Before Ramses could react properly, a member of the Silver Party came between him and the wind blade.

  “Shiiink!”

  As the sword collided with the wind blade, it made a sharp sound.

  “We are surrounded.” Max's anxious voice sounded as he saw various tall grasses closing in on them.

  “Storm-thorns!!!”

  “There are so many of them.”

  “Should we run?”

  “How are we going to get away?”

  Looking at the flock of Storm-thorns, panic spread through the workers.

  It wasn't like the workers hadn't encountered monsters before; every one or two days, they would come across some while transporting the spoils.

  But they would usually only encounter one or two monsters, which would be easily dealt with by the hunter or hunters leading them. This was the first time they were surrounded by so many monsters at the same time.

  “Put down the corpses and hide behind them.” Seeing that the situation was bad, Ramses immediately ordered.

  Storm-thorns are Level 1 monsters, but their wind blade attack is powerful enough to hack a person in two. Another dangerous thing about Storm-thorns is that they always attack in a group.

  Which makes their threat level quite high. However, Storm-thorns' weakness is also evident, as they need half a minute to charge their wind blade attack.

  Although a group of Storm-thorns can be deadly, that is only when they succeed in a sneak attack. Otherwise, for experienced hunters, they are just sitting ducks.

  Following Ramses’ words, the workers put down the carcasses of the Fire Lizards and lay on the ground, hiding behind the carcasses.

  Due to their anatomy, aiming wind blades at the ground is very difficult for Storm-thorns.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “Formation B5!!” Under Ramses’ cry, the members of the Silver Party took their positions.

  Shiiink!! Shiiink!!! Shiiink!! Shiiink!

  Before long, around fifteen wind blades came flying toward the members of the Silver Party.

  Some dodged while others parried the incoming wind blades.

  “Now,” seeing the Storm-thorns charging for another wind blade, Ramses made his move. With quick footwork, he arrived before a Storm-thorn and killed it with a sword slash.

  As Ramses’ signal sounded, the others also made their move, and before long the whole group of Storm-thorns was wiped out.

  “Thank God, for a second there, I thought we were going to die.”

  “That’s it? I thought it would be a serious fight.”

  “It seems Storm-thorns are overrated.”

  “That was so cool, I should hurry and save money for a Gift.”

  Seeing the entire group of Storm-thorns destroyed in under a minute, the workers were relieved, surprised, and shocked.

  After getting over the surprise attack, the workers picked up the carcasses of the Fire Lizards and continued on their way.

  Half an hour later, Kenji placed the carcass before a floating Fairy and retreated with everyone else.

  Soon, Marconi came running with a happy face and started distributing the money.

  “Should I continue?” After taking his 80 copper coins, Kenji looked toward the sky and wondered to himself.

  “Hi, kid. Yes, you over there.” Just as Kenji was about to make his way toward the notice area, he saw a man covered in a grayish-blue cloak.

  “Can I help you with something?” Approaching the man, Kenji asked in a cautious voice.

  Getting suddenly called over by an unknown man was not the first time for Kenji. He had faced many such incidents and had then gotten robbed.

  “Nothing, I just wanted to tell you that there is this F-rank Gift called [Split Soul], which will be a tremendous help to you.” As the man in the cloak finished speaking, his figure started to glitch and soon disappeared into the air.

  “Am I seeing things?” Suddenly seeing the man before him disappear like a mirage, Kenji asked himself.

  The man was just talking to him—how could he suddenly disappear?

  “What was he saying about the F-rank Gift…” As Kenji was vigilant of the man and on the lookout for any sudden move, he didn’t clearly hear his words.

  While wondering what had just happened, Kenji headed toward the notice area.

  —————

  Thousands of kilometers away from Aqua City, a man in a grayish-blue cloak was sitting under a tree with his eyes closed.

  “Damn it.” Suddenly, out of nowhere, he opened his eyes and cursed.

  “Do they really have to chase after every moving thing?” The man silently complained. He had no problem traveling to other regions, but why did he always end up drawing the Pul region?

  The Pul region was a good place, filled with vast grasslands and plenty of Storm-thorns. But he had to go through Were-beast territory, and the slightest mistake could mean death.

  “Let’s hope he takes my advice and chooses [Split Soul].” Thinking about Kenji, the man closed his eyes and focused on recovering his lost Ki.

  —————

  After completing another job, Kenji headed back to the housing complex.

  As usual, Kenji placed 50 copper coins on the table and then headed to his room. Changing into a new set of clothes, he lay on the bed and started breathing in Ki.

  Early this morning, his Ki reserves had risen by 4 units, and now he was going to continue for two more hours.

  After forming eight complete cycles and strengthening his Source Ki, Kenji stood up and washed his face.

  [Ki: 247]

  After putting something in his stomach, Kenji returned to his room and went to sleep.

  [Ancient Calendar: 15 Feb 0001]

  After waking up the next day, Kenji hurriedly did his chores, ate something, and then headed out—skipping Ki breathing.

  Leaving the housing complex, Kenji hurried toward the city gate. He was just 5 Silver coins short of getting all the materials for his first heavenly trial, which, if he worked hard enough, could be earned in 4–5 days.

  Kenji was desperate enough for the F-rank Gift [Peak Physique] that he was willing to work 12+ hours. After all, to him, getting [Peak Physique] meant people would stop judging him because of his weak body, and he would finally be able to better express himself.

  “Kenji!!” Reaching the notice area, Kenji was just looking for a small hunting group of 2–3 members to see if they needed a helper when he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

  __________

  Author’s Note:

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