The trip back to the hidden stash was so much easier this time around.
The main reason was because Kaizen was not trying to drag five hundred pounds of metal and treasure through thick snow anymore like an idiot. He felt light on his feet. He could actually move at a normal speed.
He was basically a man with an empty inventory slot and a dream of getting filthy rich.
He found the marked pine tree without any trouble. The snowbank he had carefully packed over his treasure looked completely undisturbed, exactly how he left it.
"Open Sesame," Kaizen whispered while tapping the silver ring sitting on his finger.
He pushed a tiny bit of his pathetic mana into the enchanted metal.
Whoosh.
The ring did not make sparkles or flash with light. It just created this vacuum effect. All the massive bundles of golden chalices and blood-stained armor got violently sucked into the ring like someone slurping up spaghetti.
Everything was sitting there in the snow one second. The next second it had completely vanished into the ring's storage dimension.
Kaizen pulled up the ring's status interface in his mind to check.
[Vault Status: 12% Full]
"Inventory management is honestly the greatest magic of all time," Kaizen sighed while wiping a snowflake from his freezing nose.
He stored his heavy thermal suit into the ring next, which left him shivering in just his track suit. He technically could have worn the warm suit down the mountain until he got back to the base of the trail, but he decided against it because he wanted to move fast. Sure, he was absolutely freezing his butt off, but at least he was light and quick.
He dropped down heavily on a thick tree root sticking out of the ground to catch his breath for a minute. His stomach made a loud rumbling noise that echoed in the quiet forest.
"Time for a lunch break."
He pulled out the crinkled plastic bag Helga had given him what felt like forever ago. There was still half a sandwich left along with a bit of hard-boiled egg. He unscrewed the cap on the warped water bottle.
Steam actually rose from the opening.
The coffee inside was still impossibly hot somehow.
"Helga, you are some kind of thermal dynamics wizard," Kaizen whispered with genuine reverence while taking a sip that warmed up his entire chest cavity. "I am seriously naming my firstborn child after you."
That statement was probably a lie, but he genuinely meant it in the moment.
He ended up sitting there completely alone in the freezing wilderness, eating cold ham and drinking impossibly hot coffee. Somehow it turned into the best meal he had ever tasted in his entire life. Free food when you are broke just hits different. It tasted like victory. It tasted like money saved.
He finished off the last bite and pushed himself up to leave, letting the ring automatically suck his backpack into storage.
CRUNCH.
Some kind of sound echoed from somewhere deeper in the treeline. This was not just wind blowing through branches. This was the very distinct sound of bone snapping in half.
Kaizen froze completely in place like a statue.
He turned his head super slowly toward where the noise came from.
About fifty meters down the slope, a huge explosion of snow shot upward.
A Snow Deer burst out of the bushes at absolutely full speed. The thing was majestic looking with antlers made of pure crystal. The problem was that it was clearly running desperately for its life.
Chasing right behind it was this blur of white and blue fur moving at crazy speed.
[Ice Leopard]
[Rank: C]
The predator was absolutely massive up close. You could see muscle coiled tight under thick winter fur. Its fangs looked like deadly icicles. Its eyes were burning with pure predatory hunger.
"Yeah, nope."
Kaizen did not even think about trying to fight it. He did not try to be some kind of hero. He did not bother checking his completely pathetic stats.
He just scrambled up the nearest pine tree as fast as his weak arms could physically pull him.
He wrapped his arms around the trunk in a death grip, burying his entire face in the scratchy needles, doing his absolute best to look like a large and completely unappetizing pinecone.
'Please do not look up here. Please do not smell the coffee on my breath.'
Down below him on the snowy ground, this brutal drama played out in real time.
The deer was incredibly fast when it wanted to be. It kept zigzagging between trees, kicking up huge clouds of snow, trying desperately to use its natural agility to escape. The thing was genuinely brave. It was fighting for survival all by itself against this massive beast.
The leopard was not just mindlessly running after its prey though. This thing was hunting with actual intelligence.
It moved like a sheepdog herding livestock. It kept cutting off all the escape angles. It deliberately drove the deer toward a specific patch of deep, soft snow drift.
The deer's leg went into the soft snow and it stumbled really badly.
ROAR.
The leopard pounced without hesitation. What happened next was not even a contest. It was just a straight up execution.
Kaizen watched the whole thing from his branch, feeling his heart hammering against the rough bark.
The deer managed to kick its legs once in final defiance before it went completely still. The leopard grabbed its prize and dragged the body away into the deeper forest, leaving behind this long streak of bright red blood painted across the white snow.
"That was absolutely brutal to watch."
He kept staring at the empty spot where the deer had been alive just seconds ago.
"That deer genuinely thought it could outrun the predator through pure speed. It thought if it was just fast enough and brave enough, it could somehow survive completely alone out here."
Kaizen slowly shook his head.
"What a stupid deer."
He leaned his back against the rough trunk, deciding to wait patiently until the leopard's predatory aura faded completely from the general area.
"I am not going to end up being that deer," Kaizen decided with absolute certainty. "I am not going to try and outrun the leopards that attend this academy."
His mind drifted to Lance Wind surrounded by his massive entourage. He thought about Cedric with his overwhelming natural talent. Klaus and Leo with their ridiculous power levels. He thought about the absolutely terrifying monsters studying in the upper years.
"Being brave just gets you eaten alive in this world. Going solo just gets you cornered and brutally killed."
He looked down at his hands that were still trembling slightly.
"The smart play is being the deer that hides safely in the middle of the herd where predators cannot reach. The winning strategy is standing behind the giant Mammoth that can stomp any leopard completely flat."
"Stay low profile," Kaizen whispered what was becoming his personal survival mantra. "Live as long as possible. Let the Main Characters fight the world-ending bosses while I quietly loot the treasure chest sitting in the background."
He forced himself to wait another full ten minutes just to be absolutely certain it was safe. Then he carefully slid down the tree trunk, brushed all the pine needles off his clothes, and walked back toward the main road.
The public bus showed up right on schedule.
Kaizen climbed on board, tapping his new ring against the metal railing like it was a good luck charm.
"Time to head back to the store and get paid."