Master Of None

The party held close to the merchant trails as they left the city. They had already traveled the route from the south gate a few times and were much more comfortable leaving this way for the sun hollow forest. Luckily the rain was misty instead of the heavy downpour from the night before. If it had been too bad they would have lost visibility making travel much more dangerous for everyone. 

”Hey Walker, you don’t think that the wither spike ice arrow will have a greater effect since it’s raining, do you?’ Gil had come to this realization as they walked. He wanted to think of the best times and places for each arrow and how to make that decision during battle. 

”It should, the arrow just makes the water elemental mana gather in one place to cause it to form in to ice spikes.” Walke had already thought of this and made the decision that it could end up being beneficial. However, there was also the possibility that things would be more dangerous since they did not know how much more water elemental mana would be attracted.

”That sounds like it could be dangerous. From the way Remey described it all to me it could cause a lot of damage to the surrounding area.” Su had much more dramatic ideas of what the arrows did after listening to Remey. She was currently imagining that the entire forest would be turned in to ice if Gil so much as thought about shooting one. 

”It should be limited to the amount of water elemental mana within the arrow. If we can figure out the area that it can affect then we shouldn’t need to worry too much. Plus I think the fire element arrows are pretty much useless in weather like this. Not sure about earth element but I have a feeling they are not as good either.” Walker stepped in to a little mud to make a point. The water was making the path they were traveling much softer which would make the earth softer as well when manipulated by magic. 

”That makes sense, if more of the elemental mana is around it should be more powerful, and if the opposite elemental mana is around then the opposite will be weaker. Why would fire burn in water anyways.” Remey was just stating the blunt facts but couldn’t understand why this was a topic anyways. She would prefer just to avoid the risk of a massive move as a whole, especially after the incident with the light arrow. 

”Well, we don’t have to wait to worry about it. Gil, do you see that green and brown spot on the top of that small rock up ahead?” Su had caught a small bit of motion well ahead of the party on the trail they were walking. 

”I see what you are pointing out. That definitely is a strange shape for a rock. It would make a perfect target for a water elemental wither spike arrow.” Gil pulled one from his quiver over his shoulder. This was another new gear item that the wandering blacksmith had made for him. 

The quiver was made so that it could hold all the elemental arrows in its own space. This would make it easier for Gil to pick the one he wanted in an instant instead of grabbing with the hope that he had pulled the arrow he wanted at first. It was also easy to restock on the go so that Walker could drop more arrows into it without trouble.

Gil had already set his sights on the camouflaged frog, he swiftly pulled back an arrow and channeled some mana in to it. The blue glow coming from the arrow head made the air around him chill slightly. This seemed to already have a greater effect than when he tested it before. ”Su, it feels a little different, we are far away bit please stay ready just in case.” Gil made his warning and let the arrow fly. 

The far away target was hit with an audible fleshy thwack, the arrow easily pierced the wide mouthed frog which let out a pained croak. Within seconds the water around it in a five foot radius pulled in to a ball around the point that the arrow struck. The water rapidly froze and created a large chunk of spiked ice. 

The wide mouthed frog which was the size of the average cow was now almost completely pierced and encased within the ice. ”Wow” Remey only let out this one word but it spoke to what they all thought. 

”I would say that is a significant boost in strength because of the high amount of water in the area.” Walker was already heading toward the target. 

’Wide mouthed frog defeated

15exp multiplied to 150 exp.’

The system was a little late from what Walker could see but since the wide mouth frog was partially trapped and partially skewered it made sense that it may not have been instantly defeated. 

Midnight was right there next to Walker wanting to see the new food she would be able to try when they all stopped for rest later. ”You look pretty excited, is having frog meat really that delicious sounding.” Midnight’s reaction was to speed up and get to the frozen frog first. This left Walker to think of how he would properly defrost the newly acquired dinner. 

”Gil it looks like the arrow is still good even though it was completely frozen. The soft skin of the frog could be a really good thing when we defeat them.” Walker immediately noticed that there was not any dent or other mange to the arrow other than the fact that it was now frozen. This made the arrow much more useable over and over saving the party a little gold and time. 

”It worked like a charm, it’s not really an area of effect attack but I would say it can do some damage to surrounding enemies.” Gil was analyzing the use of the arrow in comparison to what it had done. 

”Nope, you guys can cook this up, I won’t be touching these unless I have to fight one.” Remey had goosebumps just looking at the frog’s skin. She had been told it wasn’t slimy but that didn’t mean that she believed them at all. 

Walker found that he didn’t need to use much mana to make the ice melt. ”I am pretty sure since you used your mana to make the arrow cause ice to form it is easier to use mana to make it melt. I am not sure if this is good or bad since an enemy that can manipulate elements too might have an easier time escaping the earth elemental arrow.” this was good and bad news, the good side was that they could have more unexpected strength based on weather. The downside came in the form of mana, if a mage with the element Gil used was somehow trapped then they could escape much more easily.

”This sounds gross and I think it’s gross, but save the eyeballs separately. I read that they are a delicacy for elves’ traditional rituals. I read that they use it to assist in the growth of certain underwater herbs.” Remey had gotten over her current disgust to make this fact known. She may not want to tough the frog but she could still remember the things she had picked up from the old master alchemist. The herbs that she had heard were normally sold to their kingdom by the elves due to the tough growing methods.

”So there must be some sort of mana or material in the eyes of the wide mouther frogs that provide the right nutrient for under water plants? Interesting, I will try to think of that in the future. You will have to let me know of any other monster parts that can be used to grow certain herbs, I want to make sure I don’t waste anything, I kind of have been thinking we should also build a greenhouse for you and the old man at the mansion.” Walker said the last part with some embarrassment. 

”Really!? You want to build a greenhouse so we can farm our own herbs better?” Remey was very excited at this possibility since she had hundreds of herbs memorized that she would need to go get fresh every time she wanted to sue them. If they had a greenhouse built then they would be able to just go outside the alchemy lab and pick what they needed. 

”The mansion seems to get bigger every day, I will have to let mom know that she might be able to grow some tropical flowers if we get a greenhouse,” Gil mumbled to himself remembering some flowers his mother had once shown him in a hand drawn book. She had always wanted to grow certain flowers but lacked the gold to have the proper environment set up. Gil took this as his next personal goal at the mansion for when they returned. 

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