"See, I said I didn't need help." Athos said teasing her.
"What was that explosion? And how did you do it?" Agatha asked in disbelief. She was already ready to step in if something went wrong, but it proved totally unnecessary.
"That's simple. I put a bag of explosive dust inside the rabbit's body. When the wolf bit him, the bag opened and dust exploded upon contact with the environment." Athos explained, proud of his plan.
"Are you walking around with something that dangerous?" She took a step back, as if her son might explode at any moment.
"No need to be afraid. The bags are completely sealed inside this reinforced leather bag and even if it does leak, it takes a few seconds before it explodes." He tried to be convincing, but the idea of carrying an explosive in his pockets didn't appeal to Agatha.
"It's impossible to ask you to throw this away right now so make sure it doesn't explode, okay?" She said with a frown as she looked at what was left of the explosion. "Also, if this were a real quest, you would have destroyed all the monster material, as well as wasting valuable stuff on mere gray wolves."
The wolves' bodies were completely charred. Only one had survived, but it seemed unable to move, having burned its entire right side. He was on the verge of death, before Athos put an end to his misery.
"I know I shouldn't waste-" Athos couldn't finish speaking. His mother lunged at him and hurled him as far as she could before jumping to the side with all her might.
In the next second a shadow fell right where they were, generating a cloud of dust.
"Cough, cough!" Athos coughed as he stood up, quickly getting into position. He had rolled on the ground after being thrown, so he avoided getting hurt. He tried to see beyond the curtain of dust and was paralyzed with fear.
A rock bear was there, as it glared at him menacingly. The monster was 4 meters long, it had bulging muscles all over its body, covered in brown fur, while its paws ended in stone claws, which looked more like a spiked club than slashing claws. They looked like they were made to crush, not cut.
His white fangs gleamed in the sunlight as he growled at Athos. He looked the Athos up and down, as if wondering where to start his meal. Athos was paralyzed with fear.
The monster emitted a suffocating energy that rooted him to the spot. He had already heard his mother talk about it. When a creature faces another several times weaker, the mana released forms a kind of aura, preventing it from fighting back. Knowing this terrified Athos to death.
He knew he had no chance of surviving when he saw the bear open its jaws right in front of his face.
"ATHOS!!" Her mother screamed, as she concentrated mana on the arrowhead before shooting, using one of the skills she learned as a hunter, pircing. One of the first lessons Agatha taught Athos about mana manipulation was the use of abilities.
Depending on how mana was manipulated different effects could be obtained. In the case of pircing, the mana was concentrated on the arrowhead, increasing the penetration power.
Puck!
The arrow was embedded in the bear's left thigh causing it to turn and roar, but that was it. There wasn't enough power to penetrate a monster made of rock-hard muscles.
'I won't be able to kill this thing, but I have to get it away from Athos enough so that the effect of the aura wears off and he can run away.' Agatha thought, quickly readying another arrow as she backed away.
ROAR!!!
The monster ran, charging at Agatha at full speed. She shot arrow after arrow trying to slow him down, but to no avail.
Puck! Puck! Puck!
They dug into his shoulders and paw, but he didn't slow a step. He got close enough to her, exploiting the moment she slowed to shoot and to jump on her and crush her under her paws.
Agatha quickly dodged to the side, dodging by a hair's breadth from being crushed to pulp. She drew the dagger from her waist in a desperate move to try and cut him, but only managed a scratch.
"Shit! His fur is rock hard too!" She thought as she ducked and rolled backwards, dodging a paw swipe at her face.
"ROAARRR"
The bear roared furiously at the prey that kept running away from him. He swung his paws wildly, trying to crush her. Agatha had given up on the offensive, focusing completely on deflecting for her life.
'I have to wait for a gap to attack. If I hit the neck where it's least resistant, I might have a chance!' She thought, completely focused on his movements.
The fight dragged on for a few more minutes as the bear grew more and more impatient, making more violent attacks. This was her chance. She exploited a moment when he slammed his paws on the ground, to jump on his back and plunge the dagger into his neck and jump.
The bear moved frantically trying to get it out, but couldn't. Every time he touched the dagger, blood spurted from the wound. Agatha didn't miss the opportunity, and she slipped beneath him and stabbed the other dagger into the opposite side.
"Haah...haah...I'm really out of shape." Agatha breathed heavily as she hurried away. A long time had passed since the last time she fought like this. His stamina was already at the limit. "I have to get this over with soon."
"Rrrrrr..." The bear had given up taking the dagger and was looking at it warily. He recognized her as a threat, not prey. Which means it wouldn't attack recklessly like before.
"If I had hit a little deeper…" She said regretfully, when she saw the amount of blood flowing through the wound. Blood flowed continuously, but it was too little to make any difference now. She would be dead before the blood loss affected him.
They stared at each other for a while, sizing each other up. As the monster was about to resume the offensive, Agatha heard a voice that shouldn't have been there.
"Mother!!" Athos was there.
"Don't come any closer! Get away from here, now!!!" She screamed as loud as she could, shooting arrows at the bear to keep his attention focused on her.
The bear didn't give Athos a second glance, recognizing him as nothing more than a snack.
And that was correct, except for one thing.
"Mom, shoot that!" Athos had thrown a bag of explosive with all his might at the bear.
Not feeling any mana in the object, the bear ignored it. And that was a mistake, a mistake
Agatha didn't let it go. She drew an arrow as far as her bow could handle, focusing her mana on both the eyes and the arrow feathers. The first improved its accuracy, while the second was a rapid-fire skill.
The arrow accelerated beyond what should have been possible, and hit the bag still in the air, on top of the bear. The explosive powder spread over the top of the bear before it exploded.
BBOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!
The explosion was 3 times bigger than with the wolves. Athos had used all the explosive powder he had, betting everything on this attack.
"Phew..." Agatha dropped to the floor, feeling the tension leave her body. Athos rushed to her side, and made her drink the healing potions he had prepared.
"Are you okay? Does it still hurt somewhere?" Athos asked worriedly, but received a pinch in return.
"You should have run, when I told you to run."
"Is that how you thank me? I saved you!" Athos grunted as he held his cheek.
"Correction. I saved you first." Agatha said before hugging him. "Still, thank you so much for coming to my rescue."
She noticed his knees were shaking the entire time, but he took a step forward for her anyway. It meant a lot to her.
But, as if to interrupt this familiar moment, a paw stomped out of the smoke.
The monster was still alive.