Chapter 146: Karl’s Forest Adventures

True to Karl’s declaration, it did not take long. Moving with cautious steps, Karl scanned the dense undergrowth. Within minutes of entering the treeline proper, he spotted movement several meters ahead.

A large, feline shape padded idly through a small clearing. Its tawny coat was unmistakable, and the flicker of orange dancing within its thick mane confirmed it.

Karl squinted, a spark of recognition lighting his eyes. "That’s the same beast!" he murmured, a grin spreading across his face.

Confidence surged within him. "Shouldn’t be a problem," he thought, dismissing any lingering apprehension.

This time, however, he didn’t explode into motion. Instead, he adopted a deliberate, almost casual approach, walking steadily towards the creature, making no effort to conceal his presence. He kept his spear low, but his grip tightened.

He covered half the distance before the Flame Lion’s head snapped up. Its burning eyes fixed on Karl. A low, rumbling growl vibrated the air. Then, with terrifying speed, it launched itself!

~WHOOSH~

The ground seemed to tremble as the massive cat closed the gap in heartbeats. Karl stood his ground, utterly calm.

As the beast neared, it gathered itself for the final pounce, powerful hind legs coiling like springs.

With a guttural roar, it leapt, a blur of muscle and flame soaring through the air. Its enormous jaws gaped wide, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth aimed directly at Karl’s head and shoulders, the heat of its fiery mane washing over him.

Karl’s grin only widened. He saw the beast clearly despite its speed. His hands moved with blinding speed.

Instead of thrusting defensively, he whipped the spear in a powerful, horizontal arc.



The haft blurred, building immense centrifugal force. The spearhead didn’t aim for a killing blow; it smashed sideways with incredible force against the lion’s lower jaw just as it descended.

~CRACK!~

The impact was brutal. The force of Karl’s swing, amplified by his mana-enhanced strength and the spear’s momentum had snapped the beast’s jaws shut with jarring finality.

Simultaneously, the blow altered the Flamelion’s trajectory. Instead of landing on Karl, it was slammed sideways by the sheer kinetic force, crashing heavily onto the forest floor with a pained yelp, momentarily stunned and disoriented.

The beast thrashed, trying to regain its feet, a muffled growl escaping its forcibly closed mouth.

It instinctively swiped a massive, clawed paw towards the spear shaft pinning its jaw, trying to dislodge it.

But Karl was already moving.

He didn’t try to pull the spear back; he shoved it forward with all his might, driving the point deeper into the beast’s mouth, past the teeth, and straight into the soft tissue at the back of its throat.

~THUNK!~

The enchanted spearhead punched through flesh and cartilage with sickening ease.

The Flamelion’s struggles intensified for a split second, a horrific gurgling sound replacing the growl.

Its eyes bulged wide with shock and agony. Then, the thrashing ceased abruptly. Its body went limp and soon, only the faint sizzle of cooling flesh around the spear wound broke the sudden silence.

Karl stood over the carcass. He planted a boot on the lion’s shoulder for leverage and yanked his spear free with a wet, sucking sound.

Crimson stained the blade and dripped onto the ground. He examined the pristine point with satisfaction.

"We’re on a roll, bud," he said to the spear, giving it a small, appreciative twirl.

His gaze then dropped to the massive corpse and the empty sack beside. "Now how do I get the magic crystal?" he muttered.

Common knowledge dictated that the crystal resided deep within the beast’s chest cavity, near the heart.

But knowledge was one thing; extraction was another. He had no knives and no specialized tools – just his spear and his hands.

He looked at the sharp, bloodied tip, then at the thick hide and dense muscle of the Flamelion. "I guess we’ll have to get a little bit messy," he sighed, steeling himself.

What followed was a grueling, frustratingly inefficient process, until finally Karl retrieved his prize.

He held up the glowing magic crystal, admiring it for a while before dropping the crystal into the sack.

The thought of harvesting other valuable parts from the beast crossed Karl’s mind for a second.

But on considering the bulk and his sack, he dismissed it. "Maybe with stronger beasts," he reasoned.

Karl wiped his hands and spear haft as best he could on some large leaves, slung the sack over his shoulder, and pressed deeper into the forest.

The next few hours were a blur of similar encounters.

He achieved more victories with more 1-Star beasts, and everything felt almost effortless.

The real time-sink, as Karl quickly discovered, was the harvesting. Every beast required a repetition of the messy, laborious process he’d endured with the Flame Lion.

His spear point, while deadly in combat, was a poor tool for delicate dissection.

His clothes became stained with blood, get, with each successful extraction, his technique improved slightly.

As Karl wiped blood from his face after retrieving another crystal from a spider beast.

He looked at the diminishing light filtering through the canopy. "This is child’s play," he muttered, tossing the crystal into the sack. "I need a real challenge. I need to find a 2-Star beast."

Hunting weaker foes was building his confidence, but it wasn’t pushing him, wasn’t forcing that desperate edge Master Von had spoken of.

His wish was granted sooner than expected. Minutes later, as he navigated a rocky outcrop filed with thick vines, a sense of wrongness prickled his skin.

Coiled in patch, basking on a flat rock, was a serpent unlike any he’d ever seen.

It was massive, and unlike the other beasts whose elemental affinities were often visually obvious, this creature gave nothing away. That uncertainty was dangerous.

Karl didn’t have time to admire it. The instant he met the beast, the serpent’s head snapped up with viper speed.



There were no warning hiss nor coiling preparation. It simply explode from its resting position, its entire body launching through the air like a thrown javelin.

"Whoa!" Karl’s instincts screamed.

He threw himself sideways into a desperate roll just as the massive head slammed into the space he’d occupied a millisecond before.

He tried to scramble to his feet just as quickly, but the snake recovered with unnatural speed.

A sizzling sound rushed into Karl’s ears after he avoided yet another lunge.

Just then, he saw it. The ground where the snake’s attack had landed was corroding rapidly.

All the grasses on the floor seemed to be withering and dying, dissolving into a sickly brown sludge. Karl’s instincts screamed panic when he saw that. "What is this? I hope it’s not from the snake."

That moment of distraction was enough. The large snake, which was on the floor close to him after its second failed attack, chose not to lunge this time.

Instead, it opened its wide gaping maw and sprayed a sprout of viscous, green liquid straight at Karl.

It was approaching Karl so quickly that it was a given it would hit. But at the very last second, Karl’s spear, glowing white with mana, got in the way of the corrosive liquid and his face, saving him from the attack in a fraction of a millisecond.

The spear remained pristine, the liquid hissing and evaporating upon contact.

Karl’s heart raced as he felt the real danger.

"Alright, playtime’s over," he declared firmly. "No more surprises."

This time, he took the initiative, performing his signature jump. But he wasn’t the only one who could leap into the air, as the snake did the same, launching itself upwards, almost reaching his height.

Karl grinned. "Weak," he scoffed before propelling himself forward, stabbing his spear into the snake’s throat before it could perform another action.

His spear easily passed through the monstrous creature, emerging from the other side. In the next instant, the snake was on the floor, its immense body twitching, bleeding profusely, and finally... dead.

Karl grinned as he wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead.

"That was close," he said with a smug grin. "It almost got me, but I was too clever."

As he looked at the ground where the liquid had landed, it still puzzled him what it was, but that experience made Karl conclude that there must be many strange abilities out there.

For a second, he blamed himself, face-palming. "Mehn, I could have listened to Adrian and taken history classes," he half-heartedly mumbled, before shrugging the thought to the back of his mind. "For now, let’s harvest this bad boy."

Within some minutes, he was done. He worked faster this time, having already done it several times.

This time, he threw the small organs into his sack as well, hoping that they had some use. By the time Karl was done, he was more excited to continue, and so he headed deeper into the forest.

***

After Karl harvested his fifth 2-Star beast, the sky was getting dark, so he decided to call it a wrap.

His sack felt large already, because he had decided to carry some bones as well, just to ensure he didn’t lose out on anything valuable.

Karl slung the sack over his shoulder. "I should get going," he said, his mouth practically salivating as he calculated how much wealth he had acquired from just a single outing.

"I could buy out everything if I lived in the town. Even now, I’m sure these are a whole lot."

Karl just couldn’t wait to cash in his spoils as he walked back to his starting point.

"I’m going to sell all the magic crystals." He knew that magic crystals only held value to Mages as they were the ones who could draw mana from them.

As someone who was supposed to be learning forge mastery, Karl knew that they were also used in large quantities for enchanting armor and weapons.

He had only been able to enchant his spear because of the resources the Academy provided him for that, and now that he had some purchasing power, Karl still wasn’t leaning towards that route.

"I’m more than okay with my current spear," he affirmed.

In no time, Karl exited the formation and faced a different set of guards. ’Must be the night shift.’

He greeted them and was just about to go by when one of them asked him where he was going, calling him to come for searching.

Just then, Karl realized one of the rules that had been drilled into him earlier: Adventurers had to submit 50% of their profits.

"Oh, damnit," Karl mumbled, walking backwards.

***



After the search, as Karl walked out from the outpost with his sack in his hand, and all he felt was pain and anger.

His sack, which had been brimming now almost felt empty. Not only had the guards taken two of the five 2-Star magic crystals he had, but they had also taken all eight of the 1-Star magic crystals he had gotten, explaining to him that ten 1-Star magic crystals had as much value as a single 2-Star one.

As if that wasn’t enough, they had taken away his ’potential’ organs and bones as well, leaving behind just a few that he wasn’t sure had any value.

"Such criminals."

There wasn’t much he could do about it. He went to the Association, picked up his sack of clothes, and approached a trade hub.

As he emerged from there, he could now truly say that he was left empty.

All his haul from the forest was traded, and now he had a generous amount of 410 gold coins. 411 if he counted his former balance.

"I’m rich!" He could easily afford transport and a place to stay now. But that didn’t make him comfortable.

"I’ll first find an inn, and from tomorrow I’ll work more," he resolved. "I’ll try to prioritize only stronger beasts henceforth."

The decision solidified in his mind as he boarded a carriage.

***

The Borin mansion was lively with celebration...