81 Chapter 81 - What gramps used to say

Gypsy jumped on a few branches until she got to the optimal spot to attack the Thunder Winged Tyra from. Ready, she used her magic. Opening her hand something appeared in it. A little green energy ball manifested before it grew and formed into a long spear which she immediately clenched hard. Pulling it behind her head and standing in a throwing position on a branch. After taking a big breath, she threw the manifested green spear with all the strength she could muster towards the Thunder Winged Tyra's neck with great speed.

The spear ripped through the air fast, but the Thunder Winged Tyra wasn't arrogant without a reason. After having sensed Gypsy and the incoming green spear, it used its life-saving move from the start. Its wings began to shine with blue lightning that quickly discharged around it, sending a half-sphere of lightning outwards that destroyed Gypsy's spear.

Seeing her attack failed, Gypsy quickly jumped down at the Thunder Winged Tyra from the branch she was on after its discharge of lightning ended. While in midair, she lifted her hands high in the air, seemingly grabbing air with two hands. A new weapon manifested in her hands— a huge woodcutting ax. While in midair she swung the ax down at the beast. In response, it turned and opened its jaws wide— revealing its conical teeth and bit down on the green ax formed from Gypsy's Magic Power.

The magic she uses is called Tool Creation Magic and has many different variants. It lets the user use Magic Power to manifest weapons and tools with a different passive ability. In Gypsy's case, her weapons have simply greater sharpness than the other variants and are associated with the color of her manifested weapons— green.

An aftershock happened, and the wind blew hard around them while Gypsy and the Thunder Winged Tyra were deadlocked for a few seconds before it overpowered her and threw her to the side together with her ax.

Landing on her feet against the trunk of a tree, she quickly reformed her ax into small sabers and used the momentum to jump and slide under the Thunder Winged Tyra that slowly began to crackle with lightning around it. It sounded almost completely like a thunderstorm if it wasn't for the vacuum sound that appeared between the crackling.

While sliding under it, Gypsy used the sabers and did a spin to make cuts on each leg— letting her draw first blood. Angry, the beast roared with anger and tried to stomp Gypsy to death with its great physical strength in its legs. She narrowly kept dodging the stomps after having returned her sabers and kept moving under it, using her small size for an advantage and its clumsy size against itself.

Having seen an opportunity after having continually dodged its stomps, she used her magic again and formed a pole weapon formed as a Naginata— a spear with a curved blade at the end. With two hands, she managed to make a large cut just between its legs and body. With a big thud, it fell on its knee and made lightning discharge again to force Gypsy away from under its body.

Forced, Gypsy ran out from under its body and made some distance between them. As a last-ditch effort, the Thunder Winged Tyra opened its jaws wide and it began shining purplish together with the shiny purple gem on its nose. Bluish lightning gathered in its mouth and was about to unleash it at Gypsy that was running around trees to make it harder for it to hit.

With the last crackling of the sound of lightning and thunder, the Thunder Winged Tyra made a momentum with its head and was just about to fire its lightning breath attack. But from deep under the snow beside it, another Magic Beast with a stocky body, short fins, and a uniquely shaped head like a rhino. Its head is slim with intense green eyes and has a large black horn protruding from it. Similar body form to a Pliosaurus and black scales with yellow on the underbelly and head. With a single shark-like dorsal fin and two small ear-like fins on its head, it swam through the snow like a killer whale does in the ocean and waited for the right opportunity to jump up from the snow it was swimming in to bite the Thunder Winged Tyra when its guard was down— just like a killer whale does when it hunts seals on glaciers.

(A/N: Reference is a Beotodus from Monster Hunter World: Iceborn.)

The new Magic Beast leaped out of the snow and opened in wide jaws and chomped down on the Thunder Winged Tyra's neck. Its body was completely revealed and out of the snow, measuring near 15 meters in length, and with aggressive moments, it shook its head to snap the Thunder Winged Tyra's neck. In pain, the Thunder Winged Tyra roared and unintentionally released the charged thunder breath to the side, flying by the tree Marc and Esdea were hiding in.

"Woah!! What's this Magic Beast called?" Exclaimed Marc eagerly and curiously for an answer.

Esdea took a final look at the dying Thunder Winged Tyra that continued roaring in pain while trying to shake off the beast munching on its neck. But the damage to the leg made it impossible. With the last cry, its neck was fully broken and it collapsed on the ground.

Esdea turned her attention to Marc and explained "It's called a Snow Plio. It's known for its ability to swim through snow and ice with its horn on its head just as easily as swimming in the ocean. It's impossible to deal with if you can't keep it from diving into the snow or kill it with one attack."

Having the feeling she knew the answer, but still, Esdea asked "Do you think you can kill it before another Magic Beast comes?"

"How long do you think I have?"

"10 minutes at best." Stated Esdea.

"Alright, will do… Darling~" Said Marc with a teasing tone making Esdea flush red in embarrassment after hearing the word: "darling". Earlier when they bonked in the shed and Esdea was on cloud nine, she had accidentally cried out "darling" which she still hadn't come to terms with as it didn't fit her usual behavior.

Hearing his teasing, she thought about cracking his nuts but abandoned the idea as in the end, she would just destroy her own property. But the teasing look Marc kept sending her made her conflicted about what to do to retaliate.

Knowing her dilemma, Marc continued teasing and used his index finger to poke her in the side a few times to further annoy her. Every time he poked, Esdea slapped his hand away. "Weren't you going to deal with the Snow Plio that just appeared? You have just wasted two minutes for nothing!"

"Hehehe. You sound like my gramps. He always told me to stop wasting my time skirt-chasing and train instead. Guess what I told him?" In Esdea's mind, she just heard Marc reveal that he used to chase a lot of whores and she further steeled her resolution to chain Marc down so he can't get together with more whores in the future.

With an emotionless expression, Esdea just asked instead of guessing as she wasn't in the mood for guessing his motto for why it's worth it to chase whores "…What?"

"Because no time is wasted in the company of a gorgeous lady~," Marc said flirtatiously before he continued poking her— clearly indicating something.

The indirect complement made Esdea's emotionless face bloom into a sweet smile. Though she was still resolved to chain Marc down, so he would only have her in his eyes.

With the last poke in her side, Marc said "Then I will be going now."

"Um. But don't bother wasting too much Magic Power as more Magic Beasts will come— furthermore we are still looking for the one that killed my battalion of soldiers."

"Yea, yea. I will give it a clean death." Exclaimed Marc while comically mimicking a righteous knight before letting himself fall off the branch they were standing on— falling alongside the trunk of the tree.

…

In another tree opposite Esdea and Marc, Balto was grinding his teeth in anger and frustration after seeing their interaction. Finally, he felt the danger Marc posed for him and what he thought was rightfully his.

"I need to get rid of him without letting Esdea know. Because… SHE IS MINE!!" Circulated inside Balto's mind and was thinking hard on how to make an accident happen.

***

(A/N: Inspiration for Tool Creation Magic comes from Boruto— the Tool Creation Technique that Kinshiki Ōtsutsuki uses.)

(Words: 1467)