The Frugal Mage

The Greater Hybrid Goat's corpse lay across the rocky ground as everyone couldn't help but appreciate it…

They didn't get any injuries, and it was killed in just a matter of seconds. It didn't even last a minute against them.

If they mentioned this to the other Silver Rank Adventurers, they would surely not believe their story.

After all, Greater Beasts had this so-called berserk mode.

When it entered that phase, its defenses would rise through the roof due to the sudden burst of mana, and its physical strength would make it difficult for them to approach it.

"If we have two mages in our squad, maybe we can even handle many of them at the same time." Victor muttered, though the idea was a bit scary.

Drosk then gave the signal, and the team moved in for the harvest.

Victor and Hale got to work skinning the thick hide…

Of course, Rayven watched their practiced cuts as they separated valuable sections quite easily…

"Their meat can be expensive… We have to carry as much as we can." Drosk muttered.

"What are the valuable parts?" Rayven asked.

"The spiraled horns, their durable hide, beast core, bile sac, and their tendons, aside from the meat." Drosk replied.

Rayven nodded as it seemed quite reasonable.

Emma, on the other hand, had already pried loose the arrows she could salvage and started assisting… She was looking for the Beast Core, and it seemed that she was having trouble looking for it even after the others were already cutting it up.

'I guess its location is different for every Beast.' Rayven mused.

When he used his Detect Mana Source a while ago, he couldn't specifically detect the Beast Core that had mana. Instead, he detected the whole beast.

Now, with the corpse in front of him, Rayven decided to use his Spell and see whether he could locate it.

"Detect Mana Source…"

[ 1 Gold Coin deducted. ]

[ Current Balance: 554 Gold Coins ]

'Ohh…' Rayven nodded, as he was satisfied with the result.

"The core's near the sternum…" Rayven said as he looked at Emma.

"If you cut along the ribcage, it should come out intact."

At this time, Drosk smiled and followed his advice.

A few strokes later, his blade cracked through bone and pried free a glowing core. He turned it in his hand, and there was still some heat radiating from within.

It was also the size of a fingernail.

"Nice… Maybe because it didn't go through the Berserk Phase, the Beast Core seemed heavier and warmer." Drosk muttered, giving Rayven a curious glance.

"Is it really like that?" Victor muttered as he looked at Rayven. Perhaps, this core would be a lot more expensive compared to other similar grades if they took it to an Appraiser.

"I really want to hunt more…" Emma muttered as she believed that everyone still had enough strength to continue.

However, Drosk shook his head. Their aim was simply to test Rayven's skills compared to Josen.

Now that they were aware of it, they should head to the 17th Dungeon instead, where they could even find treasures if they were lucky.

Just like that, piece by piece, they stripped the carcass bare.

The horns were sawed free and wrapped carefully in cloth, the thick hide folded into rolls, and the meat was also wrapped..

Within half an hour, the cave looked like a bloodstained butcher's yard, but their packs bulged with loot.

"That's about all we can take. Let's give the cave a quick sweep before we leave. Sometimes Greater Beasts drag carcasses in… maybe we'll get lucky."

They lit a small lantern and moved deeper.

It wasn't comfortable as the air was thick with the smell of dung and dried blood.

There were also scraps of bone crunched under their boots, but then Rayven noticed something glinting near the back wall.

"Wait… what's that?"

Hale brushed aside a pile of broken branches and rubble.

Beneath, a scatter of coins reflected in the light. There were pouches of silver and copper, dulled by grime but unmistakable.

Beside them lay a few tarnished rings, a rusted dagger with a still-intact gemstone on its hilt, and a cracked wooden chest half-buried under stones.

Everyone was surprised since none of them expected this much treasure when they thought of searching the place!

"Ha! Would you look at this…" Victor crouched down, sweeping the debris aside. "Maybe the bastard was hoarding shiny things. Like a magpie."

Emma knelt, turning one of the rings over in her hand. "Not just trinkets… these are human. Probably from adventurers who came here before us." Her tone was calm, but there was a chill to her words.

Drosk pried open the chest with his knife, and the hinges gave way with a squeal.

There weren't a lot of things inside.

There was an open pouch containing several Greater Beast Cores and also a couple of books!

"That's… Wait… Isn't that a Spell Rune Book?" Emma whispered.

The Beast Cores, that was about a dozen or so, would definitely earn them a lot of gold.

However, if the two books were truly Spell Rune Books or Grimoires containing Spell Rune Models, then that would make them really rich!

After all, even the weakest spell rune could cost about 500 gold coins.

If they were in a hurry to sell, they could easily fetch 300 to 400 gold coins.

At this time, even Drosk was doubting that the goat just liked collecting anything that sparkled.

It seemed that this cave was truly a place where someone had left a treasure.

"Now… We can't leave anything behind." Drosk muttered as he looked at the various items on the ground.

"Rayven, do you want to appraise those books? If they're the Grimoire I heard about, then you can have it. If you're going to sell it, however, you must give us a portion of the profit." Drosk said.

"Right… If that's the case, it would be great if Josen could also take a look. The guy only has two Spells." Emma added.