Adrian is breathing heavily. He was extremely exhausted. Even so, his eyes stay on the dead horned rabbit, fearing it might stand on its feet again the moment he lowered his guard.
On the other hand, Haja's eyes widened in shock. He was surprised by the turn of events. The same can be said for the other three dunirrs. They were slack-jawed, unable to believe what they had just seen.
Getting off the ground, Adrian cleaned his body of dust. He asked despite he knows the answer. "Did I pass the test?"
"Y-Yeah...Yeah...You passed." Haja walked toward him with caution. His eyes worriedly look at the corpse of the dead special beast.
"What're we going to do with them? Adrian pointed at the corpses. "Bring it home? It'll be a hassle to do so but it's kind of a waste to leave it here after all the effort I spend in killing them."
Haja thinks for a while, "Hmm...Let's turn it into dried meat. Did you bring any salt with you?"
"Ah, yes! Salting!" Adrian exclaimed. The most popular method of preserving almost any kind of meat or fish. "Let me check my bag real quick." Adrian rushed toward his bag that he left hidden on the tree.
After rummaging through his bag, he took a deep breath and shouted from above, "Haja! I brought it but only a small quantity of it."
Haja was disappointed and slightly annoyed by this fact. It doesn't look like he can bring a lot of meat home and share it with others. From hearsay he heard, the special beast's meat is delicacy far surpassed the normal one. "Then, we have no choice but to eat the rest by ourselves! You three! What are you standing there for? Come and help me move these rabbits under the tree fast. We won't be draining the blood out in open space. It'll attract other predators."
A series of instructions are coming out of Haja's mouth. The man is brimming with a leadership aura around him. He looks more like a chief than Adrian.
"I bet if I didn't come to this world, he will most likely be the strong contender as the next chief...Hmm?!"
He then jumps to the ground from ten meters high with his bag in his hand. After countless times performing acrobatic moves, he can now do it as easily as breathing.
He passed the pouch of salt to Haja who was busy cutting off the large chunk of meat into smaller pieces.
Adrian goes near the corpse, inspecting it closely. He was not mistaken. He senses mana from the corpse. This time, it is stronger than when they were alive.
'There is still mana seeping out of their corpse. Is this a natural phenomenon for the living thing that possesses mana?' He asked the knowledgeable Aries.
[It comes from the clump of mana in its solid state. Mana core you would call. Its size can grow bigger and bigger as one absorbs more mana into their body. The maximum size of the core however differs depending on its owner's size. I mean, if that is the case, wouldn't you be closer to death if you keep absorbing mana? Right now, mana from within will escape back to the atmosphere in a gaseous state since the rabbit is dead. Similar to the sublimation process from Earth]
'I see...Yeah, that makes sense...Doesn't that mean creatures from the same species have relatively the same size of core? For example, humans have a similar size, and so do dunirrs, elves, orcs and so on and so forth. Then, how does one differentiate among the same species?'
[Once the core reaches its maximum size, it will compress the existing mana to create more room for the newly absorbed mana. Often during this moment, the colour of the core will change. From black, blue, purple, red, orange, yellow and white at the top]
'Where is this mana core located?'
[Usually at the stomach. Mana at its solid and liquid states are the easiest to be absorb]
He took out his dagger and sliced open the belly.
"Chief! What are you doing?!" Tusca was shocked to see Adrian bury his hand there.
"Shut up! I'm searching for something." Adrian looks girmace.
His entire arm felt wet, warm and stink at the same time. Particularly, his finger touches many solidified and partially solidified substances that he doesn't wish to know of.
"Urgh! What am I touching? Where is the core?" Upon reaching further, he finally found the core that Aries means.
Its size is too big for him to grab with one hand. After so much struggle, Adrian managed to bring out the black-coloured core size of a tennis ball.
"So this is the core, huh? The sphere-shaped core beautifully glowed in a midst of this dark forest.
"What is this thing, chief? asked Tusca who had been observing Adrian's weird behaviour. His word attracts the attention of the nearby Haja, Rosta and Moja.
All of them come closer as they curiously try to take a look at the core.
"This is mana core. It'll help you gain the mana that you guys pitifully needed." Adrian hushed them, "Now go and gather the remaining three cores. If you're late, it will dissipate into the air."
Haja scurries to the other corpses. He has been trying to gain mana for the past few days but the result isn't worth mentioning.
A few minutes later, four black-coloured core was gathered. One of them which has a faint sign of turning blue must be the rabbit boss Adrian fought earlier. Without wasting time, five dunirrs sit around the cores.
"What should we do now, chief?" Moja politely asked. Only at this time did he become well-behaved, both in terms of manners and words.
"Try to absorb it as I teach you. It should be easy for you guys to sense the mana in front of you."
All four of them closed their eyes which was really unnecessary, to be honest. Nonetheless, Adrian didn't bother to say anything since doing so increases their focus.
Adrian begins to absorb the mana as well.
[+100 Earthia Mana]
[+100 Earthia Mana]
[+100 Earthia Mana]
[Ding! You've levelled up!]
"My goodness!!" He spontaneously said out loud and cause the other four to open their eyes. They all wear the same disbelief expression just like him.
"Did you feel the abundance of mana, chief?" Haja couldn't contain his excitement.
Adrian nods, "Yes, this is way easier than blindly feeling mana in the forest. Don't waste any more time. Every second counts, continue to absorb the mana as much as possible."
"Yes, chief!!"
At the end of the day, Adrian levelled up three more times. Not only that, he even gains additional skills called [Mana Sensitivity] thanks to his effort in sensing mana.
He can feel his body attributes increase exponentially, 'This kind of speed made all my previous effort looks useless. Open status...'
A transparent bluish panel appeared.
-Personal Details -
[Adrian Brine] [Age: 20 years old]
[Race: Dunirr]
[Level: 11/100]
[Mana type: Earthia] [Mana: 72,340/102,400]
Stats:
[Strength: 18]
[Stamina: 20]
[Agility: 19]
[Intelligence: 17]
Skills:
[Danger Awareness] [Mental Mapping] [Internet Access] [Mana Circulation] [Mana Sensitivity] [Earth Manipulation] [Dagger Mastery]