The group arrived at their destination, the Alka Mountain Range, when it was deep into the night. They decided to camp near the river that was running down from the Alka Mountain Range for the night, but it took another 15 minutes or so for their group to finally find a suitable campsite.
When the carriage stopped moving, Ainz quickly jumped off and ran towards a tree before he began throwing up. Cecil had fallen asleep on the road, so it was Fina and Lucia who were driving the carriage. Oddly enough, it was only the girls who had enjoyed the trip.
"Nahahaha~ Ainz you're soooo weak!" Lucia mocked.
"Sh-Shut it! Oop! BLERRRGGHHH!!!"
"Ew, disgusting! You better burn all that and clean up after you're done! I don't want to smell the disgusting stench of your lunch later!"
"D-Damn it!!! BLEEERRRGGHHH!!"
Cecil finally woke up from his slumber and the first thing he saw was the white furred face of his pet looking down on him.
"What is it, Silv?"
"WOOF!"
"Hm?"
Cecil quickly got up and took a look around, it was dark with only the stars in the sky illuminating their surroundings. He turned towards Lucia and the girls who were setting up camp and asked, "We're here?"
"Yup! Go wash your face in the river. Also, please go help out Ainz over there... he's just too pitiful to watch now." Lucia replied while pointing at Ainz.
"Huh? What's wrong with Ainz?"
Cecil looked towards his friend and saw him pale faced and in the midst of throwing up all his lunch.
"Ugh..." Cecil grimaced, but he still made his way over to Ainz.
He quickly rubbed his back and pressed some pressure points on his body. Cecil also began lightly kneading his friend's temples.
"Urgh... thanks Cecil... phew, I feel much better now. What the heck was that?"
"It's just some technique my parents taught me, helps me get better from sickness quicker."
"Woah, you can actually fall sick?"
"...I'm only hum–I mean, beastkin y'know...I'm no god." Cecil replied.
"Ahaha~ yeah I guess."
Ainz turned towards the vomit on the ground. He raised a hand to cast a fire spell and burnt away the vomit. He then cast a wind magic and cleared the air of the disgusting smell. The two boys quickly washed their faces in the river and fetched some water for the girls.
After having a quick dinner, the group quickly went to bed. They had already established their night watch rotations with Cecil being the first to keep watch since he had already slept on the carriage earlier. When the sun finally rose up into the air, the group was already ready to begin their hunt.
"Today's target is... 20 golems? Well, let's make it 30. It's a good opportunity to train, so everyone will be required to take down 5 golems on their own. Bring their cores as proof! Once we're finished, we'll quickly head back to the city!"
"So, we're all doing it alone this time?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yup, any problems?"
"No, not really... but what about Fina? She's our support and healer..."
Cecil turned towards Fina who was staring back at him with a determined look in her eyes.
"Don't worry! I can handle it! If it's too much for me, I can just run away!"
Cecil nodded and turned towards the rest, "No one else has any objections?"
"Haha, 5 is too little for the great me! I'll be done long before lunch!" Ainz said, he turned around and began walking deeper into the mountains.
Elizabeth shrugged and followed suit. Velicia stretched a bit before she too, pounced into the mountain range.
"Fina, if you want. I can assign Silver to you so that he can keep you safe."
"Hmm... although I do welcome the thought, it's okay. I'll do it alone this time. Besides I'm a Water Mage too, remember? I have the elemental advantage against these golems!"
"Haha, you're right. Well, don't overdo it and remember to keep your safety as your number one priority!"
"Thanks, Cecil! Don't worry I'll do my best!" Fina confidently said. She turned around and eyed the mountain range. She took a deep breath and began walking up into the mountains, searching for her targets.
"...I'll go and keep an eye on them?" Lucia asked.
"Sure, just make sure they don't know you're there."
"That's simple." Lucia said, and began casting an illusion magic on herself. She slowly began to fade away as her presence was also extinguished. Cecil could still see her with his Mana Eyes, but if he deactivated them, he would have to concentrate hard on his senses to be able to pick out her location.
Cecil whistled while rubbing his fox ears and saying to himself, "Lulu's Illusion magic is abnormally powerful. It's borderline transformation magic..."
Ever since he got used to staying in his fox form, Cecil formed a habit of rubbing his ears and stroking his tails every now and then. The sensation coming from them just felt so real that it fascinated him. His fox form 'illusion' was more like a 'transformation' instead, and he began wondering if Lucia's Illusion magic had been upgraded to Transformation magic at some point.
Cecil shelved his curiosity and turned towards Silver who was lying down by the carriage and said, "Silv, keep watch of our stuff! I'll be heading off now."
"WOOF!"
"Alright, let's go hunting."
Cecil activated Mana Burst and disappeared into the mountains.
-----------------------------------------------------
Over at Ainz's side, the lizardkin mage was currently trekking through the rugged mountain range. He had cast a body enhancement spell on himself and was easily leaping from place to place. He quickly spotted a lone golem that was wandering around a small plateau like area. He quickly hid behind a boulder and began casting his magic. Once he finished his incantation, he jumped out from behind the boulder and pointed his staff at the ground under the Armamite Golem.
"Permeate into the ground and trap my enemies! Quagmire!"
The ground under the golem began to soften and a large quagmire formed. The heavy golem began sinking into the ground right away. It began to struggle and tried to move out of the quagmire, but before it could do so, Ainz had already sent his next spell flying towards it.
"Flame Lance!"
There wasn't just one Flame Lance... Ainz had sent a flurry of Flame Lances shooting towards the golem. When the spell struck the golem, there was no visible damage that could be seen from just one lance striking its body, but the multitudes of flame lances caused the surface of its iron like body to heat up. The once glistening surface of the golem's body was now glowing red with heat.
"Heh! I learned this just recently. Know that you have the honor to be the first to fall from my new technique!"
"TORNADO! FLAME PILLAR!"
Ainz parallel casted two mid-tier spells. Once the Tornado formed around the golem, a pillar of roaring fire rose from the ground under the golem. The tornado quickly picked up the flames of the Flame Pillar and turned into a raging tornado of flames.
"Combo Spell! Raging Flames Tornado! WAHAHAHA!!!"
'...oh my gosh,' Lucia thought while holding her forehead. 'He really is just so unbearable to watch...it's no longer funny anymore.'
Lucia quickly turned away and activated her sensing spell. Once she found Velicia, she began hastily making her way towards her.
On Velicia's end, she was pouncing around her targeted golem while sending punches and kicks at it. The large golem was cumbersome and couldn't match her speed, but its defenses were also too great for her to cause any substantial damages. In fact, her punches and kicks served only to cause damage to her hands and feet instead.
"Ahhhh... it really is hard to beat these things up..." Velicia sighed helplessly. "I wish I knew that aura technique that Cecil and Lucia use... I bet I could beat these guys up with that!"
"...need help, Veli?"
"WAAH!!!" Velicia jumped in surprise at the abrupt voice that answered her rant. She quickly turned around and saw Lucia standing not far from her.
"L-Lucia! Don't scare me like that! Geez!"
"Ahaha, sorry I didn't mean too. So, do you need help?"
"Eh? Ahh, it's alright. I'll find some way to beat these things up!"
"Okay... by the way, that aura technique you mentioned..." Lucia paused for a bit, but then decided to give her a hint. "All me and Cecil do is WRAP our bodies in mana. It's pretty simple once you've got the hang of it..."
"!" Velicia widened her eyes in surprise and smiled after hearing the advice.
She quickly thanked Lucia and turned her attention back towards the golem that was lumbering slowly towards her. She immediately tried to wrap her fists in mana, but it was difficult to do since she wasn't adept in mana control. She found it hard, but she kept her distance from the golem and continued to try.
Lucia smiled seeing this. She walked away and activated her sensing spell once again, this time she was searching for Elizabeth. After awhile, she gave up because she couldn't find her. All she found was Fina, so she decided to head on over to her instead.
"Everyone's growing stronger and stronger... by the time the 3rd segment of the tournament begins, I'm pretty sure they'd be able to hold their own against the guys from the faction all by themselves~"
Lucia happily skipped her way towards Fina's location, but suddenly a large golem blocked her way. She kept her smile and simply slashed out with her katana without pausing or even slowing down her steps. The golem froze where it stood as she skipped her way around it and a moment later, it started collapsing. She extended her hand and pulled the golem's core to her and stored it inside of her spatial ring with a pleasant nod.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
"Ehehe~ I can do it now too Cel~" Lucia smiled happily and skipped away leaving behind the destroyed golem, not bothering to collect its materials.
Far up on the tree tops, Cecil was sitting down on one of the tree branches observing Lucia and his friends through Mana Sense.
"Uwah...she got unreasonably strong again..."
Lucia made her way over to Fina's location. When she arrived she was somewhat surprised at the sight of Fina currently holding her own against an Armamite Golem. Lucia stared curiously at the 2 wolf shaped blobs of water that were standing by her friend's side and watched the battle unfold.
"What are those things?" Lucia mumbled in thought.
"Blu! Lake! GO!" Fina shouted and pointed her staff at the golem that was charging her way.
The two wolf shaped blobs of water dashed to the sides of the golem, initiating a pincer attack. This caused Lucia to be somewhat worried since this left Fina wide open, but her worries were unfounded as Fina intentionally left herself open and once the golem took the bait and charged at her, she impeded its path with a thick Ice Rampart.
"Ice Rampart!"
CRAAASSSSSHHHH
The golem didn't stop and just smashed right through the rampart. It naturally sustained some damage from that and Fina took this chance to quickly get away as she began chanting another spell. At the end of her chant, she quickly activated her spell and pointed her staff at the golem.
"HAILSTORM!"
The hail of ice bombarded the golem's body and on the side, the two wolf-like water apparitions were attacking it with aqua bolts. Thanks to the water wolf apparitions that Fina had summoned, the golem's body was drenched in water which helped speed up the freezing process of her spell. She knew that this wasn't enough, so she quickly began preparing her next spell.
When the golem broke free from the ice, it couldn't even think for a second as a flurry of Ice Lances landed on its body. It turned around and saw the girl with her two apparitions standing not far from it. It let out an enraged roar and charged towards the three.
Lucia was confused seeing this. 'Why is the golem enraged?'
When Lucia continued spectating Fina's battle she finally found the reason. Fina had been repeating her strategy over and over again on the golem, except every time, she would open her attack with different moves, but freeze it using the same water spell combinations. From the looks of things, she was testing out various spells to optimally take down the golem. At this point, it looked more like harassment than a battle, so it was no wonder the golem was enraged.
Lucia thought it was okay, but was worried that Fina might exhaust all her mana before she could even destroy the golem. It was an unfounded worry, however, since the golem was visibly slowing down its assault as time passed on. The continuous bombardment of ice and water spells caused it to weaken and eventually after another 5 cycles of her strategy, Fina was able to safely take down the golem, although she too, was visibly spent.
Fina took her time to rest as she cast a floating spell on her and rested on the tree branches of the nearby trees with her apparitions watching the surroundings. Seeing this Lucia smiled and began searching for her last friend.
"Oh! Eli's already that far into the mountains, huh?" Lucia exclaimed in mild surprise when she found her last friend.
Elizabeth was already high up into the mountains and was currently facing off against 2 golems simultaneously. Lucia quickly made her way over to the battlefield but when she arrived, the fight was already over and her friend was collecting the golem's materials and monster core.
"Awww..." Lucia whined while pouting a little. She really wanted to see how strong Elizabeth had become after undergoing Cecil's initial hell-like training and magic theory lessons that were well above what the academy was teaching.
Just looking at how much stronger her 3 other friends had become, she really anticipated to see how far Elizabeth had progressed since from the start, she was already the strongest out of the 4 of them. Lucia turned to look at the sun and saw that it was already above her head. Another hour or two and it would be almost midday.
"Wow, I spent such a long time running around. I guess it's time for me to hunt my 5 golems and go back to the carriage and prepare lunch~"
Lucia quickly made her way further into the mountain range and quickly spotted 5 golems crowding around a cave.
'Oh, what's this?'
Lucia beamed at the golems and snuck towards them. She peered into the cave and saw that there was a clear glistening pond inside. The walls of the cave also seemed to be rich with ore veins.
'Let's get rid of them?'
She rushed at the golems and flickered in between them as sword flashes from her katana swept through particular parts of their bodies. When she arrived in front of the glistening pond, the golems began collapsing one by one as they were cut straight through their cores with a single strike of her aura-enhanced blade. Lucia collected the broken monster cores with a wave of her hand and saw the states they were in and scratched her cheek, "Whoops... oh well, the guild only wanted the cores, so it doesn't matter if they're broken or not~"
After putting the broken cores away, she turned her attention back to the mysterious pond and looked around. She noticed that the entire cave was glistening with a beautiful shine as the walls were covered with a plentiful amount of ores. There were also smaller sized versions of the large Armamite golems hiding behind a large boulder inside of the cave after she took a closer look at the interior. These 'baby golems' were just sitting around and eating the ores from the walls. They seemed harmless and didn't do anything even after Lucia approached them. All the small golems did was look up at her and turned their attention back to their meal after acknowledging her presence.
"So it's a golem nest?" Lucia said with a smile as she looked around. She then turned back to the baby golems and bowed in apology, "Sorry, I think I just killed your parents."
The golems didn't register her words and just continued eating. After saying her small apology, Lucia turned her attention back to the pool of water in the middle of the cave and scanned it with her senses. She found that it was radiating with an incredible amount of mana, so she took a sip of the water and found that her depleted mana was recovering very quickly.
"Hmmm, let's gather some~"
Lucia took out a couple of water jugs from her spatial ring and stored some of the water into it. There was so much water in the pool that even after she filled up 10 large jugs, the water level of the pool hadn't changed one bit. She wondered why the water inside of this pond was extremely rich in mana, so she used a sensing spell to search inside the pool to see if she could find the cause. Unfortunately, the mysterious pool of water prevented her sensing spell from reaching too deep into its depths, but from the looks of things, there wasn't anything dangerous in it.
From her knowledge, the only reason why a pool of water like this could be so rich in mana was because of a natural treasure or if it was connected to a mana vein. Since she wanted to find out, Lucia decided to go for a swim. She took off her clothes and stored them in her spatial ring before diving into the water.
'OH!'
Now that she was inside, Lucia felt that the water was incredibly dense and heavy. This was because it was enriched with mana, and a lot of it by the looks of things. She found it rather hard to even move her limbs inside of the water and after a moment, she felt her skin prickle in pain.
'Urgh...'
She tried to go back to the surface, but noticed that with the pain, the mana inside of the water was rushing into her body and she immediately felt her mana levels in her mana point start to rise.
"!"
Her eyebrows rose in surprise, but she quickly regained her composure and started circulating the mana rushing into her body according to her family's mana cultivation method. This was definitely a fortuitous encounter because it was a chance for her to increase her mana levels very quickly thanks to the mana-rich waters. However, fortune also came hand-in-hand with misfortune. The moment she started circulating her internal mana, the mana in the water began vigorously rushing into her body, causing her an immense amount of pain as her body seized up.
"AH–Omph!"
Lucia was immediately startled by this abrupt change and accidentally let out a surprised cry, forgetting that she was underwater. She quickly closed her mouth and held her breath again. She tried to swim out of the pool only to find that her limbs were immobilized by the increasing pressure from the water that was swirling around her because the mana inside of it was attracted to her body because of her cultivation method. She could only helplessly cast her fear-filled eyes upwards to the surface as she tried calling out for help, but to no avail.
'Cel! Help...'