Mushoku Tensei: A different path

(Rudeus POV)

Drakes and Dragons.

The latter one is the greater version of the former.

The common main difference between them lies in size and overall strength, which makes the greater version more dangerous, but also a bountiful profit should people exterminate one.

However, it is usual to take on such monsters in groups, as most if not all of these monsters are S rank individually.

Snow Drakes are seen as A rank individually but S rank if as a hoard.

And now, for the first time in my life, I face before one of those greater versions of a Snow Drake.

It has the general appearance of a Snow Drake but was four times bigger than the other ones, and the mysterious thing about it was on its back.

Three rows of brilliant white crystals in the form of plates like on a stegosaurus going aligned from its head until close to the tip of its tail.

Its legs were covered in ice, like boots and gauntlets, almost as if it became a part of it.

Rapping itself up from my attack just now, the golden eyes were aimed immediately at me.

The sight of such eyes gave me a flashback. About the time I… I…

"Be careful, that's a Snow Dragon!" Kaleb yelled.

My heart started to pound a little once I heard that word. Dragon.

I'm well aware that this isn't Orsted, but just hearing that this isn't a lesser version but rather a greater version causes me to panic within.

And my fear seems to have been justified.

Opening its mouth, sparkling air coming from it, it charged a large amount of mana. It's a breath attack. And it specifically aims at me.

"[Earth Fortress]!" I shouted and put my hand on the ground and casted fortresses for not only me, but for the others as well.

I managed to cast it just in time before a strong blizzard like attack hit us all.

It went on for more than a minute before it slowly toned down.

The presence of the monster came closer to me, and I escaped from my recently built hut.

In the next moment, the Snow Dragon came rolling through it.

I dissipated the rest of the fortresses to let the rest of them know.

The entire cave was now covered in a layer of ice, the surface rough enough to properly stand on.

The Snow Dragon must have a detection ability like me because it redirected its route by shifting to the left, again targeting me.

As I evaded to the left with my Wind Magic, the monster unfolded itself and used the momentum it had to swing its spiked tail at me.

With my left hand, I shot out an explosive blast to push myself further away and stop the tail.

The others must've already moved while I was distracted.

Soldat came from above and attempted a surprise attack, but that was about to fail horribly.

I noticed the rear part of the monster bending weirdly and predicted that it would use its tail like a whip again to hit Soldat from the side while he was still in the air.

To prevent that, I used Gravity Magic to push it down and kept it in place.

Despite it having now become stagnant in place, Soldat's blade didn't make it through to its neck as it quickly made itself an armor of ice.

"[Flame Slice]." An attack from Anastasia from the sideline, to which Soldat decided to abandon his sword.

As the lunar blade of fire hit it, an explosion that made a bit of mist came from its head.

I pulled Soldat out of there as I knew what actually happened. The spell didn't do a thing and the monster didn't even take damage.

Right before Anastasia was done chanting her spell, the monster covered itself with another layer of ice that melted from the collision and protected it from any damage whatsoever.

Now Anastasia became its main target instead of me, staring at her with its golden eyes.

This thing's main goal seems to eliminate magic users first. Meaning, it's intelligent enough to know the difference.

Lifting its head up, it swung it down its neck and rolled down to a wheel again, frosty winds boosting its momentum.

Connor stood right before her, readying his shield and standing firm.

This was a bad idea as the sheer power of that wind will turn his and himself into fragile ice.

Putting my hand on the ground, I conjured a ramp and made it pass above these two.

The lizard flew away for quite the distance, and we got some time to exchange an emergency plan.

But before that-

"Soldat, take this."

I took out one of the swords that I got from the underlings of the [Tri-Daggers].

It was one similar to that of Soldat's and since his got busted from Anastasia's Fire Spell, it should do for now.

"Doesn't seem like we can outrun this thing. Ingolt and I will try to distract it enough for Rudeus to hit it with a strong spell. Connor and Kaleb, you two defend Anastasia. Don't block its attacks. Rudeus, use that arm spell of yours should anyone get too close to the attacks."

I gotta say, he is quite the capable leader, even putting together its targets.

But his plan is good enough despite our situation.

"Its upper side is too well defended, so we need to get an opening at its torso. Rudeus, think you can do it?"

"I will use a modified version of a Fire Spell. On my signal, move away from it, since the blast could hit you."

We all got into a quick formation and the monster already came back.

This time, I was the main target again.

Ignoring the others, the monster rolled over to me in its freezing blizzard cartwheel.

I dodged to the left and shot another overcharged [Stone Canon] at its right side, but the thing must've learned from this and shifted to its left to dodge it.

I saw that coming, thought, and conjured up an [Earth Pillar] on its left.

With both of its sides getting pushed, the momentum decreased until the monster started to let out some blue blood.

The last bit of momentum was then used to smash its tail on the ground and push itself upwards.

Seeing as it's in the air, I tried shooting another [Stone Canon] at its head, but then it bends itself with its flexibility and ice blasts to evade my shot in a 3D maneuvering.

Soldat also used this opportunity to try and slash at its bottom side, yet the monster created another ice armor to protect itself, ultimately blocking his attack.

With its mobility now lessened, I channeled my mana for an [Electric].

Noticing me preparing for an attack, the creature bends its head to my whole opening its mouth.

The crystals on its back started to emit a light, indicating another breath attack.

Forfeiting my spell, I dodged to my left as to stand behind its back.

A cold blizzard came and a frozen line of ice advanced to the direction I stood at.

With this cold, using [Electric] can prove difficult, as I need both warm and cold air to form a cloud.

The monster then dissolved its ice armor and then went for another frost roll again. This time it was different, though.

The pattern changed and instead of concentrating on one person at a time, it went crazy and attacked anyone it could.

Since Anastasia wasn't that nimble, Ingolt had to assist her.

As commanded by Soldat, Connor refrained on blocking it with his shield.

Whenever the monster was close to hitting me, I would try to give it another hit with Fire Magic.

That proved to be difficult as the sheer cold the crystals produced would make it hard for my flames to be hot enough.

After about a minute, something changed again.

The monster, it was picking up speed.

No, not just that, it was going for a specific purpose.

We were all close together and the monster circled around us, getting faster by the second.

"All of you, gather to me!" I shouted, already realizing what that thing was doing.

As all of them came together, the monster started its actual attack.

Steadily the winds it produced became a tornado with us in the center of it.

As a counter, I conjured my own fire tornado, spinning the opposite direction.

The mix between cold and hot resulted with a dense fog being formed, surely to rob us from our sight once it's done.

Out of the blue, or more precise, out of the fire, the monster decided to roll straight to us through the flames by covering itself with ice.

Cancelling my fire tornado, I used both hands to conjure Barrier Magic.

As the storm-wheel of frost hit my barrier, I was easily pushed back. Not just that, my barrier was falling apart by the sheer power.

I sensed some agitation from the monster as the wind became stronger.

I had three barriers set up, and I had to form a new one for each that broke.

By the time I was forming my fifteenth barrier, Soldat and Ingolt came and slashed at its sides.

Despite their effort, all it did was force it to freeze their swords again.

At that moment, the momentum of the monster's rolling lessened.

Shifting my barrier shield to the left, I redirected it to go past me.

I opened my pocket dimension and gave both Soldat and Ingolt new swords.

"Here it comes!" Connor shouted.

This time, it was putting everything at speed without much frost wind, just to get to me now.

It was so fast that it broke through my all my barriers at once.

I had no other choice but to use my Touki.

With my arms now defending me, sparks came out, and I was pushed back yet again.

Unfortunately, this was another feint by that lizard.

Almost instantly, it was cancelling its frost wind and opened its mouth to bite my arms that were still in defense.

With me now firmly set by its teeth, the crystals illuminated again, and my hand started to get numb.

I'm not sure what came over me, but in a moment of panic, I gave it an upper kick at its jaw with my Touki.

I got my hands out and stepped away, and while the monster had its head up, the breath of ice got released.

Soldat and Ingolt saw this as a chance to cut its neck, but the monster was quick to react and covered itself in ice again.

This time their swords just got blocked, so I didn't need to provide them with new ones.

We all retreated all back again and repositioned us.

Meanwhile, the lizard broke free from its shell that it had created to protect itself.

'Wait, it broke free? With its ability to manipulate ice, shouldn't it be able to dissolve it? Unless…'

This might be our chance.

Preparing the ground for my next spell, the warmth of confidence rising in me pumped me up.

This exchange of attacks and dodging continued for a small while and Soldat and Ingolt got two more openings on the monster which I made for them.

Both of those moments proved my suspicion, so I set a plan in motion.

With a whip of water, I smashed at it in an attempt to taunt it.

A few hits later, the creature got agitated enough for me and redirected its attention back at me only.

"Rudeus, what are you doing?!" Soldat shouted.

"Come at me, you abomination of a dragon!"

As I insulted the monster and ran back a little, I could see veins forming in its eyes paired with angry growling.

As it charged at me, I would shoot a few [Rock Bullet] at it to make sure it followed me.

Instead of using its rolling attack, the monster ran to me regularly on its feet.

'Just as expected.'

Dissolving the ground, the area I stood at was now a bog of mud I had prepared beforehand.

The creature, too blinded by its own agitation, fell into my trap and screeched.

For good measure, I used [Wind Bind] to lock its legs together.

'Now is my chance.'

With a wave of [Flood Rush], I made its head point at the ceiling.

I ran over to it and prepared an overcharged [Flame Slice] for its neck.

To get a better opening for it and prevent it from attacking, I used [Specter Force] to give it an uppercut with my mana arm.

The monster wasn't knocked out but had its vulnerability open more than before.

I jumped and swung my left hand at its neck.

The amount of mana this spell had was now enough to turn it into a blue crescent blade.

In a last ditch effort, the lizard tried to use its ice manipulation to at least kill me.

But I protected myself with [Burning Place], flames protecting me from the cold ice.

My [Flame Slice] was strong enough to cut through the monster's neck like a hot knife through butter, severing its head from its body.

It was so hot, the stump got roasted to the point of getting sealed, making no openings for blood to come out.

Knowing now that the fight was over, I landed safely on my feet as bog beneath me has hardened from my [Burning Place].

I fell down on my butt and let out a sigh of relief.

This thing definitely caused us some trouble.

"K-Kid, are you okay?" Kaleb asked, running over to me.

"I'm alright." I said, looking over to the others that were also coming over to me. "Anyone got hit?"

Instead of answering me, I got punched at the back of my head from Soldat.

"Although you defeated it, that was reckless. What made go so crazy as to take it on alone?"

I rubbed the spot he hit me at. It wasn't like I could get angry as this was still a mission to evaluate me.

"It's just a hunch I had, but I noticed that the monster was getting low on mana."

All of them, including Soldat, looked at me with puzzled expressions. Was I seriously the only one that noticed it?

"Think about what it did after Soldat's first attack against its torso. After it failed, it didn't manipulate the ice to get itself free, it broke through it. Even the times after that, it kept its Magic at a low minimum, not even using that large area ice breath again."

The puzzlement slowly disappeared, and they all looked at each other, understanding where I was coming from.

"He's right." Anastasia said, her hand at her chin in a thinking kind of manor. "It did seem as if it wasn't using its magic as much as it did before."

"But what if it was just preserving its mana for another better chance?" Connor objected.

"I thought about that as well, so I tested it."

"When?" Ingolt inquired. "When did you have time to do that?"

I stood back up and looked at the carcass that was still in place from the hardened mud.

"Notice how it wasn't rolling at me with its frost wind? Surely, you all saw its anger when it came running to me. It would have made more sense if it attacked me with that or at least another breath attack."

They all started to get wide eyes while looking at me.

It was then that I realized my mistake. I went on and did my own thing. Now that's gonna leave a bad result for me later.

"But still, this thing was far too abnormal." Ingolt said, looking towards the severed head on the ground.

"One of you said that this is a Snow Dragon, I think? Is this what a greater version of a Snow Drake?"

Kaleb went ahead and looked at the monster's crystals on its back.

As he inspected it further, his face began to frown.

"This is higher than any normal Snow Dragon I heard of."

"What do you mean with 'higher'?"

"A normal Snow Dragon is only said to be two times bigger than a Snow Drake, but this one is double that size."

Well, that fact can easily deviate in numerous instances. Either this one is an older one that grew over time, or it's an early bloomer that got a faster growth spurt.

"And I never heard of them having crystals on their back. Especially ones this big."

Now that's a reason to be concerned about.

There aren't many monsters that have crystals inside of them. And even if you defeat one, more often than not, they are big enough to fit perfectly into your hand.

This one, on the other hand, had crystals in the form of plates as wide as a standard uchiwa.

Not just that, there are more than two dozen of them.

"Either we found a special Snow Dragon, or we just discovered an even higher category of a Snow Drake."

"Well, then how about Blizzard Dragon since it utilized that attack the most."

I voiced out my idea and everyone nodded to it.

"Well then, it's settled." Soldat declared. "Let's clean this up and carve this monster so that we can report it to the guild. This needs to be recorded."

On his command, we started to harvest the materials we could gather from not only the Blizzard Dragon, but from the Snow Drakes..... that were still skewered by my black stone spikes.

I could tell that Anastasia had an uneasy time looking at the carcasses, not because of the massacre but rather how easily I pulled something like this off.

"But still, we really got lucky that it had such a low manapool." Connor voiced out.

I couldn't agree yet not disagree with him.

Sure, we got lucky that no one got hurt or anything, but I'm not so sure about the low manapool part.

A part of me was... confused.

This monster... it had no idea about its limit until it used too much. Like, it was unaware of its power yet and was still discovering it.

I came to that proposition after having it seen struggling to keep its ice attacks at a minimum midway through.

But then again, I could be wrong, and it may have thought that it could defeat us early with ease.

Whatever the case, it's dead now.

Hopefully, our report can help others to be prepared should such a creature appear again.

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