Seeing Mel's shy demeanor, the man called him inside with a fatherly voice.

"Welcome son."

When the white-haired woman invited Mel too, who was on the doorstep, the young boy in large physique slowly entered.

"Dinner is ready. Take your places now!"

The woman held her guest by the shoulders and guided him to the small room at the right side of the entrance. The man from the trio entered the room which involved a wooden table, two chairs, and a bed, and sat on the chair with a plate in front of it.

Two people remained standing and there was only one chair on the table. Mel was petrified, looking for help from the man, but the guard was not paying any attention.

"Son, sit down."

The woman pushed Mel from his back and wanted to make him sit on the empty chair, but the young boy did not move an inch.

"You sit down please!"

When Mel's voice was unintentionally harsh, the guard finally lifted his head from the plate he buried in.

"Sit down, brat!"

The man's attitude made his wife laugh.

"My child, I already ate. Sit down."

It took Mel over ten minutes to walk through the door and sit at the table. If you had told someone that this boy ruthlessly smashed the boss snake’s head in the forest, he wouldn't have believed it.

"Sorry kid. I know you've been in the forest for two days, but we have nothing but cereal porridge!"

The man spoke in a bashful manner. While looking at the dark brown mush, there was anger in his eyes.

“It doesn't matter sir. Even opening your house for me is a great favor. I will never forget this."

Keep your gratitude and your grudge; this was one of his grandfather's teachings.

"After all, you will stay only for one night. Come on, eat your food!"

The white-haired woman was watching the Guard and Mel plunging their spoons into the plate and then lifting the spoons. After a few minutes, she began to cry slowly, and then sobbingly.

"Sophia, don't do that!"

While Can was calling out his wife not to cry, he also entered in a similar mood. He was almost crying. In the face of this situation, Mel also stopped eating.

“When I saw you like this, I thought of you and Sivo coming to the table from training. At that time, our table was rich and my son was healthy. God damn Second Senior!”

When the woman cried out, the man intervened.

"Speak slowly Sophia! Do you want us to be in a situation even worse than this?”

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Then there was a long silence, neither a spoon tick nor a word.

"Be patient a little more, my beautiful wife. When the Patriarch leaves the desolate he entered, everything will be like before!"

Mel heard everything but didn't ask anything. He didn’t want to dig even more into the family drama.

"Brother Guard. From where can I get information about the creature's cores?"

When he got up from the table, Mel asked his question. Even though Mel’s state seemed strange to him, the Guard took a thin book out of a small box at the entrance and threw it to him.

"This is a booklet distributed to the guards. I think you can find information about your request in it."

"Can I ask for something more?"

"Tell me, kid. What else do you want?"

"Can I stay with your son tonight?"

At that moment, Can's wife came near them. Before answering this question, the Guard waited for the wife’s approval by looking into her eyes. When he realized that she accepted it, he said ‘okay’.

With the book in his hand, Mel entered one of the two rooms in the house. After all, this hole called home consisted of a tiny entrance and two small rooms.

"Hello, Sivo!"

He saw a single bed and a child lying motionless in it. As much as Mel looked healthier and stronger, the child in the bed looked closer to death.

"Who are you, what are you doing in my room?"

Sivo had made a harsh scolding. He didn't seem happy to see Mel.

“My name is Mel. I came here for the academy's Herbal Department admission exams. I asked your father to stay at your house. Tonight, we will sleep together."

Hearing the word ‘academy’, the bedridden boy's breath stopped for a short time. Mel saw the fists clenched under the thin duvet.

"Did you know that I also wanted to go to the Fighter Department?"

Mel nodded as a sign of saying ‘yes’ and said, "Your father told me, you went to the forest to earn monster core."

After what he heard, the bedridden boy's body shook so severely that he almost fell out of the bed.

“Everything happened because of that rotter called Second Senior. If he hadn't changed the rules, I wouldn't have had to go into the forest!”

The disabled boy continued, accompanied by Mel's goofy glances.

“The life of the guards was much easier before the patriarch retired and gave the Second Senior full power. Their salaries were good, they had places to stay, and it was enough for their children to prove that they were good enough to get into the academy!”

Mel, getting more curious, was all ears.

“As he took over the administration, he removed the guards from their homes, reduced their salaries to almost nothing, and finally took away the rights of their children. How can we deal with the forest creatures before getting into the academy? His goal is not testing us, but to destroy us and take the children of rich people in our place!”

After hearing this fact, Mel wanted to console the boy:

"Your father said that you can get better until next year and try again!"

Bitter laughter rang out in the room and it was accompanied by small teardrops.

“Did he tell that to you too? But, you know what buddy; I'm dying! The drugs my parents are buying with the money they hardly save are not working. How could they? Look at this room; it doesn't even have a window. I forgot when was the last time I saw the sunshine! By eating porridge, I am only prolonging my pain. I am just a burden on my family!”

Even though his father thought he had managed to deceive him, the young boy knew everything. Mel stood aside quietly and began reading the book he had taken from the Guard. The first part was on monster cores.

“Here is the core I got from the first creature: Class-E is a wild creature core that can store nature’s energy in its body. Its value is 50 golds!”

Mel saw there were thirteen cores like this in his ring.

"Class-D, plant and wild creature hybrid core; It is worth 100 golds!"

Mel saw the core of the creature that attacked him while he was sleeping on the tree. But he found the most striking one when he turned the page.

“Class-CD, boss class wild creature core; chance of success is guaranteed if physical cultivator uses it during the first transformation. Its value is 1000 golds!”

When he compared the drawing in the book with the object on his ring, he became totally sure. There was no doubt. That was the core mentioned in the book.

"Sivo, can I ask you something?"

Mel was too afraid to disturb the bedridden boy.

"Ask it, man. You can't bother me any more than my current situation does!"

“Your father said you chose the path of Physical Cultivation. I wonder if you have made your first transformation."