Chapter 58: Hunting Preparation

Hoger's assistant came in after a few minutes with a book in his hand and gave it to him. He looked at me and the freelancer badge pinned on my shirt before leaving the office with a confused expression.

Hoger gave me the book after his assistant left the room. He could have given it to me when his assistant was in, but he didn't do it.

I got the book and left the guild to get back home so I can start learning this new skill. I was too eager to learn this skill and increase my battle power.

When I reached home, I saw Aisha (Joe's wife) in the shop. I realized that Joe and Kathy (Joe's daughter) should have gone on the hunt so she can get stronger before graduation.

Kathy and Joe would go hunting once a week to give her on hand experience to fight wild monsters and to improve her fighting talent. She is becoming better and better after every hunt.

Kathy should have graduated last year when she reached 16 years of age, but she didn't want to join the military and hence created a fault herself so the pet integration failed her.

Now she is 17 years old and has hunted without a mana purifier for a year. Now, she will be able to surpass others with good battle power as she has experienced during her hunt with Joe.

She is good at using a bow and once she integrates with her pet 'Daisy' which is a tiger with lightning affinity. She has also been learning a few skills to use after graduation.

If I was in the right mindset in the last year, I would have also joined their hunt and gained some experience in fighting without the mana purifier. Kathy like to boast about her experience while having dinner with us after every hunt.

I waited in the shop along with Aisha for Joe and Kathy as it is almost time for them to come back. I wanted to learn the skill 'pure strike' immediately but waited with her for their return.

They returned after a few hours and I could see a bright smile on Kathy's face when she entered the shop. She ran towards me, jumped, and hugged me. I was a bit taken aback when this happened.

I never allowed her to see me in the past year since I didn't want her to see me in the depressed state I was present at that time. She would come and stand at my room's doorstep and keep knocking and crying asking me to open it, but I never did it.

But she would come to my doorstep every day and try to make me open it. Even when I am out of my room to have food, I will return to my room as soon as she comes to the dining table. She hasn't seen me for more than a few seconds at a time in the past year.

I didn't know how to react when she hugged me with a lot of happiness on her face. I was a bit scared that Joe and Aisha might scold her for hugging me, but I could see them smiling at us and were happy to see me not rushing to my room after seeing their daughter.

I initially tried to push her to create a distance between us, but her grip around my neck was so tight, I couldn't push her even an inch away from me. I suddenly felt water drops falling on my shoulder and realized she was crying while hugging me.

She released me after hugging me for a few minutes and I could see her smile again and tears were still pouring out of her eyes. I then understood that those tears were an indication of her happiness and not her sorrow.

It's been a while since she has seen me out of my room and spoken to her. I smile at her as she is so innocent and only does what she wants. Joe and Aisha loved her very much and agreed to whatever she does.

2 weeks passed quickly. Joe upgraded mine and Kathy's armor using the steel panda skin I got as the mission completion reward. He also used it on Kathy's crossbow so it will not break easily and also created a new sheath for my golden sword.

We went to warrior guild so Kathy can integrate with Daisy. Once the integration is completed successfully, Hoger came to Kathy and gave her a freelancer badge which allowed her to not join the military to complete her mandatory 4-year service.

Since she is also a freelancer like me, we can go on missions together. The first idea that Hoger gave us was to hunt together so we can familiarize ourselves with each other's moves and become a good and effective team.

Kathy was happy to get the freelancer badge and form a group with me to hunt monsters when not on a mission provided by the guild.

I suddenly realized one thing. I have become one of the people I hate the most. People using their money and influence to get whatever they need and bend the laws as they see fit.

'He was not happy with it once he realized, he has no other option since he can't go back to the military and can't go hunting alone since he is in the low-level private stage.'

I can't change what has happened in the past, all I can do is to make sure that this doesn't happen again. I don't want to be the same type of people I hate the most.

The only thing I can be happy about is working with Kathy. Joe and his family cared about me and did all they could to console me at my weakest time. Keeping Kathy safe will help me to repay the care and love they showed me.

Even Kamran came to the ceremony to make sure everything went well. He was happy to see his sister partnered with Allen who has saved his life twice.

We all went home after the procedure was completed for the ceremony and had our lunch which was specially prepared by Aisha. Kathy went to her room as she has to sleep for 14 hours as advised by Hoger.

We did not disturb her for 18 hours as she also needed time to create her mana purifier. Once she came out of her room, we again had food and started to discuss the hunt that Kathy and I will be going on the next day.