Okay, I'll continue explaining the plan.
"During the period when they're disoriented, you cast Swager on those who seem the most resilient."
"Finally you indiscriminately use Magic Leaf on all the monsters on your side. Then I'll finish off those on my side that are nearing the end of their lives, or if they try to escape, with Exe."
I whisper to Ivy, who nods with utmost seriousness to my hastily made plan, before looking at me with those astonished violet eyes, as if she were admiring her lazy, disorganized son transforming into a brilliant planner overnight.
"Stop being distracted and get ready,"(I check their positions again), "go over there and wait for my signal."
I lead her to another side, not far away but still far enough to ensure an ambush.
When I see Ivy leave my side, even if it's only a few meters at most, I slightly reinforce my grip towards Exe and accelerating the flow of energy through my body.
(Having Exe is reassuring, but it's still less than having Ivy with me.)
After my genius preparation, Ivy proceed to eliminate all the nearby monsters with no difficulty and we proceed to tracks another mainly because of the size of their herd left far too many clues even for an "amateur" like me.
We went deeper into the forest after noticing telltale signs of deer going through the area.
(There might escape something.)
After chasing them for about a minute farther into the forest, I see a obvious variant of the kobolds, a more wolf-like monster that I believe to be a loup garou.
I'm fairly certain through a quick scan that it was alone. There were no other monsters eating with it, and there were no odd shadows around.
I kept watching the werewolf, moving forward step by step to get a better perspective on the situation, and obviously it seems I've made a pretty stupid mistake.
—CRACK —
(…—AHH SHITT—!!)
The sound didn't just echo—
It announced me.
The werewolf's head snapped toward me instantly. Those red eyes locked on, sharp, aware… not confused, not slow.
(…F$$k amazing job, Lucas.)
"Ivy—!"
Too late to whisper now.
The creature moved.
"Grrrr-Grrrr!" It growled at me, and it seemed to think I was easy prey, judging by the way it walked slowly, looking me in the eyes.
Not a charge. Not yet. Just a shift—weight forward, claws digging slightly into the soil, testing, measuring.
(And it really concerned, in that in need to finish it quickly.)
I felt my grip tighten around Exe in case and command to Ivy.
"Okay Ivy, use Glare on this monster right now."
The werewolf's body locked mid-motion, muscles seizing just long enough to break its rhythm completely
(I need to eliminate this quickly—!)
"Ivy, now use Leaf Blade!"
And immediately after she vanished was already in front of him.
A flash of green carved through the air. I saw a wave of green light rip through its body. It didn't even have time to react.
The strike landed across its neck before it could even recover from the paralysis.
—DUM—
And before I knew it, the monster's head fell to the ground without me moving an inch, followed by the rest of its body, which gushed blood like a fountain on steroids and hitting the forest floor with a heavy thud.
No second attack needed.
…
I stayed still for a moment.
(Our first fight was….pretty quick.)
Just in case.
"…It's really done?"
Ivy flicked her tail lightly, already relaxed.
Of course it was.
I exhaled slowly, tension leaving my shoulders all at once.
(…Okay but what is that doing there.)
After that I stick myself with Ivy for the rest of our exploration until we got back to the village in the afternoon.
But at least we were able to complete the objectives I had set out to accomplish during this period.
1- Going into the forests and experimenting with Ivy.
-The tests we conducted allowed us to use most of the movements Ivy knows, and the results were conclusive, except for a few cases that we deemed not worth a try.
(…Aromatherapy)
-Most of them generally worked as expected, with a special mention for Baby-Dool Eyes, whose effects were much more impressive than anticipated.
2- Exercising my powers and assessing my current body in depth.
-During my experiment, I discovered that I could also interact mentally with Ivy in many more ways than the simple vocal communication we've maintained since we met.
-Even though this called into question the fact that we've been communicating so well without misunderstandings all this time.
3- Doing some research in the environment.
-First, we spotted a few fruit trees lying around before noticing enormous battle scars in a specific part of the forest.
-Some of the trees had deep claw marks, leaving no doubt that the monster guarding this territory is a beast of a different kind.
4- Track the wolves if I see their trail.
-Well, not much at the moment, but I think we have a pretty promising lead thanks to some tracks left earlier. -Unfortunately, it seems far too far from the road to the village, and right now I don't want to go to far from the main road.
5- Gather an enormous amount of magic stone for the egg. -This was surprisingly easy to do; there were plenty of monsters at a crossroads on the way back.
-Of the 70 goblins we encountered, around 39 intact stones were recovered. Obviously, the remains were destroyed during the battle.
-Which isn't a big deal considering the quantity they seem to be lying around in the area.
And lastly something that I don't think of but that just pop up in my mind.
6- Gacha Time.
-Of the 100P I'd had for a while, I decided to use half of them, and the result simply wasn't great this time.
(It seems my initial luck is starting to run out.)
Still closely guarded by Ivy like the most precious jewel in an exhibition, I look at the drawing results, which slightly darken my eyebrows.
☆☆☆☆Gacha☆☆☆☆☆
[Soda Pop × 7]
[Black Glasses × 2]
[Muscle Wing × 17]
[Air Balloon × 1]
[Super Big Box × 3]
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
(To be honest, not bad, but certainly not as much as previous pulls, but I'd better get used to it considering the number of items in all the games across the different franchises.)
[Soda Pop: A hingly carbonated soda drink. When consumed, it restores hearth to the drinker.]
[Black Glasses: A pair of shady-looking glasses that boost the power of Dark Type moves.]
[ Muscle Wing: It slightly increases the base attack stat of a single Pokémon.]
[Air Balloon: The holder will float in the air until hit by any means.]
[Super Big Box: Each one contains a random item from a set list.]
Of course, I quickly claimed all three boxes after putting away the other rewards.
"So let's see what these boxes have for me."
Well, with the three boxes in front of me, my excitement was at its peak because these boxes usually contained quite a few good things, like Evolution Stones.
I was hoping for some new items: fossils, jewels, and even pearls.
But my hopes were easily dashed by the result, which wasn't exactly disappointing.
[Tiny mushroom × 2.]
[Hard Stone × 1.]
Ignoring the box results, I started walking back to the village. After passing through the entrance and greeting the guards and the few mercenaries loitering there, I was heading towards the library when I met someone I knew.
It was none other than the inn girl Sarah.
"Sir Lucas, glad to see you're back—"
"You can call me by my first name, Lira, and I'll continue to do the same."
I interrupted her with a slight smile to offer her an idea that had been on my mind for a while.
"But Sir—" I interrupted her again, my hand to her lips.
"I hope you don't mind, do you?"
She seemed lost in thought for a few seconds before suddenly nodding enthusiastically.
I removed my fingers from her lips, watching her frown slightly at this, but she quickly recovered and gave me another affirmativeanswer.
"No problem, Lucas, so, um... have a good day!!"
Without waiting another second, shestarted running at full speed, knockingsomeone over, apologizing, and continuing on her way.
( She really fun….hmmm now I need to know what is that house Elbart.)