They had expected agony, but it never came. Upon turning around they realized why.

They saw a white light, and with it, countless rats swarming into the cave from a narrow crack. Blocking their path into the cave was a lone man, Kade. Bodies were piling up at his feet as he swung his arms tirelessly. Beautiful white flames surrounded him and licked at the beasts' assailing him, spawned from his fists as he fought.

It was a stark sight of carnage, both beautiful and frightening. One man fought against unending monsters like a god of war.

They had never seen Kade fight in this way. Normally, he cast spells from a range and focused on controlling the beast first before using offensive spells. He had a standard mage style, safe and reliable.

Now, he resembled a battle mage through and through. Up close and personal, he fought with his body as well as his spells. His technique was glorious, he swung the blades with surprising familiarity and punched out with skill that rivaled a professional fighter. His spell, the one that creates white fire, worked in perfect cohesion with his physical strikes.

Each attack caused blood to blossom and fire to sweep up everything that remained in its wake.

Kade sucked air in through his nose and released it through his mouth as he swung his knife. He was calm despite the circumstances.

This was just another battle, not dissimilar to many of the ones he had fought in before. Life hung on a thread, risk was around every corner. One mistake was all it would take to send him, or his enemies, to the afterlife.

Even as a normal man, he had experienced battles like this. He had been tempered amidst bullets and explosions. Those times taught him to accept death and unshackled his mind from limitations brought about by fear.

Difficult times, often fraught with risk, where it was either sink or swim, were what created great men. This was something he had forgotten. He had grown accustomed to fighting as safely as he could and rarely pushed himself. Always leaving a safety net in case he failed, while smart, wasn't conducive for what he was trying to achieve.

He needed to find a balance between the two, a way to fight smart while still pushing himself. This battle reminded him of that, and if he survived, it will have been a trial that made him a better man.

"Haaa." He released a heavy breath in a short moment of respite before his arms swung out again. He could feel the fatigue building while his Altaris dwindled, but he didn't worry.

By this point, a wall of fire had created a crescent barricade in front of him and fed on the remnants of battle, reducing the need for further casts. He could allow his Altaris to regenerate until the fire died out, but there wasn't anything he could do for his fatigue except to push through it.

Feeling a sharp pain in his shin, he glanced down briefly to find a rat had latched onto his leg. His eyes returned forward as he shifted his left leg into the flames while burying his knife into another pouncing rat.

Twisting his torso, he intercepted another rat, this time from the left, and knocked it into the wall. Shifting his weight to free up his right leg, he stepped into the fire while kicking another beast back from the crack it came through before stepping back to his original position.

...

"SQueeee"

A feeble drawn-out squeak rang out, followed by the patter of tiny paws as the remaining rats retreated.

The entrance, originally only blocked by a wall of dirt, was nearly impossible to spot due to the pile of corpses stacked in front of it. A sickening smell of barbecued meat, blood, and sweat wafted through the cave. The temperature had risen to an insane degree, feeling like an oven.

Jay, Cal, Trey, Walter, and Ben felt their throats tense as they suppressed the urge to vomit. They didn't want to sully this moment.

Kade stood in front of them shakily. His shorts, the last article of clothing remaining, were charred and tattered. Two blades were clutched tightly in his hands. His legs were staggered, split wide, to prevent him from falling as his back bent slightly and his shoulders drooped. Blood covered his body, some of it his own, but most of it from his enemies.

Jay sheathed his axes before stepping forward cautiously. Earlier, he had moved forward to help but stopped a meter from the battle. He wanted to help with all of his being, inspired by Kade's relentless determination. Yet, when he was prepared to act, he realized that he couldn't. Kade was utilizing all of the space available to move and attack. To interfere would hamper the battle and break Kade's rhythm.

Instead, he prepared for the moment that Kade ran out of steam, poised to pull his mentor to safety before taking his place. The others had come to the same decision, but that moment never came.

The blades sang while the fire raged, and for over thirty minutes Kade had fought against an onslaught of beasts single-handedly until he emerged from the battle victorious. Injured and exhausted, even now, he stood ready for his next opponent.

"Kade." Jay called out softly as he gently grabbed the man's shoulder.

Kade slowly turned his head until he could see Jay out of the corner of his eye.

"It's over. You won." Jay said.

Kade turned his head forward without replying and stared at the sliver of sunshine coming from the top of the crack beyond the carnage. A few seconds later, his body relaxed and he stumbled backward.

"Woah, Woah, Woah." Jay called out instinctively as he moved to support Kade.

Trey and Walter stepped forward, helping to catch Kade before he fell.

"Take him to the back of the cave." Jay said

Gently, they supported him to a clean area before laying him on the ground.

"Trey, Walter, and I will go clean up the entrance." Jay pointed to Cal and Ben "You two, clean the blood off and heal him."

Without a word, they all got to work. Using water from their canteens, Ben and Cal cleaned around his wounds, silently counting each one they found. Chunks were missing all over his body, quite a few deep puncture wounds, and countless surface-level scratches. Thankfully, with Ben around these wounds weren't life-threatening.

Jay and the other two held their breath as they climbed the steaming pile of rats. Squeezing through the crack, they ran a few meters away to catch their breath.

"That. Was. Disgusting." Walter complained as he retched.

Jay nodded as a pitiful expression appeared "It's about to get a whole lot worse..."

Returning to the crack, they used their weapons to widen the entrance before each of them grabbed a rat and moved them a few meters away. They grimaced before taking out their knives and cutting away at the bodies until they found the beast cores, which was easy due to the state of the carcass.

This was a dirty job, but they wouldn't slack or avoid it. There were dozens, maybe hundreds of beast cores waiting to be harvested. Greed wasn't what drove them, these cores weren't theirs, but they felt obligated to endure their disgust and retrieve these cores for the person that had protected them.

Once finished with the first set, they returned to the cave and retrieved the next. One carcass at a time, they worked methodically to both clear the cave and collect the loot. The fire had nearly incinerated many of the carcasses, but it still took quite some time to fully clear the cave and collect all of the cores.

Not every rat had a beast core, but it was still an insane haul at the end of the day with a staggering 83 beast cores.

"Wow..." Trey looked breathlessly at the cores in the bag. "That's insane..."

Jay smiled wryly "Think we could accomplish this?"

"Not a chance in hell." Walter replied without hesitation.

Jay nodded, he thought the same. They were decent fighters, with the boosts from their path in cultivation they were stronger, faster, more durable, and had more endurance than Kade, but that was only one side of the coin.

Sighing lightly, Jay stood up. "We can't stay here, the smell might attract beasts." This was another nugget of knowledge Kade had imparted to them.

Returning to the cave, they picked up the unconscious Kade and put him on Trey's back before leaving to find somewhere safe.

Walking for hours, avoiding multiple beasts thanks to Cal's scouting and changing their pace constantly to accommodate Trey, they finally found a suitable area.

It was a small clearing surrounded by thick plant life that gave it decent cover from a predator's senses. A small stream was within walking distance and there were plenty of escape routes from the area.

"Let's set up camp. Cal, you get water. Walter and I will get the firewood. Trey can set up alarms and clear the campsite. Ben, you stay with Kade in case he needs further healing." Jay gave out his orders.

Everyone spread out and got to work with practiced efficiency. With four people acting, everything was taken care of in less than fifteen minutes.

Returning to the camp, Jay raised a brow in surprise and confusion. Obruo, who they hadn't seen all day, had found his way to them.

He faltered for a moment, unsure if he had chosen a safe location for camp until he remembered that Obruo always found them without fail. It was like he had some sixth sense, or possibly a connection with Kade that allowed the pup to find him no matter how far.

Shrugging it off, he started a fire and tossed some plants in before impaling small game on sticks and roasting them.

...

Opening his eyes, Kade frowned slightly. With a muffled grunt he sat up and looked around.

"Hey, Kade's up!" Ben exclaimed, drawing the attention of the rest of the team.

"How're you feeling?" Jay asked as he approached.

Kade glanced at him "A bit sore, but otherwise, I'm good."

Jay nodded "Good. We figured that you'd be okay, but we still worried." He paused, his expression growing solemn. "Kade, Thank you. Without you, we wouldn't be here."

Kade's face slowly formed an awkward expression. He wasn't accustomed to being thanked so seriously. To him, standing up for friends and family was second nature. He did it as much for himself as he did for others, it was just who he was.

Besides, he would be dead too if he didn't act.

"There's no need for you to be so serious. That's what family does." He replied stoically "How is everyone? Any injuries?"

"No one was hurt, not even a scratch." Ben replied.

Kade nodded before evaluating his own condition. He had many light cuts over his body and some new scars, but otherwise, he was in decent condition considering. Most of his discomfort was sore muscles from overworking himself during the battle, with only slight burning pain radiating from a few places on his body.

He quickly understood that Ben was to thank for his lack of pain. The others were equally as helpful, seeing as they weren't in the cave anymore and he was safe. He wanted to thank them, but remembering the words he just spoke, he held his tongue.

"Aren't you going to ask?" Walter spoke up in an excited tone.

Kade raised a brow "Ask about what?"

"The beast cores!" Walter exclaimed as if he was crazy "You killed a ton of rat beasts man!"

"Oh." Kade's expression warped a few times before he understood "You guys actually collected them?"

He had assumed that they all booked it out of there as soon as the fight was over. Staying would have been a bit too dangerous as the scent must have been overwhelming.

"Well, obviously." Walter huffed "Leaving such a big score would be idiotic. Besides, we had to clear the exit to the cave to get you out and it only took a little bit longer to collect the cores."

"How many?" Kade asked with anticipation.

He hadn't expected to make any gains from the fight, but he had no doubt that the score would be massive. He felt a new level of appreciation for the team.

"83." Walter said as he opened Kade's bag and tilted it.

Kade took a sharp breath, his eyes widening. He was briefly astonished, quickly doing a bit of mental math. Adding in the cores he had previously obtained, converting them to credits, and finally converting the credits to dollars he came to a staggering number.

"$740,000." He said dryly before a wide grin spread across his face.

His trip hadn't lasted two months yet, and he already had over ten times his previous haul. With $740,000 they could grow at an astronomical rate, even buying a building wasn't out of the question, and he still had around two more months to gather more.

The most important aspect of creating his faction was to build the foundation. They needed to secure a base of operations, acquire necessary equipment, make connections, and buy resources for cultivation. After that, the cost associated with maintaining operation would reduce drastically.

This amount wouldn't accomplish all of that, but it reduced the time needed by a large margin.

Calming himself, he sifted through the cores before his brows furrowed slightly. He began pulling out core after core, only stopping after 20 cores rested in his lap.

"These are incomplete cores." He stated with a frown. He could feel the energy slowly leaking from within.

"Incomplete cores?" Trey asked in confusion.

Kade nodded "Creatures have to form a core to be considered a beast. Doing so takes time, as they have to gather energy and compress it into a crystalline shell, or core, that can contain energy. If they die before completely forming the core, the energy within will leak out and dissipate."

"So, these 20 cores are useless then?" Cal asked skeptically.

Kade shook his head "They won't sell for much if anything, especially considering that they will be empty by the time we return. However, they can still be of use to us. Beast cores are essentially batteries, they can power cultivation technology, formations, skills, and even speed up cultivation."

He grabbed one of the incomplete cores and tossed it to Obruo "We don't have any technology, and none of us know skills that require them so we only have two uses. To feed Obruo, and to absorb the energy ourselves."

Rummaging through his bag, he pulled a book from beneath the pile of cores and opened it. "The energy isn't the same as Altaris, but it's similar enough that you can absorb it if you use the proper techniques." Pointing to the chapter, he continued "Each of you needs to read this chapter."

"Hold up." Jay waved his hands "These aren't our cores. We didn't contribute and we won't take any of your spoils even if they are incomplete."

The others nodded without a hint of greed.

Kade glanced at them one at a time before nodding "Good. These are mine. Now, I'm choosing to give each of you one."

Jay shook his head with a firm expression. "No. Despite cowering in fear yesterday, we have our pride. We won't take away from your cultivation after you saved us. Use them to increase your own cultivation."

Kade released a hearty chuckle "I can't use them all. The absorption process is slow, by the time I finish absorbing one the others will likely be empty."

He found their reaction amusing but respected it greatly. He didn't require his friends and family to be saints, he only asked that they had strong values and their own morals. These kids had just proven that they had both.

"Oh..." Jay replied, feeling embarrassed "Well, if they are going to go to waste, that's different."

Kade nodded curtly with a smile "So each of you takes one and learn the technique. Absorb it during our downtime."

He placed six cores to the side, one for each of them, before tossing the other thirteen to Obruo. The pup could make the best use of the cores. Then, he picked up one of the six incomplete cores and crossed his legs before circulating his Altaris.

He had already learned the technique when he was training with Wompus, but this would be the first time he was putting it to use.

The technique was simple. Absorb a small amount of the energy from the beast core and slowly assimilate it by circulating it with a large amount of his Altaris. Each path, or class, had its own use for the assimilated energy. Kade would use it to expand his Altar.

So far, with the exception of training with Wompus, his progress had been ridiculously slow in his opinion. He was level 11, on the cusp of reaching level 12, which meant that he leveled once a month on average. These were the early levels of cultivation, it would only get longer and more difficult as he progressed.

Comparing himself to the kids, the difference was easily noticeable. The lowest of them was level 6 and the highest was level 8. They had only cultivated for a fraction of the time he had, yet they were half his level and closing in quickly.

On one hand, it made sense, mages were slightly slower cultivating in the beginning and they would always have to devote more time to learning and practicing. The issue was that the difference shouldn't be so huge.

He knew the reasons why though.

First, as a champion, he spent more time hunting and exploring than academic mages, leaving him less time for studying and cultivation. This had its perks though, such as practical experience that would increase his understanding.

The second was how he utilized the free time he had. It was split between studying, practicing his Altaris control, and cultivation at a 40/40/20 ratio. This was temporary, but in his mind, necessary. It was all about building a strong foundation!

Through studying, he would learn about spells, Altaris, and cultivation. His battle prowess would increase, as would his understanding which would help when he devoted more time to cultivation.

Altaris control was in the same vein. This was a subject that couldn't be neglected, it affected every aspect of a mage.

Having a strong foundation in those two areas would increase his battle prowess, which he needed severely right now, and would make his cultivation easier.