It took a while until it finally disappeared, but the flaps of the wyvern's wings were loud and obvious as it disappeared off into the distance.

  Ashton stayed under the pile of corpses for a few minutes longer, and soon pushed out from underneath the mass of rotting bodies. He was covered in blood all over. Not all of it was his own, but plenty definitely was.

  Beetles, maggots, and even some rats had started tearing into Ashton's skin. He could feel things crawling under his skin, having forced their way in.

  "Fuck," he whispered, dragging his feet along. For the time being, it was unlikely that the wyvern would bother him. They slept a long time, throughout most of the day, and it was likely that it would just head back and rest for now. Ashton was just a weak human, after all. It would be able to get him whenever it wanted.

  [[Executor of the End] questions why you rejected their last offer]

  "Shut up. I said it before, I'm not going to sign that kind of agreement with you. With any of you."

  [[Daughter of the Scarlet Heart] scoffs at your conceit]

  Rolling his eyes, Ashton continued limping down the road. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. I've got other things to worry about than your scoffing."

  He had to figure out how the hell he was supposed to kill that wyvern. Not alone, certainly. Regional bosses were made to be hunted in fairly large groups, that's why the reward for that thing was as high as it was.

  There were a couple of candidates he could think of. Sam, obviously. Jacky's party. Sabrina could be useful for support, but it might be a bit too risky to rely on literal gambling against such an opponent.

  Then there were some of the other people from Calibur with combat classes. If they assembled a proper team, then they might have a shot before the wyvern got too strong.

  But even then, there was no way that people with such low-levelled classes could ever make a scratch against a crimson wyvern empowered by the status of a regional boss. They were entering the point where it was unlikely that even guns would do all too much damage. Maybe if someone had a class that strengthened shooting, but it wasn't certain how likely that was.

  Maybe someone from the police got that kind of job. He knew that there were a handful of people in Drakewood that had guns because they enjoyed hunting, but would those people have survived? It was one thing to kill ducks or pheasants, and a whole other thing to kill something that looked like a person.

  But then what else could he do? With the stats and skills that low-level individuals had, it was shockingly unlikely that they could do anything. He needed at least ten people at level 10 if he wanted to have a realistic shot at this.

  But... was even that realistic?

  Were people at this level even able to damage a wyvern? If it were a regular wyvern, it might be possible, but this was a regional boss. Powerful bosses usually had special abilities or traits that gave them an upper hand, whether it was particularly powerful attacks or resistances. Ashton was lucky that it didn't have a dedicated tracking ability and just had to rely on its innate aspects for that. Otherwise, he would be dead, and his trick wouldn't have done anything.

  But if they just let the wyvern be, then it was going to get stronger and stronger, at an absolutely ridiculous rate as well.

  The longer he waited, the more people at higher levels he would need to stand a chance. Hell, it might even become the phase's final boss, which would require essentially everyone in the region to work together.

  After a while, Ashton got back to the camp. He slammed his fist onto the door.

  "Open up! It's Ashton!"

  Confused muttering sounded out on the other side, from the two people that were told to watch the door in case someone came here in the middle of the night. Someone climbed onto the top of the van, and saw Ashton standing there, covered in mud and blood, though both had been washed away to some degree while he was on the way here.

  Immediately recognising him, the pair opened up the door for him and quickly closed it.

  "Are you okay?" one of them asked, looking Ashton up and down, but he just ignored that and walked past them. The smell of corpses was still strong on him, and it was almost startling.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  "One of you, go get Sam for me, please," he said with a loud groan as he dragged his feet to the corner of the outside area. As one of them did that, Ashton concentrated on the undine and used their magic to wash all the dirt and grime off himself. But the elemental was swimming around him in a panic, trying to figure out what they could do to help.

  But Ashton couldn't focus on them right now. Instead, he just had them create another, slightly larger, magic umbrella around him so that he could work properly.

  He also called the Backpacker out of his vessel and asked them for all the tools that he needed, starting out with a bottle of vodka and a pre-made summoning circle so that he could call on the Drunken Bear. Ashton was in too much pain, and the maggots crawling under his skin were making his muscles tense up too much. So, the bear did all the basic setup for Ashton.

  By the time a small campfire had been made, Sam already came running out of the front of the building.

  "Ash! What the hell happened?"

  "I had to hide... but the scavengers don't actually care if you're dead yet." Ashton laughed awkwardly. "Listen, I need your help. I'm trying my best to stay conscious, but I need you to help me brew up a potion. The Drunken Bear isn't good at detailed work like that."

  The spirit looked down at Ashton nervously, almost embarrassed, but he just let out a strained chuckle. "It's okay, it's not your fault."

  Without hesitation, Sam nodded his head. He didn't even realise that the rain was being stopped by the undine.

  "First, place the salamander summoning circle into the campfire for me. While the water in the pot starts boiling, grab the ingredient I tell you to and crush, grind, or cut it up. I'll tell you exactly what you need to do."

  "Right, of course," Sam pushed the small piece of paper the Backpacker gave him into the campfire, and Ashton called on the elemental. As the pot sat on the small metal frame over the fire, Sam grabbed a bundle of leaves.

  Ashton did all of the magical stuff, all the parts that didn't need him to move his fingers. A few maggots had burrowed into the back of his hand and were gnawing on his sinew, so this was the best he could do.

  [[Observer in the Veil] points out the stupidity of your plan]

  "Well, did you have a better idea? No? Then shut the fuck up," Ashton barked at the notification. Yeah, obviously that was a stupid plan, but it was the best one that Ashton could come up with at the time.

  It was impossible to outrun a wyvern. It was impossible to fight a wyvern as of now. This body was too untrained and didn't have the magical abilities ingrained within it that Ashton used to possess. His soul had basically been wiped clean, so there was no way for him to fight a beast like that, no matter what he tried. The only way for him to get out of that situation alive was to hide, and that was the only place that would cover up his scent properly that was close enough for him to reach.

  [[Observer in the Veil] asks what you intend to do now]

  [[Observer in the Veil] wonders if you plan on hiding like a scared kit]

  "I don't know what I'm going to do now, I'm still thinking, okay?"

  [[Observer in the Veil] points to the quest that you received]

  Ashton scoffed, "You want me to- Sam, crush up those magic stones as finely as you can- you want me to kill that thing?"

  [[Observer in the Veil] asks if fear has overcome you]

  He knew what the Observer was trying to do. They were trying to get him riled up. They knew that the rewards from that quest would solve a ton of Ashton's problems. Rare items and weapons, as well as a ton of money? Not even mentioning the bonus class experience on top of what would just come with killing the wyvern. Whoever took part in hunting the wyvern would instantly jump up in strength a considerable amount. It would give everyone a much better shot at surviving future quests.

  "Ash, seriously, what happened? What did you have to hide from? What do the constellations want you to kill?" Sam asked nervously, trying his best to follow along with the instructions that Ashton was giving him.

  "... I encountered a wyvern."

  Sam flinched and stopped. He seemed almost excited at the notion of what he just heard.

  "A wyvern? Seriously? That's-"

  "No, that's not 'sick', it's actually terrible. If it had been a regular wyvern, maybe it wouldn't have been a big deal. I could've taken it out, even if it might have been a struggle. But this is a regional boss. I told you about the different tiers of bosses, right?"

  "... Yeah. A regional boss means that this is the strongest monster in the entire 'region', right? And there's some terrifyingly strong monsters here already..."

  "Right, and the wyvern is the worst one it could've been. If it had been an orc, lizardman, or even goblin, then its individual strength wouldn't have been quite as terrifying, because the power of its group would be counted in with its own. But wyverns hunt alone, so this might be the worst fucking outcome. All that power, concentrated in a single individual."

  Ashton held his hand toward the pot, letting his mana flow inside the boiling water, as Sam stirred everything around. The liquid slowly changed its colour. This was a very rudimentary potion, but it was enough to get out the first batches of maggots stuck inside of his body.

  He could barely wait for it to cool down before starting to drink it. It wasn't even properly strained. However, almost immediately, maggots and tiny worms crawled out of Ashton's skin and fell down onto the ground. The salamander quickly hopped out of the campfire and happily snatched them up for a snack. For the last bit, he soaked a bandage in the potion and wrapped up all the spots where things had buried into his skin.

  "Holy shit... Ash, will you be okay?"

  "I'll be fine, don't worry. I'll make a more high quality potion in a bit that's going to get rid of every last thing stuck in me," Ashton said, trying to reassure his friend. The big ones had already dug their way back out, the only stuff he had to worry about were whatever eggs had been laid or the extremely small ones that might still be hiding out. But after that next potion, Ashton would be alright. Well, he might have a couple ugly scars on his arms, but that was fine.

  "Okay, if you say so... I guess, then let me ask... But what are we going to do about the wyvern?"

  Ashton dropped his face into his hand, trying to think. He took a deep, long breath.

  "Give me until noon, I'll figure something out."

  Confused, Sam looked at his friend. "You'll figure something out?"

  "Yeah. I'll figure out a plan to kill that thing."

  [[Observer in the Veil] has a suggestion]