After deactivating the Gifts, Kai rested for about half an hour. It couldn't be helped—his arms were very tired.
After getting enough rest, Kai immediately began cleaning up. He put all the herbs back, cleaned the pot, and set it aside.
Then he took out the furnace and started refining Basic Vitality Pills. Kai had been refining Basic Vitality Pills the longest, and now he could even refine them with his eyes closed.
Just to be safe, Kai also activated his Gift [Heighten Senses] to better feel the changes inside the furnace.
After a few hours, Kai refined two batches of Basic Vitality Pills, resulting in 29 normal pills and 3 mid-grade pills.
Seeing the appearance of 3 mid-grade pills, Kai was surprised. It had been more than a week since he last refined a mid-grade Basic Vitality Pill. However, this time, he had refined 3 mid-grade pills in a row.
Feeling pleased, Kai happily cleaned the alchemy room and made a list of all the herbs and ingredients he had used.
Leaving the alchemy room, Kai arrived at the front desk and handed everything over to Miya.
After checking the pills and potions, Miya put them away and began registering today's Honey Points onto Kai's employee card.
Today, Miya didn't try to play any tricks, as she didn't want to alert whoever was protecting Kai.
"Here, you now have 77 Honey Points," she said, handing back his employee card.
Then, Miya focused on making sure all the herbs that Master Stardew needed were prepared.
Ever since Master Stardew had gone into retreat to become a Master Rank Alchemist, Miya's life had been miserable. Every day, she had to supply thousands of herbs to him, forcing her to travel to different cities to secure them.
It had now been more than two months, and there was still no sign of Master Stardew coming out of his retreat anytime soon.
While Miya was worrying about when Master Stardew would finally return, Kai left the Honey Pill Shop and headed back to the Candy Complex.
Upon returning to the Candy Complex, Kai entered the lounge and saw Yara munching on a cookie while Orion was taking a nap.
"Big bro, you're back!" Seeing Kai, Yara's eyes lit up.
After finishing her studies, Yara had asked Brother Orion to play. However, after a while, Brother Orion got tired and laid down on the sofa to take a nap.
Since Brother Orion was sleeping, Yara went looking for Uncle Tony, but he was practicing, so she decided to leave him alone.
With nothing else to do, Yara took cookies from her secret stash and started munching on them.
"Did you finish?" Kai asked, looking at the books scattered everywhere. Although this world was completely different from Earth, everyone agreed that Yara should at least learn how to read and write.
"Yep! Then Brother Orion and I started playing, but he got tired," Yara replied while finishing the last bits of the cookie in her hands.
"Good. Then let's clean this up."
Knowing Yara had finished studying, Kai began picking up books from the table, the sofa, the floor—and even from under Orion's back.
Seeing Kai gathering books, Yara also helped by picking up all her stationery.
"Big bro, let's play."
After cleaning the place, Yara urged Kai to play with her.
Kai wanted to refuse; however, before long, he found himself in the backyard chasing after Yara.
"Yara, let me rest a little," Kai said as he sat on a chair, exhausted. He couldn't figure out how a small child like Yara could have so much stamina.
"But Big bro, we only just started playing!"
Yara was confused why Big bro was tired so early. Even Brother Omar played with her for much longer.
However, suddenly a thought emerged inside Yara's tiny head—maybe it was because of those bad Fairies.
Yara remembered her father coming home late from work and then immediately lying down to sleep on the floor. Her mother had told her that Papa was tired because of bad people at work.
Maybe, just like her Papa, Big bro was also tired because of bad Fairies.
Thinking about the bad Fairies, Yara obediently sat beside Kai, silently vowing that one day she would become strong enough to help Big bro defeat all the bad Fairies—and also help her Papa defeat the bad guys at work.
Seeing Yara quietly sitting beside him, Kai was surprised.
When Yara was in her play mode, she never listened to anyone.
"When did I fall asleep?"
Waking up, Orion looked around in confusion.
He saw that Yara's books were neatly back on the shelf—and there was no sign of Yara.
"Did everyone get back already?"
Feeling that everyone had returned, Orion headed toward the backyard.
Arriving there, Orion saw Kai and Yara quietly sitting on a chair, looking at the clouds.
"Doesn't that one look like a donut? And that one looks like a baby unicorn."
"Big bro, look, look! A big cookie!"
Yara pointed toward a cloud that looked exactly like… a cloud.
Seeing it, she suddenly had the urge to leap into the air and eat the cookie.
"When did you return?"
Sitting beside Kai, Orion asked.
"Not that long ago—just about an hour," Kai replied, still looking at the clouds with Yara.
"Look, Yara, that one looks exactly like the horse we read about today."
After greeting Kai, Orion also joined in the fun.
"Henry, what is wrong with you?! Today we almost lost Aisha because of you!"
Oliver scolded Henry, while Sophia and Omar carried Aisha and entered the Candy Complex.
Today, they had encountered a pack of seven Silver Wolves, and everything was going well at first.
Aisha and Eric were on the offense—Eric was fighting the leader of the pack, while Aisha targeted the weaker Silver Wolves.
Henry and Oliver were tasked with keeping the Silver Wolves busy, while Aisha would land the finishing blow. Sophia was on the lookout for any Silver Wolf that might revive itself, and Omar was protecting her while occasionally helping Henry and Oliver.
With good teamwork, they were able to easily take down five Elite Silver Wolves. However, the real problem started with the Level 5 Elite Silver Wolf—the leader of the pack.
The Pack Leader killed the last remaining member of his pack and activated his Innate Skill: [Lone Leader], causing his aura to spike from Level 5 to Level 6.
The sudden increase in the Elite Silver Wolf's level put the entire team at a disadvantage. After all, they weren't strong enough to face a Level 6 Elite Monster.
But the Pack Leader didn't stop there—he entered a [Berserk] state, causing his aura to surge even more.
As the Pack Leader launched his first attack, the team immediately found themselves in a desperate situation. Eric was sent flying with a single strike and survived only because of his armor.
Realizing they couldn't win against the Pack Leader, Eric ordered a retreat. However, during the escape, due to Henry's carelessness, the Pack Leader succeeded in attacking Aisha.
Aisha's battle style is similar to that of an assassin. She's responsible for sneak attacks and landing finishing blows. To avoid restricting her movement, Aisha doesn't wear heavy armor.
The Pack Leader noticed this and deliberately targeted her. When he attacked Aisha, Henry, who was supposed to act as the tank, chose to retreat instead of covering for her.