Chapter 7: Shadow-snake valley

Because of the bloody smell released by the severed snake, beasts would be attracted soon. Thus, Shane decided to store the Shadow-snake carcass before anything could happen.

It wasn't worth a lot, but he wouldn't waste the life he took by leaving the corpse on the ground.

At least, he could receive some bronze coins for the carcass.

Ignoring the premonition tormenting Shane´s mind, he still decided to descend.

His [Hunter's Mind] seemed exceptionally helpful, and he could think rationally about the advantages and disadvantages of descending the valley.

Shane dreaded the huge number of shadow snakes waiting for him at the bottom of the valley, but, for once, he was glad of his non-existent cultivation. They would probably underestimate him and most likely die like the first Shadow-snake, which was a reassuring thought.

As long as he stayed at the outskirts of the valley's base, only a few shadow snakes would attack him, if this valley was really the Shadow-snake's habitat like he had estimated.

On his way down the valley, he found more bunches of Nightshade flowers, but this time he wouldn't let himself be surprised by a Shadow-snake attacking him.

As expected, after he plucked all Nightshade flowers, a Shadow snake shot out of the loosened soil.

But this time, Shane had predicted the outcome and severed the snake´s head before it noticed what was going on.

When the lifeless body hit the ground, Shane stored the 25 centimeters long body inside the spatial ring. He noticed another Shadow-snake, looking at him warily out of the loosened soil.

It seemed as if this snake was only recently hatched because it was approximately only 10 centimeters long. Shane decided not to kill it, as long as the snake did not attack him.

If his father would have seen this, he would have called him foolish and forced him to take a few more trips through Igra. He would have ensured to make his son visit the few areas where hostile beasts lived and fight them.

On Igra, there were only a few such places left and they were mostly islands.

Humans allowed such unwanted beasts to stay there and categorized them according to their varied strengths, strategically placing them at different locations. These islands would serve as a training ground for their descendants and future generations.

They would practice and hone their skills, giving them a rough idea of what dangers lurked within the Primordial Dimension, where they couldn't be protected anymore.

As such, Shane had already witnessed the cruelty on both sides, be it humans or beasts. Most beasts would attack humans, once they turned their back towards them.

However, Shane didn't mind the snake in front of him, as it couldn't even use its Darkness affinity properly.

1 hour had passed already and his potions effect would only last for another hour before the concealment and Nightsight effect would wear off.

But it didn't bother him as he had already plucked more than 40 Nightshade flowers and killed 8 Shadow-snakes until now.

Though his hands were smeared with dirt and blood was streaked across his handsome face, his eyes radiated a tranquil calmness as he looked around carefully.

Considering his gains, Shane estimated that he had enough to purchase a batch of Nightsight and concealment potions on Igra. But, leaving the Shadow-snake valley with its thousands of Nightshade flowers waiting to be plucked would be a waste of time and opportunity.

Who knew if it would still be nighttime, or if only Shadow-snakes would inhabit the valley, on his next visit to the jungle in the future?

Once it was daytime, other beasts that slept during the night would probably come out and stroll through the valley.

Furthermore, the Nightshade flower would lose its effect once the sun rose, and only during the night, it could be plucked with the highest effect.

As such, Shane took a firm decision and used a secret perk from the system, which his father had told him. He ordered the system to sell the Shadow snake corpses and the Nightshade flowers inside his Spatial ring.

[42x Nightshade flowers |30xTrash/12xCommon|& 8x Shadow snake carcasses |Low-Wild| can be sold for 82 Silver and 60 bronze coins. Execute selling the stated Items?]

It was a welcome function to let the System do all the hard work by selling everything within the spatial ring, but the price it stated was still comparable to being conned.

On Igra, Shane would most likely receive 2 gold coins for 42 Nightshade flowers, but the system wasn't as generous and wouldn't give him a single gold coin.

But, that didn't matter at the moment, and he accepted selling the Nightshade flowers and carcasses to empty his Spatial ring that was almost filled to the brim.

Even if he felt the price was low, Shane still had to accept it. There was still an hour left for him to accumulate 120 silver coins, in order to purchase another batch of potions from the system.

As long as his plucking speed was fast enough, Shane would be able to gain a small fortune, once he returned to the shelter or rather Igra.

The closer he came to the bottom of the valley, the larger the clusters of Nightshade flowers grew. Within 10 minutes, he plucked another 30 Nightshade flowers that grew close to each other.

Only one thing was slightly annoying and it was the number of Shadow-snakes attacking him.

The more Nightshade flowers grew next to each other, the more Shadow-snakes attacked him, and luckily, only a single mid-Wild Shadow snake was among them.

It also underestimated Shane´s strength, caused by his non-existent cultivation, in addition to having used a concealment potion that concealed even his aura. Shane gave it a quick death with a single slash from his shiolite dagger, which gleamed in a dark red color.

Even if Shane´s speed was slower than the Mid-Wild stage shadow-snake, underestimating him wasn't a smart choice.

Nevertheless, it didn´t mean that the threat Shane had to face was not apparent. He had to tread carefully on the muddy ground that had now loosened due to his spree. To make matters worse, Shadow snakes also attacked him in groups at the same time which caused him to be overwhelmed.

Fortunately [Hunter´s mind] supported him the whole time, and he was barely able to evade the Shadow-snakes attacks before they could bite him.

One time, Shane tripped over a root that had loosened from the soil due to the heavy downpour in the jungle, as a pair of Shadow snakes attacked him.

Luckily, the two snakes had barely entered the mid-Wild stage and he was faster than them, just by a fraction of a second. It was enough for him to roll to the side, evading the first attack and quickly get back on his feet, before the Shadow snakes continued with their attacks.

Fortunately, he had a superb dagger that could even shatter the mid-Wild stage shadow-snakes fangs with enough force to kill them without any further problems.

Walking around the outskirts of the valley, Shane continued plucking Nightshade flowers and killing the inhabiting Shadow snakes until he finally accumulated his required amount of 2 gold coins. There were roughly twenty to thirty minutes left for the potions´ effects to subside.

[35 Nightshade flowers |26xTrash/9xCommon|&7xShadow snake carcasses |6xLow-Wild/1x Mid-Wild| has been sold for 67 Silver and 70 bronze Coins]

….

[39 Nightshade flowers ||31xTrash/8xCommon|&10xShadow snake carcasses |8xLow-Wild/2xMid-Wild| has been sold for 72 Silver and 70 bronze coins]

Looking at his wealth, Shane smiled lightly.

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Finances: Gold[2], Silver[23], Bronze[0]

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Before he made his decision to purchase another concealment and nightsight potion, Shane noticed something particular on his status screen. He had completely forgotten it, as his priority had been to earn gold coins.

He could only shake his head and call himself stupid for his absent-mindedness.

Right now, he was inside a treasure trove and only thought about the profit, but wasn't there something else that he had obtained here?

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