Before long, Anon returned with the group of workers, and they headed back to the city with a total of 13 Grey Hound carcasses.

  The most they had hunted in a single day.

  “Here,” Zhen handed over 1 gold coin to each of the three of them.

  This Monster Tide, all big parties made a lot of fortune and bought storage bags.

  So, many transportation workers became unemployed overnight, and due to the sudden increase in transportation workers, the price had gone down a little.

  [Ki: 832→882]

  Taking the money, Kenji headed back. Today, he was going to practice [Beam] a little.

  “Kenji!” When Kenji passed by the notice area, he heard someone call out to him.

  “Duy.” Turning over, Kenji saw Muhammed and Duy resting by the wall, exhausted.

  “Kenji, sorry about yesterday. On the way back, we got ambushed by Storm-thorns and the cart's wheel broke,” Duy apologized.

  “Let me make it up to you, the dinner is on me.” Duy dragged Kenji and headed for the Aqua Market. “Muhammed, take care of the cart.”

  “That bastard.” Muhammed had no energy left.

  Unlike Duy, who had two body-strengthening gifts, he only had one, and pulling the cart was very physically demanding.

  After resting for a while, Muhammed dragged the cart away and stashed it at the shed he was renting.

  “Good, you are back. Everything is finished. Now you and Duy just need to assemble it,” Muhammed’s father called as Muhammed was about to head out.

  “Okay.” As Muhammed left, his father continued working under the night stone lamp.

  “You didn’t even wait for me.” By the time Muhammed arrived, Kenji and Duy had already finished a few dishes.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “You still…look…exhausted.” Seeing Muhammed’s condition, Kenji spoke while offering him a stool.

  “Don’t get me……” Muhammed went on and on about how tiresome transporting carcasses was and how much he wished to hunt monsters instead.

  After having dinner, Kenji added both Duy and Muhammed on his call stone and then returned to the housing complex.

  Practicing [Beam] for two hours, Kenji returned to his room and drifted into sleep.

  [Ancient Calendar: 26 Mar 0001]

  The next day, after waking up, Kenji headed for the Aqua Market, grabbed breakfast, and met up with the others at the city gate.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Otherwise, it will take ages for us to level up.” As Kenji arrived, Zhen and Anon were in a heated discussion.

  “What’s…going on?”

  “Kenji, tell me, how much time is spent looking for Grey Hounds?” At Kenji’s question, Zhen stopped, looked at him, and asked.

  “I think we…spent almost 4 hours…searching for…them.” Having no idea why Zhen was asking, Kenji answered truthfully.

  “See! We need 100 more gold coins to buy the materials for the gift I want. What about yours? Each D-rank gift costs around 500 gold coins. If we continue like this, how many months do you think it will take before we all reach Level 3?”

  With each word he spoke, Zhen’s voice kept getting a little louder.

  “Fine, let’s hunt Drakes.” Anon couldn’t find a word to refute what Zhen said, so he agreed.

  While Joon filled Kenji in on what they were talking about. Apparently, today Zhen wanted to change the hunting ground and hunt Drakes instead.

  But Anon protested.

  The only reason they went after Grey Hounds was because they lived alone, which made them an easy target. But, Drakes live in groups, and even the smallest groups have at least 4–5 Drakes.

  Leaving the city, they headed toward the Drakes’ territory. After two whole hours of walking, they finally reached their destination.

  “Wait, I can sense it. There are monsters up ahead.” Zhen stopped everyone as he sensed four monsters just a few meters ahead.

  Under Zhen’s careful guidance, they soon spotted four Drakes dragging dead Storm-Steeds.

  Although monsters have fixed territories, they do wander around in search of food.

  The Drakes seemed to have hunted Storm-Steeds, and now they were dragging them back to their territory.

  “It’s a good opportunity; they seem somewhat injured. I will take the Level 3 Drake, and Kenji—you, Anon, and Joon will each take a Level 2 Drake.

  Don’t waste your [Ki Blade] on the Level 2 Drake. After dealing with the Level 2 Drake, help me kill their leader.

  However, if you find it difficult to kill the Drake easily, just use [Ki Blade] and then help Anon and Joon deal with the other Level 2 Drakes.” Zhen turned to Kenji and instructed him.

  Currently, Kenji is the strongest member of the team. But Kenji’s skill set wasn’t built for prolonged fights.

  “You two remember, if you can’t handle Drake all by yourself. Tell me and we will retreat.” Finally, Zhen turned to Joon and Anon.

  Ensuring that everyone heard him correctly, Zhen outright charged at the group of Drakes.

  Following Zhen’s lead, Kenji, Joon, and Anon each picked a Drake at random.

  When the group of Drakes saw the humans, they excitedly dropped the Storm-Steeds and prepared to kill them.

  Taking the Drake that looked the furiousest,Kenji, with the assistance of his gift [Rapid], dodged and attacked with his sword.

  “SHHH-KRANNG!”

  Kenji's sword wasn't able to get past Drake's defenses, forcing Kenji to retreat while Drake became alert to human power.

  “Kraaaw… Kraaa!”

  The Drake warned his companion and tried to regroup. But Kenji didn’t let it happen. Using [Flash], he appeared above Drake and thrusted his sword right into its head.

  The Drake’s scales weren’t able to withstand the pointy tip of the sword, and it passed through its head, killing it.

  Pulling his sword from the Drake’s carcass, Kenji hurried over to help Zhen, who was surprisingly holding his own against the Level 3 Drake pretty well.

  “I will tank it, you get behind and use [Ki Blade].” As Kenji arrived, Zhen was much more relaxed.

  Following Zhen’s instruction, Kenji sneaked up to the Level 3 Drake and sent a [Ki Blade] at it.

  The Level 3 Drake, who was focused on Zhen, didn’t notice a thing before it died.

  As the leader died, Zhen helped Anon and Joon take care of the remaining two Drakes.

  Hiding the carcasses, they headed deeper into the Drakes’ territory.

  __________

  Author’s Note:

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