The next day soon arrived and my sisters and I decided to go hunting again, we all were hoping that we could get another kind of monster that was rich in mana.
Although it didn't seem like we would have much trouble as Delmar had been supplying the great tree with mana for so long that it seemed to have started affecting the wildlife long ago.
As we set out from the great tree we decided to take a different route, this time circling around the back side of the tree so that we would be going away from the river.
Our hope was to find a different group of monsters than the last time to give them time to repopulate. One thing that we had all noticed was that while we were within the range of the great tree's barrier our need for food had started to decrease.
I could only guess that the rich mana was acting as a sort of substitute to our normal food intake, but our bodies were not nearly as tuned into the worlds mana as Delmar so we could only gain a small amount of benefit at the moment, unlike Uncle who didn't need food at all.
As we walked through the forest we could hear the calls of different animals from many directions, there was no doubt that this forest was full of life.
The light shone through the thick canopy overhead giving the forest a slight glow as it reflected off of the forest floor. The leaves seemed to sparkle with the early morning dew and I could see all sorts of different insects flying about creating a dull hum in the air.
After a short while of walking Corentine motioned to our left, indicating that she had picked up on something. Both Apollonia and I quickly nodded then started to follow behind our sister.
Shortly there after I picked up the faint sound of something off in the distance moving through the brush. We all slowed our movements as to not scare the creature away.
Although my large form was not the greatest at stealth in tight areas, the forest's trees were large enough and spread apart enough to allow me to move unhindered.
As we moved through the forest, slowly getting closer to our still unknown target I picked up the faint scent of blood in the air.
My eyes narrowed realizing that we were stalking some sort of predator that was most likely enjoying a meal. Although I was not especially hungry I still could feel my mouth starting to water due to the smell of the fresh kill.
Soon enough after making out way to our target almost painfully slow, I caught sight of the creature.
It was facing away from us tearing away at a carcass, as I watched the creature revealed itself to be a large griffin and its now dead prey was none other than an elk that was the same kind as the ones we had killed two days prior.
As we were still unnoticed by our prey I motioned my sisters to make their way to either side of the beast as I continued to slowly make my way forward.
When I was within fifty yards of the griffin I stopped to wait for my sisters to take their positions before attacking, we all knew that if this creature could overcome the elks mind effecting mana it was most likely a relatively powerful monster.
As I waited, the Griffin continued to devour its meal unaware of the danger that lurked around it. I estimated that the creature was at least as big as Corentine, a truly massive monster.
After I had waited for a while, I could see that my sisters had taken their positions and were awaiting my signal, or rather for me to start the attack.
I knew that as soon as I summoned any kind of spell the monster would most likely pick up on the mana fluctuation and be alerted to our presence so I needed to be quick.
I decided that I would use a earth spear for the first attack, but I wanted to see if my training so far had bore any fruit so I formed the runes for the spell with the bare minimum mana to keep the runes alight.
It seemed that the griffin still had not sensed the spell, so I quickly added enough mana for the spell to activate launching the spear at its back.
As soon as I activated the spell the creature stopped eating raised its head, but it was already to late as the spear flew through the air and impaled its back at the base of its right wing.
The griffin roared in pain and quickly spun around looking straight at me with fury in its eyes.
Seeing that I had started the attack my sisters also prepared their own spells then launched their own attacks, but as we no longer had the element of surprise the griffin easily dodged them.
I decided that as I stood at a least twice its height I would let my sisters use mana as I charged forward to keep its focus and allow for their spells to hit their target.
As I charged forward I covered more than twenty yards with each bound, quickly reaching my target.
The griffin quickly jumped to the side to avoid my charge, but I spun around and brought my spiked tail down on its side, launching the griffin a few yards away.
With it trying to regain its footing my sisters knew that this was the perfect time to strike and Corentine unleashed a bolt of lightning, striking it square in the chest paralyzing the beast.
With it now struggling to move I calmly walked up to it, looking down at the beast I could see the fire still raging in its eyes.
I quickly brought my head down and bit down on its neck and broke its neck with a dull snap.
And with that the fight was over, and my sisters walked over to the now dead griffin.
"We are really becoming quite the team!" Apollonia said with a proud expression. I could only chuckle in response as Corentine nodded.
"I think that any one of us could have taken this beast alone, but we were only able to come out unscathed due to our practice." I said.
My sisters looked up at me happily before I walked over to the partially eaten elk, before picking it up and swallowing it whole.
I then looked back over at my sisters and motioned for them to have the Griffin, I was more than satisfied with the meal for now so I had no need of the griffin.
They quickly started to dig in, and before long there was nothing left of the once mighty beast.