Because Leona, the person with the largest Storage Artifact in the entire group, was still unconscious, they couldn't store the Trolls' corpses.
Her Soul Origin was linked to the Storage Artifact, which made it impossible for others to access it.
Fortunately, that was no problem for Zayn. He had countless expanding pouches, which were Pseudo-Artifacts, a Spatial Artifact, which he got from Manager Tilan's body, and the Silvermoon Bracelet.
Zayn had more than enough space to store the three Trolls and the squashed Lesser Earth Dragon.
Even if he couldn't manifest the Spirit of the Lesser Earth Dragon anymore, he could sell the corpse or turn it into a Soul Orb with Glutton's help.
"I will return the Troll corpses when we're at the Silverflame Camp."
There was no need for Zayn to be overly greedy right now. It was not worth quarreling with anyone over a few corpses and it was certainly better to have some people on his side. That would make things a lot easier once they reached the Silverflame Camp.
"Thank you. That's very nice of you!" Jeremy said, and the others nodded gratefully in his direction as well.
"There is something I am curious about," Zayn said all of a sudden, "Was it your mission to hunt the Trolls, or what exactly are the missions of the Hunting Units? Is it something like collecting points from hunting monsters, or am I completely wrong?"
He read a lot about the cadet training camps of the Big Three Legions, which included their unique training methods and the requirements one had to meet in order to become a temporary cadet in one of the three big legions. There was a grace period in which one had to advance to a certain degree in order to be accepted as a real cadet in the three big legions.
From what he heard in the form of rumors and read in newspapers and records of the past events held by the three big legions, things were a little bit different this year.
Not only were Normies accepted as cadets in one of the three big legions for the first time over the last 300 years, but the requirements to register for the training camp were also much harsher than before.
One had to be below 20 years, in possession of two completed Soulrings, it was necessary to possess a certain degree of knowledge in all fields, and most important…one had to be strong enough to fight three monsters at the same rank.
The last point varied a lot according to the Blessing one possessed, and the rating one wanted to achieve.
If one merely wanted to pass the test, it was fine to fight one monster after another. That was enough to pass the test.
For Blessed with non-combat Blessings, they were given alternative tests. After all, their focus was not combat, for most of them at least.
"Why we hunt trolls? Isn't it obvious?" Mike answered with a question. His voice suggested that he was trying to ridicule Zayn, but the young Normie didn't fall for the trap. He was just smiling.
"I know that the body parts of Trolls are expensive. If you use merit points or gold coins as currency in the Silverflame Camp doesn't really matter to me. I just wanted to know if this was a unique mission, or if you guys went out on your own to hunt the three Trolls.
After all -please don't take any offense-, it was a little dangerous for six Soul Knights at the Lower levels to attempt killing three Trolls that were about to advance to Soul Lords," Zayn clarified calmly, not taking any offense at the apparent provocation of the Blessed.
Mike expected Zayn to throw a tantrum. However, the opposite was the case. The young Normie kept his calm and spoke calmly. That made it seem as if Mike was the young child that had to be lectured, rather than being the adult who should know better.
The others smiled at Mike as he realized that he was a little childish. Zayn wasn't offending anyone. He was just curious because he didn't know better.
"If you're familiar with the Mission system of the Adventurer Alliance, you should know that the Adventure Alliance requires certain body parts for hunting missions.
It is pretty similar to the Silverflame Camp. We receive merit points for killing monsters, and we're allowed to sell them afterward. Merit points are pretty valuable because you can purchase all kinds of martial art techniques, Soul Crystals, Artifacts, and many other things that are hard to come by as commoners," Jeremy answered as he lead the way back to the Silverflame Camp.
Jeremy was a little exhausted, but he was in the best condition among his people. David was currently carrying the unconscious Leona, despite his fractured arms. He did this in order to make sure that everyone else could focus on fighting if monsters were to attack them. His arms were useless, so he might as well use the rest of his body to help his team out, even if it was only a little.
Jeremy saw that Zayn wasn't convinced about the answer he had received.
'Does he think that Merit Points are worthless? Did he live in the wilderness for too long? Or is he from a noble family?... He has some Artifacts…'
"It is not easy for us to procure unique weapons, Artifacts, Soul crystals, and other exotic items because most of us come from ordinary families. Most of us were poor and we don't have connections to a Grandmaster Blacksmith who forges Artifacts whenever we want. Most of us have never even seen a Grandmaster Blacksmith, in the first place!
Only nobles and high-ranked powerhouses can throw money at a Grandmaster Blacksmith and demand to forge something at once. We would have to queue up for months, if not years to request a customized Artifact."
'Or you're an idiot like me who fights with a prodigious Master Blacksmith, who takes a liking to you because both of you are Orphans and worked hard to achieve what you want.' Zayn added with a smug expression as he recalled how he threw 4000 gold coins on the counter in Titan's shop after he asked for several customized Artifacts and expensive Soul Knight Armaments.
Thinking back to that time, Zayn's smile widened lightly.
Jeremy and the others weren't too sure how to interpret the smile, but they knew that Zayn was different from them. The Dragontale Twin Sabers, Elvia Leather Armor, and the Silvermoon Bracelet were evidently expensive Artifacts.
Zayn understood what Jeremy was doing, and he was grateful for his explanations. However, it was not as if the explanations answered the question he asked before.
'Did I ask gibberish, or is it hard to understand my questions?'
'Let's just say that they hunted the Trolls because the Mission board in the Silverflame Camp rewarded lots of Merit Points, in addition to the value of the corpse, of course. I shouldn't repeat my question, otherwise, they might lynch me…' Zayn told himself before preparing a few more questions he could ask.
He was a little interested in the three big legions. After all, he clearly recalled the letter he had received from a member of the Silverheart Legion ten months ago.
There were too many things that attracted his attention, and he hoped that things would get a little bit more exciting!
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