Chapter 57: Step 57 to Greatness: Midas Touch Is A Real Thing!
[Kill confirmed!]
[Killed two level 7 Adolescent Wild Boar.]
[Exp +352]
[Ancestor’s 10x blessing in effect. Gained exp +3,520.]
[Tribeswoman Mika gained exp +1,760]
[Current Exp: 16,218/1,800]
[Please complete the Advancement quest to continue leveling up normally.]
As the dirt settled, the two bloodied remains of boars remained. Much like the tree, a bit of their body had shattered into bits and pieces and was flung everywhere.
Yet, thanks to their sturdy hide and tankiness, most of their flesh had remained intact with their bodies. Their meat and what remained of their hide was still salvageable.
"Note to self... don’t get carried away with the axe," Adrian sighed.
Because a boar’s hide was sturdier than a wolf’s, Adrian had been hoping to craft new armor from it. But seeing the tattered hide of the boars before him, he felt a bit disheartened.
"At least there’s still a boar left—"
"Yeehaw!"
Both Adrian and Mika turned their heads at the same time to see something unbelievable.
"What the hell...?" Adrian mumbled and rubbed his eyes. "This girl would give me a heart attack one day."
In the front yard of Hannah’s shelter, Sera, or more accurately, Seraphine, was riding a boar like a bull.
She had both legs clamped tightly around the creature. Meanwhile, she was holding the hilt of her bone dagger, buried deep into the boar’s shoulder with one hand, using it as a makeshift rein. As for the other hand, she was waving at Adrian with it.
"Yeehaw! Run faster, piggy! Faster!" she cheered, kicking at its sides.
The boar was squealing in pain and panic. It only remembered hitting something after breaking the fence, and the next moment, a pain erupted on its shoulder.
After that, it was suddenly being kicked from behind, being forced to run around while bleeding profusely.
Despite the pain, it kept trying its hardest to throw the mad girl off its back. But Seraphine held on, all the while laughing every time the boar tried to shake her loose.
"Male, what is wrong with her?" Mika asked in all seriousness. "First she fought the wolves like that, and now... this? Sometimes she is gentle like a mother, other times she’s like a monster."
Adrian had no answer for her query. How could he explain to them about split personalities?
The boar’s squeal brought him back to the present, only to see the boar was about to crash into a tree. Then, at the last second, Seraphine twisted the dagger, forcing it to turn and continue running.
"Muhahaha! Good piggy! You’re so strong!"
Adrian could only pinch the bridge of his nose and wait for the boar to die out from bleeding or exhaustion, whatever came first. If not for Seraphine’s unpredictable nature, Adrian would have praised her.
After all, by letting the boar bleed out, she was keeping its hide intact, unlike him, who tore it into pieces.
"Seraphine! Get off that thing before it throws you into the fence!" Adrian yelled at last.
Seraphine looked at him and pouted, but yanked the dagger out and jumped off the boar with surprising athleticism. At the same time, the exhausted animal staggered for a few steps before collapsing on its side, taking its final breaths.
Adrian nodded at Mika, who went to finish the job. Right then, Seraphine skipped back to Adrian and leaned in, pushing her chest forward.
"Thank you for the gift, master~" she whispered, puffing her chest to give him an ample view of her assets. "I wonder how can I ever repay you for it..."
"I can think of a few ways," Adrian sighed, patting her head. "But let’s focus on important things now, right?"
"...am I not important?" she pouted again.
Honestly, seeing her act all cutest after turning a life-or-death fight into a circus act was something else. But Adrian seriously wanted to salvage the boars and finalize his deal with Hannah, i.e, take her home.
"If you weren’t important, would I have given you my precious dagger?" he whispered, walking past her.
Seraphine’s face lit up at Adrian’s words as she began skipping around him.
"Get those boar corpses here for me, will you?" Adrian instructed Sera, pointing at the two boars outside the fence.
"Aye! Aye! Captain!" Seraphine gave him a mock salute before running away. "Master gave me his dagger~ Master thinks I’m important!"
Adrian looked at her repeat the words and sighed before breaking into a smile. She was still mumbling something excitedly while dragging the corpses to him.
Once the corpses were gathered, Adrian used [Salvage] on all three corpses at once.
[Salvaging successful! (3x Boar Corpse processed)]
[Skill Yield: Raw Boar Meat (~75kg), 3x Boar Carcass (leftovers), 6x Boar Tusk, 12x Trotter, Boar Sinew (~1.2kg), Boar Bone (~21kg), 1x Hide (intact), and 2x Hide (tattered)]
[Ancestor’s 10x Blessing in effect. Gained: Raw Boar Meat (~750kg), 30x Boar Carcass (leftover), 60x Boar Tusk, 120x Trotter, Boar Sinew (~12kg), Boar Bone (~210kg), 10x Hide (intact), and 20x Hide (tattered)]
[Penalty: 20x Hide downgraded due to explosive force trauma. Material is unsuitable for high-tier armor crafting, but can be used for patchwork and making pet gear.]
[Due to forced salvaging, item: Boar Blood, is wasted.]
[Items can be stored in your inventory for preservation for up to 100 hours.]
"Holy shit..." Adrian mumbled, staring at the flood of notifications and the ridiculous amount of materials that now filled his inventory to the brim.
There were some items that he couldn’t even store and had to ask Seraphine to take them in her inventory instead.
Thanks to the smokehouse and an endless fire in the form of the fire pit, this much meat could support them for over three months at least. Given that they kept all this meat for themselves and didn’t trade it.
Suddenly, the wolf meat in the smokehouse no longer had any uses other than trading. Besides, since it was smoked meat, they could get even better items in exchange for it.
She’s lucky, alright.
Adrian thought as he saw Hannah walk out of the home. He had come to rescue her, but now he would leave with a shit tonne of food and other materials.
He could now craft reinforced armor with the boar hide and even make something for Huginn and Freki. Heck, he could even make bags to make it easier for the tribeswomen to carry things!
The possibilities were literally endless!
And it was all because he took a gamble at recruiting the luckiest person he knew on the Savage Earth.
However, the surprises weren’t over yet.
Another series of notifications flashed before his eyes.
[Enslavement Contract has been recognized by both parties.]
[You have successfully defended your servant’s shelter from hostile creatures.]
[As the owner of the Enslavement Contract, you now hold equal rights over this settlement.]
[You may freely travel between your primary settlement and this secondary settlement using any means available.]
[Both settlements are now considered under your control.]
"...Two settlements?" he mumbled, turning towards Hannah, only to see her grinning back at him.
"It’s not much, but it’s the only thing I can give you at the moment," she said, giving him a thumbs up. "I hope it’s enough for repayment."
Adrian nodded gratefully and sent her a text to show his gratitude at the reward. After all, owning two bases was a huge achievement for him.
Hannah’s sturdy three-story house could serve as multiple things. It could be perfect for storage, scouting, or even a fallback point if their main settlement ever came under serious threat.
"I can feel my luck overflowing!!!"
[Then how about you claim another woman? Since you’re so lucky, they wouldn’t reject you, will they?]
"...get your head out of my dick, for once."
