After resolving their problems, Cecil led Lucia and Scarlet Blaze into the forest.
"So... yeah, sorry about earlier again... I've already been through this part and cleared most of the monsters nearby so let's use the path and go deeper into the forest and start our hunting."
Hearing him say that, Lucia's anger started boiling up again, but remembering that they should begin hunting now, Lucia calmed herself down.
"So, Cel... did you get the proofs of subjugation from the monsters you defeated earlier?" Lucia asks.
"Eh? Uh... no... I didn't think the hunting event would be situated here..."
"Even without the event, shouldn't you still get the proofs? We could earn money from the guild remember?! Stupid Cel?!"
"Geh... sorry..."
Cecil lowered his head in dejection. He really wasn't thinking about that. He was elated at the results of his training that he only crushed all the monsters in his way and didn't harvest any materials or even take the proofs of subjugation. Seeing the two, one black and one white 3-tailed foxkins, arguing like that, the party Scarlet Blaze felt that the duo were somehow fitting even when the scene in front of them was nowhere near harmonious.
"Uh... you two... I think it's alright. Cecil didn't know, so how about we move ahead following Cecil's path out. The corpses will still be there so we can just get the proofs and materials while we're at it." Miles suggested.
"YEAH! Let's do that!!!
"Keep it down, Tyr. Are you trying to attract all the monsters to us?!"
"S-sorry."
It was a good suggestion. Lucia then ordered Cecil to lead them into the forest following the path that he took, so they could retrace his steps. In the forest, Milly was a bit concerned that Cecil and Silver were the ones at the front since this wasn't in their formation.
"Uhm, shouldn't we have my brother in the front and Cecil and Tyr guarding us?" Milly stepped over to Lucia and asked.
"No worries. Let them stay ahead. Later when a fight starts, observe how we fight first, so we don't accidently get in each other's ways." Lucia responds.
"Makes sense. Later you should observe how we fight too."
"Of course, Cecil and I will adjust ourselves with the party."
"Okay!"
At the front, Cecil suddenly raised his voice in alarm, alerting the entire party.
"Forest ram! A dozen or so at our 10 o'clock!"
Hearing the warning from Cecil, the party quickly got ready for battle. Lucia turned to Milly and the rest and said, "Remember, observe us first. If you think we need help, then you can back us up!"
"Okay! You hear that everyone?! We'll observe how they fight first! If they need help, only then we'll help!"
""Yes!"" "Y-yes..."
Scarlet Blaze quickly distanced themselves a bit and began observing Lucia and Cecil, to see how they fight. They didn't move too far, just enough so that they were at a distance where they could rush back in to help the two foxkins and wolf in case they needed help.
Seeing that they were in positions, Lucia walked over and stood behind Cecil with her spells at the ready. Cecil nodded back at her before turning to Silver, "Silver! Don't interfere in this one! It's gonna be just me and Lucia fighting!"
"Raaah!"
Silver gave an affirmative bark and jumped back, landing a few feet away from Milly and her party.
"Okay, Lulu. Let's do this!"
"Yes!"
Although the two had only been having arguments all this morning, they were completely in sync right now and ready to do battle. Milly and the rest were a little worried because the two's monster companion had stepped back with the intention of not joining the fight. Of course, Cecil was the one who ordered it, but they still couldn't help worrying about them. It seemed reckless to fight against a herd of forest rams with just the two of them.
However, one of the people in the party had complete faith in the two foxkins. Tyr, with his usual loud voice, immediately started shouting, "SEE! SEE! I told you! They're strong! They totally got this!! Just look at how confident they are!"
The fight hadn't even started yet, but Tyr was already shouting for their victory.
"Settle down!" Milly immediately scolded. "You might just attract more monsters with that loud voice of yours!"
"Sorry~"
Just as they finished bickering, the group of forest rams had finally arrived. They emerged from behind a large tree and after seeing the people in front of them, the one in the lead immediately let out a cry and started the herd's stampede. The pack of 12 or so rams started charging at Cecil and Lucia, but the two didn't seem scared at all. What happened next completely surprised Milly and the rest of her party.
Without saying a word to Lucia, Cecil kicked off the ground and immediately rushed towards the incoming stampede of forest rams. Before the distance between Cecil and the rams were completely narrowed and the two sides were about to collide, 6 fireballs flew overhead and just before they struck the pack of monsters, Lucia commanded, "Explode!"
The fireballs immediately exploded at Lucia's command and the front most rams were caught in the explosion. They were knocked away by the explosion and the ones behind them were startled to a stop or kept on going and collided with their kin.
Without stopping, Cecil rushed into the smoke caused by the explosion and jumped straight up. He wrapped his hands with mana and when he landed in the middle of the herd, he struck the ground with his mana empowered fist and injected his mana deep into the ground.
"Ground Breaker!"
BOOOOM
With Cecil at the center, the surrounding earth collapsed and burst apart. The rams nearby were launched into the air and struck by the exploding earth shrapnel that was caused by Cecil's strike to the ground and they all let out cries of pain. Lucia was surprised to see Cecil use an earth system spell, but she quickly regained her bearings and started chanting. Once the incantation was finished, she fired her spell at the hapless rams that were scattered around due to Cecil's one attack.
"Fox Flame Lance!"
Lucia's spell struck all of the monsters within her line of sight, stabbing through them and engulfing them in blue foxfire flames. Thanks to Cecil's set up, she didn't have to strain herself when attacking the monsters with her 1 spell. A lot of the Forest Rams died from her spell and the ones that were still alive were promptly dealt with by Cecil as he went around and struck each of the surviving rams with his mana-empowered fists.
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He injected his mana straight into the monsters and exploded it inside of them. What he did basically crushed all of their internal organs resulting in their deaths. From an outsider's perspective, it looked like Cecil only struck each Forest Ram once and killed them with a single punch. There was nothing flashy about their battle, it started quickly and ended just the same. Their fight was clean and efficient.
Activating his mana sight for a bit, Cecil scanned the area and saw that there were no monsters in the vicinity and all the rams were defeated. He turned around and gave Lucia a thumbs up.
"Nice one, Lulu!"
Hearing the compliment, Lucia relaxed knowing that the battle was over and started smiling back at Cecil. Seeing as the battle was already over, Milly and the rest who were standing a bit away from the pair were surprised at how efficient and quick the battle went. They thought that with the large amount of rams in the pack, Cecil and Lucia would need their help at some point. They didn't expect the pair to end the fight so quickly and cleanly.
The party quickly rushed over to the duo and Milly exclaimed, "WOW! That was so cool! The spells you guys used were simple, but highly effective!"
The party nodded at her words, then Miles continued, "I was surprised at first, seeing as Cecil rushed towards the pack without taking out his sword, but who would have thought that you would use a spell like that. That spell was ground breaker, yes?"
Cecil replied, "Yes, it was suited for the situation. I create opportunities for Lucia and rely on her for offense. I help her set up an opportunity while she attacks and she cleans them up in one go. If there's any stragglers, I take care of them with either my swords or my fists."
"That's AMAZING! So that's your usual style?!" Tyr asked excitedly.
To his question, Lucia quickly responded, "Not all the time, it depends on the situation. Sometimes, Cecil fights all the monsters himself if there's only 4-5 of them."
"I-isn't that d-dangerous?" Cathy asked worriedly.
"We're used to it. Besides, we always have Silver backing us up in case things go south," Cecil responded offhandedly. "Though that rarely happens."
"O-oh.."
Hearing Cecil respond like that made Cathy even more worried. She immediately turned to Lucia and asked, "A-are you okay with t-that... Lucia?"
"I trust in Cel. Besides, he's really strong you know!" Lucia replied with a happy smile.
"Okay, next fight is our party's turn!" Milly exclaimed.
"OUR TURN! OUR TURN!!" shouted Tyr.
Cecil nodded and said, "Okay, we'll stay at the back and let you guys fight. We'll support you when we feel that it's necessary!"
"Alright! Let's go!"
With a spirited bounce, Milly walked off, leading the party deeper into the forest. Before she could go any further, however, Miles suddenly called out to her and everyone else, "You guys, stop!"
"W-what is it Miles?"
"Aren't we forgetting something?"
"Rawr!"
At Silver's bark, Lucia immediately remembered what they forgot, "Shouldn't we collect the subjugation proofs first?"
"""Oh yeah!"""
--------------------------------------
It was already midday and Cecil and his temporary party were deep in the forest. During the past couple of hours, the group was constantly fighting the monsters that were densely packed together in the forest. They had already gone farther than Cecil had during his quick trek through the forest earlier in the morning.
During this time, they had met other parties that were similarly participating in the monster hunting event. There was an unwritten rule during the event that parties could help each other if it looked like a party needed or requested for help, but if not, then it was sensible to avoid each other to prevent problems like kill-stealing and such. A simple greeting was enough to show their friendliness and each party would be on their separate ways soon after.
Even though Cecil's party was a bunch of teenagers, not one party they came across underestimated or looked down on them. Instead, the veteran's that were participating gave them words of encouragement or even cautioning them about any strong packs that they sensed in the forest. This was supposed to be a competition, but everyone was acting very amicable.
"This seriously doesn't feel like a contest or anything..." Cecil suddenly said aloud, leaking his thoughts out.
Hearing his words, Tyr quickly asked, "Why's that, Cecil?!"
"Well... every party we come across has practically been helping us out."
Hearing what Cecil said, Miles similarly raised his voice, "That's because this isn't a game. Although the event is a contest, we're still putting our lives on the line killing monsters. Vying for first place is good and all, but our lives are much more important and everyone understands that."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
What Miles said made Cecil remember that this event wasn't like any contest or event back on Earth. On Earth, every contest was just for sport and for fun. Here, even a simple contest like this could cost you your life.
"Anyways, every party is expected to watch each other out on the field. You should never leave your fellow adventurer in the rut if they're in trouble," explained Miles.
"Understood."
"Enough chitchat! I sense another pack of monsters coming right for us!" Sensing a pack of monsters heading towards them, Milly quickly alerted the party.
Cathy quickly used a sensing spell and reported her findings to the party, "...They're b-barbed apes. T-There are 15 o-or so of them...t-there could be m-more around the a-area..."
"Let's finish this quickly!"
After fighting against the monsters in the forest for almost half a day, Cecil and Lucia were able to adapt themselves perfectly with Scarlet Blaze's fighting style. Tyr and Miles were the vanguard, and they had Cathy stay in the center of the group since she was the healer while Milly was at the rear.
Scarlet Blaze's fighting style revolved around the two vanguards attracting the enemies' attention while Milly, who was at the rear, would deal the bulk of the damage with her fire attributed spells. With Lucia there, Milly had some extra help, so the party was able to finish off groups of monsters with utmost efficiency. Cecil and Silver acted as the party's support team. They moved in between the rearguard and vanguard, providing their help and protection where it was necessary.
"Lucia! Let's take care of them quickly!"
"Alright... Enchant – Foxfire!"
Lucia quickly casted an enchant spell and buffed Miles and Tyr's weapons with foxfire. The barbed apes were now in the party's visual range. They could see the apes charging towards them on the ground or swinging and jumping from tree to tree. Tyr quickly thanked Lucia and recklessly rushed at the monsters.
"Thanks! Okay, here they come! Let's crush them! HAHAHA!"
Seeing as Tyr was already rushing towards the pack excitedly, Miles followed behind while tiredly saying, "...don't get careless."
Right when Tyr and the pack were about to collide, Tyr jumped and sent a flying kick at the front most barbed ape.
"HIYAAAAHHHAHA!!!"
Before the fight began, Tyr had already strengthened himself with fire-type body enhancement spells and stacking that with Lucia's enchantments, he was practically a moving tank right now. By borrowing the momentum from his running kick Tyr sent the ape careening back to its friends. The ape collided with the others behind him and nearly halted the packs charge.
The apes on the trees pounced down towards Tyr, but Miles had already arrived next to him and slashed the 2 apes in front with his sword, while the others were taken care of by Silver, Lucia and Milly's magic spells. Silver sent out a wind blade bisecting 2 apes that were pouncing at Tyr, while the other apes were impaled by Lucia and Milly's flame lances.
While everyone else was busy with their fight at the front. Cathy kept a look around the area while also paying close attention to the fight, so at a moment's notice she'd be ready to cast a support or healing spell. Cecil on the other hand was on top of a tree branch. He was looking around with his mana sight, checking whether there were any other monster packs around them. After confirming that everything was fine, he was just about to jump down and join the fight only to see that it was already over.
"...Hey, how come I'm stuck with the boring jobs?" Cecil asked exasperatedly.
"Punishment... for not listening to me earlier~" Lucia said while collecting the barbed apes' ears.
"Come on already... if it's like that, then Silver should also be doing the same!" He countered.
"Hahaha~ no," Lucia replied with a deadpanned expression.
Seeing the two at it again, Milly laughed and said, "You two really can't give it a rest, huh? Well, Cecil, it's not that we don't want your help, but if you joined then it wouldn't be a 'hunt' anymore."
Hearing Milly, Cecil could only groan in displeasure. It wasn't his fault. Cecil's particular skillset just sort of changed their plans of hunting monsters. If he did join in, it would no longer be a hunt... but a slaughter instead.
A while back, when the group was fighting together, Tyr instinctively felt that Cecil was somewhat holding back. At first, Miles was upset since they were hunting with their lives on the line and Cecil was holding back. He thought that it would be an issue if a problem arose because one of them wasn't taking the hunt seriously. At the time, Lucia wanted to say something only to have 3 packs of monsters suddenly ambush them on all sides.
Scarlet Blaze's response was to put up a solid defense and send an SOS using magic, but Cecil, Lucia and Silver quickly stepped in and resolved the crisis easily. Lucia's tactics didn't change. She kept firing her spells like a battery. Only this time the one setting up opportunities for her was Silver instead of Cecil.
In the fight, Cecil was using an original spell he created which was called 'Mana Burst'. Mana Burst was a spell Cecil created so he could enhance his body with mana in short bursts. This way he could use the non-elemental body strengthening magic without destroying his mind or body. The trick was to quickly infuse mana into parts of his body in short frames of time, merely a second or less, which he would then release it out into the environment. This kind of delicate mana manipulation was only made possible by his mana sight.
Since his mana sight still wasn't perfect yet, he had to be careful not to mistake his enhancement time. If he had perfect mana sight, then Cecil believed that he would be able to use the Mana Burst spell for longer periods of time without breaking down his mind and body. Another thing, with Mana Burst, Cecil was also able to imitate a limited amount of magic spells from other elemental systems.
An example would be Cecil's version of the Ground Breaker spell that he used in his first fight with Scarlet Blaze.
In fact, the spell Cecil used wasn't the Ground Breaker spell at all. The Ground Breaker was a spell of the earth element system. Cecil was a non-elemental user so there was no way he could have used the spell at all. What he used to match the spell 'Ground Breaker' all relied on only the strength of his body after using Mana Burst.
What Cecil did was he infused mana into his fist, empowering it. Then he quickly punched the ground, the first impact would split the earth open around his first. After his fist was in the ground, he would then quickly channel the mana infused in his fist into the earth, after which he manipulated the mana and made it explode, causing the ground to rupture. The only reason Cecil shouted out the name of the spell was because 1. He thought it was cool and 2. To prevent anyone from knowing he was a non-elemental user.
Anyhow, by relying on his custom spell, Mana Burst. Cecil was able to deal with the dire situation they were in rather easily. He repeatedly used 'Ground Breaker', 'Rock Bullet', and 'Wind Sickle' to quickly deal with the monsters that were attacking the group at the time. It was really incredible seeing so many 'spells' used in quick succession like that. The aftermath left Scarlet Blaze in a daze because all of the monsters had been killed way too easily.
Lucia was upset because she couldn't 'practice' her magic. So she banned Cecil from fighting with them unless they were in a life or death crisis. This naturally led to their current situation, where Cecil was left on lookout duty while the rest fought and hunted the monsters.
"... Are we going in any further?" Cecil asked.
"Let's quickly collect the materials and proofs then head further in," replied Milly.
The group was already about done collecting their spoils. After a quick clean up, they headed further into the forest in search of more monsters.