Kai excitedly activated his innate skill, [Devour], to collect the Ki from the two Trolls.
Trolls are Elite Level 4 monsters, which means that after their death, each releases 100 units of Ki.
The moment [Devour] was activated, the Ki from the Trolls' bodies gushed toward Kai, and his Ki reserves began increasing at an extremely fast rate.
[Ki: 796 → 815]
[Ki: 815 → 843]
[Ki: 843 → 879]
[Ki: 879 → 908]
[Ki: 908 → 935]
[Ki: 935 → 962]
[Ki: 962 → 996]
In just a few minutes, Kai's Ki reserves jumped by 200, reaching 996, leaving him only two hours of breathing Ki away from the thousand mark.
"Let's go. There should be a few more Trolls around here. If we can't find them, we'll attack the Goblin tribe on the way back," Tony said after Kai finished collecting the Ki.
From Oliver, he knew that Kai's Ki reserves were around 600, and now they should be close to 800. Kai needed 200 more units of Ki before he could undergo his third Heavenly Trial.
Tony was eager to continue hunting Trolls. After all, Trolls usually live in groups of 12–15, and they had only encountered four so far. The rest had to be nearby. But if they couldn't find any more, they would just raid the Goblin village on their return.
"Let's go. Maybe we'll find a Bloodshade Lily today," Omar said excitedly as they ventured deeper into the Dark Forest.
Trolls themselves are useless monsters, with nothing valuable in their bodies. However, they always gather around a rare Grade 6 herb called Bloodshade Lily, which is the most important ingredient for crafting a Grade 6 Healing Potion.
In addition to its use in high-grade potions, Bloodshade Lily has other notable properties—it enhances the Trolls' self-healing abilities.
[Clear Mind]
[Heightened Senses]
The team—Tony, Eric, Oliver, Omar, Henry, and Kai—followed the Trolls' tracks and continued searching for clues.
"Ah, this isn't working. I think we should head back," Omar complained after walking in circles for an hour.
"Let's head back. We'll continue looking for Trolls tomorrow," Tony agreed, seeing everyone's tired faces.
After all, they had worked hard today. From early morning until noon, they hunted several goblin patrols, and then spent the next few hours tracking Trolls after finding traces of them.
After marking all the areas they explored on the map, the group began heading back. On the way, they stopped near a Goblin village they had discovered earlier while hunting.
"Omar, you'll be responsible for attracting the Goblins. Make sure to act naturally," Tony instructed as the group hid behind the trees, planning an ambush without alerting the entire village.
Following the plan, Omar wandered toward the Goblin village, pretending to be lost.
"Graaa, Human!"
Spotting a lone human, the Goblin patrol became excited and charged toward Omar, eager to shred him to pieces.
"Goblins!!!"
Seeing the Goblins rush at him, Omar acted terrified and ran back into the woods.
"Graaa! Gaaa! Graaa!"
Amused and excited by Omar's fear, the Goblins chased after him into the forest.
But the moment they were far enough from the village and within range of the others, Tony, Eric, and the rest ambushed them.
In under a minute, they had killed six Level 3 Goblins.
"Kai, remember to collect the Ki," Tony reminded him as they prepared for an all-out battle.
Sure enough, as soon as the Goblins sensed something was wrong, the remaining 15 Goblins on patrol came out to investigate.
"Guys... I think I've reached my limit," Kai said nervously while trying to collect more Ki.
Thanks to his [Heightened Senses], he could feel a dangerous aura approaching from deeper within the Goblin village.
"Run, it's a Goblin Priest!" Omar suddenly cried out as they were about to attack the remaining Goblins on patrol.
Soon, the entire team felt the dangerous aura of the Goblin Priest rapidly approaching.
Hearing Omar's warning, everyone immediately turned and sprinted toward Blue Wing Town at full speed.
Unlike regular Goblins—who remain stuck at Level 3 for most of their lives—a Goblin Priest is a genuine Level 6 powerhouse. Even the Raven Team didn't dare to confront a Goblin Priest head-on.
"Kai, use your Ki, or you're going to die!"
As the rest of the team ran at full speed, Kai quickly fell behind. Seeing him lag so much, Henry slowed down and shouted a reminder.
"But how am I supposed to do that?!"
Even with [Clear Mind] activated, Kai was in full-blown panic mode. His [Heightened Senses] screamed at him that death was moments away.
"Just channel your Ki and focus most of it into your legs!" Henry replied urgently, realizing Kai needed clear instructions.
"Graaaaa!"
Seeing the humans fleeing, the Goblin Priest growled and ordered his servants to pick up the pace.
Seated on a crude throne carried by four Hobgoblins, the Goblin Priest had decided to slaughter these humans—no matter the cost.
"Where did this Priest come from?"
Running ahead of the group, Omar complained. They had killed many Goblins from that same village earlier, but there had been no sign of a Goblin Priest.
"Who knows? Maybe he was hiding in the village all along," Eric replied casually as he caught up with Omar.
Earlier that day, when they had discovered the new Goblin village, they deliberately created a scene to lure out any Goblin Priest. But aside from four Hobgoblins, no one had shown up to defend the village.
So, everyone had assumed that the village didn't have a Priest and had planned to hunt the Goblins slowly. After all, they weren't strong enough to take on an entire Goblin village housing tens of thousands of Goblins—even if it doesn't have a Priest.
"A Goblin Priest on the loose near the Purple Pond. I repeat, a Goblin Priest on the loose near the Purple Pond."
Knowing that the Goblin Priest hadn't left the village just to scare them, Tony immediately broadcasted a public announcement to warn the others.
"Like this?"
At the back, Kai followed Henry's instructions and concentrated most of his Ki into his legs.
Like a bullet just fired from a barrel, Kai shot forward at uncontrollable speed.
"That's way too much! You're going to damage your legs!"
As Kai bolted away at terrifying speed, Henry tried to warn him.
Within seconds, Kai left everyone behind.
However, instead of feeling happy, he was terrified.
The moment he focused the majority of his Ki into his legs, he had felt a burning sensation—and now it was getting worse with every step. He could even feel his bones cracking under the pressure.
Kai tried to stop, but his brain was in full flight mode and no longer listening to reason.
"That was Kai, right?"
Tony, who was busy broadcasting the Goblin Priest warning over the public channel, was stunned when he saw Kai speed past.
"Yeah, he's using way too much Ki to run," Henry said as he caught up with the others and explained the situation.
Leaving the open plains behind, Kai—unable to control his body anymore—ran straight into the woods.