Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Chapter 18

The alpha lycan drake was furious.

He had gone hunting with most of his pack, leaving behind his second in command and a few others to guard their lair. But when he returned, all he found were ruins. A giant crater where the hovel beneath the earth should have been.

In a fit of rage, he had gone on a rampage, killing every single creature he could find in the forests of Briar Glen. Whether it be monster, animal, or person. He had even encountered those little green folk who'd stolen his old territory, but they were weaker now without their giant pack leader, so he’d slaughtered them all and reclaimed his lost lands. Many in his pack died in the process, but those that remained grew stronger. He, too, grew stronger. Now, they were no longer a pack of lycan drakes. They had evolved. He had evolved.

He was now an alpha winged drakenwolf. His pack became a flock. They flew behind him, creatures of calamity. A group of A-ranked threats. There were only a few dozen of them, but together, they could ravage entire cities. Perhaps even reduce a smaller nation into nothing but rubble.

And they were angry. They sought vengeance against the world. For what had happened to their home. And as they took to the skies, they’d found a new target to unleash their fury on.

There, far in the distance, beneath the tall mountains and at a clearing from the dense gathering of trees, lay a city. Its tall walls no longer stood protecting it from the harsh world beyond. Not that a wall could have stopped the winged drakenwolves, since they could just soar above those petty barriers.

But the alpha winged drakenwolf was intelligent. He had a discerning eye, and he could tell that this meant the city was in a vulnerable position. So, with a soft growl, he called for his flock to follow him to the city.

They descended from the mountaintops, the beating of their wings sending strong gusts of winds down to the forests below. The weaker and smaller monsters in the area were blown away, some even killed from being smashed against the trees or the rocks. The stronger and smarter monsters fled the scene at the sound of beating wings, fearing the wrath of the winged drakenwolves.

The alpha winged drakenwolf opened his mouth, letting out a screeching howl.

Come, my brothers and sisters! Let us lay waste to the homes of the humans!

His pack howled in return, and he drew back. He bared his hundreds of sharp teeth in excitement, ready to sink his fangs into the flesh of those supple humans.

“Man, you guys are loud,” a voice said, and the alpha winged drakenwolf blinked.

He glanced up in surprise, seeing a figure standing on the tip of his snout. A human girl with brown hair and a black and blue cloak. She had her arms crossed as she stared at him in thought.

“You know, I’ve been thinking about getting a pet, but I legally can’t own one without having a [Beast Tamer]-related Class.”

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When did she…? The alpha winged drakenwolf caught himself. He snarled, swiping up with a claw. She didn’t move out of the way. The strike connected— and he stared as she now stood balanced on the tip of his claws.

She tapped a finger on her chin. “Maybe I can get away with owning you guys as pets…”

Burn! He roared at her. Opening his mouth, he unleashed a plume of crimson flames. It was a fiery breath that engulfed the human girl… and also singed the tip of his claws. He yelped, hurriedly drawing his claw back.

He looked down at his burned claw. The human girl was gone. He made a hissing sound, both annoyed that he had injured himself, but glad that annoyance was finally gone.

“You really aren’t that smart, are you?” she said.

And he froze. The alpha winged drakenwolf craned his neck, staring at the figure standing atop his tail. The human stared at him flatly.

“You guys are too noisy, and you’re not all that bright. I’m starting to think this ‘pet’ thing won’t work out. No offense.”

He gritted his teeth, before letting out another howl. His flock immediately pulled away from him, forming a circle in the sky. She cocked her head, and he whipped his tail up. She went flying as he dipped down rapidly. He joined his flock as they surrounded the girl mid-air from all sides.

Annoying pest! He opened his mouth, and as did the rest of the winged drakenwolves. All at once, they poured their flames at the human. A combined attack. The flames pooled together, forming a solid mass, before exploding in all directions. A blast that lit up the evening sky, briefly turning it into the afternoon.

The alpha winged drakenwolf grinned, satisfied with himself as the flames slowly dissipated, leaving behind a thick curtain of smoke. His flock returned to him, hovering in the air at his back. He would’ve turned away and left for the city at that moment, if he didn’t catch sight of a figure moving amidst the smoke.

The human emerged, rapidly zipping towards him. He could hardly react in time. He tried to move out of the way, but she was already standing atop his snout again.

“Let’s try a trick—” she said. Raising a hand, she swatted him down. “Play dead.”

And the alpha winged drakenwolf crashed down into the earth. He fell like a meteor, exploding upon impact. He didn’t even have time to process his last thoughts. His remains lay splattered against the forest floor as the girl landed lithely next to his corpse.

“I said play dead, not actually die. I guess you aren’t very good at learning tricks.”

The flock of winged drakenwolf gaped as their leader was killed in an instant. They stared at the human, and she turned to them with a bored look on her face.

“Anyone else?”

And they fled. The A-ranked beasts yelped and whimpered as they soared through the skies, returning to the mountains of Briar Glen. The girl sighed as she glanced at the remains of the alpha winged drakenwolf.

“Now how do I bring this back to Windrip?”

—--

Over the last week and a half, I took on as many jobs as I possibly could from the Adventurer’s Guild. While the guild building itself was still under repairs, that didn’t mean that adventurers were left jobless. In fact, considering that the city was left incredibly vulnerable from the monsters of Briar Glen with the city’s walls still in repair, they had more jobs than ever.

At first, they congregated around a makeshift tent at the town square, but now, they shared a building with the Mage’s Guild. It was crowded, even with all the adventurers who died during the attack, but far less rambunctious than before. It had been just under two weeks since the Goblin Lord attack. The city still hadn’t fully gotten over the tragedy that had claimed so many lives.

I entered the Adventurer’s Guild, dragging behind me whatever was left of the alpha winged drakenwolf’s skull. It had been caved in, shattered in various different places, but was otherwise the most recognizable body part I could bring back to WIndrip with me.

It was very convenient that I ran into the winged drakenwolves right as I left to hunt them down. The job request in the guild hadn’t given me much details— it just said that these A-ranked monsters had been wreaking too much havoc in the local ecosystem, driving monsters towards the city.

I probably could’ve killed all of the winged drakenwolves instead of just the alpha. However the request specified that it was preferred if only the alpha was killed. Once that happened, it was likely the rest of the flock would be placated, and they would elect a new alpha that was far more cautious and much less aggressive. Keeping them alive would also prevent an even more dangerous and unpredictable monster species from popping up and threatening Windrip.

I didn’t really care too much for any of that. I mean, I’d rather not be responsible for anything bad happening to the city so I did somewhat care. But I mostly spared the rest just because it was less effort and the reward for killing the alpha versus killing them all was the exact same.

Heads turned and eyes fixed on me as I walked up to the [Receptionist]’s desk with the monster’s skull. Justyn was there today. He looked up at me, adjusting his glasses.

“Welcome back, Ms Amelia,” he greeted me curtly. “I hope your ten-minute trip went well.”

I rolled my eyes, setting the giant skull on the desk. “This is the alpha winged drakenwolf’s skull. You can get a [Mage] or whatever to verify this if you want.”

He eyed me with a frown, then glanced down at the desk. He wasn’t dubious or skeptical— after seeing me kill the Goblin Lord, he had only shown me respect. However, he looked… tired.

Justyn shook his head with a sigh. “Ms Amelia, over the last ten days, you’ve left the guild and returned with the remains of a giant acid cube, the corpses of a dozen horned bears, the eye of a mountain cyclops, the spiked feathers of a flock of grim vultures, and now, the skull of an alpha winged drakenwolf.

“Ignoring the fact that we’d have no reason to doubt your word at this point— because we’d be really be stupid if we thought you somehow faked all that— we have all the reason in the world to believe your word considering we saw you kill the alpha winged drakenwolf.”

I blinked. Justyn gestured emphatically at the rest of the room. Glancing back, I saw the nervous and wary stares I got from the gathering of adventurers in the room. I furrowed my brows.

“I guess I did fight those monsters right outside of the city, didn’t I?”

“It didn’t help that each of them were giant beasts with a wingspan of a hundred feet, and you were fighting them in the middle of the sky,” Justyn scoffed. “Pretty much everyone in the city saw you, Ms Amelia. If you’re still trying to keep your strength discreet, you’re doing a bad job at it.”

“On one hand, that’s true.” I rubbed my chin in thought for a moment, before extending a hand out. “But on the other hand, I’d like my payment now,” I said flatly.

The [Receptionist] shook his head. He produced a small treasure chest and slid it over the desk. “You were right in trying to keep a low profile, Ms Amelia. An unranked adventurer completing A-ranked and B-ranked jobs with ease is going to attract some unwanted attention.”

I accepted the payment, doing a quick eye count of the gold and silver coins within. It was supposed to be a payment of fifty gold and five hundred silver. With this, I had already earned just over a hundred and fifty gold coins in just over a week.

“I know it will,” I said with a shrug. “But considering the reward, it’s worth it.”

Justyn pursed his lips. “For your sake, I sure hope so…”

—--

Jax the Forsaken Archer lowered his bow as his message scroll flashed. He stood alone in the darkness of the Tunnel of the Vanquished, shadowed creatures crawling all around him. But he paid them no mind. Instead, he raised the scroll, frowning as he read the words magically being scribbled on the scroll’s surface.

“An unranked adventurer, huh?” he said as a shadow loomed behind him.

Eight giant eyes glinted in the darkness, carried by eight long legs. A goliath spider. An A-ranked threat. It hissed, lashing out at the man. His pointed ears twitched. His eyes flickered briefly, but otherwise remained fixed on the scroll.

The goliath spider swung down with its scythe-like legs as he raised his bow. He didn’t even face it, aiming with one hand. An arrow flashed into place, already-nocked. It shot out, striking the monster as it reeled back with a screech. He walked away.

“Very well. Windrip is but a short trip away. I will check it out.”

Jax spoke as he pocketed his scroll, and the goliath spider exploded, its shell being ripped open by the massive petals of a crimson rose. He didn’t even look back as thorns twisted out of the blooming flower, streaking across the cavern and tearing through the encroaching monsters. Slinging his bow over his shoulders, he clicked his tongue.

“But this better not be a fucking waste of my time.”

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