After securing the blood sack of the bloodsucker beast that had luckily survived Amika's final attack on his leather bag, Yaw-Yan decided to prepare a quick lunch so they could regain their strength.
While he was still at it, Yaw-Yan could hear the trio happily chatting with one another, their voices carrying through the trees. It was clear that their climb through the forest had paid off tremendously. Not only had they gotten the chance to experience real combat against the bloodsucker beast, but it seemed their rewards were no longer limited to Silao Grande's blood. The trio was busy prodding a single precious beast core, their excitement palpable as they examined their newfound treasure.
"I'm a genius! A pretty, strong genius! Those guys are dumbasses—a real bunch of idiots!" Amika's excitement was through the roof. The small girl wiggled and sang while her two friends examined the freshly acquired beast core.
They hadn't expected such a huge turnaround on this journey. Ever since they set foot in this part of the valley, Amika had been in a relatively bad mood. She'd been tricked by a bunch of morons into swapping expedition spots with them, thinking she'd gain more experience in return. Believing it was a smart trade, Amika agreed to switch locations—only for that decision to prove a huge mistake right from the start.
The moment they arrived in their newly assigned territory, they were greeted by nothing but trees and grass. No beasts wandered the area, and it quickly became clear—they had been duped.
But now, things hadn't just turned in their favor—they'd far exceeded expectations. Inside the bloodsucker beast they'd just defeated, they discovered one of the highest-quality beast cores they had ever seen. And this was just the first beast. The hunt had only just begun.
High-quality beast cores could be sold to the school for a hefty price, and the trio had just acquired one of the best. This would definitely fetch a good sum.
"Do you think it has something to do with Silao Grande's blood?" Suina asked Ayato, still stunned that such a high-grade core came from a relatively weak beast.
Ayato nodded as he studied the shimmering core resting in his palm.
"That must be it. The size's way too small compared to stronger beasts, but the quality's top-tier. This thing's been feeding on Silao Grande's blood—makes sense the core's so refined."
Amika walked over and plopped down beside Suina, her grin widening as her eyes locked onto the core.
"Whatever the reason, this alone makes the trip worth it. Just imagine if we find more of these!"
Suina and Ayato shook their heads with soft smiles. Amika was right—the reason didn't matter. What mattered now was continuing the journey and gaining more experience. They only had a few days left, and they needed to make them count.
Unlike their usual festive meals when Yaw-Yan cooked, the group of four quickly filled their stomachs after the food was served and got back on the trail toward the deeper parts of the forest.
And the deeper they went, the more bloodsucker beasts they encountered. The trio decided to take turns fighting each one they came across.
Yaw-Yan had the best seat in the house—watching the trail of carnage his friends left behind.
Amika was brutal. She relied on sheer force—fast, heavy, explosive. It was no surprise that the ground was often painted in blood and gore after her battles.
Suina was the complete opposite of her smaller friend. Precise and decisive. The moment her rifle, Amalee, locked onto a target, it was only a matter of time before a resounding boom echoed through the mountain forest, and a massive beast collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
Ayato was graceful—it might sound odd, but it was true. Wielding his twin daggers, he dodged with fluid ease, and every missed strike from the beast was countered with a swift, lethal response.
Their collection of beast cores began to pile up. But none of them showed even the slightest sign of slowing down.
Moment later
"But my bag's already full," Amika muttered with a defeated slump of her shoulders. Her complaint made Suina and Ayato pause.
They decided to take a short break when Amika revealed she had no space left in her bag to store any more beast cores—a problem neither Suina nor Ayato shared. Out of the three, only Amika had managed to completely fill her bag. The other two had barely reached half capacity.
Suina decided to check Amika's bag to see what was inside. "Amika, really?" she muttered with an exasperated sigh. Suina began removing half the objects filling Amika's bag, only to find that they were all toys—more precisely, novelty items sold at the last Manaland before the Silao Valley. Amika had apparently bought a bunch of souvenirs from the local vendors there.
"W-What! These are useful items!" Amika defense,
Yaw-yan picked up one of the scattered items from the ground. It was a fist-sized seashell with two holes of different sizes on each end—one bigger than the other.
"Hey, Yaw-Yan, if you help me carry my beast core, you can keep that treasure. It's an item that's been passed down for generations to ge—Ofuwh!" Amika's lie was cut short by a fist dropping on her head, hard enough to make the smaller girl fall to the ground, writhing in pain.
The owner of the fist glared coldly at the fallen girl, her voice laced with disappointment as she reprimanded her smaller friend.
"Amika! Did you seriously try to trick Yaw-Yan with one of your nonsense toys just so he'd carry your stuff? Instead of tossing these ridiculous things…" Suina crossed her arms in front of her chest, clearly livid that Amika would try such a thing.
Realizing her carefree joke might have gone too far, Amika lifted her head to apologize to Yaw-Yan. But he quickly waved it off, telling her it was fine and he didn't mind.
"Though… how do you even use this thing?" Yaw-Yan asked curiously. The shell's appearance didn't give any clue as to how it worked.
Amika perked up, excited that Yaw-Yan was actually curious about the shell in his hand. "It's called the Bullhornshell! See, the large hole—you fill that with a mana core. Cracked pieces or even a whole one. The shell absorbs the residual mana from the beast core, and when that happens, anything you say through the smaller hole gets amplified! Like, super loud! On the island, they use high-quality mana core powder, and it can literally shake the sea with how loud it gets. They say that if you put in a full, high-quality mana core, it can shake the entire island with its sound! Isn't that awesome?!"
Yaw-Yan nodded. Maybe it can be used to ward off beasts with its noise. In his tribe, the only use for mana cores was to color flames by tossing them directly into the fire.
"Keep it. It's a pretty cool item. Actually, you can keep the rest of them too—take it as a remembrance of our meeting."
Upon hearing that, the group was reminded that only a few days remained before the trio had to return to Lincad Ark and depart from Silao Valley. That meant saying goodbye to their tribal companion.
Sensing the sudden shift in mood, Yaw-Yan smiled at the trio.
"I'll take it—just tell me how to use all of them. Maybe I can kick everyone's butt with these items alone."
Amika grinned wide and began explaining the uses of each novelty item she had bought.
If Yaw-Yan was being honest, none of these items could truly be called toys. Some of them, like the Bullhorn Shell, could actually be useful in specific situations.
After their brief scuffle, the four teens decided to call it a day and camp for the night. Today had proven to be a rather fruitful endeavor—Yaw-Yan had collected several bags full of bloodsacks. Not only had they spent the whole day sharpening their combat skills, but they'd also profited quite a bit.
They tried to offer a share of the spoils to Yaw-Yan, but he declined, saying they had no use for beast cores in his tribe and that they were often used like charcoal. So, the trio decided to keep the cores for themselves. In exchange, Suina and Ayato gifted Yaw-Yan a dagger from Ayato and a healing potion from Suina. Suina explained that she'd bought a few potions when they left Lincad Ark in case someone got injured during the expedition. But since the field exercise was nearly over and the bloodsucking beasts turned out to be no real threat, she gave Yaw-Yan two bottles to keep.
It didn't take long for darkness to engulf the forest. Understandably, the trio was knocked out by exhaustion—they had spent the entire day fighting. It was no surprise that they collapsed into sleep.
Yaw-Yan was genuinely surprised at how long the trio could last, despite all the walking and fighting. It amazed him how strong his new friends were compared to his tribespeople.
"Last day, huh?" he murmured, staring up at the night sky. "After that, they have return to their ship and leave this land…"
All this time, he'd thought the world ended behind the clouds—that beyond them were only stars and space. But it turns out, there was so much more to the world than he ever imagined.
He felt a pang of bitterness in his chest. He hated himself a little—for asking so many questions, for being curious. Now that he had a glimpse of the vastness beyond his home, he realized he hadn't even experienced a tenth of what the world had to offer. Not magic, not core weapons, not the endless flow, not the Manalands… everything was beyond his reach.
Once Amika, Suina, and Ayato returned to their academy, Yaw-yan had to return to his normal life. But unlike before, he would now sleep knowing that the world was far bigger—and he was far less free—than he had once believed.
While deep in thought, Yaw-yan didn't notice the purple mist crawling toward their camp, slowly engulfing the sleeping trio in its smog and strange aroma.
Yaw-yan's nose twitched, picking up a scent reminiscent of sweet citrus. For some reason, he felt deeply relaxed, his body beginning to feel light.
He looked around, and his eyes widened in horror when he saw that the entire area was covered in the mysterious mist—his three friends included.
Yaw-yan quickly ran to Amika and started shaking the smaller girl to wake her up. All he got in return was a soft groan. His shoulders dropped in relief; she was alive—just deeply asleep.
He moved to Ayato and Suina and tried to wake them too. But just like Amika, they only groaned and didn't stir.
Yaw-yan wanted to believe they were simply exhausted from a day full of fighting and climbing.
But his gut told him otherwise.
The purple mist… it had something to do with this. And something bad was coming.
Before he could act, a low, gurgling noise reached his ears. Not sure if it was real or imagined, Yaw-yan lowered his body and pressed his ear to the ground—a method he had learned to pick up distant sounds or heavy footsteps, signs that a beast was near.
With his face flat against the dirt, Yaw-yan focused, trying to sense anything that could explain what was happening. He closed his eyes, palms and fingers spread flat beside his face.
A bead of sweat rolled from his cheek to his lips, making them twitch reflexively. But he didn't move. He kept listening. Feeling.
Then suddenly, his eyes snapped open in horror.
Thuhg. Thuhg. Thuhg. Thuhg.
Grueeeeeechee!
Yaw-yan's heart pounded. Those were footsteps—and the sound of something else.
He shot to his feet and rushed to his friends' sides, trying to wake them. Slapping their cheeks, calling out to them—nothing worked. Ayato, Amika, Suina… none of them budged. None opened their eyes.
Yaw-yan looked around frantically, hoping to find someone—anyone—who could help.
Because he was certain of one thing now.
There was a beast approaching their camp.
And by the sound of its heavy steps, it was big.
Yaw-yan looked at the trio and bit his lip. He needed to check what that noise was. He couldn't wake his friends for some reason, and it would be a disaster if the beast found their camp.
He crept in the direction of the sound, hiding himself behind trees and moving carefully to avoid making noise—something he was good at, having been a hunter for his tribe.
The mist thickened the closer he got. His heart pounded. Those sounds… they were unmistakable. A beast was nearby. Very nearby.
Crouching in a bush, Yaw-yan took out his telescope to scout ahead—and his breath hitched the moment he saw it.
The creature had the same face as the bloodsuckers. But unlike them, this one moved. It wasn't a bloated, immobile mass. It was tall and thin, with elongated arms and legs. From its gaping maw poured thick, purple mist that ran down its body and spilled across the ground.
Its entire back was covered in hundreds of fleshy tubes, each around three feet long. Some of them held bloodsacks—the same type the bloodsuckers had—clutched in their ends. The creature slowly approached a group of dormant bloodsuckers.
Reaching one, it released a dense stream of mist into its face, causing the bloodsucker to go limp. Then it raised one long arm and shoved it into the creature's mouth. When it pulled the arm out, it was holding the bloodsack.
It attached the sack to its back, and one of the tubes took hold of it.
Yaw-yan's face turned pale. This thing… it was harvesting bloodsuckers. Collecting their bloodsacks. He had never heard of a creature like this. The elders had never mentioned anything like it. And that mist from its mouth—it put the bloodsuckers to sleep.
Was that why Amika and the others wouldn't wake up?
Cold sweat dripping down his neck, Yaw-yan began to retreat from his hiding spot. He had to wake his friends before the blood collector found them.
Grueeeeechee!
His entire body froze as the beast let out a screech. Slowly, he turned his head to see if it had spotted him—but it wasn't looking at him.
It was staring at the ground.
"Oh no…" he mumbled, eyes widening.
In its fingers, the creature held something.
Amika's candy wrapper.
The smaller girl never stopped stuffing her mouth with sweets… and always left the wrappers lying around.
The beast examined it briefly before lowering its head to the soil. It was inspecting the ground.
Yaw-yan's stomach dropped.
Footprints.
The trail they'd left on their way to the camp.
The beast let out a low growl—and began following the path.
Yaw-yan broke into a sprint. He had to reach the camp. He had to wake them up. If he didn't…
They were as good as dead.
Behind him, the blood collector let out another roar—
—shattering the quiet night and turning it into a desperate fight for survival.
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End of Chapter 9