Chapter 52: Armor Buffalo
Once everyone had calmed down, we decided to defeat the Armor Buffalo that was still quarreling with the semi-transparent ring.
We observed from behind a large boulder. Then, halfway between the boulder and the ring, I created a [Dome!], leaving an opening for Grave to attack through.
“Grave-san, please fire your lightning through this hole. Once it’s weakened, everyone can finish it off easily.”
“When I’m with Leon, it makes me embarrassed that I was so fired up about defeating an Armor Buffalo.”
“Yeah… somehow it just drains all the tension out of you.”
“It really forces you to understand the meaning of ‘Safety first—earn money without taking risks.’”
“I don’t mind easy money, but it feels like my skills will dull, so I can’t quite celebrate.”
“I mean, seriously—just the idea of jumping into the air to escape from an Armor Buffalo? I can’t keep up with that kind of thinking.”
Yes, that. I also wondered if I could fly if I could jump that high… something to work on later.
“I’m going to dispel the magic from the ring, so please get ready.”
“Grave, we’re counting on you.”
When the ring vanished, the Armor Buffalo immediately noticed our presence behind it and charged at us.
“What, it charges the moment it sees us!?”
“It’s really angry!”
[Lightning Strike… Hah!] BZZZ–BOOM
[Lightning Strike… Hah!] BZZZ–BOOM
[Lightning Strike… Hah!] BZZZ–BOOM
It was too close and charging too fast, so the attacks wouldn’t land. I slapped Grave’s arm to make him stop attacking, and at the same moment added more mana to reinforce the dome.
Grave’s group—aside from Grave—were holding their heads and crouching when they saw the Armor Buffalo coming right at them.
A massive DOOOON shook the dome, and the thunderous impact reverberated through our bodies.
“You—you’re really just standing there through all of that…”
I turned to the voice. Grave was sitting on the ground, trembling. The rest looked up at me after hearing him.
Well, I’ve gotten used to Armor Buffalo charges after taking so many. But if I had experienced this suddenly, I’m confident I’d collapse and wet myself.
Grave… tch, too bad, he didn’t wet himself.
The dome, reinforced but not shaped like a shallow dish since there were eight people inside, held up just fine. My smaller solo domes can survive a charge, but I wasn’t sure a larger one would—so reinforcing it was the right call.
“Hey hey, because Leon keeps provoking it, more of them are gathering!”
“With this many here we won’t even have space to run!”
“Leon, can’t you blow them back with wind!?”
Blow them away with wind… that’s it!
I’d always been focused on offense and defense with magic, but blowing wind is the most basic wind magic.
If I just create a focused gust—like when forming a bullet, but without the tube shape—I should be able to do it.
“Uhh, I can’t use bullets from here, so give me a moment to think.”
But these aren’t cattle; these are massive beasts the size of warhorses. A normal gust wouldn’t move them.
I didn’t want to show them enhanced whirlwinds or tornadoes either.
If I needed at least a 3 or 4-meter-wide area of strong wind, maybe I could manipulate the surrounding air currents by taking advantage of visible wind.
If I’m using the wind, then how should I shape the magic?
Magic is normally mana shaping an image, but if I’m using wind as a medium… the opposite?
I infused mana into the existing air currents and gathered the flows. Wind started blowing toward the Armor Buffalo, growing stronger.
Grass flattened, leaves and twigs scattered, striking the buffalo.
“Whoa, this wind is getting serious.”
“Nice, Leon! Make it even stronger!”
“It’s like a storm, but it’s still not enough to knock them down.”
“No, no—this is Leon we’re talking about. He’ll do it.”
Hey, I’m trying to concentrate. Please be quiet.
I pressed a finger to my lips, asking them to hush. To accelerate the descending wind further, I added even more mana to push it.
Spell… Gust, Strong Wind, Gale, Hurricane… [Strong Wind!]
The sound of the wind changed from whoosh whoosh to GOOOO.
The cluster of Armor Buffalo braced themselves against the wind.
“Whoa, awesome.”
“Told you! Leon does it if you ask.”
“It’s honestly terrifying how he just can do things.”
When I tried adding more mana—
One buffalo stumbled, maybe from bad footing, and slid backward.
The buffalo behind it, unable to withstand twice the wind pressure, bent its legs and tried to crouch—then toppled over backward.
The 4-meter-wide wind funnel lost control and the surroundings were filled with roaring wind.
The buffalo that fell rolled, pushing its companions with it as they tumbled away.
Amen.
“Hey hey—they all rolled away!”
“We were supposed to defeat the Armor Buffalo! Now they’re all gone!”
“Leon, you overdid it!”
You were all shaking in fear earlier—and now that they’re gone you say that?
Well, they gave me a good hint with the idea of blowing wind, so I’ll forgive them.
Next time we run into some, I shouldn’t blow them away. They’re Jäger’s group’s prey after all, and they helped me with the Warren’s chairman situation.
A proper hunt means weakening them with lightning magic, then finishing them off.
They said swords and spears barely work, so I want to see how they do the finishing blow.
Fortunately, the next day we found another herd.
We carefully snuck up behind them and hid while observing.
The Armor Buffalo didn’t even seem to care, calmly grazing.
This time, to avoid a charge, I prepared a semi-transparent dome before Grave started chanting, with a round window for him to attack from.
Safety first, quality second. If he landed a hit first, even if they charged we wouldn’t have to see it.
At Grave’s signal, everyone gathered behind him, and I immediately set up the [Dome!].
Grass and dirt scraped away, making it hard to see outside, but whatever.
I made a round window in front of Grave, motioned with my hand for him to proceed, and bowed politely.
Dennis and Rick burst out with a pfft—!.
With a slightly awkward expression, Grave cast [Lightning Strike… Hah!].
BZZZ–BOOM!
The Armor Buffalo had smoke rising from the back of its neck and swayed unsteadily. Grave’s lightning is powerful, but one hit isn’t enough to take it down.
The thunder and their staggering companion caused the rest of the herd to gather—
and it looked like there were more than yesterday.
“Leon, close the hole!”
“We don’t want a repeat of yesterday!”
“Looks like we’ll have to hold off on the finishing blow for a while.”
They didn’t have to tell me—I was scared too. I closed the opening immediately and reinforced the dome with more mana.
But I was still a bit curious, so I opened a small peephole near the bottom to observe their movements.
Everyone else was curious too, pestering me to make holes, so I created three small viewing holes.
“They’re not leaving the weakened one’s side.”
“They sure care about their comrades.”
“Yeah, well… that’s a problem for us.”
“Grave, kick their butts like you always do.”
“Aye. Leon, open a slightly bigger hole.”
I made the hole as requested. Grave stuck his hand out a little and cast [Lightning Strike… Hah!]
BZZZ–BOOM! A powerful bolt struck the nearest Armor Buffalo right on the rear.
The idea of literally “kicking their butts” with lightning was funny, but before I could laugh, another [Lightning Strike… Hah!] came, and BZZZ–BOOM! hit what looked like a calf on the rump.
Startled from having its rear shocked, the calf bolted straight ahead. What seemed to be its parent chased after it, and then the rest of the herd charged after them as well.
“Alright, one’s left alone. Let’s finish it. Grave, check it.”
“Aye.”
[Lightning Strike… Hah!]
BZZZ–BOOM!
This time he struck right at the weakened one’s snout, but its movements were still slow.
“Let’s go!”
I opened an exit, and everyone rushed out at once, advancing toward the Armor Buffalo—though still cautiously watching their surroundings.
I followed behind them just in case something went wrong.
Up close, the Armor Buffalo was huge. Its skin looked rough and thick. Its forehead had a bulge, probably hardened from all its charging. With a lump like that, wouldn’t headbutting cause a concussion? I worried about that a little.
They surrounded it carefully and approached slowly. When the moment was right, they attacked the joints at the base of its legs simultaneously.
Their magically forged black spears and powerful arrows sank deeply into the joints of its four limbs. Even an Armor Buffalo couldn’t withstand that—it collapsed.
They moved around to its belly, and with a precise thrust toward the heart, it stopped moving.
I see, so the weak points are the leg joints and the belly.
Horn Boars also had weak joints and soft abdominal areas. The skin around joints needs to be thin enough to flex, and I’ve never seen animals with strong abs…
Well, orcs had impressive abs, though.
Anyway—four-legged beasts: weak points are the leg joints and belly. I’ll remember that.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
Two days later, we found another herd and prepared to surround it.
But thanks to one unnecessary comment from Grave, I ended up being the one who had to do the extermination.
“Leon, you hunt big monsters sometimes, right? Show us how you do it. We’ve only seen your dome magic on the way here.”
“Yeah, I’m curious too—how does Leon hunt?”
“Leon, we’re not saying show us all your tricks. But the way you blew away those Armor Buffalo was amazing. If you weren’t trying to chase them off but actually trying to defeat them, how would you do it? Show us.”
Seriously?
They bring this up right when we’re about to start an actual hunt?
I sighed, but with all their hopeful stares on me, I had no choice but to step forward.
“You guys sure are troublesome… Fine. Just say the kill was done by the Fangs, alright? And please handle the finishing blow.”
I left everyone inside the dome and moved forward.
Just as the Armor Buffalo raised its head from grazing—
[Dome!]
I erected a dome.