Seeing the items inside, Linley’s eyes lit up. Within the backpack, there was a set of clothes, some dried rations, and a sack of gold coins. Inside the backpack, the largest space was reserved for a large sack of items. Opening up the sack, Linley couldn’t help but suck in a cold breath of surprise.
“How many people and how many magical beasts has this assassin killed?” Linley was somewhat stunned. The contents of this large sack were all sparkling, rainbow-colored magicite cores, with even a few large magestones mixed in.
“So many magicite cores! There’s got to be at least a few dozen cores here.” Linley felt excited.
Linley immediately began to count the number of cores, and also differentiate them by value. Differentiating the amount of magical energy contained within a magicite core was quite easy for a magus. In a short while, Linley had completed his accounting of the various cores within the pouch.
“A total of 102 magicite cores and seven magestones. For the magicite cores, there are five magicite cores of the sixth rank, 26 magicite cores of the fifth rank, and 71 magicite cores of the fourth rank. No cores of the third rank. For the magestones, six are medium-grade magestones, while one is high-grade.”
Linley could feel his heart beat frantically. What Linley didn’t realize yet was that this assassin had also acquired magicite cores of the third rank; he just hadn’t bothered keeping any of them.
As for the magestones?
Magestones were usually affixed to a magestaff to help the magus rapidly recover his mageforce. All of them had been acquired after the assassin had killed a magus and torn the magicite gem from his magestaff.
“The 102 magicite cores are probably worth around 13,000-14,000 gold coins, while the seven magestones are worth around 1600 gold coins at least. Altogether, the value of these things is about 15,000 gold coins.” After reaching this calculation, Linley couldn’t help but feel surprised and overjoyed. In a single backpack from an assassin, he had suddenly gained so much wealth.
As for his clan?
Previously, in order to acquire the funds to send his little brother Wharton off to the O’Brien Academy, the clan had virtually exhausted all of its savings. Even if you asked the Baruch clan to produce just ten thousand gold coins, it would now be extremely difficult.
“This is just my first day in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, and I’ve already acquired so much. How much will I have gained after two months?” Linley’s heart was filled with anticipation.
But Linley also knew quite well that there was no way he would constantly meet with such a ‘fat sheep’ for slaughtering. In addition, most ‘fat sheep’ were quite powerful as well. This time, Linley had nearly died. Thinking back to what had just happened, Linley couldn’t help but touch the wounds on his chest as well as the wounds on his face caused by the shattered straight chisel.
Linley suddenly turned to stare at the ten dead Windwolves.
“Ten or so magicite cores of the fourth rank, combined, are worth several hundred gold coins as well. Can’t let’m go to waste.” Holding the assassin’s knife in his hand, Linley went over to the Windwolf corpses and began digging out their magicite cores, one after another. Upon using the knife, Linley came to the realization that it was much sharper than the one he had been using.
38
Cruelty
Within the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, next to a spring, Linley dressed his wounds as he also began absorbing earth elemental essence to heal his wounds. The ever-benevolent Mother Earth was always kind and selfless; standing on the earth, Linley felt his wounds slowly heal, filling his heart with peace.
By now, Linley had already exchanged backpacks. His own backpack, in terms of both the quality of the leather and quality of their workmanship, was far inferior to the assassin’s. In addition, the assassin’s backpack had an interior which was meticulously laid out. Once the lock was tightened, all of the items inside the backpack would be securely fastened, and the backpack itself would not impede movement in the slightest. And that assassin’s black dagger was also extremely sharp, and Linley found that it was quite easy to wield.
“Whoosh!”
With a flicker, Linley’s body moved, and he suddenly disappeared into the mountain forests. Linley didn’t even bother to pay any attention to magical beasts of the first or second ranks. The most commonly-seen beasts were of the third and fourth ranks. But even if he ran into a magical beast of the fifth rank, Linley had confidence in at least giving it a good tussle.
As he drew deeper and deeper into the mountain ranges, Linley encountered one bloody, cruel battle after another. He experienced many ambushes and assassination attempts. After all of these battles, the wounds and scars on Linley’s body grew more and more plentiful as well, while Linley’s spirit grew more and more tenacious.
These life-and-death battles caused Linley’s mind to become tougher, and his actions to become more merciless.
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed since Linley had entered the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts.
A month later, on top of a large tree located next to a mountain spring.
There was a long scar on the left side of his face. Linley’s back was arched, and he was hidden on top of the tree like a panther lying in ambush.
Right now, Linley was hidden in the middle of many leaves, staring straight down at the ground. Just a few dozen feet away from the tree which Linley was hiding in was a small creek, and drinking water from the creek was a powerfully-built Bloodthirsty Warpig. A single, blood-colored horn protruded from above the Warpig’s snout, and muscles bulged throughout its body, like the gnarled roots of a tree.
Bloodthirsty Warpig, a magical beast of the fifth rank, fire-element!
“This Bloodthirsty Warpig has a tough, thick skin. Its defensive abilities are exceedingly strong. Most likely, the earthen spear technique wouldn’t be able to penetrate its skin.”
Linley had a sudden insight, and began to formulate a plan. Immediately, his lips began to move silently as he soundlessly began to mouth the words to a spell. Slowly, the wind elemental essences around Linley began to swirl about him, forming into a bluish, translucent javelin in front of him. The translucent javelin’s tip had gusts of wind flowing about it.
Wind-style magic of the fifth rank – Windhowl!
“Swish!”
A piercing sound could be heard as the Windhowl javelin shot downward with terrifying speed. At the same time, Linley jumped down from the tree’s crown, leaping down with as much speed as the javelin.
Upon hearing the noise, the Bloodthirsty Warpig stopped drinking water and stared up, but the Windhowl javelin was simply too fast. In the blink of an eye, it traversed the distance and was only a few meters away from the Warpig. The javelin’s speed really was frighteningly fast, and its tip was covered with gusts of wind.
“Grrrr!” The Bloodthirsty Warpig let out an angry howl, and it used the horn above its snout to strike viciously at the Windhowl javelin.
“Crash!”
The javelin formed from the Windhowl spell crashed directly onto the horn of the Bloodthirsty Warpig. The Windhowl javelin immediately dissipated, but at the same time, after taking a hit from a spell of the fifth rank, the Warpig couldn’t help but half-kneel from the force of the blow, with a bloody gash appearing on its forehead as well.
“Woosh!”
Before the Warpig had a chance to react, right behind the Windhowl javelin came Linley, who with all his might, struck down at the center of the head of the Warpig with his newly-acquired black dagger. The dagger penetrated directly into the skull of the Warpig, and as it did, Linley immediately dodged.
“Roar!”
Having been stabbed in a vital spot, the Bloodthirsty Warpig roared furiously. Flames began to rise on its body, and it also began charging forward with no regard for anything. But after rushing a few dozen meters, it collapsed. Its four legs quivered a few times before coming to a stop, and all of the fire on its body began to die
as well.
“Amongst the magical beasts of the fifth rank, much like the Vampiric Iron Bull, the Bloodthirsty Warpig is considered a beast of rather low intelligence.” Linley walked to the corpse of the Warpig, pulled out his dagger, and removed the magicite core from within the Warpig’s corpse.
Thinking back to his recent life in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, Linley couldn’t help but admit to himself that although he was still a magus of the fifth rank and a fighter of the fourth rank, his actual combat ability had increased tremendously compared to when he had first entered the mountains.
After multiple life-and-death struggles, his body was covered with scars which symbolized painful lessons learned over this month.
Especially…
On his chest, there was an extremely horrifying wound. That time, he really was at death’s door. In the end, it had been the little Shadowmouse who had once again saved the day.
This wound hadn’t been given to him by a magical beast. It had been given to him by an extremely adorable young lady.
“Back then, I really trusted her. I really believed that her friends had all been killed, and that the only one left was her, injured and alone.” Thinking back to the events of two weeks prior, Linley once again felt a stab of terror. That girl had seemed so kind, so pure.
When Linley had discovered her, three other men and another girl had all died. Only she had been left, filled with terror.
Linley couldn’t help but go and comfort her, help her, and take care of her. That girl had seemingly suffered a huge mental blow. Every night, she insisted that Linley hold her, as only in Linley’s arms did she feel safe enough to go to sleep. Every night, upon seeing the peaceful look on her face as she went to sleep, Linley felt joy in his heart. Three days passed in such a fashion. On the fourth night, she was once again sleeping quietly in Linley’s bosom.
But suddenly, this adorable girl pulled out a dagger and stabbed directly at Linley’s chest, with Linley caught totally off-guard.
And then, the enraged Bebe had suddenly, bizarrely, doubled in size. His enormous jaws had bitten off the girl’s head with a single bite, killing her instantly. And then, Bebe had returned to his normal size.
But Linley couldn’t staunch the flow of blood from the deep wound in his chest. In the end, the little Shadowmouse, Bebe, had been forced to use some special darkness-type magic techniques to close the wound.
“Back then, I should’ve listened to Grandpa Doehring’s advice. I lacked experience,” Linley thought to himself and sighed. Originally, Doehring Cowart had warned him about the girl several times. In the end, seeing that Linley had been stubbornly set on assisting the ‘helpless’ little girl, there was nothing that Doehring Cowart could do. But he still tried to insist that even if Linley was going to help her, that he absolutely must not allow her to get near him.
But at the time, the girl had been extremely ‘terrified’, and seemingly hadn’t been able to fall asleep without Linley holding her. In the end, in order to comfort her, Linley had held her in her arms, and they had both gone to sleep.
“I really didn’t expect that her acting abilities would be so good. I treated her so well, but she could still be so merciless towards me.” Linley sighed again in his heart. When that girl had stabbed him in the chest, he had seen the vicious look in her eyes, and his heart had grown cold.
What had caused this girl to be so heartless and merciless?
Could it be that despite taking care of her for three full days, she hadn’t been moved in the slightest?
“Fortunately, thanks to Grandpa Doehring warning me over and over again, I didn’t reveal Bebe’s true capabilities to her.” Linley couldn’t help but admit that his life had been preserved thanks to Doehring Cowart and Bebe.
“Linley, what are you thinking about? Are you thinking about that girl again?” Doehring Cowart appeared by Linley’s side.
Seeing the look on Linley’s face, Doehring Cowart was able to guess what he was pondering. That stab from the girl had injured Linley deeply, not just in the flesh, but also in his heart. From that day onwards, Linley would no longer easily trust others.
From the very beginning, Doehring Cowart had sensed that there were some problems with the girl. How could someone with the courage to enter the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts be so totally discombobulated by the sight of death?
Unfortunately, Linley had still been completely convinced by the girl’s performance, and had really felt that the girl was very ‘pitiable’.
“Linley, that girl’s performing abilities were nothing. Back in my time, in the Pouant Empire, I saw so many plots from enemy countries, plots which involved decades of subterfuge and lies which were totally undetectable. Their acting abilities are beyond your comprehension.” Doehring Cowart smiled faintly as he spoke. “Remember, don’t easily lower your guard when dealing with a stranger.”
Linley nodded slightly.
“Squeak, squeak!” The little Shadowmouse, Bebe, began to call out from next to Linley.
Linley looked up.
Right now, the little Shadowmouse was leaping up and down atop the Warpig’s corpse.
“Boss, when are we gonna go to the central areas of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts?” Bebe mentally spoke to Linley in a somewhat unhappy tone. “In this current area, the strongest creatures that we can meet are magical beasts of the sixth rank. They aren’t much of a challenge. I want to challenge magical beasts of the seventh rank, boss! I want to challenge magical beasts of the seventh rank!”
Linley glanced at the little Shadowmouse. “That’s enough. Don’t get too cocky. You’re bragging that magical beasts of the sixth rank are too easy? Do you remember that Bluewind Hawk from the other day? Was there anything you could do to him?”
“That’s not my fault!” Bebe rubbed his head with his tiny paws as he said unhappily, “Boss, you saw yourself. That Bluewind Hawk stayed in the skies and refused to come down. He just kept on throwing magical wind knives at us, as though they didn’t cost him any mageforce at all. I couldn’t just let him attack me without end, could I?”
Linley laughed.
Over the course of the past month, Linley had become very familiar with the little Shadowmouse’s abilities. In terms of speed, Bebe had reached a terrifying level indeed. But because he was physically small and only had his claws and teeth as offensive weapons, although Bebe was capable of dealing with magical beasts of the sixth rank, he most likely would find it quite hard to deal with a magical beast of the seventh rank.
Just at this moment, Linley suddenly frowned. He cautiously turned his head and saw a blurred human outline appear in the wilderness.
“Linley, it’s actually you! This is great!” A happy voice rang out, and a skinny young man began jogging towards them at high speed. This youth was the skinny warrior whom Linley had met on his way towards the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. The other two people he had met, his classmate Delsarte and the big, burly Kava, had both died.
Back then, when facing the wind-style magus-archer, Linley had utilized the earth-style spell ‘Earthen Spear Array’. The skinny warrior of the fifth rank, Matt, had seized the opportunity to immediately flee. But Linley didn’t really care that he had run away. After all, he and Matt didn’t have any special relationship.
Honestly speaking, of the three people he had encountered, the only one Linley had genuinely felt friendly towards had been his own classmate, Delsarte. The big fellow, Kava, had also made a good impression on Linley, but Linley didn’t have any special feelings for Matt.
“Oh, it’s Matt. I didn’t expect that the two of us would meet again in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts after a month had passed.” Linley was still quite calm.
Matt appeared very excited. “This is wonderful. This month, on numerous occasions, I was almost overcome by the magical beasts here. Fortunately, my luck was not too bad. Whoah – is that a Bloodthirsty Warpig? Linley, you were able to kill a Bloodthirsty Warpig? You r
eally are formidable!”
Linley smiled.
“I’m getting a bit hungry. I’ve heard that the flesh of both the Bloodthirsty Warpig and the Vampiric Iron Bull are both extremely flavorful, and that it has a wonderfully chewy texture as well. I haven’t had lunch yet. You wouldn’t mind sharing some Warpig flesh with me, would you?” Matt joked.
The Bloodthirsty Warpig was huge in size, with its corpse weighing at least several hundred kilograms. Even ten people wouldn’t be able to finish it all.
“Of course not.” Linley withdrew his knife and began slicing off parts of the Warpig.
“Linley, no need to trouble yourself. This Bloodthirsty Warpig corpse is part of your spoils of war. How can I trouble you to butcher it as well? Let me do it. My roasting abilities are quite formidable.” Matt immediately headed towards the Warpig corpse and withdrew a knife from his side.
Playing with the knife, Matt began to expertly butcher the Warpig, although he only cut off the four legs, tongue, and tail. He then began to wash these pieces in the nearby spring.
“Boss, he seems to be quite skilled. He doesn’t seem to be any weaker than you in this respect.” The little Shadowmouse, Bebe, leapt onto Linley’s shoulders and mentally said to Linley.
Glancing at the little Shadowmouse, Bebe, on his shoulders, Linley couldn’t help but sigh with gratitude. When others saw this little tiny black mouse, perhaps they would just think that it was an ordinary little Shadowmouse, of little threat. But in reality…
Linley could still recall the terrifying sight of how the enraged Bebe had so easily slaughtered that dark assassin, as well as that ‘kind’ young girl.
“Can’t judge a person by his appearance. Same goes for magical beasts.” Linley sighed to himself.
Matt quite quickly began to set up his roasting apparatus, and also withdrew some rough cooking salts and seasoning from his pouch. “Linley, these Warpig legs will definitely be very tasty. Its tongue, as well, is both soft and fragrant. The flavor of a Warpig tail is quite good as well.”
Coiling Dragon_Book 1 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 34
