The following morning, Finlay set off to the central zone’s marketplace to prepare for his exploration, as planned. He wanted to replace his really shabby-looking rucksack and other gear with good-quality equipment now that he is no longer a newbie. He was told there might be peak tier 1 beasts that rival the strength of even a tier 2. He has no intention of fighting such beasts but he needs to at least not go to such a dangerous place with just rags and sharp sticks.
Finlay was one of the more relatively capable ones who ventured into the hunting zone and combined with his extensive hunting, he thought he was well off but the reality couldn’t be far from the truth. He felt like a pauper up on asking for the prices of the ‘good’ stuff. The only ones he could afford right now weren’t that much better than the ‘sharp sticks’ that he was busting till now. After deliberating for a while, he just bought a sturdy bag that is suitable for combat and running through dense woods and a better chest armour, made out of the pelt of the bunnies he hunted so much, and some metal. At this point, he is already out of the only valuable currency he had on him, the beast cores.
In Hindsight, it made sense to him. Even though he hunted a lot in the past month, he either converted it all into pills or kept them as cores and he needed both of them for his cultivation. In contrast, most of those who hunt can keep all of their cores as valuable assets. Without any obvious solution for his predicament in sight, Finlay went back to his place. He could still ask for large amounts of mortal currency from Lu Bao but he was rather hesitant after he had been on the receiving end of help far too many times recently. As he was sipping on tea and deliberating on a solution, he heard a knock on the door and a polite voice.
“Is this the place of residence of the new candidate little Ming?” there was an obvious expression of strangeness in the way the little part was said.
Finlay couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed too. Being an Orphan and not actually moving out officially until him being taken away to the sect, he did not have a surname. He would have to bring this up the next time he met with an Elder to see if he could change his name and surname when he becomes a disciple.
Finlay opened the door and asked for the identity of the person, “Yes I’m ming. Who is this sect brother? What business do you have with me?”
Even as he asked that Finlay had already guessed the person’s identity as soon as he noticed the cultivation level.
Cultivation (Spiritual) :
Qi Condensation level - 2
“Greetings Brother Ming. I’m here under the orders of the Teachings hall Senior Elder Kang. I just want to ask you a few details before I set off on my task. May I come in for a chat?”
“Of course, Senior brother. Please come in. I apologise for the poor accommodations.”
“Haha, no matter. Please just call me Brother. I do not have much seniority over you.”
Finlay wasn’t too humble. He could guess why the other person was so friendly toward him. He answered all of the questions about the gang activities. When he thought about Meng Peng, he couldn’t help but feel a bit bad.
“Brother, I would like to mention that one fellow called Meng Peng wasn’t too enthusiastic about harassing the juniors and was even a bit nice to me. Please don’t be too harsh on him if possible.”
“Oh! There was such a fellow? Alright, I will remember his name. Okay, thank you for the hospitality brother. I won’t take up any more of your time. If there is nothing else, I will get on with my task. Farewell.”
“....There is one thing on which I could use the advice of an experienced person like you brother.”
“Do ask. No need to be hesitant for such a trivial matter.”
Finlay told him about his problem just in case he might get lucky and to his surprise, he was indeed lucky as the Senior brother before him had some good connections with the blacksmith in charge of the Sect’s big store. He received a handwritten letter that he could present to the blacksmith for some discounts and other concessions. Finlay quickly thanked him and sent him off.
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With the letter in hand, he abolished the thought of asking his Brother Lu Bao for gold and decided to go speak to the blacksmith to see if they could reach an agreement.
“You want to meet with the head Blacksmith? Sorry, you’re going to have to take an appointment and do you even have enough money to even purchase anything here? Sorry kid, maybe you should check other stores more appropriate to your price level.”
“Please deliver this letter to him and he will definitely see me and as for the money, you don’t have to worry about it.”
The shopkeeper was about to shoo him off but when he saw the letter, he sceptically took it and went behind the store to deliver it. As expected, he was soon taken inside to meet with the blacksmith. He explained his issue and his combat ability. The older blacksmith was a bit sceptical when he heard he had hunted over a dozen tier 1 beasts in a single month. It seemed the letter did indeed have a big influence as he still presented him with a generous opportunity.
“You would normally just be shown the door in most businesses here but I do indeed have an urgent requirement for some specific beast materials. As long as you can get them to me, I will exchange your equipment for raw materials.”
Finlay was looking for exactly such a deal. He immediately reassured the older man that he could get the materials and asked for the details.
“There are two main items I require. 1st is the horns and pelts of a two-horned Azure rabbit in mint condition and the other is a special flying bird.
“The Rabbit is just a stronger and faster version of the normal one-horned Azure rabbits. It is unfortunately significantly more shy as well, making it hard to catch. Here are all the details you would need to track them and find them.
“The Bird on the other hand is dangerous. It isn’t particularly good at flying but its feet are powerful with dangerously sharp claws and can kick you like a sledgehammer. It’s a relatively large species that lives at the top of tall trees a bit deeper in the forest. The core, Meat and claws are the important bits I need from it. Make sure you don’t damage those too much. The location and tracking details are also in that book. Good Luck Kid. I need them within a week.”
Finlay immediately set off without delay. He easily managed to find and reach the location. After some quick search in the underbrush, he even found some traces of the two-horned rabbits according to the guidebook. He was thoroughly impressed by how simple and good the details are. He guessed the information came from the sect library. As dusk approached, his luck seemed to run out.
He tried his hardest to find the form of a rabbit in the grass and shrubs below from his vantage point but he couldn’t catch any. Just as he decided to get on the ground to check closer, a blurry green form that was hard to distinguish from the surrounding sea of green flashed away from him into the darkness. Given the camouflage of the creature, its speed and the bad lighting conditions, he had no chance of chasing it. He decided to change his hiding place and try at Dawn.
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It had already been an entire day since he came to hunt the two-horned rabbits. Finlay was starting to feel very impatient as he had already encountered these slippery beasts multiple times but either he couldn’t spot them in time or by the time he did, the rabbits were already fleeing. Once he even got spooked by one, mere feet beside him that he completely failed to notice and almost got his leg maimed. Fortunately, his physical body was significantly faster to react compared to his first encounter. He easily dodged the attack but the Rabbit didn’t even look back as it ran away in the same move it attacked.
This time, his luck seemed to be even worse. He hadn’t even seen one and the sun is already below the horizon. Just as he was about to give up in frustration, he spotted a silhouette against a dimly lit sky. Even with his enhanced vision after his body transformation, he couldn’t tell the colour of the bunny but he could clearly see the two horns protruding on its head. Finlay had the drop on it this time.
He was about to slowly approach it but suddenly had the urge to hurl a javelin and had a good feeling about it. He decided to act on his instinct. He put all of his concentration on his senses as he quickly judged the wind, the distance and the surrounding creatures that might spook his prey. Moments later, he held the hardwood javelin in a comfortable position and took a couple of slow but firm steps as he hurled it with all his strength at the unsuspecting bunny.
Before the prey could react to the disturbance, the javelin hit it at full speed on the neck. Finlay was happy to see his throw find its target accurately. He quickly made his way over to the kill and was surprised to find his quarry still alive but unconscious. The wooden stake hadn’t managed to fully pierce the skin. There was only a hint of blood at the point of impact.
‘No wonder the skin is a valuable material for a blacksmith. It’s naturally so hard!’
Finlay quickly used his sharp knife to finish off the huge, unconscious rabbit. He had to exert a little force even with it not resisting to kill it. Although it took some time, he didn’t have much difficulty extracting the important parts. Since he killed it in a single hit without much struggle, everything was in great condition. Deciding that he might as well take advantage of the location, he hunted the regular Azure rabbits that came out under the moonlight for a while and collected their pelts and horns as well. He decided to make camp in the same area before setting off in the morning to deliver the goods.
His luck seemed to have turned that night as he got the drop on another Two-horned rabbit as he was leaving in the morning. The second one didn’t go down without a fight unfortunately as he missed his target and hit the legs instead. He still collected all the useful parts and even the meat as he set off back towards the exit.
As he was taking a detour on his way back through unexplored areas, he came across his first stone plaque.
‘Haha! It seems that the first two-horned rabbit also gave me some luck. I finally found one of these things. Let’s see what this one is about.’
There were already others in the vicinity, no doubt for the purpose of comprehending the technique better. He also occupied a place nearby as he read the words carefully.
To be continued.