[Ancient Calendar: 20 Mar 0001]

  The next day, Kenji was finally able to perform [Enforce] and kept it active for half a minute.

  While his progress on [Beam] was much better, now he was able to do it almost every other try.

  [Ancient Calendar: 21 Mar 0001]

  “If you have so much free time, why don't you get out and get a job? Parties are paying extra.” As Kenji was busy concentrating Ki at the tip of his finger, he heard a voice.

  The moment Kenji lost concentration, the red beam of Ki hit the wall and scattered, without doing any damage.

  Turning back, Kenji saw Rex's giant figure staring at him.

  “I…I…am practising a…skill.” Kenji's voice was trembling a little when he spoke to Rex.

  Rex was already scary enough, but in the time he hadn't seen him, he had gotten much bigger and bulkier.

  “A skill? Why do you need to practice a skill?” Taking a cold breath, Rex asked.

  He learned from Maria that ever since the Monster Tide started, Kenji had been spending the whole day standing in the yard.

  Rex originally thought that Kenji was just absorbing Ki to increase his reserves, but now it seemed he had become delusional.

  Since it was common knowledge that after getting the skill from the [Skill Book], one doesn't need to practice, as it instantly becomes second nature to the body, just like breathing.

  “Y…you know…I don't have…money to…buy [Skill Books]...so my friend…got me these [Skill Manuals]...to learn…skills from.” While speaking, Kenji pointed toward the [Skill Manual: Enforce] on the ground by Rex’s feet.

  “Learn skills?” This was the first time Rex had heard someone say a skill could be learned without a [Skill Book].

  To confirm whether Kenji had lost it or not, he picked up the [Skill Manual: Enforce] and looked at the page that was opened.

  Seeing the images and the description on the pages, Rex had a look of astonishment as he frantically closed the [Skill Manual] and looked at the title.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Can I borrow it?” Getting the C-rank [Enforce] had been on top of Rex’s to-get skill list for a long time.

  However, the price of 13,000 gold coins wasn’t something he could afford, at least for now.

  “S..sure.” Although Kenji still needed the [Skill Manual] from time to time when practising [Enforce], he still agreed.

  He wasn’t brave enough to refuse the previous Rex, and now Rex had become even scarier.

  “B.b..but remember…to return…it. I…I have to…give it…back.” Seeing Rex walk away with the [Skill Manual], Kenji mustered up all his courage to remind him.

  “Okay.” Saying so, Rex went to find the smartest person he knew.

  After Rex left, Kenji rested for a while before going back to practising [Beam].

  [Ancient Calendar: 22 Mar 0001]

  On the final day of the Monster Tide, Kenji continued his practice without slacking off.

  By the end of the day, he was able to perform [Beam] almost every time he tried. However, he really needed to concentrate, which would be difficult in a fight. But for sneak attacks, it was perfect.

  In the evening, Kenji dragged his stiff body to bed.

  [Ancient Calendar: 23 Mar 0001]

  The next morning, Kenji got up early, changed his clothes, picked up his newly bought sword, and left the room.

  “Here,” as Kenji walked into the living room, Rex stopped him and handed back the [Skill Manual: Enforce].

  That day, Rex had taken it to Roy to understand things better.

  According to Roy, buying [Skill Manuals] wasn’t that pricey; he could even get A-rank [Skill Manuals] for about 100 gold coins.

  However, mastering skills took a lot of time. If one wasn’t talented enough, it could take years to master a single C-rank skill.

  Roy even warned him not to waste his money on [Skill Manuals]. However, Rex didn’t listen, and yesterday he spent 20 gold coins to buy manuals of many skills that he wanted.

  Since he also bought a copy of [Enforce], he had no need for the one he borrowed from Kenji.

  Taking back the [Skill Manual: Enforce], Kenji rushed back to his room and hid it under the bed.

  “This is…” As Kenji was stuffing the [Skill Manual] under the bed, he touched something unfamiliar. It turned out to be one of the herbs that Joon found.

  “...didn’t I sell…it.” It’s been quite a while since Kenji got this herb that he completely forgot about it.

  So, Kenji took the herb with him to sell at the Alchemy shop along the way. Selling the herb, he only got a measly 10 copper coins.

  “Kenji, you have to get a call stone. For a whole week, you disappeared.” The moment Anon spotted Kenji, his eyes lit up.

  “But aren’t they…expensive?” Greeting everyone, Kenji asked back.

  “No, only a single gold coin, and inside the city there aren’t any charges, and every day you have a full hour of free call time.” Joon answered and showed his call stone, hidden in his inner pocket.

  “Okay, I will…get one.” Currently, Kenji only had 4–5 silver coins left; however, the same couldn’t be said after today’s hunt.

  “If you are done chit-chatting, let’s get going.” Zhen’s displeased voice sounded, disturbing everyone’s reunion.

  Leaving the city, they hurried toward the Grey Hounds’ territory. During the journey, they came across a large group of people searching every corner of the Evergreen Forest.

  “Hurry up, otherwise your chests would be snatched by others.” Zhen urged the team to pick up the pace.

  Although the Monster Tide is dangerous and leads to a large number of deaths, everything has pros and cons, the same is true for the Monster Tide.

  After the Tide ends, Treasure chests of various ranks respawn in the wild.

  “I hope those bastards of the Fang party don’t find any chests.” Speeding up, Anon wished.

  Every monster territory has a fixed number of chests, and this is why all major parties have monopolized a single monster territory.

  Because only by being familiar with an area can they quickly find the Treasure chests that randomly spawn.

  Most of the Grey Hounds’ territory is the hunting ground of the Fang party, with small teams like theirs also operating in the same area.

  After all, a single party can’t kill all the Grey Hounds.

  “Stop, no one has been here yet. Let’s quickly kill the Hounds and then search for treasure chests.” Sensing a monster lifeforce up ahead, Zhen stopped the others and started instructing.

  “Joon, Anon, you guys search the area for any treasure. Kenji, you’re with me.” Taking Kenji with him, Zhen headed in the direction of the lifeforce he detected.

  __________

  Author’s Note:

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