42 Going Out

*Shua!*

However, what happened was not a swift death. Instead, Joani found himself drenched in water.

*Shua, shua, shua...*

Lian could use any element, so he used water this time. He didn't have a Water Element manual to learn the basics, so his proficiency with it was very low. Nevertheless, it was enough to summon some simple water balls to throw at Joani. "I can see you cauterized your injuries, so at least there won't be any more blood. The water should help wash off the stench of blood."

After that, Lian used his other hand to splash water on himself and Carol. "We just have a few bruises from when that creature bumped into us on its way back to the Tricolor Flowers. However, we should wash them as well."

Some color finally came back to Joani's face after that. "T-Thank you! If you get me back to the settlement at the entrance of Ostalas Forest, that'll be enough. I'm a Star Apothecary. I will definitely pay you handsomely for this."

"Shut up and wash your body," replied Lian. "Using these water balls is quite difficult. Take your clothes off since the water won't be enough to remove the blood on them."

Joani nodded and used his remaining hand to clean himself as much as possible. With that, only his underwear remained.

A few minutes later, Lian put Joani's arm around his shoulder as the three started to make their way out of the core region. "Let's move in a different direction from where we came. We killed a few Level One Star Energy Creatures along the way, so their bodies probably attracted more of them."

Joani used that chance to give some help. "I don't have experience around this place. However, I know its loyalty in my head due to the map I studied back in the city. Is it okay if I show the direction?"

Lian and Carol were happy to hear that, not that they had a better choice anyway. "Good! Where to?"

"Through there," answered Joani as he used his finger to point out.

During the first hour, they really didn't find any other Star Energy Creature, all thanks to the creature that attacked them. However, that creature's effect didn't last forever.

*Gorwwwww!*

From their right side, a Star Energy Creature immediately came out, running straight at them.

"It's a Ghost Litan." Joani recognized the creature. "This is a Level Two Creature!" He knew by now that Lian and Carol were only at Level One, so he obviously felt the danger.

Lian looked at the creature, which looked to be some mix of wolf and snake, being almost as tall as himself. "Shit!"

Lian didn't have any experience in combat, so he quickly took another silver coin out before throwing it ahead of him. After that, Lightning Element gathered around his hand as he intended to use his Lightning element ability once again.

However, he remembered what Tuly said on the way here when he tried out his skills. 'That lightning ray of yours is too strong and loud. You always use as much Star Energy as you can. Look, you killed that Star Energy creature but attracted a lot more. Try to control the amount of Star Energy you use. As long as you scare the creature away, that'll be enough. It won't be as tiring either. First of all, if you use something this powerful against our Coral Bear, you'll destroy many of the parts we want to sell, idiot!'

The Lightning Star Energy around Lian's hand suddenly reduced in power, decreasing to half of what it was. It was still loud and strong, but it wasn't anywhere near to what he could do.

*Bang!*

*Hsssssssssssss!*

As a Lightning-type attack, it was really, really fast. Even Tuly said he would have a hard time dodging it, which was in case he knew it was coming. Let alone this Level Two Creature that didn't know better. The blue ray of light hit its head, leaving quite a big injury there. It even lost one of its eyes as it fell to the ground.

However, it did its best to ignore the pain before turning around and darting into the forest. The prey it felt it would have for breakfast didn't turn out as it expected.

Unfortunately for Lian, even that low-power lightning beam completely destroyed the silver coin.

"Phew..." Lian sighed in relief, though. "Careful, Carol. Don't let your poisonous Star Energy touch us."

"Eh?! Oh!" Carol quickly dissipated her Star Energy in response. She used that pretty much without thinking, showing her lack of experience as well. "Sorry, sorry. This Star Energy Blocker I learned from the manual is the only thing I can do. I will have to learn more about my poison affinity if we make it out of here."

Joani couldn't help but ask Lian, "When you said you're only Level One, you were lying, right?" Of course, he was happy to see that Lian was, in fact, that strong.

Lian was already tired of that question, replying, "Believe whatever you want. By the way, I only have five more silver coins. Do you have any with you?"

Only then did Joani remember that he saw Lian throw a silver coin before using the lightning ray. "You need silver coins to attack...?"

Lian nodded, saying, "That's my best ability. What, do you want to go back and take the silver coins from everyone's bodies? That would definitely save you quite some money."

Joani let out cold sweat after hearing that. "Ahem... I'm the most sharing person you'll ever meet in your life. Here, take my bag of coins."

Lian and Carol couldn't help but laugh a little as Joani passed a small bag of coins over.

"There should be a hundred and twenty-two in there. I have more of them, actually. Unfortunately, they're stored back in Tume City," said Joani.

Lian nodded as he smiled. "Don't worry. If any of them remain, I'll give them back to you."

Of course, Lian only used the silver coins for the creatures at Level Two or above that they came across.

Well, they did find a single Level Three creature, a Winged Tharavin. It was some kind of green beast that looked like a hound. It was half of Lian's size. Then again, even though it was small, it was much stronger and faster. Only worse was the Level Five creature they found before.

For that one, Lian didn't dare to hold back. In the end, his ability to see the crowns on the creatures helped him identify the level of threat of the enemy straight away. The beast was indeed fast, but Lian's Lightning skill was even more so. Since the creature didn't expect it to come, it failed to dodge it completely, getting one of its legs severely injured.

Lian then used another silver coin to shoot the lightning ray again, but the creature moved away quickly.

*kabrum!*

The creature then looked at the trees that were broken behind it before looking back at Lian, who had another silver coin in his hand. Not only that, it began to feel that it couldn't control its own Star Energy properly either. Yes, Carol had used her Star Energy Poison in the direction the creature came from, starting to get used to it.

Eventually, it gave up and ran away, leaving Lian's group alone.

That was the most dangerous encounter their group had after escaping the Level Five creature. Another hour and a half later, they found themselves outside of the core region.