Chapter 42
Shining a flashlight to inspect the interior of the emergency evacuation cave, Sigrin let out a cheer.
All the beasts were wriggling on the ground, barely clinging to the last of their energy.
‘I memorized their weaknesses before coming!’
First, the Pebble Golem, with a body made of countless pebbles, making it extremely tough!
Already drained of energy, the connections between its pebbles were loose. Sigrin wedged a dagger into a gap to widen it, then poured holy water from Cardia onto the golem’s core.
As the core began to lose its glow, Sigrin reached into the widened gaps, extracted the core, and collected the Pebble Golem Crystal from among the pebbles forming its body, stowing the corpse in a case.
‘Processing complete.’
Sigrin quickly handled the Pebble Golems before moving to the other beasts.
Spirit Sprouts were easy to deal with, no need to target specific weaknesses.
Wisps, spiritual entities formed when ordinary spirits absorbed a deceased person’s core and Ether, were notoriously hard to hit.
But when exhausted and asleep, they took the form of a flame, and splashing water on them worked. Holy water was even more effective.
Shwaaa!
‘Easy, so easy.’
Thus, Sigrin killed all the beasts in the first shelter.
One more place remained!
The so-called Quartz Cave in the Pebble Golem territory was teeming with Pebble Golems.
Humming, Sigrin set off.
✦ ✦ ✦
[Sigrin Ebenkera [N/A Affiliation]]
[Current Location: Cardia Beginner Hunting Grounds]
[First Assignment: Spirit Sprout [10], Wisp [14], Pebble Golem [30]]
[Bonus Points: Pebble Golem Slayer (+30)]
[Submitted Credits: -20/500]
This feat was achieved just 30 minutes into the raid.
A very satisfying result.
With the raid lasting three hours, Sigrin had plenty of time left after defeating the beasts.
Lingering in the hunting grounds without hunting might bump into or disturb other students, so Sigrin exited.
As Sigrin left the hunting grounds, her eyes met those of the professors waiting at the entrance.
“Sigrin… You’re done already?”
“Yes, I’ll wait outside.”
Sigrin sat on the grass, enjoying the breeze.
Professor Marcus stared at Sigrin, who had massacred beasts in a mere 30 minutes.
During classes, Sigrin always ended up in the nurse’s office, so he’d never seen her abilities in action.
She refused town assignments, so her core’s location was unknown.
What a reckless student. What academy rules did she even follow?
Was it because she came from a lawless zone?
Marcus cautiously spoke.
“…Sigrin, what weapons did you use in this raid?”
“Huh?”
Caught off guard by the professor’s question, Sigrin tilted her head, pausing her daydream.
…What weapons did I use?
Most Golems and Wisps were handled with holy water or regular water… I did use a dagger for the Spirit Sprouts.
“A dagger.”
“…”
The professors were baffled by “dagger.” They couldn’t fathom defeating so many beasts so quickly with just a dagger.
“And, I’m not sure if it counts as a weapon, but holy water. I made it during alchemy class.”
“…!!!”
Professor Diranmidel looked at Sigrin with astonishment, her expression dripping with awe.
She’d mentioned once, in passing, that to minimize damage when processing beginner beasts into items, neutralizing them and using holy water was ideal.
Who’d have thought a student would apply that offhand remark in practice!
Diranmidel barely restrained herself from rushing over to hug Sigrin and pat her head.
Meanwhile, Marcus eyed Sigrin disapprovingly.
“Sigrin, stop skipping classes for the nurse’s office and attend unless something’s wrong.”
“Yeah, focus during class! You’re in two of my courses, but you’re always distracted. It’s a bit much.”
“…Every student has strengths and weaknesses. Our Sigrin is doing wonderfully. I’m proud of her.”
“Professor Diranmidel, you can’t coddle her like that! We need to nurture that outstanding potential!”
Facing the professors alone outside, Sigrin endured a barrage of nagging and comments.
Since she’d deliberately skipped Marcus’s classes for Niche Core Studies assignments, Sigrin felt a bit guilty and pretended to listen while zoning out.
But I always attended Professor Spitu’s classes diligently. That’s unfair.
“Are you listening, Sigrin?!”
Nod, nod.
✦ ✦ ✦
Each semester had three raid classes, and grades were posted on the bulletin board after each.
[Cardia Beginner Hunting Grounds Raid Results]
[Sigrin Ebenkera: {Spirit Sprout: 10, Wisp: 14, Pebble Golem: 30}]
[Luca Drümuel: {Spirit Sprout: 2, Wisp: 35, Pebble Golem: 8}]
[Uwi Namain: {Spirit Sprout: 101, Wisp: 0, Pebble Golem: 0}]
Students crowded around the board, checking their grades and others’.
“…Sigrin, didn’t she miss two raids due to punishment?”
“And she barely participated in the first class because she went to the intermediate hunting grounds, right?”
“So this is the result of just one raid, not cumulative?”
“Seems like it.”
“How did she kill 30 Pebble Golems in one go?”
“Rumor has it she finished in 30 minutes and left early…”
“Eek…”
“And what’s with the 101 Spirit Sprouts? Can’t handle big ones, so they just beat up the weak ones?”
“Got a problem? Could you kill 101?”
“Calm down, Uwi~”
Students sighed heavily at their results.
“Hey, you know credit submissions are due next week, right? Processed any items?”
“Gotta start soon. If I keep procrastinating, I won’t submit any credits.”
The consequences of slacking hit hard.
They needed to convert beast corpses in the cold storage into credits, but the pressure was immense.
Messing up item processing meant losing even the base corpse points.
But submitting just raw beasts to the Credit Exchange yielded pitiful scores.
“Who in our year is good at item processing? Let’s ask them.”
“…”
“What?”
“Luca and Sigrin.”
“Huh?”
“If Luca does it by the book, Sigrin does it like an art. She’ll multiply your credits.”
“…”
“…”