“Eh? Um… What’s this, Fiara?”

Casually, she folded her arms over her simple leather covering. “I wish to join the hunt.”

“Eh?!” Man, just as I was thinking something like “the women won't change”... It seems I've done them a disservice.

“... Well, with your test scores, you certainly qualify. May I ask why you want to come? I didn't think you were interested in pursuing strength.”

“I want to study magic more closely, but my current magic power supply runs dry too fast. I require more magic power to complete my experiments.”

“I see… We’ll keep the formation as is. Fiara, you follow from the rear. This hand signal means hold, this is follow. Here’s rush, encircle, and hide, and this is shoot. When you see me give the shoot symbol, choose an appropriate magic to attack with. If everyone else is locked in close combat, you can give support fire, as long as you're careful not to hit anybody. Does everyone understand? …Alright, good. Let's get going.”

We’re going to head mostly North before curving East toward the mountain.

So that was here too.

There's a kind of plant monster I've been seeing around more the deeper I go into the forest. It looks like a bunch of skinny vines on the surface, but it digs hollows in the ground. If something dies within its reach, it drags the corpse down where it's slowly digested. It's not particularly dangerous, since it doesn't bother living things unless you try to dig it up, but the way it will steal a kill is really annoying.

There is a way they can be useful, though. They eat everything but the bones and pelt, so if you can open it up at the right stage, you can obtain a pretreated pelt and some sturdy bones. I also heard they eat poisonous things without hesitation, so they would be really convenient for harvesting snake skin intact.

Well, I don't harvest them all that much, though. They're actually pretty scary when you try to open them up. But I wonder how they survive when there are no corpses around? I imagine it can be quite the wait.

Anyway, once we’d traveled deep enough, I started using to find Magic Beast prints. After walking for a while, I finally found some. It's a kind of print I've seen before. It looks like a bare human hand, but with six ridiculously long fingers.

“I found something. It looks like War Monkey tracks.”

“Again?”

Oh yeah, that guy has been getting consistently good grades; one of the few who can tie with the women. He was here the other two times we tracked a War Monkey. I think his name was Dodoran.

Ah, but three War Monkeys is quite a lot. Have they always been skulking around here? Or maybe something happened to their habitat…

Either way, it's good since it’s a Magic Beast that I already know how to fight.

With War Monkeys, there’s two main things to look out for. First is their deadly fangs, which are huge. Second, is the fact that they wield “weapons.” Well, since they can't get their hands on actual weapons, they usually find a thick stick or an oblong stone. If you disarm the monkey, it becomes enraged, so it’s best if one person distracts it while another finishes it from behind.

I pulled the group aside as I explained all this. Once everyone understood the general plan, we got back into formation and followed the trail.

***

“Waa Aaa!” The seven foot tall War Monkey let out an angry screech and swung its club. Dodoran and one other Orc are distracting it from the front. Unfortunately, these boys aren't skilled enough to defend against all of its attacks alone. I could do it, but I have to be in back to deal the finishing blow. I have the strongest instant kill move, after all.

Right now, we have one more Orc in reserve in case something happens to the other two, and Fiara is hiding in the foliage, waiting to seal the War Monkey’s movements with magic if anything goes wrong.

“Hee Eeh!” The War Monkey grunted and struck a glancing blow at one of the defending Orc’s shoulders. The Orc squealed due to the sudden pain, and the War Monkey screeched victoriously. It felt its chance to deal a follow up blow, and raised its club. Suddenly, though, a jolt of electricity ran up its leg, momentarily stunning it.

Mm. Fiara’s support has good timing. Mine should too.

Angered by the sudden attack, the War Monkey started moving more erratically. It became hard to predict its attacks to defend against them. When it was at the peak of its rage, I leapt in and dealt one cruel, merciless blow to its spinal column.

was activated at the perfect moment, and the beast’s spine made a terrible crunching sound before it crumpled to the ground. I kicked its weapon away.

“Finish it!”

The three boys rushed in and collectively beat the beast to death.

“Nice support, Fiara,” I offered our party’s magic caster a thumbs up.

“Thank you, chief. May we hunt one more? I didn't participate much in this battle. The amount of magic power isn't satisfactory.”

“Ah, no problem. Let’s just bring this guy back first.”

We made one trip back to the village to drop off the War Monkey and drink some water. After that, we left once more.

It's fine to talk quietly as we go, as long as we don't drop our guard.

“Say, chief, I was wondering something.”

“What’s up, Fiara?”

“Do you usually fight Magic Beasts like that?”

“Hm? Like what?” If she only says that much, I won't know what part she’s curious about.

“Channeling your innate skill through your weapon.”

“Oh…” I glanced down at my Demonic Beast bone, glistening a rusty black color. Even if I use it as a medium to activate , it doesn't break. Something in its structure is different from the bones of other Magic Beasts. It's convenient.

“Because it's safer to incapacitate the enemy as quickly as possible, I end up using it every time… Why?”

“Well, because you train your combat skills regularly, I'm not worried you’ll start depending on that one move. However, isn't it a little limiting?”

“How so?”

“Well, always using and is a good combination, but I thought you would be one to try to discover various weapon skills.”

“Hm? Weapon skills? Ah, right. I wonder why I haven't gotten any of those yet…”

“Eh? You don't even have one?”

“Hm? No. How do you get them, exactly?”

“I thought for sure you would at least have ... Since it’s the first weapon skill club-wielders usually get…”

“... Eh?”

Wait, hold on, is this stuff common knowledge? Am I the only one who doesn't know? And why don't I have any weapon skills at all?

Isn't this kind of bad?!