Returning to his room, Kenji immediately went to sleep. He was too tired; carrying a Stormsteed while keeping up with workers who had E-rank Gifts was too much for him.

  [Ancient Calendar: 23 Feb 0001]

  By the time Kenji woke up again. It was way past midnight.

  After relieving himself at the toilet, he once again dragged his half-asleep body back to bed.

  An hour or two later, Kenji opened his eyes, wide awake. Getting up, he started Ki breathing.

  Around 9:00 AM in the morning, Kenji finished two cycles of Ki breathing and popped a Food Pill.

  Two more cycles later, Kenji left the housing complex and headed toward the city gate.

  [Ki: 330]

  Along the way, he used his Ki to hasten his pace.

  “Not him again.” Seeing Kenji arrive, the rest of the workers looked at him in disdain. They wouldn’t allow another person to get close to their goddesses. But since Emli was nearby, no one said anything.

  Soon after, Emli received a call, and they headed out of the city.

  Once again, Kenji had to carry a Stormsteed, as any smaller carcass was instantly snatched away by others.

  “Let's go.” Seeing that everyone was ready, Emli led the way.

  As the Monster Tide had ended, the harassment of Storm-thorns continued, but Wind Frogs seemed to have disappeared from the face of the world.

  And handling a couple of Storm-thorns wasn’t a problem for Emli, who had undergone her second Heavenly Trial and obtained a detection Gift.

  After walking a few meters, the workers fastened their pace, leaving Kenji behind.

  With no other choice, Kenji had to use more of his Ki.

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  But the workers didn’t allow him to catch up. Instead, the moment they saw him closing the distance, they would clench their teeth and start walking with all their might, going as far as running every now and then.

  Thanks to his Ki, Kenji was barely able to keep up; however, halfway through the journey, Kenji faced a very difficult problem.

  His reserves were nearly empty, and he couldn’t stop to recover. Unwillingly, he started slowing down.

  Seeing this, the workers were excited. Finally, the boy was going to ask for a break, and they would have a reason to bad-mouth him and get time to rest for a while.

  After all, their recently acquired E-grade body-strengthening Gifts didn’t give them infinite stamina.

  However, against their expectations, Kenji only slowed down a little. He didn’t complain nor ask for a break.

  To further test the limits of the kid, the workers started using every ounce of their strength to walk faster.

  “So… heavy.” As Kenji’s Ki ran out, the full weight of the 120kg Stormsteed came crashing down on his weak body. With heavy steps, Kenji focused on gathering the surrounding Ki to recover what he had lost.

  In just five steps, he managed to recover 10 units of Ki, and the heavy burden was finally lifted from his back.

  But those 10 units of Ki were only enough to support him for ten steps.

  Thus, Kenji entered a cycle where he walked five steps with crushing weight on his back and ten without it.

  Seeing this, the workers knew Kenji was on his last straw, and they too began to slow down. They also couldn’t bear to continue much longer.

  “Let’s take a break.” Knowing what was going on, Emli announced a short break.

  Finally closing the distance, Kenji dropped the Stormsteed and spent all his energy recovering Ki.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Resting and drinking some water, the workers looked at Kenji’s strange behavior and wondered amongst themselves.

  Meanwhile, Emli, who was better read than them, had two thoughts cross her mind. Either Kenji had a Ki-reliant Gift, or he knew how to use Ki.

  But she instantly brushed off the second thought. After all, even the leaders of top hunting parties hadn’t successfully learned Ki control yet.

  How could a transportation worker like Kenji have learned it?

  So, she came to the conclusion that Kenji had a Ki-reliant Gift, the kind that becomes more powerful as more Ki is supplied.

  “Let’s get going.” Seeing that the workers were about to come up to her and continue their daily nonsense, Emli ordered them to move.

  In a short break of five minutes, Kenji was able to recover a quarter of his Ki, and thus he began following everyone. However, just half a kilometer away from the city, Kenji’s reserves were once again dried up.

  So once again, Kenji had to resort to desperate measures. He didn’t want his work up till now to go to waste.

  As it had happened to him many times before, he would run out of Ki midway and couldn’t carry the spoils anymore.

  Instead of letting him rest, the employers would start deducting copper coins for the minutes he rested.

  Some even outright refused to pay, claiming he wasted their precious time.

  So, grinding his teeth, Kenji continued.

  On one step, he would feel as if a mountain had fallen upon him; fine on the next.

  This continued for a while, but out of nowhere, under the immense pressure, something magical happened, and his body automatically started absorbing the surrounding Ki to recover his reserves.

  During the whole time, Kenji had a blank look on his face. But deep within his body, tremendous changes were happening.

  Before long, they returned to the city. By now, Kenji’s face was bright red, and he was having difficulty breathing.

  “Huh-hah… huh-hah…” Dropping off the Stormsteed at the Fairy stall, Kenji collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

  He looked as if a single touch would lead to his death.

  “Kid, are you…?” Even the workers who wanted to get rid of him looked at Kenji sympathetically. After all, the kid had proven himself to be man enough to be a part of their group.

  “I am fine.” With his eyes glowing with excitement, Kenji stopped anyone from coming near him.

  Right now, a clash seemed to be ongoing inside his body, and he somehow knew that even a slight bit of outside interference could cause things to go south.

  __________

  Author’s Note:

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