The first item Eliron had gotten from the ordeal appeared in the air within a burst of tiny sparks.
He grabbed it before it could fall.
It looked like an ordinary old pouch, with a leather strap around its opening that he could pull to close it.
Above it was a screen describing the item.
~ Infinity Pouch
Spatial storage device with a near limitless storage capacity. Items stored in this pouch will be preserved in the state at which they were stored without degrading.
Note: The item can be summoned at will. This item cannot store living beings.
Eliron's smile broadened. "This is perfect."
Originally, their plan was to use century-old preservation techniques on the monsters they would hunt.
Although it was effective, there was still the problem of capacity. Although the carriage was large, there was a limit to how much could be hauled back with it.
But now, not just animals, even the wood and construction materials he needed could be carried easily with this if he ever felt the workout was enough!
'This is a complete game changer, now I know why the quest was so difficult.'
So far, the goblin king had been the most powerful foe he had faced.
Eliron then pulled out another spoil of battle from his pocket, the spirit shard…
Spirit shards were fragments of a monster's mana core that broke off just before the moment they died.
Needless to say, only monsters capable of using mana had them…
And although only high-caliber monsters had spirit cores, you were not guaranteed one even if you were to kill them because it was somewhat based on probability.
If the mana core shattered wrongly after their death, then everything would fizzle away into wild mana.
That was why they were so rare and extremely expensive.
There were two ways you could potentially use a spirit shard—
You could implant it in your core and gain the monster's skills…
Or you could absorb the core and gain a significant boost to your mana stores, the effects dependent on how developed your core is and the quality of the shard.
Eliron tossed the gleaming crystal up and caught it before it could land.
"So, what am I going to do with you?"
Deciding to think about it more at a later date, Eliron tossed the shard into his infinity pouch, and then mentally dismissed the storage device.
Then he got up and stretched. He was not sure how long he had sat there, but the next time he looked at the camp, it seemed the elves were throwing a party to celebrate the return of the girls.
Eliron stirred Yennefer awake. The lazy angel got up grudgingly while rubbing her eyes as she blinked away the sleepiness.
"W…what?"
Eliron pointed at the camp. "I think dinner is ready, you should go get yourself a bit—"
Before he could finish, Yennefer had sprung up to her feet like a meerkat, the wonderful aroma of food reaching her nostrils.
But before she sprinted towards the source, she glanced at him and asked, "What about you, aren't you hungry?"
Eliron shook his head. "I'll be there soon, but I want to take a walk first."
"Oh, alright then." Yennefer skipped away, happily humming an angelic tune as she moved towards the fire.
When he had gone far enough, Eliron turned to stare at the forest, then sighed.
The logical thing to do would be to call off their celebration. Although the elves were smart and would keep their noise minimal, it was a security risk nonetheless.
They were not in deeper parts of the forest where unholy, horrifying spiritual monsters lived, but they were deep enough that some could come to pay them a visit.
'The least I can do is make sure the area is safe…' he thought as he walked into the darkness.
Eliron trekked in a straight line for a few minutes, listening for any odd sounds, and looking out for any potential ambushes.
After some time, he changed his direction, circling in a wide arc around the camp which he was slowly expanding.
The forest was calm and without even the slightest trace of a monster.
Since the area was very close to a goblin camp, most monsters had probably learned to avoid it over time after being incessantly hunted.
This was great news to Eliron, because he could enjoy his walk without being too bothered about the safety of the elves.
After a few minutes though, he happened upon something strange, a large monster corpse that seemed to have rotted for several days.
Without proper lighting, it was hard to place what creature it must have been, especially since large chunks of flesh were missing from its gargantuan body…
'What could have done this?'
As Eliron was circling around the monster to observe it, he saw something that filled his heart with dread.
A large footprint big enough for a five year old child to lie in. It was spherical in shape, and at its tip were traces of three stubby claws that had dug into the dirt.
'This somehow looks familiar…'
It took less than a second for it to click in Eliron's mind. "Isn't this an elephant's footprint?"
Well, it was obviously far larger, but it was very similar to something an elephant would make.
There was only one other monster in that world with a footprint identical to that of an elephant…
"The Magister Mammoth."
A nervous smile appeared on his lips.
Normally, they would have spent several days tracking the monster… who would have known it would be so close to them?
Still, seeing the corpse in front of him made Eliron think twice about pursuing the creature.
The goblin king might have been strong, but the Magister Mammoth outclassed it any day.
It was so terrifying that even high elven hunters and mages chose to avoid it rather than confront it.
Imagine an elephant that was carnivorous, but also three times larger and faster than a speeding bus…
That was the type of threat they were facing.
'I wonder if it is still nearby…' Eliron thought.
The corpse had definitely been there for a while, and the footprints were already fading away, but Eliron decided to follow them anyway.
He ended up losing track of time and walking for nearly thirty minutes, after which the tracks vanished.
But Eliron did not give up; he continued searching the area for a little longer.
"Come to think of it, even if I was to find it, how am I going to kill something that big?" he thought as he looked from place to place, not bothering to watch his steps.
The mammoth's size was not the only problem he had to deal with; the monster could also use a unique skill, meaning fighting would be a pain.
'And there is still the issue of its speed…'
Normally, monsters that size would be slow and vulnerable, but the Magister Mammoth was far faster than it had any right to be.
"Tch." He clicked his teeth. "This might be more trouble than I thought."
The next time Eliron took a step, his leg dug deep into the floor as though he had stepped into a pit.
"What the hell?"
When he stared down, he realized just what mess he had gotten himself into.
Quick sand!
He tried to forcefully pull his feet out of the loose soil, but all he did was waste energy, and the more time he waited, the deeper his right leg sank.
"This isn't regular quicksand…" he realized.
His strength was far above the average human's and yet, the quicksand did not budge even after he put all his energy into it.
So Eliron quickly recalled the survival tips for escaping quicksand, something he had heard sometime in his last life.
Then he took a deep breath.
Slowly, he began to wiggle his leg in the sand, pushing the wet sand to the sides as he leaned back, shifting his weight to his free foot.
After nearly thirty minutes of struggling to get free, his foot finally popped out of the sand, and then he fell on his back, panting heavily.
"That was something…"
"I bet this sand can even hold a—"
Eliron did not complete his statement. Instead, he shot up to his feet, his eyes wide with realization as a plan was already brewing in his mind.
'Wait, this can actually work!'
He stared at the quicksand, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"But I'm going to need blood, and lots of it."
Thankfully, there was a place where he could get exactly what he needed…
'I guess it's about time I returned to the goblin camp.'