Of course, this rule was unofficial because it wasn't something that the mysterious powers of the Beast Domain enacted, but one the Federation had set in place to maintain order in the Sanctuaries.
Not even the War Beasts, the ones in charge of this Sanctuary, could ever think of going against this rule.
It wouldn't do humanity any good if the places that were supposed to be safe havens for humans turned into bloody war zones every time someone brought back a valuable beast corpse.
…However the same couldn't be said out in the wilderness, where there would be no witnesses.
Thud!
Nick's uneventful return to the sanctuary was abruptly interrupted, unfortunately for him.
The butt of a sword hit the back of his head from behind, not hard enough to knock him out but more than enough to send him scowling in pain.
"Which moron decided to team up with this Useless imp?" A voice echoed out from behind him, and Nick recognised it at once.
'Beast Slayer! That bastard!'
As one's destination in the Beast Domain was entirely random when first stepping through the teleporter, many people opted to use fake names to hide their real identities.
Beast Slayer was one of such people, and he also happened to be one of the people Nick wanted to cross paths with the least.
He was the leader of the Radiant Slayers, which made him one of the two strongest people in the War Beast Sanctuary.
There were rumours that he had already filled up over half of his Soul Seeds with Radiant Soul Seeds already, but they were unconfirmed as the man himself hadn't said anything about it.
Normally, having the attention of one of the two strongest people out of 50,000 could be a godsent opportunity for a nobody like Nick.
But Nick knew his luck could never be so good.
Beast Slayer wasn't there to make friends with Nick, which even a fool could see thanks to the whack Nick had received on the back of his head. Instead, he was there to make his life hell.
For some reason, Beast Slayer hated weakness, and as the epitome of weakness in War Beast Sanctuary, Nick became the epicentre of his hate and torment.
"Nobody teamed up with me, even you should be able to see that. I killed this beast myself." Nick replied through gritted teeth, making his scorn for Beast Slayer known.
There was no reason for him to try and act all chummy with the guy, as he would continue to torment Nick all the same regardless of how he acted.
At least being able to express his true feelings for the guy made Nick feel a tiny bit better.
However, Nick didn't receive the reply he was expecting when he talked back to Beast Slayer.
"Pffff! Hahah!"
Unexpectedly, Beast Slayer burst out laughing, grabbing hold of his stomach and gripping Nick's shoulder with even more intensity.
"Did you hear that, guys! This kid really tried to say he killed this thing by himself! Ahh, I haven't heard a joke so funny all week!"
His laughter continued for another few seconds until he eventually calmed down.
"I'm feeling nice at the moment thanks to your little joke, but if I catch wind of anyone teaming up with you…"
His voice suddenly turned serious as he looked Nick dead in the eye.
Nick knew his words were real, gulping as he nodded back to signify his agreement.
In the eyes of Beast Slayer, if anyone tried to help or team up with someone as weak as Nick, then they were just as pitiful.
This was the main reason, other than the fact that his Ability really was useless in everyone's eyes, that Nick had no friends or companions in War Beast Sanctuary.
It truly was unfortunate, having one of the two strongest people in the Sanctuary actively inhibiting him really made his progress that much slower.
However after he watched Beast Slayer and the rest of his force depart from the Sanctuary, Nick rubbed the back of his head, still reeling from the pain, and dragged the corpse of the Awakened White Ox into a place that looked like a rather sophisticated slaughterhouse.
Despite his mistreatment over the last three weeks ever since entering the Beast Domain, Nick was in a rather jovial mood at the moment, because there was one thing Beast Slayer didn't know.
Nick had an Awakened Beast Armament now, and it was a Weapon too at that.
With this, even without a team of Altered to work with, he would have much better chances at killing an Awakened beast, should he had the misfortune to cross one again, which let's be honest, with his luck, he most likely would…
Pushing those depressing thoughts aside, Nick excitedly made his way over to the man in charge of taking care of beast corpses.
This place was exactly what it looked like, a butchery. It wasn't just any butchery though, it was the only one in the entire War Beast Sanctuary, and it dealt with the corpses of the powerful beasts that inhabit the Beast Domain.
These Butchers were all under the direct purview of the Federation, as once the materials were processed and dealt with, they would be shipped back to the Federation through the Sanctuary's teleporter.
Apart from beast corpses, Beast Armaments, and Beast Cores, nothing else could be taken through the teleporters to the outside universe. The Beast Domain prohibited it.
Some humanoid beasts used weapons, which were often times as strong as a Beast Armament. But unfortunately, not even these could be taken back through the teleporter.
Nick planned on selling the corpse of the Awakened White Ox to this place, and if his calculations were correct, it should net him a good chunk of change.
From what he could remember back in high school, the corpses of Awakened beasts usually sold for anywhere between 2000 all the way up to 15,000 credits. But of course, this all depended on the type of beast, rarity, and quality of the corpse.
In Nick's case, the Awakened White Ox wasn't that rare, but it was huge, and its bones were quite tough and used by many different manufacturers in the Federation to create all sorts of appliances.
Not to mention the meat was delicious.
Taking into consideration all of these facts, he felt that he should get around 5-6000 credits in return for the corpse.
"3000, take it or leave it."
Nick's face fell into a grimace when he heard the reply of the man in charge though.
'That's half what it's actually worth!'
He didn't hide the fact that he was ripping Nick off either, in fact he treated Nick as if he was air, not even bothering to look in his direction.
This was just the treatment Nick received because of the pressure Beast Slayer placed on him thanks to his weak abilities.
Unfortunately, Nick couldn't do a damn thing about it either, as the Federation held a monopoly over all exports of beast remains back to the outside universe. He truly would only be able to take the 3000 credits or leave with nothing.
Nothing was stopping him from taking the beast back to the Federation himself, as it wasn't prohibited, only he would definitely get scammed even worse by going through third party sources.
If he had more strength, or even influence, then things would be different.
But that was just Nick's sad reality.
'I'll make sure to get my revenge some day. I don't know when, but some day!'
Unfortunately for both the butcher and Beast Slayer, Nick was quite the petty man… Who knew what lengths he would go to in the future after the trouble they had put him through…