The Dragon Orb Of The Rampaging Dragon Belgona

Even after Sario departed from Boran, the Monster-Infested Planet, I continued hunting monsters. However, being alone made me lonely, and I found myself thinking about Earth more and more often.

“I want to go back to Earth, but I don’t even know where it is.”

I couldn’t remember the location of the solar system. Without knowing its location, I couldn’t return home. I had tried searching the stellar data on the Planetary Information Network using the types of planets in the solar system as criteria, but the search had turned up hundreds of stars matching those conditions.

I gave up searching for Earth and continued spending my days hunting. That day, after returning from the Siska Grasslands with another Rampaging Boar, Vezetta, the head of the Purchasing Department, told me to visit the director of the Training Center.

After selling the Rampaging Boar, I headed to the director’s office. When I entered, a middle-aged Werecat man was working at an enormous desk. Apparently, the director’s name was Mujika Dessero.

“I’m Zen Jinguji. Did you need something?”

After studying me intently with his feline eyes, the director invited me to sit down.

“I’ve reviewed your hunting achievements. Based on your performance, I’ve determined that you’re more than capable of hunting outside the Siska Grasslands. You’ve been promoted to Rank F.”

With my promotion, I would be moving to a higher floor of the Guest Tower. I was given two new keycards and told to return the old ones after completing the move.

“Thank you very much.”

I hadn’t known it at the time, but apparently, earning a promotion within three months of registering with the Dragon-Slayer Rangers Guild was quite unusual. Most Rangers spent about a year hunting in the Siska Grasslands, and even the fastest usually remained at Rank G for at least six months.

My unusually rapid promotion was apparently because I had repeatedly hunted Rampaging Boars, monsters considered difficult for Rank G Rangers to defeat.

A Rank G Magus was generally only capable of defeating relatively small insect-type monsters. Killing a Rampaging Boar with a single attack was supposedly beyond their abilities.

“Your Particle Shot: Penetrating Round seems to have an abnormally high destructive power. How did you achieve that, nya?”

Apparently, he had watched recordings of my battles against monsters captured by my Achievement Collection Badge.

“Isn’t that normal? When I was fighting monsters in space, I couldn’t even defeat a Space Sea Angel without that much power.”

Although I had been using Particle Shot back then, Particle Shot: Penetrating Round was essentially the same thing.

“Oh? So you’ve fought space monsters before. That explains why your Tactical Magecraft Techniques are so powerful.”

I didn’t understand what he meant, so I asked him to explain. Apparently, the normal progression was to develop one’s skills fighting monsters on the ground before venturing into space to battle space monsters.

Even at the same Threat Level, space monsters were considerably tougher. However, because the carcasses of space monsters that didn’t yield Dragon Orbs sold for very little, Dragon-Slayer Rangers generally avoided hunting Space Sea Angels and Space Jellyfish. The earnings simply weren’t worth the effort.

Having reached Rank F, my new hunting grounds would be either the Black Forest of Belva to the east or the Kirimas Mountain Region to the southeast. The Forest of Belva was inhabited by dinosaur-type monsters, while the Kirimas Mountain Region was home to apelike monsters.

“Hmm. How am I supposed to transport the monsters I kill?”

Neither the Black Forest of Belva nor the Kirimas Mountain Region had roads suitable for Hunt Cars. Apparently, Dragon-Slayer Rangers traveled around those areas on hoverbikes. That left me wondering how they transported their prey.

When I investigated using the Planetary Information Network, I discovered something interesting. Most Dragon-Slayer Rangers called in transport personnel affiliated with the guild to haul their kills. Unfortunately, those transportation services were apparently expensive.

There was another method, however, and it was something I, as an Earthling, would never have imagined. Apparently, if I defeated a Threat Level 3 Rampaging Dragon Belgona living in the Forest of Belva, obtained its Dragon Orb, and had it processed, I could create a device called an Interdimensional Storage Unit.

An Interdimensional Storage Unit was a device that secured storage space in another dimension, allowing objects to be placed inside and retrieved at will. However, a Dragon Orb from a creature no stronger than a Rampaging Dragon Belgona could only produce a smaller version called an Interdimensional Box, with a storage capacity equivalent to a space measuring approximately twenty meters in length, width, and height.

Of course, manufacturing one would cost five million Crebits, but it would certainly be worth the expense. That was assuming I had the strength to defeat a Rampaging Dragon Belgona in the first place.

Apparently, a Rampaging Dragon Belgona was a gigantic, bipedal, dinosaur-like monster measuring fifteen meters in length. Its Dragon Orb was located in the center of its chest, so I would have to kill it without damaging that area.

A fifteen-meter-long monster, huh? Could I kill it with Particle Shot? No, the explosion might destroy its Dragon Orb. I continued considering my options as I returned to my room in the Guest Tower.

Using my Smart Glasses, I searched the Planetary Information Network for information about Interdimensional Storage Units. They were extremely useful devices and consequently in high demand. Buying one outright apparently required at least several billion Crebits.

If a Crebit was worth approximately one Japanese yen, several billion Crebits actually seemed far too cheap. Then again, that was probably because I was judging its value by Earth’s standards. Although Interdimensional Storage Units were expensive, they weren’t particularly rare within the Space Alliance.

I wanted one. I decided to defeat a Rampaging Dragon Belgona and obtain its Dragon Orb. I was confident I could kill the monster if I could tear it to pieces, but doing that would destroy the Dragon Orb as well.

I searched the Planetary Information Network for a better approach. Eventually, I found a website called the Basic Magus Course, which introduced the fundamental techniques used by Magi.

Among the techniques it covered were Particle Shot and Particle Shot: Penetrating Round. Apparently, those were two of the Three Fundamental Techniques of Magi.

Since there were three, I looked up the remaining technique. It involved shaping Bosol particles into a ring-shaped blade resembling a chakram and launching it at an enemy. Apparently, it was called Particle Shot: Circular Flying Blade.

The following day, I visited the Siska Grasslands to experiment with this new Tactical Magecraft Technique. I discovered that when I launched a ring of Bosol particles at high speed, its flight path became unstable. I decided to make the ring spin. Whether it was due to the gyroscopic effect or something else, the rotation stabilized its trajectory.

After practicing over and over, I finally got the hang of accurately launching the ring-shaped projectile, which I called the Circular Particle Blade. With its accuracy improving, I gradually increased its flight speed. First, I accelerated it to the speed of sound. Since Heavenquake Force possessed enough power to accelerate a Small Spacecraft, that was easy enough.

The Circular Particle Blade, traveling at the speed of sound, sliced clean through a tree approximately fifty centimeters in diameter, cutting it in half.

Would that be enough to cut through a Rampaging Dragon Belgona? No, according to the information I’d found on the Planetary Information Network, a Rampaging Dragon Belgona was as tough as solid rock.

As a test, I launched a Circular Particle Blade at a boulder approximately two meters in diameter. The blade cut about thirty centimeters into the rock before disappearing. Not enough, huh? I’d have to increase its speed.