Spirits, Devils, Familiars, Fairies, and Contracts. Each of these is a way for a mortal to gain unique abilities or knowledge. One requires a sacrifice. Two require an equal deal. Two require nothing. Power, magic, skills, and knowledge are what each of them can bestow. All of them can decide how much of that power they can use.
There is only one that can be born along with a mortal. Only one that can grow its own strength alongside its mortal. One that cannot manifest a physical form.
Spirits.
"So, is it finally my time to shine?"
Iden shifts himself inside Renkai's mind. Renkai can't imagine his form, but Iden can see everything from Renkai's perspective. He knows exactly what goes through her mind. Before Renkai can ask, he lets out a laugh.
"You've really done it now! Got yourself launched this high into the sky. As usual, coming up with these crazy plans."
Renkai's face shifts slightly, leaning towards something between annoyance and disappointment. Her descent begins to accelerate, the view of the sky slowly shrinking. Before Renkai can argue, Iden already has his answer.
"Alright. I'll clean up your mess as usual."
Renkai wants to argue, but her view begins to change. Words, numbers, arrows, and pages fill the sides of her view. Each page is filled to the brim with paragraphs and bullet points that continue to change each second that Renkai continues her descent. This is the result of Iden's skill, Identify.
"Descending at a rate of about ten meters every second, increasing for a few seconds until reaching fifty-nine meters per second. Current altitude is four thousand two hundred twenty-two meters. Renkai, you're aiming for a single strike as usual, correct?"
"Is that not obvious? How else would a girl like me take out a red dragon?"
Renkai focuses on the dragon, and her vision zooms in on it. The ever-changing pages disappear when her vision finishes adjusting.
"Iden, details on the red dragon species."
A transparent page fills the left side of Renkai's vision, and Iden begins to write a detailed explanation.
"Scales tougher than obsidian, let alone your steel greatsword. Adults, male and female, average around sixty-one meters tall. The flames they breathe are enough to melt kingdom walls in mere seconds, let alone you. Don't get me started on their physical strength."
"If I build up enough speed on my way down, would it be possible to cut through its scales?"
"Unfortunately, no. We have more than enough speed, but your greatsword won't be able to cut it. You would need something well above plain old steel."
Before the two of them can continue, the dragon notices Renkai above and begins to charge its flames. As it's about to release its flames, Daegon throws his great hammer at it. The dragon stops itself and focuses its attention on Daegon.
Renkai stares down at the dragon, scanning its body. She ponders how she can injure such a dangerous beast. Then, she notices a thin line of color slightly lighter than the scales of the dragon around the neck. She zooms in closer and notices a cut that hasn't healed all the way.
"What about that? The exposed thin line right above its shoulders?"
Iden stays silent as he analyzes the injury and calculates probabilities.
"That would work. The only issue now is the landing. You'll have to angle your greatsword a certain way to slow your momentum; otherwise, you'll be dead the moment you hit the ground."
"So it really is all or nothing this time."
"Everything you do is normally all or nothing. Fifty-five seconds left. Prepare your greatsword."
Renkai watches as the ground rapidly approaches. Despite her pounding heart, she begins to shift herself mid-air, moving her greatsword in front of her.
"Lift your body upwards. Angle yourself slightly to the left and angle the greatsword to a ninety-degree angle. Forty seconds left."
She follows his instructions, lifting herself slightly, her greatsword following her as well. She turns her body and angles her sword downwards, getting as close as she can to ninety degrees she can.
"Twenty-five seconds left. Are you ready?"
"Why else would I get myself into this mess if I wasn't ready?"
"Good, there won't be any sort of room for error from now on. When I say go, strike downwards as hard and fast as you can. If you end up off by even a second, you'll die."
The ground is nearing. Renkai looks towards the surface and notices the faces of disbelief from Daegon and Grey. Grey looks up as if Renkai is absolutely insane, while Daegon's face shows he believes this might actually work.
"Ten seconds left. Prepare yourself. I'll be deactivating my skill so you're not distracted.
The pages, arrows, and detailed information on the dragon disappear. Renkai shifts her focus towards the red dragon's open wound. She grips her greatsword tightly, waiting for Iden's word.
The only noise Renkai hears for what feels like forever is the wind blowing as she falls towards the dragon's nape. After a few final seconds, Iden finally speaks up.
"Go."
Without waiting for even a heartbeat from her pounding heart to pass, Renkai pours the rest of her strength into one clean strike. Her greatsword cleaves into the dragon's flesh, forcing the dragon to release a furious roar. Her blade continues to descend through the dragon's flesh, and Renkai can feel her momentum begin to slow.
"Keep pushing, you're almost in the clear."
Renkai gives her greatsword one final push, eventually catching it on the outer layer of the scales, forcing Renkai to let go of the handle. She falls on her side and watches as blood gushes out of the dragon's neck. The dragon begins to move erratically, knocking over the surrounding trees and putting out the burning flames it had created. Renkai rolls around, avoiding the dragon's rampage as a pool of blood surrounds her.
Daegon, despite the current chaos, quickly rushes towards Renkai, swooping her up to get her out of the dragon's rampage. He only stops running when he gets to Grey's position, then sets her down. The three of them watch as the dragon begins to run out of energy, the blood from the wound slowing its expel from its neck. A portion of the greatsword eventually falls from its neck, followed by the collapse of the dragon, announcing Renkai's victory.
"You...you really did it. Missy, you really are crazy, you know that?"
"Why do you think I asked if you trusted me?"
Renkai slowly lifts herself, exhausted from the ordeal. Daegon stands next to her, ready to catch her in case she collapses.
"Missy, you need to rest."
"I'm fine. You should be more worried about your leader here."
Deagon shifts his gaze towards Grey, looking at his face full of denial.
"There's... no way. You, out of all of us, slew a red dragon?"
Renkai's face remains expressionless.
"I told you already. I would rather keep fighting than silently accept my death."
"T-then... why couldn't you do it earlier? Why did Clea have to die?"
Renkai glares at him while Daegon simply watches the two.
"I told you before we were attacked. The reason for every other party's failure was that none of them played the roles they had chosen. Your friend attempted to flee, and the dragon took advantage of her fear. Daegon was the only one who played his part correctly. As the leader, I thought you would have been more competent. I was mistaken."
Grey stares at her in disbelief. Daegon finally steps in.
"Missy, you can't blame him. Everything happened so suddenly. None of us was expecting the dragon to be a red dragon, much less find us first."
Renkai turns herself towards Daegon.
"Even then, it's clear that he hadn't shared any sort of plan with any of us during the ride. I understand not expecting a red dragon on this side of the kingdom, but that kind of mindset is the reason the fatality rate for adventurers is so high."
Daegon doesn't respond. He knows she's right. Grey just lies there, unable to move his legs. He doesn't want to accept it, but he can't think of a response. Daegon lends Grey a hand so he can get up. As Grey rises, the two begin to understand that from his thighs down, Grey's legs are unusable. Frustration fills Grey's face, while Daegon just watches solemnly.
Renkai ignores the two and walks towards the dragon's body. She can hear Iden snickering as she approaches. She hears the breathing and the heartbeat from it, but the dragon makes no effort to move. As she walks around its body, she feels the scales, wanting to meet it face-to-face. When she locks onto one of its eyes, the dragon's nose blows, releasing a strong gust of wind.
"Iden."
"Yes?"
"How long till it perishes?"
Iden doesn't respond immediately, clearly calculating the time it would take.
"Two minutes if it focuses its stamina on regenerating."
Renkai doesn't say anything back, just gives a small nod. She slowly approaches the dragon's nose, placing a hand on it. The dragon blows its nose once more, clearly telling Renkai to back off. She listens, and takes a few steps backwards.
That's when she hears it. The dragon's voice.
"You cursed human."