Returning to the city, Zhen took the three of them to the Fairy Market to buy Tai Petals and a storage bag.
“I have decided to keep 80 percent of these 6,000 gold coins for the party fund,” Zhen announced after handing over 350 gold coins to each of them.
“50 gold coins are from all the Howlers we hunted,” Zhen added, as they seemed a little surprised about the extra 50 gold coins.
In the past 6 days, they had hunted a total of 948 Howlers, which were sold for 474 gold coins.
Zhen put 200 gold coins in the party fund, embezzled 74, and divided the rest among the four of them.
“Aren't….” Joon was about to say that the numbers didn't add up, but the cold look on Zhen's face made him take a step back.
Kenji and Anon didn't question anything, as they were too busy feeling the weight of the fortune in their hands.
“I am going to buy a D-rank skill. What about you?”
“Me… I think… I will buy a good weapon.”
“I am also going to invest in a new bow.”
Talking about what they were going to spend their fortune on, they arrived before the Sky Treasure House.
“Here are 5 Tai Petals and 1 kg of Spiritual Sand. Your total will be 205 gold coins,” the Fairy said in a lazy voice, placing the items on the counter.
“Here, take all these. Tomorrow we are going to take a day off.” Leaving the Sky Treasure House, Zhen handed all the materials for [Dual Soul] to Kenji and informed the others before heading back toward the city gate.
Currently, the party needed a storage bag, and he was going to buy a second-hand one from a party that was going for an upgrade.
“Now, let's get those Body Refining Pills.” Just after registering at the Party Hall, Zhen learned about Body Refining Pills and their effects.
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But he had been keeping Body Refining on hold because of low funds; now that he had so much money, he was going to invest some of it in Body Refining Pills.
Meanwhile, taking the materials, Kenji returned to the housing complex.
“Kenji, is that you? Oh my God, I thought you were dead.”
As Kenji entered the living room, it took a while for Maria to recognize him, but when she did, she acted as if she had seen a ghost.
Kenji had been gone for so many days that Kevin, Rex, and Ryan thought he had died somewhere in the wild.
“My party…was helping…clear a territory.” Awkwardly replying to Maria, Kenji headed to his room.
As Kenji walked up to his room, he suddenly had the thought of leaving the place.
It's not like he had any good memories associated with it, and since he had the money, moving felt like the right choice.
“Let's think…about it later.” Kenji pushed the thought of leaving the housing complex to the back of his mind as he had a more pressing issue to take care of.
Closing the door behind him, Kenji took a bath and changed into a fresh pair of clothes.
Then he placed the Soul Pearl, Tai Petals, and all the Spiritual Sand on the floor and mumbled in a low voice:
“I sacrifice these offerings for the Heavenly might to descend and grant me [Dual Soul].”
As the words left Kenji's mouth, all the items placed on the floor disappeared, and an invisible heavenly might descended upon him.
Unlike before, when Kenji passed his first and second trials with ease, this time the force of Heavenly Might was too much.
Even with his strong body, Kenji was forced to kneel on the floor.
Under all the pressure, Kenji didn't panic; instead, he tapped into his Source Ki and circulated Ki to strengthen his body.
As Ki enhanced every cell in his body, Kenji was finally able to catch his breath.
It wasn't long before the trial ended and the Heavenly Might disappeared.
“Huh… huh… huh.” Kenji took deep breaths to relax as the trial finally ended and he obtained [Dual Soul].
“Exhausting, right? They could have just given the gift in exchange for the sacrifice, but no, you have to undergo a trial. What if someone has a shield that can protect them from the Heavenly Might? Then what, would they still get the gift or not?”
Just as Kenji was about to excitedly check his status window, he heard an unfamiliar voice.
“What are you looking around for? It's me, your twin.” It was only then that Kenji noticed that the unfamiliar voice was actually coming from his own mouth.
“W… what’s… going on?” Terror shot through Kenji's mind when he realized that not only his mouth but his arms were also moving on their own.
“Is your brain dead or what? I am the other soul you got from [Dual Soul], or was I always there? Ah, this is getting confusing. I clearly remember Mom and Dad, even Uncle Thomas, but I just became conscious.”
Just coming to life, the second soul dwelling within Kenji's body was confused. After a while, the second soul controlled Kenji's body and headed to the bath.
“W… where are you… going?” Forced to take the backseat in his own body, Kenji panicked.
“Shut up, give me a minute to process everything.” Seeing the face he was so familiar with, the second Soul had a hard time believing that he was just a product of a Gift.
“Here, you can have control back. What was that girl's name… right, Mary. Her plan seems great. You should hurry up and get me a body. I can't always share space with you.”
After taking a few minutes, the second soul calmed his raging emotions and finally accepted reality.
After regaining control, Kenji's body started trembling uncontrollably.
“You aren't possessed, what kind of cowardly behavior is this? I remember we once battled a dog because it destroyed our favorite toy. But ever since Mom and Dad died, you seem to have lost all your courage.”
The second Soul could sense Kenji's emotions and began mocking him.
The second soul had all the same memories as Kenji, but unlike Kenji, whose personality changed after facing the harsh world, the second Soul retained the personality he had when Kenji lived with his parents and every day was filled with happiness.
Kenji didn't reply to the second Soul; instead, he just sat there on the bed in silence.
__________
Author’s Note:
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