"Takeru, Takeru, can I try sitting on it?" Suddenly, Sylphin excitedly asked Takeru.
"Sure!" Seeing Sylphin's hopeful eyes, Takeru showed a gentle smile and spoke, then gave Kokuo another warning.
"Wow, so amazing!" Soon, Sylphin got her wish, sitting on Kokuo's head, curiously touching here and there, looking at the surrounding environment from above.
Seeing Sylphin's excited appearance, Umaru, Rikka, Yui, and the others below also showed curious expressions, wondering if it was it really that fun.
Even Yukino glanced at it from time to time...
About thirty minutes later, everyone was pretty much rested and set off again to continue hunting. Takeru still separated from everyone, hunting along three routes. By afternoon, the mutated monsters on the island were basically cleared out by Takeru and the others.
Afterwards, everyone returned to the landing site, where two warships were already waiting.
"So impressive, that's the tamed black bear? It's terrifying!"
"Mhm, just getting close feels like my legs are going weak..."
As Takeru and the others arrived, everyone's eyes turned to Kokuo. Its massive size and fierce aura made the people on the warships feel like they were seeing some prehistoric beast...
However, because Takeru had informed Izumi in advance, no one panicked.
"Takeru-sama, are you all alright?" As Takeru and the others approached, Izumi quickly disembarked from the warship, respectfully greeting Takeru.
"We're fine. But can you help arrange a place for this big guy?" Seeing Izumi Risa, Takeru spoke calmly.
"Yes, we have some vacant zoos that can accommodate it. But just in case, when you're not around, we'll still need to confine it. Please understand." Looking at the huge Kokuo, Izumi swallowed hard.
"I see. That's fine. Just give it some space to move around." Hearing Izumi's words, Takeru nodded calmly.
"Thank you for your understanding." Seeing Takeru didn't blame her for this, Izumi breathed a sigh of relief. After all, although the higher-ups agreed to Takeru keeping this creature, for safety's sake, its movements naturally needed to be restricted.
Subsequently, Takeru, Yukino, and the others boarded the warship with Kokuo. Another warship sent down a group of fully armed elites to handle the aftermath and recover the mutated monster corpses.
Some materials from mutated animals could be used to make special weapons and armor, which were quite valuable.
According to analysis, long-term consumption of mutated animal meat could also have body-strengthening effects, as if the meat had undergone some mutation.
The simplest test involved five soldiers who started consuming mutated animal meat a month ago, at least 500g daily and persisted in training. By now, they already had E-Rank strength.
According to estimates, it would take about five to six months to reach D-Rank. Reaching higher C-Rank was more difficult, requiring consumption of at least C-Rank or above mutated animal meat and about a year of high-intensity training.
These were things Izumi had told Takeru and the others. For special existences like Takeru's group, the military didn't intend to hide information about these mutated animals.
So after the recent battles, Takeru and everyone collected portions of mutated wild boar meat and mutated beef, placing them in the alloy boxes and storing them in their Item Slots to try later.
After all, besides simple strengthening functions, mutated animal meat was rich in nutrients, and most importantly, the meat was very delicious.
…
By around 6 p.m., Takeru bid farewell to Kokuo at a previously abandoned zoo. Simultaneously, Takeru left a Shadow Person hidden in Kokuo's shadow, mainly to protect Kokuo or prevent it from harming people.
Most notably, there was a special doll on Kokuo's shoulder, which is Takeru's special Nen Beast, the Hakoware.
A big part of why Takeru tamed Kokuo was to use it as a stamina provider. After all, mutated animals' recovery abilities were far stronger than humans', and Kokuo was among the best of mutated animals.
So providing Takeru with 20 stamina every 10 seconds wasn't too burdensome for it. Of course, Takeru could also set it so that when his own stamina was sufficient, it wouldn't drain Kokuo's stamina.
After continuous development, Takeru's Hakoware had become more humanized. One type was mercilessly draining someone until death, and this was what Takeru created to assist himself.
With its stamina provision, Takeru could train even more intensely without worrying too much about stamina falling short.
However, having only one provider was still somewhat insufficient, so Takeru planned to tame more in the future if opportunities arose.
After bidding farewell and leaving, Takeru quickly had someone take him back home.
"I'm back!" Opening the door, Takeru called out.
"Onii-chan, you're finally back! I'm starving!" Hearing Takeru's voice, Miu 'ferociously' pounced on him.
"I told you to go buy something to eat first!" Hearing Miu's words, Takeru rolled his eyes.
"I don't care. I only want to eat food you cook now!" Miu said, acting spoiled.
"Alright, alright, I get it. You go wait first." Hearing this, Takeru shook his head, amused.
After Miu left, Takeru quietly took out a piece of mutated beef steak meat he had prepared earlier from his Item Slot.
Because Takeru had many Item Slots, he had stored quite a bit of mutated animal meat in the empty spaces.
"Steak for tonight!" After washing up, Takeru directly told Miu.
"Okay!" Hearing Takeru's words, Miu quickly nodded.
As time passed, the aroma of the mutated steak quickly filled the entire house, making the already hungry Miu even more restless. She could only wait eagerly on the side for Takeru to finish preparing the steak.
Afterwards, when Takeru and Miu tasted the steak, they found that compared to ordinary steak, this wasn't just vastly superior in texture but also much more fragrant and delicious in flavor.
…
Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, another four days passed. Today, Takeru and the others were about to enter the Reincarnation World again.
During these four days, Takeru took Miu to meet Kokuo and also updated Kokuo's Hakoware. Takeru spent these days training regularly.
Perhaps because of the aptitude potion, Takeru found his training efficiency was over twice as high as before after taking the potion, and his learning speed was also very fast. His basic attributes had improved considerably compared to a few days ago.
Strength: 338 (245), Constitution: 344 (8), Defense: 833 (378), Speed: 340 (4), Spirit: 370 (38)...
As for points, after continuous training during this period, he only had 51,800 left. To others, that might be a lot, but for Takeru, it was still somewhat little.
Additionally, as those who completed the A-Rank mission, Takeru and the others received a considerable reward… a full 300 million yen. After discussion, Takeru directly took 100 million.
If not for Takeru's insistence, the others were prepared to give Takeru the majority of the reward, as without Takeru, the mission couldn't have been completed. But Takeru didn't mind much. Money was enough as long as it covered expenses.
In contrast, strength was more important now. With strength, earning money wasn't hard.
The remaining 200 million was partly divided among the other seven (Yukino, etc.), and part was kept as team funds for gatherings, building secret bases, or purchasing equipment. No one objected to this.
For Yui, Umaru, and the others, earning 20 million yen in a day was truly astounding, even if this world's currency value was similar to the Hunter World.
When the time was almost up, Takeru bid farewell to Miu, then left home for his single apartment.