Chapter 113: Bonding Reward

Darcel quickly jumped off the Soul Weaver ape's colossal head once it was indeed dead. 

As he landed on the snowy ground, the Soul Weaver ape's corpse fell over backward and crashed into the snow, creating a loud thumb sound.

"Boy, oh, boy. Even for our crazy standards, that fight was….it was almost too easy! That ape only lasted for like thirty seconds or so at most!" 

Aniela strolled up to Darcel, with slight disappointment containing her voice.

"Well, to be fair, we recently just fried four seventh rank dudes before coming here. Plus, we did kill it off before the ape before it could probably take out its ultimate trump card." Yasami had chimed in while walking up to Darcel as well.

And on Yasami point of the Soul Weaver ape's trump card, Darcel turned back around to the ape. He had noted where the ape was trying to put his hand in his fur coat throughout the fight.

Assuming that was his trump card weapon, Darcel strolled back over to the colossal ape. 

Swirls of black and blue flames still surged in the Soul Weaver ape's gaping hole of a chest.

And at the top of the ape's massive head, black flames pooled from it, leaving a trail of blood to stain the snow. 

After silently remarking on just how badly they messed up the ape, Darcel's eyes quickly spotted where the ape was trying to put its hand in.

Aniela and Yasami were a bit confused watching Darcel. They didn't really bother to pay attention to where the Soul Weaver ape was trying to pull out its weapon. Their main goal was killing it before anything happened. 

Before either girl could question Darcel, though, he already plunged his hand deep inside the Soul Weaver ape's fur coat. 

Darcel shifted his hand around a bit in its fur coat until he quickly felt a hard metal object. Taking hold of the object, Darcel pulled it out, having Aniela and Yasami bare first witness to it. 

Promptly then, Aniela and Yasami eyebrows were inquisitively raised up. And Aniela blurted out, "A….flute? That's….this is….unexpected."

Indeed, what Darcel held in his hand was a uniquely designed long silver flute. The bright silver shine of the flute had an alluring pull towards it as if it would drown you in its radiant glow.

"Huh. I was expecting some sort of strange or sudden aura to leak out of the weapon you would pull out. But….I'm sensing not a single thing from this luscious looking flute." 

Yasami had some mild disappointment in her voice, obviously expecting a more fabulous treasure than this.

However, Darcel wasn't so quick to judge. He put his hand on his chin, pondering the flute for a bit. 

A small idea crossed his mind then as he had then told the girls, "Let's see if it will respond to a small bit of Qi energy."

Aniela and Yasami's eyes lit up a bit from Darcel's suggestion. 

And under the girls' curious gazes, Darcel poured a small portion of his Qi directly into the silver flute.

Immediately then, Darcel, Aniela, and Yasami's eyes widened a bit as they got a prompt reaction from the silver flute! 

A shimmering silver hue burst from the flute, making the instrument even more captivating to gaze upon.

But what truly caught the trio's attention was what their Spirit Senses picked up from the flute. Just from the small bit of Darcel's Qi, an unfathomable aura discharged from the silver flute!

In Darcel, Aniela, and Yasami soul's depths, they felt a slight churning. 

The sensation swirling in their souls didn't suppress them, but it was something to take note of. More shock had entered the trio's eyes then. 

They all quickly realized this flute would've been the Soul Weaver ape's soul attack!

Moreover, in terms of weapon aura, Darcel and Aniela sensed that this flute may even match their Scimitars in terms of rank! 

In fact, not just match, the duo even felt that the flute may just be even more powerful than their Scimitars!

"He….hehehe~! Now, this is a surprise! If we didn't kill the ape so quickly, it would've been funny to see such a ferocious creature try and smoothly play such a small item!" 

Aniela had found an immediate joke about the situation, despite sensing the flute's great power.

"Ah, I was thinking it might've been a Spirit Artifact at first. But….this flute. It could very well be one of those rare musical instruments that can heavily damper a person's abilities through all kinds of mystical effects!" 

Yasami took the flute's power a bit more seriously and explained.

Hearing her, Darcel had cut off his Qi flow towards the flute. 

The silver flute lost its shimmering aura and went back to being a seemingly ordinary instrument. Darcel spatial ring had then ignited as he began saying,

"A rare musical instrument, eh? Best to find out more about it before even attempting to use it. I'm guessing all those who took this mission from the Nobe's Fang group just died when the ape took the flute out, or they escaped before the ape could take the flute out. In any case, we'll discuss this with Fruna later. For now, though…."

Darcel had transferred the silver flute into his spatial ring and walked back to the Soul Weaver ape. He fished out his scimitar once again and hovered his blade over the lower half of its massive stomach.

Without waiting for Aniela and Yasami's reaction, Darcel swiftly tore a massive hole in the ape at this specific part using his scimitar. 

What revealed itself to Darcel made his eyes glow up in joy.

Beyond the mesh of ruined organs and bones, Darcel spotted a singular lone object that looked vibrant. The object was in a circle shape and appeared to be as large as a core. 

The Core was beating red, much like the red highlights in the ape's fur.

Darcel didn't care about the ape's internal body's grotesques mess and stuck his hand directly in it. Quickly, Darcel grabbed hold of the Core and ripped it out of the ape's body, holding it up high for both Aniela and Yasami to see.

Initially, Yasami found Darcel's action a bit gross of going through the ape's blood and guts. But when she saw that large red Core, a bright twinkle sparked in her eyes.

"Ah! I was suspecting a creature that would be given a title is a special variant beast! Moreover, the red tier? We just scored an extremely valuable Spirit Monster Core!" 

An understanding light entered Darcel and Aniela's eyes then.

They already know that while Spirit Monster Cores may not be all that helpful to a cultivator's personal cultivation. Given the fact that these Cores all hold a fierce chaotic berserk quality of its energy that could have a potentially damaging effect of permanently destroying one's veins.

But still, Spirit Monster Cores are all highly valuable because of Mages. 

Unlike cultivators, Mages has far more versatile and unique uses that they could do with Spirit Monster Cores.

And generally, since Mages tend to stay more in groups and reject traveling around, their main avenue in receiving Spirit Monster Cores are cultivators. 

Furthermore, all Mages run high prices for even the lowest tier of Spirit Monster Cores.

Knowing all of this, Darcel still decided one decision for the Soul Weaver ape's Core. He purged a bit of his Qi around the red Core to destroy any leftover blood and guts on it.

Once it was freshly clean, Darcel turned his eyes over to lock gazes with Aniela. For a split second, their faces gained a mischievous knowing smirk. 

Suddenly then, Aniela opened up her mouth to say, "You sure are knowledgeable about this Yasami. So since all that is so….then you can have the Core all to yourself!" 

Both Aniela and Darcel immensely enjoyed Yasami's stunned reaction when hearing Aniela's response.

Yasami was genuinely taken off guard by how casual Aniela sounded. Her attention quickly zeroed onto her, and she raised a surprised voice. 

"Hey, hey! What do you mean by that?! All of this is a team effort, so we should obviously split the reward!"

Aniela's smile only grew broader hearing her answer. More and more, Aniela was quickly coming to like this cute hooded robe girl. 

In a show of her appreciation, Aniela boldly strolled right up to Yasami and casually slung her shoulder around her. "True, it was a team effort. But! For this….consider it as a welcoming gift from Darcy and me about our new blossoming friendship!" 

With how bold and straightforward Aniela is being, Yasami quickly got fluster under her.

Still, Aniela had surprisingly comfortable warm body heat that Yasami didn't want to push off. Moreover, Aniela exuded a naturally sweet fragrance that soothed into her nostril and calmed her mind a bit. 

While it didn't feel as good as when Darcel lightly touched her. Yasami couldn't deny how soft and warm Aniela felt. 

"Ah-Ah….uhm…." Yasami was trying to find the right words to say as her voice stuttered in slight embarrassment.

Seeing the momentum Aniela created, Darcel was quick to hop on this opportunity. He began to stroll up to Yasami and instantly gotten her attention as her head snapped towards him.

Once Darcel neared a mere couple of feet between Yasami, she was like a deer caught in the headlights. 

Her body nearly went utterly rigid, and her heartbeat began to pick up in its pace. From the devilish handsome but slight teasing smile of his, Yasami knew Darcel and Aniela had the intention to mess with her. 

But surprisingly enough, Darcel only went for one of her hands.

He went pretty slowly, allowing Yasami enough time to move her hand if she really didn't want his hand. Yet Yasami only stayed still, her gaze in a slight trance by the situation.

Seeing his permission to go, Darcel's smile grew broad, and he gently picked Yasami's hand. 

Immediately, Darcel had to remark in his mind on just how incredibly warm and smooth her bare hands were.

It was like she naturally exuded a stream of constant warmth every single second. This one-touch already made Darcel hopeful for future endeavors. 

While for Yasami, she felt enriched by Darcel's touch. It was like small electrifying shocks of pleasure trickled down her spine and caused her soul to soothed under his touch. 

Although, Yasami desperately fought back this feeling as she didn't want to lose all of her cool under this annoying duo! 

Not especially when her heartbeat was only becoming quicker by the minute.

"You know, Yasami. This would actually be the first time Aniela and I have done anything like this. But really, some people may say us two have charms. And yet, Aniela and I can't help but get captivated under your alluring charms."

Darcel smoothly told Yasami while depositing the Soul Weaver ape's Core in her hand. 

Immediately, Darcel felt Yasami's body tremble a bit. And for sure, Darcel could see a scarlet blush popping up from under her hood.

Closing her palm, Darcel took a step back and felt much amused by Yasami's blushing reaction. 

Abruptly then, Yasami snapped her head back up to him and blurted out, "I-I-I-You-Ah! Fine! I'll take your stupid gift! But only because you two are so….so insistent!" 

Yasami's embarrassed shout made her voice undeniably cuter and a joy to listen to.

"Hehehe~!! That was your cutest reaction yet, Yasami! Oh, I know more so than ever now that we'll be getting along so great in the near future!" Aniela's words only caused Yasami to quickly shift her head back down.

"Let's just carve up this stupid ape already…." Yasami quietly grumbled, not finding Aniela's words or tone of voice odd. 

But Darcel had promptly flashed his eyes over to Aniela and experienced something different.

While her voice and words seemed to suggest only friendship, Darcel could tell there was something….peculiar about her voice and eyes. 

Specifically, this peculiar oddity Darcel recognized all too well in Aniela.

The glint she had in her eyes, her slightly different tone, was all something she would use when her lust began to rise up. Furthermore, Aniela even gave Darcel a suggestive sexy smile of hers that further confirmed his theory.

And Darcel himself couldn't stop his broadening smile from forming on his face. 

But still, Darcel kept his voice calm and steady as he then said, "Right, right. We can't have you blowing over in cuteness. Let's carve this ape up."

Aniela had excitedly bounced off from Yasami then and began to zealously walk up to Darcel. 

"Oh, oh! Let me get the tail! I've been curious why they're calling this beast an ape."

Yasami lagged behind Aniela a bit, her eyes still lingering on Darcel. 

"You….charming idiot." She had very quietly squeaked out, making sure neither Darcel nor Aniela had heard it. 

But a widening smile couldn't stop from forming on Yasami's lips.

Yasami had then quickly walked over to the ape as well, saying, "I'll get the heart then. It seems the least messy to get." 

While Yasami was walking up, Darcel didn't let it show on his face. But internally, he was wildly grinning. He had very well heard that small cute little voice and knew he would be in for some fun days in the near future.