Chapter 1-31 : Contract
「A… Dragon…?」(Alice)
The mysterious lake monster is a large dragon covered in beautiful blue scales. It’s staring at me with its intimidating, huge golden eyes.
Feeling its killing intent, I quickly swapped my equipment, put my new kimono armor on, and drew my wakizashi.
Though I highly doubt I could win, I was ready to fight, but then I felt something slimy grabbing my arm.
I turned my head and saw the Squidspider that was with me earlier. It seemed that this fella was also thrown from the lake by the dragon.
「You should hide! It’s dangerous here!」(Alice)
Ignoring my warning, it pulled my arm.
Apparently, it didn’t want me to fight the dragon.
「What? Do you really want me to solve this matter peacefully?」(Alice)
It nodded.
「But… How do Iー」(Alice)
I was wondering how to conquer this huge dragon without fighting, but before I could think, the dragon opened its mouth. It seemed to be ready to shoot a water cannon at me.
「Oh, no!」(Alice)
Thinking that I couldn’t let the Squidspider get hurt, I quickly threw it back into the lake and immediately jumped away to dodge the attack.
ーBLAST!!
「Ugh!」(Alice)
I barely managed to avoid it. I would have been dead if I were a second late.
It’s a good thing I’m on the ground now. I couldn’t dodge it if I were underwater.
I was glad I could dodge it, but when I was about to think of a strategy, the dragon shifted its head slightly toward me and shot another water cannon.
「Again!?」(Alice)
ーBLAST!
I swiftly dodged it by leaping forward and did a roll on the ground.
However, the dragon didn’t stop.
「ー!!」(Alice)
ーBLAST!
It shot another one.
ーBLAST!
And another one.
ーBLAST!
「Khh!!」(Alice)
It kept shooting water cannons at me.
ーBLAST! BLAST! BLAST! BLAST! BLAST!!!
I kept dodging by jumping and running while the water cannons hit the ground and destroyed the surrounding trees.
This is bad! I can’t keep doing this! What should I do!?
Thanks to my high level of【AGI Boost】, I’m able to move fast and manage to dodge every attack, but I have to do something. It’s only a matter of time until I run out of stamina and get killed.
Should I ignore the Squidspider’s warning and fight back?
I activated my【Sever】skill to see the dragon’s weak points. I could see a red line on its neck just below its head, but it was too high.
I’m not sure if I can reach it. Even if I could, I doubt I could even graze it. I remember when I joined the raid and fought the wolf boss monster in the south, I couldn’t cut through its legs completely even with my【Sever】skill, and this dragon looks stronger than that wolf boss.
Next, I activated my【Appraisal】skill, thinking I might be able to learn something. For example, its weaknesses. Howeverー
ーーーーーーーーー
??? ??? ???
ーSTATUSー
??? ??? ???
ーSKILLSー
??? ??? ???
ーSPECIAL ABILITIESー
??? ??? ???
ーーーーーーーーーー
「What!?」(Alice)
Either the level of my【Appraisal】skill was not high enough, or this dragon was too high in level compared to me, I couldn’t see its status at all.
It’s not looking good… Should I abandon my plan to fight back?
That Squidspider persistently told me to solve this matter peacefully without fighting, so there must be something. Something I can do other than fight to beat this dragon.
I lured it out with food, thinking I might be able to talk with it, but now that this dragon is out, it doesn’t even give me a chance to talk.
Aa-ahh… Did I make a mistake?
…Hm? Hold on… That’s right! Food!
Why didn’t it come to my mind sooner? This dragon loved the wolf and the bear I gave it when I tried to lure it out.
I don’t know if it will work, but it’s worth a try.
「Eeeii! Take this!」(Alice)
While dodging the water cannons, I took out the corpse of an Erst Wolf from my【Storage】and threw it into the air.
The dragon was about to shoot another water cannon at me, but it stopped the moment the wolf came into its sight. It then immediately extended its neck forward and caught the wolf with its mouth midair.
「I knew it! Either it loves the food or it’s really hungry right now.」(Alice)
Right after it swallowed the food, it returned its gaze at me.
「With that large body of yours, a couple of wolves won’t be enough, I see. Here! Have some more!」(Alice)
I took out another wolf corpse and threw it. The dragon quickly devoured it again.
Next, I gave it an Erst Bear corpse, and then a wolf, and a bear again.
Bear, wolf, bear, wolf, bear, wolf.
I never thought I would feed a huge dragon like this. It’s getting somewhat fun.
I kept feeding the dragon until I began to run out of monster corpses.
I killed so many Erst Wolves and Erst Bears on my way here, and planned on selling them to the butcher later, but… I can’t believe they all end up in this dragon’s stomach.
「This is the last one!」(Alice)
I threw a bear corpse, which was the last monster corpse I had. It only took the dragon a second to eat it.
After it finished eating all the monster corpses I had, it looked at me, but unlike before, I didn’t feel any killing intent from it. Its huge golden eyes were not as intimidating as before.
Still, I couldn’t let my guard down.
I slowly approached the dragon while holding the handle of my wakizashi so that I could draw it anytime.
「So… Have you calmed down? I just want to talk with you.」(Alice)
Grrrrrrrr…?
It tilted its head.
I’m glad it doesn’t respond to me with another water cannon.
「Do you still want to attack me? I hope not…」(Alice)
Grrrrrr…
It shook its head.
I think it understands what I say. As expected from a dragon. I heard they’re intelligent creatures.
「So, are we good now?」(Alice)
Grrrr.
It nodded.
「Phew… That’s great…」(Alice)
After confirming that the dragon was no longer a threat, I let go of my wakizashi handle and let out a sigh of relief.
Soon after, a half-translucent notification window appeared.
ーーーーーーーーーー
Congratulations! You have successfully tamed〈Leviathan〉by fulfilling these conditions:
– Make it leave the Squidspiders’ nest
– Feed it until it’s full
ーーーーーーーーーー
Whoa… I did it!
So, the answer is food, huh? I just need to feed it. I guess it was just hungry and started attacking because of that.
The condition was simple, but it wasn’t easy to fulfill. First of all, I had to survive those water cannon barrages. I don’t think I would be able to dodge them all if I didn’t have enough points in agility. I’m glad I chose to be a quick melee DPS.
But… There’s something bothering me.
The notification mentioned this dragon’s identity. It’s called Leviathan.
If I’m not mistaken, Leviathan is the giant monster living in the sea, right? What is it doing here in the lake in the middle of the forest like this?
Also, this area is not far from Erst Town, the beginners’ town. I don’t think a powerful mythical beast like this is supposed to spawn in this area.
No, first of all, the fact that this huge creature was inside the Squidspiders’ nest, which had a small hole as the entrance, is still a mystery to me.
「Say, do you know how you ended up in that nest?」(Alice)
Grrrr…?
I tried to ask it, but it tilted its head. It didn’t seem to remember or didn’t know at all how it ended up there.
Was it a bug, or did the developer make a mistake by putting it there? Or… There’s a different unknown reason…?
Hmm…
Well, it doesn’t matter. More importantly, now that I’ve tamed it, I believe I can make a contract with it.
My life in this game will change drastically if I have this dragon as my partner. It can help me defeat powerful monsters, but I will also be bombarded with questions from other players if they see me walking with it.
This is kinda dilemmatic, but… I made a promise with the Squidspider to do something about this dragon. I can’t just let it go back into the lake. Besides, I would be lying if I said I didn’t want a mythical beast pet.
It’s clear that making a contract with it is the best choice here, but the question is… Will it agree?
「By the way, umm, Leviathan-san? Do you want to make a contract with me…?」(Alice)
When I asked that, the dragon silently responded with a squint. It then brought its face closer to me.
It made me nervous because its head was twice the size of my entire body. It could devour me in a second if it wanted to.
「Umm, you see. We have some similarities. You love to eat, and I love to eat too. I think we’ll make a good team. What do you think?」(Alice)
After silently staring at me for a few seconds, the dragon answered my question with a nod.
「R, Really!?」(Alice)
Grrrr!
It confirmed my question with a second nod.
Right after, another half-translucent notification window popped out.
ーーーーーーーーーー
Would you like to make a contract with〈Leviathan〉?
「YES」「NO」
ーーーーーーーーーー
「The answer is obvious!」(Alice)
Without hesitation, I pressed the「YES」button.
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Friends through food. I love it.
Thanks.
Thank you for the chapter