Chapter 66: Fireballs and Formations

  The days that followed saw Emilia focus on her own development. She used the time to draw a large quantity of talismans. Her success rate and speed had increased significantly, and she could now draw Fireball talismans and other new ones directly with her stylus, a mixture of monster blood and herbs, further fueled by mana-rich pebbles. This saved her a tremendous amount of money and rapidly trained her skills. On top of all this, she would be able to participate much more actively in battles and gain valuable combat experience.

  Her success rate had reached over 57% for Strength talismans and over 45% for the Fireball. Those were the ones drawn on magical tree bark, where she already had plenty of practice. She worked with paper talismans much less often, since they were significantly more expensive, so her success rate there was lower — but it had risen too. Clearly, Chiron's blessing was working at full capacity, and she was learning at an incredible speed.

  Emilia, however, did not realize any of this. She simply thought all of it was normal. It was always this way with true geniuses. They took their successes for granted and often became arrogant, often thinking how everyone else was second-rate. Emilia, though, was not a genius, except perhaps a genius of relentless hard work. She worked far more than her peers on her skills.

  For instance, for many years, she trained her Mana Sense almost constantly. In the beginning, she often had headaches, but ever since she developed her body and especially her soul, things became a little easier. A simple arithmetic calculation showed her that, for example; 5+ years multiplied by 365 days multiplied by over 10 hours a day amounted to 18,250 hours of practice. Well over the 10,000 hours so often cited in her previous life.

  So after three days, the group met and set off toward the distant swamp. Along the way, they killed a magical fox, from which they managed to gather the small amount of edible magical meat, the hide, and some body parts. Emilia collected the blood from its heart and even the bone marrow from the monster's spine.

  For nearly ten days, she had been experimenting with bone marrow and some other unused monster parts, trying to use them as formation eyes.

  The work was slow and required numerous calculations, and most importantly, their mana was insufficient, and at best, they would be a far weaker substitute for standard monster cores.

  After her numerous complaints on the subject, Zevan couldn't help but explain that it was precisely these difficulties that made those parts so accessible.

  As the group advanced toward the swamp, Emilia often found various herbs, which she collected. Petra had a quite developed Herbalism skill but lacked Mana Sense. Boss Titus had Mana Sense but didn't have time to wander around for herbs. Therefore, they had agreed that Emilia could pick anything they missed, and if she sold anything, she would share half the money with the group. If she used them in her experiments, she wouldn't owe them anything.

  Emilia was very grateful and often made mana-rich teas for the others, and even began to consider ordering a book on how to make mana-rich wine with the help of magical herbs. Such wines were always in demand, especially in larger cities. But she had taken on so many things at once that she simply didn't have time for everything.

  Most valuable, however, was that Emilia was finding herbs that she could only perceive with her Soul Sense and recognize with her Herbalism skill. These herbs were very rarely collected by others, and she freely used them to drink teas before every meditation, thereby gradually improving her soul.

  Boss Titus quickly discovered that Emilia was capable of perceiving dangers that others sometimes missed. This saved them several times, especially as they began to enter the swamp territories.

  Here, there were often strange patches of mist that lingered in a specific spot and never lifted. Additionally, there were always many puddles, some of which were surprisingly deep.

  "There's a monster to the left. In the puddle. It's hidden nearly a meter down."

  Titus and Garrick rushed over to check and were almost immediately attacked by the monster—it was a huge lizard, the size of a large dog. Right at the start, it used water magic to send dense streams of water toward the two hunters, but they were prepared and managed to avoid the magic. The lizard somehow managed to bypass Garrick and attacked Lora, who met it with her spear and shield. At that moment, Varis charged and, with a powerful leap, landed next to the monster and began hitting it with his axes.

  It sustained two huge wounds and immediately retreated, continuously firing water magic. At one point, it stopped, its cheeks puffed out like a frog's, and two scales opened on the left and right sides of its head. The mana in its body swirled, and it emitted a prolonged, highly vibrating sound that pierced the hunters' ears. Emilia felt a strong, sharp pain in her eardrums and immediately covered her ears with her hands, directing her mana toward her head.

  A moment later, more lizards began emerging from the mist in the distance, and Varis started cursing loudly. The group quickly adopted a defensive formation, and the weaker lizards began to attack, urged on by the magic of the larger, wounded lizard.

  Titus continuously slashed at them with his sword, and Varis's axes became soaked with the pale green blood of the monsters. At that moment, five more large lizards leaped out of the mist and attacked the group of hunters. Emilia did not hesitate for a second and immediately started firing fireballs. Petra had expensive magical arrows to use in critical situations like this.

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  She chose an arrow that, upon hitting the largest lizard, began to emit a strong net of electricity. The monster was completely immobilized, steam began rising from its body, and finally, the electricity became so strong that the lines burning its skin could be seen with the naked eye.

  A sharp odor of burnt meat was released, and some of the electricity even directed itself toward one of the nearby lizards. Petra, however, didn't wait for the effect to end but continuously fired her arrows. Titus gave the command, and the whole group moved a few steps forward and met the rush of the large lizards. One of them fired a stream of corrosive mixture against Lora, but Emilia immediately raised a magical barrier that blocked the magic.

  Lora took advantage and pierced the lizard. The bodies of magical creatures were always very dense, and their skin—or in this case, their scales—extremely tough. To cause real damage, one had to strike with full force, landing direct hits.

  Emilia looked around—to the left and right, Titus and Varis were fighting the smaller lizards; in front, Garrick and Zevan were pressed back and retreating under the onslaught of the larger magical creatures. Emilia saw several wounds on their bodies, left by acid or the monsters' sharp claws. She immediately approached and activated a healing talisman. The talisman's magic targeted the superficial wounds and immediately relieved them.

  The hunters' bodies were strong and resilient, improved by the continuous consumption of mana-rich meat and herbs, but if the battle continued for long, those wounds would start accumulating and become increasingly dangerous.

  At that moment, Petra cried out a warning, and Emilia only managed to turn and twist her body before one of the smaller, faster lizards struck her with its tail. Her body was protected by the armor, but she nevertheless fell heavily to the ground, and the air was sharply forced from her lungs. She felt a strong pain, and the world spun around her. Emilia instinctively activated the defensive talisman she held in her hand and rolled away from the persistent lizard.

  Petra saw the monster hit the barrier and freeze in confusion for a split second. She immediately fired an accurate arrow that pierced its side, directly into the kidneys. The monster writhed sideways and let out a hissing sound, giving Emilia time to recover and retreat. She prepared her magic and fired a fireball toward the pierced lizard.

  Afterward, she and Petra moved away toward a fallen tree and, concealed behind it, began helping the central group.

  Magic, arrows, and a wall of steel managed to momentarily halt the surge of lizards, and the energy of the electric arrow completely destroyed the last spark of life in the largest lizard. Varis decided to take advantage of the moment and, with a massive leap, landed near the wounded lizard that was directing the smaller monsters.

  Varis had trained the art of body enhancement with mana from the almost legendary Chief Nikos, revered among hunters. His jump was a special technique, trained for years, utilizing both the enormous muscles of his legs and the powerful magic hidden within his body.

  Nikos had not spared resources in the development of his children and grandchildren, and their bodies were reinforced by numerous Earth Treasures. Varis, who had unlocked his mana when he was seven, was especially spoiled by his grandfather. Nikos had shared many techniques with him and personally trained him for the last two years.

  The two axes descended with terrifying force toward the monster's body, and the glyphs inscribed on them flashed for a moment. The powerful blow sliced the wounded monster in half, and its hissing abruptly ceased.

  Confused, the smaller lizards quickly lost their will to fight and began to retreat back toward the safety of the mist and the depths of the swamp.

  The larger lizards hesitated for a moment, but the hunters immediately attacked them to prevent them from retreating freely and attacking them later. Varis attacked the monsters from behind, while Lora and Garrick pressed them frontally. Titus joined the left flank, and Petra continuously showered them with arrows.

  One by one, the large monsters fell, and the battle soon ended.

  "Emilia, are you all right?" Boss Titus approached and began critically inspecting her armor.

  "I'm fine, I just need a little time to recover and meditate."

  Varis also approached and handed her a large bottle with a strange liquid.

  "Drink two small sips of this potion. My grandfather's second wife prepares it. It will help your body heal faster."

  Emilia quickly thanked him and accepted the large bottle. She took two sips and almost spat out the liquid—it was incredibly spicy, and the energy flooded her body like a wildfire. The sensation only lasted a second, but Emilia decided to be careful with any strange liquids coming from Varis in the future.

  He hadn't even warned her and even seemed to be slightly smiling at the corners of his mouth. And not just him. Boss Titus, Petra, and even Lora were smirking.

  These traitors, she vowed in her thoughts. I'll get them back someday!

  Soon, the group regrouped and began tending to their wounds. Zevan and Garrick started inspecting the corpses and collecting parts from them. This was a reconnaissance mission, and they wouldn't be able to carry extra meat with them. Therefore, they only collected the most valuable parts, and Emilia gathered blood and bone marrow in her small vials.

  After they were done with the monsters and cleaned themselves of the blood and smell, the group continued to explore the area. They had no time to rest during the day, especially in a dangerous place like this. They would eat simple food for no more than 10-15 minutes and remain vigilant throughout the entire day, right until evening.

  Petra found many herbs, quickly filling an entire bag. The swamp was mana-rich, and access was limited to only once a month, or about 12 times a year. Herbs were abundant and expensive. Emilia also gathered many herbs, one of which was perhaps a nearly 50-year-old rare herb that glowed like a small sun in her Soul Sense ability. This must be a rare Earth Treasure for soul energy! she couldn't stop rejoicing.

  The group continued to advance and frequently encountered weaker monsters. Some attacked them; others fled deeper into the swamp. Petra diligently filled out a map, recording the population and locations of the monsters. Titus and Zevan often discussed the tracks they found and the path they should follow. It was interesting how often the monsters fought among themselves.

  Those that had lived in the swamp for years defended their territory, and those coming from outside had nowhere to retreat, so their battles were often heavy and deadly.

  Gradually, the sun began to descend, and the mists grew thicker. Petra frequently consulted the map given to them by Chief Nikos, and the group managed to find a relatively dry path toward a low hill, where a simple shelter had been built between three large rocks.