Gravis quickly carried the head back to the Hunting Guild. When he dropped the head on the table, it received some cracks due to the head's hardness. The hunters in the bounty hall were shocked and excited. They had never come into contact with the corpse, or head, of a middle-grade demonic beast. Luckily, the bounty list was the same for every Hunting Guild, so it included middle, as well as high-grade demonic beasts.
There was not much they could salvage, yet luckily, the beast's Core was located in its head. A Beast Core was the center of a beast's power, but the Core wouldn't gain any relevancy until the beast evolved into an energy beast. All demonic beasts only used their bodies as weapons. A middle-grade demonic beast was a middle-grade demonic beast because its body was strong enough to create a Core.
The Core would stay empty and grow for a long time. When the Core reached its maturity, the middle-grade demonic beast would rise to high-grade. Then, it would start gathering Energy until the Core was completely filled. When the Core was full, the high-grade demonic beast would evolve into an energy beast.
The hunters tried everything, but they couldn't get to the Core. The head's flesh and the shell were just too hard. With red faces, they asked Gravis to retrieve the Core. Gravis also had issues getting to the Core, but he managed due to his high strength. The Core looked like a round crystal and had the size of Gravis' fist.
The hunters inspected it and followed the guidelines in their rulebook. After a while, they shockingly concluded that the Core was around 75% of the size of a fully evolved Core. This meant that the centipede was easily in the stronger half of middle-grade demonic beasts. They all looked at Gravis with astonishment. How had he killed such a monster?
They quickly figured out the price of the Core, and one of the hunters left to get more money from the guild bank. They didn't have such an amount readily available. After a while, the hunter returned with many more hunters following him. They heard about the head and wanted to see it. The hunters quickly crowded around the head and voiced their astonishment.
Gravis also quickly received his money. Beast Cores were used in the crafting of equipment, and thus, they were worth a lot. Gravis received 60 gold for the Core, which surprised him. That was way more than he had thought. The guild had to use up nearly all its savings to pay him, but they would make their money back by selling the Core.
Gravis left the bounty hall and went through the main entrance of the Hunting Guild.
"Heeey!" a loud synchronized cheer went through the hall when the hunters saw him. Gravis' expression grew cold, but inside, he was smiling bitterly. He couldn't grow close to any of them, so he released a slight amount of his Will-Aura to deter any contact. Any hunter that tried to interact with him felt nervous and retreated. They felt like Gravis was in a bad mood and that he probably didn't want to talk to anyone.
Sadly, Gravis wanted to talk with them more than anything right now, but he couldn't. With that, his frustration grew again. He quickly walked over to Simone and retrieved his gold. Before she could say anything, Gravis had already turned around and left the guild. Everyone in the guild felt confused. In their eyes, Gravis was too strange.
At one moment, he acted like a shy country boy, and at other moments, he radiated coldness and killing intent. They grew interested in his personality, but sadly, the hunters didn't know that this would be the last time they saw him.
When Gravis left the guild, he sprinted towards the town. His loneliness hurt every time he walked into the guild, yet he enjoyed the contact with others. He felt both happy and sad that he would not return to the Hunting Guild.
He bought the remaining eight Skin-Pills he needed, and, unexpectedly, he still had around 110 gold left. The remaining eight Skin-Pills had cost him 56 Gold. The Core was worth 60 by itself, and together with the 100 gold reward, he reached his current, crazy amount of money.
After he bought the Skin-Pills, he rushed to the waterfall, where he had trained previously.
Suddenly, three bandits jumped out of the bushes. "Give us your money or-!"
BANG!
Gravis ran the shouting man over before any of them could react. Multiple bones in his body broke since he didn't have tempered skin. The bandits looked shocked at Gravis, who simply continued rushing away. They've never been in this situation before.
"Ugh, that dick didn't even let me finish my sentence," the one broken man spoke weakly, as he lay in the bushes. One of the others quickly walked towards him to lift him, but the man immediately screamed. "AAAHH, it hurts! Stop pulling, you bastard!"
Gravis ignored all this. If he vented his frustration on weaker enemies, he would stray into dangerous territory. As soon as he would feel a feeling of superiority, his will would weaken. The strength of his will had just increased by fighting the centipede, and he wouldn't risk weakening it.
After some time, he reached the waterfall. This time, a young woman was sitting under the waterfall. She looked beautiful, with glistening skin, and a smile of tranquility adorned her face. Yet, Gravis quickly ignored her. Sex didn't matter to him since he couldn't grow close to anyone. He threw everything about others out of his mind.
Gravis jumped to the waterfall and sat beneath it. The young woman had noticed him, and when she saw Gravis taking out a Skin-Pill, she grew excited. She stood up and walked over to him seductively. "Hey, how come you're here? I've never seen you before," she spoke with a husk in her voice.
Gravis looked at her coldly, consumed the pill, and ignored her.
The young woman furrowed her brows. She felt a little insulted that Gravis didn't even show a slight reaction to her beauty. Still, she walked closer to Gravis. "Hey, don't ignore me like that. I'm just here to talk," she said.
SWOOOSH!
The woman was swept away by a sudden tide of water and fell into the pond below the waterfall. Gravis could see a dagger in her hand. She wanted to use her beauty to lower his guard and then kill him for his wealth. Thanks to his Elemental Synchronicity, Gravis could see everything near the water, including the dagger.
The young woman tried to swim to the surface, but the currents of the pond kept her underwater. She started struggling and fighting for her life, but nothing seemed to help.
Gravis watched coldly as she drew her last breath and joined the other skeletons at the bottom of the pond.
The last youngster had hesitated for a long while, and Gravis had seen him trying to keep himself under control. The youngster hadn't been used to killing and still seemed to have some good in him. That was why Gravis had spared him before. But this woman immediately acted upon seeing his Skin-Pill. There was no hesitation in her actions.
The bandits were, at least, open and honest about their robbery. They probably would've also spared his life if he surrendered his wealth. The more people there were in a town, the more money they could get. Yet, this woman wanted to kill him in cold blood.
Gravis looked coldly at the pond for a while and then continued tempering his skin.