"L-Lion's Axe!!!" Clarice panicked, summoning her Spirit Weapon and then using it to slice the Cacturk's entire body into pieces. "G-Get away from me, you creepy cactus thing!!"
CRASH! CRASH! CRAAASH!
Once she was over, the Cacturk was so diced and crushed it was completely unrecognizable from before. Yeah, these monsters aren't really strong, they're all E Rank.
"U-Ugh, my axe's all slimy now…" Clarice complained once more.
Ignoring her, we quickly made our way through the Cactus Forest. Every time we stopped a Cacturk, we quickly killed them, like that, we got rid of the small Cacturk population while seeking clues for the Fiery Grizzlies.
After checking the area some more using Huginn and Falco, the population of Cacturks was small and they were weak. They lived very long lives and reproduced very slowly over the years, so it was easy to make them go extinct… Heh.
[You and your Party have slain [Cacturk (E+ Rank)] x36!]
[You earned 360000 EXP!]
[Your Level has increased from Level 39 to Level 40!]
[All your stats have increased!]
[You earned bonus skill points and stat points!]
[You earned bonus skill proficiency!]
Interesting enough, they felt like "Bonus Monsters" that gave a rather high amount of EXP at 10k per kill, even when they were only E+ Rank. I suppose their age also counts on the amount of EXP they give, most of the ones we slain were very old.
These monsters specialize on pretending to be a cactus, letting animals get closer, and then give them a deadly bear hug, piercing them with their venomous spines and then slowly digesting them inside of their bodies. Because of this, each time someone got closer they would try to give them a deadly hug using their big plant arms.
"Are the Cacturks all we're fighting in here or something?" Mimy sighed.
"Just have patience… The hot temperature is not helping but… we've gotta persevere." Alianna said.
"Don't relax now, we've reached the area where they're gathering. I've detected there's three big groups here. We'll quickly ambush this one, and then once we've prepared good equipment using their pelts, we'll fight the other two. In the third one is where the Boss is, so stay alert, they might try to get to us while we're dealing with the first or second groups." I said.
"Unlike in the goblin cave, we can't be so stealthy in such an open field."
Everyone nodded, even the angry Clarice. We kept most of the group behind us, and only my group and the water attribute magicians stepped in. Covering everyone using Illusion and Mirage Skills from Eleanora made things easier for a successful stealth attack.
"Now, can you conjure the spell I taught to you?" I asked.
"Yeah, we can do it." Said Alianna while nodding. "Leave it to us!"
"W-We'll do it." Mimy nodded.
"Alright, let's get to it then." Aquarius said.
The four stepped forward and then utilized special papers I gave them, which were imbued with magic circles and then put them on the floor, standing over the in a circle pattern. Some bears already began to sniff something, slowly getting closer.
The incantation began as the papers with magic circles put into a circular position began to glow bright blue, and then countless runes started emerging everywhere.
This was a special spell I cannot properly conjure myself due to my lack of good Water Affinity like these guys have, but I do have the 100% Water Law Understanding to build perfect Water Magic Circles with the best and most effective results.
"Oh, water, mother of all life…!" Alianna said.
"Bring us your refreshing rain, so full of life and bright!" Said Mimy.
"Turn the clear skies dark and bring the storm of dawn!" Aquarius said.
"Water, rain, pour down and bless our daily life!" Aquaria said.
Several Fiery Grizzlies noticed their voices, and of course, the giant magic circle that was forming below them as the conjuration continued. This is where we enter, we need to hold these giants back.
"W-Water…!" Mimy muttered, as a gigantic bear was about to slash her with its claws.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG1 BAAANG!
However, its head was intercepted by five consecutive bullets coming from my gun and then quickly fell into the floor. The bastards were incredibly tough and took five bullets in the damn head to die. It would probably take dozens to kill them if I shoot at them in their other body parts.
As the beast fell into the floor, all the bears, which were over sixty of them spread all around, glared at me with ferocious, fiery eyes.
"I guess we've managed to get the attention all for ourselves now…" I smiled defiantly. "Eleanora, Hendrick, Saphira, cover our backs! Eric, Erdrich, Alberta, stay close to one another. These bastards are tougher, faster, and stronger than the Rock Goblins that only specialize in defense!"
"Got it!" Said everyone, as we quickly began fighting the Fiery Grizzlies as a group, while trying to protect the four Water Mages from getting attacked by them at the same time.
The skies slowly began turning darker as clouds started appearing constantly de to the powerful spell being conjured. The water slowly started condensing in the skies.
A large and ferocious Fiery Grizzly attacked me from behind, as I quickly jumped to evade the attack and pointed Gluttony against its head.
"{Consecutive Shadow Strikes}!"
FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!
My spear began moving incredibly fast, generating afterimages of itself which all unleashed a piercing shadow attribute attack against the bear's head, piercing it constantly and making it fall.
However, three more Bears appeared from behind. These guys didn't wasted time attacking physically and unleashed two enormous fireballs from their jaws, blasting them at me with everything they had.
I swung Gluttony vertically and horizontally, generating two massive slashes of darkness and intercepting the fireballs in midair.
Only for three more to come from behind me, as the beasts in the back of their formation started bombarding us with fire magic.