"Nightprowler Rat..."
"Chasm Badger"
"Dustmole..."
Hank held the torch high, its flickering light casting sharp shadows across his focused face. He nudged at the small Wild Beast carcasses on the ground with the tip of his boot, identifying them one by one.
"Gloomquill!" He suddenly jabbed a finger at a spike-covered carcass, excitement bleeding into his voice as he turned to Ryan. "Snag this one if you see it. Their quills fetch decent coin."
The torchlight swept across the gloomquill's carcass, its bristling quills so distinct it practically burned itself into memory. Ryan crouched, handling it with care as he eased it into the bloodveil bag.
"And this one—Rockspider," Hank added, eyes gleaming.
He gestured toward a hulking spider carcass, roughly eighty centimeters long. Under the firelight, its barbed legs stood out starkly against the cave floor.
Ryan followed his gaze, took a breath, and loaded the Rockspider into the bloodveil bag.
Next,they selected the relatively intact and undamaged carcasses, as well as others that held some value, packing all into the bloodveil bags.
Before long, four of the bags were full.
One remained empty—reserved for Leon.
Hank looked over the pile of remaining carcasses and let out a wistful sigh. "Damn waste."
Footsteps echoed from the cave's depths. Leon emerged, dragging a body in one hand and holding two massive scythe-like weapons in the other.
With a grunt, he swung his arm forward. The carcass slammed onto the stone floor at Ryan's feet.
Ryan stepped back instinctively. The thing was humanoid—roughly a meter tall—covered in coarse black fur. Its head was unmistakably insectoid, and both arms were gone, sliced clean at the shoulders.
Leon tossed the scythes down. They clattered across the stone.
It was only then that Ryan realized—those 'scythes' weren't weapons at all, but the severed arms of the Wild Beast.
"Shadowrend Beast!" Hank blurted, genuine surprise in his voice.
Leon's mouth quirked. "This bastard put up a fight. Took me awhile to put it down."
"As expected of Loneflame Academy's greatest cadet!" Hank couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
"It should be Loneflame Academy's best of the best—the greatest cadet in history," Leon corrected.
An awkward silence followed. Hank gave a small shrug and quietly packed the Shadowrend Beast into a bloodveil bag.
"Ahem." Ryan cleared his throat, cutting through the awkward silence. "So... after all that carnage, how many Lumin Cores did you actually get?"
Hank glanced up as well, curiosity lighting his face.
Leon shrugged, casual as a man discussing the weather. "Dunno. Twenty-ish."
Ryan sucked in a sharp breath. Those three cadets only managed a handful together... and this guy racked up twenty on his own? No wonder he's been so relaxed—he even had time to help us collect the damn carcasses.
Leon was already turning away, sounding slightly impatient. "Alright, enough chit-chat. I still have more cores to gather."
Finally remembered your graduation trial, huh? Ryan muttered inwardly.
With their bloodveil bags bulging, Ryan and Hank followed Leon out of the cave. They carefully hauled the bags onto the back of the Overload Juggernaut.
"Leon," Hank said earnestly, wiping the sweat from his brow, "seriously—thank you. You're a good guy."
Leon's eyes crinkled with delight, as if Hank had just told the funniest joke in the world."You're misunderstanding the situation."
Hank blinked. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"One gold per bag." Leon flicked a finger against the nearest bloodveil bag. "Shadowrend Beast costs extra. That'll be six gold total."
Ryan's eye twitched. Should've known he wasn't doing charity work.
Hank looked genuinely confused. "Wait—you never said anything about charging us."
Leon arched an eyebrow. "Did I say it was free?"
Hank scratched his head awkwardly. "Well, you didn't exactly mention it... but, six gold? That's a bit much."
Leon threw his hands up in exaggerated disbelief. "Steep? I'm practically giving you a discount."
Seeing Hank's hesitation, Ryan cut in bluntly, "Forget it. We can't afford it. Haul it back yourself." He turned toward the Overloaded Juggernaut, making a show of untying the freshly secured bloodveil bag.
No way he'd risk delaying the graduation trial over a few coins.
"Wait!" Leon called, his voice tinged with urgency.
Ryan kept his back turned, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. Just as planned.
Leon sighed in defeat."Fine. Let's say… five gold?"
Hank immediately countered, "Three."
Leon's face darkened, his tone firm. "No deal."
But as Ryan made a move to untie the bloodveil bags again, Leon gritted his teeth. "Fine. Three it is."
Hank's eyes lit up, and he fumbled for his coin pouch—then froze. The memory of Leon snatching Lumin's Core from the female cadet flashed through his mind. He spun around, shielding the pouch as he hastily counted out three coins, snapping it shut the second he was done.
Hank handed the three gold to Leon, who took them with a flicker of annoyance and resignation. He said nothing more, silently stashing the coins away before swinging himself onto Benthior.
Before leaving, Leon cast a lingering glance toward the depths of the cave, a hint of something like regret in his eyes. With a quick jerk of the reins, he kicked the beast into motion, kicking up dust as he rode off, never looking back at the two men.