Failed

Kai grabbed the cores of the three Dyrant Wolves after killing them in an instant. Yes, he intended to mimic one of the Wolves' abilities in order to increase his strength.

His fingers clawed at the two-inch-long red-violet crystal. Kai dropped the core inside his mouth and crushed it until it was powdered, just like he did with the Panther Rabbit.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

His ears perceived the sound of glass crushing inside his mouth while staring in front of him, expecting the screen to appear to demonstrate his copying ability.

Yeah... He realized he might be collapsed again, so he went to a safe location before performing the [Core manifestation] skill.

Bam!

He leaned against the wall since his vision was becoming hazy, and he swallowed the powderise core that remained in his mouth.

"Haha, I'm still doing stupid things," Kai chuckled weakly, the feeling inside him burning while the outside of his body sweated coldly. "I've already swallowed it, and there's no turning back now."

Last time, Kai collapsed before seeing the outcome. But this time was different since the screen displayed the context.

Ding!

[You failed to replicate the Dyrant wolf's ability!

[Reason(s): You already possessed similar abilities. You also lacked claws and fangs to solidify and sharpen them! ]

[In exchange for this, you will gain +3 strength and +3 agility!]

[Your body will be exhausted as a result of the failure of [Core manifestation] skill]

[Suggestion(s)]: If you don't want to be killed while sleeping, leave the tower.

After a quick glance at the screen, he actually realised why he felt as if all of his strength had vanished like a bubble. Yes, he was disappointed since he expected to have claws like the wolf.

"Failure, huh... Well, it's not so bad as I gained extra attributes from eating it."

Kai pushed himself into a standing position when he felt slightly better, intending to follow the system's recommendation. In his mind, he didn't have enough strength to swing his spear, and his legs were shivering from exhaustion, which means he can't fight monsters anymore.

While having sleepy eyes and a weakened body, he was heading to the place where the tunnel he entered was located. Soon, he reached the 7th-floor entrance without facing any type of monsters in his way.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

He could now hear several footsteps coming from the other adventurers who were also climbing the tower.

They were about 20 adventurers, and based on their weapons, they appeared to be killing the monsters on the sixth floor. If that's the case, Kai assumed the monsters had already respawned. Aside from that, it was good for him since he didn't have to fight there and was able to reach the 5th floor safely.

Look at him, he looked so exhausted!

Alone? Don't tell me, his party members were already killed by the monsters on the 7th floor.

Let him be! Let's just pray for their souls.

These were the remarks he could hear from the other adventurers. It was avoidable to think that way because no one wants to attempt a solo expedition. Or, to be more specific, they assumed the adventurers were on a solo expedition and wished for their demise.

Kai didn't pay them much attention. First and foremost, he had no idea who those adventurers were. Second, he knew that some of the adventurers here were overconfident in their abilities, so mocking him was unavoidable. Third, he lacked the strength to interact with them.

Soon, Kai reached the safe zone which was the 5th floor, and moved out of the main gate. Outside, he saw the yellow-orange sky as the sun was about to go down.

Moreover, the guards who checked his adventurer's template earlier were still there. Eventually, they noticed him get out of the Nocturnal tower.

Look, the adventurer who entered the two to have a solo expedition.

The other guard that was standing on the opposite post nodded his head as he agreed.

Yeah, you're right. But why does he looks so exhausted?

Of course, he was doing a solo expedition! He was picking up the cores by himself, aside from that, there was no healer beside him so that was just natural.

Stop lecturing me I already knew that. But first, let's approach him and ask if he needs help.

Yeah, I guess you're right.

When walking downstairs, Kai noticed the guards were hurriedly heading to his location. So he stopped for a second since he also have a question for them.

"Adventurer Kai, do you need some help? We can bring you the infirmary if you say so." A guard who had black hair, an innocent face, an average body, and looked around his 20s said.

Kai shook his head, then slowly opened his mouth. "No, I'm good, mister. Thank you so much for your kindness." He faintly smiled at him before adding these words. "Can I ask you a question?"

The guard nodded his head, "No problem, adventurer Kai. Just tell me what it is?"

"I would like to know where I can exchange these cores?" Kai showed the small brown pouch that contained 42 low-grade monsters' cores.

The two guards were looking at each other while their eyes widened, could not believe this man was able to collect plenty of cores by himself. In their minds, this man would probably earn a lot of money today.

Kai noticed they were dumbfounded for a couple of seconds, so he waved his hand at them to awaken their senses.

The guard narrowly flinched. "You can exchange it at the Adventurer's headquarters, adventurer Kai."

"Oh, there...." Kai said inwardly, then smiled at the guards. "Thank you very much for your help! I'll treat you tomorrow since I'm going here for my next expedition."

After he said these words he left the area. And again, the guards were looking at each other with shocked expressions on their faces.

Eh? Did you hear what he says?

Yeah... He's planning to have again an expedition in that condition. Unbelievable...

...

Kai was walking in the Deranium City alone, seeing other creatures, weapons shops, and some food stalls that made the city look lively. Soon, he reached the Adventurer's Headquarters, where the other adventurers were also exchanging their collected cores.

Well, he didn't mind them as he was directly going to the area where saw the signboard.

[Core exchanging here]

In front of him was the woman wearing a black suit, had green emerald hair, blue eyes that had eyeglasses, and sharp ears as she looked like belonged to the Elves race.

"Good day, adventurer. I'm Yuan Melony, I'm the core exchanger here. What I can help you with?" Yuan approached him politely while sitting behind the transparent glass.

"Yes, I want to exchange this core." Kai put the small brown pouch in the hole on the transparent window.

"It's my pleasure to do that, but before I process your request. May I see your adventurer's template? Since we are recording the income profit of all our adventurers." She explained.

"Yeah, sure." Without hesitation, he gave his silver template to her.

As soon as she saw his name, her eyes widened, and stood up out of her seat. "W-We are going to process your exchange, adventurer Kai. So please wait for the lobby." She stuttered as she up with something that Kai had no idea.

She assisted him in the luxurious room, where he can be found the smooth brown couch, polished desk, and expensive vases.

"Please wait here while counting the right amount for your collective cores," Yuan said politely.

After a few moments, a middle-aged man wearing a black suit entered the lobby. Of course, it was Azamone as he seemed to order all the people to inform if Kai went back to the headquarters.

Azamone was smiling at him maliciously, "You came back, Kai..."

"Eh?"