Chapter 237

Everyone rushed toward the werewolf while Ray practically dragged his feet along, hampered by a dull ache vibrating through his entire frame.

It felt as though his physical body had been put through a meat grinder, and even with his healing, a deep, bone-weary soreness remained.

Soon, the group gathered around Felix, who held out the shimmering beast cores for all to see.

"Woah... two beast cores? Since when did that become possible?" Chloe asked, her eyes widening.

Small stars practically danced in her pupils as she stared at the glowing spheres.

Caster, however, did not appear nearly as surprised.

Though a flicker of shock crossed his face, it wasn’t nearly as exaggerated as the expressions the others were displaying.

Even Ray’s mouth hung agape as his mind began running rapid calculations.

’Woah. This is incredible. I believe one Advanced beast core costs around five thousand credits, considering cores only start dropping from that rank upward.

That would mean a single King-ranked core could easily fetch ten thousand. With two? That’s at least twenty thousand credits.’

Currency symbols practically began shining in his eyes as he stared at the loot.

’If only I can get my hands on—’

"Well, it’s not a complete shocker. I imagine your instructors simply neglected to inform you all," Caster uttered, drawing everyone out of their greedy reveries.

"Meaning?" Ray asked, lifting a brow.

Caster turned toward him.

He stared at Ray for a second or two longer than necessary, his gaze probing, before he finally replied.

"Advanced rank beasts drop a single core. But from the King rank upward, they can drop multiple.

The amount can vary as the ranks increase, but it is common knowledge that King-ranked creatures often drop more than one. It’s almost a guarantee if the beast possessed an innate ability."

Chloe, Van, Ray, and Felix’s eyes all shone with newfound realization. "Woah!"

Caster simply shrugged and looked away, seemingly indifferent.

Kai, however, remained focused on the Aspirant with a narrowed, suspicious gaze.

"So uhm... what happens now? Who gets the cores?" Chloe poised the question, looking at the shining prizes with pure glee.

Knowing how powerful that King-ranked beast had been, she knew that laying her hands on even one of those cores could drastically increase her meta-force pool.

’And if I get both, I could absorb one and sell the second to gain enough credits for an ability book. Maybe I’d finally be able to learn a new technique and evolve to the next sub-grade.’

In the world of Meta-humans, growing stronger was a massive hassle.

Aside from those born into Legacy families, most individuals who wanted to become Metas had to acquire their powers through Ability books.

This allowed them to gain a power of their choice.

Depending on the initial size of their mf pool, that would determine their grade once they successfully mastered the ability.

However, evolving to the next grade—or even a sub-grade—was an uphill battle.

First, they needed to expand their total mf capacity by consuming beast cores.

Given how rare cores were unless one ventured to a dangerous beast planet, doing so was incredibly difficult.

Once they reached the absolute limit of their current grade and were unable to absorb more cores, they would then need to purchase a skill book specifically related to their power set.

After acquiring a book for the next sub-grade—or the next full grade if they were wealthy enough—and mastering the knowledge within, they could finally evolve, and their mf pool would expand naturally.

Exactly how this process worked remained a mystery to the public.

In short, it seemed that in this world, knowledge truly birthed power.

They all looked at one another in a confused silence until Felix spoke up, breaking the tension.

"I feel like both beast cores should go to Ray."

"Huh?!" Trish frowned deeply at the werewolf’s suggestion.

"What?" Felix shot back, matching her expression with a glare.

"Do you honestly think you would have been able to do anything to that beast if Ray wasn’t here?!"

Trish crossed her arms over her chest, her glare hardening.

"And he wouldn’t have been able to defeat that monster if we hadn’t helped. All our individual contributions culminated in him landing the final blow. He shouldn’t just get all the credit!"

Caster remained silent, burying his hands deep in his pockets while he watched the drama unfold with a detached gaze.

Ray, for his part, was taken aback by the sudden friction over the beast cores.

"Er..."

Before he could interject, Felix cut him off, his eyes flashing as he glared in Trish’s direction.

"Our little contributions? Yes, we contributed. But who dealt the finishing strike? Who was the one maiming the beast and taking the brunt of its fury? It was Ray! Why are you being so selfish and trying to diminish his feats?"

"I’m not diminishing his feats," Trish snapped back.

"In fact, you’re the one being unreasonable. We all want to grow stronger; we all want to be powerful. Monopolizing rare resources for just one person is utterly wrong."

Trish then shifted her gaze toward Ray.

"... Especially for a werewolf we know nothing about. Who knows? He could actually be another threat humanity needs to worry about, just like the Aberrants. I’m not about to take any chances, so fucking hand over those cores."

Felix pulled his hands back, his teeth sharpening into jagged points.

"Make me."

"Uhm guys... I don’t think there’s a need to fight. I don’t really need th—"

"SHUT UP!" Felix and Trish shouted in unison, their glares snapping toward Ray and silencing him instantly.

Now, the air between the duo crackled with a dangerous intensity as they locked eyes.

Even though her meta-force reserves were nearly dry, frost still crept around Trish’s fingers.

Felix’s hands were already beginning to shift into deadly claws.

Ray turned toward Kai, a pleading look in his eyes for someone to intervene.

With a heavy, weary sigh, the blonde-haired boy strolled forward and stood directly between them.

"I think that’s enough fighting for one day," Kai stated firmly.

"Then tell him to distribute those cores equally!" Trish retorted, her voice cold.

"No! They belong to my brother!" Felix growled.

Kai sighed again, shaking his head at their stubbornness. "I feel like there’s a simple fix for this whole mess."

"Huh?!" the duo muttered, their confusion momentarily breaking their focus.

"Yes," Kai continued. "Let’s just put it to a vote and decide what to do with the cores."