Clarence was on the lookout for beasts when he checked the system and discovered a new rule while doing so.
The said rule was that exchange would be of equivalent quantity even when he was on the receiving end of something.
For example, he wanted to trade his rank two dagger back along with something good for the rank five damaged snake carcass.
But it seems it wasn't possible as well, he could only get an item of equivalent quality.
In the end he exchanged the rank five damaged corpse with a set of rank four daggers. Any set counts as one item.
After a few more minutes of strolling, he came across a rank two tiger feasting on the carcass of a beast it had recently hunted.
His senses covered a wider area than the tiger because he was running the golden blue energy through his body. So the tiger had yet to perceive him.
He drew his previous single dagger from its sheath and clutched it in his hands. He then positioned himself so that when he threw his dagger, the speed would be remarkable.
He placed emphasis on speed because he didn't want the tiger to notice the attack, which was the entire point of the sneak attack.
He threw his dagger, but the tiger didn't notice, as it was still happily eating the carcass.
Clarence clutched his new daggers in both hands and took a stance just outside the tiger's range, not wanting to take any chances.
The tiger tried to avoid the dagger as soon as it entered its perception range, but the dagger was too quick and lodged itself deep in its neck.
Despite being critically injured, the tiger attempted to remove the dagger from its neck with its paws just as it was attacked.
He wasn't given the chance though, as Clarence had already executed his leg technique to run as soon as the dagger hit the tiger.
When he felt he was in an ideal range, he jumped up high before he spun and descended with both gravity and rotational momentum, along with his own strength.
The tiger had no chance to even dodge before the dagger cut mid way up its neck before continuing down and coming out from the other end.
When Clarence was done, he could see the mass inside the tiger, its head still lodged to the body with just half its neck attached, the other half being cut with the dagger.
'Wow, these daggers sure are sharper.
I chose a rank 4 dagger that only specialized in sharpness because anything with a skill would have sucked me dry by now, even if it was only a passive one.'
Using artifacts with a higher rank than one's own can be risky because they require more energy to use.
Even though it was converted to a higher power, it still wasn't suitable for lower ranked ones in a prolonged battle. And In a battle, you should take no unnecessary risks.
Clarence removed the dagger from the tiger's body and put the latter into his spatial bracelet.
He cleaned up the aftermath of the battle before continuing his search for more beasts to fight.
He was still channeling his golden blue energy, as he planned to sneak up on a beast that was alert and not preoccupied with something else, all while cleaning his daggers.
Soon after, he came across a rank two lion staring into space, as if pondering its life choices. The lion, like it had been the case with the tiger, was unaware of his presence.
Clarence, like before, held the single dagger from the previous set and postured his body in a way that it would enable him to throw the dagger at maximum speed.
The dagger flew out of his hands at breakneck speed, likely even faster than in the previous battle, and the lion, who wasn't preoccupied with anything, quickly noticed a dagger flying its way.
It avoided the dagger by a hair's breadth because the speed was far too high. Despite this, the dagger grazed its neck, leaving a shallow cut.
Just as it stood up on its legs and roared, Clarence was upon him with his dagger already halfway through its swing, aiming at the open wound.
The lion dodged the attack, but only partially, because it was so focused on avoiding the first dagger that it didn't notice Clarence approaching. His dagger still cut a shallow wound across its stomach.
The lion's eyes had already turned red, indicating its fury at the creature that had attacked it while it was resting.
Clarence intended to follow up with another attack, but the lion pounced on him with its sharp claws fully extended, forcing him to change course.
Before Clarence could stabilize his body from the dodge, the lion was already upon him with another pounce.
Instead of dodging this time, Clarence strengthened his feet and planted himself firmly on the ground.
He raised both of his daggers and positioned them exactly where he predicted lion's claws would land.
Just as its claws made contact with his daggers, Clarence jerked both of his hands in different directions, offsetting and severely disrupting the momentum of the lion.
As soon as its dagger was free from the lion's claw, Clarence pushed back at his legs with insane force and was almost instantly upon the lion.
Clarence then proceeded to stab the lion in the neck without giving it a chance to regain its balance.
With its initial momentum being disrupted, then getting suppressed by the stab. The lion experienced excruciating pain. Now, even if it wanted to, it couldn't counterattack.
The lion this time had no chance left. As soon as Clarence stabbed his dagger, it cut open on its neck. Which he removed and stabbed again a few distance away.
The lion could feel its strength leaving its body as a result of injuries to its neck, since they were mostly fatal. Clarence came to a complete stop a few seconds later when the lion lay completely still on the ground.
He took short breaths while staring at the lion's neck, which was completely punctured with holes.
After he took his time getting down from the adrenaline high, Clarence, with his now steady breath, put the lion in his spatial bracelet and picked up his daggers.
After two continuous fights, his mana was already running low. He looked around for a shelter to rest in before he found the cave he previously rested in.
He appeared to have unintentionally ended up back where he had started while strolling around.
He entered the cave and placed a boulder at the entrance. He then took out a rank two mana gathering array, which also had the effect of calming the mind to aid in recovery as well as cultivation.
He sat inside the array for nearly an hour before he was recharged. He didn't use mana crystals since he wasn't in a hurry or he could've easily finished earlier.
He put the array back in his spatial bracelet and decided that since he was already resting, he might as well rest some more while going over the flaws he could have fixed in previous battles.
Leaning against the cave's wall. He began to consider what he could have done to make the battles progress more smoothly.
After going through his thoughts, Clarence mentally called out "system"
[Welcome back to the System Of Order]
[1. Stats]
[2. Shop/exchange list]
[3. Simulation]
He mentally asked the system,
"Can others see this screen?"
[The system doesn't have a definite answer for that]
Clarence was immediately concerned because he didn't want to reveal that he had the system and that golden blue ball of energy.
He wanted to know what was going on with him. He wanted to research everything before even considering telling it to anyone.
He thought about it for a bit and asked back again,
"Can this screen be displayed directly in my mind?"
[Possible]
[Do you want the screen to appear in your mind instead of outside from now on?]
"Yes"
[Affirmative]
After seeing the same image being displayed directly in his mind, Clarence mentally sent an order to open the shop.
Seeing the options in front of him again, Clarence chose to open [cultivation scriptures].
The selected tab opened up to reveal more options.
[1. Skill]
[2. Technique]
[3. Meditation scriptures]
He selected the technique tab, which opened up to reveal so many options, it once again surprised him to no end that something like this could possibly be made. Or could it?
He then proceeded to filter the list for dagger techniques and chose a suitable one available among all those he could exchange for the rank two lion's corpse.