Chapter 35: Quiet Days, Growing Storms

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Quiet Days, Growing Storms

The panther struggled to rise, but it was too late.

Crack!

Silver lightning erupted beneath Damon’s feet as his body became a blur.

Whoosh!

The beast sensed danger and tried to escape, but it was too slow.

Damon appeared beside it in a flash. His knife crackled violently as he poured everything into one strike.

"Let’s end this!"

BOOM!!

Lightning exploded.

His blade pierced straight through the beast’s skull.

For a moment... Everything became silent.

Then the massive body collapsed.

Thud.

The wind slowly died down.

Only the sound of crackling lightning remained.

Freya happily ran over.

She jumped straight into his arms.

"Kyuu!"

Damon laughed and caught her.

"Yeah."

"We won."

He looked down at the fallen B rank beast.

His heartbeat still hadn’t calmed.

Slowly, a smile spread across his face.

The Damon who had entered Tempest Hollow as a burden...

The Damon mocked by everyone...

The Damon who couldn’t even awaken an element...

Had just killed a B rank beast.

He stood quietly for a moment, as if yet to take it all in. The Silver lightning still danced faintly around his knife, yet to fade out.

But soon, something clicked inside his head.

His eyes slowly moved from the dead panther...

To the surrounding battlefield.

Then back to the corpse.

"...Wait."

His eyes lit up.

"The loot!"

A genuine smile spread across his face.

Almost immediately, he hurried over.

Although Freya’s final skill had damaged parts of the beast, Damon wasn’t disappointed in the slightest.

After all, a B rank beast was still a B rank beast.

He carefully dissected the body, taking everything that could still be used.

The claws.

The fangs.

The hide.

Even the damaged portions could still fetch a decent price if processed properly.

But the thing he treasured most was the glowing core hidden inside the beast.

The B rank core.

Damon held it in his hand, unable to stop smiling.

"Beautiful."

He quickly stored it away.

Outside the Tempest Hollow, countless Elemental users would fight over something like this.

And now one was sitting inside his bag.

Freya tilted her head.

"Kyuu?"

She didn’t understand.

During the fight, Damon had been excited.

Yet now, after the battle was over, he somehow looked even happier.

Damon laughed.

"You wouldn’t understand."

"This right here is money."

Freya blinked.

Still confused.

Damon only chuckled and continued sorting everything.

Soon, he began whistling a tune from his previous life.

A tune he used to hum while gaming.

Hearing it again brought back old memories.

But strangely...

He didn’t miss that life anymore.

Compared to this world, where danger lurked everywhere and every victory felt earned...

He preferred this.

At least here, he felt alive.

After arranging the loot properly and making enough room for future treasures, Damon finally stretched.

"Alright."

"Business is done."

"Time to recover."

Freya immediately jumped into his lap.

Apparently, she already knew what came next.

Cultivation.

It had become part of their routine.

Damon crossed his legs and absorbed the surrounding Aether.

The process had become natural now.

His enlarged white core greedily drew in energy, refining the unstable Aether little by little.

Meanwhile, Freya comfortably entered the second core.

She loved staying there.

It felt warm.

Peaceful.

And every time Damon cultivated, she could feel herself growing stronger.

Damon smiled.

"I wonder what the fifth tail will bring."

Freya chirped happily inside the core.

Apparently, she was curious too.

Still, he couldn’t stay there forever.

There was much more to explore.

*****

Their journey continued.

They encountered countless high level C rank wind beasts.

Storm Talons.

Galehorn Boars.

Even several species Damon had never seen before.

But another B rank beast didn’t appear for quite some time.

Instead, Damon focused on collecting resources.

Wind ores.

Aether crystals.

Wind fruits.

Rare herbs.

His storage bag was beginning to fill up.

Eventually, they encountered another B rank beast.

And then another.

Their teamwork had become almost perfect.

Freya would continuously pressure the enemy.

Her afterimages would attack and explode while she mixed herself among them, confusing the beast.

Meanwhile, Damon stayed calm.

He observed.

Directed.

And searched for openings.

"Left side."

"Nice."

"Again!"

"Watch out!"

"Good girl!"

Freya chirped proudly every time she landed a hit.

The battle would slowly drag on.

Bit by bit.

Until enough lingering lightning accumulated.

Then...

Boom!

Everything exploded from within.

Leaving behind another heavily wounded B rank beast.

And Damon would always be there to finish the job.

The process repeated.

Days passed.

One B rank beast after another.

The two of them continued their steady grind.

The biggest beneficiary, however, was Damon.

Unlike Freya, who destroyed things whenever she got excited, Damon patiently recovered every useful material.

Making every hard battle worth it.

As days passed, they still hadn’t discovered any truly heaven-defying treasure.

But Damon understood something.

If news about Tempest Hollow’s mutation spread completely...

Things would become troublesome.

The major families wouldn’t sit still.

They would send stronger forces.

Not only to suppress the growing danger.

But to claim whatever treasures lay hidden inside.

Which meant...

He had to move faster.

Fortunately, another breakthrough was approaching.

He could already feel it through their connection.

Freya was becoming increasingly excited these days.

Like she was standing before another door.

And Damon felt it too.

Her fifth tail wasn’t far away.

*****

Meanwhile, outside Tempest Hollow...

Everything had changed.

More survivors had been rescued.

More injured Elemental users had been brought back.

And more corpses had been recovered.

The atmosphere around Haven’s Edge City had become heavy.

Families gathered every day.

The rescue teams went in and out constantly.

Among those rescued...

Kane Calloway had finally returned.

Aside from some injuries, he was alive.

And stronger than before.

Naturally, the Calloway family celebrated.

Their greatest genius had survived.

Even the Elders let out a sigh of relief.

"As long as the boy lives, the family hasn’t suffered a loss."

Kane sat silently while healers tended to his wounds.

Eventually, questions about Damon surfaced.

Kane lowered his head.

"I saw him."

"He got separated."

"A beast chased him beyond our range."

He paused.

Then shook his head.

"There was no way he survived."