Chapter 43
Since yesterday, a high fever had started, making her head feel like it was splitting in two. She was getting warmer by the minute, too.
She had been careful not to touch Tristan, but she got distracted by the meat and ended up grazing his hand.
‘I almost got caught.’
She glanced back discreetly to check if Tristan had noticed anything, but it seemed he hadn’t caught on.
‘He didn’t notice.’
Relieved, Maya quickly went outside. She decided to walk around the lake first.
Despite the recent heavy snowfall, there was hardly any snow left. The abnormal climate change had already begun.
Maya took out her sword and tapped the ice covering the lake.
She tentatively stepped on it, finding it firmer than expected. The ice was melting quickly due to the abnormal weather, but it seemed it was still too early.
Tristan, observing Maya’s actions, asked,
“How do you plan to face the wyvern sleeping in the lake? You’re not planning to go in, are you?”
“Come on, I’m not that unprepared.”
“…”
Who do you think I am?
Maya thought Tristan’s silence was unusually long.
She had planned to expedite what naturally occurred due to climate change with her own strength.
There might be another way, but…
‘If you’re not smart, use your body, right?’
Maya had the strength to cover for her simple thoughts.
She drew her sword.
Focusing, Maya used the power she had honed from fighting monsters to swing her sword.
A single swing only made a mark. But as Maya’s eyes narrowed, the ice on the lake thinned.
Crack! The thick ice enough for a person to stand on broke, revealing the emerald waters of the lake.
“Wyverns are sensitive to sound.”
Maya’s sword plunged into the lake water.
Splash.
“Until it comes out.”
Splash, splash. The sword kept creating sounds as it moved through the cool water.
Actually, the noise was nearly ear-splitting.
For the final blow, Maya gathered her sword energy and plunged it into the center of the lake.
The circular trajectory that burrowed into the lake resembled a crescent moon sinking into the water.
The path headed straight to the lake’s floor.
It was just sword energy, so it wouldn’t hurt much, but it was enough power to wake someone up.
“Now it will come.”
As soon as Maya finished speaking, something rose from the lake with a majestic sound.
The enraged wyvern spread its wings. The wyvern’s pupils widened as it soared high into the sky.
Its eyes were fierce, as if to kill anyone who had disturbed its sleep on sight.
Maya, arms crossed, watched the wyvern surveying its surroundings.
Hidden among the trees encircling the large lake, Maya and Tristan were just humans to it.
“Doesn’t it look like a snake?”
Tristan chuckled at the unexpected question.
“It seems closer to a dragon than a snake.”
Indeed, wyverns bore a resemblance to dragons.
Many mistook wyverns for dragons when they encountered them.
“Hmm, is that so.”
Almost immediately after she spoke, the wyvern located Maya and Tristan using the sound.
Whoosh—
The sound of cutting through the air made the weather turn chillier.
“Once we capture the wyvern, we’ll head to the peak. Tristan, please come up on the third day.”
As the wyvern charged at them with full speed, the conversation continued.
“Maya.”
His voice was different from before.
“When our hands touched earlier, I noticed that you might be ill—”
Then, the wyvern dove between the two.
Boom! The ground, as barren as it was in winter, cracked open like the lake’s ice in an instant.
Maya dodged to the side, drawing the wyvern towards her.
The enraged wyvern immediately followed Maya.
Despite the gap between her small human form and the wyvern, Maya gestured to Tristan not to interfere.
“It’s my fight from here on.”
As if it was only natural, Maya stepped in front of Tristan like a knight protecting their liege.
Sometimes she seemed even more desperate than a knight, as if she was staking her life, or even more, on this battle.
Trees and the ground shattered wherever the wyvern’s wings and claws struck.
Even a slight brush would have split her body in two.
Maya moved agilely, avoiding the wyvern’s attacks.
Despite the life-threatening situation, she seemed to enjoy it.
Different from her face when enjoying a meal, the thrill of moving her body made Maya shine brilliantly.
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