“Finally,” after wrestling with the invisible Howler for a whole seven minutes, Zhen was able to kill it.

  “Kenji, you can't continue to act like this. We are a team; you need to follow orders and help others. But all you do is use [Ki Blade] and then rest. You know nothing about teamwork. If you continue this, then we may have to part ways.”

  After killing the Howler, Zhen exploded on Kenji.

  He repeatedly warned Kenji about the location of the Howler; however, he always missed.

  So, he couldn't only ask Anon to take the lead, while Kenji provided support.

  Anon and Zhen have fought together countless times, and Anon was easily able to follow Zhen's commands and fight the Howler.

  However, because of his carelessness, Kenji got knocked to the ground by the Howler, and when Anon came to save him, he fell prey to the Howler's fangs.

  While Kenji was getting an earful from Zhen, Anon's condition after taking the grade 4 healing potion was getting better.

  His muscles and flesh were regrowing at a visible speed.

  Ten minutes later, Anon began to regain consciousness.

  “What happened?” Anon asked, as his memory was a little hazy.

  “How are you feeling?” Zhen left Kenji alone and came to check up on Anon.

  “Strange? I think I haven't eaten for days. And why am I on the ground? Right, we were fighting an Invisible Howler and then… He got to me. How am I still alive?”

  It wasn't long before the memory of what happened came crashing back to Anon.

  “Don't worry, we used the grade 4 healing potion. Are you feeling anything else aside from hunger, maybe like a burning sensation or pain?” Joon asked to confirm Anon's condition.

  “Nothing like that, but I am very hungry.” Anon again emphasized the hunger part.

  When Anon didn't mention feeling anything else aside from hunger, both Zhen and Joon sighed in relief.

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  It seems he doesn't have any internal damage.

  Healing potions are great for external wounds and can easily help get rid of all types of flesh injuries, even missing chunks of flesh.

  But healing potions don't have much effect on bones and internal organs.

  “That's good. Feeling hungry is a common side effect of the healing potion. Let's get you back to the city, and then you can eat to your heart's content.” Zhen helped Anon to get up from the ground.

  During the whole time, Kenji remained silent. He felt that it wasn't his fault; Zhen's words were always changing.

  Sometimes he said the Howler was right in front of him, other times it was to his left.

  How can someone fight with such vague instructions?

  Before long, Zhen and Anon left for the city, and Joon and Kenji were left behind to look after the carcasses.

  “You should practise on your team-building skills.” Joon wasn't pleased with Kenji's attitude. At the least, he could apologize to Anon, as Anon got injured trying to save him.

  An hour later, Zhen returned with the group of workers, and they carried away all the carcasses of the Howlers.

  “It's a good thing that they revert back to base form after death; otherwise, we would have to pay a lot of money.” Seeing the workers carrying two or three Howlers, Zhen felt that his decision of hunting the Howlers was a correct one.

  [Ki: 1,034→1,174]

  “Here, I am going to deduct money from your pay until you pay me for that grade 4 healing potion.” Zhen handed over 5 silver coins to Kenji and informed him.

  Seeing only 5 silver coins in his hand, Kenji wanted to protest. However, Joon's cold expression made him step down.

  Silently, Kenji left the city gate and headed for the Fairy Market.

  After meeting up with Mary, both went to grab something to eat.

  “If you want, I can recommend you to some parties. But you should stick with them until you can get your third gift.” Hearing Kenji's story, even Mary felt Anon's injuries, to some extent, were his fault.

  However, Zhen's action of having him pay for the grade 4 healing potion was plainly taking advantage of Kenji.

  If Zhen hadn't established a team fund, Mary would have urged Kenji to leave Zhen and the others.

  But since Kenji had so many gold coins tied to the team fund, it changed everything.

  “Now that your Ki reserves have exceeded the requirement for the [Dual Soul], did you check out the prices of the materials?” Putting the matter of Zhen aside, Mary asked about [Dual Soul].

  “No, but I will check the prices on my way home.” Finishing his food, Kenji answered.

  “Let me know if you need any help.” As it was almost time for her class, Mary left in a hurry.

  After paying the bill, Kenji headed to the Sky Treasure House.

  “Welcome, what are you looking for?” As Kenji entered the place, the same ball of light appeared before him.

  “I am looking for Soul Pearl, Spiritual Sand, and Tai Petals.” Kenji listed the three items he needed for the sacrifice.

  [Soul Pearl (C): 300 gold coins.]

  [Spiritual Sand (E): 5 copper coins per gram.]

  [Tai Petals (D): 40 gold coins per petal.]

  Seeing the prices of the items, Kenji was shocked.

  The total cost seemed to be more than 500 gold coins, as he needed 5 Tai Petals and 1 kg of Spiritual Sand, which brought the total to 505 gold coins.

  Knowing the price of the materials needed for the D-rank gift [Dual Soul], Kenji left the Sky Treasure House and headed back home.

  After practising for a while, he lay down on his bed and went to sleep.

  [Ancient Calendar: 28 Mar 0001]

  The next day, as Kenji was about to leave the housing complex, he got a call on his call stone.

  “What took you so long?”

  This was Kenji's first time using a call stone, and it took him a while to answer the call.

  “Nothing… I was just… headed to the city gate, and it took a while for me to notice.” Hearing Mary's voice on the other side of the call, Kenji was delighted.

  “Remember the two C-rank [Skill Manuals] that I lent you? I need you to bring them to the library in half an hour. Don't worry, it's just a formality. You can pick them up again in the evening.”

  After waking up, Mary, as usual, went to the library to return the books she didn't need. There she found out that the lending date of the two [Skill Manuals] she gave Kenji was about to expire.

  Not wanting to pay the heavy fine for not returning books on time, Mary called Kenji.

  __________

  Author’s Note:

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