"That...That…can it be?" the archer Kara stuttered.
"No doubt, I saw it once in the in an auction house at the capitol and that smell remained in my mind since then…those are the five kernel powders of the elemental tree"
The elemental tree in this world is an extremely rare tree that bears five different dry fruits. When these fruits are ground into powder, they are used as ingredients for legendary elixirs that many nations scramble to buy. Needless to say, their price is hundreds of times what they would make from selling the boar parts. But the creature in front of them was actually using it as spices, sprinkling them in careless amounts on the boar meat. If they were not intimidated by his appearance and power, they would've already knocked some sense into his head.
Sen who began enjoying the heavenly taste of the roast meat after simmering it in some wine without a single thought of the value of the 'spices', saw the three looking at the spices in his hand with frivolous gazes. To be honest, he only had that one belt so he absolutely did not plan on sharing any. But again, he needed information about this place so he made concessions.
The three saw the thing turn his attention to them before taking a vial of red elemental powder. It sprinkled it over the remaining roasting meat before speaking once again "you can have some."
By now, their initial fear was somewhat decreasing after seeing the humane actions of the thing. Now it was even offering them this legendary ingredient to eat. No matter what apprehension they had against him, they surely would not refuse this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
They hurriedly sat on the tree logs before carefully savoring the taste that melted into their mouths. Of course, they did not forget to keep their guard up against any sudden movements.
Sen, on the other hand, continued enjoying the meat that even back on earth, he did not have the chance to enjoy. After he was done, he looked at the three who each got a small portion but savored it like treasure before asking. "What is this place?"
Hearing the creature speaking to them again; Don was happier than ever because his energy has increased a bit just from a few tastes of this powder. Therefore, he became respectful to the thing and even dropped some of his guard down.
"This is the shattered forest, the outer region of the shattered forest"
"Shattered forest?"
"Yeah" the muscle-man spoke this time, "it's an extremely vast forest that's at the center of the three nations of Thesa continent" he paused for a while, "it had three regions, outer, inner and core"
"Three nations are so close together?" he asked in wonder.
The three looked at each other before the muscle man spoke again, "no, they are hundreds of miles away from each other. It's just the shattered forest is vast enough to encompass the entire region between them"
Sen nodded in understanding, "I assume that the core is the most dangerous one?"
Don nodded and agreed, "Yeah, rumor has it that a world-level monster is sealed in there"
'World level?' Sen was a bit surprised. Back in the Last Realm, monsters were classified by earth, sky, and world. Each of the three levels had nice sub-levels called stars. But these were the monsters discovered when he reached a very high level. When he was still under level 100 the monsters he could handle were classified by common, uncommon, and rare. But he wasn't so sure whether it's the same here.
"World rank? I that supposed to be strong?" he asked incredulously.
The three were a bit surprised before remembering that this person was not human so he might not know of the things they consider normal knowledge.
"Yeah… you may not know but monsters, as well as plants in some cases, can cultivate their energy or Mana to reach a certain amount"
Sen's pointed ears perked up after hearing the mention of Mana and Energy but let the man continue.
Don originally wanted to just tell him about what he asked but he assumed that this 'person' did not know of Mana and energy seeing his interested expression so he started from the beginning.
"Hmm…Mana and internal energy are powers that exist in every living thing as well as all around us. We gain internal energy from cultivating our bodies, although very few people can do it to high levels…"
that much he knew.
"Oh right," the female archer finally spoke, "Mana is also a power type, but very few can use it as Mana manuals were lost hundreds of years ago" Don and Lank sighed and said "but there is no way a mage could actually exist in this backward fief. The closest mage to us is in the royal capital or some ancient noble families"
'So, it's that type of world' Sen Thought to himself. The system of nobility, where peasants are treated like dirt and maybe there is even slavery. He then remembered that although the three saw him, their reaction was not one of panic and horror that he would show when he saw something that looked like him back on earth, so Sen assumed that this world had many creatures maybe even more terrifying-looking than him.
"So what about the world rank you mentioned?"
"World rank is when a monster reaches a certain cultivation level and turns into a human form"
'So it the same after all' Sen Thought. But the man did not mention anything about the common, uncommon, and rare rank so Sen assumed that do not exist or they simply skipped over that part.
"What kingdom is this?" Sen asked now that he got a general idea about power rankings. He now needs to move to a town or a city where there are actual people. It won't make sense for him to stay in a forest.
"Ha…this is the Grandor kingdom. We're currently about two miles away south from Lavin city"
"You said something about this being a backwater kingdom"
Don then started thinking whether this person had any bad intentions towards the kingdom. But he really did not have that much loyalty anyway so there was no harm in telling this person.
"There are many kingdoms and countries in Thesa continent," Lank answered, "of course, not all of them are equal. Some are stronger than others while others are weaker waiting to be conquered."
"What makes a kingdom strong or weak?"
"That is mages, of course, and strong warriors" as he said the last word, Lank's eyes shone with admiration. "The one with the strongest fist gets to stand up high"
'So it's really that kind of world' Sen thought.