Just one wrong move and it would have been all over.
He could not even begin to imagine how his family would react if something had happened to him.
However, instead of deciding to take fewer risks in the future, his thoughts worked differently.
I must become so strong that none of these monsters can pose any threat to me.
All of them must become the fuel that pushes my rise to the top.
For a moment, the air around Jackson turned extremely chilly.
Another breath later, Jackson supported himself with the alloy knife and got up, starting to search for anything valuable.
Soon he found two small marbles in a deep pool of blood. One glowed crimson red, while the other emitted a pale purple light.
"What is that...?"
Jackson’s face showed slight surprise.
He was familiar with the red marble. It was the monster core.
However, this was his first time seeing the purple marble.
Just as he was thinking, the sound of footsteps came from ahead, and Jackson immediately turned alert.
The footsteps were too orderly, a sign that other hunters were here.
Hurriedly putting the two marbles into his hunter license storage, Jackson quickly left the scene.
In the forest, a hunter not only had to keep guard against monsters, but fellow hunters as well.
...
A moment after Jackson left, a squad of four Bronze-Rank hunters armed to the teeth came running in.
At the front stood the leader, a man in his late twenties radiating the aura of a Second Sequence expert. Other than him, there were two men and one woman, all three of them at First Sequence as well.
Thanks to Jackson’s quick wit, he had managed to avoid a calamity.
If he had been just a moment late, his fate might not have been any different from the minotaur’s.
One of the squad members, a man dressed in light armor with a small dagger tucked at his waist, muttered regretfully while looking at the gruesome sight.
"Its stomach got the best of us..."
The group had been tracking the minotaur since morning, and when they had finally managed to find traces of it, somebody had come in to swoop the kill.
Every single one of them felt frustrated. After all, all their hard work had been for nothing.
The lone woman’s eyes flashed with a dangerous glint as she suggested in a subdued tone:
"They shouldn’t have gone too far. Why don’t we give chase? We might be able to get our hands on the goodies."
The suggestion caused the eyes of the other members to ripple with sharp light. It was very tempting.
The other party, after fighting with the minotaur, must be exhausted. If they swooped in now, not only would they gain the fruits of someone else’s hard work, they might even get some other valuables as well.
At this time, their leader, the young man with the sword in his hand, shook his head.
"Don’t let greed cloud your judgment. From how quickly the other squad managed to kill the minotaur, they were no ordinary hunters. If we act rashly, we might be walking to our own graves."
Hearing those words, the eyes of the others flashed with disappointment. Although their leader was reliable, sometimes he could be too cautious.
Even if the other party was formidable, if they worked together they might still succeed.
Although they thought this way, none voiced their thoughts.
How could the leader not tell what his subordinates were thinking? But he couldn’t care less.
To survive in this cruel forest, every step had to be taken after thinking.
One wrong move and he might be dead.
After taking another look, the squad quickly left.
...
"They finally left..."
Jackson let out a sigh of relief, watching the squad members disappear back into the distance.
He didn’t have enough time to move further away when they arrived, so gritting his teeth, he could only hide himself, watching the four with steady breath and hoping they would not notice him.
After all, for now he didn’t have any way to deal with a Second Sequence hunter.
Facing a squad of them, he could only wipe his neck and prepare to die.
However, even after the squad completely disappeared from his view, Jackson didn’t come out of hiding. He simply waited for another hour.
It was only when he saw no movement that he came out, quickly moving nonstop. It was only when he returned back to the inn that he let out a sigh of relief.
...
Sitting in his room, Jackson looked at the two marbles intently, waiting for the status windows to pop up.
The next moment, the air rippled, and two windows appeared in front of his eyes.
[Name - First Sequence Monster Corrupted Beast Core]
[Description - A core belonging to the corrupted minotaur. Due to some mysterious power, its form had changed, holding more mana than normal.]
[Effect - +1.5 Constitution / Mana / Physique]
[Name - Corruption Core]
[Description - A bead made out of highly condensed chaotic energy. Consuming it would make a living being enter a period of frenzy, with the body out of control, killing anyone in sight.]
[Effect - +1.1 Spiritual Force]
Jackson’s eyes lit up. The two of them were indeed good treasures.
In the blink of an eye, he decided not to sell them but use them for himself. For other creatures it might be dangerous, but for him, he had the Golden Brush.
He quickly took out the Golden Brush, removed the negative effects, and consumed the First Sequence corrupted monster core.
Once in his mouth, the corrupting marble immediately melted, turning into streams of energy that slowly nourished the boundaries of his spiritual space. Immediately Jackson felt his head clear of all useless thoughts, his vision becoming clearer and sharper.
Jackson knew why he felt this way.
His spiritual force had risen by a sizable amount.
Feeling excited, he quickly consumed the beast core as well.
The same scene repeated again. Jackson let his bones shake slightly as the vigorous vitality emerging from the beast core strengthened them, tempering his tendons and muscles.
The process lasted for a full half an hour.
When Jackson relaxed, he found his entire body covered in black gooey filth, and a pungent smell filled the room.
Without wasting any time, Jackson hurried to the washroom to get rid of all the filth.
It was only then that he called out the status window to take a look.
[Name - Jackson Von Maximus]
[Age - 16]
[Talent - Aura of Slaughter]
[Realm - First Sequence]
[Spiritual Force - 3.7]
[Mana/Physique - 2.9]
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