Gathering the water is the most mana-intensive part of the Ursamor's strategy here. Maintaining the barrier and firing bullets are actually much simpler processes. This can be seen by the size of the magic circle being used. As the diameter of the magic circle grows, the amount of mana it requires increases exponentially.
I run behind the Ursamor and attack it's back. As expected, it blows me back with a wall of water. I repeat this two more times until the barrier is almost depleted. The monster grunts angrily and releases the magic. Everyone moves in as soon as the magic stops. Tyrion's space-time magic works wonders as the movements of the beast slow to a crawl. We stab and slash at any place we can. Struggling against the spell slowing it down and our waves of attacks, the Ursamor eventually makes it to a patch of moist ground. Again, it surrounds itself with a barrier, but we aren't as patient this time. We all continue closing in on the Ursamor, forcing it to use its magic. The second barrier is quickly depleted, and the monster is again left exposed. This process repeats a couple more times until it falls.
I gulp down a stamina potion and pull Tyrion to his feet.
"Hey, I just sat down," he complains.
"The next enemy is already here." A single Equuivore jumps twenty meters up over the trees and lands in the middle of our group. The Crucible is far from over.
As the battles drag on, Tyrion finds a comfortable spot as a support on our team. He casts magic from the back while occasionally moving in for a distraction or to deal a little damage with his dagger. What's most impressive is that he's always where I need him before I even ask. Francis and Kelly, on the other hand, are mostly useless. I'm frustrated that I didn't take them back to the guild when I had the chance, as they are such huge risks to themselves while they're down here.
On numerous occasions, we've had to pull them out of the way of an impending attack. What little training they've had is nowhere near enough to handle the endless waves of beasts. As we're mopping up a large group of goblins, I walk over to their position to check on them.
"How are you kids doing?" I have my hands on my hips as I try to catch my breath while speaking to them. Kelly is on the edge of tears, hiding behind her brother, who is trembling with his sword out in front of him.
"Who are you people? Even my instructor can't do all that." It seems we've made an impression based on his reaction. This also gives me an idea of the average strength of the Duke's men.
"We're adventurers," I respond casually. It's fun to look cool every now and then, even if it's only in front of children. I'm sure it looks spectacular from their perspective. Sakura and Josh are standing side by side as they hack through the goblins. Shinobu and Tyrion are staggering the approach of the goblin squad, so they aren't fighting all at once. The fairies are all recovering off to the side after expending all of their magic except for Foof, who's watching the flow of battle from above. The stench of blood and death is thick in the air. An ever-expanding pool of blood spreads across the ground. This macabre scene fills my vision.
"Are you done yet?" Inari asks as she lazily floats down between us.
"I really should be asking you that question."
"Yes, you're done. I'm pretty satisfied with your efforts today. What's most surprising is how quickly you've all gotten used to fighting together."
"You can say that again; Tyrion just joined today, and he's acting like he's been fighting with us for years."
"Tyrion, huh?"
"You don't trust him?" I ask.
"He's only concerned about himself. It wasn't long ago that he made an attempt on Woohee's life if you recall."
"That's true, but he's worried about Shinobu. When we were living in the forest, he was the only one asking about how she was doing."
"I wonder about that," Inari responds in a hazy tone. She looks at the kids for a moment as if contemplating a decision. "Anyway, I think we're done for the day. Why don't you wrap things up with your friends? We can always talk later."
"Sure." I'm befuddled by her words but decide to do what she says as this is neither the time nor the place to have a discussion. All the enemies have been defeated, so now the clearing is just a bloody field. I weave in between the corpses scattered about while checking for any valuables. "Francis, Kelly, come give us a hand dissecting these monsters."
They may have been useless during the fight, but at least they can help with the grunt work. Even having more people to carry the loot is helpful.
"I don't know how," Francis replies in a small voice.
"Here, I'll show you." Shinobu takes him by the hand and drags him over to the body of an Acriporcos cut in half by Josh. Kelly follows closely behind, and Shinobu begins her explanation. "The core is the most valuable part of every monster, so you always want to grab that. Next is usually the pelt, and if you have some room to spare, you can even take some of the meat. Acriporci, in particular, are very tasty."
I walk further into the field of dead monsters while she teaches the children. While walking amongst the goblins, something catches my eye. I reach down and pick up a one-handed battle axe that has a slight red glow around it.
"Hey, check this out." I grab everyone's attention, and they quickly gather around me.
"What do you think it does?" Tyrion is the first to say something.
"Was one of the goblins carrying that?" Sakura asks.
"I think so," I respond.
"Where would they get something like that?"
"I'm not sure. All we can do is take it to the guild to get appraised."
"Are there any other magic weapons?" she asks excitedly.
"Let's look." We all dig through the goblins' equipment but fail to find any more magical weapons. On the bright side, some of their weapons and armor are well crafted enough to sell in town. While it may be too small for people, the armor can be broken down or expanded, so it's not worthless.
We spend almost an hour gathering up everything worthwhile. We end up with three Acriporcos pelts, one set of Ursamor claws, four Equuivore hooves, two Griffith pelts and various pieces of equipment we collected from the three goblin squads we defeated. There are also thirty-nine small to medium-sized monster cores and four large ones. I think some of the other organs are useful, but I don't know enough about them to waste space carrying potentially useless goods.
"That's quite the haul you've got there." I choose not to respond to the disgusting Count standing before me. We've just arrived at the guild hall and set all our stuff down on a table. The trek back was largely uneventful other than a few falls that occurred here and there. After walking in with a bunch of stuff and being approached by the governor of the town, it's safe to say that everyone in the guild hall is watching to see what happens next. "Anyway, I was hoping we could talk; why don't we go somewhere more private."
"We'll talk once we sell our goods to the guild."
"I'm a busy man. You should know that won't do." His voice softly creeps up the back of my neck. I feel like punching him in the face, but I manage to contain myself.
"We can't leave all our stuff unguarded."
"That's fine. I only need to speak with you anyway." I glance over my shoulder at the kids standing behind me. They don't look opposed to the idea, so it's probably best to go along with his demands for now.
"Okay, I'll go with you."