While he couldn't train the way he wanted, Sigma did train without making any noise or without losing his focus. He did that by using the bow and repeating, again and again, the same movements that he does when he fires his arrows…
The plan was to make himself faster as much as possible and to improve his adaptation speed. Once he can fire three arrows per second and hit all the targets ten times in a row, he will feel that his skill has reached a decent level.
Regardless, when the sun began to rise, Sigma went to check the horizon and the direction the enemies were supposed to be. He didn't find anything at first, but soon, the monsters began to come from that direction, and then they organized the same line of defense and kept their perimeter.
"They retreat at night, huh… good to know," Sigma rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
After a while, the others woke up, and then they washed their faces while Sigma looked after the horses. When Ed began to cook breakfast, Sigma explained to them what he saw.
"I guess it makes sense… at night, people might use the darkness and cross their lines without being seen. The boss could do that easily," Ed said. "Still, keeping a perimeter this large only during the day really makes me think that their master is doing something shady during the day."
"We can't attack nonstop against this massive number of monsters…" Sabrina crossed her arms and then said it. "We don't have such a large mana pool. I think Sigma might be able to attack more often than me with his special arrows, but not for long."
Sabrina - Lv 44
HP: 65/65
MP: 945/945
SP: 75/75
Strength: 08
Speed: 10
Magic: 144
Endurance: 05
Dexterity: 15
Resistance: 45
Status Points: 00
Skills:
Spells: Fire Manipulation Lv 44, Water Manipulation Lv 39, Wind Manipulation Lv 44, Earth Manipulation Lv 47
Passive: Meditation Lv 37,
Skill Points: 00
Actually, Sabrina probably could fight the enemies better if she controlled her mana and the speed of her spells. She had more than enough firepower against the likes of those monsters.
"What do you suggest we do?" Ed asked after thinking for a while and not having a single idea in mind.
"If I use all my mana, I should be able to wound a lot of beasts by using a combination of wind and earth magic," Sabrina said. "Enough to cover a large area, but not for long. The only problem is that all the enemies will move if they see their close allies moving as well."
That made sense. The enemies were smart enough to do that kind of thing… Sigma considered his options at that moment. The chances of him having the opportunity to attack nonstop and make use of his arrows efficiently were low… so he had to think of another plan.
"What if you focus on defense instead of attack?" Sigma asked. "The enemies will come once they see us, but can you decrease the speed and power of their attacks to some extent? If you do that, Ed will have an easier time blocking their attacks, and I will have more chances to attack uninterrupted."
"Again, not for long… also, can you fire enough arrows to kill all the monsters in the area?" Sabrina asked while furrowing her eyebrows.
"No, but we don't have to do that all at once. We just need to repeat that several times," Sigma explained while looking at the flying beasts. "We should be able to move away from them using horses once that is necessary. Considering that they want to keep their perimeter, I doubt that they will chase us for long."
"... If the enemies come from a single direction, I might be able to deflect them with wind magic," Sabrina said after considering it for several seconds. "Still, it will be hard, and we will have to keep a tight formation since any failure might end up causing a disaster and deep wounds."
"I can visualize the plan… and I guess it is our best option considering the difficulties that we would face in a direct combat," Ed said while nodding. "Let's try to decide all of our actions in detail before putting them into practice."
Everyone nodded and then proceeded to talk and practice how their movements would be once the plan was put into practice. In order to avoid failures, they trained during the whole morning. During that time, Sigma also created a quiver using the feathers of one of the Verdiris they killed the previous day and filled them with summoned earth and ice arrows. He felt satisfied knowing that they wouldn't disappear even after many hours.
Eventually, they felt confident about the plan and decided to put it into action. They rode the horses until they were five hundred meters away from the beasts. When they noticed the change in their movements, Eclair and Sabrina took the reins of the horses. At the same time, Ed sat behind with his sword ready to be used while Sigma got up on the back of his battle horse with his bow and arrows in his hands.
Once again, the others thought that Sigma had lost his mind, but soon they noticed that he could keep his balance while the battle horse galloped. Sabrina couldn't control the battle horse that much anyway, so it couldn't run at his full speed. Nevertheless, they wondered why Sigma always had those dangerous ideas…
Eclair and Sabrina made the horses turn, and then they slowly began to move… Despite that, the Verdiris kept flying toward them… at least fifty of them. Sigma smiled when he saw that they were underestimating them.
The battle horses started their gallop, and Sigma aimed his next arrow, and it flew in a straight line before hitting the head of one of the monsters. The creature was one hundred meters away, so Sigma's accuracy left everyone speechless.