My inventory is full of monster materials.

The next morning.

A roaring campfire blazed in the campsite, dispelling some of the lingering chill of the forest. Several iron cups sat on the campfire rocks, their contents bubbling and steaming.

Mark, standing next to him, picked up a metal cup, breathed lightly on it, and then took a small, satisfying sip.

The first sip of "bitter tea seeds" in the morning.

Cool--!

Suddenly, a series of low cheers and shouts came from not far away.

In the center of the camp, the team members were gathered in a circle, all beaming with joy.

It turned out that in the center of the circle, Clyde was squatting on the ground, holding a small puddle of amber honey in his palm, feeding a beige-eared fennec fox.

The little guy is cute and adorable, burying his head and quickly licking the sweet honey with his pink little tongue.

Emily has always been powerless against these furry little creatures. While the little fox was eating, she carefully reached out and gently stroked the fur on its back. Her movements were very gentle.

The little fox merely twitched its ears slightly behind its head, without turning away, clearly acquiescing to her closeness.

Henry and Brady, though tempted to tease the little fox, restrained themselves—because the apothecary was on serious business.

Only Orion remained unmoved, standing half a step behind Clyde, his posture upright, his eyes fixed straight ahead, and his face expressionless.

Mark knew that the young knight was still sulking about what happened two days ago.

He withdrew his gaze, lowered his head, and took another sip of tea.

Mark recalled the information about the little beast.

This fennec fox was lost by a desert caravan passing through the Golan Forest.

Because there were no other creatures like him in the forest, and he was an "outsider," he was often bullied.

They dared not approach the river to drink water normally, and could only drink the morning dew when thirsty; unable to catch rabbits and field mice due to their unsuitable terrain, they could only pick up wild fruits that had fallen on the ground to fill their stomachs, living an exceptionally poor and cautious life.

Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, as the little guy was spared from regional toxin contamination.

As for how Mark knew these things?

Of course, it was the fennec foxes themselves who told them.

By this time, the honey in Clyde's palm had been licked clean.

The little fox raised its head, its big eyes gazing up at Clyde, its pink tongue licking the sweet residue left on its lips, looking exceptionally charming.

Clyde smiled gently, then leaned down and whispered in the little fox's ear.

"Miss Wira, could you tell me what's up there on that high river?"

Upon hearing the familiar voice, the little fox, as if meeting an old friend in a foreign land, tearfully clung to Clyde's trouser leg, letting out a short whimper.

"Waaah—waaaah~ waaah, waaah..."

An encrypted conversation between a human and a beast.

Henry and his companions were dumbfounded.

The conversation stopped shortly afterward.

Clyde then pulled another small test tube containing amber honey from his waist and handed it to Emily beside him, speaking gently.

"Miss Emily, could you please feed Miss Vera some more honey? I need to discuss something with Mark and the others."

Emily's eyes lit up as she took the honey, nodded vigorously, and her voice was filled with barely suppressed joy.

"Please leave it to me with confidence!"

Immediately, Clyde stood up and exchanged a glance with Henry. The two then went to the campfire and sat down one after the other.

Mark handed Clyde a steaming cup of tea and asked curiously.

"Is this a zero-level 'friendship technique'?"

"no."

Clyde shook his head and began to explain.

"The 'friendship spell' can indeed make animals obey some simple commands without harming them, but it will backfire when the spell fails—the animals that regain consciousness will become hostile to the spellcaster or even attack them."

"What I just used was the first-level 'Animal Conversation' skill."

"Any animal will do?"

"Actually, it is essentially using the 'sound of nature,' which can be understood by any wild animal in nature. Of course, understanding it is one thing, but whether it pays attention to you is another."

"Ha ha!"

Mark was in high spirits and raised his iron cup to toast with Clyde.

To everyone's surprise, Clyde took a sip of tea and looked astonished.

"Huh! This tea...could it be 'Cecily's Bitter Tea Seeds'?"

Mark was equally surprised.

"You understand?"

"Of course I understand."

Clyde's expression turned serious, and he said with great anticipation.

"This tea is Lord Valencia's secret recipe. It's a good thing that can steadily improve intelligence. I heard that even the mages in the Mage's Guild can't get their hands on it."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Mark fell silent.

Surely a proper mage wouldn't be unable to afford 20 gold coins.

Seeing that Mark's expression was calm, Clyde asked cautiously.

"Mr. Mark, what is your relationship with Lord Valencia?"

"Um—well—"

Mark hesitated, drawing out his words several times.

But Henry, who was standing next to him, couldn't hold back any longer.

"Gentlemen, why don't we talk about the mission?"

"!!"

Mark and Clyde suddenly woke up, their expressions turning awkward with smiles.

They get completely carried away when they start talking about magic or anything like that.

"Cough cough."

Clyde cleared his throat, his expression turning serious again.

"I just learned from Miss Vera... that fennec fox, that every three to five days, all the creatures in this area have to 'pay tribute' to the Slime King under the waterfall."

"Tribute?"

Mark and Henry both expressed their doubt.

"right."

Clyde added.

"Only by offering flesh and blood can one receive a reward; all the creatures here crave that reward."

"Today was supposed to be the day of offerings, and everyone was already heading to the waterfall. Miss Vera took the opportunity to go out and forage for food for a while, and that's how she ran into us."

After hearing the description, Mark fell into deep thought.

The so-called reward must be related to "neuro-hallucinogens".

But what matters most to them is the overall combat strength of the enemy.

Sure enough, Henry picked up the conversation and asked with a serious expression.

"Clyde, does Miss Vera know of any such creatures? How strong are they? How many are there?"

Clyde shook his head.

"I don't know. The information I received was 'big guy,' 'very big guy,' 'king,' 'many partners,' 'different partners'..."

Perhaps he was very disappointed in Henry.

Clyde added another sentence.

"Miss Vera is just a lonely little fox; you can't ask for more."

In fact, Mark even admired Clyde somewhat—how did he manage to organize that series of information using just these abstract nouns?!

The atmosphere suddenly became deadlocked.

Suddenly, Mark had a flash of inspiration and came up with an idea.

"Is today the Slime King's tribute day?"

"Yes. What do you want to do?"

Clyde seemed to realize that Mark had a solution.

Mark glanced at Emily and the others laughing and interacting with the little fox not far away, a mysterious smile playing on his lips.

"Clyde, I'd like to ask if you have a way to stabilize magical constructs?"

"A magical construct?"