Blood

Instantly, Leus' attacks reached the sleeping Rhino, First the Hydraulics then the spear.

The spears penetrated its back, But the Rhino didn't make any sound, as it was already dead.

The Hydraulics almost immediately penetrated its skull, Causing the rhino to die on the spot.

Leus was slightly puzzled by the outcome

"No resistance at all? Is that normal?"

Blaze smiled bitterly and said

"Well, It's a Knight Level creature.

Its exposed body parts should be slightly stronger than a human's of the same level, So he isn't that strong compared to you.

I also noticed that your attacks are stronger than Mages of the same level, Which means that the quality of your mana is higher, But I don't know the reason for that"

"...I see"

Both Leus and Blaze thought about the same thing but they didn't say it out loud

'No wonder that kid died immediately'

Blaze got an idea

"Leus, Experiment with its corpse."

" ... What?"

"Practice your attacks on it.

This will help you figure out the right amount of power so you can attack without hurting your opponent too much."

Leus was reluctant about that ... But after a couple of seconds, he resolved himself

'I promised to do better'

'Better to start now so'

And so, Leus started experimenting on the corpse

4 Daggers and 4 Hydraulics aimed at the rhino's back at varying speeds

25% 50% 75% 100%

And the results were like this:

100%: Fully penetrated, and will exit a human's body.

75%: Fatally penetrated, and is likely to cause death to a human.

50%: Will cause serious injury, but shouldn't be deadly.

25%: Minor Injury.

Leus noticed that Hydraulics are both faster and penetrate deeper than daggers

'Since it's much smaller I guess that makes sense?'

' ... Or is it because I have an Affinity for Water?'

Leus had no idea, But he was able to reach a conclusion

'Somewhere between 30-50% should be safe.

60% or higher if I want to kill or fatally injure, And ..... I better not attack Soldiers or Mortals at all except with my fist or maybe in their legs.'

After Leus finished, He looked back at Blaze and said

"I'm done"

Blaze put his hand in his pocket, took out a tiny sack, and handed it to Leus.

"Cut the horn and put it here"

Leus looked at the rhino and then at the sack a couple of time

'That's ... too small'

He was perplexed, so he asked Blaze

"How will it fit?"

Blaze replied nonchalantly

"Cut the horn then add a little bit of mana to the sack and bring the horn close to it, It'll fit inside."

Leus unsheathed his sword and started cutting the rhino's horn, But it wasn't as easy as he expected

'So messy ...'

After he started, he realized that there was no way for him to extract the entirety of the horn without cracking open the Rhino's skull and mutilating its face.

Leus' sword, Hands, and clothes became covered in blood very quickly.

His stomach started paining, He tried to resist it, But after a couple of minutes he vomited because of the blood and the stench

Blaze asked in a slightly concerned tone

"Do you need help?"

Leus shook his head

"No, I can do it, Just a second"

" ... Don't push yourself too far"

Leus used Water and quickly washed all the blood off himself and his sword.

He basically drowned himself in water and then gargled with it

It was the first time Leus actually drank the water he created with magic, And it made him feel a lot better

'It really is tasty.'

Leus poured a lot of water on the rhino's head as well, Getting rid of as much blood as possible, and then he continued cutting and washing with water at the same time.

After doing that for a while, He was finally able to extract the horn

The horn was brown, Thick, and long.

Leus inspected it for a couple of seconds and thought

'It feels just like a piece of rock ... '

'Actually, I think it actually is a piece of rock'

He put some Mana in the sack and brought the horn close to it, As soon as the horn touched the sack it disappeared inside it

Leus gave the sack to Blaze and said

"Here is it"

Blaze genuinely complimented Leus

"Good job Leus ... Good job, Your persistence is amazing"

It was one of the few times when Blaze openly complimented him

He put the sack back in his pocket and asked Leus

"Now what?"

"Shouldn't we do the other mission?"

"We don't have to.

We can go home and come back later, Or go now, Depends on your stamina.

It's also late, Knights don't travel in the forest alone at night as getting help is very unlikely too, At least in the day someone else might hear your pleads for help if you're in a bad situation, Although it's unlikely as well"

"I'll keep that in mind in case I'm alone, For now, Let's go and do it"

Blaze nodded

Leus looked at the west and was about to start running but Blaze held his shoulder strongly and asked in a serious tone

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Going to the west? The second mission is there"

"Didn't I tell you that going deeper in the forest is dangerous? You have to get out of the forest then run to the western side and walk in again"

".... I see"

'It'd save time if we go directly but sure'

And so, Leus pushed mana into his legs again and started sprinting out of the forest, Back to where they entered from.

After exiting the forest they started running west, It took about 3 hours or so to reach the western edge of the forest

By the time Leus and Blaze walked into the forest again, the Dawn of the next day was near.

Leus asked

"What do these wolves look like?"

"Like blue dogs but bigger and with longer fangs"

Leus nodded

"Let's find them."