Carl, who ca along with Cale, was getting increasingly awkward seeing him laugh like so mad scientist while plucking out various herbs and plants from behind the academy grounds. The sound of Cale’s manic laughter echoed through the sparse vegetation, unsettling in its intensity.
"Hey, what are you planning to do with all these plants?"
"Hehe, this black one has a paralyzing effect but is very weak, so it’s normally used only as a pain reliever. But this other grass here, although nobody knows this, if you mix it with any paralyzing material, it strengthens its properties exponentially."
Carl was quite shocked seeing him work, this guy even knew about things people hadn’t learned or tested out yet. His hands moved with practice, selecting specific plants and bundling them together in groups with knowledge of their properties.
"How strong is the paralyzing effect then when you combine them?"
Cale kept explaining about new combinations and effects, and Carl kept asking about new things, his interest piqued despite the strangeness of the situation. Each answer led to more questions as Carl tried to understand the scope of Cale’s knowledge.
"Hey, you aren’t from so alchemy family, are you?"
"Well, comparing by current standards, I guess."
From Cale’s various knowledge which he’d learned by living in various environnts across his previous lives, he at least had the ability to get out of any danger, as cowardly as that might be.
So ti passed as they gathered the materials, and eventually Cale was satisfied with their collection.
"Okay, let’s go. The others must be waiting for us at the training grounds by now."
As they reached the grounds, it was full of people and mostly youngsters wanting to test out their strength and prove their capabilities. All were ard with different weapons—so in groups of three or four, so completely solo—waiting for the huge giant stone doors to open for the next available ti slot. The anticipation was almost tangible, the air thick with nervous energy and determination.
Carl was baffled seeing the door itself, the sheer size of it impossible to properly comprehend until standing directly before it.
"So this is the place. I heard it was established by the first summoners to test out their summonings and control abilities."
"So you do know so history, huh?" Cale exclaid.
The grounds were fundantally made to store cursed artifacts which spawned demons and beasts. Instead of killing these creatures pointlessly for no purpose, it was converted into an XP farm type of operation where students could hunt for profit and experience simultaneously.
Cale recalled the few tis he’d ever gone into the grounds before, knowing that his previous life was way more pathetic than his current.
Seth and Nex ca from behind, with Nex carrying the huge pile of arrows and swords that looked rusty from being second-hand. Seth was trying his best to look cool, and yes, that dumb idiot had spent money on buying the sa bronze armor which he’d been calling costly and aweso.
This idiot, who does he think he is to spend so much? I thought I could change him from buying it, but he already had purchased it before I could stop him.
Cale put a hand on his forehead, scratching at his temples in frustration.
"I only asked you to buy basic stuff. What the hell is this bronze armor doing here?"
"Wha... I finally get to wear this aweso thing. I thought you’d like it too since we’re going into danger."
"That’s not even the point, Seth."
Cale let it go after lecturing him for another five minutes straight, and then began explaining the basics to these newbies about the grounds and its basic rules. They knew it was his first ti too, but since he was talking so much as if he’d done extensive study on it, they let him speak without interruption. He ended his explanation with a statent of their purpose.
"This place was specifically designed for newbies like us with near to no real battle experience. And since we are in warring ages, having this kind of training ground is helpful. Let’s go verify our IDs and then enter. The next slot should be opening right about now."
Carl asked with concern in his voice. "But what are we actually going to hunt? We don’t even know about the beasts inside or their capabilities."
"Don’t worry, we will try hunting herbivorous beasts since they won’t attack us right away without provocation. It’s perfect for first tirs like all of you."
They all huffed in symphony as if relieved of not having to face so crazy huge beast imdiately upon entering.
They entered inside and all three of them slightly clung to Cale, noble kids who’d never had to deal with such dangerous situations previously. For them, this was a nervous and anxious experience that pushed them far outside their comfortable boundaries.
A soft sound ca from deeper within, and Carl nearly jumped directly onto Cale in panic.
"Don’t panic. We are not that deep in yet."
Seth looked behind them and then they all saw it. A massive herbivore erged from the underbrush, its slate-gray fur rippling like tal as it moved through the vegetation with surprising grace. Cale moved forward toward it to confirm its rank and assess the threat level properly.
What caught Cale’s attention imdiately were the towering antlers—not bone, but living moss and lichen growing in intricate, verdant patterns that shifted between deep green and pale yellow.
The moss-crowned elk stood nearly three ters tall. Despite its herbivorous nature, the creature’s muscular fra and the way it pawed the ground suggested it would charge with devastating force if provoked.
"It’s a moss-crowned elk. Mostly they are two-star, though they’re rarely three-star."
Seth in his idiotic style thought that as long as his super cool armor was on his body, he would even be safe from a pro’s attack. So he went forward and tried to pat its head as if it was so random cow to ta.
And it ran after him imdiately, its massive hooves thundering against the ground.
Seth thought desperately while running. This is scary, nooooo!
He ran in circles with speed, at least demonstrating that he had so survival instinct after all.
"This bull is crazy! Shoot it! Shoot it quickly!"
Cale sighed, knowing exactly what was about to happen.
"This guy, how the fuck is he a count’s heir?"
From Cale’s plan, if Seth was going to act as a bait anyway, at least he could make the elk fall into one of the pits they could prepare, or rope traps, or even the steel teeth they could lay out. The least he could do was make it slam its head against a tree.
First they tried to weaken it by attacking with arrows from range, but it dodged very easily. This was different from the fledgling he’d fought before—which was a newborn as well as not even a full one-star beast in terms of power.
Seth was panicking seeing their shots missing repeatedly.
"Ahh, you guys! The arrows are missing! What kind of shit aim is that? Pleaseee save my ass before it gores !"
The beast got more aggressive from his panicked rants and even released energy from its body, firing it at Seth like fireballs.
"Guyyyyyys! This beast is getting mad! The energy attacks are starting!"
Nex spoke up with genuine concern. "Hey, what do we do? We can’t even match its speed, and now it will escape our range completely if we’re not careful!"
Cale took out a short sword and applied the paralytic materials on a few arrows alongside it. Nex and Carl shot arrows continuously in coordinated volleys, and as soon as one grazed the beast’s flank, its movents slowed down like it was wading through thick water.
Cale infused qi into his sword, which was a new concept to these guys entirely, but then even added a small fire rune to the blade that he’d inscribed earlier.
It was a simple rune designed to blast on impact with whatever it struck.
And it did exactly what he intended. As soon as the sword struck the beast’s flank, the rune activated and released its stored energy in an explosion. The moss-crowned elk fell with a large thud that shook the ground beneath them, its massive body crashing down with the impact of a falling boulder.
All of them went running toward it, seeing it moving slightly but clearly near death from the wounds and paralysis combined.
And then it died, its breathing stopping, its golden eyes going dull and lifeless.
Seth breathed heavily, his face flushed. "He... he really pulled it off."
Though it might seem a really small feat, for soone to kill a one-star beast, you’d have to know at least a few advanced techniques. So this ti they’d killed a two-star with so smart planning and preparation, which was quite impressive for first-ti hunters.
Carl stared at the corpse in amazent. "Never imagined that drug would work so effectively."
"What drug is this potent that can slow down sothing so massive?"
"I learned it sowhere during my travels."
Seth crossed his arms. "Were you really planning to test this god-knows-what drug by bargaining my life like that?"
"Who was the one who taunted it first and got chased around like an idiot?"
Carl stepped between them before tension could build. "But Cale, your skills are aweso. Even that throwing technique and sothing that blasted at the end—even a trained knight won’t know what that was."
"Hehe."
Cale sat down slowly and touched the elk’s horn, examining it to assess its quality and value.
"Let’s take what we need quickly. Guess we should eat this one for dinner too."
Nex made a disgusted face. "Eeghhhh, who eats... monsters? That’s disgusting."
Cale looked at him with surprise. "Wait, so none of you have actually tried eating this?"
They all shook their head sideways in unison, but Cale thought to himself that they definitely had in the great calamity he’d lived through. Back then, everyone ate monsters to survive, and so of the dishes tasted beyond belief—better than noble cuisine in many cases.
Seth picked up one of the moss-covered horns. "This pair of horns itself can be sold for three silvers at minimum."
Cale nodded. "Rember we ain’t sleeping tonight if we want to make progress hunting."
All of them spoke in sync, their voices rising in unified complaint. "Ehhhhhhhhhhhh, noooooo!"
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