Death... and me

Kentucky might not understand what had happened, but he knew that he had impressed everyone. He puffed his chest and looked at everyone with pride in his eyes. 

'That's how it's done, bitches!' He would probably say something like that if he could speak...maybe not.

Rean couldn't help but comment, "As expected of a Minokawa... I guess?"

That statement puzzled Frandin as he asked, "What's a Minokawa?"

Rean shook his head in response, not giving any extra explanation. Malaka and Calina did the same, knowing that it was better if others didn't know. All Frandin could tell was that it was definitely some rare type of demon bird.

"Still, isn't that way too overpowered?" asked Agis as he looked at the triple-digit number.

Rean pondered for a bit before saying, "He did eat that altar made for Soul Power users. On top of that, he's a type of bird that eats high-level metal. This is probably related to that. Perhaps...we could have him eat more altars?"

Roan shook his head as he replied, "That's if you want to have the entirety of the Soul Rulers on our tracks. Let's not do that." 

Everyone else agreed with Roan. Following that, Roan sent everyone into the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm, including himself, leaving only Rean and Frandin outside. The three days of training were now over. They had to go back since Rean had to put his weapons up for sale. Rean quickly jumped on Kentucky's back with Frandin, and soon, the three took flight straight away. 

Once they got close to the city, Kentucky came down as Rean sent him into the Dimensional Realm as well. Frandin pretended to be the owner once again as the two headed into the city, much to Firmel's relief. Firmel had kept an eye on Rean's group for quite some time, knowing even where their workshop was located. However, they suddenly disappeared without a trace. He even thought that they might have been fooled, but now he could finally relax.

Once Rean arrived at the workshop, he let the others out before asking, "By the way, did you guys find any Zasfins during your time in the Inner Region?"

Agis immediately raised his hand as he said, "I did, but I left straight away to not get their attention. Since I was far away as well, I doubt they noticed I was a human since they didn't pursue me."

"I met a group as well," said Calina as she raised her hand. "I even got into a fight with them. I was batting a Stage Four Demon Beast when this group suddenly appeared close to me. One of them also happened to be in the Core and Soul Fusion Realm. When the guy saw that I was a human, he immediately began to order me around, telling me to leave and give the demon beast to them."

Calina couldn't help but get angry as she continued, "That idiot went straight for the demon beast, thinking that I wouldn't touch him. How could I do that? When he tried to take my prey, I attacked him as well. With that, it became a three-sided fight: the demon beast, me, and that guy's group."

Roan narrowed his eyes as he asked, "And what happened?"

Calina smiled in response, asking, "Worried?"

Surprisingly, Roan nodded without hesitation. "Yes."

Sure enough, once Roan admitted he liked her, everything became easy for him. He didn't show the least bit of embarrassment when he answered. Roan simply said whatever he thought. She asked Roan if he was worried that she got in that battle, and Roan was, so he said yes. Simple as that. 

In the end, the only one that felt embarrassed was Calina as she thought, 'This is so unfair. How can he act as if he didn't say anything embarrassing at all?' 

Well, that's because Roan truly thought he didn't.

Calina then saw everyone smirking in her direction, obviously pointing out that she lost to Roan's denseness. "Ahem...thanks, but I was fine...kind of. The demon beast had me as its primary target, and the others focused on me as well. Nevertheless, it turned out to be a good experience even though I was left with many injuries. Fortunately, my Water Element Affinity is still good for healing. It's not as great as Rean's Light Element skill, but it still let me recover after some time."

Roan nodded after hearing that. That was also part of training from the very start since he did warn everyone that they might come across other Zasfins during that time.

"Anyone else?"

The last one was Rean himself.

"Well, it wasn't me, but Kentucky instead."

*Chick?*

Kentucky, hearing his name, immediately looked in Rean's direction with a puzzled expression. Rean just smiled as he continued, "There was one time he went out to hunt demon beasts for their demon cores. Sometime later that day, he returned to my side with quite a few of his feathers and scales damaged. It was obvious that they were done by weapons instead of demon beasts' claws and teeth."

"Did you find the Zasfins who attacked Kentucky?"

Rean shook his head, replying, "No. Most likely, they had a very bad time by underestimating Kentucky."

"How do you know?"

Rean then patted Kentucky's chest as he smiled. "That's because I could tell that this guy ate quite a few dantians. Dantians aren't much different than demon cores, so they're definitely a good source of energy for Kentucky." 

Everyone was taken aback. That's right, how could they have forgotten? This wasn't the first time Kentucky ate dantians of enemies. It's just that it had been a long time since he did that. However, Dantians were not as good as demon cores, so Kentucky wouldn't aim for them unless the other side attacked him first.

Malaka then laughed as she patted Kentucky as well, much to the pervert bird's delight. "Hahaha! Well done, Kentucky! They definitely attacked you for your demon core, so they have no right to complain that you took their dantians instead."

*Chick! Chick!*

Kentucky was obviously happy that he was being praised.

Frandin then thought about something else and couldn't help but ask, "In the end, just how strong is Kentucky?"

Rean pondered for a bit.

"I believe...he's more or less at the level of Roan and me when we exchange elements for fighting. After all, he does have both Light and Dark Element Affinities, as well as his own race's bloodline."

Frandin was really surprised to hear that. That meant that Kentucky could definitely fight an average Middle or even Late Stage Core and Soul Fusion Realm Zasfin. He better not get on the bad side of the bird. He wasn't in Stage Four yet. However, he was a bird, so he didn't need that level to fly, which was a great advantage against enemies with a higher cultivation level. That only made Frandin even more curious at what kind of race a Minokawa was.

"Alright, Frandin. Take the demon cores and go sell them for Spirit Stones in the Alchemist Guild. I believe the Stage Four ones should be worth quite a few Rank Two Spirit Stones. The high-level Stage Four ones might even go for Rank Three."

Frandin nodded as he prepared to leave. This time, Rean and Qia decided to follow him as well. After all, they agreed that Frandin would take the Formations Guild test to get access to their study materials.

And just like that, Frandin, Qia, and Rean left the workshop while the rest stayed behind.