The thick dirt smoke that had covered the entire area slowly dissipated, revealing what remained of the golem's escape attempt. The supposed boulders acting as the stone giant's armor were strewn about the area. The real body of the golem stood at the epicenter of the attack, a half-meter black circular shell made of almost transparent crystal, with a brown glowing orb floating inside.
Despite not being able to move on its own, it used its remaining mana to move the nearby stones, attempting to push it toward the nearest hole in the ground. However, before it could summon a stone to use, it was brought to a halt by a clean slice of dagger. Vien slashed the golem's body in half with a single strike while grabbing the brown core inside. The brown light of the orb vanished the moment the core was removed from the body, leaving only a shiny, brown crystal orb the size of a tennis ball.
"I got it," Vien declared as her gaze wandered across the desolate landscape.
With a brief pause, four faces emerged from the shadows of the massive boulders, their gaze fixed on Vien. Halini emerged first, her forehead visibly darker than the rest of her face, followed by Mian, who was hiding in the same spot as Halini, her narrowed eyes darting around, looking for Ordy.
Ordy, on the other hand, emerged from behind a massive boulder, smiling and raising his thumb; following him was Gideon, who had his face covered in dirt, particularly his brows and the top of his lips.
"I can still hear the explosion in my ears," Gideon said as he moved forward.
"Good job, Vien, you truly are a remarkable rogue," Ordy exclaimed, raising his massive arms. "Taking advantage of every opportunity with your incredible speed! You didn't even give it a chance to move a little."
Vien lowered her gaze. "I was simply doing my job."
"Gideon, your face looks hilarious!" Halini exclaimed, chuckling and pointing her index finger at Gideon, while Mian stood behind her, a small smile on her lips and staring at Gideon.
Gideon laughed and rubbed his face with his palm. "Yeah, I kissed the ground while hiding; I just didn't expect the explosion to be that powerful," he said, shifting his gaze to the empty black shell lying on the ground.
Due to a lack of mana, the golem's almost transparent black body gradually turned dark pink, then pink, then white, and finally completely transparent as it vanished in thin air, leaving no trace of what it was except for the ruins of the last attack it performed before its demise.
"Oh, it'll just vanish like that, huh?" Gideon wondered after witnessing the golem's body vanish.
"Yes, because the majority of the golem's body is made of mana, it will simply return to where it came from," Mian replied as she stared at the spot where the golem's body was supposed to be.
"Here's the core," Vien said as she handed Ordy the brown crystal.
Ordy took the golem's core and smiled brightly as he raised it into the air. "Another battle won! One has been completed; four far more dangerous challenges remain! We have won the battle against the mighty Gravel Golem, tyrant of the infamous Golem Trail!"
Mian and Halini both clapped their hands and smiled brightly.
"So cool!" exclaimed Halini, as Loafy floated around her.
Ordy placed both of his hands on Vien and Gideon's shoulders and burst out laughing. "And it's all thanks to our lass Vien and lad Gideon. They both did an excellent job. Working together on the battlefield, helping each other while deftly dodging the tyrant's merciless attacks... They were so well coordinated that I thought they were dancing rather than fighting."
"I saw it, too, and I agree," Halini said.
"It actually surprised me that Gideon is already accustomed to Vien's fighting style after only seeing it once, back when we were fighting the Fire Ants," Mian said as she crossed her arms. "Have you two been practicing in secret or something?"
Gideon scratched the back of his head and nodded slowly. "It's purely coincidental. Anyway, don't give me too much credit because I didn't do much; all I did was run around because that's all I'm good at."
Vien, on the other hand, simply looked down, her face flushed.
Mian, Halini, and Ordy laughed when they saw their response, which caused the other two to look away with the same embarrassed expression on their faces.
Ordy tapped Vien and Gideon on the back. "We're just teasing you two," he laughed loudly.
Gideon walked away from the three and returned his gaze to the spot where the golem's body was. "So, the secret is to annoy it until it says 'fuck it' and blows up itself like an armored suicide bomber?" Gideon asked, his face solemn.
"Not necessarily, all we need to do is reduce its mana until it decides the fight isn't worth it, but yes, your conclusion is reasonable as well," Ordy replied as he approached Gideon.
"It's a good thing it's made of rocks and not flesh, or else..." Halini said, pausing as everyone stared at her with enlarged eyes.
Gideon swallowed and cleared his throat. "And once the explosion is over, all we have to do is track down the real body before it escapes?"
"Normally, if Vien was not present to slash the golem's real body, the golem would simply go to the nearest hole and try to blend in underground, remaining still until the enemy left," Mian said, pointing her hand toward a hole where the golem came from. "It won't work on us, thankfully. Usually, I'd be the one going inside the hole to finish off the golem and take the core, because we couldn't let Halini do it, and as for Ordy..." She paused for a few seconds and pointed to Ordy, who was smiling at her. She extended her hand. "Well, you probably already know why."
"The last time I tried, it took them longer to pull me out of the hole than it did to fight golems and collect cores," Ordy chuckled. "Every time I remember their struggling faces while pulling me out of that hole, it still makes me laugh."
"You three are really getting in a lot of trouble, aren't you?" Gideon asked, trying to hold back the laughter.
Ordy gestured with his thumb. "Getting into trouble is a normal part of the adventure; it's part of the fun. Furthermore, adventuring without the desire to try new things just to be safe is boring, will not be memorable, and will not allow you to grow. Don't you want the things you're afraid of now to become amusing memories tomorrow?"
"What Ordy is trying to say is, expect to get in a lot of trouble while you're still a part of our party; trouble follows us around and we love embracing it with both hands open— but be prepared to be scolded by Mian afterwards," Halini chuckled.
Halini and Ordy both chuckled, while Mian crossed her arms, shook her head, and narrowed her eyes at Ordy and Halini.
"Now! Let's continue our hunt! Onward!" Ordy yelled as he marched away from the scene, raising his right hand.
"Onward!" screamed Halini as she followed Ordy.
Gideon's gaze was drawn to them. "Those two get along so well, don't they?"
"They're like long-lost siblings," Mian replied, her face softly smiling as she looked at Ordy and Halini. "Let's go," she said as she walked away, leaving Gideon and Vien behind.
Gideon looked at Vien before following the three. "You did extremely well back then; you're like a badass assassin."
Vien raised her head and smiled softly. "You as well, Mister Gideon."