The Medallion

When he heard Marin, Rocky turned around and asked, "Anything else?"

"Well... Th-thank you!" Marin stammered, an awkward expression on his face.

"Since I just finished the operation, it's too early to tell whether Verdanim is out of danger. Take care of it for the next few days. Don't thank me yet. What if Verdanim relapses? You'd definitely kill me then." Rocky chuckled and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Come on! I'm not that unreasonable." Knowing that Rocky said that on purpose, Marin felt wronged and frowned.

With a faint smile, Rocky turned to leave. Though he said nothing, Marin understood what he think of her.

"That annoying guy..." Marin murmured angrily, staring at Rocky's back. But she was glad Rocky had saved Verdanim, even if she didn't know a way to express it with the other emotions at war within her, chief among them being worry.

As Rocky was walking back to his place, he felt that a pair of eyes were staring at him. He turned around abruptly, but there was no one there.

Frowning, he studied the area but saw nothing out of the ordinary. As he turned away, a pair of deer-like eyes flashed in the darkness.

After returning to his room, Rocky shoveled bags of soil to feed the three Dark Heaven Insects. When the Dark Heaven Insects were full, he checked them by the Stroking Evaluation Skill. The examination revealed they were in good health. When he was done, he put them back into the nest. Rocky turned to Uriah and Little Rubygon. "We're all set here. I think it's time for us to go for a little hunt."

They left and headed into the nearby forest. They'd gone a good way when Uriah stopped, spun to the left, and roared.

crouched beside Uriah and stroked the beast's head. Ready to send Uriah after whatever bothered the beast, Rocky followed Uriah's gaze, but

Thinking Uriah was simply in a bad mood, Rocky stood and directed the

Or

vigilance disturbed Rocky. This was

of the space. Satisfied with the trap, Rocky led Uriah and Little Rubygon to a clump of trees and brush that would provide adequate cover. Rocky leaped up among the branches. He settled down to wait

spirit-manipulated beast, to build its strength or to gain fighting experience. It also

their death. Rocky cared for none of that. He wanted to push the limits,

the

place. In a flash,

wild beast faced Rubygon, claws out. Its claws could tear through flesh and bone. Undaunted, Rubygon charged the wild spirit-manipulated beast again. The beast swiped its claw at Rubygon's head. At the last moment, Rubygon ducked under the blow, snatched the wild beast by

few moments longer, ebbing and flowing to either side. But eventually the wild beast's superior strength won out. Though exhausted and badly injured, Rubygon did not surrender. Rubygon still bared its teeth and

of triumph. The cry had barely ended before the beast leaped toward Rubygon. The wild beast was still in midair when a great

managed to avoid the flames. When the beast landed, it took one look at Uriah beside Rubygon and turned tail to flee. Uriah's second flame blast struck the beast as its back turned, setting the beast afire. In moments the beast crumpled

turned and licked Little Rubygon's wounds

toward the bottle of magical saliva. The bottle shook before Rocky reached it. Rocky froze. The bottle raised from the ground. With

Uriah leaped above Rocky and swiped at the bottle. But the bottle spun away from Uriah's outstretched paw and darted away toward the trees on the