Building The Strongest Territory With My Sacrifice System
Chapter 38: Extract

Chapter 38: Extract

Ragnar brought out the skill upgrade card. It resembled the random reward card in shape and size but had a sparkling white color. Knowing how cards work, Ragnar snapped the card in two, and it erupted in a small explosion of white glow and vanished immediately, accompanied by a system notification.

|| Upgrade card has been activated. ||

|| Pick one of the following skills to upgrade: Efficient Harvest Lvl 1, Blade Mastery Lvl 1, Inspiring Orator Lvl 1, Muscle Enhancement Lvl 1, Power Inspection Lvl 1 ||

Ragnar scanned through the list, initially selecting two skills—[Blade Mastery] and [Muscle Enhancement]—as they were the most important skills for combat.

Staring at them, he had a hard time picking which one to choose—whether to increase his defense or increase his attacking power.

After a brief moment, he picked [Blade Mastery].

|| Blade Mastery Lvl 1 would now be upgraded. ||

|| Blade Mastery Lvl 1 has been upgraded to Blade Master Lvl 2 ||

|| Revealing new description. ||

Blade Master (Lvl 2)

— Category: Passive » Combat

— Description: Your knowledge of bladed weapons has improved greatly, bringing you to the rank of a master.

— Effects: +40% Attack power with all bladed weapons; +40% learning proficiency with all bladed weapons

— Upgrade requirements: Slay 100 foes with bladed weapons or use a Skill-upgrade card

Ragnar smiled, seeing that all of the effects had been doubled.

"Ragnar, why are you smiling like that?"

Ragnar was so absorbed by his newly upgraded skill that he failed to notice Noah staring at him for ten seconds before Noah finally called out.

"Oh, I am just thinking about how strong we would be when we get back from this hunting trip," Ragnar lied.

Noah nodded. "Me too."

Before the two of them could continue their discussion, Milan returned from his escort. He quickly equipped himself with his own leather breastplate and fixed the sword strapped to his waist.

After he was done preparing, the three of them made their way to the forest.

===

Standing at the entrance of the forest, Noah took a moment to observe the settlement, then turned back to the forest with a determined look on his face. He then walked behind Ragnar and Milan, who had already stepped into the forest.

The three of them strolled quietly in the forest, walking deeper and closer to the wild beasts they would challenge to increase their combat experience.

On their way, they spotted several small and nimble animals like squirrels and hares; they even spotted some antelopes and wild goats who fled after spotting them.

As they strolled, an awkward silence prevailed over them as Milan wasn’t the talkative type and both of them were too engrossed observing their environs.

"How big is this forest?" Ragnar finally broke the silence and asked.

"The forest is very big," Milan replied without looking back. "It would take a single person at least six months to successfully explore it."

"That big?" Ragnar said in disbelief. He wasn’t that much of a nature person on Earth, thus he couldn’t tell if this forest was bigger than popular forests on Earth.

"What about the inhabitants of this forest, can you tell us more about them?" he asked further. "Please tell us more about them."

"If you guys went alone, you would most likely meet ordinary wild beasts like tigers, wild dogs, and hyenas. Although those wild beasts are stronger than ordinary humans, you won’t experience that much improvement in your combat fighting against them," Milan explained.

"However, with my expertise, I can bring you to the region with low-rank mutated wild beasts," Milan continued.

Ragnar then asked Milan about mutated wild beasts to which he replied, "Mutated wild beasts are ordinary beasts that have been genetically mutated by mana, they are similar to monsters in the aspect that they can use mana and possess supernatural powers, but at the same time they are different from monsters because they mutated, unlike monsters who were created as they were."

Ragnar and Noah listened attentively.

Both of them then began a round of question and answer session with Milan.

Although Milan found talking stressful, he did not deny them of their answers.

About an hour passed since the beginning of their discussion, they were strolling through a seemingly ordinary area when they heard a brief cacophony of shrill growls around them.

"Something is lurking," Milan whispered.

"Both of you prepare to fight," he turned to the two of them and instructed.

Ragnar and Noah quickly drew their swords and took a defensive stance as their eyes scanned the surrounding bushes.

At that moment, the bushes ahead rattled, drawing their attention toward the noise.

A few seconds later, two cute, fat, and harmless-looking rabbits stepped out and halted before them.

"Huh?"

Ragnar and Noah exchanged confused glances—they were the size of the fat spoils they’d caught at the hamlet.

"They’re just rabbits," Noah muttered.

Ragnar, on the other hand, decided to use [Power Inspection] on them.

=======

Mutated Rabbits — Level 2

Physique: 2

Agility: 2

Spirit: 1.0

=======

Seeing the stats of the seemingly harmless rabbits, Ragnar was baffled.

"Beware, they’re very dangerous!" he tried to warn them, but it was already too late.

The mutated rabbits’ eyes suddenly turned crimson with bloodlust; they let out a shrill growl similar to the ones the group had heard earlier.

Before the three could understand what was happening, the two rabbits shot at them with a precision and speed that surprised everyone.

Milan was the closest to them and the main victim of their attack. Although he moved his body quickly and swung his sword, his timing was disastrously off.

"OUCH!"

One mutated rabbit’s sharp claws left a scratch on his shoulder.

Luckily, Noah, standing beside him, moved quickly and swung his blade at the rabbit before it could inflict another injury.

Unfortunately, the mutated rabbit diverted the attack, landed on the ground, and lunged back at him.

Noah sidestepped and managed to evade, but the rabbit was relentless, shooting back at him the moment it regained its footing.

Noah found himself stuck in a loop of evading the swift rabbit.

"It’s too fast," he complained.

On the other hand, the second mutated rabbit turned its attention to Ragnar.

Ragnar furrowed his brow and clenched his sword. Thanks to his high spirit attribute, he tracked his opponent’s swift movements at an observable pace, giving him the chance to strike properly.

With a single swing, he tore through the swift monster and cleaved it in two; blood erupted, and the lifeless body of the mutated rabbit thudded to the ground.

|| You’ve slayed X1 mutated rabbit, +20 XP ||

After slaying his opponent, Ragnar’s eyes turned to Noah, still firmly stuck evading the swift mutated rabbit and trying to land a single attack.

Ragnar decided to help.

He arrived beside his friend and swung his sword at the swift rabbit, which failed to notice his arrival.

His first attack wounded the creature, and it collapsed to the ground bleeding.

Noah spotted this and took the opportunity to stab it in the head with the tip of his sword before it could escape.

"My XP!" Ragnar lamented inwardly.

Noah thanked Ragnar for assisting him and strolled to check on Milan, who was pressing some leaves he had plucked against his injured shoulder.

SCREECH!

Unfortunately, the mutated rabbits’ attacks were not finished.

The bushes rattled and several mutated rabbits revealed themselves.

Just like the first two, they appeared innocent and ordinary at first, but after a few seconds their eyes glowed red and they lunged at them.

"The mutated rabbits are very corny. Try to focus on their movements and attack when you can; if you can’t, just keep evading," Milan warned as he slashed at one of the rabbits targeting him.

Noah furrowed his gaze and focused on those targeting him. His improved agility helped him evade most swift attacks, though he still took a few serious scratches from the ones that got through.

Noah managed to take down two of them after receiving a couple of scratches.

Ragnar found it pretty easy to take care of the little wild beasts—his strength, movement speed, and perception made killing them just a walk in the park for him.

Not even thirty seconds had passed, and he had already slayed five of them.

|| You’ve slayed X1 mutated rabbit. ||

|| You’ve leveled up ||

|| Level 3 → Level 4 ||

Ragnar felt a noticeable boost in his attack power and agility.

With the new boost, he lashed out at the mutated rabbits more aggressively and took down a couple of them in less than a minute.

He observed his friend take down a couple of them, but the scout, on the other hand, found it several times harder to take down as many as Noah did.

Thankfully, the mutated rabbits, although swift, were not that much of a trouble, and he managed to take down the two of them troubling him after a few minutes.

The mutated rabbits’ attacks ended swiftly, barely lasting ten minutes.

At that moment, the group were standing in the midst of dozens of mutated rabbit corpses.

Ragnar observed the corpses, and an idea sparked in his mind.

"Senior Brother Milan, is the meat of these mutated rabbits edible?" he asked.

Milan nodded. "They’re not only edible, but they’re actually nourishing thanks to the mana in them."

"Great," Ragnar rejoiced.

He gathered the corpses of the mutated rabbits still intact and stored them in the available slot in his inventory. They were ten of them.

Thankfully, as they were tiny animals, they were stacked in a single slot.

"This would go a long way to feed the people," he muttered with a smile.

While he searched for more intact mutated rabbit corpses to preserve in his inventory, Milan plucked some leaves from the bushes around them and applied their extract to the mild injuries on himself and Noah’s body.

The liquid extract of the leaves provided a calming effect on the injuries, similar to the effect of painkillers but a bit weaker.

Ragnar did not find any other intact mutated rabbit corpses to preserve, and once the two finished treating their injuries, they proceeded deeper into the forest, this time more quietly.