With the help of Anon and Joon, Zhen had no problem stalling until the Grey Hound ran out of [Wild Power].

  Then, with good teamwork, he was easily able to kill it.

  “Good work.” Zhen was quite happy.

  Today, not only did he get his hands on a Grade 4 herb, but his decision to add another member seemed to be more helpful than he had thought.

  “Anon, you go get the workers. Joon, go get the other two Grey Hounds we hunted here. Kenji, follow me. We are going to hunt another one.” After resting for a quarter of an hour, Zhen took Kenji to hunt another Grey Hound.

  [Ki: 732→742]

  In the blink of an eye, hours went by, and Kenji was 7 Silver coins richer and had obtained a random herb.

  “Wanna grab…dinner,…my treat.” Since Kenji had promoted his body to the Bronze rank, there wasn’t anything pressing that he needed money for.

  So, he wanted to enjoy himself for a while, and what’s better than a date with the person you love?

  “Look at you, Mr. Generous.” Leaving the Library, both Mary and Kenji headed to the restaurant they usually visited.

  “Since you now have a Bronze Body, why don’t you focus on Gifts? They can be a lot of help.” While waiting for the food, Mary advised Kenji.

  She hadn’t forgotten about her baby brother, and she was dying to meet him.

  “Gifts…I almost…forgot.” Kenji had been so focused on refining his body that gifts had slipped his mind.

  Or maybe he was unknowingly avoiding Heavenly Trials because of his first experience.

  “You should get the gifts as soon as possible. They are even more important since you are hunting monsters now.” Mary’s concerned voice caused the scene of the Grey Hound with [Iron Body] to replay in Kenji’s mind.

  “You are…right.” Lost in the scene of today’s battle, Kenji agreed with Mary and decided to focus on getting gifts.

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  “Today we…encountered…a Grey Hound with…[Iron Body], and my [Ki Blade]...wasn’t even able to scratch…its skin. Can you look…for some powerful [Skill Manuals]...for me?” Telling Mary about his earlier encounter, Kenji asked.

  “Okay, I will find you a skill with the most damage.” Mary took a mental note of Kenji’s request and continued eating.

  After finishing the food, Kenji paid the bill of 2 Silver coins and then dropped Mary at the [Hunters School] before returning to the housing complex.

  [Ancient Calendar: 15 Mar 0001]

  The next day, Kenji changed his clothes, took a food pill, and headed for the city gate to meet up with the others.

  Same as yesterday, Zhen would lure the Grey Hound while Kenji would easily kill it with [Ki Blade].

  Today, nothing unexpected happened, and they successfully hunted 7 Grey Hounds.

  [Ki: 742→762]

  “Zhen, what about tomorrow?” As Anon had gone to get the workers, Joon asked Zhen.

  “Tomorrow… I am not getting it?” Zhen didn’t have a single clue what Joon was talking about.

  “Monster Tide. Tomorrow is the 16th. Are we going to take a week off?” Seeing that Zhen didn’t remember about the Monster Tide, Joon reminded him.

  “I almost forgot.” Only at this moment did Zhen remember the Monster Tide, and even he felt a chill run down his spine.

  “Of course, I am not leaving the city during the Monster Tide. Kenji, come with me. We are going to hunt a few more Grey Hounds.” Remembering the Monster Tide, Zhen took Kenji to hunt a few more monsters to have enough money for the week.

  [Ki: 762→792]

  In total, they hunted a total of 10 Grey Hounds.

  “Here, and let’s meet here after the Monster Tide ends. Remember, don’t do anything stupid behind my back. Just stay inside the city.”

  Handing over 15 Silver coins each, Zhen left, while also reminding Anon, Joon, and Kenji not to leave the city.

  Taking that money, Kenji left to meet up with Mary. Along the way, he kept thinking about how much had changed.

  He was no longer bullied, didn’t have to wait for others to finish so he could have leftovers, his weak body was no longer holding him back, and he had found love.

  To make matters more pleasing, the future seemed promising. Today, he earned 15 Silver coins, and if he continued to grow stronger, his earnings would keep increasing.

  “Where have you been?” By the time Kenji arrived in front of the Library, Mary was already waiting for him.

  “Got back a little late today.” Kenji rubbed his head awkwardly while explaining.

  Since Mary was about to be late for class, both of them started walking toward the [Hunters School].

  “You aren’t thinking of going hunting during the Monster Tide, right?” Mary asked, to which Kenji shook his head.

  “Good! I spent the whole day finding these for you. Since you are free the whole week, focus on learning them. If you can master one of them, you will be able to kill Elite Monsters.” Mary handed two [Skill Manuals] to Kenji.

  “After the Monster Tide ends, you should focus on Gifts. Of all the hunters I know, you are the only one without a Gift, and believe me, I know a lot of hunters.” Once again, Mary urged Kenji to quickly acquire the Heavenly Gifts.

  “Okay, as you say.” Leaving Mary at the [Hunters School], Kenji returned to the housing complex and went straight to his room.

  Laying on his comfortable bed, Kenji slowly drifted into sleep.

  [Ancient Calendar: 16 Mar 0001]

  The next day, Kenji went through the two [Skill Manuals] that Mary gave him.

  The first one was a C-rank skill, [Enforce], which used Ki to boost the overall stats of the body, much like how Kenji uses Ki to strengthen and support his body.

  However, according to the [Skill Manual], his way of using Ki to strengthen the body was very crude, and by using [Enforce], he could give his body a ten-times boost.

  The second one was also a C-rank skill called [Beam], which works by concentrating a large amount of Ki at a fixed point and then firing it toward the enemy’s direction.

  The working principles behind both skills were complex, and Kenji spent more than eight hours just to get a basic understanding of what the [Skill Manuals] were saying.

  After that, Kenji went to the backyard and started practicing. Before long, hours went by, and Kenji hardly made any progress.

  [Ancient Calendar: 17 Mar 0001]

  Again, Kenji spent another day practicing, trying to learn the skills.

  __________

  Author’s Note:

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