"Clovis. Three beasts at your twelve." Kanaria''s voice echoed through the small transmitter hanging on his right ear.

    Without hesitation, Clovis stepped forward and found the incoming beasts as he slashed them one by one.

    "Jay. Cover Clovis''s right. There are four beasts coming at him!"

    "Got it." Jay stationed himself not far from Clovis and noticed the incoming beasts. But before Jay engaged them in frontal combat, one of the beasts got shot down. The bullet was powerful enough to pierce through its body, killing it.

    "!!!"

    Jay knew that Kanaria was the one killing this beast. After all, they were at the foot of a small hill.

    Jay and Clovis were killing all these beasts in a very effective manner. That was because Kanaria was watching their movement from the top of the hill. She even aimed her sniper rifle and took down one or two beasts to lessen the burden on them.

    Clovis couldn''t help but glance at Kanaria, remembering what happened earlier in the morning.

    ...

    Two hours ago.

    "I have brought my equipment with me. So, we''ll only buy some stuff and head outside." Kanaria pointed at the long bag behind her. It didn''t seem that her bag only contained one type of gun.

    "Eh? We need this one even if it''s expensive."

    "We also need this."

    "This..."

    "And this..."

    Kanaria bought a lot of items from basic survival items like spices and small tools to expensive items such as radios and binoculars.

    Back then, Clovis couldn''t help but ask, "Sorry, but are you sure your friend is good at her job? Can she spend our money wisely?"

    "Mhmm... I don''t know about her spending habits." Jay shook his head. Even though he had known Kanaria, they weren''t that close.

    After joining the group, Kanaria spent a lot of money to make sure Clovis and Jay were well equipped. Unfortunately, they couldn''t buy expensive clothes that were made of a powerful beast''s hide.

    In the end, they spent almost 1,500 dollars. Clovis didn''t mind it that much because he had registered the money, but seeing this side of her made him convinced that he should register the money first before giving it to Kanaria.

    ...

    When he recalled what happened earlier, he felt a bit apologetic toward Kanaria. They had just begun hunting twenty minutes ago, but they had killed 12 beasts. The effectiveness increased by at least four hundred percent compared to when there were only two of them.

    If they continued at this pace, let alone ten thousand, they might be able to earn fifty thousand in one exploration.

    "If that''s the case, don''t you think we should head to the west after that? If I''m not wrong, there is an exploration camp near this place. Usually, you can exchange some information or do raids together. Maybe we can use this place to join some higher ranking group to hunt Tier 1 beasts." Kanaria suggested.

    "That''s not a bad idea. Though, if it will just end up slowing down our progress, I don''t mind not going to the Tier 1 beast''s territory." Clovis agreed with her but still set up a condition.

    "That''s settled then. We''ll return on the fourth day while killing all the beasts we can find." Jay smirked while glancing at Kanaria. "In that case, why don''t you take a rest first?"

    "Yeah. You two can take a rest first. I will be standing by." Clovis nodded in agreement.

    "Nah. You should rest first, Clovis." Jay shrugged. "Each rotation will be three hours. What do you think?"

    "I don''t have a problem. Besides, you should go first since I want to do something." Clovis stood up. Since it hadn''t been that late yet, he grabbed his swords.

    "Oi, oi! Are you trying to train here?" Jay widened his eyes in shock.

    "Why not? If I slack because of the exploration, you''re going to easily surpass me. So, you, genius, can rest first." Clovis shrugged.

    "After seeing you like this, there''s no way I can sit still. I will be your sparring partner. What do you think?" Jay smirked while pulling out his blade.

    It was true that image training wouldn''t be as effective as real-life practice. So, he took on that offer. "Fine by me."

    "..." Kanaria was watching them with a dumbfounded expression. They had been moving a lot the whole day, yet they still wanted to train.

    However, Clovis''s action made her remember what he told her this morning.

    "By the way, I only have a 15% evolution rate, just to let you know." Clovis raised his hand and spoke nonchalantly.

    "Huh?!" Kanaria blinked a few times, not being able to process what she had just heard. "What do you mean?"

    "As he said, his evolution rate is only 15%. In fact, that number is too low to be even qualified as an explorer." Jay pointed at Clovis with a smug smile. He had seen his status after all.

    "You are joking, right?" Kanaria looked at Clovis as though she didn''t want to believe it. In fact, this was a normal reaction if people knew about his evolution rate. People like Jay were the abnormal ones.

    "I''m not joking. He has seen it." Clovis confirmed Jay''s words. "But... this doesn''t mean I''m going to let anyone have the captain position. I''m going to fight with my dear life to get stronger even with this limitation. That includes you."

    Kanaria was speechless. This was simply too shocking. Yesterday, he managed to fight better than Jay. So, there was no way Clovis would have a low evolution rate.

    "By the way, Kanaria''s evolution rate is 92%. It''s slightly lower than mine, but not that much. If I''m not wrong, you have been focusing on your senses, right?" Jay revealed Kanaria''s information without any thought.

    "Y-yes." Kanaria didn''t know how to react at that time.

    But now that she had hunted with them and watched them like this, Kanaria couldn''t help but watch Clovis.

    "15% evolution rate, huh? Normal people would have given up. Some would be foolish enough to challenge the beasts and die so easily. But..." Kanaria finally understood why Jay respected Clovis that much. She looked at Clovis gently, imagining the time when Clovis managed to overcome his limitations and become a great explorer. "...you are different, right?

    I hope you are different, Clovis."

    They didn''t know at that time, but the area they were planning to go to would be undergoing a huge change.