"Power shot, slipstream arrow, aerodynamic arrow. "
Power shot to increase the speed and power, slipstream and aerodynamic arrow in order to help to arrow move through the mud.
He checked his mana reserves and winced,those three enhancements had costed him the better part of a third of his mana.
If he missed or if this arrow didnt deal serious damage he would only be able to shoot two more.
Whoooo
Exhaling, he took aim and released.
The moment he did however, he could feel the mana of the one he was targetting stop moving abruptly before leaping out of the mud!
As the arrow flew towards the now revealed crocodile. It swung its tail at Raymond's arrow swatting it aside.
Raymond's eyes widened in disbelief. While Raymond wasn't the best at archery, or any spells related to archery the arrow he had just released could easily pierce through metal like it was nothing!
And this creature, a monster he now identified as the shield-tail giant crocodile had swatted it away?
'Even if you're a shield-tail crocodile your tail can't be that strong!'
Seeing it move even faster compared to when it was hidden in the mud, Raymond realised how astronomically screwed he was.
"Mud walking!"
Immediately, him and Ellen both rose from their original positions of being knee deep in the mud to now walking on top as if it were solid ground.
He tried to nock another arrow only to realise he didnt have enough time.
Looking at Ellen, he found her similarly preoccupied with her own crocodile.
"These things only ever charge at you in straight lines! Just move to the left or right at the last moment!"
He mentally thanked her for the information. Turning towards the rapidly charging shield-tail crocodile.
One on one then, Raymond could deal with that sure. The problem was Ellen, while her archery was loads better then Raymond. Raymond had an infinite supply of arrows as long as he had mana whereas Ellen currently only had 3 arrows!
Dashing to the side, Raymond narrowly avoided the charge of the crocodile.
It extended its jaws in an attempt to bite at him but its momentum from charging was too high. Leaving it barreling past Raymond, grazing the edge of his robes.
Raymond fired off a single mana arrow, with no enhancements due to the lack of time.
Clink
It bounced off the crocodiles tough back. Not even leaving a scratch on it's scales before dissipating into the surroundings.
The damn bastard looked like it didnt even feel his arrow.
"Fleet footed"
Charging towards Raymond once again, Raymond quickly cast a spell to increase his movement speed and dashed out of the way.
Seeing it narrowly miss him again, he seized the opportunity while it still had its back to him to fire off another arrow.
"Explosive arrow."
Only one enchantment this time due to his dwindling mana, he aimed straight up in the sky. letting loose, he holstered his bow and extended his arm out in the direction of the arrow.
Feeling the mana arrow, he clenched his fist. With his mana control, he grabbed ahold of the flying mana arrow and turned it around. Stopping it from moving any further.
Narrowly dodging another charge, he swiftly controlled the arrow to fly into the crocodile's mouth as it tried to bite at him.
Finally landing a solid hit made all the dodging and running he had done worth it.
Feeling the mana arrow stabbed into the roof of its mouth ,he grinned maniacally. This bastard monster had the nerve to swat away his magic?
Setting off the earlier enchantment he put on the arrow. He turned his back towards the crocodile.
BOOM!
Feeling the intense heat scorch his back, along with the sounds of several piece of flesh falling from the sky. Raymond wished that he had brought at least some sunglasses.
Alas, his mana was so low right now that using it on summoning sunglasses would be a complete waste.
Turning back again, he admired his own art creation for a little longer scanning it with his mana sense he disappointingly found no mana cores before running over to help Ellen.
'Maybe i should try out arts while in the academy? Their extracurriculars were insane. A shame Raymond didnt make as much use of it as he could have back when he was still in disguise as Nutte Sachs.'
...
"Now!"
Repeating the same motion again, Raymond clenched his fist with his arm extended. This time however, he wasn't controlling a mana arrow.
Rather, he was using a very dumb method he personally liked to refer to as 'brute force telekinesis' . By forcefully controlling the ambient mana in the surroundings by either replacing it with his own tinted mana or by exerting dominance onto the mana. Raymond could achieve a result similar to telekinesis but different.
Comparing it the the actual fourth circle spell telekinesis would be an insult to the inventor of the spell. It was so horribly inefficient and weak, requiring extremely well developed mana senses and mana control. There was literally no situation in which it would be better to use over the actual telekinesis spell.
Unless of course, you just so happened to be an Archmage with extremely good mana sense and mana control with a desperate need for telekinesis except due to some odd reason was unable to cast any spells above the second circle.
Forcefully prying the damn creatures mouth open as wide as he could. He fought with all his willpower to get it to stop trashing around so much.
He didn't have to wait for long however as his trusty partner quickly launched an arrow straight into the roof of the crocodiles mouth and out through its skull bringing along with it several chunks of brain matter.
Letting go of his 'brute force telekinesis'. He struggled with just trying to keep himself standing. Feeling dizzy and nauseous from straining his mana reserves so much. He limped over to Ellen and slung his arm around her shoulder.
"Hey Ellen, you know of any treasure or whatnot that can help with mana absorption?"
His biggest problem was that his spells were just too damn mana hungry. A problem he had never experienced before in his life. This worlds mana quality was just too low for him to use any spells properly and using weaker spells was definitely not an option!
"I know a few but to be honest i doubt stuff like that will be useful to you. Didn't you say your ring had an engraving to absorb mana passively to fuel the morph spell? Can't you just make more like that?"
"Well just that one singular second circle mana absorption engraving cost nearly a dozen E ranked mana stones and even then its just not enough. Its like giving me a cup of water when i need enough for a swimming pool. These engravings are meant to be for fuel for spells and such not for the user. If i was a better engraver i might be able to achieve a better result with less waste."
She paused after her first sentence, Raymond had thought about making more engravings but the problem was the resources required and the lacking payoff. If Raymond was a better engraver he might have been able to get a slightly better result but slightly better wasnt all that much different.
If only he had at least a few of his skills or bonuses from his classes or race. Even despite the fact that 4 out of his 22 years had already passed. The only thing he seemed to have regained were his stats.
Limping towards the dead shield-tail crocodile Ellen killed, he watched as Ellen recovered her arrow wiping off the blood and flesh on it. Scanning it with his mana sense,he found that to his disappointment there were no mana stones in this one as well.
Relying on Ellen to lean on, the two of them made their way onwards to the next arena. Albeit at a much slower pace due to Raymond's limp.
After another crocodile attack, in which the two of them only managed to kill after Ellen had to use one of her arrows to stab it in the eye. The two finally decided to rest after a few more hours of walking.
"I was hoping we could make it through without having to spend a night but i guess somethings are just too much to ask for huh?"
in his hand was a mana core he harvested from the last crocodile attack, this core was unusually round which had caused the two of them to play an impromptu game of catch to help alleviate the boredom.
"It took me 5 days just to make it through the first arena, I had to eat those damn lizards just to survive. Making it through almost 3 in one day is more then fast enough for me."
His own bow had now returned to its former form as a staff, the familiar wooden grip felt much better then the bow form and was in Raymond's opinion way more practical.
Compared to the bow form which he mainly added for fun. The staff helped to increase the strength of any spell he casted. Very useful for someone like him, not very useful in combat most of the time since enemies wouldn't exactly let you stand there while you casted.
So far however, Raymond had yet to encounter any foe that could force him to change it into to a more combat focused form.
"Rock wall. Rock wall. Rock wall. Rock wall. Rock wall. Rock wall."
Casting six consecutive rock walls in quick succession, he felt nearly half of his mana which had only just become fully replenished an hour ago instantly drain away into fueling his spells.
It was worth it though, now they had a semi decent rock hut to sleep in because Raymond absolutely refused to sleep on mud. The stench was one thing he could tolerate, but that squelching, soft, disgusting texture of mud made him gag. It reminded him of an old dish in his home dimension made of slimes. Absolutely disgusting.
raising another two smooth platforms of stone inside the rock hut. He collapsed onto it and laid down on it.
It was hard, uncomfortable and not at all soft or velvety like his bed at home had been but having something solid to stand and lie down on was enough to bring tears to his eyes.
Rolling onto his side. He saw Ellen similarly lying down on the other stone platform he raised.
"Any guesses on how much longer we got in this? I may be able to summon drinking water but aside from the few pieces of beef jerky we've been snacking on. We haven't had anything to eat."
"You can eat those damn monkeys and crocodiles for all i care. But don't include me. Besides, with our pace we can probably finish it by tomorrow."
Her tired voice echoed slightly in the rock hut he made. Proof of his amazing magic at work.
Holding this thought in his head, Raymond went to sleep almost immediately while still smiling. Barely even registering what Ellen had said in his mind.