CHAPTER 245: BURDEN

Before the Iberians even realized, they were down to four members.

Their race wasn’t exactly among the bravest, and so, the remaining ones immediately began to hesitate.

What would they gain from killing the human, anyway?

As if reaching a telepathic consensus, the cliffscalers scattered like fleeing bandits, not even looking back at the corpses of their dead comrades.

It was every Iberian for themselves.

Hal slightly panicked, not expecting the cowardly retreat.

"H-Hey! You damned goat, return my core!" he roared furiously, quickly chasing after the cliffscaler who got the Cragstalker’s core.

Winds howled as Hal surged forward in flight.

The thieving goat realized that it was being pursued, sweating coldly as it began doubling its efforts to climb the mountain.

This was when Hal realized that the speed the Iberian Cliffscalers showcased on the ground wasn’t even their top speed.

The bastard he was chasing was practically sprinting up the mountain with the help of its bony claws and mystical legs that seemed to have figured out the mysteries of gravity.

One moment, it would hop from one rocky protrusion to another, while in the next, it would sink its claws and crawl upwards, showing its mastery of the terrain.

Unfortunately for it, the pursuer was flying outright.

The distance between Hal and the thieving goat was only shrinking, and soon, Hal would be in the activation range of [Winter’s Grasp].

The latter also realized that it was losing distance, gritting its teeth in utter frustration.

In the end, the Iberian Cliffscaler valued its life more, quickly grabbing the core from its poorly made bag and tossing it down the mountain without hesitation.

Hal wanted to beat the infuriating goat’s ugly mug until even its specialized brain gave out and slipped into unconsciousness, but the plummeting core was more important.

"F*ck you!"

And so, settling for a curse coupled with an immoral gesture, Hal dropped the chase and went for the falling core.

The thieving goat, on the other hand, seemed to have infuriated even the gods and goddesses of luck.

It was in the middle of jumping when it suddenly trembled, momentarily losing control of its body.

Its nose bled, its heart ached, and its muscles trembled.

How could it stick the landing in such a terrible condition?

Well, it didn’t, slipping from the rocky protrusion and bleating in utter defiance and anger as it plummeted down the mountain.

Meanwhile, Hal’s mood was improving as he surveyed the beige core in his hands, slowing his descent with [Glide].

It was then that a loud thud accompanied by a sickening crack sounded a few dozen meters to his left, momentarily startling Hal and snatching his full attention.

There the cliffscaler was, bleeding in all orifices as it stared emptily at the skies, blood pooling beneath its corpse.

A notification sounded:

[Congratulations! You’ve earned 50 Chaos Points!]

Hal’s brows raised, not expecting the thieving goat’s fall.

’D-Did I accidentally time that [Winter’s Grasp] perfectly?’

That was the only plausible explanation.

Naturally, Hal was pleased at both earning more points and gaining one more B-ranked core he could use to craft rare-tier artifacts.

There were four Iberian corpses and one dead Cragstalker scattered around him.

He would have to work hard for their cores and body parts.

As much as he wanted to begin immediately, he didn’t, instead swapping visions with the [Spirit Sparrow] first to check how Loki was doing.

’Seems like he’s doing fine...’

However, it was also obvious that the huge pup was quite worried, despite knowing that the [Spirit Sparrow] was just outside the alcove.

Hal didn’t know whether Loki was worried for his own safety or his master’s.

In any case, he had time to harvest the cores, so Hal did.

There was no time to lose, as the situation could change at any time.

Fortunately, the Iberian Cliffscalers did the dirty work of extracting the core of the toughest monster, significantly shortening the time he needed to butcher all the corpses.

His deft hands worked their magic.

Blood splattered and bones squelched as they separated from flesh.

The smell wasn’t exactly pleasing, but the scent of the Fell Beasts was much worse, so Hal didn’t have much trouble adjusting, finishing everything before an hour even passed.

’Phew...’ Hal washed his hands and wiped his face. ’That’s that, I guess...’

He then took the shortest path towards his wolf companion’s hiding spot, flying straight towards the alcove.

Hal arrived within half an hour.

As soon as he came into view, the worry on the huge pup’s face vanished, replaced by delight and relief.

Loki’s tail began wagging enthusiastically as he leapt out of the covers of the [Spatial Distortion Barrier].

"Hahaha, hello there, bud." Hal laughed, rubbing his wolf companion’s head. "Let’s return inside first. I have something for you."

The pup tilted his head as if to comprehend what his master was saying before following suit.

Inside the alcove...

Hal retrieved three cores from the system’s inventory—two B-ranked and one A-ranked.

The moment Loki’s gaze landed on them, the adolescent wolf grew more animated, whimpering as his tail wagged wildly and his paws tapped the alcove floor in an irregular pattern, clearly brimming with excitement.

How could Hal refuse his wolf companion the cores after such a cute, almost pitiful display?

"Hahaha, alright, alright, calm down. They’re all yours."

He then dropped all three to the ground, watching with a smile as his companion munched on them, saving the A-ranked core for last.

The taste wasn’t particularly blissful.

However, it was the surge of warm and comfortable energy that coursed through Loki’s body that felt like heaven to the pup.

Hal also easily determined this was the case, as only after a few seconds would the adolescent wolf suddenly stop munching, slightly trembling as an enraptured expression appeared on his face.

Hal wasn’t as happy deep inside, though.

He had to admit that, even though he desperately tried to deny it, Loki was becoming more of a burden.

He was certain that the pup was prepared to lose his life.

The problem was that it was he who was unwilling to sacrifice Loki.

Sure, he was able to rest well with the pup around, but it was difficult to fight to his full potential while worrying about his companion’s safety, and it was impossible for him not to.

’Sigh...I hope this would solve the problem...’