The pre-dawn chill of the Bastion was a familiar misery. It seeped through the thickest wool, settled deep in the bones, and turned every breath into a painful reminder of the eternal frost.
Usually, the mess tent was a grim, silent place, filled with the sullen scraping of spoons against metal bowls as men forced down lukewarm gruel.
But not today. Not for Noah.
He practically inhaled his breakfast, a strange, eager energy humming beneath his skin. The bland porridge tasted like a feast.
The biting cold felt like a refreshing promise. He was the first scavenger geared up, his steel pole resting on his shoulder, his patched uniform feeling less like a shroud and more like a suit of armor.
Finn, the grizzled team captain, watched him with narrowed eyes, nursing a cup of steaming, bitter tea.
"Did you finally knock your head on a block of ice, kid? I ain't never seen someone lookin' happy to go haul guts."
A few other scavengers grunted in agreement, shaking their heads as they slowly, reluctantly, prepared for the day.
Noah just offered a tight-lipped smile, the expression hidden behind his thick scarf. "Just feeling good today, Finn. A good night's sleep."
Finn snorted, unconvinced. "A good night's sleep in this hellhole? More likely you're still reeling from that whore's pussy."
Noah grunted at her mention. "A well that deep? You have to reach the bottom just to get a drink. What's the fun in that?"
"Haha. Boy, what are you expecting from the whores of the north? If you want the fresh, unripe fruits of the world, gain enough merit to get a noble lady as a wife."
"Wife? Hmph. I, Noah Bastion, never have and never will have a wife. Tasting every fruit on the plate is what I dreamed of."
Finn curled his lips. "But boy, sure, the men of the Bastion have whored a lot in the fortress. That's only until they take a partner for themselves. But when they take one… no other cave in the world will feel as warm to them."
Noah raised his cup. "A capable man can find warmth in any cave."
"Not if the cave can become a cage," Finn winked as he rose from his seat. Noah said nothing as he followed the middle-aged captain.
To Noah, the concept of a partner was a joke. He had lived all his life in the north. He started whoring at eleven.
He'd never met a woman worthy of sharing his life with, nor did he think he ever would. He believed that women would only hold him back.
They were warm, for sure. In the biting cold of the north, that kind of heat made you forget everything; the company of one was more than enough to defeat the cold creeping into your mind.
But that was it.
They were a burden. Always requiring strong men to save them.
The march out of the fortress gates was the same as always, a long, grey line of men trudging towards a field of yesterday's death.
But for Noah, every crunch of his boots on the frozen, blood-stained snow was a step towards his future.
His gaze swept across the desolate landscape, littered with the grotesque, frozen forms of demon-kind.
It wasn't a graveyard anymore. It was a treasure chest, and he was the only one with the key.
Once they reached the designated clearing zone, Sergeant Kael barked out the orders, and the teams spread out.
Noah deliberately chose a section slightly apart from the others, where a small cluster of Grovelers lay tangled around a shattered barricade.
His mana was full. As per his calculations, it took about half an hour to refill his mana completely, so he didn't need to fear it running out.
With a thought, he drew upon the card in his deck, burning ten points of mana to project its power outwards.
[+1 Unassigned Attribute has been collected.]
[+1...]
[Unassigned Attributes: 6]
'It's a success!'
Noah continued walking around his designated area. Sergeant Kael looked at his actions with raised brows.
'Oh, the boy is smart! Look how he's scouting the demon corpses to check if they are feigning death!'
For the sergeant, who appreciated the talent of his subordinates, a hardworking boy like Noah quickly became his favourite.
So, without Noah doing anything special, his every action became a sign of hard work in the eyes of the no-bearded man.
A wolfish grin appeared on Noah's face every time he saw the system messages.
[Unassigned Attributes: 17]
[Unassigned Attributes: 25]
[Unassigned Attributes: 38]
The number climbed at a dizzying rate. For an hour, Noah walked every corner of his team's designated area and even some of the nearby areas of other teams before returning to start his hauling.
The other scavengers shook their heads and cursed him and his hard work, unaware that the carcasses were strangely losing most of their demonic energy.
Before the evening tea break, Noah had pulled a hundred more corpses, breaking his record from the previous day.
He had almost emptied the area by himself, so he glanced towards the Sergeant.
Those who had finished their targets for the day had already left for the fortress. Still, there were hundreds of corpses left.
"Sergeant, can I take over this area?" Noah asked while gulping down the hot tea. Sergeant Kael was taken aback before laughing aloud.
"Finn, look at the vigor of this youngster! At this rate, your team is gonna lose a member."
"Sergeant, I am perfectly healthy to take over," Noah muttered, mistaking the sergeant's words as doubt about his physical capability, which made the veterans in the area snicker.
"Tsk. Sure, boy. You are really healthy. Healthy as the northern bears. That buxom woman told me all about it," one of the scavengers winked, making Noah's cheeks turn red.
Luckily, his face was covered by thick clothes.
"Stop it, Darvin. Don't demotivate the youngster. Boy, if you are sure, then take this area. I'm all good with it," Sergeant Kael said, patting his shoulder.
Noah bowed his head in thanks, once again making the sergeant's eyes soften.
The new area was partially cleaned, so it only took Noah an hour to collect the attributes from there.
The last carcass was bigger than the rest of the Grovelers. The sergeant was near it, writing something on a piece of paper.
Noah projected his skill at it, but to his surprise, he didn't get an attribute point.
'System,' he asked, his mind racing. 'Why is this demon not giving me attributes?'
[Only dead demons will give you attribute points using the skill [Essence Tether].]
Noah froze.
Only dead demons…
His eyes snapped to the "corpse" behind Sergeant Kael.
Oh…
So, it wasn't dead.
Ohhhh…
"Crap…"
"GROWL…"