As Kai paid for the muffins, both he and Alex sat at one of the tables and started talking.
"So, Kai, how are your Ki reserves right now? Are they nearing the thousand mark?"
After some catching up, Alex asked Kai about his Ki reserves. It had been a few days—he should be nearing the minimum requirement needed to undergo the Third Heavenly Trial.
"Around 600. Recently, I haven't been able to earn that many Honey Points," Kai answered while munching on a muffin.
"Honey Points? Those things you can exchange for anything at the Pill Store?"
Alex remembered Kai mentioning that he had exchanged some Vitality Pills using Honey Points.
"Correct. After gathering 800 Honey Points, I'm planning on exchanging them for four Grade 3 Vitality Pills, then I'll start preparing for my Third Heavenly Trial," Kai replied, finishing the last muffin.
"How many Honey Points do you gather every day?"
Alex thought Kai's plan was solid—he wouldn't even need to go into the Dark Forest to hunt monsters.
"Around 30, after working for 3–4 extra hours," Kai replied after thinking for a moment. If he refined pills, it took him 4 hours, but with potions, only 3 hours were needed to earn 30 Honey Points.
"So little? Why don't you come hunt monsters with me? In just two days, your Ki reserves will surely increase by more than 400."
When Alex heard that Kai could only earn about 30 Honey Points after 4 hours of work, he suggested taking him hunting instead.
Increasing Ki reserves while hunting monsters was much easier—one could even reach Level 4 in just a week.
However, hunters spent most of their time searching for monsters with edible meat or valuable parts. Otherwise, how could they earn a living or support their families?
"But isn't it dangerous?"
When Alex suggested taking Kai hunting with him, Kai didn't answer immediately and instead asked the question. After all, Kai had never hunted monsters before, and even a slight mistake on his part could lead to the downfall of the entire team.
"I'm not taking you to a high-danger area. To the north of the town, there's a large underground cave filled with Slimes. The worst they can do is jump on your head and suffocate you to death or spit acidic liquid at you.
It's a good rookie spot. After that, we can head to the Kobold Cave, not far from the Slime Cave, and hunt Kobolds. Unlike Goblins, who know how to use weapons, Kobolds are really mindless. Even a normal human can defeat a Kobold barehanded."
Seeing that Kai seemed hesitant, Alex introduced some beginner-friendly hunting spots.
"Is it really that easy?"
Kai didn't quite believe Alex's words. This was the first time someone had told him that hunting monsters could be easy.
"Of course. Killing Slimes and Kobolds is very easy. The reason hunters don't hunt them is because they have no real value. After gaining some experience, no hunter returns to these places.
Slimes explode the moment their core membrane is destroyed, leaving behind nothing but sticky, slimy liquid. As for Kobolds, their bodies have nothing of value."
Alex patiently explained why no one talked about Slimes or Kobolds.
"Then let's try hunting the slimes this Sunday."
After thinking for a while, Kai decided to take Alex up on his offer and planned to go hunting Slimes with him on the upcoming Sunday.
"Sunday? That'll be difficult. Because of the Monster Tide, Elite Monsters are actively targeting weaker humans. The moment you step outside the town, you'll become their prime target."
When Kai suggested going to hunt Slimes on Sunday, Alex immediately rejected the idea.
Since the Monster Tide began, Elite Monsters with clever minds had been targeting weaker humans relentlessly—going so far as to ambush teams leaving the town, kill their weakest member, and then flee.
"Then what should I do? I have to go to work on Monday—Sunday's the only day I get off."
When Alex described how Elite Monsters were actively hunting weaker humans, Kai remembered what had happened to Aisha. It seemed the situation outside the town was really bad.
"We can go on Monday. I'll show you the way, and then you can go there every day to hunt Slimes for a few hours."
After thinking for a while, Alex suggested this alternative.
"I think that's a good idea."
Kai felt Alex's idea was feasible. On Monday, he would go with Alex to the Slime Cave and try hunting Slimes. If they seemed easy enough, he could return daily to hunt them for an hour or two.
After making plans to visit the Slime Cave on the upcoming Monday, Kai and Alex talked for a while longer before Kai left the Kato Bakery.
After walking for half an hour, Kai returned to the Candy Complex. Entering, he found that everyone had already returned from hunting monsters.
"I'm telling you, finding that bastard wasn't easy."
"Forget about that—did you see the look on his face when he saw us?"
"He fooled us once with his innate skill. Did he really think we'd fall for the same trick again?"
"Orion, you did great."
"Thanks. I'm just happy we got revenge for what he did to Sister Aisha."
As Kai entered the backyard, he heard everyone celebrating the death of the Silver Wolf Pack Leader—the one that had wounded Aisha the day before.
"Kai, you're back! Sit down—dinner's about to be ready."
Seeing Kai, Omar immediately invited him to sit, then began talking excitedly about how they hunted the Pack Leader of the Silver Wolves.
"Let me tell you, when we raided the cave he was living in, the look on his face was priceless. He never expected the humans he scared off yesterday to return for revenge.
The first thing he did after seeing us was kill all his cubs. But Eric managed to save one, and that bastard couldn't activate his Innate Skill [Lone Leader]."
As Omar was describing how they killed the Pack Leader of the Silver Wolves that had attacked them yesterday, Kai's attention wandered off toward Orion.
Right now, Orion was playing with a Silver Wolf cub—the same one Eric had rescued to prevent the Pack Leader from activating his Innate Skill [Lone Leader].
"After that, it was easy. That bastard was already in a weakened state and couldn't enter his berserk form again. So after killing him, we immediately stored the body in a storage bag and ran out of Silver Wolf territory as quickly as possible. Hey, are you even listening to me?"
As Omar was about to describe their exciting escape from Silver Wolf territory, he noticed Kai wasn't even paying attention—instead, he was staring at the Silver Wolf cub in Orion's hands.
"Right, you've never seen a Silver Wolf before? This is the same cub that Eric rescued. Orion has already signed a contract with her."
Omar remembered that Kai had never seen a Silver Wolf before. It couldn't be helped—Silver Wolves were beautiful creatures.