstop and the monster forcing its way through with its mouth expanding in the strong wind.
ARGH! That damn thing won't give up! If I mess up for a second, I'm done! My wings feel like they're going to burst! There has to be another way!
Acquired Skill:
-Awakening Chant: Level 1
High-powered sonic attack. The more focused, the stronger it becomes.
Have I told you I love you, Broken Menu? - "AWAKENING CHANT!"
The sound of a rooster crowing echoed, with enough sonic power to blow the snake's head apart from the inside out. The body fell, writhing, until finally the life left it.
At the entrance to Bordeaux City, two guards were guarding the gates of the southern entrance. A startled sound interrupted their calm afternoon.
"Hey, Cyrille, did you hear that?"
"Yes. What could that have been?"
"Good, I thought I was hearing things. I'm not sure, but I think it sounded like a rooster crowing. It came from that direction." - His shift mate said, pointing to the road in the distance.
"A rooster? But there are no farms around here, Norbert. Should we report this to the head of the guard?"
"Are you crazy? Xavier will say he doesn't have time for this!"
"That's true. Never mind, there's no way a rooster could make such a loud noise."
Back at the battle site...
"YES! I DID IT!"
"YOU WON, LORD RIKKO! YOU REALLY WON!"
Level Acquired
Name: Rikko
Class: Domestic Bird > Wild Bird(?)
Level: 10>12
Vitality/ HP: 100>120
Mana/ SP: 200>220
Strength: 10>12
Agility: 20>22
Dexterity: 10>12
Intelligence: 15>16
Charisma: 2
Wild Bird? What the hell is that? And when did my charisma increase? - Rikko thought.
"Hey, Inako! Did you get hurt?"
"I'm fine now, I used a prayer, only a few scratches remained. But I lost my left Geta.
"If the money from the sale is enough, we'll buy you something to wear."
"Oh, speaking of which... we have an Agari, Mr. Rikko!"
"What's that?"
"Oh, it's a word we say during a game in my hometown, it's called Hanafuda. It means we've finished a play, we've scored a point."
"I see, but why?"
"You just killed a real monster! The skin, meat, fangs, venom and hide, all of that is worth money. And a lot of money!"
"So you've seen one of these before with Les Intrépides?"
"No, but when a monster dies, everything usable is left behind. And there's no way a snake that size is normal."
"Then I'll put everything in my Item Box. Did any crystals or jewels fall out?"
"Why would something like that fall out?" - Inako looked confused at the question.
"Oh, forget it. It's nothing. Let's go, Bordeaux awaits us!"
"Let's go!"