The battle concluded as the only thing left was an enormous crater.
Sounds of the wolf's organs splattering against the ground were the only thing breaking the silence in the air.
Dirt moved in the crater as someone covered in slick elastic fabric dug out from the rubble.
"It was such a good idea to take the rubber blanket." Luna took off the material and hid it back into her backpack.
She was mostly fine, aside from a few minor injuries that her regeneration ability could quickly heal.
"But I have to say," she looked around, marveling at the destruction caused by the beam, "that was a pretty amazing attack. I hope I can absorb it."
She couldn't be more excited, but taking care of the wounded was more important right now. She took out all the potions from her bag.
It took some time to move the four wounded slayer candidates. Their armors were left behind due to their weight.
Luna moved them with utmost care not to worsen their conditions.
The problem was that health potions only work if the person swallowed them, which wasn't possible in their current state.
"sigh You leave me no choice." The corks keeping the bottles shut were popped off. Their contents poured into Luna's mouth, puffing her cheeks out like a hamster.
She force-fed them the potions mouth to mouth, making sure it went down their throats.
After doing so with each one, she sat in front, waiting to see the effects. Luckily, thanks to finding them so fast, everything went smoothly and the wounds started to close.
"ugh What happened?" One of them even regained consciousness, putting his hand on the closed wound.
"You lost." She picked up two of the three men who were still not awake. "Now help me pick up your friends." She pointed towards the last one.
He complied, grabbing the last one. And with that, they were on their way back to the fort.
Luna took a quick detour next to the corpse. The man waiting a few steps back to let her finish.
The purple mist came out but didn't register the remains as an eligible target due to their mutilated state.
"Stupid piece of shit!" She kicked the carcass, all of this, and she couldn't even gain any power from it?
Her anger calmed down a bit when she saw the head of this beast, snatching two fangs from it. "I will at least take this, though." She put them in the same pocket as the fangs from the previous wolf.
'I will find a good use for you later.' The girl smirked.
"Are you ready now?" The failed contestant asked, clearly uncomfortable and still in mild amounts of pain.
"Yes, let's go." The walk back was long because of the baggage they had. Halfway to the fort they met up with the last failed candidate who couldn't get any help from the slayers in the fort.
He was visibly exhausted from all the running he did, supporting himself against the tree. "They were all cough cough too drunk." He exhaled deeply.
"Thanks anyway. Now help your friend with that guy, and let's get all of you to the infirmary." They continued their walk back.
They arrived by morning, getting spotted by a scout on a watchtower.
One nice thing about Slayer senses is that you never get a hangover, meaning everyone was in good condition after an all-night drinking spree.
"They are back! The candidates are back!" The scout shouted, making everyone run towards them, checking if everything is alright.
The five injured men were taken to the infirmary to be treated by medics; luckily, none were in critical condition thanks to Luna's help.
After hearing an explanation from her, Rogard scratched his beard and got lost in thought.
"So all of them failed?" He sat down on the chair, defeated, furious at their performance. "And we spent so much time preparing them for it..." The many expenses put into training them going to waste made the chief go pale.
"Look at it the other way. I defeated a thunder wolf myself." The girl puffed out her chest and stared at her chief, waiting patiently for what he would say.
"That's true; you were pretty decent... Anyway, leave me alone for now so I can finish the paperwork." He waved his arm weakly, already lost in the documents in front of him.
The girl pouted and left angrily; on her way outside, everyone was congratulating her for the achievements of the previous day.
"What's on your mind?" A grumpy voice sounded loudly, but she couldn't see the source. "Down here!" A strong punch hit her in the ribs.
Luna looked down to see Sillia standing in front. "I'm so sorry, Aunt Sillia... I didn't see you." She bowed to apologize. "I was thinking where Vulcanus might be."
"Oh? Not even a full day of being a slayer and already a request from the smith?" The short woman looked at her with a curious expression.
"Is it a dagger? Or maybe an accessory? Sillia tried to guess the request based on what Luna had on herself.
"It's an accessory." The girl took out four fangs from the previous day's hunt and presented them.
Sillia's eyes lit up like candles. "Wow! He will for sure find something to do with those. Let's get to him right away!" She grabbed the new slayer's hand and rushed towards the blacksmith's house.
The short woman was banging on the door of his residence moments later. "You old fart! I know you are inside!"
With a powerful push from the inside, they were opened, revealing a well-built man with a grey beard and bald head.
His expression was filled with rage. "Who did you call an old fart!" As he looked down and saw the short woman, his expression changed into a wide smile. "Oh, it's you, Sillia! Come inside."
The insides were way cozier than Luna ever expected. Half of it looked better than Sillia's room in the tower. The other half were different instruments used for smithing.
"What brings the two of you here?" Vulcanus asked while sitting on a couch.
"I'm here to ask for an accessory to be made." Luna put the materials on the table in front of him, making the smith's eye sparkle just like Sillia's did.
They were of such a high quality that he stood up and examined them closely. A glint of grey light emitted from his left eye.
"That's the first time I see a new slayer with a three-star material." A piece of paper hanging on the wall became an outlet for his creativity.
It was quickly being filled with endless possibilities. Elaborate designs tailored specifically to Luna's frame filled the white canvas.
"It's amazing every time I see it," Sillia said while glancing for a moment at the girl. Luna nodded in agreement before stepping closer to the master smith.
"Sorry, how long will it take?" She asked, not wanting to spend her whole day there.
"It will be done once I say it is." Vulcanus hissed at her, too absorbed in comparing ideas on paper.
With an exaggerated sigh, she fell down on the couch, the cushion sinking under her weight.
"You might be here for a while." A smirk on the short woman's face. "Have fun!" She ran off while giggling.
Hours passed by; she couldn't even leave because Vulcanus was taking more and more measurements, be that of her arms or neck.
It was clearly visible that the man was spiraling out of control as his ideas became less and less coherent. Her eyes grew heavy due to the boredom.
...
"So what do you think?" A sudden voice woke her up from a nap.
"What do I think of what?" Luna wiped her eye boogers and looked at him.
"Of my final design!" Vulcanus showed her a blueprint, his eyes shining with excitement like those of a kid.
The design in question seemed to be a necklace with the fangs in the middle.
"And which attributes will it boost?" Luna asked. She knew what pieces of monsters are worth saving, not what effect they gave to a piece of equipment.
He scoffed at her lack of knowledge. "It will be a surprise then." He started rolling the blueprint and putting it in the crate with only a few other pieces of paper; next to it was a trash can overflowing with failed ideas.
"Fine... how much do I need to pay?" She said with a monotone voice, but inside she was jumping with joy that her visit was about to end.
"This time I will do it for free... Consider it a reward for saving those kids." He tore a small piece of paper and wrote a few words on it.
"Take this; it has all of the ingredients needed to finish this project." He handed it over to Luna.
Her eyes almost fell out as she took a peek.
"Blood jewel?" Do you know how expensive it is? And the dwarven silk? It will take a year to order that!" Luna lashed out at the smith, thinking he was playing a prank on her.
"This just shows how good of an accessory it will turn out to be." He shrugged and pushed the fresh slayer out. "Now go away; I'm busy." The doors closed shut.
'What will I do now...' She was lost in thought, her previous plans completely ruined. And all of that thanks to Vulcanus wanting some unimaginably hard-to-obtain materials.
She was lost in thought, thinking of her plan. She spotted the failed contestants leaving through the gates.
One of them spotted her and ran up to her with a serious look on his face.