I see five people coming out of the gate. I also see, a few people preparing to leave, through the gap in the gate. I watch the pace of the mammoth and I change my direction to force it to make turns. If he has a straight path we will be disadvantaged. His maximum speed is impressive, but he probably can't turn very fast.

I try to keep a distance of 10 meters between us at all times and in no time the archer steps to the side seeing me easily keeping a 20 mph pace. The archer is probably conserving his strength and the mammoth doesn’t even look his way. I several times make 120 degree turns. With his huge mass, the mammoth needs time to slow down and make the turn. I calculate my exertion and find I can probably keep this pace for an hour without running out of steam.

At the side I see the archer talking with everybody else probably trying to convey my idea and plan how to best implement it. He also took notice of how effortlessly I'm maintaining this speed and realizes they have at least a few minutes to prepare. The guild commander gets here with another dozen people and I regard their gear.

I see the +3 spear was fitted with a different shaft. This one is not lightweight. It looks like a very dense wood from the movement of the man carrying it. The color also seems to indicate some type of oak, or maybe even stronger wood. We will be needing that to penetrate the skin of the mammoth.

I'm also happy to see the wielder. With the same stats, a more muscled person will have more strength. Simple physics dictates that. Their punches will also carry not only more speed but also more mass. I have seen him around town. Greg is a beast of a man. I would guess 6'8" and 220~240 pounds of muscle. He towers over almost everyone in town. He doesn't look like a gym rat, full of warped muscles and tailoring their training to simply getting big.

I have seen him carrying big loads of stuff a couple of times around town. Looking at the ease he keeps pace and few other things I have seen from him, I guess his stats are fairly well distributed. I concentrate on the chase after a moment and leave them to figure it out a strategy.

I keep zigzagging around the Mammoth. Whenever I see a rock in the ground I run a bit ahead, grab it and throw it on the mammoth's head. Most of them hit him. After two minutes in, he roars causing me to stumble and roll on the ground.

Without waiting for a single instant, I get to my feet with the momentum of my roll and keep running. I try to analyze the mana coming from him, as he roars. I try to take a small sample.

I fail, by my best guess, the will behind it is too strong to overcome. Seeing the others split into a few groups I position myself to help them enter my movement patterns. I wait for them to catch up to hear the plan.

“Just keep trying to attract the agro. We will have the archer shoot it from an angle. WE are trying to hit the eye. Blinding him would be very good. Greg will lead the second team. They will try to spear him in the back.”

"Ok, I will keep throwing rocks. As long as I keep agro, things will be fine. His roar should not be much of a problem, but we will need to figure something out for when one of the archers or Greg gets agro."

“Just keep it as long as possible.”

Breathless from talking while running so much we stop talking and concentrate. I chose bigger rocks and put my entire weight in throwing them. Bigger rocks are more likely to attract his attention.

Whenever I can, I pick rocks weighing 5 to 10 pounds. Hitting the head of the Mammoth gives him a very good reason to pursue me. I keep zigzagging for another minute when the first archer gets a square hit on his eyes. I have a baseball-sized rock in my hand but I still throw it.

Unlike previous times I stop before I throw. I channel a baseball pitcher as well I can as the mammoth veers off towards the archer. This throw hits him squarely in the other eye and I hear the biggest of the roar up to this point. I would guess it is almost as strong as the first. Everyone less than 20 feet away freezes. The monster gets closer to the archer and lifts its front paws high in the air.

I know I'm too late but I still run towards the archer. Greg pushes so hard of the ground I think he activated some type of charge skill. I get closer and Greg manages to just push the paw enough it misses the archer's head by an inch. Elation is short-lived, I see the disaster about to happen. The monster is off balance. He, in slow motion, starts to pitch over while lifting his paw to regain balance.

The archer scrambles away as I and Greg put our combined strength to stop the mammoth’s fall. He spins and tries to brace the weight with his back. I use my hands trying to calculate the most effective way to assist in the moments before the beast falls.

With a roar, we both give our all pushing. A moment later the mammoth is upright. I look in disbelieve and I have no idea how we managed that. Everyone steps back to catch their breath.

“Holy shit. I didn’t think that would work.” Says the massive man. “You must have pretty high strength.”

“You are one to talk. You must have over 20 in strength.”

“I got 23 strength.”

We revel in our success while keeping a bigger distance from the mammoth. A few people fall back entirely and the guild commander sends replacements in.

We get our confidence back and I manage to convince the Mammoth I'm the biggest threat with a well-placed ax hit to the ear. Too bad it got stuck in the bone. I try a few times to retrieve but I'm not successful. The mammoth always swinging his head just right and I can't get close enough.

Over an hour goes by and everyone takes breaks rotating through. On one of the rotations, I see Alex wielding a spear. I don't know if he changed his weapon but that is no matter. I realize I’m probably the only one that hasn’t stopped. My breath is ragged but the mammoth is in an even worse state. I notice it starts to slow down and take a closer look. I sense he stopped to circulate mana in his body. The difference is subtle but I notice the sudden absence. He also has an infusion skill.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The skill seems as if it gave him a lot of stamina, but it was limited by his mana pool. We are lucky it wasn’t something like a giant lion. Something with such high speed and better maneuverability would have destroyed the village.

Over our time fighting him there a few broken bones and twisted ankles, but everyone finds an unspoken agreement. Pairs of people drag at as fast as they can anyone that gets hurt. This measure saves anyone from more than pain and the hours or days before they are healed up.

When he slows, everyone notices the opportunity and steps in. Axes and spears are the weapons of choice and I even manage to unlodge my ax from the side of his head. He begins to bleed even more from dozens of different cuts and stabs. The few people that tried to use swords against him found them lacking. After the weapons of choice hit the beast for the thousandth time it finally falls.

Expelling his breath, Greg charges and stabs his spear through the eye, into the brain of the beast. At that moment, I knew the beast was dead. I see thrashing, but my close attention to the mana tells me there is no longer will behind it. With so little left in the air, I take as big a sample as I can. I hold it in my hand and slowly accumulate it. Greg sees it and asks:

“So, is that any good?”

“Naah, just mana, but I will be studying it to see if I can learn anything."

Another in the group with Greg says:

"Check your messages."

I open and instead of the series of messages I usually see I get a single message:

You have participated in a village event: The scouts encountered a beast far stronger than they were expecting and did not manage to escape. Enemies: 1x Warped Mammoth Average Lv. 46 Bonus experience: 10x Awarded experience: For your contributions to the battle you have been awarded 2012 Exp. (3.26%)

Looking over it, I figure the total experience was around 60K Exp. Given the EXP bonus, it seems clear the formula for the monster experience was right. It's around 150 Exp. per level. If a small group had the right skills and stats they could have a massive Exp. infusion from hunting only a few of these beasts.

I wonder at the warped nature of the beast but don't find a satisfactory answer. I clean the ax's blade and head for the gate. In only ten minutes everyone's nerves have settled down and the guild council concludes their talks. I hear Charlie speaking:

“This is a moment we have to pay attention to. There are many lessons to be learned. I know everybody is tired so I will be brief. There are many things we will have to analyze and change in the days to come but at this moment we have two projects that are pressing. We need to repair the gap. We will want to do that in less than an hour if possible. Afterward, we will be making a sturdier and taller wall.

"It has become clear that our defenses are insufficient. We will do our best to remedy the situation. We want absolutely everyone that doesn't have an essential job to pitch in. We will provide three meals and credit 20 coppers in the contribution ledger for a 12-hour shift. We will attempt to keep the effort 24 hours until we have a wall good enough to withstand several charges from a beast like the mammoth.

“We will be starting work now. Those that are going to volunteer form a line here.”

I see him pointing to the side and people start to move in that direction forming a line. I approach him and he says:

"Nash, good job out there, if you hadn't pulled the monster so fast, the situation might not have turned out so well."

“I just gave you guys time to plan properly.”

"It was time we needed. Regardless, you should get back to the smithy. You are one of the few people who can't leave your work for later. It's extremely important to keep pace with our expansion. Especially for something so essential as the items you make."

“I will be going in a minute. I see a couple of people started to wear leather armor.”

"Yes, it takes days for the leather to cure. Only today the first leather armors were available to be bought."

“I will be going. Do think about what we should be producing at the smithy. I was thinking about some type of ballista.”

“We will go there tonight probably, talk it over with Mr. Blackwood and see if we can find a good weapon like a ballista.”

Tired I walk back going over the mana I hold in my hand. I quickly stop by the training hall and see Merlin.

“Merlin, I absorbed a little of the mana as the beast died do you want to take a look?"

“Ohh yes.”

He comes closer and I extend my hand to him. He sends a probe and after a moment I fell a tug and allow some of the mana to escape my grasp. He has very good control, probably almost as good as mine. He only started this a few days ago, he will surpass me in no time at this rate I think while grinning. Good, we will need talented people.

“Guess you can control the mana so it doesn’t dissipate anytime soon. I will be going to the smithy. Take some more."

I send most of the mana, only keeping a tiny amount to test. I head to the smithy testing a few things in the way. This mana has a different signature than any other I have seen before, but that is not surprising. Every single source of mana I have seen has had a different signature. I have felt the mana from a dozen people while infusing wood. I try to gain insight into this particular sample. In the end, I fail miserably.

I arrive at the smithy and see Mr. Blackwood working. The other workers came back before me. I enter and say:

“Everyone is hard at work, why do I feel I have been slacking?”

Blackwood replies: “If what your colleagues say is even half accurate, you more than deserve your rest. You acted as bait for all this time?”

“And he lifted the mammoth with his bare hands.” Says Ryan, the most recent hire.

“I wasn’t alone, Greg did the most work. And I just had the right stats, 21 in endurance is no joke.”

At these words, I feel like the biggest fool in the world. I forgot to use my free stat points. I wonder on what stat I should put it. Not having decided my path I leave them sitting there for me to assign later. I simply have to remember, if I fight something like that again I need to use these points.

“I see you have some of the mana from the beast.”

“Is it useful for anything?” I ask hopefully.

"It is like any other mana. Studying it may give a better understanding of mana but not more than any other type you have not encountered before. At higher levels, it can be a component to create weapons but for now, it's of little use."

"Any other pearls of wisdom?” I say dispersing the mana.

“Don’t waste the mana.” I quickly reacquire control of it. He continues speaking: “Put it in the blower.”

At that, I laugh and from a few feet away I send a tendril of mana from the Mammoth to the input plate. All of it enters the air blower. That does give me some ideas. We can probably store mana partially infusing wood and they would not even need to come to the forge. Imagine a mana based economy. Everybody walks around carrying wood coins in their pocket. If the coins were empty they could just charge enough mana when they need to pay something.

The richest person would, in a literal fashion, be burning money as they cast spells using the mana in the coins. That is a though, can I cast spells with mana that hasn't come from me? I know I can infuse it but it is not the same thing. I need to think about it and experiment.

I finish catching my breath and settle working alongside everyone else.