Chapter 280: Rare Wyvern

Victor only realized he had truly left the protection of the Vampire Realm when the sun began to genuinely bother him.

The mountain range ahead occupied almost the entire horizon, formed by dozens of rocky peaks rising to different heights. Some mountains had almost vertical walls, while others were surrounded by enormous natural formations where resilient trees grew wedged between the rocks. The wind there was strong and constant, carrying dust and the dry scent of stones heated by the sun.

Victor walked calmly along the base of one of the mountains wearing a long black hooded cloak. The fabric covered practically his entire body, protecting his skin from direct light while he kept his hands inside his pockets.

"It’s kind of complicated belonging to a race that can simply catch fire because of the sun." Victor murmured while pulling the hood a little farther over his face, clearly bothered by that rather inconvenient weakness of Vampires.

Fafnir walked beside him in her spiritual projection, apparently much more interested in the mountains than in the problem.

"You can probably overcome that once you learn to properly control and refine draconic energy." Fafnir commented while observing the energy flow still circulating inside his body since the training with Gram. "True Dragons don’t have problems with sunlight. If your body really keeps adapting, maybe you’ll be able to develop enough resistance."

Victor nodded slowly.

"One more reason to keep using this energy." Victor replied while looking toward the highest nearby peak. "First I’m going to climb up there and look for the Wyverns."

Rowena raised her eyes toward the mountain.

"Are you going to climb?" Rowena asked while examining the almost vertical rocky wall in front of them.

Victor looked at her.

"I have smaller and more annoying wings." Victor replied while his body began to lose its shape.

Within a few seconds, he completely dissolved into an enormous swarm of black bats.

The creatures spread out for a few meters before rising together along the side of the mountain. The strong wind tried to separate them several times, but the swarm simply reorganized itself in the air and continued advancing. Victor crossed hundreds of meters in little time, passed several rocky ledges and finally reached the top of one of the peaks.

The bats gathered again.

Victor returned to human form near the edge.

The wind struck his cloak with force, making the fabric flutter behind him while he observed the entire mountain range.

"Now... how exactly do we find a Wyvern?" Victor asked while sweeping his eyes across different peaks, trying to find some creature large enough to be identified from that distance.

The answer came before Rowena or Fafnir could speak.

A boom echoed in the distance.

Victor turned his face.

Another explosion happened.

Part of the side of a mountain simply broke apart.

Huge rocks were thrown in every direction while two gigantic creatures burst through the rocky wall amid a cloud of dust. One of the Wyverns was gray, with broad wings and several scars crossing its body. The other had darker brown scales and one torn wingtip.

The two were clinging to each other while plummeting.

Just before hitting the ground, they opened their wings and gained altitude again, attacking each other once more with claws and bites.

Victor stared.

"Well..." Victor commented while watching one of the creatures slam the other into a stone wall. "That was easy."

Fafnir smiled.

"Follow them." Fafnir replied while approaching the edge. "One of the two will win and probably return to the nest soon afterward."

Rowena made a small grimace.

"Or they’ll keep fighting for hours because one of them looked at the other’s female the wrong way." Rowena commented while crossing her arms, clearly having absolutely no respect for the intelligence of those creatures.

Victor let out a laugh.

"We’ll find out." Victor replied while his presence began to disappear.

He did not need to transform again.

Victor simply jumped from the mountain.

His body fell a few meters before using energy to control the descent, following the Wyverns from a distance while completely hiding his scent, aura and even the sounds produced by his movements.

The two continued fighting.

Fafnir apparently decided that it was entertainment.

"The gray one is going to win." Fafnir commented while watching the larger Wyvern land a bite on its opponent’s neck. "Look at the musculature of its legs. It’s clearly older and has a better structure."

Rowena snorted.

"It just let the other one tear off a piece of its wing because it tried to bite its tail." Rowena replied while following the fight. "That’s not better structure. That’s being stupid with strength."

Victor continued following in silence, but he was already smiling.

"Now it’s going to use the mountain." Fafnir commented while the gray Wyvern began gaining altitude rapidly. "It’s going to slam the other one into that wall."

A few seconds later, that was exactly what happened.

The gray Wyvern dove, grabbed its opponent by the back and threw it against a rock formation. The mountain trembled from the impact, and an enormous amount of stone fell into the valley.

Fafnir pointed.

"I told you." Fafnir replied while seeming quite satisfied with the prediction.

Rowena merely looked at her.

"You’re narrating a fight between two stupid animals like it’s some important competition." Rowena commented while shaking her head.

Fafnir shrugged.

"I spent two thousand years trapped inside a sword. This is entertainment." Fafnir replied while continuing to watch the fight without any shame.

Victor almost started laughing again.

The two Wyverns continued fighting for a few minutes until they finally began moving away from each other.

The brown one was clearly injured.

The gray one did not look much better.

Both flew in the same direction.

Rowena noticed first.

"They’re going back." Rowena commented while pointing toward an enormous opening located in the side of a mountain a few kilometers ahead.

Victor increased his speed slightly, maintaining enough distance not to be noticed.

The Wyverns entered the cave one after the other.

The fight seemed to stop immediately.

Victor landed on a stone formation near the entrance and observed the dark interior.

Silence.

No roar.

No impact.

No sound of claws against stone.

"They made peace quickly." Victor commented while tilting his head slightly.

Rowena looked inside.

"Wyverns don’t make peace." Rowena replied while her expression became slightly more attentive.

Fafnir also became serious.

Victor noticed.

"I’m going to take a look." Victor replied while beginning to walk toward the entrance.

He concealed his presence even further before entering.

The cave was enormous.

So large that a Wyvern could fully open its wings without touching the walls. The floor was covered with animal bones, pieces of hide and several partially eaten carcasses. Small cracks in the ceiling allowed beams of light to enter, illuminating only certain parts of the interior.

Victor walked a few meters.

Then stopped.

The two Wyverns were dead.

Their bodies remained close to each other, but neither of them had a head.

Victor stared for a few seconds.

"Ah." Victor murmured while beginning to understand why the fight had ended so quickly.

The sound of bones breaking came from deeper inside.

Victor raised his eyes.

Another creature was there.

Much larger.

It was at least three times the size of the other two Wyverns, perhaps even more considering the width of the wings folded against the walls. Its scales were dark, somewhere between burnt red and uneven black, and several bony plates protected its neck and part of its back.

The creature was lying down calmly.

Between its front claws, it held one of the severed heads.

It bit down.

The smaller Wyvern’s skull broke as if it were a cookie.

Victor fell silent.

So did Fafnir.

Rowena observed the creature for a few seconds.

"Well..." Fafnir murmured while carefully analyzing the size, energy and structure of that Wyvern. "You really are very lucky."

Victor slowly turned his face toward her.

"Didn’t you say the chances of finding one of these really powerful ones were low?" Victor asked while discreetly pointing toward the creature, which at that moment was tearing away part of the second head’s jaw.

Fafnir remained quiet.

Rowena answered in her place.

"That applies to normal people." Rowena commented while crossing her arms. "Not to people like you, who seem to get rare problems and absurd rewards handed to them."

Victor made a small grimace.

"I wouldn’t call getting eaten by a giant Wyvern a reward." Victor replied while watching the creature finish chewing.

Fafnir let out a small laugh.

"In my experience, luck is also power." Fafnir commented while her eyes remained on the creature. "Finding something rare on the first attempt saves time."

Victor could not completely disagree.

It was at that moment that the Wyvern stopped eating.

The enormous head rose.

Its dark eyes fixed directly on Victor.

He realized at the same instant that he had been discovered.

The creature slowly stood.

Its wings opened partially, scraping against the cave walls. Its front claws sank into the stone while its neck stretched toward the intruder.

Then the Wyvern roared.

The sound crossed the cave with such force that small stones began falling from the ceiling.

Victor remained still.

The blast of air struck his face and threw his hair backward, making the hood fall completely.

He closed his eyes for a second.

Then opened them.

"Fuck." Victor murmured while running one hand through his hair. "This guy’s breath is horrible."

Fafnir looked at the creature.

Then at Victor.

"It’s not a guy." Fafnir corrected while quickly analyzing some characteristics of the Wyvern’s body structure. "It’s a female."

Victor stopped.

Looked again at the enormous creature.

A small satisfied expression began to appear on his face.

"Ah." Victor replied while his eyes traveled over the Wyvern once more. "That’s great."

Rowena slowly turned her face.

"Don’t start." Rowena murmured while already imagining exactly what his next stupid idea would be.

Victor smiled.

"I didn’t even say anything." Victor replied while taking his hands out of his pockets and slowly beginning to release his own aura.

Fafnir observed his smile and let out a sigh.

"You really aren’t that different from a Wyvern." Fafnir commented while the enormous female ahead began roaring again, recognizing the challenge.

Victor opened an even wider smile.

"That’s what I said." Victor replied while Gram began to materialize behind his back.