Chapter 25
Every year, from autumn through winter, Alba Herons fly north from the south. Allen had lived in the Frontier Village for six years, but had never left it. These magic beasts had taught him how vast the world was and how the seasons passed.
Allen's father, Rodan, had named him with the hope that he would move freely through the sky, like an Alba Heron.
'Gyaaaaaaaaaas!!!'
The Alba Heron descended from the sky and landed on the ground. It seemed that Taunt, an Insect G's Special Ability, could lure in magic beasts. He didn't know how they acted normally, but it seemed to be enraged by being taunted.
Its wings spanned about four meters, and it stood over two meters tall from its feet to the top of its head. It looked twice Allen's height. Its body was covered in white feathers, which gradually darkened to a bluish black toward the tips of its wings.
The Alba Heron had landed in the center of the clearing, about ten meters in diameter, that Allen had made by trampling down the weeds. Allen was crouched low, hiding among the still-thick weeds outside the circle.
(Wha!? I was trying to catch wild birds, and an Alba Heron came down!)
He was surprised, but barely had to think about what to do. He could have kept hiding, and maybe it would have taken off and gone somewhere else.
Perhaps it was because of a remark he'd heard when he was one year old, tucked away at the back of his mind. Rodan had said that Alba Heron tasted good. Or perhaps it was a gamer's instinct to fight whenever he saw a magic beast.
There was only one thing to do. He gripped one of the baseball-sized stones he'd left on the ground.
As the Alba Heron bit into the second Insect G, which was still taunting it, Allen put all his strength into throwing a stone even as the Insect G disappeared.
He threw with all his strength. With the help of his Beast cards and Throwing Skill Level 3, the stone flew several times faster than an adult could throw it, homing in on the Alba Heron's face.
Smack!
'Gugyaaaaaas!?'
The stone slammed into its face and crushed its right eye. The Alba Heron shrieked, stunned by the unexpected attack and the pain of losing an eye.
Allen immediately picked up another stone and threw it with all his strength. This time, it struck the bird's long neck, making it bend sharply and its head lurch.
After being hit by the two stones, the Alba Heron staggered on its feet.
(That really did a number on it! All right, I've got this! I beat my first magic beast!!)
He gripped his wooden sword, ready to finish it off, and burst from the trampled grass. He closed the distance in an instant, leapt up, and swung at its neck.
The neck bent sharply under the blow of Allen's wooden sword, swung with his entire body weight behind it. He pressed down harder, trying to pull it over.
However, though the Alba Heron was injured, it wasn't on the verge of death. It tensed its neck and flung Allen, who had his entire body weight on it, away. It still had plenty of strength.
"What!?"
He cried out in surprise and tumbled across the weeds.
(Th-This is bad! Pochi and the others, back me up!!)
Fifteen Enhanced Beast F cards shot out of the Grimoire all at once. The cards began to glow and almost immediately transformed into Summons.
'Woof! Woof! Woof!'
Beast F was a light-brown dog about the size of an Akita. Barking, the dogs surrounded the Alba Heron.
(Bite it, Pochi and the others!!)
At Allen's command to use their Special Ability, Bite, the Beast F Summons leapt at its legs, wings, and neck.
'Gyaaaaaaaaaas!!!'
The Alba Heron cried out as the Enhanced Beast F Summons bit it all over. It was taking damage, but apparently nothing fatal. It kicked the Summons away with its reptilian legs.
The Alba Heron couldn't move very quickly on the ground, but it was quite strong. The Beast F Summons soared even higher than the tops of the weeds after being kicked away.
(Damn, I'll lose if this keeps up!)
One by one, they were bitten by its large beak or struck down by its feet with their huge talons. Every time a Summon turned into a glowing bubble, Allen felt its Blessing fade, so he hurriedly created a new Beast F, Enhanced it, and summoned it from its card. Each one cost 20 Magic. But he only had 47 Magic. After summoning two, he ran out.
(Damn, Rank D magic beasts are too strong. I couldn't win at Level 1!)
Just as he was about to give up,
the Alba Heron's huge foot came at Allen. He reflexively blocked it with his wooden sword, but couldn't stop its full force. He was sent flying backward.
That wasn't the end of it. As Allen rolled across the weeds in the fallow field, the bird's huge, taloned foot came down on him. It pinned him to the ground, then thrust its beak at his face. He hurriedly held his wooden sword crosswise to keep it from biting him.
(Th-This is bad. I-I'm going to die!)
For the first time, he felt death coming. His Enhanced Beast F Summons were biting the Alba Heron all over, but it paid them no mind as it tried to devour Allen. It was stronger than him. The jagged teeth inside its beak and the back of its throat were clearly visible as it slowly brought its beak closer.
The tip of the Alba Heron's beak touched his cheek. It cut him, and blood ran down his face. The wooden sword he was gripping desperately with both hands bent, on the verge of snapping. Death drew closer and closer.
Pinned to the ground, he desperately tried to think of a way out.
(What do I do? Think! Come on!)
Never had he been more grateful for the tens of thousands of hours he'd spent playing games in his previous life. All those games—and everything he'd gained from playing them—had given him experience. Thanks to the vast amount he'd accumulated, he could usually guess what a Skill, technique, or spell did just by seeing its name.
There was no time for his life to flash before his eyes. Allen screamed desperately.
"Chu! Come out!!!"
Still pinned to the ground, Allen summoned an Enhanced Insect F. Insect F was shaped like a leech. It was a leech resembling one of the huge sea cucumbers found in the ocean.
"Latch on, Chu!!!"
'Chu!!!'
At its cry, Insect F contracted its muscles, changing from its sea-cucumber shape into a ball about the size of a volleyball. It bounced toward the Alba Heron's neck, just as the bird was about to devour Allen.
'Gyaaaaaaas!!!'
The Alba Heron tried to shake off Insect F, which had latched onto its neck. Insect F had attached itself firmly, its mouth forming a seal, and wouldn't let go. In the moment of distraction, Allen somehow freed himself from beneath the Alba Heron's foot.
Insect F's body flashed blue.
(Oh! It's sucking something out of it. So it really is an energy-drain-type ability.)
Allen's guess had been right. He still hadn't tested Insect F's Special Ability, Suck, just as he hadn't fully tested Bite.
He didn't know if Insect F was draining stamina or Attack, but he summoned another one. The second Insect F latched onto the bird's thigh and began flashing blue.
Before the Alba Heron could shake off the Insect F Summons, Allen swung his wooden sword again. The Beast F Summons joined in, biting the bird. The battle resumed.
The Alba Heron kicked at Allen. He held up his wooden sword to withstand the blow, but it didn't feel as powerful as when the bird had pinned him down earlier. He knocked its leg aside, slammed his wooden sword into its neck, and pulled it down.
(Oh, so it lowers its Attack. I managed to pull it over this time.)
The two Insect Fs' Suck ability had lowered the Alba Heron's Attack. Allen put his weight against it and knocked it onto its back.
He pressed the wooden sword against its neck with all his weight, trying to suffocate it. Several minutes passed.
The Grimoire appeared and glowed faintly.
(Oh, a log just appeared.)
'You defeated one Alba Heron. You gained 100 experience.'
A silver message appeared, recording the kill and the experience he'd gained.
"Oh! I won! I won!!"
The Alba Heron lay sprawled on the ground before him.
It was his first time defeating a magic beast. Memories from several decades ago, when he was Kenichi, resurfaced—memories from when he was seven or eight. It seemed there was some overlap between those memories and this moment.
(So this is what fighting your first magic beast feels like. I think I understand how a game protagonist feels when they're given some pocket change at sixteen or seventeen and have to fight monsters outside their hometown for the first time. Though I still haven't left the village.)
Memories of games from his previous life came back to him: buying something like a club with his pocket money, struggling to level up around town, then returning to the inn when his health got low.
(Even so, Rank D magic beasts are pretty strong. And I need to defeat ten of them to earn 1,000 experience and level up? Well, I'm only Level 1, and my Summons are Rank F.)
【Experience】 100/1000
As he checked the experience he'd gained and analyzed the battle, he returned all his Summons to their cards and put the stones back in the basket.
He carried the basket in one hand, tucked the wooden sword into his sash, and lifted the Alba Heron. He wanted to carry it home without damaging its body, but its feet and wingtips scraped against the ground. Allen was simply too small.
With the Alba Heron slung over his back, he headed home.
When he reached the entrance, a girl was standing in the yard. It was Krena.
(Huh? I told her I couldn't play today.)
"A-Allen, what happened!?"
Krena was shocked to see the scratches on Allen's face and body, along with several cuts that were bleeding, possibly from the grass. In a panic, she ran inside to tell Rodan and Telesia.
"W-Wait, what? A-Allen!!"
Telesia hugged him and frantically felt him all over to check whether he had any serious injuries.
"I'm not hurt, Mother. I caught an Alba Heron."
Allen assured her he was all right, showed her the Alba Heron on his back, and told her he'd caught it.
And so, the battle with the Alba Heron came to an end. This battle became Allen's first as a Summoner.