Ugly Duck

Klein wasn't liking this new team dynamics at all. It wasn't simply because he looked like a hairless, ugly duck among the flock of gorgeous, colourful peacocks.

Fine, that might have done a little to rile him up, but he didn't fault or praise them for the good looks. Can't fault or take credit for good genes.

But he could blame them for acting all imperiously as they pleased—especially that golden-haired girl. She acted no better than those pompous noble ladies who believed the entire world revolved around them. This fucking world might just rotate around them as they believed, but he wasn't part of their world.

And what is this Ki Lien shit? Ki Lien this, Ki Lien that. My name is not even Ki Lien. Stupidass elves. They have names like Elowen, Maelora, yet can't pronounce Klein right.

Worse of it all, "I don't even know half of the shit they ask of me."

Only when the six pairs of eyes stared back at him, did he learn he shouted out loud.

"Ki Lien?" Elowen said, eyebrows raised.

"It's Klein," he had to fight to not shout, though his voice still came out as a growl.

Elowen's eyes widened in confusion, but then her cousin elf pulled her away. She had enough trouble of her own. 

They picked up the name from Elowen, whom he didn't bother to teach the correct pronunciation, after a few times of failure. It didn't bother him when only one person was calling him wrongly, but he couldn't say the same when it was the entire group.

The sun set a few minutes ago, and the light would remain for some time, but the elves didn't seem to be in a hurry to stop anytime soon. Looks like I have to postpone the idea of experimenting with the cores for now.

After finishing some research and reading on the energy signature, Klein finally decided it was time to do some actual testing, but looks like that had to be halted for a time. Another inconvenience with the elven company, but what other choice did he have?

One thing he still didn't understand was what the elves were after. As legends go, elves were supposed to be nature-loving and nourishing people, yet they were killing wild beasts left and right as they moved. The only things interested them were the beast cores and the natural treasures. He might not have the best impressions of them, but so far, they only gave the arrogant elitist vibes.

It wasn't his responsibility to dictate how the elves lived their lives. He just hoped they would leave this wilderness soon and lead him to civilization.

The night came down, enveloping the forest in an eerie darkness, as the buzzing of insects increased in volume. Yet they moved unbothered in their hunt for adventure. Eventually, howls of wild animals echoed in the surroundings, causing them to halt on their track.

All of them turned to Maelora, the supposed leader of the crew. She exchanged a few words with the guy called Galen, the master of the white tiger, who nodded and moved up a few steps along with the beast.

The magnificent white tiger let out a heart-wrenching roar, silencing all the howls in the surroundings. Hell, even the bugs stopped singing, horrified by the roar.

A sense of panic wailed in Klein's heart. He pushed it aside just as fast as the panic came, noticing the psychological effect of the roar. The roar was obviously enhanced with essence, but something else was present in it, something interpersonal, like emotions.

He couldn't help but frown. Mana was deeply related to one's emotions. For example, when you're angry or pained, spells usually have more firepower, while casting gets harder when you feel lost or depressed. Honesty, more of it depends on what type of person you are, and how you trained your emotions. Mages use emotions to channel mana into spells, but the roar—it was like communication, a declaration of dominion.

Another thing to add to my mental note. Sadly, there's no Xin to remind me of them again.

He got to find a way to fix her sooner rather than later.

The rest of the journey passed in a similar fashion, with the white tiger serving as the guardian, scaring off most of the wild animals they encountered along their path. Eventually, the group took a break a couple of hours past midnight.

Klein chose to stay awake though, not to keep a watch, but because of insomnia. As for the responsibility of keeping watch over the night, it naturally fell to the beast, though Klein doubted whether the tiger fully comprehended its master's command, judging by its demeanour.

The majestic creature settled down about a dozen paces away from the flickering hearth flame, its eyes closing as it curled its massive form. It wasn't asleep, though; Klein could discern that from its breathing. Hopefully, it would jump to fight should any threats emerge during the night.

Growing bored with staring at the dancing flames, Klein closed his eyes and meditated.

In the middle of the night, when he was bored of meditation and just lay awake in case of an emergency, he sensed someone approaching from his rear. A slender figure drew near, much closer than he initially sensed.

It was Elowen, who came creeping silently. She uttered his name in a hushed tone, sitting next to him. Obviously, she pronounced it wrong, but he somewhat recovered from his salty mood to take any offence.

"Ki Lien?"

Klein raised his eyebrows questioningly, and she fumbled through her clothing for an extended period to finally fish out a small pouch. Glancing around to find nobody watching, the half-elf held it out towards him.

"What is this?" Klein accepted the pouch and opened it to find it filled with beast cores, over a dozen of them—a far smaller quantity than what Elowen collected.

"Hide," she said, clasping his palm firmly.

Klein glanced around in the darkness, unsure about her intentions.

"Hide them," Elowen repeated, pushing his hand–which held the pouch–closer to his chest.

It didn't take long for him to understand. She wanted him to store the pouch in his dimension orb. Elowen may not have known specifically what it was, but she seemed to have suspected of him possessing a means to store various items. He hadn't opened a portal to the dimension orb in front of her, but he did come back with various essentials a couple of times for her to make the assumption.

Still, a couple of times seemed too short for her to assume anything regarding the dimension orb, unless the half-elf possessed enough experience to make such an assumption.