Chapter 71: [71] Bane Of Bears
As expected, the monster did not stand a chance...
The spell punched a large hole right through its magical defences and physical armour, shredding its heart and turning the large monster into a bear-sized donut.
[You have slain a level 10 Iron Hide Bear! +15 exp]
[Jenna has leveled up! Lvl 5 >> Level 6]
[Mountain has leveled up! Lvl 5 >> Lvl 6]
[Inquisitor has leveled up! Lvl 5 >> Lvl 6]
[Sumo has leveled up! Lvl 1 >> Lvl 3]
"Huh? Why did they suddenly..."
Ark turned around to see the corpses of a number of bears scattered around the room.
He had sensed them during the battle and wondered why they did not approach him, but now he knew...
His undead had killed anyone who so much as stared in the direction of the fight.
He nodded with approval and walked over to the bear corpse, placing his hands atop what was left of it.
[Harvest successful! You have successfully received D-Rank trait, Mana defense!]
"Not bad..." it was still not good enough to make him abandon upgrading his defensive stat, but it was a great addition.
The skill seemed like it would synergize well with his iron body trait, meaning his defences would be decent at the very least.
Ark was about to leave the cave when he saw something glistening within the monster’s corpse, just where its heart had been.
"Hmm?"
He observed it closely before pulling it out. It was a transparent, blue crystal about the size of an egg.
Ark immediately recognized it. "A mana crystal?"
Mana crystals were formed when monsters unknowingly leak mana into the lower parts of their heart or other body part.
Over time, this mana condenses until it takes physical form. These condensed mana were called mana crystals...
Although they were more commonly found in higher tier monsters, Ark had never expected to see one in such a monster.
"Alright, you guys..." Ark walked up to the dead boss bear and sat on its back. "Gather their hides, and be fast about it."
The monster hides sold for a fair price at the adventurers guild, and from the number of monsters they had killed, he would have made quite the sum!
But the others had probably finished eating. They were likely waiting for him by now so that they could start the second shift.
The last thing Ark wanted was for them to be suspicious, so he had to hurry.
Inquisitor, Sumo and mountain pulled out their daggers and quickly got to work, but Jenna stared at them awkwardly.
Unlike the fighters, she was a mage and so she did not have any dagger.
Ark tapped on the spot next to him. "You can wait here with me Jenna. I’ll get you a weapon soon."
Following his instruction, the mage quietly scurried over to him, bowed, before sitting down next to Ark. .
<•••>
The moment he arrived, Olivia got up from her chair and stormed up to him.
"Why did you take so much time? You’ve been gone for more than an hour!"
"Were you worried?"
"W-worried?! Me, worried about you? Never! I just don’t want you to... to drag down the team of course."
She folded her hands across her chest and looked the other way.
Ark laughed, he could never get enough of her reactions. "I just got a little carried away is all. Exploring the forest was pretty fun."
"Hahaha! Now that is the adventurer spirit burning through you!" Sazan bellowed.
"I’m guessing there is nothing to worry about then?" Esau had strapped his daggers to his aides and seemed ready to begin his shift.
Ark shook his head. "Nothing at all, the forest was quiet, there was not a single monster in sight." He lied brazenly.
"Be careful though, there is no telling when they will appear..." he continued.
Ark had made sure to hide the bodies properly, besides, the monster’s cave was too far for them to wander into, so he did not have to bother about them discovering his handiwork.
"We will." Esau nodded as he turned to Sazan. "Let’s get going. You guys can sleep, we have a long day tomorrow..."
Ark nodded. "Sure thing."
"Welcome back..." Thalia said from beside him.
"Ah, thank you."
Esau and Sazan left the group behind in the camp and moved into the dark forest.
But the moment they were out of earshot, their demeanours suddenly shifted.
"He sure took some time..." Esau said coldly, his reptilian eyes filled with predatory intent.
"Why do you think he did?" Sazan glanced at the forest around him. "Do you think he went to check out the eggs?"
Esau shook his head. "No. There was not enough time to get there and back from this place.
"Then what is it?"
"I don’t know..."
Sazan clicked his tongue. "You are too distrusting brother. You should learn to trust people more..."
The two of them suddenly burst into dark laughter.
"That was a good one brother." Esau held his stomach as he laughed his heart out.
"It is really a shame though." Sazan shook his head. "They seemed like nice people, well, except that fucked up bird. I really hope she dies first."
"Careful brother." Esau’s tone is a silent warning within it. "We do not mix business with pleasure, it only leads to mistakes."
Sazan scratched his head. "Yeah, yeah..."
They got deeper into the forest and located an inconspicuous tree, then after making sure that they were not being followed, Sazan pried off the bark of the tree, revealing a hidden compartment.
Inside it was a sealed jar wrapped up with sack cloth. He handed it to Esau and he lifted it as though it were a pot of gold.
"Perfect, with this, we will definitely get the eggs..."
The mission to retrieve wyvern eggs was one that was known by every single adventurer in the guild.
But with so many failed attempts, everyone had given up on it and the enormous cash price.
But Esau had never given up on that money...
He was a family man with children to feed. Because he was too weak to participate in tower raids, his only way to make money was to engage in these petty quests.
And this quest in particular was too lucrative to pass up on...
So Esau did the only thing he was good at. He hyper analysed the quest, he thought of every single variable.
Why were the players going missing? Why had no one managed to retrieve the egg?
The answer was simple.
The wyverns always came back earlier than expected. That was the only logical conclusion...
Since there was no adventurer on their level that would be able to take on a wyvern, the result was the same every single time.
They were eaten alive.
But Esau had come up with the perfect solution. In this jar was a special pheromone that was imperceivable by players.
But just a light douse and the wyverns would go crazy, fixing all their attention on them.
The plan was simple. During the thirty seconds it would take for the wyvern to devour them, he and his brother had to escape with the egg!
He glanced at his brother, and they both smiled. Then Sazan seemed to consider something.
"Hey, what about Thalia?"
"..."
After a few seconds, Esau’s voice came out low and filled with conviction as he said;
"No loose ends..."