Caleb, a complete amateur when it came to fights, moved like a pro.
Within seconds, he dealt with three lizards and dashed towards the next.
'Haha… is this what they mean when they talk about being overpowered?'
The monsters may be low-level beasts, but to him, they were his very first monster hunt.
And while a little underwhelming due to how weak the monsters were, it was still fun.
Several seconds later, Caleb dealt with all the monsters and while he hadn't killed them, they were completely incapacitated.
"Nice…"
Caleb muttered as he gestured with his hands as if disposing of some garbage.
'Time to get a core…'
He furrowed his brows slightly as this part of the job required him to dirty his hands.
'Haa… I might as well get used to it. There's no point in delaying the inevitable. Better now than later.'
Caleb did a quick scan and found one of the monsters with its rocky hide shattered from his blows.
The monster was still twitching from time to time, and blood was leaking from its body, a sign of the level of damage it had received.
Under the stunned gazes of the three amateurs, Caleb approached the monster as he retrieved a sharp dagger from his storage.
It was one of the many weapons he got from the storage ring he 'took' from his killers.
He used his domain sense to locate the core and then plunged the dagger into that region.
"Oh god…"
He felt the dagger dig into the tissue of the monster as it screeched in agony, the last of its breath leaving the monster shortly.
*Gulp*
Caleb had to swallow the lump that formed in his throat, the experience leaving him a bit disgusted.
Once the monster stopped its struggle, Caleb heaved a heavy sigh and then inserted his hand into that part after putting away the dagger.
'Found it.'
With a tug, he pulled out the core and quickly stepped back. Another gulp and a shudder later, Caleb focused on the core.
It was still bloody from being pulled just now, but the core was gleaming with a white brilliance and had a rough and almost circular shape.
'So this is what a core looks like. But this one feels… I don't know, a little too weak?'
Even with this being his first time with a core, he could tell that the amount of mana in it was so insignificant.
[Low-level monster core]
[Attribute: Neutral]
'I see… well that's fine.'
"Um… Hello, Mister."
Caleb's focus was interrupted when the trio appeared behind him.
He turned around only to see them quickly bow their heads.
"Thank you very much for saving us!"
They said in unison and waited for Caleb to say something before lifting their heads.
As beginners, they knew another beginner when they saw one.
However, the strength and prowess Caleb displayed were beyond what a beginner could do.
But then, the way he retrieved the monster core appeared as though it was his first time doing it.
His actions appeared contradictory and while they were curious why, they knew when to ask questions and when not to.
"It's fine."
Caleb said and they straightened their backs and stood still, staring at Caleb as of he was their leader.
"Is there something else you need from me?"
"Uhm… well, we would like to know the name of our saviour. O-of course, it's okay if you don't want to share your name!"
The woman, Riley, spoke with a slightly red face before quickly waving her hands in an attempt to take back her words if he felt offended.
Caleb chuckled at the woman's actions and said,
"That's fine. I'm Caleb, new in town and just passing through."
"Oh.. okay. Nice to meet you."
Riley felt slightly disappointed Caleb was just passing through.
Of course, she did not forget to introduce herself and her friends, but Caleb already knew that.
"My name is Riley, and this is Olsen and Fred."
The sword user and defender nodded as their names were mentioned.
"Mm…"
Caleb acknowledged them and was ready to leave. But then, he decided to leave a word with them.
"From what I've seen, you guys are strong enough to be on your own. It's best to have someone a little more powerful to come with."
His words hit them like a trick as the trio lowered their heads in shame. They knew Caleb said those words because he didn't want to see them die immaturely.
But his words still hurt nonetheless.
"Well, that's only my take on the matter. You are free to do as you please."
The trio raised their heads again to look at Caleb when abruptly, his figure flickered and disappeared.
"Ah!"
"Whoa… did you see him move?"
Olsen asked and looked around, trying to see if he could spot the direction Caleb disappeared to.
"That man is definitely from the city! Only those places have such powerful adventurers!"
The excitement in his voice was palpable as his eyes burned with a gleaming light of determination.
"Yeah… but he appeared so young."
As the boys spoke about Caleb like some hero from legends, Riley remained quiet, lost in her own thoughts.
"Let's take the other cores and get out of here."
She spoke and moved towards the squirming Rockhide Lizards.
...….
Caleb appeared several meters away from the dungeon, once again, eluding the senses if everyone around with his super speed.
He found a relatively quiet spot on a tall tree and settled on one of its thick branches.
"Let's get started…"
Caleb sat down and held the core in his hands and then closed his eyes.
He instinctively knew what he had to do and when he attempted it, a prompt appeared on his HUD that took him by surprise.
"What…?"
He opened his eyes and stared at the core with narrowed eyes, yet found nothing wrong with it.
While the knowledge he had of this world was limited to what the old Caleb knew, it was more than most people knew.
But to think there was something mysterious about the monster's core left Caleb in disbelief.
It once again made him wonder where his system came from.