Hog Hunting [Job]

It seemed that Eris was starting to be desired by the magical council, despite her technically not even being a mage and thus not under their authority. But she was still part of a guild and that was seemingly enough for them to just not care. And so, she was informed of some wildlife running rabid in the countryside of Era. Didn't sound as appealing as she hoped it would, but job was still a job. Better than sitting in one place all day long. And so the vixen found herself travelling to the fields that surrounded the headquarters of the magical council. Seriously, if this was happening so close to them, couldn't they have just send out some Rune knights to take care of it? In any case, the swords on her back were ready to deal with anything that could cross her path. Except, what she saw was no wild animal. Rather, it was a boy sitting in the grass as if he was waiting for something. And so she approached him from behind, as she maybe could gather some info from him.

"Hey there, buddy! I can sense some magic from you, would you happen to know anything about wild animals ruining the crops around these parts? I'm supposed to hunt them down, but it doesn't look like there really are any right now."

Word Count - 227

The vixen clearly took those two by surprise, but at least they managed to take it. Few too many times did she have people running away from her simply because of her looks or the three katanas that were hanging off her body at various spots. Did she really look that scary? In any case, this boy seemed plenty willing to talk and share information with her, which of course made her quite happy. And she would even chuckle as she watched the boy scuffle with his cat, presumably an exceed. Quite unusual to see one of those around. At least outside of her guild hall anyway.

"It's fine, completely fine~. Eris is glad to see such energetic faces around here,
most are just tired from working the fields and won't even look in my direction!"

She would grin at him and his apology for which there was no reason at all. She also kinda gave him her name without meaning to, as her speech patters were somewhat unusual. But it seemed that the boy was little shy or perhaps just nervous to be working with someone? The exceed was showing pretty much the opposite as he started circling the vixen, something that would be rewarded by her fox ears twitching and the three tails behind her back swaying from side to side gently.

"The council requested Fairy Tail's assistance. Seems like these animals might be too dangerous for regular humans. But folk like us will have no problem at all~. What's your name?"

Word Count - 254

Sabertooth. She didn't have any recollection of interacting with people from that guild as of yet. Then again, her memories were something that no one should depend on these days, so it only made sense. Still, this could be quite exciting. She had heard that the guild was an exquisite one, filled with powerful mages that aspired to reach height unheard of! Question was just how much of that was actually the truth, versus how much was just rumors and nothing else.

"I see, Liam and Mona. It's pleasure to meet you two!"

She would repeat their names and smile as she crossed her arms across her chest. They looked like an interesting due, the way they were interacting with one another. Yes, this would be surely fun no matter which way it would go! And Eris was indeed ready to have some grand fun, as well as jolly cooperation.

"Eris doesn't mind helping in the least! She also doesn't run away from nothing, so you needn't worry!"

Word Count - 168

Now, this was quite unusual. They merely met one another and this young man was already grabbing the vixen's hand to lead her around. No one before him was brave or stupid enough to do anything of the sort. Luckily for him, Eris did not take it as an offensive gesture of any kind as many others surely would. She was intrigued and desired to see where would all of this eventually lead. She also perfectly smelled whatever was in the air herself. After all, she was part animal. Her natural senses were far beyond those of regular humans such as Liam. Or at least the girl assumed he was just a human. Never judge a book by it's cover, however. But at least she was pretty much used to this smell from before. Perhaps the boy was from a bigger city, used to a bigger comfort. It was a smell of the countryside. Farms and animal roaming around, it would not be pleasant for anyone from someplace else. In the end, she decided to let the boy and his cat to figure this out by themselves. And once they did, she chuckled.

Well now, doesn't that look like a challenge! Why don't you show me what you can do on your own before I get involved, hm?

Word count - 218

Eris would watch the young man with interest, even letting out an audible sound of surprise as she saw his weapon. It was quite a pretty blade! Definitely way fancier than the black katanas on her back, as those were not made to look nice as much as they were made to cut well. But it still seemed to do a pretty good job as he managed to hold his ground for some time and even defeat some of the evil boars of doom. The vixen would chuckle and clap few times as she watched the exceed heal its master.

"That's good, good indeed. Eris is quite impressed. Allow her to finish the job as you recover your wounds!"

With those words, she would unsheathe her own weapon, the one that rested against her hip rather than the two swords that were on her back. The sound of doing so clearly lured the remaining boards toward her. But that was only good. With a speed too great to even properly see, she would start dancing among the animals, her slashes cutting apart even the ground beneath them. And in only a few seconds, every last one of them would fall onto the grass motionless and probably already ready for a roast with how many holes in them they had.

"What do you think of Eris' sword skills? She is the master of Fox Demon sword!"

Word Count - 234

The fact that Liam was amazed by the girl actually made her blush slightly as she rubbed the back of her head, laughing quietly. She knew that she was no pushover, but she also had far to go if she ever hoped to become like some of the sword dancer or mages that focused on a magic channeled through their weapon. So if she was able to impress someone like this, it definitely meant she was on the right track and improving from her brute style she used when she first picked up the weapons.

"It was nothing special at all! Eris believes anyone could do this much with enough practice, even Liam!"

She would reply and then let the young man grab her arm. She was already used to it from before, though she still giggled when she heard the exceed's remark. Honestly, she didn't really care. As long as the one grabbing her like that wasn't hostile toward the vixen, then she had absolutely no problem whatsoever.

"Eris is fine with this, so there is no need to worry about anything. Ah, but the main course is coming, so we should separate now and free our hands~."

Just like she said that, nearby trees would be suddenly toppled over as a giant boar rammed through them, headed directly at the trio. If it had enough force to break down big trees like nothing, then getting hit by it would probably hurt as well. Not that Eris was planning to test that. Her sword was sheathed again, but her hand rested on the weapon's hilt. And the moment the enemy got close enough, she would unsheathe it right into a powerful swing. In fact, it was so powerful that the boar was immediately decapitated and half of the forest behind it as well, tens of trees suddenly cut in half and falling to the ground.

"Oops..."

Word Count - 317

In all honesty, a strike like that was nothing amazing at all in comparison to what her comrade from the guild, Hera, could do. But hearing the praise was still something that made the vixen's heart pound with excitement. She would sheathe her weapon for the final time as she looked over the boar's body and smiled. It seemed that she did a good job, though maybe with some undesired damage to the nearby woods. But trees could always regrow, so there probably wasn't too much she'd had to worry about. What she did not expect were the words Liam spoke.

"Huh? You want Eris to teach you how to fight better? I suppose she could, though she had never done so before. Oh well, all is for the first time at some point! So to start your status as her mentee, here is a lesson number one - Never say Never! Eris is confident that if you keep on working hard and always aim to improve, you could easily surpass her one day!"

She would approach the boy with a wide smile on her face while placing one of her hands firmly on his shoulder, hoping that she at least boosted his confidence a little bit. Yes, he may have been weak right now. But anyone had the potential to achieve even greater heights that the Fox Ronin. Of course, the road was long and with plenty of obstacles. But that was precisely what could form a true warrior.

Word Count - 250

He seemed happy with how everything turned out. That was good, as the vixen herself was quite pleased with everything herself! And even his exceed managed to get hold of itself as it tried to help with the boars. He asked a pretty good question too - where exactly should they dump these and be done with the job. Well, it was the magical council that sent in for Eris and told her to clear out this idea. And as they usually want to see some kind of proof directly, or via the Royal Guard/Rune Knights, it would probably be best to head directly toward Era and leave it all there. Yup, that sounded like a good plan! Collect the reward for this job and leave a smelly prize at the table of the magical council while they were at it, perfect.

"Let's just carry them to the big MC. Shouldn't take long, since we're so close either. Alright, time to head out~!"

Word Count - 163