When he returned to the clearing, the others were already assembling piles of collected loot—armor, weapons, shards, and crystals, all sorted into rough stacks.
And Ember sat near the remains of the firepit, her silver wings folded tight, her face pale with exhaustion, scanning the forest edge with silent vigilance.
Dreal approached as Karl arrived.
"My Lord," he reported, "we found several items of value among the fallen—and after questioning the prisoners."
He presented a written list:
⟢ Total 55 Essence Crystals — [1 Silver I, 2 Bronze III, 15 Bronze II, 37 Bronze I]
⟢ 2 Skill Shards — Titan's Endurance (Silver I), Storm Step (Bronze II)
⟢ 1 Artifact — Twin-Headed Warhammer with Skill: Judgment of the Stormbeast (Dormant)
⟢ 1 Construction Blueprint — Beast Pen
⟢ Spirit Grass — required material for beast pen
⟢ 3 Teleportation Shards — A onetime use fragment of pure spatial essence that opens a rift for instant travel across worlds. Resonates with the Lord's spatial location, usable by both humans and summoned creatures.
Karl exhaled slowly. "A good haul," he murmured.
Seeing the haul, Karl couldn't help but notice a pattern. When he hunted beasts, the rewards were meager—shards, crystals, maybe a fragment or two.
But when a rival Lord or a summoned being fell, the spoils were far richer, filled with rare and unique treasures.
Karl frowned slightly. A quiet unease settled in his chest. Was the world itself pushing them toward bloodshed? Forcing the Lords to turn on each other just to grow stronger?
The thought lingered, cold and heavy, as if the land itself demanded conflict.
Karl drew a slow breath, trying to shake off the tension tightening in his gut. He turned his focus back to the items before him and reached for the shards first.
Titan's Endurance (Silver I)
Reinforces the user's body with essence, greatly increasing defense and resistance.
After a pause, he tossed the shard with skill Titans endurance to Dreal.
Gasps rippled through the camp.
Dreal caught it, stunned. "M-my lord, I—"
"Take it," Karl said simply. His tone left no room for refusal.
Dreal hesitated, then bowed and accepted it, clutching the shard to his chest with visible gratitude.
Then he picked another skill shard and its knowledge started flooding in his mind.
Storm Step (Bronze II)
A short-range movement technique that channels lightning to dash forward in an instant.
He decided to keep the Storm Step skill shard for himself. A skill like that could mean the difference between escape and defeat.
Karl then examined the massive Warhammer.
He recognized its essence at once—its dormant power thrummed faintly in the air.
Judgment of the Stormbeast —
Slams the hammer into the ground, summoning a storm vortex centered on impact.
The vortex pulls enemies inward and unleashes three waves of lightning shock, each stronger than the last.
Activation Requirement: 2 Silver I Essence Crystals.
He glanced toward Grok, Dren, Gorran and Borin—the warriors strong enough to wield it.
Excitement flickered across their faces, but Karl shook his head.
He decided not to activate it since they can't use its full strength at the movement.
Still, he handed the weapon to Grok. Finally, he unfolded the blueprint.
Beast Pen Blueprint
A containment and nurturing zone for low- to mid-tier beasts. Allows taming up to 3 beasts per tier at once.
• Gradually restores beast health (+5%/hr)
• Increases taming success rate by +15%
Required Materials:
150 Refined Wood | 80 Stone Blocks | 30 Beast Hide Straps | 40 Iron Nails | 20 Spirit Grass | 5 Bronze I Essence Crystals
And he couldn't forget the Teleportation Shard — that miraculous fragment capable of sending him back to Earth without a gate. But its power came with a flaw: activation takes time, and the greater the distance between worlds, the longer it takes to activate.
Suddenly, he noticed the shadows stretching long beneath the fading sun, reaching toward the treeline.
"We're done here," he said at last. "Let's bring back important stuff back to base. The blood and noise will draw beasts soon enough."
The group nodded and began preparing to leave. The wounded were lifted onto makeshift carriers, while the able-bodied secured the spoils.
Karl lingered for a moment longer. His eyes drifted toward the ruins of the portal—the fractured stones and broken frame glowing faintly in the dusk.
With one last glance at the shattered battlefield, Karl turned and followed his people into the darkening forest—the faint hum of the Teleportation Core still whispering in his hand,
promising both a path forward—and a return home.