Gathering beast cores

Nameless moved, jumping rapidly from branch to branch in his Keiya form.

The forest was vast and the branches were thick and filled with giant leaves.

Using the form that was native to this environment, he could move and explore with ease, even incredible maneuvers were nearly effortless. 

It was as if he was part of the forest.

Despite the unique ecosystem and the fascinating environment, Nameless didn't waste time to look at it.

He was in a hurry, he didn't have time to be as carefree as he was before.

His goal? Beast cores.

"Hey will, how long will I have to keep going before I arrive at the battlefield?"

"About two hours."

The purple will was still in his mind but this time, it no longer had ulterior motives.

After hearing her response, Nameless took up more speed, he wanted to arrive as soon a as possible.

On the way, he met countless living beings, alienoid insects, alienoid trees and vegetation, weird and unique carnivorous fungi, flying lizards, giant purple beetles, multicolored birds, rock crocodiles, crystal snakes, lava frogs, rainbow pythons, ice foxes and even giant dark mooses.

The ecosystem was gigantic but Nameless merely glanced at each beast before continuing on his way.

An hour passed before he arrived in a flat area without trees, Nameless jumped down from the tree he was on before he was startled.

A few hundred meters in front of him was a large body of water and what looked like giant rhinoceroses drinking from it, they were brownish with a powerful armor-like skin.

They had two horns, a wide but blunt horn on their head and another smaller one on their chin.

They were atleast fifteen rhinoceroses drinking what looked like multicolored body of water.

Nameless immediately stopped before hiding his presense.

Even the cubs were bigger than him, let alone the adult ones.

"Hey will! Are you trying to get me killed again?!"

"Don't worry, they are komodo rhinos. Not only are they vegetarian but they are also peaceful and fearless, there are very few predators that can even take on them thus they never attack first."

"I see."

She continued : "Their upper horn is merely used for defense while the horn on their chin is used to remove divine tree bark and consume it. This process also helps divine trees regrow a stronger bark so they have a symbiotic relationship with them."

Nameless moved passing through the plain by feet, he was slightly worried but he trusted Yugo's power and judgement, not forgetting that he was going to die anyway in a few years at most if not in a few days if he failed.

It only took fifteen minutes of running before he arrived back at another forest area.

He jumped on the branches and continued on his path following the will's directions.

The Keiya's form offered perfect camouflage in a forest environment with its greenish skin, that's why he only felt safe in the middle of trees.

An hour passed fast.

In front of Nameless extended a thirty kilometer field that was filled with corpses of beasts and fallen divine trees.

Nameless tried to approach the area before he felt an extremely powerful aura manifested, a rank 5 beast aura!

"Fuck!"

He turned back and moved through the forest running back.

"Don't worry! it's simply a corpse that still emits its powerful aura."

"Couldn't we just go to a safer place?!"

"You really think we can just go anywhere and find beast cores laying around? Beast cores are extremely precious especially to beasts, the moment the area would become safe, beasts would rush in consuming all the beast cores and even each other."

"Wait, don't tell me?"

"That's right, it is but a matter of time before the aura weakens in this area, you will have to get the beast cores as fast as possible before running away least beasts rush in and attack you to steal your beast cores."

"But wait, even if I escape, wouldn't the beasts in the forest attack me when they notice the beast cores I'm carrying?!"

"That's what the purple dao marks are for. They will envelop you and hide the aura of the beast cores but try not to waste them as much as possible, they have a more important purpose later on."

"I see, let's go then, the faster we begin, the faster we finish."

"Wait."

"What?"

"How are you going to carry the beast cores?"

"This body is very strong, I could carry atleast 20 big beast cores."

"That's way too inefficient and will be a burden if you were to be chased. Go back on your way, I will send you a mental image on how to weave an appropriate bamboo basket that you can carry on your back."

Nameless moved, jumping and climbing back on the tree before rushing to the location the will indicated.

It only took ten minutes before he arrived at a multicolored bamboo tree that had rope like filaments.

Nameless pulled a few of the very long filaments before he sat and began to knit them.

The knitting didn't require much concentration, it was very repetitive yet it suprisingly also was very meditative making Nameless lose himself in his thoughts.

Not only was he not sure that he could escape this forest, even if he escaped, he could still be pursued and even if he survived, he still didn't know the outside world well enough to survive on his own, just a beast or a mistake could cost him his life, not forgetting that even if he survived all that doing his absolute best, he would still die in a few years anyway, there seemed to be no way out.

This coupled with some of the emotions from back in the dream realm made him utter a profound sigh.

His memories had been unlocking with time and the more they came back, the more Nameless could only lament and push them aside to do what was necessary instead of processing them.

'Her name was eve? Sigh.'

Nameless could only sigh again and again, it was a very effective way to cope.

As he was weaving the basket, he could only stop at times as if uncertain about what the future might bring or if the basket would be weaved properly.

The weaving took much more time than he expected, he could only replicate the mental image in his mind, at first, his weaving was very rough and inaccurate, he even thought of giving up yet slowly one weave at a time, he was able to weave a proper basket.

"One step at a time, I will go one step at a time until I am beyond these predicaments."

"Kid, don't lose hope, it might look impossible now but how many miracles have happened in this world. It is similar to a magistrat checkerboard, you might lose pieces and you might be cornered but there will always be a best move, this move might not be able to save you but there will nonetheless always remain a best move in every situation and if you play your pieces right and if you are lucky enough, those right moves might just be enough to save you."

"Magistrat checkerboard?"

"It's this, it's also known as "chatrang" in other countries."

The will sent a mental image to him, the game looked very similar to chess but with slightly different rules.

"I see, thanks but I would still try my best even if you didn't tell me. I'm not the type of person to give up just because it is hopeless. My previous life was hopeless yet I still walked through it, my life back in the illusory realm was hopeless yet I still moved through it."

As he spoke, the basket was finally done, it even had two straps similar to a backpack.

Nameless put the basket on his back before he moved through the trees, rapidly picking up speed.

The previous depressing mood had vanished, replaced by a firm resolve to survive and fight back.

It didn't take long before he arrived at the battlefield area.

Giant roots covered the entire battlefield like a dome, as corpses were splattered within.

Nameless got down to the ground before he closed his eyes and spread his divine sense.

Although some beast cores were apparent, he had to find the most efficient way to collect them while also planning an escape in case any beast intervened.

"Hey will, I scanned the surroundings, found the beast cores I need and made a small escape plan, review the information while I collect them, do work on the escape plan first."

"Understood."

Nameless moved entering the root dome by sliding through the roots. Despite his big Keiya form, the roots had loads of space in between them, only beasts would struggle to pass through.

The scenery in front of him was filled with corpses of what looked like raptors, they had multicolored long feathers in their arms and their tails. They looked like a mix between a bird and a dinosaur.

Big raptor corpses covered the scenery in front of him.

The cause of their death? Tree roots!

It could be seen clearly that the raptors had divine tree roots stabbed into their vital organs.

The divine trees weren't in a better shape, the area didn't have any tall tree, they were only branches.

"Where are the trees that attacked these beasts?"

"The raptorial vultures have a sack in their bodies that produces a very powerful acid that can dissolve almost anything. The higher their rank, the more powerful its dissolving properties. The tree trunks have probably been dissolved by the rank 5 beast."

"Wait! is it dangerous to pick the beast cores from their body? What if the sack bursts and the acid makes contact with my body?"

"There is nothing to worry about, the acidic sack is the most powerful part of the raptorial vultures, it is used to create the beast cores when the beast dies. Do worry about their claws."

"I see."

Nameless didn't waste time, immediately jumping through the corpses before sliding to pick the beast cores within them.

The first corpse didn't have a beast core, perhaps because it has a hole on its chest and an empty sack but the subsequent corpses all had a beast core.

They were only rank 3 beasts so their beast core fit perfectly in his palm.

He would use their feathery wing as a cushion to slid inside the hole in their bodies before using his eagle claws to remove the flesh and obtain the beast core.

It was needless to say that the whole process though risky was effortless with such a dynamic body.

The beast core sometimes however would be stationed in weird or hard to reach positions, the body position would also be hard to maneuver or could lead to danger making Nameless abandon these type corpses without even thinking.

The beast core was situated in the middle of their chest just below where the sack existed, a raptorial vulture corpse that laid on its chest was nearly impossible to slide into to obtain its beast core, except in the rare occasion where it had a hole in its back but life would never go as one wishes so any beast on their back with no apparent hole were discarded without an attempt.

Sometimes, the situation would be perfect but the beast core would be situated near the intestines or surrounded by dense flesh that even the eagle claws couldn't penetrate.

"Phew, gathering beast cores is not as easy as I expected."

"Hey will, don't you think its weird that the rank 5 aura is weakening the more I move forward, shouldn't the opposite be the case?"

"It indeed weird but its most likely just the corpse weakening while its beast core is forming."

Nameless continued his collection, despite some occasional obstacles, the collection was smooth, discarding the corpses with anomalies made the collection much more efficient. It only took three hours for the big basket to be filled to the brim.

Near the end, he could observe another beast corpse far away, the beast looked like a sabertooth tiger.

Nameless didn't approach it however he had obtained all the beast cores he needed for now.

He turned back, moving rapidly through the corpses returning to the edge of the battlefield, to the area he came from.

The basket was extremely heavy challenging even his powerful humanoid transformation but with enough effort he reached the area he had came from.

He didn't go back on his way, even though he had enough beast cores, he wasn't done yet.

He didn't escape nor rush returning back to the forest, rather he approached the first raptor corpse he encountered.

He picked a beast core from his basket before making it slightly touch the beast's claw.

*clink*

A small crack appeared in the beast core as slimy liquid-like green energy began to pour out.

Nameless didn't waste it immediately moving the beast core above his mouth before he began drinking and swallowing it.

*gulp* *gulp* *gulp*

"You?! are you crazy? It's extremely dangerous to swallow a beast core!" The will in his mind spoke but he continued swallowing the beast core's energy.

It didn't take long before the beast core emptied and became like a glass container that cracked and vanished like thin air.

As soon as he fully drank the beast core, Nameless began to struggle breathing, his breaths slowly became softer and more shallow.

He put the basket on the ground before he slightly leaned on it to remain standing.

In front of his eyes, all types of hallucinations appeared.

Looking at his hands, they moved weirdly like swiggly lines lines while the entire forest began to darken and move even though the sun was still high in the sky.

Nameless tried walking but he struggled to do so, he sat on the ground as his breathing became more and more shallow as he turned back into human form.

He soon began to feel sleepy as if he was about to enter a long slumber.