Leko and Leo, both saw the cat dying. They even saw the tear that dripped from its eyes, but they felt nothing other than relief since they had survived.
Yes, it was either hunt or get hunted. A while ago, Leko was going to be eaten by the Night-Cat, so he couldn't spare his feelings on the cat.
Leo too, after looking at the cat, turned back to check on Leko's condition.
Leo then said, "Let's go back."
He was worried about Leko's bleeding arm and other injuries. He wanted to take him to the orphanage and have him rest. Of course, he would then look for a doctor to come and heal him.
But the real problem was money. They had very little to no money. Also, the money was for the children, and Leko and Ai would barely use it.
Therefore, he would strongly refuse to use the money for his own treatment.
The money stored wouldn't even be enough for the treatment, to begin with.
And while thinking about it, Leo realized that he could see the Night-Cat and earn some money!
Yes, this was a good idea.
There was an actual type of business in which, the bodies of beasts were sold or bought at high prices.
A level 10 beast wouldn't necessarily fetch a lot of money, but it would be more than enough for a commoner to spend a month happily.
Also, it would definitely be enough to cover the cost of treatment.
He said, "Father, you need treatment."
"You have lost a lot of blood, let's hurry home. I will carry you.", Leo said.
After hearing this, Leko chuckled.
He then said, "A tiny little child like you was able to kill a beast that even we adults couldn't…"
"Don't you think you should go and eat its heart to awaken at least one of your two beast souls?", Leko said.
Yes, Leko saw Leo crying due to which, he thought that eating the beast's heart for an awakening would definitely cheer him up.
Leo realized Leko's intentions, he said, "I have no intentions of eating it."
"Besides, you need to get treated. We don't have enough time to waste.", Leo said.
Leko then asked, "Treatment? Where do you plan on getting money from? You know our situation right?"
Leo shook his head and said, "I'm planning to sell the-"
And just as he had said this much, Leko coughed a large amount of blood.
*cough*
Leo suddenly got scared when he saw all the blood spill on his shirt.
Leko then said, "Boy…"
"Listen to me…"
"The body of the beast without its heart will also fetch a lot of money."
"You can treat me later."
"But if you waste any more time, the power stored in its heart will vanish…"
"I think it is better if you eat it first…", Leko said.
Yes, the reason why cultivators eat a beast's heart is that their soul and their entire cultivated power get stored in the heart which pumps blood to every corner of their bodies.
Since the power gets stored in their hearts, the heart usually dies the last.
Also, the power stored doesn't remain forever.
It depends upon the level of the beast until the power lasts. For example, for a level 1 beast, the energy remains in the heart for 1 minute.
As for a level 10 beast, it lasts for 10 minutes. For a level 100 beast, the energy remains for 100 minutes and so on.
It is the nature of beasts and thus nothing could be done about that.
Also, only the person that has killed the beast can absorb its powers. Basically, what happens is, the killer's soul gets marked on the beast that he has killed. Due to that, the energy can only go to the specific soul, that is, to the killer!
Regardless, about eight minutes had passed and only two minutes remained.
Leo wasn't aware of this, but then Leko explained it to him.
"Listen, son, a beast's-"
And after explaining, these were his last words, "Don't worry, I won't die."
"I still have to take care of you all…"
"Even if God of Death comes to take me away, I will fight him back and come alive…", he said with a smile.
After hearing that, Leo smirked and slowly helped Leko bend and sit while being supported by a tree.
He then walked towards the Night-Cat. After that, he cut the cat open which left his hands in a bloody mess.
Of course, it looked more like a small tiger, but whatever, it still was a beast that had hunted tons of humans.
He found the heart and after carefully cutting the arteries and veins, he finally had the heart in his hand.
He, looked at Leko for one last time after which he put the heart inside his mouth.
Well, even if a single bite of the heart was taken, all the powers would end up being transferred automatically. But Leo had no idea about it, so he ended up swallowing the entire heart.
*cough*
*cough*
For a second he choked himself, but the heart then automatically turned into energy. Yes, its physical boundaries and shape vanished.
Now, only an orb of energy was left which slowly dispersed throughout his body finally entering his Soul Realm.
Only the first heart that a person eats can be of any level. This heart will basically decide the condition of the beast's soul awakening.
But after that, a cultivator cannot absorb the energy of the Beasts that are 10 levels higher than himself. Yes, the strongest beast heart that a person can absorb from the second to the remaining heart could only have 10 levels more than himself.
For example, a Beast-Warrior (Lv.11 to Lv.20) can absorb the heart of a beast from Lv.1 to Lv.30. Of course, as the level increases, the benefits and risks increase as well.
Regardless, for now, there was no risk for Leo. But he necessarily had to choose a beast soul to which he had to provide the energy of the heart.
"…"