Kale was dragging the lizard slowly towards the entrance, because of the injuries, his speed and working efficiency has decreased.
'If I had started cultivating ‹Nether Venom Body› then that lizard would have been done for, the second it tasted my blood, I should hurry, I need to put more effort,' Kale thought, suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps and looked halted in his steps.
The competition was over, so even if he met others they cannot steal his contribution but stealing his loot and equipment was a different matter.
He reached out to his dagger and waited to see the faces of the people in front, several flashes of light fell on his eyes making it hard to see the faces of his opponents clearly.
"Kale? What, you are bleeding?" He heard Layla's voice among the crowd and relaxed his anxiety.
***
Several minutes ago…
Mike's group was fighting foxes using his attract and kill strategy, they were going at a decent pace, everyone in the team had the time to recover their energy and continue the fight without wasting any time.
But at this time, Misha interrupted the flow "I think we need to change the strategy," She said while pointing in the direction of Kent who was making a formation with his big group.
Amber spoke just after him "If they go in first then with such a big group, we won't have any good loot left,"
"They how about we go in before them. From the looks of it, their leader would need a few more minutes before he could properly arrange the group, and their movement speed will be slow because of their size, we can take the lead and reap some benefits if we move now," Layla suggested.
Mike thought about it and agreed.
***
At present…
Layal rushed forth and checked his condition, right now Kale's whole inner shirt was covered in blood, his mask also had blood stains on it but this blood was mostly from the Vanishing Lizard and not his, though the ripped clothes and bulge of cotton on his shoulder showed that he was injured.
She then looked at the Vanishing Lizard he was dragging and sighed, she knew his habit of not using potions, she took out a Health Potion from her bag and gave it to him "It's free just take it without blabbering okay,"
Kale had no intention of making a scene, he pushed his mask slightly upward revealing his face, his eyes were still hidden but others could now see his facial features. He took the potion and gulped down in one go.
After finished drinking it, he felt a warm sensation on his shoulder but it wasn't from the potion. He turned and saw Misha casting a healing spell on him, a golden magic circle emitting a golden light was present in front of her wand, under the effect of the light, his wound already showed the sign of healing, while the Health Potion affected his whole body making up for the loss of blood earlier.
Kale slightly nodded at her and retracted his gaze from her, he then looked at others who were doubtful staring at the lizard then at him.
He started thinking, he didn't forget that a big group of people would be waiting for him outside, breaking through their defense was easy if he was in normal condition but right now he wasn't sure especially considering that the people in front of him might take it as a rude behavior if he leaves them right now after getting their help.
They might even help him for free because of Layla but then it would mean that Layla might have to return the present kindness with another kindness in the future.
Kale touched his chin and thought 'Because of that Wind God's Blessing Holder I no longer have the chance to gain rank 1, while rank 3 is easy to get but even if I get rank 5 or 6 I can still avoid the second test,' He made his decision.
"Everyone, I have an offer for you, I'm willing to share 50% of the contribution of handing in this Vanishing Lizard, Its outer hide has almost to none injury so its value is definitely high. In exchange for selling the beast I want money, not CP but real-life money, there is no exact price you can give what you think is appropriate, how do you divide the contribution amongst you is totally up to you Mike, I won't meddle in that matter," Kale said.
Mike's eyes flickered.
If they really divide the contribution amongst themselves then some of them would be able to enter the top ten, Mike would definitely be one of them, according to him Kale was showing friendliness.
As for real-life money, this was the least thing Aristocrats like them cared about.
Kale threw the pot at Mike, this way he can not only gain free protection but can avoid breaking the relations with them, moreover this way he can make a lot of free money. He knows that the price they will offer would definitely be several times more than the original price.
Others were the same, the price they were going to offer will also show their fame and status.
"I get it, bro, we can discuss that on the way, first let's get you out of here, your injuries are stabilized but aren't properly healed," Arlo said.
Alice and Kanna nodded.
Mike also approved and said "You are right, come to think of it what about the other foxes? There should be an Aqua Fox inside and…"
Before he could finish, Kale interrupted him "They are all dead, a slate-grey haired boy and middle-grade school appearance girl was hunting the last fox when I got there, I'm not sure about the power level of the little girl but that boy had high control over wind. They were exhausted at that time but I'm sure that they should have been recovered by now, even if you go now that boy can easily make his escape and even inflict some damage. If I'm right, he probably got the Blessing Of Wind God,"
When Kale finished speaking, he noticed that the expressions of others have changed.
"You met Ron?" Mike blurted out.
"If it was him then the girl should be his sister Twinkle," Amber spoke, she usually preferred to stray quite so seeing her speaking like that, the two brothers and sister caught Kale's attention.
"If it was them, then under the blessing's effect he should have recovered enough to guarantee their escape, even if we go all out and succeed in intercepting them then it would be a problem if the people behind us took advantage of our weakness and decided to strike," Mike said.
"Advance or retreat," Night Hunter said while looking at him.
Mike was silent for a while, he then looked at Kale "Did they receive any serious injury?"
Kale shook his head.
Mike nodded then spoke "We will retreat,"
No one argued with Mike's decision, the group began to head out. On their way back, Layla and Arlo were walking beside Kale covering him from both sides in case he has a problem moving because of his injuries.
The lizard's body was dragged by Layla's battle foxes, their stamina was above others, so she let them do it.
On the way, they met Kent's group, the situation seemed serious for a while but after Kent looked at Layla, Misha, and Kanna, he just nodded and advanced without intercepting them.
Beast Hunter, Healer, and Summoner all three of these class holders were coveted by everyone so how could he anger all three for just a lizard.
High-status people have an image to maintain, he couldn't attack his sister or else who knows if someone uses this point to ruin his efforts so far, moreover he had no idea that the nest was already cleared.
After passing by their side, the group hurried and immediately left the location.
Their trip back to the academy was very smooth. After they arrived at the location, Kale and Layal departed from the group letting Mike and others take care of the lizard.
The duo went to the hospital.
***
Layla had a peculiar expression on her face when she saw Kale sitting on the operation seat and checking his phone while the nurse stitched his wound on the shoulder.
Earlier when they arrived at the hospital and asked the nurse for a checkup, the nurse saw his casual attitude and thought that the blood on his clothes wasn't his, at most he was trying to act cool in front of the girl so she sighed and brought some cotton and bandage to do normal nursing but the second Kale removed his shirt and sealing tape to show the wound, she was stunned.
For a moment, she was wondering if he was some retired soldier or veteran mercenary in the teenager's skin. Then she calmed down and forced herself to believe that the silly boy has taken a strong painkiller to escape from the pain.
At present…
Layla looked at Nurse's weird expression and didn't know what to say, she had the same thought as her but she also knew that there was no way in hell that the boy who didn't buy a potion to save CP would go out of his way to buy painkiller.
After thinking for a while, her eyes flickered and a long-lost thought appeared in her hand 'Just how cold-blooded his father can be?'
Kale peeked at her from the corner of his eyes, he was pretty sure that he felt a sympathetic gaze directed at him. He shook his head and looked back at the status shown on his phone's screen.
___ ___ ___
Name: Kale Oshwatt
Race: Mutant Human
Health: 80%
Stamina: 49%
Class: Mutant Martial Mage
Subclass: Wood Mage(Rookie)
Life Level: Mortal
Progress: 79%
Foundation: None
Traits: Auto-Photographic Memory & Bone Manipulation.
Knife Intent: Asura's Rage(Master)
Mortal Spells: Life Sense(Ethereal), Wooden Thorn(Ethereal), Camouflage(Ethereal).
Martial Technique: Wind Chasing Knives, Snake King Killing Series, Falling Meteor Blade Art, Illusory Phantom Walk, Snake King Body Toning Art.
___ ___ ___
The status never included the subclass related to Mutants or Martial Artist because Kale switched the main focus to only reveal details related to the Mage type, as for others he didn't want to focus on them till now. Moreover, he didn't practice the set of martial arts that let him gain attributes to his Qi or made some noteworthy skills with his mutant trait so he was a normal General Martial Artist without a rank.
The system had also failed to recognize his Martial Techniques and his mastery over them. After all, it couldn't read his memory nor does it had any related data on them.
Kale turned off the status page, he then focused his attention inside his Origin Chasm.
He willed and three small magic circle enigmas appeared in the endless void of his Origin Chasm.
All three tiny magic circles emitted a faint green light, an almost unnoticeable green light thread was connecting all three magic circles indirectly, starting from the first circle to second then second to third.
If the endless void of Origin Chasm is taken as the night sky and the three flickering magic circles as night stars then after teaming up with the light thread, they formed a perfect star constellation.
'After the first two of my wood spells reached Ethereal level mastery, this strange thread appeared and connected them. After searching for hours on the internet I only came to know that it's a ‹Magic Star Constellation›, for me, it should be ‹Wood Star Constellation› but I cannot find its proper use.
The only thing I noticed is that my mana consumption and spell casting time has slightly decreased I know nothing about it more than that, I don't have access to such information at the Academy either.
I can ask the instructors about ‹Magic Star Constellation› but would they doubt me because of that? Should I try asking Instructor Fina? Eh… There is one more problem I haven't checked yet after my bone nails broke in that lizard's throat and I retracted them back I felt a sense of weakness but I am not sure what it was,' Kale pondered about it and decided to use AI of body scanner to find it out.
He opened the app and typed the question in the ‹Ask Me› panel.
{Make a detailed report on the changes that happened in my body after getting injured, and show the most serious ones,}
[Scanning…..]
[Scanning complete]
[The temperature of your body has increased by 4°C.]
[The overall bone density of your body had decreased by 2%.]
[The muscles in your body had been strained….]
After Kale looked at the second point of the report, he didn't even bother reading the third one. His expression was grim 'As the name says ‹Bone Manipulation›, it really doesn't let me grow bones but just alter their shape, when I try to make bigger shapes it let me decrease the bone density of my bone frame to turn small bonds into the bigger object.
When the bone nails broke, the overall density of my bone frame decreased to make up for the lost part. Lower bone density means weaker bones, this way even if I'm able to refine «Undying Flesh Seed» someday what's the use? It takes a lot of time and training to strengthen bones and maintain the balance between muscles and bones to achieve the best result.
If the balance breaks then it would backfire, instead of becoming stronger I might harm my body. Looks like I need to study this mutant trait too, if it can let me change the shape of bones then it should also have a way to strengthen them if not now then I will just have to cultivate it until its power advances,'