The more the duo hunted, the more familiar they became with using their combat skills in that way; consequently, they expended less energy, Mana, and resources in each battle, allowing them to maintain an increasingly higher combat frequency.
As they got used to killing these rabbits, they also sustained fewer injuries and became more effective at dealing fatal damage to them, to the point that after an afternoon of rabbit hunting, counting the rabbits they had killed earlier, the total number of rabbits hunted was 84!
Adding up all 84 rabbits they killed, the experience gained in a single day of focused grinding was over 15,000 experience points!
Unfortunately, that still wasn’t enough to level them up from Level 9 to Level 10, but it brought them very close.
[Experience: 1,982 → 18,645 / 25,600]
Now they were just under 7,000 experience points short of leveling up, which could possibly be earned the next day.
But besides the experience, the money earned that day was also very good!
Considering the price of 50 copper coins for the tendons of each rabbit they sold, the tendons from 84 rabbits were worth 42 silver coins!
Still a little less than the 50 silver coins they received from selling the slugs, but a very close amount for a task that yielded much more experience for them.
’If I could choose between the two, I’d choose rabbit hunting every time... it’s much more efficient to grind experience while grinding money, rather than having to choose one at the expense of the other.’ Lohan thought contentedly.
And the gains weren’t just in experience and money.
In addition to the more than 30,000 Biomass that Lohan had available to digest from the corpses of these rabbits, which he stored in the Astral Chest, he had already digested the brains of these creatures long ago, and several of his Evolutions had leveled up at no cost.
To start with, the Evolution he obtained from the rabbits was the one that leveled up the most.
[Explosive Steps Lv 7 → Lv 14]
[After 10 minor evolutions, Explosive Steps is undergoing a qualitative evolution...]
[New trait obtained, Shockwave!]
[Traits: Shockwave - The force of kicks on the ground becomes so great that the user can generate a radial shockwave at the point of impact.]
When Lohan tested this ability, he realized it was something entirely under his control, which was incredibly useful in battle, almost acting as an opposite version of Vacuum Detonation, where instead of pulling everything around him in, this ability expelled everything around him.
When used in a suitable environment, just like Vacuum Detonation, this evolution was very useful as a support skill for combat.
Surprisingly, even though they hadn’t killed any other Level 11 rabbits, Lohan was still lucky enough to evolve Vacuum Detonation once for free.
[Vacuum Detonation Lv 1 → Lv 2]
This saved him 200 Biomass, which wasn’t that much compared to the over 30,000 he estimated he had in storage, but it was still very satisfying to see it level up for free.
[Viscous Flow Lv 25 → Lv 27] - 2.29 m/s → 2.77 m/s
[Structural Stability Lv 19 → Lv 21]
[Instinctive Perception Lv 15 → Lv 16]
[Chemosensory Aptitude Lv 11 → Lv 13]
[Sharpened Instinct Lv 7 → Lv 8]
These were all the evolutions he received from digesting the rabbits.
It was interesting to see that characteristics of the creature that likely wouldn’t generate direct evolutions for him could still raise the level of evolutions he already had.
’It’s as if my body identified that creature’s potential and absorbed it for me... this feeling is incredible!’ He thought excitedly.
As for the biomass he had stored, Lohan decided not to consume all 30,000 biomass at once, but to digest only 15,000 biomass to use for evolutions, while saving the rest stored in the Astral Chest for emergencies, like when he needed it in battle to heal Lisa from the injuries she sustained.
Thinking of those injuries, Lohan didn’t hold back and spent 6.2k Biomass to level up the Natural Energy Core.
[Natural Energy Core Lv 2 → Lv 8]
And so as not to leave the other core behind in terms of investment, Lohan spent another 5.3k Biomass to level up the Magic Core.
[Magic Core Lv 14 → Lv 21] Total Mana 51.57 → 100.50
Through these two waves of investment, it became even clearer to Lohan just how great the difference in density and power between these two energies was, considering that he purchased 7 levels of the Magic Core, which was already at a high level, and spent only 5.3k Bio, while 6 levels of the Natural Energy Core cost 6.2k Bio.
And the sensation he felt with those upgrades was divine...
The sensation began as a faint, vibrating touch at the center of his core, which quickly escalated into an overwhelming sensation of power coursing through every ounce of his gel.
As the 5.3k units of biomass were consumed by his magical side, Lohan felt a current that was at once electric, icy, and cozy shoot through his entire bluish mass.
The internal pathways through which magical energy flowed, which had previously acted as mere narrow channels, now seemed to expand and coat themselves with an intense neon-blue light, transforming into the equivalent of high-conductivity highways.
Upon reaching the 100.50 Mana mark, his perception of ambient Mana became much sharper, allowing him to sense it even with his eyes closed, as if he had become a Mana sensor.
However, it was the evolution of the second engine that brought true ecstasy.
While Mana felt like a refined and sharp external tool, Natural Energy was, as the name suggested, something that felt more natural to him, like an emerald fire circulating through his body like a warm fireplace, yet capable of transforming into a high-temperature blowtorch at any moment.
By spending 6.2k of biomass to raise this core to level 8, Lohan felt a deep, welcoming warmth flood his structure, as if every molecule of his gelatin were being embraced by life itself.
It became clear to Lohan that the cost discrepancy was not an evolutionary error, but a warning about the hierarchy of power between these two energies.
Physically, Lohan felt dense and vibrant.
His crystalline blue membrane pulsed with happiness, with a greenish aura coursing through his body, eliminating any trace of fragility and impurities.
’The feeling of getting stronger even without leveling up is really addictive... hehe.’