Going for The Kill

****(POV)

That sure is one colossal bear. If all the monsters in this forest are that strong, we might have an issue. Of course, we should be able to deal with them individually. Divide and conquer!

I was right to ask Dragonoth to lead the mission. At first, he didn't want to do it as usual.

He reluctantly accepted the order. I needed him to be the one doing it.

Not only for my sake but most importantly for my daughter's sake. The bait idea was hers to begin with. She would be sad and discouraged if it failed.

Talking about Dragonoth, he always impressed me. He might not look like much at first glance, but underestimating would be a gross mistake.

He is one that hides his power like I was. His mastery over the flame is a work of art. He tends to only use it for insignificant tasks in public, but I know.

When no one is watching he brings the fire intensity to the maximum in every of his training sessions. So much it has left traces over our training areas. The scary thing is that these traces are all byproducts of unbelievable heat.

He never used his fire on the structures of the training ground directly yet managed to melt some by mistake. A few times, he always adjusts his mastery over his newfound abilities fast.

If at first look his mastery is what makes him strong, one knowledgeable would know it is in fact his character that makes him a force to reckon with.

He's smart. Incredibly so. He can find the silver lining in the worst situation. Keeping his cool.

Oh, he'll be cursing all along the way and acting panicked, but he isn't.

He's always calculating every move. Always figuring out the best path to survival.

If he had so much as a tiny desire to lead, I would not hesitate to hand him control over all of our brethren in a heartbeat.

Sadly, he only aims to live his life quietly. That and become the best mage he can be.

Well, I can relate to that.

He's a multifaceted individual for sure.

This guy just now flew over my head. Blasted by his own magic.

Behind him our target.

Rushing with a speed that shouldn't be possible for something that big.

Monsters shouldn't be underestimated either.

Uevareth uses his blind spell and completely takes the creature off guard.

It stumbles into the trap we carefully prepared.

At my side are all of my warriors. All of us are positioned perfectly in a formation. It let us all gather the mana into whoever is at the leading position.

In this case I. All that mana gathers inside my being.

Controlling so much power is hard even for one as proficient as I.

The bear falls down a hole, inside of it awaits earth spikes that are coated with dark magic.

It gets skewered, but it doesn't even reach the bones. The monster's resistant fur, thick skin, and sturdy steel-like muscles seem to have protected it from most of the damage.

But now it cannot move. Cannot evade what is to come.

I use all the available mana, all of it.

All of it is used to generate a 50m tall blade of pure darkness. One that can annihilate anything on contact.

I slash.

*SLASH, SPLURT*

The monster gets cleaved in half. Blood flowing everywhere.

"Clean up the place, I don't want the smell to propagate. Collect all the materials. We'll use the skin for armor, the fur for clothing, and to make rope. With the bones let's make some spare weapons. Carefully scoop every comestible part to serve as a tonic. Sylvar you are in charge of cooking and preserving it."

"Yes, my lord!"

That was but one of the sighted potential enemies. However, it was the closest one and most pressing one to deal with. It will also let us eat to our fill for a while.

This is good. Great in fact!

Time to bring the good news to Bean!

****

Bean is wondering what is happening today.

Usually, Father comes around earlier.

He's nowhere to be seen.

Did he forget about Bean?

Bean is really small, maybe that's why.

What should Bean do?

"Afternoon Bean!"

Ah! There he is.

"Afternoon? What happened to morning?"

What is the difference between both?

"We were busy in the morning so I had to delay visiting you my little Bean."

Oh. Bean understands.

The afternoon is after morning, Father was busy.

Bean wonders what happened.

"Remember the bait idea we talked about yesterday? We successfully dealt with the closest big bad monster in the area."

"Yay!"

With that, the nice elves are going to be fine.

"Let me tell you it was humongous!"

"Humongous?"

"Really, really big. And tall and strong. It was really hard to defeat it, but our warriors worked really hard and won in the end."

"How many Beans could fit inside it?"

"Haha, thousands. Thousands of Beans. It was a huge bear after all."

OH MY GOD! Thousands of Beans?! That's so many!

And they defeated something that strong?

Impressive! Super-duper impressive!

The elves are really strong!

"There is only one issue remaining."

Oh no, issues are bad!

"That one we could drag into traps, but it would be extremely hard to do the same with monsters that live in territories that are farther away. Also doing the same with a more intelligent one would be an issue."

"If they are intelligent we could talk to them and make them allies!"

"True, we can try. It would probably be extremely hard, but it might be possible."

"Bean also has an idea! Bean has been thinking a lot! We need to make a web!"

"A web? What do you mean exactly?"

"You know how spiders have a web to trap their prey? We need something like that!"

"Hum we already have many traps; we should be good on that front."

"No! The web also tells the spider when something comes! It goes *tong, tong* and vibrates!"

"Oh? So your suggestion is to install some kind of alert magic all over our territory and make sure we discover approaching monsters in advance? Then we could be ready for any potential fight. Also, direct the enemies directly into our traps. That sounds like a viable plan. Good work!"

Bean got praised! Hehe, Bean is happy.

"Alright, I'll go make sure the preparations are underway. I know exactly who to asks. I'll be back soon little one. Sleep well!"

"Later Father, take care."

Hum. Bean is happy to be of help.

Ah, but Father didn't visit very long today.

Bean will have to find something to occupy beanself.

Hum, what to do? Plan some more for now.

Bean wants to be the best leader!