Chapter 16: Hunger

"I will take off all of its legs, Young Master…

…You will euthanize it yourself."

"Wh—"

The giant mantis was not necessarily a strong monster — it could be, but that was depending on its size. Still, the giant mantis the size of a human would still be too much for someone like Lucian, who was rated only to be at the Spirit Infant level. He should not even be able to scratch the mantis' exoskeleton.

It would take someone of the Spirit Warrior to completely overwhelm a giant mantis of this size head-on. The Spirit grade consists of several ranks — Infant, Mortal, Warrior, Elder, Master, and Grandmaster. And once one ascends from being of the Spirit grade, they become an Immortal Infant, and the cycle of ranks repeats. 

Once cultivators reach this level, however, they are no longer allowed to mingle with normal humans as it would be too dangerous for them to interact with each other. All the cultivators above Spirit Grandmaster are forced to live in the Immortal Republic, which is inside the Demon Continent.

The difference between ranks is large; typically, a Spirit Mortal is twice as strong as a Spirit Infant, and then a Spirit Warrior is twice as strong as a Spirit Mortal, and so on and so forth — one can not just easily surpass someone of a higher rank than you, and perhaps it was better to say that it was impossible.

But right now, they were seeing someone of the Spirit Infant rank completely overwhelm a monster that Young Master Craig was no match against.

Lucian was just casually avoiding the mantis' blade, but it could not hit him when the number of its limbs was complete; what hope could it possibly have now that Lucian had already cut two of it?

Nothing, and everyone just watched as Lucian plucked the remaining mantis's leg like he was just cutting leaves on a branch. The estate's staff would not even call this a fight — and the mantis would agree. The only thing it could really do now was just crawl with its arms…

"I am sorry for prolonging your suffering." But even its arms were soon cut as Lucian got on its back and cut them off so casually, he was even doing it as he sighed. After all, if he knew he could just euthanize the monster from the start, he would have done so, so that he could finally do his job and loot it,

"Young Master," Lucian then said as he moved away from the mantis and approached Craig, "Please, euthanize it so that it would not have to—"

"You… you lied!" Craig quickly stood up and once again raised his voice, "You… you're not a Spirit Infant! My request was specifically someone of the Spirit Infant rank!"

"I am a Spirit Infant. Your butler should know, he checked my license when I entered the estate."

"Then how do you explain the fact that you're stronger than me!? I am going to report you to the association!"

"I am already 30 years old, Young Master — I believe you are barely even a teenager," Lucian shook his head, "You are already strong."

Lucian, of course, was aware of the difference between the strength of the different ranks — he did, after all, study the basics of it when he was creating the pill that would turn a normal person into a cultivator — but that was it, the basics.

He only needed to know their biology and did not need to study anything further to concoct the pill. Lucian truly believed that because he was more than twice Craig's age, it was just proven science that Craig would still not be stronger than him even if he was ranked above.

A Spirit Mortal is twice as strong as a Spirit Infant, but a 30-year-old would be more than twice as strong as a child and it cancels their difference with the 30-year-old carrying the advantage — that was Lucian's logic as he takes everything at face value.

But the difference between ranks was not really something that should be taken at face value. But alas, Lucian does not know that at all.

"Please, Young Master," Lucian gestured to the struggling mantis, "Euthanize it so that we can all do our jobs."

"You—Stop looking down on me!" Craig then let out a roar as he released the last of his lith and leaped toward the mantis; grabbing the broken sword lodged onto his shoulder and just started hammering the mantis' head with it. He needed a few good hits before he was finally able to actually hack it to death — and as he was finally able to kill it, he quickly smirked and scoffed as he looked at Lucian,

"S… see? Did everyone see that!? I… I managed to kill the monster!"

No one really answered Craig, even his butler did not know how to react to that at all, and the maids just looked away. They have always lied and praised their young master, but doing so now would obviously backfire to them.

"You did, Young Master." The only one to really respond to him was Lucian, "Now please sit down, we need to check on your wounds and—"

"I'm not wounded!" Craig said as he bled from the shoulders while limping on his bleeding leg, "And… and I don't need your help!"

"Refusing treatment, very well," Lucian then just nodded as he approached Craig.

"Wh—why are you coming near!?" Craig immediately fell butt first as he saw Lucian coming closer. Lucian, however, just completely walked past him as he just casually started harvesting the mantis.

"It was in the request that I explain and you will watch while I loot the monster, Young Master," Lucian breathed out, "It was written that you needed to experience the process during hunts, and looting is usually the latter part of it. For this monster, their lithum is located…"

And as Lucian started giving Craig a lecture, the only thing he could really do was stare at him like he was some sort of madman. But after a while, Lucian's stoic tone was perceived as gentle by Craig as he truly started to listen while the castle staff tended to his wounds.

And soon, a glimmer lit up in his eyes for some reason as he continued to watch Lucian do what he does. His butler saw this, and he could not help but just nod and smile.

"Although unnecessary, it is important to extract the lithum as finely as possible," Lucian ended his lecture, "Their energy levels will still remain the same whether they are scratched or not, but most cultivators prefer buying a clean and smooth lithum."

"You can keep it," Craig then crossed his arms as Lucian tried handing him the lithum.

"Okay," Lucian, of course, did not bother refusing at all as he just quickly hid it in his bag, "And with that, I believe the job is complete. Please pay the Association so I can also get paid…

…You should get the wound on your shoulder rewrapped, it is wrong."

"W… wait, Looter!"

And before Lucian could actually even take 3 steps away, Craig called for him.

"My… My father and mother are… are never home, and they promised to… to teach and train me once they get back… but they never do…" Craig slightly stuttered as he looked away, "I… I was wondering if you wanted to be my teacher?"

"No," Lucian quickly shook his head and continued to walk away.

"W… wait, please! I… I can pay you! I can pay you a lot!" Craigh muttered, "You don't even…. you don't even have to come every day, and I can pay you more than what we are paying you now!"

"..." Lucian would have definitely agreed with the deal. After all, more money and less time spent was exactly what he needed — unfortunately, the current circumstance was not allowing him to do so because he was starting to get hungry…

…and not for food, but for lithum. He thought he could push through for at least several weeks, but no.

His body was craving for lithum again, a cultivator's lithum…

…and the closest one right now was Craig's.