Chapter 25: The Grind

Chapter 25: Chapter 25: The Grind

Eric sliced open the fallen Fleshcrawler’s upper thorax, pried out the dense E-rank mana stone, and slipped the crystal into his inner coat pocket before storing the carcass directly into his system inventory.

"Alright," Eric said, wiping the dark fluid from his blade against a clump of wild grass. "Let’s keep this tempo going while the sun is high."

Within fifteen minutes of resuming their sweep, Coal circled a low ridge and signaled a target: a solitary Level 3 Riftspawn basking atop a sunbaked slab of shale thirty meters ahead.

"My turn," Eric muttered, rolling his shoulders to loosen his muscles. "Coal, hold aerial overwatch. I need to test my combat capabilities without relying on a distraction."

Eric dropped low, utilizing the downwind stalks of tall grass to mask his approach. He closed the distance to ten meters before exploding forward in a sudden sprint.

The Riftspawn’s head snapped up. Sensing the incoming threat, its throat pouch swelled instantly, coughing a glob of sputtering, molten bile straight toward his chest.

Having anticipated the attack vector, Eric sidestepped with his enhanced Level 3 agility, letting the fiery projectile splash harmlessly across the dirt behind him. He closed the remaining gap in two explosive strides, driving the steel boss of his round buckler directly into the monster’s snout with a heavy *THUD*.

*SCREEECH!*

Stunned and thrown off balance, the demonic beast whipped its muscular tail in a blind, desperate arc. Eric leaped backward, the tail tip grazing his trouser leg, before lunging forward with a clean, two-handed downward plunge.

*CRACK-SHLICK.*

The iron shortsword punched straight through the cracked skull plate, pinning the monster dead to the stone slab.

"Phew..." Eric exhaled, pulling the steel free with a wet slide. "A bit unpolished on the footwork, but clean enough to avoid taking a scratch."

After harvesting the cloudy F-rank mana stone and transferring the carcass to his subspace, Eric and Coal continued their methodical sweep across the grasslands.

Over the next six hours of relentless hunting, the duo operated like a well-oiled machine. By late afternoon, their combined tally reached 3 Fleshcrawlers and 7 Riftspawns.

Liquidating the entire haul at the Association liquidation counter netted 8,000 credits, pushing his digital bank balance comfortably past the 400,000-credit milestone.

MUNICIPAL CITIZEN BANKING

Account Holder: Eric (ID: #247-RD)

Verified Status: Mortal Rank Awakened

Current Available Balance: 400,200 CREDITS

At this steady pace, he could easily clear the 600,000-credit debt within twenty days, well ahead of the twenty-five days remaining before Scarface Vane’s deadline.

"Let’s head back, Coal," Eric said, sheathing his scuffed shortsword.

*Caw.*

Coal agreed with a soft trill, landing gently on Eric’s right shoulder. His dark, pitch-black eyes scanned the horizon with sharp vigilance as the evening wind rustled his glossy obsidian feathers.

"Sigh..." Eric kicked a loose pebble across the gravel path, letting out a wistful breath. "I really wish we could reliably farm Gorgefiends. If we could bag those behemoths on command, we’d clear the syndicate debt in under ten days. But those things are just built differently."

Even within the exact same grade, monsters were never created equal.

Species hierarchy played a massive role; a monster’s designated rank was primarily an indicator of its innate mana capacity and soul grade, not its raw physical build. A Fleshcrawler and a Gorgefiend were both classified as Rank E, but a Gorgefiend’s bone density, muscle mass, and sheer four-meter frame made it physically vastly superior.

Furthermore, individual anomalies existed within species as well, just like Coal, who had been born an innate Rank-D anomaly despite Bonepecker Crows normally capping out as Rank-E fodder.

After exiting the material hall, Eric took the transit car straight back to Sunshine Home.

While upgrading his chipped starter blade and dented wooden buckler was sorely needed, every single credit had to be hoarded until the six-hundred-thousand-credit debt was settled in full.

Sitting in his attic room that evening, Eric pulled up the municipal explorer network on his smartphone, researching the official entrance requirements for the premier Beast Taming Academies across the continent.

REGIONAL ACADEMY ENTRANCE CRITERIA

Registration Window: Opens in 90 Days (3 Months)

Minimum Requirement: Soldier Rank

"Soldier Rank in three months..."

Eric leaned back against the wall, staring up at the weathered ceiling beams with a furrowed brow.

"Mortal Rank Level 10 is required just to attempt the spiritual condensation into Soldier Stage... Is bridging that massive gap in ninety days even realistic?"