6 Hunters

"A hunter's card ... Hmm," Kevin said to himself as he flipped through the bronze plaque again, "I wonder what is this used for."

Kevin placed the card in his pocket, but something odd ensued. There was already some kind of paper inside.

'I don't recall putting anything in my pockets,' Kevin thought before taking out the paper.

[Your little princess asked me to tell you to meet her at the "special" place, she'll be waiting there]

[Just don't do anything freaky]

[Your beloved, Uncle Oda]

'This old man really loves... pranks'

Kevin talked no-nonsense and moved towards the "special place".

Well, actually, it's nothing special, it's just a rooftop...

Kevin walked slowly, immersed in his thoughts as he remembered the fight. Carl was one stage stronger, but it was pretty easy to defeat him, even though Kevin lost control.

'Maybe it's because Carl has never been on a real battlefield before, or maybe it's because he thought, I wouldn't even fight back, and this caught him by surprise?'

Kevin had many thoughts regarding the fight, but he knew one thing for sure. He has to get stronger.

People like Martin or Sophia probably wouldn't even trip over his leg and just finish Kevin off with one punch, it's not including the god's power.

If Carl used his power, Kevin would probably be destroyed in a few seconds.

Oh yeah, speaking of strength.

'System'

[Name: Kevin]

[Cultivation: Human Level 2]

[Skills: Resurrection of the Dead, Ability sharing]

[Servants: 0/2]

Kevin somehow managed to break through to the second stage.

He didn't understand how it happened, but it was probably due to Oda's incredible aura that forced the breakthrough.

Well, it didn't matter, he was just glad to leave the cursed first stage.

And indeed, the second stage felt different, his energy expanded, becoming more solid, but what made Kevin even happier was that he could now have two Servants.

That meant he would have more Servants in the future. Just imagining it, made him excited.

Kevin fell into his thoughts as he didn't even notice how he was already one step from the rooftop.

He took a deep breath and climbed on.

An unforgettable sight opened up to him, Sophia stood there with a smile, surveying the surroundings. A gentle breeze, carrying a faintly familiar scent, brushed across her cheeks, causing her skin to take on a color comparable to her rosy dress.

'It seems I have to face the fact that....I do like her,' Kevin thought, once again captivated by her incomparable beauty.

At first, Kevin wanted to ignore the constant giggle in his heart, thinking it would be strange to be in love with Sophia, after all, his mental age is that of an old man.

'Why should I limit myself because of my mental age, I should just enjoy the comforts that are given to me'

With that thought, he pushed aside all irrelevant concepts and went ahead to greet the princess.

"Hel..."

Before Kevin could even finish the sentence, Sophia already sprang into his embrace, accidentally bumping her head against Kevin's.

"Auch"

"There, there," Kevin spoke, tapping her lightly on the head. Though he probably felt greater pain himself.

"Don't scare me like that again," Sophia said as her eyes watered a little. She lunged at Kevin again and hugged him tightly.

"I know you've changed and I'm really happy for you, you've gotten stronger too, but please....please don't use this power against your own classmates"

"Remember, the more power you have, the greater the responsibility."

"I am sorry Sophia," Kevin replied in a sweet tone. Her words felt strange, as if ... He'd been scolded by his own mother back in the old days.

"Don't try to sweet talk with me," she pouted cutely as she stroked Kevin's ear, "Promise me."

"Auch, Auch, stop, yes, yes, I promise"

"Good," Sophia spoke, resting her head on his bonds as she murmured softly, "I love you."

"I...love you too" Kevin replied, not hesitating for long. He really enjoyed this situation, laying on the floor with a person you love, it was...tranquil.

'If I want to enjoy more of this peace and protect her, I need power, much more power than I have now,' Kevin fixed himself as he looked at the almost falling asleep Sophia.

"Oh yeah, you're suspended from school for a week"

"What? Why? Is it because of my fight?"

"Well, the teacher said it was a demand from higher-ups."

'Higher ups? Why would they be interested in me? No way....is it the old man again?' Kevin tried to guess the reason for his tension, eventually figuring out that it probably had something to do with the hunter card he got.

"Sophia, do you know anything about hunters?"

"Hunters? Of course, they're the ones who defend our city from the magical beasts."

"It's a very dangerous job, yet has many opportunities because you can obtain soul crystals."

Kevin fell deep into his thoughts after hearing such a statement, but inwardly he knew it was the best opportunity if he wanted to get stronger quickly.

"But keep in mind that this is a very risky job that one must only accept after reaching the seventh level of Human"

"What, it's that dangerous?"

"Well, normally the magic beasts that attack aren't very strong, but the government decided to do it this way so that fewer youngsters will die."

"By the way, my father is a gold badge hunter".

Father? That devil? Sophia's father is the person who is the most opposed to their relationships. He only respects the strong and believes that someone who wants his daughter must at least be stronger than her, but definitely not the other way around.

Well, enough about her father, Kevin was quite pleased with the gift from Oda. Kevin knew that the old man probably had to go through a lot of trouble to get this card for him.

"I hope you're not thinking of anything dangerous," Sophia spoke, looking at Kevin with serious eyes.

"Hahaha, of course, I'm not," Kevin exclaimed with a laugh. He decided not to tell her about the card so as not to worry her.

"You better not lie or who knows what can happen when you are asleep"

*Gulp*

"Ye-yeah, what cou-could happen"

'Such a scary woman'

They spent a few more minutes laying on the floor in mutual embrace until Sophia finally had to leave for the second period.

Since Kevin was suspended, he decided to head home for now.

His apartment wasn't far from the school, so he was in his domicile in just a few minutes.

Kevin dropped his backpack on the floor and hurried to the bathroom to take a shower. It had been a busy morning with many events, after all, he hadn't expected to somehow obtain a hunter's license.

After a quick wash, he logged into the official forum on hunters to find out more information.

The first thing he noticed was that there were two types of hunters: solo hunters and group hunters.

Solo hunters were lone wolves who sought magical beasts by themselves.

Group hunters were organizations or the so-called guilds. They could consist of any number of people. The three major hunter guilds were Whitebrows, Rain Hawks, and Swiftscars.

All of them had similar strength and were on good terms, but what caught Kevin's attention was that the Vice-President of Rain Hawks was Sophia's father, Bud Dolton.

'It seems she wasn't lying,' Kevin thought as he once again scoured the internet.

The hunters were also divided into ranks, starting with the bronze rank and ending with the diamond rank.

The ranks weren't very useful for individual hunters, but in guilds they had some value. You could upgrade your badge to Silver once you reached the Superhuman level.

Kevin didn't really care about upgrading since he decided to become a solo hunter anyway, so he wouldn't get in trouble with all those guilds.

But what made Kevin the most interested in were the places where the hunters did raids.

There were always a few small outbreaks around the city with magical beasts crawling out of the ground, but the most populated was the so-called "Forest of Death".

Even though it sounds creepy, it's not that dangerous if you don't go too deep into it. The forest is raided by both individual and group hunters every day, but no one could ever reach the center. Anyone who tried doing that mysteriously disappeared so now even such people as Bud Dolton don't try going too deep in the forest. There was a rumor going around stating that there were creatures of an Urban or higher level in the center of the "Forest of Death"

The government chose not to care about this and seemingly let it be, but Kevin knew there was something strange about all of this.

'Maybe the government is planning something?' Kevin wondered but decided not to worry about it for now and just concentrate on getting stronger.

"Well, the first thing I need to do is get a weapon," Kevin muttered as he stretched. He picked up the backpack in his hands, wanting to take out his savings, but something felt off.

The backpack was heavy, definitely heavier than it had been in the morning.

Kevin opened the backpack curiously, thinking it was another joke from the old man, but it wasn't.

Purple light shone brightly from the backpack as Kevin's eyes flickered.

A soul crystal, and one of good quality at that.

Did that old man really give me a soul crystal? Kevin thought, looking around the backpack for any clues, 'Huh...a note.'

[Beb, I won the contest!]

'No way....Sophia?'

Kevin immediately understood the situation, as it seems Sophia has given her hard-won prize to him.

"I am becoming more indebted to you as days go by" Kevin blurted out as he took the ore in his hands, "Since you gave it to me, I won't let you down."