"Big bro, did you get something for me?" Yara asked with puppy eyes as she ran up to Kai.
Last time when Kai bought cookies, she gave everyone one cookie and kept the remaining eleven for herself.
However, today when she woke up, she discovered that she had finished all of them. To satisfy her cravings, she even ate the cookie she had saved for Tony.
"Well..."
Seeing Yara's puppy eyes, Kai fell into thought. Ever since he discovered the Gift [Ki Control], he had been saving money to buy all the necessary items for it.
After meeting the criteria to undergo a Heavenly Trial, one needs to sacrifice certain items or materials to attract the Heavenly Trial for the selected Gift.
Since he had no idea what items were required for [Ki Control], Kai had been saving every penny he could.
"How about this—tomorrow is Sunday. I'll take you out to buy anything you want," Kai said, his heart melting under Yara's hopeful gaze.
"Yay! Big bro is the best!"
Yara happily thanked Kai, then sat down at the dinner table and waited for her food.
"Here is your food, Kai. And this is for you, Yara."
Soon after, Aisha brought their dinner to the table.
After serving everyone, Aisha sat down and joined them.
"So, Kai, you never told me what solution you came up with for your problem," Tony asked out of nowhere.
"About that… well, I found a Gift that can help with [Herb Weaving]. Now I just need to undergo my third Heavenly Trial as soon as possible. Once I get the D-Rank Gift [Ki Control], things won't be as difficult as they are now," Kai replied, continuing to eat.
"I'm telling you—we are never going after Wind Rabbits ever again!"
As they were enjoying dinner, Oliver's voice rang out, and soon the whole gang entered the lounge.
"You guys started without waiting for us!"
Seeing the food, Omar didn't wait. He grabbed a chair and immediately started eating from Kai's plate.
"Wait a second—let me bring the rest of the food."
Seeing Omar dig into Kai's plate, Aisha set her own meal aside and disappeared into the kitchen.
Moments later she returned with several steaming dishes, filling the table.
Everyone quickly unloaded the storage bag, washed their hands, and sat down.
"Aisha, I'm telling you—you should cook more often," Omar said between mouthfuls.
Both he and Aisha were from Arabic backgrounds, and she was the only one who could prepare true Arabic cuisine. Unfortunately, Aisha usually focused on training and rarely cooked. Tonight she'd made an exception to celebrate her full recovery.
"Eric, how did it go today?" Tony asked, judging by everyone's faces, the hunt hadn't gone well.
"It was the worst day of my life," Oliver cut in before Eric could answer. "Mr. Know-It-All over there decided we should hunt Wind Rabbits. We spent the whole day chasing them, and in the end we didn't catch a single one. We even had to use up a Healing Potion after a Wind Rabbit ambushed us."
Right now Oliver was furious with Eric. Just because Eric had read in the newspaper that Wind Rabbit meat was in high demand, he had insisted they hunt them—even though no one in the group had any experience with the creatures.
Wind Rabbits bolted the moment they heard an unfamiliar sound, diving into their burrows. After hours of fruitless pursuit, the team unknowingly wandered into the entrance of a Wind Rabbit colony. Once the rabbits realized they had the advantage in numbers, they launched a furious counter-attack.
In the ambush, they suffered significant equipment damage, and Oliver had nearly met his maker. Thankfully, Henry acted quickly and gave him a Healing Potion just in time.
"Alright, alright. It's my fault. I shouldn't have kept chasing the Wind Rabbits," Eric admitted, raising his hands in defeat. After all, everything that had happened today was because of his greed—Oliver had almost died because of it.
Yesterday, he had read in the newspaper that Wind Rabbit meat was in high demand, selling for as much as 1 Gold coin per kilogram—or 10 Gold coins for a whole Wind Rabbit.
Seeing the article, Eric thought it was a golden opportunity to make quick money. After all, Wind Rabbits were Level 2 monsters. He had never heard of one reaching Level 3, let alone becoming an Elite Monster.
He was confident they could hunt a few Wind Rabbits, even with the Monster Tide still going on.
However, instead of earning money and saving the team from bankruptcy, the opposite happened—they lost money and resources, all because of his decision.
"Okay, Oliver, stop complaining. Who would've thought a Wind Rabbit would awaken an Innate Skill?" Sophie cut in before Oliver could resume his rant.
Before leaving town, they had done thorough research and found no reports suggesting that Wind Rabbits had any Innate Skills.
Yet during the ambush, more than fifteen Wind Rabbits had used the innate skill [Wind Blade].
After Sophie's shut-up call, the room fell into silence. Everyone quietly finished their dinner.
When he was done eating, Kai returned to his room.
Back in his room, Kai spent the next three hours absorbing Ki.
[Ki: 618]
After checking his reserves, he spent another hour reading through the books he had borrowed. Once finished, he laid on his bed, relaxed his body, and slowly drifted into sleep.
[Ancient Calendar: 22 April 0001]
Waking up, the first thing Kai did was clean his room. Afterward, he took a shower and changed into a fresh set of clothes.
By the time he headed downstairs, it was already 9:00 AM. Aside from Tony and Yara, everyone else had already left.
"Big bro, you're finally up!" Yara exclaimed. She had been ready to explore Blue Wind Town for over an hour now. However, since Kai hadn't left his room, she wanted to go wake him—but Tony stopped her.
"Big bro, let's go! Today we're going to explore the whole town!" Before Kai could say anything, Yara grabbed his arm and tried to drag him out. Ever since arriving in this world, she hadn't set a single foot outside the Candy Complex.
Yesterday, Kai had told her he would buy her anything she wanted to eat. But Yara took that as a full-blown adventurous trip outside the Candy Complex to explore the town.
"Yara, at least let him have breakfast," Tony interjected, stopping her from pulling Kai out of the lounge.
It was at that moment Kai noticed Tony. Unlike yesterday, when Tony was still using a wheelchair, he was now standing on his own two feet.
"Are all your bones healed?" Kai asked, surprised to see Tony looking just like he had before the injuries.
"For the most part. My lower spine might still need some more time," Tony replied as he headed to the kitchen to get some water.
"Want me to bring you food?" Tony paused and offered, already halfway to the kitchen.
"Forget about it. I'll just grab something outside."
When Yara—who had already prepared herself for the long wait as Kai would eat, heat his food, and wash the dishes—heard this, she was instantly overjoyed.