"I wonder how they got these beasts here?" thought Idan, walking slowly towards the city. At the same time, he remained vigilant so as not to fall into another ambush.
"They were on snowmobiles, but they couldn't have brought beasts on them, could they?" he asked himself and shook his head.
"No, the beasts have become not only stronger after evolution, but also bigger..."
"So they were brought here by a third party, most likely, or Kraus has something like our storage facility where living beings can be stored and moved freely..."
Idan could not rest until he found the answer to the question of how these ordinary people and one awakened Golden rank were able to bring the beasts there and tie them with chains to the trees.
To Idan, it all seemed strange and illogical, and his brain was trying to find a reasonable explanation.
"Idan, Idan, Idan, stop filling your head with nonsense and forget about it," he told himself after going through a lot of options and possibilities.
But even after these words, his thoughts continued to revolve around this topic.
"What do you think, Belle?" Idan suddenly asked without thinking, and then abruptly stopped. This wasn't the first time he'd caught himself asking such questions in the past two days.
"Phew… I already miss her," realizing that he was completely alone right now, Idan began to miss Arabel.
Coco stayed behind, and Ned went to do part of the task that System had given him. There was no one around Idan to share his thoughts with. Baby Rizzy, given her age, he did not consider as an interlocutor. At the moment, he could only talk to himself or, in extreme cases, to System.
"Tell me, System, how and from where can I get the Beast Soul Flower?" — finally, having freed himself from thoughts, Idan remembered the Beast Soul Flower.
[Host, there are two possible ways to obtain the Beast Soul Flower.]
[The first method is the easiest. You need to purchase the seeds of a special Soul Flower and plant them in the body of a recently deceased beast. The seed will absorb the Beast's soul that has not yet dissipated and grow into the very Flower you are looking for.]
[The second method is more complicated. You need to learn the method of extracting the Soul of the Beast, materialize it into a liquid form and collect it in a special container that will not allow it to dissipate. Then you need to find one of the several Soul-sensitive Flowers and soak it in this liquid so that it absorbs it and turns into a Beast Soul Flower.]
[Each of these methods has its advantages and disadvantages.]
"So that's how things are. The first method is the simplest, but it is impossible to control the rank of the growing Flower, it remains only to rely on luck.
For the second method, you need not only to study the method itself, but also to find a special vessel and the necessary Flower. However, its advantage is that it is possible to control the rank of the obtained Beast Soul Flower."
Idan quickly weighed the pros and cons and decided that both ways were good, but at the moment, the first one was more suitable for him and Arabel, the easiest one was to buy a Soul Flower seed.
As Idan understood, the quality of the Soul Crystal that will be obtained after its creation depends on the level of the flower.
Now that there are only Bronze, Silver, and Golden-ranked beasts in their world, getting a Gold-ranked flower is not that important.
For the first time, Idan and Arabel have enough Bronze and Silver rank flowers to create a "Small Low-quality Soul Crystal" and a "Small Medium-quality Soul Crystal".
It is these two Soul Crystals that are needed to form the first and second Beast soul.
[Ding! 2 of the 13 targets were killed. Received 2 System points.]
"Oh! Has Ned caught up with them yet?"— Idan was surprised when he received a message about the murder of two people.
"Hmm... strange..." muttered Idan. After receiving such a message from System, he didn't feel anything at all.
Idan was aware that Ned, acting on his orders, had just killed two people.
"Is this really the result of the experience of the Ascension Trial?" thought Idan, feeling no guilt or remorse for what he had done.
[Ding! 4 of the 13 Targets were killed. Received 2 System points]
A new notification about the murder of two more people soon followed. While waiting for the task to be completed, Idan accelerated his pace towards the city.
[Ding! 8 of the 13 Targets were killed. 4 System points were received. Total - 8 System Points]
"Oh!" exclaimed Idan in mild surprise when he simultaneously received notifications about the killing of four people.
[Ding! 10 of the 13 Targets were killed. Received 2 System points]
[Ding! 12 of the 13 Targets were killed. Received 2 System points]
After receiving the last notification, Idan exclaimed, "Damn it! Ned did the job after all."
"It seems to be the influence of the memories from the Ascension Trial..." Even after Ned killed all 12 ordinary people, Idan did not feel anything unusual.
"I think after killing Kraus, I'll get the answer to that question."
"There's only him left," Idan relaxed a little and continued on his way.
"Should I kill him openly or covertly?" he muttered. "The task from System has already shown that no matter how I kill Kraus, karma will not affect me. And if other Awakened Ones get in my way and attack me, then their karma will decrease, and I will get permission to retaliate."
Idan was trying to understand exactly how karma works and how he can use it to his advantage.
"When I was attacked, I only had suspicions that it was Kraus and his group who organized the attack. System did not issue the task then. It was only after Coco brought proof that it was them that System issued a task to kill them."
Idan stopped, interrupted from his thoughts, having received a signal from his contract.
"Okay, come back," he said, summoning Ned back to his Star, while he was nearby, surrounded by a barrier, and several awakened attacked him.
"Come out, — Idan said, immediately after summoning Ned out of his star.
Ned, who had already assumed the form of a young man with brown hair and green eyes, appeared in front of Idan with a satisfied smile on his face.
"I see you liked it?" asked Idan.
"Yes, young master," Ned replied, and Idan had to restrain himself from hitting Ned on the head.