"Water Bolt!"
"GYAOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The spell Rest unleashed slammed into the Worm. The high-pressure Water Laser struck true, drawing an enraged roar from the creature.
"GYAOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"I see... Water-attribute magic isn't very effective."
Despite the direct hit, the Worm continued to thrash about, seemingly undeterred by the high-pressure stream.
Rest was currently battling a Worm—specifically, its larval form. Since defeating the first one, he had continued his trek through the wetlands. This was the fourth one he had encountered, though he had yet to see a parent specimen. As he fought, Rest bombarded the creature with various spells to systematically map out its weaknesses.
"Wind works well. Water and Earth are almost useless. Fire and Thunder are... decent, I suppose?"
"GYAOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Wind Storm!"
"GYAOOOOOOOOOO!?"
The high-tier Wind spell unleashed a cyclone of razor-sharp air that shredded the Worm’s massive frame. While typically a wide-area spell intended for multiple targets, the Worm was so enormous that it caught the full brunt of the destructive power.
"GYAAAAAAAAAA!"
Coated in its own purple fluids, the Worm slammed its weight down in a desperate attempt to crush Rest.
"HAAAAAAH!"
"GYAO!?"
A shadow blurred into motion, kicking the Worm’s head aside. Yuri had intervened with a lightning-fast strike. Her physical strength was monstrous, capable of cleaving through a human torso with a single blow. The impact staggered the creature, slamming its head deep into the muck.
"Now's my chance!"
"Right... leave it to me!"
Rest channeled his mana once more. The sky seemed to dim as a sphere of brilliant radiance coalesced in his hand.
"Amaterasu!"
A concentrated beam of light pierced the Worm's skull. It let out one final, pained groan before falling still, slowly sinking into the mud.
"And then there's Light-attribute. Since it lives underground, I suppose it’s only natural for that to be its greatest weakness."
After four encounters, Rest had more or less mastered the species' vulnerabilities. With this knowledge, he would have the upper hand even against a parent specimen.
"Precious..."
Urula murmured from a distance as she watched Rest finish the fight. Rest didn't catch the word, but he felt an intense gaze boring into him from behind the curtain of her long bangs.
"Magnificent. Truly a sight to behold," Ostray, the veteran soldier of the Margrave Lavender House, said as he stepped forward in praise. "That makes four larval Worms now. To think you've fired off so many high-tier spells and still show no sign of mana exhaustion... I am truly in awe."
"Thanks. I'm happy to hear it, even if it's just flattery."
"It is far from flattery... No, it is truly fearsome."
"Mnh... Rest-sama is amazing."
"The Lady says, 'It was a truly magnificent display of magic. I once again find myself in awe of your prowess as a matchless warrior.' Or something to that effect," Arlee translated.
"No... there's no way she said that much, right?"
Urula and her attendant were as eccentric as ever, but Rest took the compliment nonetheless.
"That's four. I wonder where the parent is hiding?"
Though they had scoured the area, no parent specimen had appeared. It hadn't triggered his presence detection magic, nor had they found even a trace of its passage.
"Ugh... if only the ground were solid, searching would be so much easier," Yuri said, looking fed up as she yanked her foot out of the mud.
The wetlands were a miserable slog. Half the area consisted of marshes and bogs, some deep enough to swallow a grown man. There were many places where progress was impossible without a boat or where the muck simply held them fast. Rest had been using magic to provide temporary footholds, but it was taking several times longer than it would on flat ground.
"It's already becoming evening. Let's withdraw for today and regroup."
Spending the night in a monster den on slimy, muddy ground was a horrifying prospect.
"Camping... yeah," Urula suggested.
Yuri clapped her hands together, her eyes lighting up. "Oh, camping! That sounds like fun!"
"Her Ladyship suggests we find solid ground outside the wetlands to set up camp," Arlee interpreted. "If we retreat all the way back to the frontier every day, we will never make progress on the search. We should establish a base nearby and settle in."
"You're right," Rest agreed. Searching the wetlands was a slow process. They needed to be prepared for a long-term operation, and establishing a forward base made sense. "I just happened to master a monster-repelling barrier magic, too. Let’s find a suitable spot."
The group retreated from the marshes back to the solid plains as the sun dipped toward the western horizon. After cleansing themselves of the grime with magic, they pitched their tents and settled in for the night.