Heir to a Monstermancer: Volume 1 (eBook)

Damu Amato (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
250 Seiten
J-Novel Club (Verlag)
978-1-7183-1174-9 (ISBN)

Infos

Veteran adventurer Hakura has overcome countless trials, but his latest fight with a deadly hydra nearly costs him his life. In the nick of time, he is saved by an intriguing young lady named Leen, who, to his surprise, possesses the rare ability to tame any and all monsters! Now indebted to this unscrupulous monstermancer, Hakura decides to join her in her travels, the two of them arguing and bickering every step of the way. What has drawn them together, and what adventures await this unlikely pair?

Textauszug

Prologue: What It Means to Cross Paths

It was a dazzlingly clear day, yet deep in the woods, the forest canopy was so thick that only the rare crack of sunlight managed to peek through. There, my lady trudged through the undergrowth using her staff—a family heirloom—to push the dense foliage out of the way or, at times, to all-out bushwhack.

“With this much vegetation, I doubt that it’s struggling to find food. There are plenty of burrows too. I imagine that it has managed to grow quite large without needing to worry about any natural predators,” she said.

“Hmm... I suppose we can’t be too hopeful, then...” I replied.

This deep region of the forest was untouched by people. However, while there was no semblance of any man-made path, there was an animal trail through the trees: a huge, long indentation that looked as if it were made by a giant snake. While its winding course made the journey easier than expected, what lay at said course’s end was something far more dangerous.

This trail had actually been formed by a hydra, the very monster that we were looking for. Hydras were a type of two-headed lesser wyrm. In layman’s terms, they were akin to gigantic snakes. Based on the information at the guild, there was a single hydra lurking in this area. It was five meters tall, far outclassing the average hydra (and who knew how long the thing was). Given the venom and deadly fire that they could expel from their two heads, hydras were tenacious creatures that not even a strong four-member adventurer party could defeat; they’d be left with no other option but to flee.

In fact, according to the guild’s report, one such four-man party had accepted the quest to take down this hydra, but ultimately were forced to leave one of their members behind to distract the beast while the rest fled to safety.

“It’s not as if anyone lives or even comes this deep into the forest... I think they could’ve just let it be, to be honest.”

“That’s just how humans are, my lady. They fear whatever they deem abnormal. Though I will say that it would be a disaster if this hydra were to attack a nearby settlement.”

“Well, it might if it has decided that humans are a threat after this string of events.”

“That would not be ideal...”

“I think they should just have left it alone to start with. It’s not like this forest has anything worth taking,” she said. Then in a mumble, she continued, “I really don’t get humans.”

After around an hour of walking, we reached an open area.

It wasn’t a natural field, however. A burning smell filled the air. Trees that had once stood tall, thanks to being free from the influence of humankind, had been razed to the ground. The whole surrounding area had been carved out to form an open space.

“Oh!” my lady exclaimed. I could see it too.

A young man was lying on the ground. He was covered in blood and missing his right forearm. Across from him was the creature we had been searching for. With a mammoth body that was almost one meter thick, there was no mistaking it. It was the hydra.

Like the young man, the beast wasn’t moving—because it was missing its heads. They lay next to the body, eyes stuck open in death, all three huge enough to swallow a grown person whole.

“They must have finished each other off at the same time.”

“It looks that way. An impressive effort from a single fighter, but that was as far as his energy could take him.”

My lady approached the young man, crouched down, and began examining him. He wasn’t in good condition. His skin was peeling due to the venom, and his entire body was covered in scratches and burns. She looked around and found his arm lying nearby. Fang marks indicated that it had been bitten off.

“What to do...”

“It would take too much time for the two of us alone to mourn him. We should take his belongings home for him and—”

“No. How about we just pretend we didn’t see him and take credit for his victory?”

“I don’t remember raising you to be such a coldhearted person, my lady!”

What an unbelievable proposition. The young man had literally given up his life to slay this creature. His valor didn’t deserve to be stolen.

“Actually, let’s cancel that plan.”

I wasn’t so foolish to think my plea had changed her mind. I was well aware she wasn’t quite that laudable a person. Rather, my lady had prodded the young man’s dead body and noticed it twitch in response.

The man we’d assumed to be dead was alive.

“Did you see that, my lady?”

She heaved a huge sigh, not even trying to hide the disdain in her expression.

“I do hope he survives, but that’s for fate to decide, not me.”

◆

“Ngh...”

For the first time in a while, I’d experienced a nightmare.

I’d like to call it a miracle that I hadn’t screamed out while asleep, but as soon as I woke up, I knew that I wouldn’t have been able to. My body felt drained; my throat was drier than any bad dream could make it. It felt like my nightmare had been influenced by my condition in the real world.

If memory served me, I’d gone out with my allies to slay an abnormally huge hydra. But one surprise after another had ruined the strategy we’d worked out beforehand and rendered our teamwork utterly useless. I had decided to stay behind as the rearguard to allow my allies to escape, preventing the worst-case scenario of us all getting wiped out—and after that...

“Ow...”

My recollections came to an abrupt end there as I grimaced with the feeling that something was wrong. I’d been so exhausted that I hadn’t noticed before, but I had a bad feeling about my right arm near the elbow. The arm felt like it was wrapped in something...something squishy. I glanced over and saw some blue thing absorbing my elbow.

“Grh...! A slime?!”

I had no strength to fight back, which was unsurprising since I’d just woken up after falling unconscious, but this was no laughing matter. Nowadays slimes were a common sight in most towns as livestock, but wild ones were ravenous creatures who ate everything. They had strange bodies that were halfway between solid and liquid, which allowed them to dissolve anything they wanted to swallow. Physical attacks were useless; one hit with your weapon and the slime would absorb and dissolve it. As metal was easily dissolvable for them, people—lumps of flesh that we were—made for one of their favorite foods.

Their only weakness was a body part known as their “core,” but it wasn’t easy to destroy. With its somewhat fluid state, simple slashes and stabs wouldn’t work against it. The easiest and most efficient way of dealing with the core was to have a wizard conjure up fire or ice, but I didn’t have one with me.

If a wild slime got ahold of you, you would experience the most terrifying fate imaginable. After it had finished the slow process of dissolving your skin, flesh, and bones, it would slip into your body through the wound—while you were still alive—and begin devouring you from the inside.

According to alchemists, the mucus that made up slimes’ bodies contained a small number of anesthetics and hemostatic agents so that they could capture and consume their prey when as fresh as possible, meaning that they could continue to dissolve their prey while keeping them trapped but without killing them. It was nothing short of a living hell.

If you were lucky and one ate you from the head down, then your suffering would be cut short, but if one entered you via stomach or leg wound, then only one option was left to you if you couldn’t use magic: You needed to chop it off, body part and all. This was the most logical and efficient choice of a terrible selection. I knew a number of fellow adventurers who had survived but not quite in one piece.

“Dammit...”

I knew what needed to be done, but oh, if only it were that easy. I was as good as dead as an adventurer without my right arm, even if I survived. However, I unfortunately had a bigger problem to deal with right now—I was so drained that I couldn’t freely move my body. Even if I were mentally prepared to cut off my arm, my sword wasn’t nearby, and I doubted I would even have the strength to hold it if it were. All I could manage to do was wiggle my fingers.

“Hmm, looks like his nervous system has reconnected.” Suddenly I heard an unfamiliar voice booming. It was a low, masculine voice. “However, I would advise you not to move yet. It would be best to refrain from wasting any energy unnecessarily.”

“Wh-Who’s there?” I said. “N-No, that doesn’t matter! Whoever you are...cut my right arm off...”

All I could do was pray that this stranger would save me. I couldn’t see them, but I was certain they were close. As long as I wasn’t hearing things of course. But the voice surprised me with its response.

“Enough of that nonsense. I put all that effort into reattaching your arm. Do you wish to waste my three days of work?”

“Huh?”

Finally I felt the blood return to my brain. That’s right... The hydra already chewed my arm...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 17.11.2025
• Reihe/Serie: Heir to a Monstermancer
• Illustrationen: Shirabii
• Übersetzer: Arthur Miura
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Schlagworte: Adventure • Boy-meets-Girl • Comedy • familiars • Fantasy • Friendship • Light Novel
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-1174-5 / 1718311745
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-1174-9 / 9781718311749