“Next… meal will be… on me.” Kenji hadn’t seen Mary for a whole week, and he was dying to lay his eyes on her beautiful face.

  “Okay, it's a deal.” Anon’s excited voice sounded from the other end before the call ended.

  “What’s so special about her?” Keni, who was hoping for another feast, was disappointed when Kenji turned Anon down.

  Keni had seen Mary multiple times in Kenji's memories; she was just a plain-looking girl without anything remarkable about her beauty.

  “You wouldn't… understand.” After practising [Enforce] one more time, Kenji left the Cherry Inn and met up with Mary at the entrance of the Library.

  “How was it camping out there in the wild? Was it uncomfortable? Did you encounter any midnight monster attacks?” When Mary saw Kenji, she had a thousand questions for him.

  Walking toward the restaurant, Kenji kept telling Mary about his entire experience.

  “It must have been hard for you.” Mary's tender voice was filled with concern, which instantly melted Kenji's heart.

  “That’s a stupid grin.” Keni felt embarrassed by Kenji's behavior.

  However, Kenji ignored Keni's every word and happily continued walking with Mary.

  “You got the [Dual Soul] already. How is it like having a second soul? Does it have self-awareness, or does it just follow your instructions?” Hearing that Kenji had acquired the D-rank Gift [Dual Soul], Mary was very happy.

  Now she could finally reunite with her baby brother.

  “I just… got Keni… so I don't know… how to… describe it. He seems… to be fond of….” Kenji hadn’t gotten used to Keni yet, so he couldn’t tell what it felt like having a second person in his body.

  “You gave your second soul a name?” Mary asked with curiosity.

  Reading in books and having firsthand experience are two completely different things.

  Mary had read that [Dual Soul] gifts formed a second soul inside the body, but that was all.

  She didn’t know if the second soul would also have a personality, whether it would follow the main soul’s commands or not, or if it could turn against the main soul, and so on.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  “Lady, he didn’t give me the name, I chose it myself, and my mother loved that name.” Keni was getting annoyed by all the questions that Mary kept asking.

  It was as if they were being interrogated by the police.

  “Oh my God! Kenji, you can talk normally.” This was the first time Mary heard Kenji speak without his voice shuddering. “Wait a minute, you aren’t Kenji. Are you Keni?”

  It didn’t take long for Mary to notice the change in Kenji’s tone and posture. Thus, her initial happiness turned to interest.

  “Lady, what’s your deal anyway? Why do you keep asking so many questions?”

  “I am what you call a bookworm. I spend most of my time reading and learning new knowledge. So, when I come across something fascinating, I tend to get overexcited.” Mary patiently explained to Keni.

  She spoke every word slowly, fearing Keni might not understand her.

  “Why are you talking like that? Do you think I am a child?”

  Soon, Keni and Mary kept going back and forth while Kenji was forced to watch.

  Unlike Keni, who was able to take control of the body anytime he wished, Kenji didn’t have the slightest clue on how to take back control.

  “Whatever, I don't wanna waste any more of my time talking to you.” Keni was annoyed by Mary's patience; the whole time, she kept treating him like a child.

  “Sorry… about that, I… don't know… what got into… him.” Finally getting control, Kenji apologized to Mary for Keni’s behavior.

  “Don't worry about it. I actually enjoyed talking to him.” After the little Keni episode, Mary and Kenji resumed their discussion.

  Soon, the food arrived, but Keni didn't come out.

  After dinner, Kenji walked Mary to the [Hunters School] before returning to the Cherry Inn and falling asleep.

  [Ancient Calendar: 8 April 0001]

  The next day, after getting up, Kenji had breakfast at the inn before meeting up with the others.

  “You didn't waste the materials, did you?”

  “How is your gift? Is it powerful?”

  “It reminds me, you never mentioned your gift. Is it a recovery gift?”

  The moment Kenji arrived, he was bombarded with questions.

  “It's… not a… recovery gift. It's this… one.” Instead of going into details about the gift, Kenji just showed them.

  [Dual Soul

  Rank: D

  Type: Gift

  Perk: Two Souls

  Description: Allows the bearer to host two souls in a single body.]

  “Isn't this a useless gift?”

  “What does letting two souls stay in the same body mean?”

  Seeing the description of the gift, both Anon and Joon were disappointed, while Zhen remained silent.

  Even the large parties did not force their members to choose a particular gift, so he wasn't going to criticize Kenji for his choice, but he was greatly disappointed.

  With such a useless gift, Kenji was destined to lag behind.

  “Enough, you two. It's time to head out.” Zhen didn't dwell on the matter. It was not like he could go back in time and change Kenji's gift.

  After half an hour, the whole party arrived at their newest hunting grounds, the Wind Frogs' territory.

  “Zhen, how are we going to even kill so many of them?” Joon asked.

  Throughout the Evergreen Forest, there are only two monsters that everyone loathes: Storm-Thorns and Wind Frogs.

  Unlike Storm-Thorns, which are active throughout all seasons, Wind Frogs only become active during the Monster Tide.

  With their flight ability and terrifying acid spits, they are an extremely annoying group of monsters to come across.

  “Don't worry, we will just focus on their pond, and the moment they take flight, we will cover ourselves with this.” To ease Joon and the others, Zhen took out a large sheet of fabric from the storage bag.

  It was a special cloth that could shield them from acid spits.

  The Wind Frogs' territory is filled with small and medium-sized ponds, and each pond is headed by a Level 4 Frog King.

  “But… there are… thousands of… them?” Unlike the others, Kenji had first-hand experience of the terror of Wind Frogs.

  A single drop of their acid spit is enough to melt metal.

  “We aren't here to clear the whole pond. We just need to kill the Frog King, get his body, and run away,” Zhen explained.

  When Zhen was looking for their next target, he found that the body of a Frog King was being sold for 50 gold coins, unlike the usual 10–15 gold coins for other Elite Monsters.

  At that instant, Zhen knew their next target was Wind Frogs.

  Yesterday, he spent the majority of the day researching Wind Frogs and buying all the necessary materials to hunt a Frog King.

  __________

  Author’s Note:

  Read advance chapters on Patreon:

  patreon.com/BurningSunlvl99