I tied the body of the first Sentinel Strider I killed near where the magical herb Pyrothistle grows. The other bodies, I stored in my storage ring.
After tying up the Sentinel Strider's body, I didn't forget to collect the Pyrothistle. There were 13 stalks in total. I don't know how much the Greye family needs, but I took all of it. For Otto's level of Mana Frost Fever, I doubt it would require a lot of Pyrothistle.
I put the Pyrothistle in a pouch, then placed the pouch into my storage ring. I checked my wristwatch covered by my gauntlet. I partially removed it from my left wrist using Quantumorph Artisan. After checking the time, the gauntlet reverted to its original form.
It was 4:12 PM. Soon, the sun would set, and it would get dark. While this ancient forest is beautiful, there's nothing good about being deep in a forest inhabited by terrifying monsters like the Sentinel Strider. That Territorial Roar from the Sentinel Strider earlier was loud. It might attract other monsters.
Luckily, the Territorial Roar wasn't a call to other Sentinel Striders. It would be troublesome if more came, especially if stronger ones appeared. I might get seriously injured or even die.
'Well, I still need to head back to my camp and set up the monster repellent talisman,' I thought.
I then dragged the tied-up Sentinel Strider's body, walking quickly to reach my camp as soon as possible.
After about 15 minutes, I arrived at my camp and stored the Sentinel Strider in my storage ring. I also deactivated Quantumorph Artisan completely. So, the helmet, boots, and gauntlet created by my skill vanished, replaced by the clothes I wore when I left the dormitory.
There was no indication that my camp had been visited by monsters or other humans. I checked inside the tent, and nothing was missing. Even if my backpack was gone, it wouldn't matter. It only contained some cooking utensils and food.
While inside the tent, I took out an immovable area monster repellent talisman. This talisman would prevent monsters from entering the enchanted area for 12 hours as long as it wasn't moved. I planned to activate it before sleeping.
After leaving the tent, I gathered some dry wood I had chopped earlier beside the tent to make a campfire. I built it at a safe distance from the tent to avoid any fire hazards.
I then went back inside the tent to get my sketchbook, pencil, and eraser. I also took the cooking utensils, ingredients, a small pot, and a pot hanger to place over the campfire later.
Beef stew and hot chocolate. That was my plan for tonight's camping meal. I prepared everything and started cooking. While waiting for it to be done, I sat on a reclining camping chair near the campfire, sketching.
What was I drawing? I sketched everything I analyzed today and stored it in Anetta's database and my brain, including plants, animals, and, of course, the Sentinel Strider. I also wrote notes beside each drawing.
'Besides fighting, this is the best.'
Back when I was still the Dark Saber, I often did things like this just to relax and have fun. I got so used to drawing everything I encountered on alien planets that my drawing skills became quite good, at least in my opinion. So why not do it here too, since I'm in a new world?
Of course, I remained alert to my surroundings, just in case any monsters or wild animals approached.
After two hours of waiting while drawing and occasionally adding wood to the campfire, the beef stew was finally ready to eat. It was now 6:30 PM. The forest had become very dark and silent.
During those two hours, a few monsters came close. Most of them were F-rank monsters attracted by the smell of cooking meat.
I stood up from my seat and extinguished the campfire. Then I took the pot and the hot chocolate into the tent. I didn't forget to activate the monster repellent talisman for a more peaceful meal. With a dim light from a crystal lantern, I enjoyed my food.
After eating, I didn't sleep immediately but read a pocket-sized novel. This time, I didn't read my usual romcom novel, "Silly Serendipity" by Béau Du Leiche. Instead, I picked a horror novel about an adventurer lost in a ghost dimension while climbing a mountain. The title was "Lost Beyond the Veil: Dreadmoor's Secret Dimension" by Madja Gayetra.
I closed the tent and read the novel while lying down.
…
I got engrossed in the story, sometimes getting into the mood. Before I knew it, it was almost midnight. I had just been reading and lying down while meditating to restore Arkium.
I got up and sat down. It was 12:26 AM. The forest had been utterly silent while I read. It was unusual. Normally, you'd hear birds, crickets, or wind. But there was nothing. I could even hear my breathing and the rustling of my clothes against the bed.
Although I wasn't scared, I felt something strange, like being watched.
'This silence is very different.'
I stayed up until midnight to check if the monster repellent talisman worked. It did, but I was curious about what was outside.
Out of curiosity, I opened the tent and peeked outside.
When I stuck my head out a little, I could see a faint figure in the darkness. It had a human body but no legs, with roots growing from where its legs should be. It stood about four meters tall with very long arms. Its head resembled a deer's head with large white antlers and eyes with dimly lighting the darkness. It just stood there with a blank stare, seemingly interested in the dim light from inside my tent. If I deactivated the monster repellent talisman, it might crawl toward me.
'Monster or...'
I stepped out of the tent to see if the monster would attack me. I stood outside, and we stared at each other. No response. It just stood still.
'Well...I'm not scared, but it seems like it's time to sleep,' I thought.
I went back into the tent while keeping eye contact with the monster. After entering, I closed the tent and turned off the lantern. I waited a few minutes, then peeked outside again, and the monster was gone.
…
The next morning, I woke up at 8 AM. No monsters had entered my camp area, and nothing special happened except for the strange monster staring at my tent last night.
I yawned and muttered, "Yeah, that monster last night was unsettling. I hope it was really a monster."
(The figure last night was-)
"Stop! Let me remember it as a mystery for now. I'll dig into my memory later if I get curious and ask you."
I stepped out of the tent and made another campfire, this time to boil water and make hot chocolate.
After drinking the hot chocolate, I took out one Sentinel Strider's corpse. I intended to sell it to the guild, but I was curious about something else.
'Anetta? Can monster cores, Monstrum, be absorbed and converted into Arkium?'
In this forest area, converting mana to Arkium was quite efficient and fast. According to Anetta's skill sensors, the mana here was denser than in the city and open places. So, I wondered if I could use Monstrum as an emergency 'food' supply.
(Direct absorption isn't possible. Anywhere, Monstrum must first be purified into clean mana to be useful for humans. Monster mana, dirty mana, is too chaotic.)
'Purified, huh? Does this require a specific method or holy power like that possessed by Priests and Paladins?'
(Both can work. The Mage Guild and Alchemist Guild have their own methods.)
'Hmm...'
Well, I'll think about it later. For now, my morning activity is to extract Monstrum from four Sentinel Striders. The other four, I'll leave intact for a higher selling price.
This job was quick since I only needed to cut open the Sentinel Striders and pull out the Monstrum under their lungs.
After that, I stored the bodies of the four Sentinel Striders whose Monstrum I extracted into my storage ring. I also packed up my camp. It only took a few minutes. I reactivated Quantumorph Artisan.
'Now, it's time to explore deeper for the Aegis Sentinel ring.'