You Know Me

With a thought...

The Lv4 Freezing Spell manifested.

A layer of ice appeared over An Kai's palms!

An Kai crouched and pressed his hands against the ground...

The blood-soaked soil of the oasis froze at incredible speed, until the ground within half a meter of An Kai was completely frozen!

Standing on the ice, he felt waves of coolness rising through the soles of his feet...

Then, with another thought, ice appeared over his palms again. At his will, it transformed into a slender, twenty-centimeter-long icicle!

An Kai aimed at a cactus-like plant fifty meters away!

Whoosh!

The icicle shot from An Kai's hand!

It pierced the plant in the blink of an eye!

Besides leaving a hole, the icicle also coated the plant's surface with a layer of ice!

An Kai smiled at the result.

He had really misunderstood support spells!

Hanks had certainly recommended a good place!

Even Hanks probably hadn't expected An Kai to stumble into setting the [Desert Crocodiles] and the [White Stone Giant] against each other...

Thirty-two skill points, all for free!

His predicament had been solved in one fell swoop!

If An Kai hadn't still had his sights on the tier-three mage tower, he would have already taken those thirty-two skill points and gone into seclusion...

There were a little over two days left on the bounty countdown.

Unhurried, An Kai set off back to Chaos City.

Ten Desert Crocodile heads were already stowed in his storage ring.

An Kai had even thoughtfully used the Freezing Spell to seal the Desert Crocodiles' severed necks...

The moment he stepped out of the oasis, scorching air hit him in the face.

An Kai cast the Freezing Spell, covering his hands with ice.

This time, instead of pressing them against the ground, he pressed them against his belly!

Under An Kai's control, the Freezing Spell formed a thin layer of ice over his body!

The scorching heat vanished in an instant!

An Kai felt as though he were standing inside a refrigerator. It was wonderfully comfortable!

He walked across the desert, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind him.

The footprints lasted only a moment before the heat dried them out...

At the gates of Chaos City.

Even with someone standing beside him fanning him, Hanks still found the summer heat unbearable.

In weather like this, he couldn't move.

The slightest movement made him sweat.

His business was suffering too. He hadn't made a sale in ages.

Only a handful of people had stopped by all morning.

The occasional passersby hurried along, unwilling to linger even a moment in this heat.

Widow Wang had stayed home today. As she put it, going out in weather like this would only waste the rouge she had bought at such a high price.

"I'll stay a little longer, then go home to keep Widow Wang company."

Hanks glanced at the unrelenting heat, but his thoughts had already drifted to Widow Wang's bed back home.

The three warriors who accompanied Reed were in charge of fanning Hanks.

Reed, meanwhile, had to sell the stall's overpriced goods beneath the blazing sun.

He knew perfectly well how comfortably Hanks was lounging behind him.

But he didn't dare turn around to look.

He couldn't help it. He had been beaten into submission...

Sweat dripped steadily from Reed's forehead.

If this went on, Reed felt he would soon be dried into human jerky!

Heaven knew what had gotten into this desert. Over the past few years, it had grown hotter with every passing year!

Crouching in front of the stall, Reed prayed some idiot would show up so he could sell him a little junk. Then, with a sale under his belt, he could finish work early...

He wouldn't have to keep working beneath this blazing sun!

Perhaps the Wizard God had heard his prayers, because a figure really did appear in the distance.

Reed hurriedly stood up!

No mount, no carriage, and traveling alone!

Nine times out of ten, that meant a first-time visitor to Chaos City. Exactly his sort of customer!

He put on a falsely friendly smile and settled on his opening line: Hey! Friend! You're finally here!

He would use that little lie to build rapport first. If the stranger saw through it, he could simply say he had mistaken him for someone else. It wouldn't matter... at... all...

"Why is it him?!"

As the distant figure approached, Reed recognized the newcomer. "The Wizard God fucking misunderstood me!"

Besides those newcomers, someone traveling to Chaos City alone could also be a ruthless man like An Kai...

Without daring to hesitate, he jogged over to Hanks. "Sir, the young mage is back!"

"Huh? That little bastard An Kai is back?!"

Hanks had been lounging comfortably in his chair, just about to drift into a dream about Widow Wang, when he jolted awake.

He sprang to his feet.

He peered into the distance.

Sure enough, it really was An Kai.

Seeing him, Hanks couldn't help wondering, The kid came back this quickly?

Could he have failed the mission? Did the [White Stone Giant] block his way?

Still puzzling over it, Hanks put on an enthusiastic expression and walked toward An Kai...

"Hey! Kid, wasn't the mission easy?"

An Kai stopped on his way toward Chaos City. "You old bastard, you should be glad this wasn't our first time working together. Otherwise, I'd do everything in my power to twist your head off!"

Hanks's enthusiastic expression froze. "An Kai, I knew those small fry wouldn't give you any trouble! Well? Wasn't the oasis I pointed you toward great?"

"It certainly was. It'll be a great place to escape the heat from now on. With no [Desert Crocodiles] or [White Stone Giant] to bother anyone, it's wonderfully comfortable!" An Kai gave a disdainful smile and called out without breaking stride...

That reply left Hanks stunned. He understood what An Kai meant.

But he couldn't comprehend it. Was An Kai really that strong?!

He pulled a brand-new detector from inside his clothes...

[Tier one, stage one]

"This is fucking tier one, stage one?! That bastard still dares to scam me!" Hanks hurled the detector to the ground.

He swore he would twist that fat pig's head off tomorrow. He wouldn't listen to any excuses!

Hanks composed himself. An Kai being powerful was a good thing for him too.

After all, the two of them were partners now.

As for An Kai's threat, he didn't take it to heart. He had a clear understanding of his own strength...

Hanks stepped forward, about to express his delight at his partner's return, but An Kai kept walking. "Lead the way. The Bounty Tower!"

As An Kai passed him, Hanks felt a cool breeze wash over him. Beneath this blazing sun, nothing could have felt better!

"An Kai, you're so cool. Is it because of your new spell?"

An Kai didn't even turn his head. "No, it's because I'm coldhearted!"

That one sentence left Hanks opening and closing his mouth, unsure how to respond...

After standing there stunned for a few seconds, he finally recovered and hurried shamelessly to An Kai's side, walking with him toward Chaos City...

"An Kai, there were other magical beasts in the oasis?!"

"It's all my fault for not scouting it properly beforehand!"

"An Kai, my boy, you know me. My honesty is famous far and wide!"

"An Kai..."

"Shut up!"

"Sure thing!"

Watching the two leave with their arms around each other's shoulders, Reed wanted to ask, "Could you take me along?"

At the same time, he raised his assessment of An Kai's strength to put him on par with Hanks...

Anyone who could scold Hanks like he was his son had to be at least as strong as him!

Viewed that way, there was no shame in his defeat!

At that thought, Reed suddenly felt much better...