Bonus Story 1:
The Monkey King’s Truly Terrible Parting Gift
Part 1
THE LONG, PAINFUL BATTLE with Lilyxila was finally over.
But it wasn’t a neat and tidy conclusion by any means. As I’d found out, Lilyxila had her own morals and goals, and she chose to fight me in order to resist the Divine Voice’s orders.
I, of course, wasn’t going to let her kill me. I used to hold a deep grudge against Lilyxila for betraying me and setting the stage for Partner’s death. But now, with the weight of Lilyxila’s final words resting on my shoulders, I was considering taking up the mantle and facing off against the Divine Voice myself.
For today, though, my one goal was to rest up and recover. Tomorrow, I’d make the long trek up the mountain to where Umukahime was hiding out and give her my report of the battle. In order for Allo and the others to rest—both physically and mentally—I decided to give them some time to themselves for the day.
Allo stuck by me. After sunbathing with Treant for a while and fishing with Atlach-Nacha, Volk asked if I’d like to spar with him. I obliged and used Human Transformation to get on his level and give myself hands to wield a sword. Allo and the black lizard cheered me on.
“Good luck, Master Dragoooon!”
“Kshh! Kshhiii!”
“Here I come, Illusia!!” Volk shouted as he brandished his Grandpa Magiatite sword and advanced toward me.
I raised my own blade: a giant greatsword with a black hilt and a pale, shining blade that I’d made with Ideal Weapon.
Blade of Calamity: Value B. A massive, one-sided blade said to call forth disaster. Made from the bones of a dragon that leaves disaster and ruin its wake. Enemies cut by the blade are inflicted with Poison and Curse conditions proportional to the wielder’s magical power.
I’d tested out a bunch of different swords beforehand. The Knife of Calamity: Value D+ and the Baby Sword: Value E were useless. At his level, Volk could shatter them with ease. And my Ouroboros Blade: Value A and my Oneiros Reisszahn: Value L (Legendary) were too dangerous to use in a sparring match. My Blade of Calamity was the best one for the job.
My perusal of my Ideal Weapon arsenal had also clued me in on the existence of a mysterious weapon labeled “Egg Sword.”
Egg Sword: Value A. Attack: +1. A fragile sword made from the shell of a dragon’s egg. Its delicate nature lends itself more to artistry than utility. The eggshell will be crushed by the slightest impact, making it wholly unsuitable as a weapon. However, if a swordsman successfully defeats a monster with this sword, they will receive the title of Egg Swordsman to signify their mastery of the exquisite precision required to wield it.
This weapon must come from my Dragon Egg form. The weapons I could summon with Ideal Weapon all seemed to correspond to different evolutions I’d had. They usually got weaker and less valuable as I went back in my evolutionary line, so seeing an A-value sword for my very first evolution was a bit of a surprise.
I did, in fact, try the Egg Sword out against Volk because I wanted the Egg Swordsman title…but it shattered on the first hit, forcing me to fight him with my bare hands. At least it was just an Ideal Weapon sword and not a real one. That would’ve been expensive…
Although this fight was just a mock battle, my stats were far too high to be fair against Volk’s. My agility was more than three times higher than his. Because of that, I made a rule for myself to not aim to land a decisive blow as my first attack, to give myself a handicap. We’d sparred over twenty times already, and I’d won in two or three moves almost every time. The longest I took was five moves.
“Hraaaaah!” Volk shouted, leaping toward me in a stabbing motion. I dodged to the right of his blade and moved half a step closer. Instead of just letting my blade smack against Volk’s stomach, I decided to wait and see how he’d react.
Volk stepped back and swung his blade, keeping his distance. I could follow his every movement. I raised my sword and tried to flick his blade away from me.
It was important for me to restrain myself to avoid shattering Grandpa Magiatite, but even so, the move should have been enough to break Volk’s stance. However, when I swung, my blade met nothing but open air.
“H-huh?!” Crap! My momentum threw me off target!
“I’ve got you now!” Volk’s blade smacked squarely against the back of my head.
“Ngh!” I dropped to the ground with a groan, holding my head.
“Oh! I…I hit you?” Volk stood there in shock. “My blade actually hit you, Illusia?”
I couldn’t believe it. He actually hit me. It didn’t feel real.
“Yup.” I held my head, wincing in pain. The Human Transformation skill halved both my attack and defense stats. A good smack on the back of my head would obviously do a bit of damage. “And it was a great blow too… I suddenly lost track of your sword, and the next thing I knew, it was right next to my head. It almost felt like it teleported.” I looked up, grinned at Volk, and gave a thumbs-up.
“Listen, Illusia.” Volk’s eyes shone with excitement. “My eyes, they…they could pick up exactly what your next move would be. I feel that through my battle with Howgley, I’ve picked up on a way to fight against those much faster than me, like you.”
“Mr. Volk, you’re awful!” Allo cried, rushing over to scold him. “I thought you said the match would be short and sweet!”
“Ah…I suppose you’re right.” Volk bowed his head in apology. “Forgive me, Illusia. I was so excited that I completely forgot.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’m strong enough to handle it.” I chuckled, still holding my head. Volk saw that I was going to hit him, which is why he managed to best me. But that was fine; if it meant he’d learned something about swordplay from sparring with me, then I was happy to let him have the victory. And while the blow did some damage, it wasn’t anything serious.
“Kssshh…” The black lizard stretched its foreleg over my shoulder and licked my head where Volk had hit me.
“H-hey!” Allo shouted and pointed at the black lizard, face flushed in anger. “That’s gross! Get off him, Lacerta!”
“I-It’s not a big deal… Thank you, Black Lizard. My head feels better already.”
“Kssshi!” The black lizard nuzzled its head against my cheek, pleased.
“Ha ha ha! Hey! That tickles!” I patted the black lizard’s head.
Allo stared at the black lizard, clearly displeased. Then she stuck her own tongue out, as if checking something.
“Oh, dear,” said Volk. “Surely you are not trying to compete with Lacerta for the right to lick Illusia…?”
Allo turned bright red and frantically waved her hands. “N-no! I…I was just…”