"Eh, Tony, where is Henry?"
Sometime after Henry left, Oliver and Omar entered the clinic.
"I asked him to go back and inform the others," Tony replied as Oliver and Omar sat down.
"That was intense. I was sitting in that chair when I heard the commotion. When I stepped outside, I saw a giant dragon face-to-face with a massive fireball. I immediately ran back to get you guys," Omar said as he sat across from Tony, continuing to explain how he had been searching for everyone.
"After [Blinking] three times, I arrived at the place where you guys were fighting the Hobgoblins. But I only found carcasses, there was no sign of you, Tony, Eric, or Henry.
So, I started looking around. However, after two more [Blinks], my Ki was completely exhausted, and I had to continue on foot.
After the Dragon guy took care of the massive fireball, I recovered my Ki and returned to the battlefield. But this time, there was no sign of the Hobgoblin carcasses."
After wandering around the outskirts of the Dark Forest for a while longer, Omar decided to return and wait for everyone at the clinic.
Coincidentally, just as he arrived, he saw Oliver walking in with a relieved look on his face.
"Oh, right. I was so worried about you guys that I completely forgot about the Hobgoblin carcasses," Omar suddenly remembered. He cursed silently in his heart.
He had been so worried that he hadn't stored the carcasses in his storage bag.
"Don't..." Oliver was about to speak when Tony's voice cut in.
"Did you take care of the carcasses?" Tony turned to Oliver and asked.
While Omar was filling Oliver in on what had happened, Tony was silently calculating the cost of this whole visit.
Knowing that they didn't have enough funds, Tony turned to Oliver.
"Don't worry, I got a good price. A total of 260 gold coins for all four of them."
Unlike other Elite Monsters, the price of Hobgoblins was much higher due to their special blood.
The blood of monsters that evolve is highly sought after by alchemists and mages alike. It can be used to make powerful potions or aid in researching spells and curses.
"Wait, did you guys take the Hobgoblins' carcasses?"
Listening to the exchange between Tony and Oliver, Omar's brain jolted, he immediately guessed that they had taken the carcasses.
"Did you think we were going to leave them behind? Anyway, you owe me a treat. Because of you, I had to carry those ugly bastards on my back,"
Oliver grumbled, demanding compensation for his effort.
"That's good."
Upon hearing the total from today's harvest, Tony smiled. He had been worried that the Hobgoblin carcasses wouldn't sell for much due to excessive blood loss.
"That felt great!"
Waking up from his slumber, Kai felt refreshed.
[Leave as soon as possible to make room for others.]
As Kai woke up, a string of words appeared on the armrest of the chair. Seeing the message, Kai didn't delay and headed toward the exit.
"Isn't that Eric?"
As Kai reached the door, he noticed Eric in one of the chairs. However, seeing that Eric was still recovering, Kai didn't disturb him and quietly walked out of the room.
"Here is your bill, pay it at the front."
As soon as Kai left the recovery room, a small piece of paper appeared along with a voice from nowhere.
"Will they ever use normal-sized paper?"
Looking at the clinic bill, even smaller than his brewing list, Kai grumbled to himself as he headed toward the waiting hall.
Upon arriving, Kai saw Oliver and Omar sitting impatiently while Tony was talking to someone.
"Finally, Kai is here. Eric should be coming out soon,"
Omar said with relief. It was well past 6:00 PM, and he was starving.
"Give me the bill. I'll take care of it,"
Taking the clinic bill from Kai's hand, Oliver stood up and headed toward the front desk.
"You need training. If Oliver hadn't helped you in time, you would've been in a lot of trouble. From now on, you should come hunting with us every Sunday," Tony said the moment Kai sat down.
After all, if Oliver hadn't acted in time, Kai would have lost both his legs. Only Grade 5 or higher potions could've helped him in that case.
"Alright," Kai replied without argument. Today, he had seen what the world outside the town was truly like; dangerous and unforgiving.
Unknowingly, a small spark ignited within him. The whole time he was in the [Recovery Room], his mind was filled with images of Trolls and goblins.
For the first time since arriving in the Ancient World, Kai dreamed about slaying monsters.
While Kai was lost in thought, Tony finished speaking with one of the members of the Royal Party and finally understood the full situation.
Although they still didn't know who had killed the Goblin Priest, at least some of his doubts about Eric and Grey's situation were cleared up.
"Here, take these clothes and go get changed," Oliver said, handing Kai a fresh set of his own clothes after paying the bill.
After all, they couldn't take the clinic gown with them.
After changing into the new clothes, Kai returned and sat down with everyone else.
Soon after, Eric came out as well. Once he paid his medical expenses, the whole group left the clinic.
After around an hour of walking, everyone finally arrived at the Candy Complex.
"Sophia, what's for dinner? I'm starving!"
As soon as Omar entered the living room, he started calling out.
"We're in the back!"
Aisha's voice came from the backyard, and Omar immediately sprinted toward the smell of food.
After eating dinner, Kai returned to his room.
[User: Kai
Age: 19
Ki: 996
Profession: Apprentice Alchemist
Innate Ability: Devour
Heavenly Gifts: Clear Mind (F), Heightened Senses (E)
Skills: Fire Control (F)]
Seeing that he was just 4 units away from the third Heavenly Trial, Kai impatiently started absorbing Ki.
It had been a few hours, so the Source Ki could now take in more Ki.
After breathing in Ki for two hours, Kai finally reached the 1,000 mark, and a '!' appeared beside his Ki count.
[Ki: 1,000!]
When he focused on the '!', a massive list of Gifts appeared before his eyes; ranging from F Grade to S Grade and even higher.
After going through the list, Kai finally found [Ki Control].
Seeing it, he was excited and immediately selected it as his third Heavenly Gift.
[Ki Control
Items for Sacrifice: 1 kg of intact Formless Stone, 3 Moonlight Lotus Petals]
"Getting Moonlight Lotus Petals is easy... but where can I find 1 kg of intact Formless Stone?"
Looking at the required items, Kai fell into deep thought.
Formless Stone wasn't extremely rare, it could be bought for 25–30 gold coins per kg. But the issue was finding an intact piece that weighed exactly 1 kg.
"I should get some sleep," Kai murmured, deciding not to worry about the Formless Stone for now.
He laid down on the bed and slowly drifted into dreams.