Arya circled around the Shelter, but the only things she found were a supply chest and many monsters she had never seen before.
Most notable among them were the slow-moving creatures that looked like blobs of wet mud. If she was not mistaken, these should be the Sludge Monsters mentioned in the communication channel.
Driven by curiosity, she flew closer to investigate and discovered a swamp not far from her Shelter. The swamp was densely populated with Sludge Monsters.
Unlike other areas where survivors were seen fighting monsters, this place was strangely quiet.
The reason was simple. These creatures were nearly immune to physical attacks, or more accurately, physical attacks had very little effect on them.
Only strong magic attacks could deal real damage.
In a situation like this, very few people were willing to waste their time here.
Arya looked up at the sky. The sun was almost directly overhead. After confirming the time, she turned and headed back toward her Shelter.
On the way, a foul smell of blood drifted through the air.
She turned her head and spotted a dead E-rank Direwolf lying in the grass at the edge of the forest. The wolf was nearly three meters long. Its head had been split open, and parts of its left front leg and abdomen were missing.
Not far from it lay a Man-Eating Flower, collapsed and withered, completely motionless. It was obvious that it had died as well.
It looked like both creatures had killed each other in a desperate battle.
If a human had done this, the wolf's body would not have been left so "intact."
Since I didn't find any materials today, I'll use your blood to expand my storage.
With that thought, Arya picked up a nearby vine and floated down.
Once she reached the Direwolf's corpse, she took a mineral water bottle from her medicine pouch and pulled the moonstone dagger from her waist. She carefully began collecting the wolf's blood.
Alchemy often required monster blood, but she had never needed it before and therefore never gathered any.
After filling three mineral water bottles with blood, Arya placed them in a supply chest to prevent coagulation. Then she moved toward the Man-Eating Flower and scraped off its petals.
Let me think… what other monster parts can be used?
Holding the moonstone dagger, she thought for a moment before cutting off several tentacles from the Man-Eating Flower. Along the way, she collected two bottles of a strange liquid that she couldn't decide whether to call blood or sap.
She also collected the wolf's teeth, eyeballs, heart, and liver.
Oh, so the Direwolf's core is located near its heart? This is the first time I've known that.
She then cut off both hind legs of the wolf.
I'll take these back. Rogers is really good at preparing this meat. The texture is tender, almost like beef.
Especially that dish — Stir-fried Direwolf Shreds with Green Peppers — it tastes incredibly authentic!
After finishing the processing, Arya finally let out a long breath.
If it weren't for the moonstone dagger, handling this would have taken much more effort.
Plop…
Just as she was about to leave, something fell out of the wolf's belly.
It was about the size of a fist and covered in sticky fluid.
Arya stared at it for a while and then realized it was a chick.
Looking closely, she could see its tiny belly rising and falling. It was still alive.
It must have been swallowed whole by the Direwolf.
If I take it back and wash it, maybe it can still be eaten?
She remembered the steamed chicken Rogers had made before and unconsciously swallowed her saliva.
Although there wasn't much meat on a chick, what if it tasted good?
After all, the Rainbow Feather Chicken had tasted amazing.
With a look of mild disgust, Arya picked it up between her thumb and index finger and returned to her Shelter.
After washing the chick in the stream, she went to her desk and tried sending the wolf legs and the chick to Rogers.
The small screen immediately displayed a message:
"Living creatures cannot be transmitted."
"…Hmm. Then I'll keep it for medicine testing."
Arya thought about it for a moment.
She was planning to develop new medicines anyway. Keeping a chick that could give quick feedback on the effects of medicine seemed like a good idea.
The appraisal function of the small screen only provided literal meanings. Real effects often depended on how items were used.
For example, a Healing Potion appeared to be for drinking, but its internal and external effects were completely different.
She poured one bottle of Healing Potion down the chick's throat, then drizzled another over its surface, and finally placed it onto a towel folded twice nearby.
Then she took out the materials she had collected and appraised them one by one.
[Incomplete Wolf Fang (E-)]
Effect: Can be used for decoration, alchemy, and crafting magic tools.
Description: Who dug this out? The technique is worse than a novice hunter's. Bad review!
[Direwolf Blood (E)]
Effect: Can be used for alchemy.
Description: Not everyone likes blood. Perhaps you can sell it to rich and foolish alchemists and make a fortune.
[Direwolf Liver / Heart (E-)]
Effect: Can be used for alchemy and cooking.
Description: It has holes. Even a foolish alchemist wouldn't want this.
[Man-Eating Flower Sap (E)]
Effect: Can be used for dyeing.
Description: An excellent material for coloring fabric. Many cloth merchants like this. Some less reputable alchemists also use it to dye potions and impersonate other medicines.
[Man-Eating Flower Vine (E)]
Effect: Can be used for handicrafts.
Description: Flatten it, dry it, and you can make thin plant fibers.
Arya frowned slightly.
It seems there isn't much that can actually be used.
She clicked her tongue and ignored the small screen's complaints about alchemists.
Isn't it normal for alchemists to be rich?
They even drink one bowl of soy milk and pour out another.
After throwing the mostly useless heart and liver to Rogers, Arya began brewing potions.
The entire day passed in a blur of activity, giving Arya a completely different experience from reading books.
Especially when she personally dissected a Direwolf and collected materials from a Man-Eating Flower.
Now she understood why Albert had told her to collect materials herself whenever possible.
After doing it with her own hands, she gained a deeper understanding of Direwolves, Man-Eating Flowers, and the alchemy materials they produced.
Because she had spent the entire day making Magic Potions and still needed to trade with Natasha, Arya opened her friends list after bottling the +50 Magic Potions.
To her surprise, Natasha still hadn't replied.
This woman usually liked to take the initiative. She was not the type to wait for someone else to contact her.
Could she have run into danger?
It was already past eight, almost nine in the evening.
If she hadn't returned by now, it was probably a bad sign.
Arya quietly made a guess.
For someone who often worked outside, encountering danger was a completely normal occurrence.
After thinking about it for a while, Arya decided not to worry too much.
At worst, she would just lose a few potions, and that was not a big deal.
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