บท 36: Bizarre

Even though Kyle wanted to fight opponents and grow stronger, he didn't need to hurry!!

Fighting right now was suicidal, and he would have avoided it if he could. But he was forced to do it as long as he wanted to stay alive.

He had already killed one vine lioness who had grossly underestimated his wits and flexibility.

Unfortunately, this was unlikely to be helpful against the other vine lioness that prowled around him, trying to find the perfect opportunity to attack him.

Kyle didn't even have the time to throw a single glance at Selene and check how she was faring.

The only indicator that she was struggling but alive was the faint sounds of her grappling against her foe.

Calmly facing the vine lioness was the only thing he could do right now.

As such, Kyle had to believe that Selene would be able to finish off her opponent that was already slightly injured.

From his point of view, her demeanor seemed to have changed for a short moment.

No longer was she scared and cowering but moved like an apex predator.

Maybe, it was her instincts or something else, but Kyle hoped that it would help Selene in defeating the other vine lioness.

While he was analyzing Selene's situation, the lioness suddenly made her move and jumped towards him.

Luckily, she landed only a meter away from him and Kyle was ready to strike her.

Predicting his move, she smoothly changed her trajectory to rush towards his right side, trying to evade the attack she had expected.

Yet, instead of launching a frontal attack, Kyle decided to change his tactic owing to his acute sense of observation.

This included his opponent's muscle movement, and noticing where its eyes had darted to even for a quarter of a second.

It could have been pure luck, or Kyle's combat experience and knowledge that was higher than that of the vine lioness due to his past life.

However, in the end, the result was what mattered and not the reason!

Kyle could only smile as he exerted every ounce of strength he had in his right arm to slash at the vine lioness.

He had to take advantage of his opponent's mistake, who had ignorantly jumped to the right side, exactly where his machete was!

Maybe this was something she had planned to use against Kyle, thinking that he would slash out before she jumped, making him miss her body.

Unfortunately, this turned into a fatal mistake for the vine lioness.

Kyle's machete tore through her claws that were her last resort to defend herself.

The second vine lioness was quite resilient and tougher to defeat than the first one.

He could sense this based on how quickly his weapon had sliced through his first opponent's unguarded abdomen.

It was fortunate for him to have a ranked weapon as it was strong enough to pierce through the hide of beasts at the Fortification stage.

Once her entire paw had been severed, Kyle swirled his machete around by using a movement sequence he had learned an eternity ago.

Wasting no time, he delivered another fatal blow before the machete's blade sliced through the lioness' flesh.

As the machete tore through her hide like a hot knife through butter, her cry echoed through the surroundings.

She was weak but she wasn't dead yet.

There was no need for him to be near her and try to further injure her.

Hence, Kyle went into a defensive stance, and observed her from a safe distance, waiting for the lioness to succumb to her injuries.

This was only possible because the other fight involving Selene had already been concluded. He could infer this after hearing a painful roar the other vine lioness had issued.

Selene had won the fight, and Kyle couldn't help but smile proudly.

The little Lohar turned out to be a much better fighter than he had expected her to be.

'The unexpected pressure proved to be extremely beneficial...I guess?' He thought.

But then his eyes flicked to the soul that had just detached from the dead vine lioness. Hence, he quickly rushed forward to grab it.

After that, Kyle turned to Selene, who was covered in small cuts. One injury, in particular, appeared to be a little bit worse than the rest.

Thankfully, it was nothing to worry about.

Seeing that she was fine allowed Kyle's worry to disperse in an instant.

As such, he had time to collect and devour the souls of the dead that would nurture the Emerald Fox.

The nutrition provided by beasts at the Fortification stage was much better than the energy Kyle could supply to his Nurture ability.

There was simply no comparison between the two, and instead of wasting his time thinking about the difference between the two, Kyle decided to focus on the present.

"If you're still fit enough, take the lionesses' fangs and claws, while I'll take the meat and hide!"

After distributing the tasks between them, Kyle got to work.

He did his best to ignore the pain in his arm owing to the deep cut that was beginning to hurt.

In the heat of battle, he seemed to have received an injury from the first vine lioness that he had ignored earlier.

Selene was more injured than he was, but she didn't make a fuss and quietly nodded her head in response.

She simply followed his orders, and Kyle couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty.

Nevertheless, they had to ensure that their efforts of killing the vine lionesses were worth the risk. Otherwise, Selene's injuries were for naught, and that was not what Kyle wanted.

Five minutes passed before they collected everything and he decided that it was time to leave.

As such, they rushed back to the village where they arrived not long after.

Their weapons had already been stored inside the backpack that was crammed with wilted meligna grass, hide, fangs, and claws.

Meanwhile, the meat was stored inside the big backpack to separate it from the rest.

By the time they had returned to the village, the butcher was just about to close his shop.

Fortunately, Selene's appearance, along with the fact that she was covered in bruises and cuts from head to toe was enough to melt the grumpy old man's heart.

In the end, they struck a good deal and received five Maest crystals for the meat, and the butcher even told them to sell the rest to the pharmacist.

Apparently, the pharmacist did not only purchase herbs and other ingredients required to make pastes, or brew different potions but all kinds of things that could make him money.

Yet, instead of taking the butcher's well-meant advice, Kyle approached a merchant, who he had just seen.

He had just stepped out of one of the nearby houses with a large chest in his chubby arms.

His eyes were darting around and he was acting as if he wanted to sneakily slip away from the public eye.

When Kyle went near the merchant, he came straight to the point, seemingly oblivious to everything.

"Hello Sir, may I ask if you are interested in making a purchase? We have the claws, fangs, and hide from vine lionesses. Maybe they coul-...."

However, before Kyle could even finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the merchant's harsh and distressed voice.

"Come tomorrow!"

Saying that the merchant vanished with fast strides, without another backward glance.

Instead of being dissatisfied, Kyle smiled lightly, and Selene could only wonder what he was thinking about.

His gaze was still trained on the spot the merchant had disappeared to while he was still thinking something. When the merchant had disappeared from his sight, he turned towards her after a few seconds.

"Let's go to the pharmacist!"

The butcher had told them that the pharmacy was still open, and Kyle was glad to have found it soon.

As such, they were able to exchange their goods with some of the anti-inflammation paste and a serum.

These would prove to be beneficial as they allowed deep cuts to recover at a slightly faster rate.

They hadn't even spent five minutes inside the pharmacy, but Kyle left saying, "We will come back tomorrow. There is another batch of meligna grass waiting to be plucked."

Meanwhile, Selene was still not sure what Kyle had tried to figure out earlier when he had approached the merchant.

She knew for sure that it had nothing to do with selling the vine lioness' body parts, but that was everything she could guess!

Unfortunately, before she could ask, Kyle had already begun to speak.

"Today, you were a perfect teammate, Selene! We deserve to eat something good inside the tavern!"

Saying so, he patted her head while walking towards the tavern, making Selene forget everything that had been on her mind.

In exchange for two Maest crystals, they were able to feast on food that was several times better than raw meat.

Tasty food was still a luxury for them so both Kyle and Selene couldn't help but feel as if they were having a grand feast in a king's palace instead of a shabby tavern.