Blood pooled beneath the massive serpent's corpse, steam rising where it contacted the earth. The creature's death throes had finally ceased, leaving ten meters of scales sprawled across broken ground.
Ethan wiped his daggers clean, silver energy still cascading from his form as he studied the fallen beast.
Ruan surveyed the corpse before turning away. "Take it. You need it."
Ethan's eyebrows rose slightly. A silver-rank core represented wealth beyond calculation—yet the general offered it without hesitation.
"You earned it," Ruan added, noting his surprise. "I merely delivered the final strike."
Without further debate, Ethan knelt beside the massive head, daggers finding the precise spot where the core resided.
He pocketed the core for later consumption. He also removed some things from the storage ring and stored the body for later talent extraction.
