She activated Ethereal Bloom, sending a radiant flower toward him. The warmth surged through his body, mending a shallow cut on his arm and boosting his speed.
“Thanks!” Noah called back, his focus sharpening.
The first wolf recovered and attacked again, this time feinting before lunging for Noah’s exposed side.
But his fast adaptation allowed him to anticipate the feint. He ducked under its claws and drove his sword into its chest with a swift, precise strike.
The wolf staggered, blood pouring from its wound, before collapsing.
The second wolf, seeing its companion fall, became more aggressive. It pounced at Noah, its claws grazing his shoulder.
He winced but quickly activated Essence Strike again. His sword glowed brighter this time, and with a powerful downward slash, he struck the wolf’s head, splitting it open.
Noah exhaled heavily, wiping blood from his sword as the second wolf fell lifelessly at his feet.
The forest fell silent except for the group’s heavy breathing. The bodies of the Razor Fang Wolves lay scattered around them, the azure glow of Soul Energy rising from the corpses.
Emma rushed over to Noah, her hands glowing as she healed the scratches on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Noah said, rolling his shoulder. “Thanks to you.”
Victor leaned on his shield, sweat dripping down his face. “Three wolves are no joke. Nice work, everyone.”
Leah smirked, lowering her bow. “We’re getting better at teamwork. That coordination was solid.”
Daniel cleaned his knives, his grin as cocky as ever. “Told you we’d handle it. Those mutts didn’t stand a chance.”
“But damn, this Epic class is something else. Motherfucker took care of two wolves alone,” Daniel cursed, looking at Noah’s composed expression.
Noah chuckled and sheathed his sword, nodding at Daniel with a smug smile. “Anyways, good job, everyone. Let’s gather what we can from these wolves and keep moving. There’s no telling what else we’ll run into.”
Daniel and Noah went to work, quickly dissecting all the wolves and taking what they could from them.
“Good, now let’s move toward the river to look for Luminal Mushrooms before we head back to the village,” Noah said before cleaning his blood-stained hands with a cloth.
“Man, how rare is that orb-like thing? We have only gotten it from that one boar, while we’ve killed like a dozen beasts by now,” Daniel said, thinking about the orb.
Noah shook his head. “We don’t even know what it is. We need to head back to the village first to find out.”
“I thought the beasts here would use skills, but I have yet to see any beast use them,” Leah said as she noticed something else.
Victor nodded his head in agreement. “I think only higher-ranked beasts can use skills, as the E-grade beasts don’t have enough Soul Energy to sustain them.”
Daniel gave him the side-eye. “Aren’t we also E-rank?”
“…”
“…”
Everyone fell silent, realizing Daniel had a point.
“Anyway, we can ask about that later. Let’s move now,” Noah said lightly before storing all the beast parts in his inventory.
…
“SNIFF—cough, cough, the air is really fresh here,” Daniel said, taking a deep breath beside the flowing river.
Noah gave a strong pat on his back before chuckling, “Stop playing around and look for those Luminal Mushrooms.”
The group nodded before spreading out, looking behind the rocks and other green areas around the river.
…
After searching for around half an hour, they all gathered back. Daniel said, looking at the rest of them, “The fuck, were you guys farmers in your last life? How did you manage to find so many of them?” His lips twitched as he looked at the lone mushroom in his hand and compared it to the rest, who all had around half a dozen of them.
Victor chuckled, “We are just naturals at that, haha.”
Noah placed his mushrooms in his inventory before extending his hands toward Emma, who gave him all of hers as well. He said, “Let’s store them for now and head back to the village. I’m sure we’ll also find quite a lot of beasts on our way back.”
The rest of them nodded and handed him their herbs. He quickly stored them.
“Man, your inventory really makes one envious,” Daniel said, looking at Noah storing all the stuff.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Victor curiously looked at Noah. “Does it have a limit? How much can you store at once?”
Noah shook his head. “I don’t know; haven’t tried to do that yet.”
Leah’s eyes lit up. “We should really test it. If it’s limitless, then it’ll be too overpowered. We can have a whole arsenal of weapons with us.”
They continued chatting while moving back toward the village.
…
The sun dipped below the horizon as the sky began to turn dark.
“Haa… that was tiring,” Leah said, stretching as they exited the forest.
Emma nodded her head. “True, I didn’t think we would encounter so many of them while exiting.”
“It was because it was almost night, and the beasts are far more active during the night than they are during the day. That’s what Darrick said, at least,” Noah slowly explained.
“Anyways, Noah, what will you do about those beast parts? We’ve collected an absurd amount of them. And most of them are low-level stuff at that,” Victor asked.
Noah looked at his inventory.
[Inventory – Accessible Storage]
From All Gathered Beasts:
Slot 1: Vinestrike Wolf Hide (x10)
Slot 2: Vinestrike Wolf Fangs (x94)
Slot 3: Vinestrike Wolf Claws (x66)
Slot 4: Vinestrike Wolf Meat (x45 Portions)
Slot 5: Wolf Tendons (x20)
Slot 6: Wolf Blood (x15 Flasks)
Slot 7: Wolf Bones (Assorted)
Slot 8: Razorback Boar Hide (x5)
Slot 9: Razorback Boar Tusks (x12)
Slot 10: Razorback Boar Meat (x50 Portions)
Slot 11: Razorback Boar Essence Cores (E Rank x1)
Slot 12: Thornclaw Deer Antlers (x2)
Slot 13: Thornclaw Deer Hide (x1)
Slot 14: Thornclaw Deer Meat (x8 Portions)
Slot 15: Thornclaw Deer Teeth (x10)
Slot 16: Shadowfang Wolf Pelt (x2)
Slot 17: Shadowfang Fangs (x4)
Slot 18: Shadowfang Claws (x6)
Slot 19: Shadowfang Essence Core (E Rank x1)
Slot 20: Lynx Fur (x1)
Slot 21: Lynx Claws (x8)
Slot 22: Lynx Teeth (x6)
Herbs and Miscellaneous:
Slot 23: Luminal Mushrooms (x27)
Blacksmith’s Goods
Slot 23: Razor Fang Wolf Hide (x5)
Slot 24: Razor Fang Wolf Fangs (x10)
Slot 25: Razor Fang Wolf Claws (x70)
Slot 26: Razor Fang Wolf Meat (x25 Portions)
Slot 27: Razor Fang Tendons (x20)
Slot 28: Razor Fang Blood (x5 Flasks)
Slot 29: Razor Fang Bones (Assorted)
“Sigh, I don’t know. Maybe we can ask the blacksmith or Darrick if they know what we can do with this stuff.” Noah shook his head.
His inventory was really brimming with useless stuff.
“I mean, most of that stuff seems useless after we’ve improved further,” Daniel slowly said.
Noah nodded, a faint frown on his face as he stared at the inventory screen. “You’re right. A lot of this stuff won’t be as useful once we grow stronger, but that doesn’t mean it’s worthless now. We should sell the excess and save only the best materials for future use. The village blacksmith or merchant might be interested.”
Leah interjected, “Even if it’s low-level stuff, it could still fetch a decent price. The villagers and other hunters would probably pay well for things like hides and claws.”
Victor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “What about the cores? Should we sell those too? We don’t even know what those are used for.”
Noah considered it for a moment before replying, “We’ll keep the cores for now. They’re rare, and even low-grade ones might be useful for crafting weapons, armor, or maybe even upgrading equipment. Let’s prioritize selling the bulkier, less valuable items like meat and hides.”
Emma tilted her head, her voice soft but curious. “Shouldn’t we also save some of the meat for ourselves? It could be useful for cooking or trading later.”
Noah smiled at her suggestion. “Good point. We’ll keep a portion of the meat, especially from the Razorback Boars since it’s more nourishing. The rest we’ll sell.”
Daniel, who had been quietly sharpening his knives, grinned. “Finally, some logic I can get behind. Let’s offload the boring stuff and focus on the shiny bits. Like those glowing mushrooms—think they’re worth a lot? We can give the blacksmith five or six and sell the rest.”
Leah chuckled. “Luminal Mushrooms are rare enough that someone will pay well for them. We should also check if they have any alchemical uses before selling them outright.”
Noah shook his head. “We’ll first ask the blacksmith how much he needs before deciding on selling the stuff.”
He glanced at the sky as they were about to enter the village. “For now, let’s return to the inn. It’s already nighttime. First thing tomorrow, we’ll visit the smithy and hand over the things he asked for, and then we’ll visit the local merchant.”
The group nodded their heads as they walked on the rough path toward the village.
…
As they entered the village, the familiar sounds of chatter and clinking tools greeted them.
The village square was lively despite the hour, with merchants setting up stalls and villagers bustling about.
The group took a deep breath as their bodies finally relaxed after entering the village. They nodded to each other before heading back to the inn.
Soon, the group entered the cozy inn, the warm glow of the lanterns casting a soft light on the wooden walls. The faint scent of meat and freshly baked bread wafted from the kitchen.
Behind the counter stood the innkeeper in her usual dress. She turned to see who had entered, and as her eyes fell on the group, she said, “Oh, you guys look in much better shape than last time. Seems like it was a good hunt this time.”
Noah nodded and replied with a small smile. “Yeah. It was a good hunt. We all progressed further as well. Anyways, we would like to book our usual rooms.”
The innkeeper chuckled softly. “Of course. You’ve been reliable customers, so I’ll keep the rate the same as before.”
“Haha, would you have increased the price if we were new customers?” Victor softly laughed and asked.
“No, but I increase the rate for old customers as they have learned to hunt now.” The innkeeper chuckled faintly.
Noah smiled. “Then looks like it would be better if we buy the rooms for a few days instead of the usual one day.”
The innkeeper’s eyes twinkled. “Oh for sure, you can buy the rooms for a few days.”
Noah smiled faintly and reached into his pocket, in which he had already put 50 Vinestrike Wolf Fangs. He placed them on the counter. The gleaming sharp fangs caught the innkeeper’s attention immediately.
“These should cover our stay for ten days,” Noah said.
The innkeeper’s face lit up as she carefully picked up one fang, inspecting its quality. “Oh, these are perfect. Hunters often look for materials like this to craft better weapons. Thank you, dear.”
“No problem,” Noah replied. “We’ll be heading to our rooms now.”
She nodded, giving them the keys before gesturing toward the staircase leading to the second floor. “Your rooms are ready. Sleep well, and let me know if you need anything. Oh, and don’t forget to eat dinner.”
The group paused in their steps as they looked at each other with wry smiles.
“We will have dinner right now. Please bring it to the table over there.” Noah shook his head and said, pointing at the table in the corner.
The innkeeper smiled and nodded her head.
…
Soon after eating and parting ways with the group, Noah entered his room and closed the door behind him, exhaling deeply.
He placed his sword against the wall and shrugged off his cloak, setting it neatly on a chair. He went toward the bed in the center of the room.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Noah opened his inventory to review their haul once more. His mind raced with ideas on how to allocate the materials and plan for the next day’s tasks.
He muttered to himself, “Tomorrow, we’ll need to discuss long-term strategies. We can’t keep lugging all this low-level stuff around.”
His gaze then landed on his points,
[Points: 30]
