"dry"
Sweat drops fell to the ground, but something felt different, finally I opened my eyes, the darkness was present because it was night but because there are spores.
"Something's wrong" Encrid interrupted my thoughts.
"What do you mean?"
"You're spores, they're not normal they're from a monster"
"But don't detect any monsters near here, there's no way I wouldn't have known before."
What the hell was going on, spores suddenly appeared, which means it's a monster but as I knew, I must have been able to detect some unusual movement in the manna so I could know if there was a monster nearby or not.
Then how could I not have known?
"Spirit"
I got up and quickly left the place with all my secrecy using some manna, so I could approach the camp where Alicia, Clara and Dik were.
I finally got here but.
"Where is Clara" I only separated from them less than five minutes then where was Clara.
It's impossible that I haven't noticed it somewhere nearby then how it disappeared, or there's something wrong with it right now and those spores have something to do with it.
So I decided to focus, closed my eyes and tried to find some manna trail from Clara.
Then I found it, but it wasn't alone, it was a strange manna is earth element but that element is of nature then what the hell is that manna has, by the circuit of the body where that manna is is something very large by at least ten or fifteen meters high, also shows a strangely familiar humanoid body.
Not so familiar but it looks like the human body but its head is strange, the manna circuit in the head of that thing showed the round top of a fungus, was identical.
Then he's a monster.
I opened my eyes and quickly ran out in that direction.
But something was still in my mind, how Clara got to that place, looking at the manna where she's standing in front of that thing was definitely about ten meters long from where she was absorbing manna a few minutes ago.
"I must get there quickly" finally arrived and then.
"Raaaaagghh-KKRRRAAAWW!!!"
The monster roared, had a roar that created sound waves so my ears had a strong effect after the roar, started bleeding and I was stunned for a few seconds, but I quickly recovered.
[Arrow of Darkness]
A dark arrow appeared in my hand, quickly throwing it towards the round top, where I think it is the head of the monster.
"Boom!"
Then the arrow hit and caused a big explosion, the fire rose so high in the air and the heat intensified more than usual, the fire covered the whole body of the monster that was about fifteen meters or so.
"That doesn't work, it must be a stronger attack," Encrid said.
"I see, but first we have to make sure Clara's okay."
As the fire faded, I ran quickly towards Clara. I finally got to her and asked:
"Are you all right?"
"Yes... - Thank you. I thought I'd die."
She was very frightened, but from her way of speaking it seemed like she had already been in situations like this, so she quickly calmed down.
"This is a monster called Fungoru, it's grade 8."
"Grade 8?"
Like dungeons, monsters are also classified by "grade". Following the rule of dungeon ranges, a grade 9 would be the easiest and so on up to grade 1, which would be the most difficult. It's like the level of a monster in a game, where the smaller the number, the stronger the opponent.
Then, if it's grade 8, I could beat him, but I'd be risking too much alone to face him. Seeing Clara, I came up with an idea.
I wasn't sure it would work, but I'd better try.
"Do you have any long-range spells?"
"Yes, it's called 'Dissolving Hand'."
"Then use it when I tell you."
Clara nodded quickly. He separated and positioned himself with both hands ready, a green glow emanated from them as he spoke:
"When you give me the signal, I'il use the ability."
I nodded to Clara's words, drew my sword quickly and created a manna shield in my other hand.
The fire had spread, so the monster managed to see me. A large red eye stood by me while her huge mouth, full of sharp teeth and large size, showed them with a smile.
I ran around and jumped. I moved the bow-shaped sword and tried to strike a blow to the monster's head.
"Clank."
The sword hit the monster's claws, and then the monster disappeared from my sight. Instead, three claws appeared in front of me.
"Screaming."
The sparks flared up in the air, so I turned around and counterattacked quickly. I fell to the ground, but I didn't stop. It was a moment, but I pushed with manna to move faster. Then I waved my sword near the monster's big eye.
"Grrrooooaaaaaaaaahhhh."
The monster roared in pain, but I didn't stop. I softened my sword again, but this time the monster was faster.
"W—how…?"
Spores came out of the monster as it moved at great speed. That's when I came out shot from the right side and crashed into a big tree.
"Ban!!"
When I hit the tree, a loud sound echoed as the blood ran down my throat and out my mouth. I fell to the ground, panting. Quickly, using my sword, I stood, although two ribs broke.
"Raaaaagghh-KKRRRAAAWW!!!"
The monster roared again and quickly swung towards me. Using the manna, I created a ball of darkness and aimed at the big eye, throwing it.
"Boom!"
I managed to strike, but the monster came out with large scratches as the fire enveloped him. His whole body burned, but he kept running at me with fury.
I quickly ran to the left side, drawing the sword as it hit the ground.
"Aim for his head, it's his weakness," Encrid said.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. If you concentrate, you can see that there is an area where manna is very accumulated."
I closed my eyes and looked at the monster's head. Several eyes were there, but I ignored them and focused on a large sphere throughout the monster's head.
That's true, but how did you get to that part?"
"Find a high spot and try to push yourself with manna."
I looked around and finally found an area high enough. I ran towards that place, climbed part of a tree and quickly the manna moved towards my legs, pushing me as I was halfway up the giant tree, as if it were a straight wall I took momentum.
I approached the monster and drew my sword directly to his head, preparing to stab.
"Spring"
The sword went through the monster's head.
"Grrroooaaaaaaaaahhhh"
"Shit
The monster shook heavily and crashed into a tree. I jumped at the right moment and screamed:
"Now cast the spell."
Clara's hands radiated a green glow, but nothing happened immediately. Then my attention focused on the ground where the monster lay. The manna began to circulate on the ground, which became a bubbling green and black liquid. I watched the monster start to disintegrate and scream hard.
"Raaaaaagghh-KKRRRAAAWW!!!"
It was an incredible scene. The monster began to melt slowly, half of his body dissolved and managed to free himself. I quickly prepared and formed a ball of darkness.
"You've come this far.
"Boom!"
The place was lit with black flames. An explosion resonated strongly and only the ashes of the monster were left. I looked at the head of the monster where the manna was scattered in the air.
I looked back and Clara came up to me.
"We won, it was incredible. You moved very fast and above all you used your magic very well when calculating where to attack the monster."
Geez, it's not a big deal.
"Kuar!!!"
That's when I spat a lot of blood. They had broken two ribs and not only that, some arteries and organs were compromised.
The pain was intense, but luckily it didn't last long. Blood loss was worrying; if blood continued to cough, it could have serious complications from bleeding.
"Are you okay?" asked Clara worried.
I'm fine, but I have to stop the bleeding. I think I got blown up by some organ when Fongoru hit me."
This monster, called Fongoru, was definitely strong. For some reason he was classified as a grade 8 monster, with high agility and great resistance. But his spore attack was especially dangerous: just breathing it would be like swallowing poison.
Come on, that monster's spores are poisonous.
I looked around and saw that everything was full of spores. Although there were explosions, the spores were not burned and it was definitely dangerous to stay there longer.
Finally, I watched the monster's body. The black flames still enveloped him, but something seemed strange to me.
I looked at Clara, but I didn't seem to be paying attention to my magic. Had Encrid intervened in my magic, or was she the one who hadn't noticed because of the fight with the monster?
Whining, I looked at Clara one last time. feeling close to collapsing.
"I got you, you can't stay up long."
Fortunately, she grabbed my waist and put my hand around her neck, keeping the other close to my chest where I had suffered internal injuries.
Finally, we started moving. The fire that had caused the previous explosions had dissipated; the only flames left were the black ones consuming the monster's body. Finally, we're moving away from the place.
***
— Change of scene.
The magic of curses is really impressive. A spell that can melt the opponent so easily, despite his resistance, is a great spell of harm. It would be very effective against speed-dependent monsters, as in this situation.
We finally made it to camp. We'd been away for at least an hour, but Alice was asleep. Dik was the only one awake, sharpening his sword carefully.
"Tsk... You're the only ones having fun," Dik whispered, frowning as he turned to us.
I looked downtown where Alicia was resting.
"She's always this sleepy."
"If that's the case, I'il wake her up."
I sat on the floor and watched the night sky. Finally, I heard Alice's voice.
"What the hell happened to them?"
"We were attacked by a Fongoru," I replied.
"You two... A Fongoru is grade 8, but it's not just that. They usually move in groups of four."
"... What?"
There was definitely one, so why did Alice just say that?
"Let's get ready. It is possible that the others of Fongoru's group are approaching."
"What? But we only found one," I replied surprised.
"These monsters hunt individually, so they only found one," Alice explained.
"So, what do we do? One of them did a lot of damage to me," he said.
"We must be prepared. There is no time to create traps or defenses," Alice replied seriously.
Everything was turning against us. I never imagined such a powerful monster would be in groups. If one was hunting, the others should be far away. If you only hunt individually, it may be time before the rest of the monster group arrives.
There is therefore a small chance that we will take advantage of that short time in our favour.
"You say they hunt individually, so there's time for them to gather and get here."
"You're right," Alice said surprised.
There's still time if I'm right, but the problem would be which traps are the best to use at the moment; they're fast and resistant monsters, so they'd be traps on the ground.
"Let's hide some stakes on the ground."
"Stakes, what do you mean?"
"He's a fast and tough monster, which means he'll come running towards us. So, if we dig some holes big enough, we can stake them. At that moment, as he comes, he won't notice the ground and that would be the perfect moment."
Everyone looked at me surprised, but what's so weird about it? Without survival tactics, it's a way of hunting animals.
"But digging holes..."
"I'il do it," Dik intervened.
"You?"
"..."
"Yeah, me. Is there a problem?"
"All right."
We spent the next few minutes doing all the traps fast enough and finally ended up.
Each of the group hid in the trees waiting for the Fongoru to arrive; then, spores began to accumulate in the air, surrounding the entire area.
"Sound deaf."
I looked up and there were three monsters. Fighting only one is complicated, but this is difficult.
"Shit, it's gonna be hard to deal with three of them."