As the boar thrashed and screamed inside the reinforced net, Akito slowly stood from behind the boulder, brushing off dust and bark. He took a few steps toward the fray, stopping near where Kael emerged from the trees, smirking faintly under his hood.
Akito raised a brow and crossed his arms. "Hey," he called, casually. "I'm gonna need to discuss with you about my patent."
Kael chuckled, sheathing his blade. "Talk to my lawyer," he quipped.
But there was no time for more banter. The entire group's attention snapped back to the boar as it let out a guttural, snarling cry—one last surge of defiance before it tried to shatter the net with a final charge of mana.
"Caldus!" Ruva called, drawing another arrow just in case.
"I see it."
The mage stepped forward, one hand rising, fingers already twisting into a formation. Magic shimmered around him—cool and sharp, the color of storm-lit skies. A glowing glyph circle flared beneath his feet as he extended his staff. The air pulsed with power.
"Condensed Vector Bolt," he intoned.
The spell launched like a spear of pure force—concentrated mana guided with perfect precision. It struck the boar square in the forehead, driving through flesh and bone like glass through silk. A thunderous shockwave followed, rustling trees and sending birds scattering in a frenzy.
Silence.
The boar collapsed, unmoving. Its glowing tusks flickered… then dimmed.
Varek stepped up cautiously, shield raised, and tapped the carcass with his sword. No response.
"It's done," he confirmed.
Ruva exhaled, lowering her bow. "Clean hit."
Kael walked past Akito, giving him a light tap on the shoulder. "Good eyes. Your snares gave me a blueprint."
Akito smirked, watching as the team moved with swift efficiency, already transitioning from battle to salvage.
They began dismembering the boar with practiced motions. Varek used a heavy, rune-etched blade to carve through the thicker hide while Kael and Ruva sorted the usable parts. Caldus gathered reagents from the boar's blood and internal organs, carefully storing them in vials marked with glowing seals.
Akito stood off to the side, watching with wide eyes.
Ruva tossed him a glance. "You ever seen a mana-dense corpse up close?"
"Only in nightmares," Akito muttered. "What do you even do with all this?"
"Almost everything on it's valuable," Kael said, wiping a blade clean. "The meat's laced with raw mana, good for refining or brewing stamina elixirs—though it's poisonous without proper treatment."
"The hide," added Varek, "can be tanned into armor that absorbs ambient magic. Dense, but flexible."
"And the tusks," Caldus said, stepping around the corpse with reverence, "are worth a fortune."
He gestured toward one of the translucent tusks, which still faintly pulsed with residual mana.
"Crystallized mana channels. If refined, they can be shaped into weapons or devices that store and discharge mana far more efficiently than ordinary materials. Even a fragment could serve as the core of a high-grade staff or enchanted blade."
Akito knelt beside the tusk, gently touching the surface. It was warm.
"So… these things are like high-capacity batteries?" he muttered.
The others blinked, unfamiliar with the analogy, but Caldus nodded slowly.
"…In a way. A raw energy medium, yes. Few materials are this naturally attuned."
Akito whistled. "No wonder this thing was so pissed."
Ruva smirked. "It wasn't just angry. It was territorial. This part of the forest? Its domain."
"Well, we just evicted it," Kael said with a satisfied sigh, crouching next to the boar. "And we'll get a nice bonus for delivering intact tusks."
Kael whistled low as he leaned over the fallen boar, brushing a hand along one of its massive, cracked tusks. "Gotta say, those traps helped more than I expected. Without 'em, we might've been playing chase with this pig until sunrise."
He glanced over his shoulder at Akito, a sly grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. "You and I might need to talk business later."
Akito stretched his arms behind his head and gave a mock sigh. "Hey Kael, I'm gonna need to discuss royalties on my patent."
Kael chuckled. "We'll draw up the scrollwork later."
Varek, who had been inspecting the boar's underbelly for any damage that might affect the payout, stood with a huff. "Still can't believe it went down this clean. Would've trampled half of us if it broke through that last trap."
"And its tusks are still intact," Caldus muttered, already tracing a glowing glyph into his notes with a finger. "Impressive. Rare to find both power and precision in a strike like that. I suppose I should be grateful I wasn't interrupted during the cast."
"Grateful? You looked like you were enjoying yourself," Akito quipped.
"I enjoy silence and results. That spell was both." Caldus adjusted his cloak, already turning his attention back to the glowing core residue still simmering faintly in the boar's chest cavity. "Besides, I wanted to test a new sequence."
Kael patted the boar's flank. "We'll rest here until sunrise. No point hauling this thing through the dark. We've got a decent camp, enough rations, and zero immediate threats. First time I've had a win this smooth in a while."
He glanced at Akito again. "So, what about you? Got plans now that you're not monster chow?"
Akito exhaled slowly, looking up at the twin moons drifting overhead. "First? Find a way to make a stable living that doesn't involve nearly dying to territorial bacon. After that… I want to understand this world. Figure out what this eye of mine is really capable of."
He tapped a finger under his right eye, where the strange glyph-shaped pupil still shimmered faintly in the dark.
"I need information. Knowledge. Something tells me I won't survive long without it."
Varek nodded, arms crossed. "A smart plan. This world doesn't go easy on people who don't know how it works."
"Then you're already a step ahead of most," Ruva added, quiet but sincere.
Caldus glanced toward him again, eyes curious but unreadable. "Just don't ask too many questions before breakfast."
They shared a brief, quiet laugh. The tension from earlier had thinned into the forest air, leaving behind only the chill of night and the distant calls of nocturnal creatures.
Kael kicked at a patch of flat ground and started setting his bedroll. "Get some rest. We've got a boar to haul and a guild to report to once the sun's up."
Akito found a spot near the fire they built, still flickering low. As he settled in under a borrowed blanket, he glanced again at the faint glow in his eye and the moonlit canopy above.
So… survival, knowledge, maybe a little coin.
One weird step at a time.
And for now, he was alive.