I am Just an Average Tamer

Kai's jaw dropped. "Wait... seriously? You mean she could wipe out an entire city just because she feels like it?"

[<Exactly! But she hasn't reached that level yet. She's awakened, but she doesn't know it—and she has no idea what kind of powers she possesses.>]

'What? Awakened?'

[<Yes, she's an early bloomer. She has great potential.>]

'She must have gone through a lot to trigger her awakening this early.'

Kai glanced at the duo, who were still trembling in fear, even though the beasts had left.

Thud!

Kai dropped behind them, crouching.

They flinched instinctively and turned.

"Relax, it's just me," Kai said, waving his hand to reassure them.

"Phew..."

Ethan exhaled, placing a hand on his chest to calm his racing heart.

Elina also let out a sigh of relief.

"What are you two doing here?" Kai asked, narrowing his eyes.

At his question, both of them averted their gazes.

"Umm... We just"

Ethan immediately put on an exaggerated grin. "Oh, just passing by! Totally not following you or anything."

Elina, standing a step behind him, spoke softly but clearly. "He planned it."

Ethan froze. "Elina!"

She just looked away, as if she hadn't said anything unusual.

Kai raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Ethan huffed, crossing his arms. "Traitor. You weren't supposed to say that."

"You said you'd take responsibility if we got caught," she murmured.

Ethan groaned dramatically. "Why do you remember everything?"

"Enough!"

Both flinched slightly, and stopped their banter.

Ethan sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Let's go back, before any stronger beast come."

Both of them nodded.

And Kai led them out of the forest.

After entering the town, Ethan poked Kai's side and asked, "Can we play now?"

"Just don't cause any trouble." Kai said without looking at him and kept walking while hands tucked inside the pocket.

After giving Vex a mental node to stay closer to them, Kai waved through the bustling market square.

[<What you gonna do with her now?>]

'I don't know. I can't leave her now, if given to wrong hands, she could become a disaster.'

[<Shouldn't you just—>]

'I can't. Until I find someone trustworthy, she's sticking with me.'

[<Means forever. And besides, I know she has a rare class, but I can't understand why you are now so presistent of taking her.>]

'I'm not, it's just I don't know why but... I feel calmness around her.'

[<You falli—>]

'Stop the nonsense!'

[<Okay, okay. Well I did told you, it's one the the traits of Funari.>]

'Yeah, she can control the emotional turmoil inside me, so I think it's worth the trouble.'

A sweet smile tugged at his lips, as he kept bantering with the hovering blue panel, while passing through stalls in the market.

After walking for a few minutes, he finally reached the weapon shop.

It wasn't fancy—just plain wooden walls and a weathered door, with a sign hanging above it, swaying in the breeze.

Kai pushed the door open.

The air inside was thick with the metallic scent of steel, mingled with ash.

Weapons were displayed on the walls, inside the counter, and along the barracks.

Armors were neatly arranged on the racks.

After inspecting them briefly, Kai approached the burly man with graying hair, who sat in the corner behind the counter, reading a newspaper.

"Is my armor ready?" Kai asked, leaning against the corner.

The man finally put aside the paper and nodded. "Yes, I'll bring it to you now," he said and turned around.

He came back with a folded black leather armor, with a few metallic plates between the layers.

It was the same armor that got destroyed in Kai's fight with Shadestalker Scorpion

"Anything else, young man?" The burly man asked, placing the armor on the table.

Kai nodded. "Add ten throwing knives and twelve senbons."

The man ducked down and pulled out two small crates from under the counter.

"Choose the ones you like."

Kai didn't inspect them much—since most of them were the same, he took what he needed and placed them beside the armor.

"How much?"

The man stroked his beard for a moment, but before he could answer, Kai's gaze shifted to a short blade placed near the scraps around the racks.

"What's that?" Kai asked, pointing at the tattered black blade.

The burly man followed his gaze and replied, "Oh, just a piece of scrap. But if you want, I can give you a discount."

Kai raised a brow. "How much?"

"Just 100 silver coins for all. Sounds fair, right?"

Before Kai could respond, the blue panel hovered infront of him again.

[<Just take it.>]

'Hmm?'

[<Trust me.>]

'Why? Anyways I was just gonna purchase it even if you hadn't asked me.'

[<Really?>]

'Yeah, that blade is perfect for butchering. I don't need to use my daggers or some dead guy's knives.'

"Umm... Should I take it as a no?" The burly man titled his head, at Kai's silence.

"Oh, no—I mean yes, I accept your offer." Kai said and pulled out a pouch from his storage bracelet.

Counting a total of a hundred coins, he handed them to the burly man.

Then, putting everything into his storage bracelet, Kai turned away and left the shop.

While walking along the cobblestone streets, Kai peeked into the items stored in his bracelet and sighed.

"Just four E+ Grade Essence Cores," he muttered under his breath, tucking his hands into his pockets.

Essence Cores were ranked with titles like Lesser Core, Intermediate Core, and so on—

each tier further divided into sub-ranks: Early, Mid, and Peak.

So why did he have something like an E+ Grade core?

Well, whenever a beast dies, there's a chance it will drop an Essence Core.

Unlike the cores inside living beings, these dropped cores contain far less Essence.

Since the Essence has already been used and hasn't recovered, the ranks of the cores vary wildly.

For instance, a common beast with an Intermediate Core might drop an E- rank Essence Core.

They can't drop cores of the same rank as their original one.

Another factor is the quality of the Essence itself—

once a core is extracted, the Essence becomes impure, unlike the pure flow inside a living body.

That's why these dropped cores are measured using a different grading system.

And how can someone tell the rank of these cores?

Awakeners gain the innate ability to appraise the rank of both living beings and Essence Cores.

As he walked out of the market square, Kai spotted Ethan and Elina being cornered by a group of older kids.

But before they could do anything, Vex lunged forward, scratching their faces and sending them fleeing in tears.

Ethan and Elina burst into laughter, showering Vex with praise.

The little beast puffed her chest out in pride.

Kai just shook his head and walked over to them.