“Looks like we have another core, everyone,” Niall told them as he held up the freshly washed core he had extracted from the beast. “And before anyone asks, yes, this beast is definitely a keeper. The quills are highly valuable for a variety of purposes. It is also late autumn, which means our chunky friend here is full of fatty tissue. The city always has a use for fat. Don’t ask for what though.” He looked away in disgust. “You might not feel like eating for a couple of days if you know where some of it goes.”

The three teens each made a face as they imagined what the fat might be used for. There were plenty of possibilities and few of them were anything that they really wanted to dwell on.

It required more than one length of rope to haul the heavy beast into the air a few meters off the path.

Back on the move, it was Angie’s turn to walk in the lead, with her hand resting on the pommel of her sheathed sword. The guard who had yet to see any action had also been pulled forward for the next beast. He used a spring whip with a wicked-looking bladed barb on the tip. The spring section of the whip allowed it to extend another foot or two for some increased burst damage at the risk of losing a small amount of control.

It was an interesting weapon, and one that Nate had never seen used before. People had occasionally used them in movies, but this was the first time he had actually seen someone using it as a weapon in real life.

Nate’s father held back, letting his wife and her bow take control of the last group. With her there, they had all the primary coverage areas covered. Angie was the close-range fighter, her guard was the mid-range, and Nina was long range.

It was the perfect group setup to round out this little opening period. After this next fight was over, they would start having two of the kids working together and then gradually progress to all three. So far, the kids had all impressed Niall and Nina. It was obvious that they had been taking their training seriously. Nothing beat doing the real thing, but they had both seen and escorted far worse cultivators. A few of them had supposedly even been active for a few years.

Lindsay’s reaction earlier was fairly normal, though it was a toss-up whether Angelica would have a similar reaction. At this point in the day, they had seen and experienced enough that she might have become used to it all.

That is, unless she dealt the killing blow. Killing something up close with a blade was a visceral experience. It changed a person and made them feel things the first time they did it. Usually, anyway, occasionally they were simply too caught up and barely had time to register what was going on.

That was what he thought had happened to Nate. The boy had simply reacted and reacted well.

They were nearly to the next area where they might find the requested herbs when the guard slipped his whip off its belt holder. He was standing next to Angie with his head slightly tilted, as though he had heard something.

A whipping tail suddenly shot out of a nearby bush, startling Angie. The first tail was followed by two more in rapid succession. All three tails were like whips that cracked through the air and snapped against the ground.

Nina sent an arrow blindly into the bush where it looked like the tails were coming from.

There was a snarl of pain and then a leopard with three tails leaped out into the open and ran up the closest tree. From its new position, they could see its tails spread out above it, pointing at them. Each time it attacked, the tail in question would droop and swing underneath the branch before springing back up with even more force than before.

It was using its new position to increase its attack.

However, the short respite from it climbing the tree had allowed Angie to collect herself. She was ready for the beast and in some ways its antithesis as an opponent.

This was the first time that Nate had truly seen her in action. She was showing impressive reflexes and dynamic visual acuity. Each of the rocketing whips that came anywhere near her, she was able to easily knock aside with her sword. She wasn’t hitting them head-on, but merely using a small portion of the flat side of her blade to redirect.

It was impressive, and considering the speed each whip was moving at, required incredible reflexes and eye-tracking ability.

While she was working at keeping its attention, a task that happened naturally as the leopard became frustrated at not being able to hit her. The other two in the group positioned themselves to make the most of their next attacks.

The bladed and barbed whip shot out as the guard expertly swung it at the beast above them. At the last second, he gave it a small jerk which activated the spring mechanism and launched the deadly tip into its chest.

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Just a little farther up, at the same time, an arrow pierced it through the eye, ending the fight in an instant.

“We already know this one is at least in the core creation realm,” Niall told the teens as he pulled out his knife. “Unlike the first one we came across, which only had one. This leopard has three whip tails. They only get those after they have finished forming their core. Which means the first leopard must have just barely finished the process of forming its core.”

He dug out a core a second later and washed it off. He put it away without even bothering to wait the normal minute. “Just be careful with these beasts. They are a lot smarter and craftier than most of the other beasts you will run into. Even the weaker ones are more dangerous as a result.”

Nina nodded and pointed to the bush it had been hiding in. “Don’t forget, it was lying in wait for us. It ambushed us and likely would have succeeded without John’s intervention.”

They tied it up, while Angie took a moment to gather herself off to the side. She hadn’t dealt the killing blow like Lindsay or Nate, but the rush of adrenaline from her first real fight was still coursing through her.

“You did well,” Nate told her, handing her his water bottle. “I had no idea your reflexes or eyesight were so good.”

She smiled weakly at him and took a few swallows before sighing and looking up at the sky. “That was so much more stressful than I imagined it would be. If I had messed up even once…” She handed the bottle back to him with a shake of her head. “I understand why they’re putting us through this now. If they had just let us go in as a group without this, we would have frozen at some point. It would have been disastrous.”

“I’m disappointed you didn’t throw up as well,” Lindsay snarked, bumping the other girl with her hip. “You’re going to make me look bad if I’m the only one who blows chunks this entire time.”

“There’s a difference. I didn’t even draw blood. You at least personally killed yours.”

“Come on kids, it’s only a little further to the next grove,” Niall called out to them as he came back to the path along with the guard that had helped him string up the leopard.

“If we keep collecting beasts like this, we’re not going to be able to drag them all back to the trailer.” Nate pointed out as they set off again.

The trailer his parents bought for their newly formed company was huge. However, after seeing how often they were coming across the beasts, he could see it being filled up rather rapidly. In more difficult areas where the fights lasted longer, they might not have the same issue. Here though, where each beast was nothing more than an ant to them, they fell quickly and frequently.

His mother looked back at him. “If we keep up our current pace, your father will probably need to take the trailer back once to empty it while we keep going.”

They were attacked one more time just before they reached the grove. It was from the back this time, and the guards handled the beast without an issue.

It was a raccoon that was the size of a great dane. Its claws and sharp teeth were longer than normal, and it had been using the intelligence they were known for to sneak up on them. Unfortunately, it was still too stupid to understand how much weaker it was than the human cultivators. The guards eliminated the threat and removed the core without even breaking a sweat. Then quickly hung up the body and rejoined the rest of the group.

“Are there any beasts that are peaceful until we attack them?” Nate asked his parents as they entered the herb grove. “I mean, a normal raccoon isn’t exactly docile, but they aren’t hostile either, unless you generally attack first.”

“Don’t make that mistake Nate,” His mother warned. “These beasts might look similar to the animals we know from this world, but they are nothing alike.”

One section of the grove was absolutely covered in the herbs Angie’s parents had hired them to retrieve. They wouldn’t take everything since they needed to leave enough to ensure that they would regrow during the next season.

It took them all working together only a few minutes to gather up all the herbs they could carry. Nina and Niall picked a few different ones that had been requested, along with the milkweeds that had been changed.

As soon as they were finished, the group turned around and left the grove. It was time to collect their kills and start the trek back to the rig and trailer.

It was a process that was doomed from the start, and all the adults had known it. That was why they had hung each of the bodies well off to the side of their path in the vain hope that they would be ignored. They had only retrieved the last two kills and were nearly to the porcupine when they came across a group following their path.

Looking behind them, they could see a couple of their spare members working to haul away the porcupine corpse.

Niall stepped forward, his bladed tonfas snapping into position. “Nina, what kind of cultivators do I hate the most?”

“Scavengers,” She pulled out an arrow and in one smooth motion nocked it and pulled it back. She took a moment to aim and let the wooden missile loose. It soared through the group and pierced through the calf of one of the people dragging away their kill. She pulled out a fresh arrow and let it rest against the string while they all listened to the man’s screams.

Nate blinked in surprise and felt his brows rise as he saw this new side of his parents. He had never expected them to be so ruthless or quick-acting. It was frankly awesome to see, and he was enjoying discovering these new sides of his parents. It did make him wonder if his original parents had been like this as well, or if it was purely a change that had happened because of their circumstances?

“As my delightful and beautiful wife said. I detest scavengers. Now tell me, why would you think it’s a good idea to scavenge kills in such a low-tiered area? These beasts are hardly worth the effort of stealing! You would make more money by just defeating some and taking their cores.”

“We want the bodies for the same reason you do!” A woman near the front spat. “It wasn’t about the money for these bodies, it was about how quickly we could get enough of them in the trailer for the fans to be effective.”

“Wait, you stole our kills, simply to save a little bit of time, in a weak area?” Angie blurted out, unable to keep her mouth shut.