"There you go!" Hei Long clapped his hands together with a grin as he watched Ji Yao land the finishing blow on the monster:
"Nice kill."
The monster—a tusked, thick-skinned brute of a forest dweller—collapsed with a final thud, sending dust and loose leaves scattering into the air.
Hei Long strolled over, hands slipping behind his back as he looked down at the slain monster, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"Not bad at all," he muttered, nodding with faint approval. "Clean strike. Straight through the neck."
Ji Yao, breathing steadily but not winded, crouched beside the carcass and slid her hand across the monster's hide.
The flesh parted, slick and wet, and a faint glimmer of energy pulsed beneath the surface—just before she reached in and extracted a modest, dimly glowing core.
She held it up between two fingers and let out a quiet sigh, her tone flat and unbothered:
"It's just a regular one. Looks like I'll have to settle for this."
