However, the lowest cultivation among those present was Tier Four, Rank One, so how could they not hear her?
Yet none of the others spoke up to object. Instead, they nodded solemnly, agreeing with Shanna's point of view.
The brown-haired youth, Charles, silently lowered his head without saying a word.
Seeing him like this, the others ignored him. Clearly, they had long since grown accustomed to his behavior.
He had a mouth but acted like a mute, never saying a thing!
Getting angry at him would only make them more frustrated!
“Charles, be quick and harvest the parts we need for the quest. Then we can hurry back and hand it in!”
Charles nodded slightly and silently began harvesting the demonic bear's corpse.
His teammates watched him and ignored him once more.
Only Sheena frowned slightly, but she didn't say anything either.
Reid, with one arm around Shanna and the other around Kathleen, went off to rest with the two of them.
Sheena hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she chose not to go against her teammates.
Carrying her shield, she went to a quiet spot to rest.
Only the plain-looking, brown-haired youth, Charles, remained where he was, quietly butchering the crack-rock bear. His expression was calm, devoid of any emotion.
After Charles finished harvesting the crack-rock bear, Reid used his pitifully small magic storage bag to pack up the quest targets.
He casually threw a word back for Charles to keep up.
Then, he led the girls back toward the city.
They left the crack-rock bear's carcass exposed to the elements in the wilderness.
Even in death, the corpse still radiated a powerful pressure, keeping any magical beasts below Tier Three from daring to approach the area.
A long time later, two bear cubs quietly poked their round heads out from the nearby bushes.
If Xia De were here, he would definitely exclaim in amazement.
“Wow, actual bears showing up!”
However, these two bears were clearly different from the ones in cartoons.
Their two round bodies waddled over to their mother. First, they nudged her with their noses to sniff her, and then they reached out with their paws to push their “sleeping” mother.
Upon realizing she was unresponsive, their eyes turned crimson.
Their soft fur stood on end like steel needles, and they bared their sharp teeth.
With low growls, they lunged onto their mother's corpse and began to feed, frantically devouring her flesh and blood.
As they ate, their bodies gradually grew larger, and armor plates of brown stone began to form on their limbs.
By the time they had picked the carcass clean, the aura radiating from the two bears had shockingly reached Tier Three, Rank Seven.
Then, with crimson glints flashing in their eyes and savage glares, they set off together toward the depths of the mountains.
That was their home, and more importantly, where their father resided.
They were going back to tell their father that their mother had been killed by humans, and then wait for their enraged father to lead them to seek vengeance.
This would not only avenge their mother but also give them the chance to eat a lot of food.
What was the food?
Humans, of course!
At the thought of that scene, despite being magical beasts, the two bears displayed very human-like smiles.
It was a greedy and gleeful smile!
Clink!
Flicking a gold coin with his thumb, the coin landed at Charles's feet with a crisp ring.
The handsome, blond youth, Reid, sat on an elegantly decorated chair, propping his chin up with one hand while casually crossing his legs.
Behind him stood the girls, all beautifully dressed and lined up in a row.
“Charles, from this moment on, you are expelled from our party.”
His face was full of arrogance, as if he were the protagonist of the world.
He looked down at the gold coin he had tossed at Charles's feet, his tone dripping with charity.
“That gold coin is your payment for recently. After all, from the very beginning up until yesterday's subjugation battle, you did nothing but watch from the sidelines without contributing a single bit of effort. As the dead weight of the team, giving you even one gold coin is already an act of mercy on my part.”
Hearing these humiliating words, Charles showed no anger on his face. He simply bent down and picked up the gold coin.
Casting his calm gaze over the man and four women in front of him, he spoke his very first words since his appearance.
“Alright. Thank you for your company over the past two months.”
His voice was very gentle, and upon closer inspection, this gentleness was tinged with timidity and self-deprecation.
Without a shred of lingering attachment, he calmly turned around, opened the door, and left.
Behind him, the mage and archer girls could not hide their joy.
However, Sheena, the tall beauty carrying the large shield, kept her brow furrowed. Her mouth parted slightly, and though she wanted to speak several times, no sound came out.
In the end, she could only watch helplessly as Charles walked away.
Before Charles could even get far, he could still hear the smug, mocking laughter of his former teammates.
“We finally kicked that useless trash out!”
“Exactly! I really don't know where he got the nerve. He's clearly a Healer, yet he didn't cast a single healing spell on us during combat.”
“Well, don't say that, Kathleen. Under my leadership, we haven't taken a single scratch over these past two months! Naturally, we had no use for that guy.”
“As expected of Reid. You're so generous to even give that trash a gold coin. If it were me, I'd be so annoyed. Why should someone who did absolutely nothing get paid?”
“Yeah, yeah! Shanna is right. Kathleen is super annoyed too!”
“Giving him the coin was just to shut his mouth. In case he holds a grudge and starts spreading rumors about us, we can use this to shut everyone up.”
“As expected of Reid!” × 2
“If you girls are still feeling annoyed, remember to come to my room tonight. I'll make sure you feel good!”
“Oh, stop it!” × 2
...
The voices behind him faded into the distance. Charles walked out of the house they had rented, staring blankly at the endless flow of people on the street.
Feeling a bit lonely, he murmured softly, “Master, you always called me useless and told me to travel to train myself. It seems you were right. I really am useless. My strength couldn't keep up with the team, so I got kicked out. Still, I'm very grateful to them.”
Toka City had a thriving economy. Even ordinary people had decent incomes, but this prosperity also brought extremely high prices.
Clenching the gold coin tightly in his hand, Charles felt a headache coming on.
Not even counting food and other miscellaneous expenses, a single gold coin was only enough to let him stay in the cheapest inn for a week.
If he factored in those extra expenses, he could only afford five days.
“I need to find a new party within five days.”
He thought to himself.
Although he had learned some offensive magic from his master, his master always said his power was far from adequate.
Coupled with the fact that his main class was a Healer, he had never dared to take on quests alone.
In his mind, since his master said he was weak, then he must be weak.
Therefore, being so weak, he absolutely could not take on quests alone and had to find a party.
Otherwise, he would definitely run into danger!
Afterward, he began searching for a party on the streets and in the Adventurer's Hall.
He kept asking various parties if they would let him join.
But the answer was always rejection.
As the money in his pocket dwindled, he gradually grew more despondent, his eyes becoming increasingly hollow.
Two days later, he was still wandering aimlessly through the Adventurer's Hall with a blank expression, searching for a party.
Suddenly, a loud voice echoed from Miss Coco at the reception desk, carrying a strong sense of urgency.
It was a very pleasant-sounding girl's voice. “Miss Coco, we really, really need a Healer.”
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