Eliron turned back to check on the formation and smiled when he saw it was still standing. The hunters looked terribly tired, but they had done their best.
From the way the corpses were arranged, He and Artie had killed the most by far, followed by Ash, and then the entire hunters combined only managed to slay two of the monsters…
'The difference between a noble and a regular elf is too vast…' Eliron mused as he walked towards them.
What was worse was that this disparity was even greater when you compared the most basic high elf to a wood elf.
A trained high elf hunter, not even a knight or mage would have taken on one of these monsters alone without much difficulty…
And a mage? Five would fall by their hands. Yet, it had taken the combined effort of twenty of the most experienced hunters to tackle two!
He breathed out a sigh.
If he wanted the elves to be anything of use in the future, then he would have to do something about their current power level.
By the time Eliron and Artie had walked up to the battle formation, they had finally disbanded, some sitting on the floor, breathing heavily, while others stood, trying to catch their breath.
But when Eliron got there, his eyes widened in surprise, then he smirked.
"I didn't know you were such an excellent shot…"
Yennefer glanced at him and frowned. "Near death experiences tend to make you more accurate."
Yen was sitting next to one of the serpentine monsters, her crossbow resting on the grass beside her.
'It looked like it broke through the formation… and she took care of it.'
Good job Yen." Eliron smiled.
For a second she paused, staring at his face, before she pouted. "If I did such a good job then feed me, I've spent my dinner burning those things!" She argued, waving her hands like a baby.
"Good job guys, you managed to maintain your formation." Artie complimented the group, a polite smile on her face.
Then Ash walked up to them, still dripping fresh blood. "I've confirmed that none of them are alive, my lord."
Eliron nodded.
"Ahhhh! My God, look at how much meat we have gathered! This will last us weeks!"
Galgath, the first elf Eliron defeated in the training session said, folding his hands behind his head.
Artie smiled then laughed gently as she shook her head. "I'm afraid it is not edible.."
"Wait, really?" He asked, eyes wide. "Aww, what a waste!"
Yennefer gave him a blank stare. "Even if they were edible, would you have eaten these things?"
They all turned to stare at the humanoid looking monster, and their snake-like bodies.
"Hmmph, I never knew you were such a gluton." She said, staring up to meet the taller elf's gaze.
Galgath scratched his head, his cheeks turning rosy from the attention he was getting from yYen.
"I see… you have a point there."
Elion grimaced. 'That one is going to die by the hands of a woman one day….'
"Alright, let's clean up the camp, we have to rest up for our journey tomorrow!"
•••
The next morning, the journey to find the girls resumed, the cart gently rolling down the road.
Unlike last time though, the cart was not empty. Arranged neatly by the side, were dozens of monster claws harvested from the serpent monsters.
There were many uses for these claws…
Since they were very sharp and durable, they could be used to create arrow heads, or other cutting tools.
But that was not why Eliron had taken them. The truth was that monster parts sold for quite a hefty sum!
He smirked as he stared at them. What he was looking at we're not just monster parts, they were stacks of coins that would help his future plans for the village.
"I hope we run into more of those monsters…" he said absentmindedly.
"What?? Are you trying to jinx us?" Yennefer complained by his side.
Eliron frowned. "Go back into the carriage, stop pestering me."
Yennefer bit into the jerky she had in her hand. "You want me to sit next to those stinky monster fingers? No thank you!"
He sighed and increased his pace.
They had walked for a couple of hours when Artie signaled them to stop.
"Be quiet…" she whispered, her voice sharp.
Then she unslung her bow from her back, and pulled the bowstring taunt.
Eliron tried to see what was ahead of them, but he could not see past the leaves.
With a focused gaze, her expression never shifting once, Artie raised her aim to the sky, and released the arrow.
The projectile vanished into the leaves, and seconds later—
Thump!
"Let's go." Artie said, hurrying into the forest.
They all followed swiftly behind her and then they finally saw what she had been aiming at.
Lying on the floor in a pool of putrid blood was nothing other than a goblin.
Its board head was glistening as though marinated in oil and its yellowed eyes were lifelessly staring into the sky.
"This was a scout, but it looks like it's the only one." Artie pulled her arrow from its chest and cleaned it on a nearby tree.
"Really, so this is it? It's so… ugly." Yennefer said, grimacing at the sight.
"Yup, that's why they have to steal girls, it's because they have no game." Damian, one of the hunters joked.
Silence…
Ash glanced at him, slowly shaking his head in disappointment.
"Ehehehe…" Eliron chucked, only to freeze when everyone stared at him.
"Uhuum!! It looks like we are close…" He quickly said.
Then he took a look around the place. "But this is just an outpost, the others may be gone now, but they'll be back soon."
"If they find out that this goblin is missing, then they'll surely report it to their base."
There was no telling if they would get there before the goblins, this was their home turf after all.
"What do you propose?" Artie asked.
Eliron smirked. "Why don't we set a trap?"