Chi!
The Giant Rat already reached attacking range as it leaped in the air, going straight for Gerald's neck.
"Go! " He gave the order and the remaining Stone Bolts suddenly moved towards the jumping beast and easily pierced its soft skin, making it look like a porcupine.
The momentum from the projectiles slowed the Giant Rat down so much that it landed at Gerald's feet. As it was still alive, Gerald gave it a quick slash, separating the head from its body.
"Disgusting," Gerald grimaced.
The four remaining Giant Rats became even more enraged, and they attacked all at once, with the fastest speed.
Going for another Earth spell was not an option since it took quite a bit of time to prepare. As they were in the open and the ground was a mixture of blood and mud, Gerald decided to use fire instead. At least there was no chance of it spreading.
"Prepare to die, you ugly things. Fireball!" As soon as the chant ended, a giant ball of fire flew from his palm, landing directly in the middle of the attacking beasts.
Bang!
The small explosion that followed, killed one on the spot and at the same time lit on fire two Giant Rats. In panic and fear, they were running in circles. In the end, they managed to put the flames out by rolling in the mud.
Although the immediate danger passed, they were seriously burned, and would probably not survive until the next day.
Now, afraid of the fire, the Rats didn't try to mindlessly attack anymore. Instead, they slowly circled Gerald, the healthy Rat in front, and the wounded ones at the sides.
"Trying to trap me, huh?" Gerald's lips turned to a wicked smile, "I don't think so!"
"Fire! Stone Bolt!"
A small flame ignited on his palm and more Stone Bolts came out of the ground, hovering around him. Gerald was almost out of Mana, and the constant concentration was tiring.
He was slowly moving backward, trying to keep all animals in his line of sight. Patience was his specialty, and he was ready to strike at the opportune moment.
Chi!
A badly burned Giant Rat on the left already lost its patience and decided to attack. Gerald snickered, as he had expected this.
"Burn!"
The flame on his palm immediately grew bigger, like a flamethrower, covering the space a few meters in front of him. As expected, the Rat didn't have enough time to dodge the flames and it was soon turned to charcoal.
After quickly confirming it's dead, Gerald focused his attention on the remaining two. Surprisingly the healthy Rat already started retreating, while the half-dead one initiated the attack.
Its speed was much slower and it was shaking at every step. The back legs were burnt almost to the bone and it looked like it was ready to fall over and die.
In its last futile attempt, the Giant Rat awkwardly jumped, but because of the serious injuries Gerald simply sidestepped and swung his sword, cutting the Rat in two.
"Now for the last one…" he turned his gaze to the barn and firmly walked forward.
After he came to the entrance, he had to slow down. The smell coming out was vomit-inducing. Even he had to back off to be able to breathe.
"What a nasty place! No wonder they wanted us to clean up. This is absolutely revolting!" He was silently cursing in his mind for taking this job.
The sun was slowly going down, and the shadows crept closer. The inside of the barn was pitch-black and the smell coming out provided the perfect cover, keeping every single person far away.
"I have just a single spell left… that's going to be a problem. I could just burn this thing to the ground but then I would have to compensate the owner for it." While he was thinking of the different possibilities on how to deal with this problem, he noticed Sera coming closer.
Her face was pale, with a tinge of green. She was holding her hand in front of her mouth and her walking was wobbly and shaky. Overall she looked quite miserable.
"Are you done?" she asked with a weak voice. "I don't think I can stay here much longer."
Gerald shook his head and pointed to the front door and said, "One escaped in there, but I can't even get close because of the smell."
"That's probably their nest. They usually drag all sorts of rotting carcasses in there. Mixed with their urine and feces it becomes a perfect breeding ground for disease. Why don't you just burn it down?"
Gerald lifted his eyebrow, "Didn't Luna specifically say not to destroy any structures on the property?"
"Do you seriously think anyone will try to salvage a place where Giant Rats had their nests? That's going to stink for years. Even Goblins aren't this filthy, at least they don't take a shit in their nest."
"Oh, that makes things much simpler," Gerald's mood became much better despite the bad smell. He also decided to later do a little more research on the beasts and monsters that lived in the kingdom.
"Here goes nothing. Fireball!" This time he focused all the remaining Mana, which was a bit over 1 LIS, into his palm. That way he compressed the spell into a much smaller shape, only the size of a tennis ball.
An interesting thing was that no burns appeared on his hand, as if there was a thin protective layer across his skin. He already noticed that before when playing with a small flame, and now it really seemed like he was holding fire in his hands.
He took a big breath and held his nose with his left hand, and walked with the Fireball spell in his right hand. At the entrance, he simply flung his arm and released the spell. The Fireball flew like a stone, and as soon as it made contact with something inside, it exploded in a giant flame, that illuminated the insides.
In the short time, before the flames took hold of the dry hay and wood, Gerald saw a nest of bones and rotting meat, full of nasty little young rats, with the escaped Giant Rat guarding them.
It might have been just his imagination, but Gerald was sure he saw a few human bones and even a skull between all those animal bones.
He didn't have much time to look or think about it, however, because the flames quickly spread to the entire barn, and soon they had a giant bonfire raging before them.