Chapter 22

In a clearing surrounded by tall trees, laid corpses of various animals. Blood pooled up on the ground as a metallic scent drifted within the air.

The intense scent of death scattered nearby animals, none dared to approach the area.

Long shadows decorating the scene, the sun had begun to set.

Only faint breathing could be heard throughout the atmosphere, standing in the dark shadows stood a small beast with glowing amber eyes.

Its fur was inky black and no light reflected off it, giving the beast an illusionary feel if not for the shiny silver ears and tail.

Wings tucked behind on its back, the beast makes its way to the pile of corpses before thick grey malleable mana surrounded its figure.

The mana cocooned its user's body before shaped into a human form, dispersing once solidified.

A slender human stood in place of the beast from before. Long feathered black hair streaked with shining silver lay behind her back, reaching her hips.

Eyes of a burning sun looked at the gruesome sight before her indifferently, only her nose scrunched up slightly at the unsanitary atmosphere.

She was wearing casual clothes in black and white monotone colors. Thinly laced gloves layered her slim hands.

Walking up to the pile of freshly killed beast corpses, mana extends out the tip of her fingers, before splitting into different strands and digging into the corpse pile.

A short while later, they come back, covering small jelly-like balls of energy.

The balls of energy were colored differently, with a majority being transparent. There were 9 of the little marbles in total.

She stuck out her hand as the grey mana dispersed and the small rounded cores fell into her hand.

They felt a bit warm, and even though the cores came straight out of a beasts' body, the blood had long slipped off.

Dropped into the pocket of her black coat, the lady simply turned around and left the area stained with blood.

After the lady left the area, slowly, small critters and large predators began to feast on the leftover meal.

---

Val quickly left the forest, entering the village and into the marketplace.

There were stalls and shops scattered about, a fair amount of traffic though it wasn't too packed.

Navigating her way around the thinned crowd, she makes her way to the richer side of the village.

Beast cores or anything mana-related in general was more expensive.

Although the current ruling party was trying their best to make mana-related items more accessible to the lower class, it hadn't born fruit as of yet.

Finding herself in front of an empty store, Val enters to the sight of a dilapidated wooden shop.

A dark wooden desk was placed to the right side while the left had a leather couch and short coffee table.

Books with no visible title on their spines lay flat on the table. A clock rimmed in gold with old antique hands ticked in the center.

"Welcome to my little shop~!"

Val's pupils shrunk ever so slightly as her eyes darted to her right.

Short blonde hair paired with jade green eyes. Pupils unfocused yet there was a piercing stare coming from the woman.

Facing the slightly shorter older woman before her, Val managed to squeeze out a small 'hello' without flinching in the slightest.

'I couldn't sense her aura'

Alarm bells were ringing in her head, screaming at her to run away with all her strength and never look back.

A small smile hung on the blonde's face.

"I am Haava, the owner of this little shop, I wonder what brings this distinguished guest here?"

Recalling the sign on the window of the shop outside, Val reached for the cores stuffed in the little pouch tied to her wrist.

"Hello, Haava. I came because of the sign outside. I have some beast cores I'd like to sell."

Saying all that in a flat tone, Val cups her palm as little beads of fluffy mana rolled about on her hand.

"Ooh! Eight tier one's and a tier two beast core! Did you harvest them yourself?"

Haava directly snatched a beast core from the palm of her hand, pinching the malleable core gently, raising it into the air.

The teenager didn't respond, though Haava didn't seem too bothered at the lack of reaction.

Her bob-cut blonde hair swayed slightly as her jaded eyes glimmered under the natural light coming from the windows to her left.

"I'll give you 5 Aon for every tier one beast core. The fog element tier two is 6 Aons at best, you should know that demand for wood cores have always been poor."

Usually, the average price for tier 2 cores was 10A, and fluctuated slightly depending on the attribute it was attuned to.

When beasts advanced to tier 2, their cores would be converted into their corresponding element, making it so that those who were to absorb the core must be of the same attributes as the core.

Because if they weren't the same, there was a high chance of going berserk or even reversing the mana circulations and a small chance of imploding their mana circuits.

However the tier 1 cores had no attributes, so there was a higher demand for them on the market.

Neutral attributed tier 2's and above were much rarer, as mana would be more condensed and purer.

Absorbing cores with attributes of similar nature wouldn't do as much harm as absorbing those of opposing natures.

Fog element was a secondary element of the water element of the 5 elements series, which was of the most common attributes in VANHA.

Val, who didn't really know much about the market price merely nodded along, even when she heard that the tier 2 core was worth less than expected.

"Can you pay me in gold coins?"

She asked as Haava returned the beast core and made her way behind the desk.

"Yup, that would be 460 gold coins. You sure 'bout this? It'll be a hassle to carry all those coins~"

A faint accent slipped through Haava's mouth, and though it was just for a second, Val didn't miss the slip-up.

Unflinching at the mistake just mane, the shop owner pulled out a drawer that was filled with coins.

"No, it's okay. I can handle it."

Giving a dry response, Val set the cores on the wooden desk. Golden coins clattering against the polished surface of the desk.

"Alrighty then, thanks for doing business with my little shop! Come again soon!"

Haava said in a cheerful voice, although her words forced Val out after she pocketed the golden coins.

Exiting the shop with 460 gold coins in her pocket, Val quickly left the vicinity of the shop in a calm manner.

Unknownst to her, her back was drenched in a layer of cold sweat. One thought ringing in her mind.

'I didn't feel her presence when she snuck up on me.'