Rank 4 magical beasts' bodies were valued thousands of Credits.
Each of their body parts was a rank 4 material and the market of the Royal city could never have enough of them.
The main reason was that those materials were rare: there weren't many cultivators able to fight those beasts, and those that could weren't willing to spend their lives as hunters.
Most of the supplies of rank 4 materials came from the cleaning operations of the Royal army but those missions were linked to the personal benefits of the Royals, they weren't aimed to gather the materials needed for the various professions in the capital.
Only the Hunter's guild would accept to hunt specific magical beasts if the right price was added to the value of their targets.
The Shrinking elephant, or more precisely its tusks and trunk, were needed by the guild of the inscription masters.
They were the best materials for the creation of strong inscribed weapons that suited their characteristics, like spears and whips.
Its bones were also sturdy and its skin tough, many inscribed items in the second or even third rank could be created with them.
Noah later learned that the hunt for the pack of elephants had been given priority because the guild of the inscription masters had paid twenty thousand Credits in advance.
Adding that sum to thirty-five thousand Credits, which was the value of the rank 4 specimen, that single expedition had been worth fifty-five thousand Credits!
However, Noah didn't care about his gains in the slightest, what he was interested in was when he could use the Blood drain spell again on a rank 4 beast.
"First, we need to return to the capital and rest. Kurt needs time to heal and we have to carefully plan our next mission. With just the six of us, we can only handle two rank 4 magical beasts at the same time. Now that we have to make you inflict the finishing blow though, that number is halved."
Ada answered Noah who questioned her about their next target.
"Oh right, why did he charge alone at the beginning of the fight? Wasn't it better to just fight the beast altogether from the start?"
Ada made an embarrassed smile after listening to Noah's words and thought for a bit before giving an answer.
"Well, we have an unspoken rule in our group: if Kurt can endure it, we can kill it. I know that it seems stupid and reckless but Kurt's body is really hard to pierce. If a magical beast can heavily injure him with just one attack then we don't have any chance of defeating it."
Noah's eyes widened after hearing the reason behind that reckless action.
'How did they managed to survive till now?'
He couldn't help but have that doubt.
"I heard that Kurt's body-nourishing technique allows him to become stronger as he takes damage, that's why he always takes one hit from the beasts."
Vic joined the conversation and spoke in a soft voice.
'Increase in power based on the damage taken? With that requirement, the effects should be particularly good.'
Noah had somewhat tested Kurt's natural defenses and had to admit that it definitely wasn't a common body-nourishing technique.
Yet, if it had that other ability too, the technique would be considered among the best ones that weren't restricted to an element.
"How did he obtain something like that? Is there a place where one can buy techniques on that level?"
Noah asked, if there was some specific place in the Royal city where he could inspect new techniques, he would gladly visit it.
"This guy…"
Newton began to speak while patting Kurt's shoulder.
"Is an illegitimate Royal child. His dad gives him cultivation resources and even wants to marry him to some noble lady but he only cares about fighting magical beasts. He doesn't even take us to drink with all the money that he has."
Kurt shook his head and sighed loudly.
"I told you that this matter had to be a secret. You've only managed to learn about it because I was drunk at that time and you had already told it to the whole group. Will you put a banner in front of the guild next time?"
Newton laughed and spoke in a happy voice.
"Come on, we have to take care of the kid until he becomes useful in hunting rank 4 creatures, right? That's a lot of time, it's better to just be open about everything."
Ella joined the conversation and pointed at Newton while showing a sly smile to Noah.
"You know, when Newton is hunting, he becomes very irritable but he relaxes as soon as he is returning to the capital. Oh, be careful in the guild when you sit with him, he can turn any good man into a drunkard."
"Hey, don't tell these lies just because I got Kurt drunk once! It took all my talent on that occasion."
"See, you're not even denying it!"
The two hunters started bickering and a smile appeared on the others in their group.
'Are all cultivators like this?'
Noah again asked that question to himself.
'Wait, am I like that too?'
After a bit, he simply put that thought in the back of his mind and joined his group in their return to the capital.
The hunt had succeeded, he had to take his share of money and had to absorb the "Breath" of the magical beast.
'Though, a body able to become stronger as it takes damage seems nice. In theory, my Yin body should have a similar strength if not higher. It has both the restriction to one element and a special ability after all.'
He thought as they marched, he was quite eager to understand the feeling of having a center of power in the heroic ranks.
They reached the capital after a few days and Noah was forced to join a celebratory toast in the main hall of the guild.
Apparently, that was a tradition of Kurt's hunting group after each successful hunt, Newton would personally use part of his share to buy strong wine fit for their powerful bodies.
Needless to say, Noah could only take one sip from it before feeling some dizziness assaulting him.
In the end, they separated after deciding to meet one week from then to discuss their next mission.