Chương 76: B2—Chapter 9: Loot Master (Unfortunately, Still “In Progress”)

Once they had rested, Mahya turned to Lis and also poked him in the shoulder, the copycat.

"Should we harvest here or on Earth?" Lis thought for a while and got up.

"Let's do another round and then decide." They disappeared between the trees, only to return after a short while.

"Looks peaceful," Mahya said.

"I think we dealt with all the big threats." Lis clapped his hands once, briskly.

"Then we will harvest here." In a flash, a pile of monsters materialized in front of them. Most were snakes, like the green one I had killed earlier, but some creatures resembled bears with squished faces and metallic spikes, and others looked like canines with six legs and tails ending in stingers.

"How come they're not dissipating?" I asked.

"Those are mana beasts, not monsters," Lis said. He took out a large knife, straightened one snake, cut the skin from head to tail, and turned to me.

"Start peeling the skin off the flesh; you don't have to be too careful; this skin is tough and doesn't lose its strength after the burrower dies." I had a better idea and said majestically, "Behold," then channeled a thin mana layer between the snake's skin and flesh and popped the skin right off. With all my practice on the bison, it took me two minutes, and the skin came off cleanly. They both stared for a moment, eyebrows raised. Lis let out a low whistle.

"Great, that will go faster," he said, already pulling another snake toward him and slicing it lengthwise. I continued popping off the skin from all the snakes. Beside me, Mahya sliced each snake open and carefully removed a green liquid sack about the size of a mango and a small crystal from each body. I paused, glancing over at her as she held up the items.

"What are those?"

"The venom sacks and the beast cores."

"And why do we need them?"

"The venom sacks are an alchemy ingredient, and the cores are mana crystals, like the ones Lis told me you can harvest." I nodded, then glanced down at the half-skinned snake.

"Cool." I continued popping off skins until we ran out of snakes.

"You should harvest the meat, too," Lis suggested.

"It's much richer in mana than the meat you saturate." I wrinkled my nose. The idea of eating a scary snake was not exactly appealing.

"I'm not sure I want to eat a nasty green snake." Lis laughed at my expression, shaking his head.

"Mana snakes are delicious, and don't forget about Rue. He needs the mana-rich meat to progress." He had a point. With a reluctant sigh, I gave him a thumbs-up, deciding to make the most of the situation. It was an opportunity to progress my loot spell, but I wanted to approach it differently this time. Pulling out the biggest plastic sheet I had, I spread it on the ground with a flourish. Lis raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?" I grinned, eager to show off.

"Wait and see." Hey, you need to use the circumstances to your advantage. I lifted the snake with Telekinesis –God, the fucker was heavy. I could almost feel my mind sweating from the strain, like trying to lift a damn boulder with a toothpick. The snake hovered in the air, wobbling as I brought it over the plastic sheet. Splitting my mind, I cast Clean and Purify, then slowly began channeling mana into the body.

I fed it in carefully, letting the mana spread on its own until it filled the snake evenly from head to tail, without exploding it. That was an important point. Now I could map its insides: a long digestive tract coiled through most of the body, wrapped around other organs I really didn't want to dwell on. With a deep breath, I wrapped all the unneeded parts in a tight cocoon of mana.

Using the same flow, with a bit more layering where needed, I shaped a precise grid within the snake to show where the cuts had to go. I adjusted it bit by bit, nudging the mana into place until everything lined up just right. Then I pushed a steady stream of mana through the grid, held my breath, and released the Telekinesis from the steaks, letting them drop. A satisfying series of thuds echoed as a neat stack of steaks landed on the plastic sheet.

The offal, still suspended in mid-air, hovered like a grotesque piñata that thankfully wouldn't be part of tonight's dinner. Lis and Mahya clapped, and Mahya even cheered, jumping in excitement. I couldn't resist the moment. With a flourish, I took a theatrical bow, one hand behind my back, and the other sweeping low like a stage performer.

"Well, thank you, lady and gentleman," I declared with exaggerated pomp, trying not to grin. Straightening up, I added with a wink, "And that's how you do it." With that, I went back to work, cutting all the snakes and feeling pretty pleased with myself. Slowly, the strain of lifting them with Telekinesis became more bearable. Checking my profile, I saw the spell had reached level three. Mahya reached out and caught my wrist just as I was about to handle the last snake.

"I nicked the venom sack; this one is poisonous now."

"He has Neutralized Poison," Lis pointed out. Mahya waved him off.

"I know, but there's enough meat. No need to scavenge damaged goods." I remembered the snake I had stored, took it out, and tried to cut it lengthwise as Lis did, but my knife slid right off the scales, not leaving even a scratch. Frustrated, I turned to Lis.

"How do you cut them so easily?" He held up his knife with a smile.

"It's an enchanted mithril knife. I will do it, unless you want to build a mana edge on your knife and give it a try?" I shook my head.

"I've trained enough for one day. You do it, and let's get on with the harvesting." I moved on to the quilled bears and crouched beside one, eyeing it.

"Is there anything to harvest here?" Lis looked over.

"Yes, the quills and the hides." I looked at him, confused.

"The quills are metallic and venomous," he said, walking over and nudging one with the toe of his boot.

"Hunters and alchemists both want them." Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I ran a hand over the bristly pelt, fingers brushing against a socket where a quill had already fallen out.

"What about the skin? Looks like it's been used for target practice."

"Those are natural sockets. The skin's reinforced around them—makes it more durable, not less. Leatherworkers use it for specialized gear."

"Huh." I blinked, tilting my head at the bear. It took me the better part of twenty minutes to figure out how to pluck the quills with mana—it wasn't as straightforward as I'd hoped. After a lot of trial and error (mostly error), I finally cracked it. Turned out, you've got to coat the bottoms of the quills with mana and then pop them out like easing a cork from a bottle. Once I got the hang of it, it was smooth sailing.

In less than an hour, I had plucked over thirty bears, leaving them looking like oversized, defeated pincushions. The next step wasn't exactly glamorous. I had to slice open their bellies, scoop out the internal organs, and hang them upside down to drain the blood. It was messy, but necessary. Once the bears were hanging, we moved on to the canines. Same drill: open the abdomens, hang them upside down, and let gravity do the work. But, of course, there was a twist, because why should anything be simple?

There's a specific technique to opening the abdomen without nicking the venom sac of the tail stinger. One wrong move, and you've got a venom explosion on your hands, as I learned on wolfie number two.

"How do you know all this? Have you been in this world before?" I asked both of them.

"No, but you will start recognizing patterns with certain groups of mana beasts over time," Lis said.

"It's all about knowing who buys what. Alchemists always buy poison-related items, like those venom sacs. Leatherworkers will take any leather, especially a durable one like this. You're already familiar with mana crystals, and mana-rich meat is always in demand. And if the taste isn't to your liking, there's always Rue. He won't complain." Rue lifted his head, wagged his tail, nodded emphatically, and went back to snoozing.

"What about the quills and knowing where the poison sack is located?" Lis chuckled, glancing at the pile of quills I had painstakingly plucked.

"The quills are metallic and carry venom. It's pretty obvious they're good for weapon crafting. As for the poison sack's location, it's fairly straightforward. In reptiles, you will find it near the head; in mammals, it's usually tucked in with the other internal organs. Or, you could use the Appraisal skill." Sheepish, I nodded and turned to appraise the next beast in line, determined to better use my skills.

I approached one canine, its six legs splayed out awkwardly on the ground, and focused on it, activating the skill. Pelt 6–9 Silver Meat 3–7 Gold My gaze was drawn to its belly. Venom Sack 1–3 Gold Beast Core 6–9 Gold My gaze was drawn to its tail. Stinger 1–3 Silver Cool!

"It says the stingers are worth one to three silvers; why aren't we harvesting them?" I asked Lis. He shrugged.

"Locating a blacksmith who crafts poisonous weapons is difficult. They tend to face opposition and work in secret with assassins and the like."

"Why is there a difference in prices, though?"

"Supply and demand," Lis said, pointing at the wolf.

"This quality of material is rare in medium-mana worlds, so the price is higher. In high-mana worlds, it's more abundant, so it's cheaper."

"It's still expensive," I pointed out.

"Of course. You still have to kill a dangerous mana beast to get it." Well, economics applies in every world, I guess. After we finished hanging all the beasts like some macabre display, we settled near the trees to wait. Mahya brushed dirt off her pants, then turned to me.

"Can you cast Clean on me, please?" I raised an eyebrow, leaning back against a trunk.

"Why don't you buy it? You've got a ton of points." She grimaced and nudged a fallen branch with her boot.

"I can't. I had it, but I traded it for an engineering skill."

"Did you look for a replacement?" Lis asked. Mahya stared at him like he was speaking in some language she hadn't paid the mana for yet. Lis chuckled softly.

"You can learn it from a scroll, but the spell construct has to differ from the one you converted. If the spell construct is the same, you consume the scroll but don't receive the spell." Mahya straightened and got an intense look.

"How do you know?"

"Happened to a Traveler I know. It took him over thirty scrolls to find a different version of 'Peaceful Night.'""What's 'Peaceful Night'?" I asked.

"It's a spell to make your camp invisible," Mahya said and sighed.

"I had it too."

"Sounds useful," I said. Lis nodded.

"But don't rush to buy it; try to create it instead. It's relatively simple and relies only on bending light and shadow, rather than true invisibility. Those principles exist even without magic and can be learned from books here. You're lucky with your wizard class."

"Yes," Mahya said, glancing between us.

"He and Lyura both." Lis tilted his head.

"Why Lyura?"

"Her mother is a witch who taught her every spell she knew, so she never had to buy anything. Lyura has the ability too, but it's only just starting to develop," Mahya said, absently poking at the dirt with a small stick.

"It's an ability, not a class?" I asked.

"Yes," Lis said.

"It depends on the type of mana body you have. Because you have power orbs, you could be either a Mage or a Wizard, depending on where your talent lies. However, you can't become a Witch since you can't store mana in your body, nor can you become a sorcerer since you can't channel external mana unless you advance in your Wizard class and develop the necessary skill." I let my head fall back against the bark.

"This whole subject of magic is too complicated." Mahya gave me an encouraging pat on the knee.

"Not really. It's just new to you. After you get used to thinking with these concepts and continue to study, it will become second nature and very clear." I dragged a hand through my hair, staring up through the canopy.

"I'm not there yet." She leaned in and gave me an encouraging half-hug, then pulled back without saying anything.

"While waiting for the beasts to drain, we should start working on the trees," Lis said and stood up.

"We have a quiet and undisturbed place here."

"Why did I have to cut down so many trees?" I asked.

"It's for a project Mahya and I are working on," Lis replied, as vague as ever, as if that explained anything. I crossed my arms.

"Yes, but what project?" Lis just smiled and gave me a wink.

"Like we told you about the radio, be patient." I rolled my eyes, muttering, "Keep your secrets," then pushed myself to my feet. We got to work removing the branches from the trees. Lis, of course, made it look easy with his enchanted saw, cutting through the wood without slowing down, while Mahya concentrated on pulling the leaves from the branches. I focused on coating the saw's blade with mana, a task that remained stubbornly difficult no matter how much I practiced.

Once a tree was stripped clean, Lis stored the trunk in his Storage. After a few hours, we finally finished with all the trees, and I was exhausted. Just as I was about to discard the leftover branches, Lis stopped me.

"Don't throw those away. Save them as firewood. Mana-rich wood is excellent for fire; it burns for hours." I rubbed my sore shoulders despite the Heal Muscle spell and gave Lis the evil eye.

"Why did I have to cut down all these trees instead of saturating Earth's trees with mana?"

"You can't saturate a tree with mana if it doesn't have it in the first place. No matter what you do, the tree will explode into mulch. It's actually a great way to make money in medium mana worlds, turning trees into mulch with mana and selling it to Alchemists. They're willing to pay considerable sums to grow more potent herbs." I just shook my head. This man was a font of knowledge.

After we got all the beasts down from where they were hanging, I peeled them off like the snakes, but was too tired to cut them into steaks, so Lis suggested I keep them in my Storage for now. They'd mostly be for Rue, and since I'm the cook for all of us, it made sense. Lis and Mahya knelt by the pile of harvested materials, sorting hides, crystals, quills, and venom sacs into three neat stacks. When they were done, each of them stored a pile. Lis straightened and pointed at the remaining stack.

"This is yours." I blinked at it.

"Mine? But I didn't do anything. You're the ones who fought all the beasts and monsters." Mahya snorted quietly, but Lis shook his head.

"You helped us cut the trees, healed our injuries, and helped harvest the materials. You definitely deserve an equal share." Once everything was stored away, we headed back toward the Gate. God, I was tired. On the way, I checked my profile; my Harvest Game was still [in Progress]. Bummer.