Free Web NovelChapter 19: Harvest and Battles
After killing the Venom Blade Mantis, Ren did not rush to leave immediately.
Instead, he used his light-brain and opened the material guide manual provided by the Explorer Guild. Since this was his first real kill inside a Secret Realm, he wanted to make sure he did not waste anything valuable by harvesting blindly.
He quickly searched for Venom Blade Mantis. A detailed entry appeared in front of him.
The manual listed three main valuable materials: Corrosive Venom, Blade Limbs, and Outer Carapace. Of the three, the venom was the most valuable — the blades were sharp and useful, the outer shell could be used in crafting, but the venom had more direct uses in poison crafting, corrosive compounds, traps, and even some low-grade medicinal experiments.
Ren nodded to himself. "Good thing I checked first."
He carefully took out the tools he needed and began harvesting. The process was slower than he expected, but he moved carefully — the last thing he wanted was to spill the venom on himself or damage a useful part.
First, he collected the venom sacs and sealed them in special containers. Then he detached the blade limbs, trying not to ruin their edges. After that, he harvested several usable pieces of the outer carapace.
By the time he was done, the corpse had lost most of its useful value. Ren put everything away, cleaned his gloves as best he could, and stood up.
Then he looked around the forest once more.
The fight had been short, but it had reminded him of something very important. This place was dangerous. Really dangerous.
And yet — his heart was still beating a little faster. Not just from tension. From excitement too.
That was the part that surprised him more. Instead of shrinking back after the fight, some part of him wanted more. Not because he had lost his fear of death. But because the fight had felt real in a way nothing else had since he came to this world.
Ren exhaled once and started moving again. This time, even more careful than before.
— • —
As Ren continued through the forest, he went back to collecting genetic materials from plants and animals along the way.
Unlike most explorers, who often ignored low-value materials unless they had a specific reason, Ren treated almost everything as worthwhile. He had plenty of space in the space ring and more than enough preservation containers.
Time passed before he even realized it. One encounter became two. One day became two.
And then before he knew it —
14 Bloom, 7,701.
It was already Ren’s fourth morning inside the Secret Realm.
These past few days had been incredibly eventful. Plentiful. Dangerous. And honestly... kind of insane. Not only had he collected a large amount of genetic material, but he had also come face-to-face with the absurd variety of life inside the realm.
Some creatures were beautiful. Some were strange. Some were dangerous. And some were so ridiculous that Ren wondered whether the universe had a sense of humor.
Among the many species he had scanned, a few had stuck with him.
One was a Molten Metal Slime — a semi-liquid metallic puddle that swallowed little stones and rusted fragments into its body as it passed. Ren had stared at it for a moment, muttered "That’s disgusting," and collected a small hardened fragment it left behind.
Another was a patch of Jumping Grass — exactly what the name suggested. Grass. That jumped. Leaping nearly six feet in the air before settling like nothing had happened. Ren still didn’t know whether to call it funny or creepy.
There was also a Tentacle-Mouth Mire Fish near a deep pool, its mouth ringed with twitching short tentacles. Ren had taken a long step back after scanning it. "Nope."
But the fourth one had completely broken whatever image of a "normal Secret Realm" he still had left.
It happened on the afternoon of the third day.
Ren had been moving through a slightly more open section when he heard a sound. Not footsteps. Not beast movement. A voice. Or at least... something close to a voice.
He moved quietly toward the source. And what he saw almost made him question his own eyes.
It was a tree. A huge one. Trunk thick, bark rough and dark, branches spread wide like a proper old tree.
Except — it also had two enormous human-like arms growing from its upper sides and two thick, root-like legs planted into the soil below.
And at that exact moment, the thing was doing what Ren could only describe as push-ups.
A giant, walking, muttering tree.
Doing push-ups.
He stared at it for several seconds in complete silence before slowly raising his hand and using SCAN.
NAME: Ironwood Humanoid Tree (Mutated)
DESCRIPTION: A rare plant-type lifeform that has developed humanoid limb structures through long-term evolution. Possesses high physical strength, unusual self-awareness, and territorial behavior.
DANGER LEVEL: Medium (Changes with Ren’s Pathway Stage)
KNOWN TRAITS:
Extremely tough bark and wood density High physical force in close combat Slow turning speed despite strong limb movement Mild self-awareness and simple vocalization ability Easily provoked if mocked, interrupted, or challenged inside its territory
Before Ren could even fully process the scan, the tree said, in a deep strained voice while continuing its push-ups,
"Lily... will see... I am... the treeiest of trees."
It paused, trembling slightly as it lowered itself again. Then with visible effort it muttered,
"No... more lazy branch accusations."
Ren had stood there completely expressionless.
Then after three more seconds, he had quietly backed away.
Because whatever else happened in this realm, he had no intention of picking a fight with a self-improvement tree going through emotional character development.
Even now, days later, just remembering it made the corner of his mouth twitch.
"This world is ridiculous," Ren muttered while moving through the forest on the fourth day.
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Still, ridiculous or not, these past few days had been extremely valuable.
He had not only gathered a lot of useful material — his actual combat sense had improved. And that improvement had not come from the Venom Blade Mantis alone.
During these four days, he had fought several more real battles. Each one had taught him something different.
The first had been an Armor Ridge Wolf — a pack-type beast with naturally armored shoulders, spine, and head, found near a broken ridge. That fight had been rough. Not because the wolf was faster than the mantis, but because it was heavier, more direct, and far better at taking hits. His punches that worked well against lighter targets felt much less effective on the armored parts. Ren had needed to rely on movement and timing, drawing it into overcommitting before striking at less protected areas. When he finally brought it down, he had needed nearly ten minutes before moving again.
’So this is about equal to the mantis,’ he had thought. ’Different danger, same trouble.’
The second had been a Cliffback Hook Ape — a giant-monkey-shaped beast with hooked bone claws and stone-like growth along its spine. It had dropped from a tree with almost no warning. If not for the footwork he had drilled in the training room, he might have ended up underneath it on the first exchange. He had barely escaped the initial drop and only won because the beast grew more reckless as the fight went on.
"Equal to the mantis too," he had muttered afterward. "Maybe worse. Way too handsy."
The third had been a Thornhide Boar — covered in short black fur with long thorn-like growths jutting from its shoulders and neck. It looked ugly but straightforward. Ren had looked at it and thought just a boar. Then it charged and nearly tore through him. He only survived because he threw himself sideways in time and let the beast smash into a tree instead of his torso.
After killing it, he had laughed once — but there had been no humor in it.
"That one was my fault."
— • —
The fourth fight had been the worst. By far.
It happened late on the third day, when he was already somewhat tired and had just finished collecting samples near a rocky stream.
He almost didn’t notice the creature at first because it blended too well with the dark water and stones. Then it moved. Not fast. Not explosive. Just with a heavy, deliberate calm that immediately made Ren’s instincts go tight. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
He scanned it.
NAME: Black Marsh Fang Crocodile
DESCRIPTION: A low-level aquatic ambush predator with extreme bite force, dense hide, and powerful tail-driven bursts in wet terrain. Particularly lethal near shallow streams, mud, and broken riverbanks.
DANGER LEVEL: High (Changes with Ren’s Pathway Stage)
The moment Ren saw the High rating, his expression changed. That was the first time he had scanned something above Medium that was actively in front of him and already aware of him.
He should have left immediately. And he tried to. But the crocodile attacked first.
That fight had nearly killed him. More than once.
His fists barely mattered against its hide. Its head was like a moving rock with teeth. Its tail nearly broke his ribs on one sweep. And when it lunged, the force behind that mouth made every previous fight feel smaller.
Ren had only survived because he abandoned the idea of beating it cleanly and focused entirely on terrain, timing, and survival. He lured it farther from the wettest ground. Forced it to waste energy turning. Struck at its eye once. Hit the lower jaw hinge once. And ran when he finally got the chance.
He didn’t kill that one. He escaped it. Barely.
Afterward, while crouched behind a cluster of roots with blood in his mouth and his whole body shaking, Ren had understood something very clearly. The optimization, the system, the quick skill growth — none of that made him untouchable. He was still weak. Still killable. Still very far from being someone who could walk through a realm like this with confidence.
That fight had crushed the little bit of arrogance that had been quietly building in him. Which, honestly, was probably a good thing.
— • —
Still, not every dangerous creature had been something he could fight. Some were things he saw and immediately decided to avoid.
A Dragon Blood Mosquito — hand-sized, with a long needle-like mouthpart dark red in color, abdomen faintly glowing as if full of thick blood. The scan flagged it as High danger, capable of piercing reinforced flesh and rapidly draining blood and energy from targets much larger than itself. Usually found in swarms. Ren had backed away. "No." Absolutely not.
A Shadow Bark Coil Serpent coiled in the branches of a dark tree, scales patterned like bark and shadow. Stealth-oriented snake-type predator with neurotoxic venom. Ren had changed direction immediately.
The third was even worse in a different way. He never got close enough to fully see its body. What he saw first was the web — huge, too huge, spread between several trees with strands so thick they almost looked like silver cords in the sunlight. Then he scanned the shape in the center.
NAME: Grave Silk Widow
DESCRIPTION: A large spider-type predator that weaves extremely durable silk traps and injects paralytic venom into restrained prey. Known to remain motionless for long periods.
DANGER LEVEL: High (Changes with Ren’s Pathway Stage)
Ren had stared at the web for three full seconds. Then turned around and left without a word. Some things weren’t worth proving.
— • —
So yes, the past four days had been valuable. But they had also made one thing painfully clear.
This realm was old.
Old enough that most of the obvious Rare Substances had long since been discovered by previous explorers. Everywhere Ren went, he found low-level useful things, strange things, dangerous things — but not the one thing he had actually been hoping for.
A true Rare Substance.
Either the obvious ones had already been taken long ago, or the ones that still remained were hidden well enough that someone like him couldn’t casually find them.
Ren clicked his tongue as he moved through the forest.
"Figures."
Still, he wasn’t discouraged. Annoyed, maybe. But not discouraged. He had gained too much already to call this trip a failure. Combat experience. Materials. A better understanding of the realm and its dangers.
And he still had today.
