Porter walked over to the giant bear's massive corpse and squatted down.
The blade of the short sword in his hand gleamed with a cold light under the faint glow of the dim, snowy night.
With a flick of his wrist, the tip of the sword precisely pierced the seam of the thickest fur on the giant bear's chest, then sliced downward with a dull sound like tearing leather.
The blade sank deep, slicing open the hide and the dense layer of muscle.
Without hesitation, he reached into the warm, still-steaming flesh, his fingers rummaging and feeling around inside.
The breathing of everyone around seemed to slow down, their eyes focused on his arm submerged in the corpse.
After a moment, Porter's movements paused slightly.
When he withdrew his arm, something was suddenly clutched in his palm.
It was not ordinary flesh or bone, but an irregularly shaped, crystal-like lump about the size of a thumb.
It was dark red overall, and under the reflection of the moonlight and the snow, a faint, near-black light slowly circulated within it like coagulated blood, yet it contained a strange life energy.
“Nice, it's quite big.”
Porter grinned, breaking the silence.
Having said that, he quickly put the core away and instructed everyone to first harvest the valuable parts from the giant bear, to be distributed later based on their contributions.
Then, he called Calm aside, whispering about something unknown.
Hearing this, everyone withdrew their gazes. Although the “magical beast core” was of immense value, staring at it too intently right now might arouse suspicion and make them seem greedy.
Soon, the other four gathered around the giant bear's corpse and began to process it methodically.
All four were Class holders, with Strength and Constitution far exceeding ordinary people. Although the giant bear's corpse was as massive as a small hill, they moved nimbly and processed it with high efficiency.
They skillfully skinned the thick fur, removed the sharp claws, and carved up the magical beast meat, which was rich in life energy.
Their movements were clean and focused. In the silent, snowy night, only the sound of blades slicing through fur and cutting through muscle remained.
About half an hour later.
All the spoils were sorted and laid out:
A complete hide, dozens of sharp claws, a pile of giant bear bones, several organs and special tissues wrapped in oilcloth, and several large piles of prime magical beast meat totaling nearly a hundred pounds.
The air was thick with the strong smell of blood and the heavy, pungent odor of the magical beast.
Matthew stood to the side, his gaze falling on the broad hide of the giant bear spread out on the snow.
The dense scent of blood and the pungent odor of the magical beast filled the air, making it almost hard to breathe.
He thought to himself:
“If one wore this giant bear hide, ordinary wild beasts probably wouldn't dare to get close upon smelling its scent... However, this smell is truly awful. Processing it will likely be quite a hassle.”
Then, he turned his gaze to the massive claws and the pile of heavy bones nearby, his eyes turning complex.
“These things look quite intimidating as spoils of war.”
“But the key is whether they can actually be put to use. Iron armor like chainmail offers tight protection and mature craftsmanship; it's a proven defense. Although this hide is tough, that was when it was on the giant bear.”
“If worn by a human, its effectiveness against sword slashes—especially attacks infused with life energy—would probably be highly questionable.”
“As for these claws and bones, they are hard enough, but turning them into handy weapons would not only require a highly skilled craftsman, but likely also some special processing methods.”
“If they are merely sold as raw materials or ornaments, their value will definitely be heavily discounted, far below the value of directly turning them into equipment.”
In any case, these things were already the harvest of the hunt. How much practical benefit they could bring would depend on how they were handled after returning to town.
Matthew withdrew his somewhat complex gaze and looked at the pile of magical beast meat. A flash of joy crossed his eyes as he thought,
“As expected of a unique magical beast, this mountain giant bear actually yielded nearly a hundred pounds of prime magical beast meat!”
This far exceeded his expectations. On this point alone, this trip was worth it.
...
On the other side.
Porter swept his gaze over the harvest on the ground, a satisfied look appearing on his face, though a trace of wariness flickered in his eyes as he looked out into the night.
He turned to everyone and said, “We can't travel at night, so after discussing it with Instructor Calm, we've decided to stay in this cave for the night.”
Matthew and the others nodded one after another, raising no objections.
In the Shadow Forest, it was common knowledge not to travel at night.
First, it was difficult to discern paths in the dark; second, without the fog as a reference to judge their progress in the forest, the consequences of accidentally wandering into the depths would be unimaginable.
In comparison, guarding a cave with a clear entrance that was easy to defend was obviously much safer.
Even if an accident did occur during the night, with the strength of the people present, holding the cave entrance would be more than enough.
“Everything is here. As we agreed before setting off, we'll distribute them based on everyone's contributions just now.”
Next, he quickly began distributing the physical goods before them:
“Based on our contributions, all the harvest from this trip will be split as follows.”
“Calm and I will each get twenty-five percent, Matthew gets twenty percent, and Chase, Zachary, and Finch get ten percent each.”
Hearing this, Chase and Zachary had no objections to this.
They knew very well in their hearts that when it came to contributions in this encirclement, Calm and Porter were naturally at the forefront.
Next was Matthew's crucial few arrows; otherwise, this would not have been nearly as easy.
The two of them had done what they were supposed to do, and being able to get ten percent made them perfectly content.
Standing by the pile of spoils, Finch's gaze swept over the sorted items on the ground, barely suppressing the greed and eagerness in his eyes. He instinctively glanced around a few times, and finding nothing unusual, a trace of surprise and resentment flashed in his eyes, but in the end, he said nothing and nodded in silence.
At the same time.
Listening to Porter's distribution plan, Matthew was also somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected to receive a full twenty percent!
This was second only to Calm and Porter, the two Brass Rank powerhouses!
One had to know that the value of this giant bear was far beyond imagination, and a twenty percent share was already a staggering amount of wealth.
Just the magical beast meat alone would give him a full twenty pounds!
Ordinary magical beast meat could sell for thirty silver coins per pound.
The meat of this unique mountain giant bear contained even more majestic life energy, so its value would only be higher, starting at least at fifty silver coins per pound.
Just these twenty pounds of meat were worth nearly ten gold coins!
With just this single harvest, this risky venture deep into the forest could absolutely be called “worth it,” and could even be considered a massive profit.
Not to mention the shares of the bear hide, sharp claws, and other materials. Converting these materials into gold coins would definitely bring in a handsome income.
Matthew conservatively estimated that his twenty percent share of materials, together with the twenty pounds of magical beast meat, would ultimately convert to a total income of nearly twenty gold coins!
This sum of money was an absolute windfall for him!
“A man cannot get rich without a windfall, just as a horse cannot grow fat without midnight grass.”
Thinking of this, Matthew felt both shocked and delighted.
Subsequently, everyone began to distribute the spoils in an orderly manner.
...
Rate on N.U.
