“But teacher, didn’t we all evolve from single-celled organisms? How could a complex life form be born like that? Doesn’t it have to go through a process?” A student stopped Mary and asked.

  What she had been teaching them for the past week was completely different from what they had learned in schools back on Earth.

  “You are correct. We will learn about that in upcoming lessons.” Instead of getting angry, Mary was happy that someone raised the question.

  “But do you kids know why materials floating in space would suddenly come together and form a massive planet? …No one. It’s because of the World Core. It not only keeps everything in place but also creates an environment suitable for life.

  However, each World Core has limited essence, and many of them dry up just after creating a planet. We call them the dead worlds, like Mercury or Venus.

  Now, there are planets whose World Core has enough essence to support life and everything, but they aren’t able to absorb cosmic energy to replenish themselves. We call these Broken Worlds.…”

  “Teacher, was our Earth also a Broken World?” A small girl, around 11 years old, raised her hand and asked.

  “We don’t know, sweetie. There have been too many legends of mythical figures and gods back on Earth. Maybe our Earth’s Core has run out of essence.” Since Mary didn’t know the answer, she gave this response to satisfy the girl while keeping her imagination alive.

  “As I was saying before, since there are dead planets and Broken Worlds, there are also those with complete Cores capable of absorbing cosmic energy to replenish themselves. Since these World Cores can never run out of essence, they share it..…”

  Mary continued going on and on about the History of the Verse, with students occasionally asking questions.

  Kenji, who was sitting in the corner, was impressed. The teachers at his old school weren’t this good. Mary seemed to have the kids completely under her spell.

  It wasn’t long before the two hours passed, and Mary was finally free.

  “These kids really are troublesome.” As the students stormed out of the building, Mary sighed in relief.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Let’s get something to eat.” Mary led Kenji toward the second floor, where all the rooms had been converted into classrooms.

  “Mary, done with the kids?” A man in his late fifties greeted them as they entered the room.

  “Jack, is there anything left?” Seeing Jack with an almost empty plate, Mary asked in low energy.

  “Plenty. Enough to feed a family of four,” Jack joked as he took a bite of the food.

  Mary, feeling drained, didn’t bother arguing with him. Instead, she scavenged the chafing dishes for whatever was left and divided it into two portions.

  After finishing their meal, both Kenji and Mary left the school.

  “Here, take these. And look… I know you don’t want to… How about this: consider it a loan. When you get a little stronger, you can buy a bottle of Body Refining Pills for me. Then we’ll be even.” During the class, Mary had noticed subtle changes in Kenji’s expression, as if he were struggling internally.

  Hearing her words, Kenji’s eyes gleamed with a hint of clarity as he accepted the Body Refining Pill bottle from Mary’s hands.

  Before long, they parted ways. Kenji returned to his room and drifted into sleep.

  [Ancient Calendar: 7 Mar 0001]

  The next day, after waking up, Kenji took a shower and headed out.

  “Kenji, what have you been doing these past couple of days?” Seeing him leave so early in the morning, Kevin couldn’t help but ask.

  “Hunting.” Kenji stopped, turned back, and answered Kevin, after all, he had always been good to him.

  “So, that’s why I haven’t seen your face around. How’s hunting going? Found a team yet?” Rex spoke.

  “It’s good… hunting a… few Kobolds.” The moment Kenji heard Rex’s voice, he felt a bolt of lightning hit the back of his neck. It seemed Rex was about to start targeting him again.

  “Oh, the Party is currently recruiting people. Why don’t you show up at the notice area this evening?” Rex spoke in his usual cold, heavy tone.

  “O… okay.” Kenji quickly slipped out of the apartment complex and headed toward the city gate to meet Muhammed and Duy.

  Along the way, he popped a food pill.

  After spamming a few [Flash]s, Kenji appeared at the city gate in no time.

  “Kenji, there you are! We were waiting.” By the time Kenji arrived, both Muhammed and Duy were already there.

  Leaving the city, the trio walked a great distance before entering the Kobold cave.

  Hours passed, and they emerged carrying Kobold carcasses on their backs. Today went even better than yesterday: they killed 52 Kobolds, 31 of which were clean kills by severing the head.

  This was entirely possible thanks to their teamwork. Whenever they encountered a group of Kobolds, Kenji would launch a [Ki Blade] at them, and Muhammed and Duy would swiftly take down one Kobold each.

  If the remaining Kobolds were only three or four, they would work together to take them down. But if the number exceeded six, they would retreat.

  [User: Kenji

  Age: 18

  Ki: 481 → 533

  Profession: None

  Innate Ability: Devour

  Heavenly Gift: None

  Skills: Flash, Ki Blade, Bull Fist]

  On the way back, with nothing better to do, Kenji kept glancing at his status panel. Ever since he started hunting, his Ki reserves had increased exponentially.

  With his current Ki, he could unleash two [Ki Blade] attacks in succession. Though after that, not a single thread of Ki would remain in his body.

  After selling the Kobold carcasses, the trio went back to retrieve the rest. Once everything was sold, Kenji’s share totaled 3 Silver coins and 70 copper coins.

  “Kenji, wanna grab food?” Duy asked, since he and Muhammed were already planning to eat.

  Yesterday, their earnings were modest, but today each of them earned more than 3 Silver coins. Though still far less than what they would make doing hard labor, it was progress.

  “Sorry, got… an appointment.” Kenji didn’t want to give Rex any reason to target him. So after finishing, he headed straight to the Silver party notice area.

  __________

  Author’s Note:

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