The Next Target

"Well done brat, you managed to take them all down within the time. Although there where some mistakes, you managed to take them down at least.

Now how do you feel using that mana arrow in actual combat instead of training. It packs a different kind of punch when using it against a real creature compared to a target doesn't it."

"Yeh, compared to when I was shooting targets it feels a lot different against an enemy I am aiming to actually kill. The arrow felt heavier and in actual combat it used a lot more mana and was much harder to control. I was kind of worried it would explode on me."

"That's why combat is just as important as practice. Getting used to using a move in combat is vastly different to against a target or sparing partner. Now enough of that, we still have 2 more targets today.

You have 15 minutes break then we need to rush to the next location. I will also tell you some of your mistakes along the way. The biggest being you lack of confidence in your sword. Although I can understand why you put away the sword and used magic instead, you shouldn't get in the habit of relying on a backup and instead finish something with what you started with."

Art nodded as when he thought about it, Virion's thinking seemed right. When he saw his sword doing barely any damage, he went to replacing his sword with magic instead of trying to build his experience and find a work around using only the sword. In life and death that is fine but since he is out for training, him taking the easier route might allow him to develop bad habits.

"Your right, I should have gone to my limits using the sword before switching. Now master, what are we going to do with the corpses. To you they are probably worth nothing but I would like to sell them if possible. Not only can the scales, bones and fangs be used for refining objects the meat and blood can be used in cooking and alchemy.

Does master have some storage artifact I can store them in? Maybe master could gift their genius disciple one."

Virion gave a side eye to Art who was cheekily smiling. He then went to his hand and pulled off one of the many rings on his fingers and threw it at Art. "Here brat, take it. You best be careful with that thing; storage artifacts are rare and even kings wouldn't hesitate to conspire against you to get it."

Art nodded in understanding before he goes to the snake corpses and uses them as practice to store items within the ring. Using his knowledge of novels he read, it didn't take him long to figure out how to inject mana into it and how to use it to store and release items.

The space within the ring surprised Art as he didn't expect a massively large one, yet the space within the ring was massive. 'Damn master really gave me a good one. Normally in cultivation novels, storage rings have like a bedroom size normally yet this one is at least as big as 6 football stadiums.

More than enough room to store almost any creature, unless its some titan or Godzilla. Now, lets check out the cave. Master gave me 15 minutes so I should use some time to explore the cave. Since it was a nest of snakes then there should be a pile of gear from adventurers they have killed, though I don't particularly feel like digging through literal shit.'

Entering the snake den cave, Art had to step through puddles of blood from where he trapped and killed so many of the snakes. Past the pools of blood, he followed the cave as it went diagonally down into darkness.

Having been constantly using the technique he learnt from Sylvia, to take in mana while moving. Art's mana supply was mostly recovered, so he called forth a flame which lit up his way.

After 5 minutes of walking, Art had seen nothing but rock and the occasional skeleton. Deciding to pick up the pace he started to jog hoping to reach the end of the cave soon.

As he got closer to the deepest part of the cave bones became more common as both beast and human remains where either broken apart of covered in a smelly substance which Art found revolting.

He still checked the corpses though, and powered through the stench. He found nothing note worthy and most of the gear any of the humans once used was broken or corroded.

Eventually the tunnel opened up in a drastic change. A large open cavernous area was now before him. It was very large, at least big enough to fit hundreds if not thousands of the boss snakes inside.

He wasn't sure if there were any hidden creatures or undiscovered treasures but he didn't have the time to check. He assumes there's nothing too good since Virion didn't express interest or say anything.

In the middle of the cavern which was illuminated by a very large floating flame, Art found what seemed to be the snakes nest. Looking around there where many remains but also some shedded snake skin.

In the nest Art found a pleasant surprise. There was a pretty large pile of what seemed to be gold, weapons and armour. It wasn't hard for him to piece together where it came from, as there where wooden planks and some quality cloth which obviously came from merchant caravans.

He stored all the valuable items which could be used or sold away and made a very small fortune in a single trip. He did a further check around and made sure to look at the cart remains but found nothing except what seemed to be a collection of large white pearls hidden under some dead foliage.

Getting a closer look, he looked at the oval pearl like stones. His face couldn't help but smile as he quickly recognised them as not stones, but eggs. 'Man, how lucky am I. Not only getting a bunch of loot but also some beast eggs. They may only be from some low rank creatures but if I raise them right, give them good resources and train them to use tactics then maybe I could make a decent attack force.

Either way, some cannon fodder beasts would be useful though hopefully they can grow to be better than cannon fodder. Now how should I store these, since they are technically living I can't store them in the ring. Maybe I can ask master to hold onto them while I do the remaining tasks.'

Picking up the ostrich size snake eggs, he carefully packs them into a bag, making sure they are well protected with padding. He does one last check combined with a sprint around the area, but sees nothing and decided to leave with Virion for the next location.

…

This time, the two continued for over 4 hours of running with only 2 short brakes. They had left the forest and entered a hilly planes area. From the top of one of the hills, Art and Virion looked down upon a small village surrounded by farm land not too far away.

"Brat this is your next target. This is one of our elf villages that live near the outskirts of the elf border. As you can see by the surroundings, this is a farming village and provides a lot of the crops supplied to the kingdom. Obviously, this isn't the only one but it is still enough that if its lost, it will cause problems.

Recently we have received reports that a hoard of plague rats have nested themselves at the nearby river and often try to ravage the fields. Obviously, there are many warriors and protectors here so the rats are unable to do much damage.

But they need to stay and protect the village and can't launch an attack on the rat's nest. Normally this job would be left to the army, who would send an extermination task force but I took the job instead.

For this target what you need to do is guard the entrance of the rat nest and make sure none of the escape while I head inside and kill them off. Most of these rats are young E rank beasts, while the grown adults are D rank. The elites are C rank, and the leader is a B rank. While this is nothing too difficult for a trained group to kill off, the problem lies within the numbers. While the E rank rats are much weaker that those E rank snakes you fought, their numbers are frightening.

The estimated number of E rank rats are in the 10,000's while the number of D rank adults are over 1000. While the elites' numbers are a lot less at only in the low hundreds, the numbers of E and D ranks are overwhelming and consume lots of mana to deal with. Combined with the fact that all these rats normally carry deadly diseases, it's a very serious issue should any escape.

If this was a mission given by the guild, then exterminating this rat nest would likely be an A rank in difficulty. So, I will enter the cave and exterminate them while you stand guard and prevent any of them leaving. If even a single one leaves then should it go for vengeance and not be noticed then a deadly pandemic could fall upon the village.

Also, this is still training, so if I notice it being too easy on you then expect me to send some presents your way and if any get passed you it will be your fault. You have 30 minutes to prepare while I go into the village and check on the situation."

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If you want to join the discord then post a comment and I will send link.

Also i've started a new novel. If anyone here has read my other one "Supreme Gods Memories in a Cultivation World" then you will likely like this new one. its called "Becoming a Demon God". Its not for everyone and is one again a cultivation novel base. Its quite extreme and the main character is an evil guy. It will have r-18 scenes and expect some to be quite rough/extreme, and then even times where the main character mentally abuses heros and others for enjoyment as they fall into despair. So yeh, give it a check out if you want a real evil guy doin stuff in a cultivation world.

https://www.webnovel.com/book/becoming-a-demon-god_21006050906900005

Link - >