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.

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

right now! Let's go!" Thinking Uriah was simply in a bad mood, Rocky stood

over its shoulder. Or it would stop and turn to peer into the darkness.

was not

a bottle with a drop of magical saliva down in the middle of the space. Satisfied with the trap, Rocky

beast, to build its strength or to gain fighting experience. It also improved the coordination between

dare to take their spirit-manipulated beasts to such a dangerous place for a hunt. For ordinary spirit manipulators, entering this place meant meeting their death. Rocky cared for none of that. He wanted to push the limits, to make certain he had the best spirit-manipulated beasts, and that his control of them was flawless.

of a wild spirit-manipulated beast at the first

whistle. Understanding the signal, Little Rubygon dashed from the hiding place. In a flash, Rubygon had closed the distance and bit into the

to the task. It whipped around and shook itself violently, dislodging Rubygon from its neck. Roaring in defiance, the 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 wild beast's superior strength won out. Though exhausted and badly injured, Rubygon did not

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

wild beast 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

Rubygon's

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

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