I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated (LN) Volume 1 Chapter 1 Part5

『Hmm. Which way’s the pedestal?』

Even though I felt so happy after sweeping the goblins’ den…

The night had already taken over the area, making me lose my sense of direction.

『Hmm, the moon is over there, so…』

I have no idea. I’m saying I have no idea which way the moon leads to.

Though I relied on the moonlight, I obviously wasn’t able to see as well as I did during the day.

I was perfectly lost.

『Should I give up on going back for today…』

I had thought of the pedestal as my home for the time being. I like to return there everyday whenever possible.

Plus, for some reason, I felt at ease whenever I returned inside the pedestal.

But it seems like it’ll be impossible to go back.

I should treat myself by going night hunting. And since I’m a sword, I had no need to sleep.

Though I was hesitant to go hunting in the plains at night because I was a little scared…

With things like this, I didn’t have any other options.

I flew around, looking for demonic beasts.

I flew low enough that I could go to the ground should something try and ambush me.

『From far away, I saw some especially large flying creatures in the sky.』

Whether they turn out to be rats the size of bears or big snakes with wings.

I kept on alert not just with my eyes, but with all five of my sense.

Well, since I don’t have a body it’s actually the things similar to my five senses.

But even though it was nighttime, the demonic beasts didn’t get any stronger. By this, I meant that the darkness did almost nothing to bolster the monsters.

Though it took time to find them, the fighting itself often ended in a moment.

『Great! Awesome! Echolocation and Sense Traces! I have lots of convenient skills!』

An especially useful skill was one I had gotten from the large rats and giant bats: Echolocation. It was a skill that told me the terrain and the location of demonic beasts within 30 meters of me by reflecting sound and magic, and I could also use it to do an incredibly detailed search.

『Maybe I’ll keep farming magic crystals and rank up!』

Yes, I was becoming smug.

I had defeated multiple nocturnal demonic beasts that I hadn’t seen before during the day, but, drunk off of my success, I was not looking at my surroundings.

“Kuwhooooooa!”

A loud cry suddenly came from somewhere near me.

『Huh?』

Looking for the creator of that sound, I looked up to see a ma.s.sive shadow coming at me. At a glance, it looked about as big as a Cessna (tn: a small plane. Why the author made this apparently esoteric a.n.a.logy I have no idea).

『There’s no way! Echolocation didn’t give any kind of response!』

I had just used Echolocation earlier and it didn’t tell me anything was near me.

“Kuaaah!”

『Uwah!』

Something scratched against my blade, creating the sharp shriek of metal.

The blow itself was intense, sending me spiraling in a circle for nearly 10 meters.

That wasn’t all.

I checked my Status and it said that that slight contact took away about 30 points from my durability.

『Oh s.h.i.+t! Surprise attacks are for cowards!』

I also committed surprise attacks, you say?

It’s okay for me. After all, I’m a sword.

And why is it okay for me to do it if I’m a sword, you ask?

The point is, it’s allowed for swords! Anyway, I’m a sword!

But getting attacked by something really p.i.s.ses me off!

Even while flying during this surprise attack, I succeeded in recovering my balance in the air.

But I couldn’t find out any specifics about my attacker.

It’s fast! That’s all I can say about it.

And I knew why Echolocation couldn’t detect it.

It had been less than five seconds since it attacked me, but it was already incredibly far away. It’s insanely fast.

I had only used Echolocation once every few minutes to survey the area. But something that fast could probably cross the 30 meter radius and attack me in less than three seconds.

“Guwhooooa!”

『Holy s.h.i.+t! It’s coming back!』

I tried to use Appraisal again as I narrowly avoided its charge.

Name: Lesser Wyvern

Species: Flame Fanged Wyvern. Demonic Beast

Lv: 21

HP: 223 MP: 95 Strength: 122 Agility: 142

Skills: Intimidation 2, Stealth 2, Flame Resistance 3, Control Air Flow 3, Poison Resistance 3, Hardened Scales, Enhanced Sense of Smell, Enhanced Absorption, Enhanced Sight

It’s strong!

This draconic Fire-type Wyvern is the strongest Fire-type demonic beast I’ve faced until now. It even has way more skills.

I was able to avoid a direct hit, but the wind pressure alone shook my entire body. A strong gust hit me.

I underestimated this world.

I originally thought that since I hadn’t struggled against anything, even catching a dragon would be easy.

『s.h.i.+t!』

My high-ranked opponent could move much faster than me.

Isn’t the difficulty level too high? No, wait. If I give up here, then it’s game over. It’s still too early to give up. If need be, I can glide along the ground and run away somehow. Probably.

But before that, I’ll try and kill it. Though it’s more like I didn’t think I could run away from it if I didn’t try something.

It might even leave me alone if I leave its territory; I simply don’t know.

I need to give myself some leeway by showing I can counterattack.

Great, I’ll start by trying to counter it with my blade. I’ll outspeed it.

At the same time, I was trying to escape. Survival comes first.

It took it a long time to change directions or stop itself, maybe because it was too fast.

It made a large turn and tried to position itself facing me.

Perhaps my only solace was that it couldn’t attack me continuously.

『It’s coming!』

“Kraaaa!”

My target was its soft-looking belly. It was risky, but if I dodged with my blade pointed down, I could cut its stomach by raising my blade.

My only hope was to damage it enough to make it run away.

Its ma.s.sive form was approaching me at an alarming rate.

But I was unexpectedly able to remain calm.

It was definitely fast, but it was still slower than a motorcycle or a car, and its movements were simpler than I expected.

『Take this!』

“Kuwhoooa!”

Yes, I failed.

It definitely dodged my blade. But it moved quicker than I thought it would.

I thought that I could remain cool-headed and deal with it, but I might have felt fear subconsciously.

The point of my sword grazed its belly. For a big b.a.s.t.a.r.d like him, it must only be a scratch.

I was relieved to know that I could wound it though.

And with its big amount of MP, there was a lot of MP I could potentially absorb from it.

That helped me feel more at ease with using skills.

“Grrrooooa!”

『Oh c.r.a.p! Did I p.i.s.s it off?』

I barely did any damage, but it looks like I just broke its rage meter.

How’d the saying go: let sleeping dogs lie?

It glared at me with eyes full of hatred even as it turned in a circle.

『This might actually be a little dangerous?』

And it rushed at me again.

I tried to dodge it——I got hit.

『Gyaa!』

“Kuwhooa-ahhh!”

『G.o.ddammit! That was a good hit, you overgrown lizard! But I got you once!』

It must have realized I’d tried to counter it during our clash.

Right before the wyvern made contact with me, it curved its tail downwards, deftly changing its course with centrifugal force. (tn: or maybe centripetal? I don’t know, I’m not a physics major.) Its rear foot’s claw hit me directly, and I withstood it.

But I didn’t just stay there and take it.

When it extended its rear claws, I rushed at its right eye as it was right next to me.

Well, because I did that, the momentum snapped off the tip of my blade.

Stuck in its right eye was the piece of my blade.

That’s a nice sight!

“Guwaaaaahhhhh!”

It was flying erratically, twisting its body in immense pain.

『More importantly, am I okay?』

Only about two-thirds of my blade was left. Part of it was snapped clean off. Of course, it didn’t hurt me at all, but is it okay for me to stay like this?

I didn’t seem to have any problems with flight. I fly using Telekinesis and Floating so air resistance was no issue. There was no ill effect besides my changed appearance.

There wasn’t any MP leaking from the broken end, either.

I was fine to a shocking degree.

The only thing left to worry about is how much the Self-recovery skill can heal me. I really hate being broken like this, but…

As I was thinking that, the broken end of my blade began to glow softly.

Huh. It seemed like Self-recovery was working properly.

『s.h.i.+t, you overgrown lizard! How dare you do this!』

Rage surged within me after I made sure there was no permanent damage done to my body.

Seeing my once beautiful, white blade in this state was horrible. I won’t forgive it.

The wyvern didn’t want to let me go either, it seemed.

Its form, contorted with loathing, flew at me with full force.

It followed me without any sign of stopping; maybe it lost all reason or maybe it just wanted to tear me apart.

It was slowed down by its injury, but it was still faster than me.

『All right, let’s do this!』

What you take from, I’ll take ten times as much from you.

I knew that despite my broken blade, my movements were completely unimpaired. So I had more options.

I moved away from it slowly, keeping on that heading.

Seeing that, it must have mistakenly thought I was trying to run away.

The overgrown lizard flew straight at me.

Dumba.s.s! You flew right into my trap!

I immediately turned my body and accelerated, aiming a full-body headb.u.t.t at its wing.

The overgrown lizard, flying in a straight line for me, was unable to dodge.

We collided with terrible force as we both accelerated at each other.

Nearly my entire blade was broken. Only a tenth of my blade remained.

But it may have been worth it because the Lesser Wyvern’s left wing was severed at the root, and the beast fell to the ground.

It must have fallen over 30 meters. But it didn’t die quickly after a fall from that height.

I approached the fallen Lesser Wyvern and found its neck was twisted in a weird direction and copious amounts of blood and vomit were coming out of its mouth.

It was still twitching, but it was only a matter of time before it died.

『Phew. I somehow won.』

It was dangerous.

It might have gotten me after the first blow if it had done even a little more damage. My durability was at 23. That was really close.

『Okay, I’m glad I beat it, but…how do I get its magic crystal?』

That’s right. My primary goal was its magic crystal, but it was difficult to reach its magic crystal when the majority of my blade is gone.

Is there any solution?

With Self-restoration’s slow pace, it would take a long time for me to be fully restored. It would likely take more than a day.

And there was no way the hungry magical beasts in this busy plain would leave the Lesser Wyvern’s corpse alone.

『What do I do…』

It seemed like glue was slowly coming out of the broken end of my blade due to Self-restoration.

『Hyaaaaaaa.』

I yelled with concentration. It didn’t increase the speed of the restoration.

Hm, I did something really stupid just now.

There’s no way that would——.

『Huuuh?』

I felt like my blade was glowing brighter. Is it really…

『Whoooa.』

The speed at which my blade was regenerating was noticeably higher. Did it really work?

I see. Does this mean that I can increase the effects of automatic restoration and skills like that through willpower? My MP was being drained extremely quickly. 1 point of MP for every second. But it was worth it because after about 3 minutes, my blade was perfectly restored. I had 15 MP remaining. I wouldn’t have had enough if I hadn’t absorbed MP from the Lesser Wyvern. That was really, really close.

『I learned a lot from this fight.』

And I even gained a magic crystal. I gained as much as I fought for.

My Magic Crystal Count went up by about 20 from just one magic crystal.

The Lesser Wyvern’s magic crystal was in the base of its neck. I might have been able to strike it during the fight.

『For now, I should rest a bit in the forest.』