With their first hunt successfully completed, the team had no reason to rush. However, before the sunset, they needed to hunt a larger beast for dinner.

"I don't want to eat dried meat," Lucas declared. "And this snake has no proper meat either—it's as tough as stone."

Everyone agreed with his decision.

"Little brother Arya, you'll be hunting the next beast, right? Since you wanted to roam around alone anyway," Lucas asked.

"Yes, that would be best. I'm ready to hunt," Arya replied confidently.

"You don't have to worry," Lucas reassured him. "We'll assist from the side to make sure the hunt is successful."

"Hmm… I think I can handle an unranked beast myself," Arya said.

Lucas chuckled. "It's good that you're confident."

After storing the snake's body in a spatial bag, they moved forward in search of another target. Since the beast was already dead, there was no issue placing it inside a small or medium-grade storage bag.

This time, their second hunt came much easier.

They soon came across a worm-type beast—a mild and relatively small creature.

"Really? We won't be able to eat this either, right?" Kred asked with disappointment.

"Yeah... it's tiny and barely has any meat," another teammate added. "Let's just ignore it and find a bigger target."

"No," Arya interrupted.

Even though the beast was small, it was still valuable.

"This little thing could fetch around 15 white coins in the market," Arya explained. "Finding an easy target like this in these parts isn't common—we're lucky."

"Hah, then let me kill this little guy quickly," Kred smirked as he stepped forward to attack.

However, Lucas grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

"Wait! Are you dumb?" Lucas snapped. "Don't get too close. It releases toxic gas when it senses danger. If you get infected, you'll be dead in twenty minutes."

"WHAT?" Kred stiffened, his face paling.

"Yes," Lucas nodded. "That's also why this little beast is valuable. If we can capture it alive, it could sell for up to 100 white coins. But without the proper equipment, that's impossible, so we'll have to kill it carefully."

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Lucas glanced at the group. "Any suggestions on how to take it down without getting too close?"

"Leader, don't you know how to kill it?" one of them asked.

"I do," Lucas smirked. "But I want to see how you would handle it if you had to."

Kred crossed his arms. "Using skills would kill it, but the body would be ruined—so that's useless."

Arya agreed. Killing it was tricky.

The best way was to attack from a distance.

He considered throwing his spear, but since the beast was small, the impact would destroy its body, making the effort pointless.

"If only Kane were here," Arya thought. "With his needle techniques, he could take it down without damaging it too much."

Another option was to use his upgraded first Seed skill, but he couldn't reveal that in front of the team.

This was precisely why he preferred hunting alone—so he wouldn't have to hide his abilities.

Lucas sighed. "No solutions?"

The three people shook their heads.

"Don't worry," Lucas said. "It's simple. We need a stealth-based approach to get close enough and kill it in a single strike without damaging its body."

Arya raised his hand.

"Yes, Arya?" Lucas asked. "You have a suggestion?"

"I have a skill that lets me suppress my aura and blend into my surroundings," Arya offered.

"Perfect!" Lucas grinned. "It's not a true stealth skill, but it's good enough."

Lucas reached into his bag and pulled out two small toothpicks.

"Take these," he said, handing them to Arya. "Once you get close enough, stab them directly into its eyes. That will kill it instantly. But be careful—not to alert it."

Arya nodded, took the toothpicks, and silently approached the small worm-like beast.

The beast was cautious, its instincts alerting it to potential danger.

Arya calmed his breathing, ensuring that his heartbeat remained steady.

Step by step, he moved slowly and silently, reducing his presence as much as possible.

The worm's eyes were tiny, but Arya carefully locked onto his target.

When he was five meters away, he flicked both toothpicks, infusing them with a slight amount of force.

Without any suspense— both toothpicks pierced straight into its eyes.

The worm didn't even have time to react.

It simply dropped dead.

While executing the attack, Arya made sure to position himself so that his teammates couldn't see him activating his second Seed skill.

If they saw it, they would discover his two uncommon Seed Rings.

So, as he moved, he used his body to block their line of sight.

With that, their second hunt was successfully completed.

Arya was about to ask if he could leave when Lucas spoke first.

"Arya, I know you want to leave," Lucas said. "But the sun will set in a few hours. It's better if you stay with us tonight and leave tomorrow morning."

Arya had been thinking the same thing.

Hunting alone at night was too dangerous, and he would have to stay hidden anyway. Being with the team for the night was the safer option.

Lucas noticed Arya's hesitation. "I'm not forcing you. If you want to leave, you can go now."

"No, no," Arya shook his head. "I was actually thinking about staying. I'll leave tomorrow morning."

Lucas smiled. "Good. Our luck has been great today—we've had two easy hunts without any injuries."

"But boss, we still haven't found anything for dinner," Kred pointed out.

Henk nodded. "Yeah, we need something before nightfall."

"Don't worry," Lucas reassured them. "There's still time. We'll find something."

The team resumed their search for a larger beast.

However, for the next two hours, they found nothing.

Just as they were about to give up and focus on setting up camp for the night—

They heard something.

A large beast emerged from the trees, staring them down.

This time, however, it was no easy prey.

This beast was powerful.

And the cost of this meal would be far greater than their first two hunts.