"Me, me, I am an Archer! I also have a good archery Gift."
"If I don't earn anything today, then I'll have to sleep hungry tonight."
"The Raven Team still hasn't come back. I think they're going to camp in the wild until all the Silver Wolves are gone."
"Please, take me with you! I won't even take a full share—just give me half."
"Thank God, we can finally go out to hunt."
Today, the North Gate was bustling with activity more than ever before.
Learning from previous accidents, many Hunters had avoided leaving the town during the Monster Tide. After all, the highest number of casualties occur during that time.
During the entire week that the Monster Tide lasted, most people ran out of their savings and were now desperate to go out and hunt—just so they could afford to eat.
Leaving Blue Wing Town, Kai immediately activated his Gift: [Heighten Senses].
Following Alex, Kai arrived at the foot of Talif Mountain.
After walking for another ten minutes, both Alex and Kai reached the entrance of the Slime Cave.
"Okay, now take out both the shield and the spear. What you need to do is use the shield to take cover whenever Slimes spit acid at you. Attack with the spear, and remember to aim for their core."
Alex asked Kai to take the shield and spear out of his storage bag, then gave him a quick rundown before they entered the Slime Cave.
Inside the cave, Kai didn't notice anything special at first. But as they ventured a little deeper, he began to see shiny crystals and some kind of glowing grass.
"Those are Night Crystals. They're used in the lights we buy. Look over there—see that Slime? Just go over, take cover behind your shield, and poke it with the spear."
After introducing the crystals, Alex pointed toward a lone Slime and guided Kai on how to attack it.
"Like this."
Kai held the shield in front of him and slowly approached the Slime. As he drew closer, he felt a rush of adrenaline unlike anything he had felt before.
Hiding behind the shield, Kai used all his strength to stab the Slime with the spear.
"How?"
Unlike what Kai had expected, the Slime didn't explode. Instead, the spear went right through its gel-like body.
As Kai was wondering what was going on, the Slime reacted and immediately attacked him with an acid spit.
"Watch out!"
The rush of different hormones made Kai's brain freeze—he couldn't react in time. Thankfully, Alex, who was standing nearby, moved just in time and pushed Kai aside.
"Why did you get out of cover?" Alex asked, seeing that Kai had subconsciously moved his shield to the side while attacking, exposing himself to the Slime's acid attack.
"Also, didn't I tell you to aim for the core? Core! Can't you see the transparent blue core inside its body?"
Seeing that Kai didn't understand where the core was, Alex decided to demonstrate. He broke off a tiny shard of a Night Crystal and aimed it toward the Slime's core.
As the Slime charged up another acid attack to kill both Kai and Alex, the shard of Night Crystal pierced its outer layer and shattered the core. Once the core was destroyed, the Slime's body burst like a balloon, and its solid gel-like form turned into liquid.
"See? This is how you kill a Slime. Now go over there and collect the residue Ki."
After guiding Kai, Alex gestured for him to collect the Ki. This world wasn't like a game where you kill a monster and your exp bar immediately fills up.
Instead, after killing a monster, you had to immediately use the innate ability [Devour] to absorb the energy released upon its death.
"Okay, but how am I supposed to do that?" Kai asked as he walked over to the remains of the dead Slime.
"Right, my bad. Just activate your Innate talent—it will do the rest."
Alex almost forgot that this was Kai's first time out hunting, and he hadn't taught him the basics yet.
"Like this?"
Following Alex's instructions, Kai activated his Innate talent [Devour]. The moment he did, he felt a few strands of Ki being sucked into his body.
Sensing the presence of new Ki, his Source Ki immediately rushed toward it, and Kai felt his Ki reserves increase slightly.
[Ki: 624.1]
Seeing the increase of 0.1, Kai was surprised. Normally, it took him around half an hour to increase his Ki reserves by 1. But now, in just a few seconds, they had increased by 0.1—something that would've taken him a full three minutes at his current Ki absorption rate.
"Why are you spacing out? Here comes another one! Remember, hide behind the shield and aim for the Slime's core."
Alex reminded Kai, seeing him lost in thought.
A Slime that had wandered near the entrance of the cave spotted the humans and immediately attacked Kai, who was the closest.
[Clear Mind]
Kai quickly hid behind the shield and activated his first Gift, [Clear Mind]. The moment it activated, all the raging hormones came to a halt, and his vision became sharp and focused.
As the acid attack hit his shield, Kai peeked from behind it and struck with his spear.
Just as the Slime was preparing another acid attack, intending to melt the human to the bone, Kai's spear pierced its body, and the core was destroyed.
After killing the Slime, Kai skillfully activated his Innate ability [Devour] and increased his Ki reserves by another 0.1.
"He's a natural at this," Alex muttered, surprised by Kai's performance. He had expected it would take Kai a few tries to hit the core, but he did it on his first real strike.
"It's so easy?"
After killing the Slime, Kai was surprised. However, under the influence of [Clear Mind], his thoughts didn't wander, and he promptly activated [Devour] to collect the residual Ki.
"Good, let's head inside!"
As Alex spoke, he picked a sub-cave at random, and both of them headed deeper into the Slime Cave.
As they ventured further, they encountered a group of seven Slimes.
"Your real practice starts now. Remember to hide behind the shield and strike when you see an opening."
Alex stepped back to avoid drawing the Slimes' attention and reminded Kai. He also broke a few shards of Night Crystal, ready to assist Kai if he encountered danger.
"Got it!"
Kai braced himself behind the shield as acid attacks rained down, giving him no chance to counterattack.
After the first volley of seven acid attacks, each Slime began charging another. Taking advantage of this brief window, Kai lunged toward the Slime on his right.
His initial strike missed the core, but Kai reacted quickly. Instead of pulling the spear back, he twisted it, destroying the core with a sudden jerk.
Before Kai had time to celebrate, the remaining Slimes finished charging and launched another round of acid attacks.
Using his shield to block the barrage, Kai waited again. When the Slimes began charging up once more, he struck.
One by one, during each charging interval, Kai eliminated the Slimes—killing all seven in this pattern of patient defense and precise offense.