They had been surprisingly closer to the next arena then they had realized. Upon continuing their trek the next morning. They swiftly made it into the next and final arena after only around an hour of walking.
Gnawing on the dry beef jerky Ellen had brought. Raymond felt his stomach rumble, in the past 24 hours spent inside this space Raymond had eaten nothing except for these damn strips of salty meat.
His body yearned for actual food while his mind yearned for ice cream.
Once he got out, he would definitely find or create some sort of spell that let him create food and while eating monsters was always an option. Raymond wasn't that desperate for food just yet.
As the last and final arena. They were greeted with a snowy forest. The snow wasn't too deep at the start, barely able to cover the soil. After walking for so long however, the layers gradually started to build up currently reaching Raymond's knees.
Ellen how held a longbow similar to the one she used in the last arena. This one wasn't as tall or as large however. Seemingly calibrated for Ellen's smaller stature, it looked suspiciously like her original World Crossing Bow she used at the peak of her strength but different slightly.
For one, it was way weaker. The original World Crossing Bow was a Grade 11 artifact miles better then the current one she held which was only a Grade 2 artifact. Likely to match her current G rank strength. It was a very high quality Grade 2 artifact at least.
As expected, the 3 arrows had now become 1. Leaving her with only one singular arrow. Still a broadhead arrow as well. This time it was slightly larger and longer then the previous arrows.
Immersing himself in the satisfying feeling of the soft crunchy snow, his mindless walking was soon interrupted.
"Its been following us around for the last few minutes now, in the past i only managed to leave after killing it. Seems like we cant just run through and make it to the end."
He sighed. Compared to the last three arenas, this final arena held only one singular monster which was why he had been so relaxed throughout the whole walk. While Raymond had hoped they would be able to leave after just walking far enough like in the previous three arenas, it seemed that Killian Halu'an had different plans.
Waving his staff, he quickly drew upon some of his mana and casted a quick shield spell.
Raymond had transformed his bow back into its original form as a staff. Mainly due to the fact that it really just wasn't that useful.
It cost too much mana for Raymond to use currently and with his admittedly lacking archery skills, he often missed if it weren't for his magic.
Even with his magic however, Ellen's arrows were still usually more deadly.
Which is why the plan for this final monster was simple. While Raymond focused entirely on tanking, support and controlling the monster.
All the while Ellen would search for an opportunity to kill it in one hit. If she failed then they would scavenge her arrow and try again.
If worst came to worst, then Ellen would temporarily take over tanking while Raymond would be in charge of killing it.
"Time to go yeti hunting then."
Turning his head to a seemingly normal snow mound, Raymond focused his mana sense. Offensive magic wasn't allowed according to the rules which was why Raymond had to improvise a little to get its attention. Pointing his staff at the mound, he cast his spell.
"Water Splash."
Instantly a large jet of water came out the end of his staff. Flying straight towards the mound in a perfect trajectory. A spell like this wasn't enough to cause any damage to an F rank monster that they were fighting but it was definitely enough to annoy it slightly.
The spell was a spell from this world that he modified in order to give it the extra power needed to travel further. Since the original spell was just meant to splash water on others, Raymond was banking on this in order to not break the no offensive magic rule.
It definitely worked for sure, the water blasted away a decent amount of snow. Revealing the yeti in all its furry glory. Even if Raymond and Ellen weren't only fourteen years old and still growing, this thing would still tower over them standing at nearly 4 meters.
It was covered head to toe in white fur except for its feet and hands which let Raymond see its claws which looked way too sharp. Its face resembled an ape with two massive fangs the size of Raymond's arms hanging downwards.
Clearly outraged, it roared at Raymond as it charged towards him. Its appearance of running at him like a human gave him serious uncanny valley vibes.
"Grease!"
The patch of snow in front of Raymond shimmered slightly. As the yeti ran into the snow, its feet immediately lost all traction. Running in place for a moment like a cartoon character before slipping and landing on it's behind.
Despite the fact that monsters were usually stronger then humans at the same realm. Most monsters were also stupid. So they both kind off counteracted the other.
"Fleet footed. "
This first circle spell was becoming a staple of his now. Despite being a first circle spell, the speed increase it gave Raymond was massively useful especially because of his purer mana and it didn't cost that much mana.
Reinforcing his mana shield, he ran through his own battles strategy again.
Run rings around the thing using his faster speed and occasionally maybe fire off the occasional support magic to try and get an opportunity for Ellen.
Splashing it with more water to keep it enraged, he got ready for his dance.
Standing up and charging at Raymond once again, he braced his legs. Observing its movements as carefully as possible.
Right swing!
Dodging under its fist, he felt the wind from the attack blow his hair back.
Holding his staff like a spear, he used the brief moment he was under its arm to poke it straight up into its armpit.
Thwack
Raymond didn't use any strength in this attack. He had already learnt as much about a yeti as he could from Ellen before this.
These monsters were just big monkeys who relied on their muscles to do anything. With their tough fur they would be an annoying foe for anyone using a melee weapon. Which is why Raymond didn't try to injure it.
He just needed to keep it angry. Something which was extremely easy to do considering that a yeti was just a big primate in the end.
Dodging another wild swing by stepping backwards. Raymond poked it straight in the stomach while it still overextended its reach.
Another reason why monsters and humans could be roughly equal. This thing had no techniques or fighting styles. Relying solely on instinct to fight any similarly strengthed human with a good grasp on basic fighting techniques and a decent battle IQ could easily mop the floor with it.
Seeing another fist approaching him, he knew he couldn't dodge this this one.
So he let it hit him.
Stopping an arms length away from Raymond, its fist collided against Raymond's mana shield. Instantly he felt a significant amount of mana drain away from him.
Modifying the shield spell on the spot, several large spikes made from his mana immediately shot out from where the yeti's fist and his shield collided. Causing a small shower of blood from its fist which was nearly the size of Raymond's head.
Painting the snow red with its blood, Raymond modified the spell again. This time causing the spikes to break off the shield. Leaving them embedded within the yeti's fist.
Opening its mouth wide, Raymond could practically count the number of teeth it had in perfect clarity. Releasing a roar so loud, it left a ringing sound in his ears.
Meanwhile, Ellen was still circling around Raymond and the Yeti, her bow was nocked with her one singular arrow. Slowly waiting for the opportunity to strike.
"WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO SHOOT THE DAMN THING"
His scream was almost as loud as the yeti's roar.
Luckily he didn't need to wait long, whatever he had done to the yeti's hand had thoroughly enraged it. If it was merely fuming before it was absolutely livid now.
Inhaling, she drew upon her own mana reserves as she pulled the bow string back.
As the World Crossing Arrow, Ellen's archery was much more then it seemed. None of the previous lizards or monkeys had been dangerous enough that Ellen needed to use any techniques or skills. Only the shield-tail crocodile had required her to use her mana and even then it wasn't much.
Slowly, a golden light spread from the arrowhead through the shaft before stopping at the end. Creating an outline over the original arrow.
But she didn't stop there, after drawing upon her mana again. The entire bow slowly underwent the same process, gaining a golden outline.
Adjusting her hand and shoulders slightly to compensate for the new bow and arrow, she took aim at the yeti.
Holding her breath, she steadied her outstretched arm and exhaled slowly.
Right as the last bits of air left her lungs, she released her right hand. Sending an arrow flying.
'River Crossing!'
This was her own bow arts, one created after years of fighting and experience. The World Crossing Bow Arts! Consisting of several stages based on the distance travelled- River, Lake, Forest, Canyon, Mountain, Valley, Ocean and finally World. Each stage roughly correlated to a new letter rank.
At her peak strength of SS+, she had even briefly managed to glimpse into the next stage.
Compared to the dog fighting style of archery that seemed to be so popular nowadays, Ellen was a much more traditional type of archer. Medium to long range archery was what she truly specialized in, sniping at enemies from so far away they would never be able to even see her.
She could see it with her eyes. The opportunity brought by Raymond, the path her arrow should take precisely in order to hit its weakest spot. The blue pathing a way for where to and when for her arrow.
She relaxed her shoulders, her feet shoulder-width apart. A stance she had perfected after years of archery. Feeling the immense mana in the arrow, she released her grip on the bowstring.
Seemingly as if time had slowed down, she watched her golden arrow. Carefully follow the blue path and saw it slowly pierce through the yeti's chest.
Unobstructed as if moving through butter, before leaving its body through its back.
Raymond who had been preparing to block its double hammer strike with his magic suddenly watched as a massive hole blew itself straight through the creature's chest letting him see straight through it.
Collapsing onto its side, Raymond could see the life leave its eyes. Still unaware of how it even died. Turning to Ellen, he made eye contact with her kaleidoscopic eyes and shuddered slightly.
An attack like that might be able to harm or even kill Raymond in his current weakened state if he wasn't careful enough.