Natsu didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she took a slow breath, shifted her stance slightly, and looked at Nathan like she had just accepted a formal request to give a lecture.
"…Alright," she said. "I'll explain everything to the best of my ability — consider it my way of saying thanks for everything you've done for me."
Nathan straightened instinctively. And just like that—
Natsu launched into a detailed explanation of monster spawning behavior, covering everything from timing to classification to drop mechanics with the precision of someone who had learned it the hard way.
Monsters, she explained, only appeared at night — beginning around evening. They would roam, attack, and persist throughout the darkness… but the moment sunlight touched the land, they would disintegrate into dust.
All of them.
Except for one category — Beast-type monsters.
Unlike other monsters, their bodies remained after death — even after sunrise. Their flesh, while technically 'diseased,' was still edible in most cases. And apparently, their meat were quite delicious compared to standard farm meats.
She gave an example: a creature called the Stone-Breaker Bovine — the most common D-Rank, Beast-type monster resembling a cow, but larger, tougher, and equipped with a massive, pointed horn capable of shattering rock.
Nathan blinked repeatedly.
…So fantasy meat with pointed bone on either side was probably real… but they won't go down without a fight.
Good to know.
Natsu continued.
Monsters did not spawn randomly across the land — they spawned near people.
The more people gathered in one place, the more monsters would appear — and not just in quantity, but also in quality. A higher population meant a higher chance of stronger, higher-ranked monsters emerging.
F-Rank monsters — which are only Walkers, by the way — respawn endlessly throughout the night.
E-Rank monsters also respawn continuously — just less often.
D-Rank monsters and above, on the other hand, have a chance to appear if the population threshold is met, with larger groups increasing the likelihood of their spawning.
And finally — if a monster was killed, their body will vanish at sunrise, and had a chance of leaving behind a random drop items.
But one thing was guaranteed — Runestones.
Nathan listened quietly, nodding here and there.
Some of the info… he already knew, or at least suspected. But he was still glad for the confirmation.
"…Got it," he said. "That actually clears up a lot of my questions."
Then he raised his hand, fully committing to his student role. "A question."
Natsu looked at him. "…Go on."
"What kind of items drop from monsters besides runestones?"
"Depends on the monster and its rank," she replied. "Lower-ranked monsters sometimes spawned carrying weapons — crude ones, but somewhat usable. Higher-ranked monsters can drop body materials — things like exoskeletons, horns, claws… sometimes even internal components useful for alchemy."
Nathan's eyes lit up slightly.
"…So this is basically a full-on resource system."
Natsu tilted her head. "…What?"
"Never mind," he waved it off. "Point is — that sounds profitable."
"It is," she confirmed. "There are even a lot people who dedicate their lives to hunting monsters. They're called Nocturns."
Nathan nodded slowly.
Nocturn, huh…
Cool name. Very edgy.
Nathan Nightshade would absolutely approve.
"…So," he continued, "runestones can be sold, right?"
"Yes."
"What kind of value are we talking about?"
Natsu crossed her arms slightly. "…What rank do you even have?"
Nathan answered casually, "A few E-Rank ones and… some F-Rank."
She blinked.
"…That's it?"
"…That's it?"
She sighed.
"An E-Rank runestone sells for a few bronze coins — if it's a fresh, newly acquired one," she said flatly. "And F-Rank ones… are basically worthless. There's no real market for them."
Nathan froze.
"…Excuse me?"
"They only store a very small amount of mana, and only last for a day or two before they dry out completely," she added. "So no one bothers buying them."
"…That sucks."
"That's reality."
Nathan stared off into the distance.
There goes my get-rich-quick plan.
"…What a bummer," he muttered.
Natsu gave him a look. "Why are you looked so disappointed? You can't even sell them. The nearest town is about a week's walk from here."
Nathan shrugged.
"Nothing wrong with discussing future business opportunities."
"…You're strange."
"I'd rather be called an opportunist."
• × • × • × •
About forty minutes before sunset — Nathan inspected his handiwork.
The trapezoid-shaped structure, built directly at the edge of the riverside cliff, stood imposingly at about four meters tall. It had enough space along the top for comfortable maneuvering.
He would've liked to add more height to it, but unfortunately, he hadn't harvested enough wood before the Supreme Dragon appeared — a creature whose destructive power could easily be classified as a WMD.
Somewhat satisfied, he clapped his hands lightly.
"Alright. Time for last prep." He glanced at Natsu. "Can you handle the campfire?"
She nodded. "Sure."
Nathan reached into his storage and tossed her a lighter.
She caught it easily, then paused.
"…What is this?"
"It makes fire." She stared at it, then at him.
"…I can already do that."
"…?"
Natsu turned slightly away, raising her hand.
"Amber."
A small, steady flame flickered to life at her fingertip.
Nathan eyes went wide.
…Holy smokes—!
That's so freaking cool!
He stared like a kid watching fireworks for the first time.
Natsu, completely unfazed, used the flame to ignite the wood pile Nathan had prepared beforehand. The fire caught quickly, growing into a stable campfire.
Meanwhile — Nathan was still internally losing his mind.
She just casually summoned fire…
From her fingertip… like it's nothing.
I have to say an entire paragraph just to activate stealth mode.
Life is unfair.
He shook his head slightly and turned his attention elsewhere.
Specifically—
His System.
While Natsu knelt beside the fire, carefully feeding it with more wood, the soft crackling of flames gradually filled the space between them.
Warmth spread outward, pushing back the creeping chill of the approaching night.
Nathan, meanwhile, was focused on something far more important.
Money.
He flicked open his System window and checked his balance.
[SC: 3,519]
"…Wow," he muttered under his breath, genuinely impressed.
That jumped way faster than I expected.
His lips curled into a small grin.
"Ironwood really is a ridiculous source of income…" he murmured quietly. "No wonder some people are willing to risk their kingdom getting obliterated by a dragon just to get their hands on it."
And honestly?
He got it now.
One cubic meter of Ironwood sold for five hundred SC — from a mere tree he didn't even realize he was felling until he checked his Storage inventory item list — and compared to normal wood, that was absurd.
Like—
—who looked at regular lumber and said, "yeah, let's make this worth eighteen thousand percent more"?
Nathan exhaled softly through his nose.
He had only sold seven cubic meters.
Seven.
Which meant—
Yeah… I basically robbed a dragon and got paid for it…
…I'm so dead if she ever finds out.
His grin twitched slightly.
Absolutely worth it.
Still, the sheer amount of SC sitting in his balance made something inside him itch…
The good kind of itch.
The 'I want to spend this immediately on questionable upgrades' kind of itch.
Nathan rubbed his hands together lightly.
"…Alright," he muttered. "Let's see what weapon parts we can upgrade today."