"Let's go outside and give them some time to say goodbye," Gold said, getting up and walking towards the cave entrance.
Kevin looked at the Double-Headed Wolf, which was about to die, and gently stroked its head.
As if sensing Kevin's touch, the head with the sharp horns bent slightly, rubbed against Kevin's hand, and then licked it twice with its tongue before weakly drooping again, quietly awaiting death.
"He really is quite intelligent," Kevin murmured, standing up and walking out of the cave, leaving the Double-Headed Wolf family in peace.
At the cave entrance, Gold leaned against the rock wall.
Kevin stood at the entrance, looking into the distance. There were holes punched through several large trees, yet these trees still stood stubbornly, refusing to fall.
"You've probably been researching all sorts of information about strange beasts, rare beasts, and magical beasts online recently due to your own needs, haven't you?" Gold asked.
Hearing this question, Kevin nodded: "Yes, because of my Nen Ability, I'm particularly interested in these things."
"Then what are your thoughts on these creatures?"
There was nothing to hide here, so Kevin said frankly: "They're amazing. I never thought I'd learn about creatures that seem to have walked out of stories in modern society."
After all, in the twenty-odd years he had lived, he had only been in an ordinary, mundane world, without these fantastical, dream-like things.
"Hmm, I see," Gold murmured softly. After a while, he suddenly threw something at Kevin.
Kevin reached out and caught it.
The object was about as long as his forearm and felt quite heavy in his hand. It was tightly wrapped in oilcloth and then bound with a layer of bandages.
Even more interesting, on this layer of bandages, he could see some extremely complex yet orderly patterns. With his control over Nen Ability, Kevin could clearly detect a trace of "aura" emanating from these patterns.
"Those are Divine Characters, something created through knowledge, special written patterns, combined with the right Nen Ability and exquisite Nen Ability manipulation techniques," Gold explained.
Hearing this, Kevin immediately lost all interest. This clearly wasn't something an ordinary person could learn.
"Oh, don't be so dejected. Although there are indeed very few people who master this technique, if you try hard, maybe you really can learn it?" Gold suddenly said with a smile, his expression looking like he was trying to scam him.
"How long did it take you to learn this?"
"I'm still learning it now."
"Heh heh," Kevin couldn't help but retort, then what's the point of me learning it?
But if he had the chance, he could try.
As long as it was something fantastical, something extraordinary, Kevin wanted to see and try it.
How interesting.
Thinking this, Kevin slowly unwrapped the bandages, and a faint aura began to emanate through the oilcloth. He couldn't help but frown slightly.
When he removed the oilcloth as well, an even richer life energy—or rather, "aura"—rushed towards him.
What appeared before his eyes was a slender bone. The bone was emerald green, and through the surface of the bone, he could vaguely see a fine, crystal-like structure inside.
It must be said that, purely from its appearance, it was definitely an extremely interesting collectible.
But the "aura" emanating from it was not to be underestimated. This meant that the owner of this bone was a creature with an incredibly strong physique, and even after death, the bone still contained a strong life energy, which is why a slow emanation of "aura" could be detected.
In other words, the layer of oilcloth and the outer bandages were actually to prevent the "aura" from the material from dissipating completely, causing its life energy to be depleted and turning it into an ordinary item.
What shocked Kevin even more was that a strong craving surged through his body, stronger than he had ever felt when facing any other material, far exceeding what he felt when he first saw that shed horn.
"Hoo…" Kevin took several deep breaths before he finally managed to calm the craving within him.
Gold had been observing carefully from the side.
"The aura on you… never mind, we'll talk about that later. What do you think of this [material]?"
"Very powerful. I can only describe it as powerful. So powerful that it's impossible for me to use it as a material in the short term."
Just as potions are categorized into grades, Kevin also categorizes materials into grades.
Potions of the same grade do not necessarily have to be made entirely with materials of the same grade, but the main ingredient, which is equivalent to the critical material placed in the gold scale pan, must match the potion's grade.
There was no doubt that this material in his hand was definitely not of the quality a C-grade material should have.
Is it A-grade? No, although Kevin had categorized materials into different grades, in his conception, A-grade should be even more exaggerated.
This should be B-grade, and it must be the top-tier material among B-grades.
With his current potential aura capacity, he simply couldn't perform any operations related to it.
"Damn it, isn't this intentionally tempting me? I can see it but can't use it."
"Then I'll give it to you."
"Huh?" Kevin looked up at Gold in confusion.
"It no longer has any practical value for me; it's more for ornamental purposes, but I'm not interested in these types of things," Gold explained simply. "Consider it a small gift from me."
Saying that, he clapped his hands, "Consider it a gift to help you gain the power of self-preservation."
"What? That excuse was clearly made up on the spot, wasn't it?"
"Alright, don't get hung up on these details," Gold waved his hand, then his gaze became sharp, looking at the distant sky. "As a Ruin Hunter, for all these years, I've always acted on my own interests and hobbies.
In this process, I've discovered many secrets. Just like this bone in your hand, it's actually a small finger bone from a creature's cub."
"Then how big must that creature be?" Kevin murmured, looking at the re-wrapped green crystal-like bone in his hand.
"Most of those interesting creatures you've researched have traveled across the seas to get here over the past millennium. They come from the true world beyond the current [Cognized World]," Gold's words made Kevin frown.
He had probably already guessed that Gold was talking about there being worlds beyond this world.
After all, in this world, there was still no clear definition of world boundaries, and there must be unexplored new continents out there.
For top Hunters like Gold, they must have their own information channels to know about these situations.
With the current level of technological development, the top powers have not organized teams to colonize, which can only mean that those so-called new continents pose huge risks that far outweigh the potential rewards.
Otherwise, a habitable land, a blank continent, would be an irresistible temptation for these powers.
These were all Kevin's judgments based on his understanding of this world.
It seemed that Gold was now going to reveal the mystery to him.