Chapter 18 - Drive

"Okay, this is ridiculous."

Carl observed his surroundings first, and realized how remote the place he was dumped into.

"This is a bit far from the city," Carl tried to veer his eyes onto the distance, as he looked towards the direction the car was headed to.

With his naked eyes, he cannot see any kind of buildings anymore, no civilization at all. Nowhere in the 5 kilometer radius at least.

From the edge of the horizon, there were some huts and barns, where sheep behind fences could be carved out grazing the fields but they were all very far and almost impossible to see.

He instead was on the top of an edgy hill with no soul to see. There were roads, but there were no vehicles even from the distance which meant this was not a transportation route for the public.

Carl then realized where he was:

'I see this is the somewhere around the entrance to the Seventh Mountains, a beginner tier hunting grounds located at the Crayon Province!'

Carl opened the black backpack that Cath shoved at him just as she kicked him out of the car and it turned out she indeed wants him to stay here for a while.

There were instant foods and water enough for at least a day on the bag, and it even had several daggers in different shapes strapped onto its sides commonly used for hunting.

He put the bag on his back, and then entered the mountain, without hesitation.

He could see nothing yet, but there were enough living beings inside the mountain who was currently looking at him. Some were humans, some were not.

The Seventh Mountains was a set of mountains that had been integral in slowing down countless storms year after year, and was a natural defensive location against invaders during wars.

On top of that however, this place was one of the most populated breeding habitats for monsters which were mostly killable for low level acolytes.

"If my knowledge don't betray him, this is fully controlled by the Golden Knights Squad. This is one of the most perfect places for me to be right now."

"That blonde bitch know what she's doing. Level 2, huh? Don't freak out when I come out Level 3." Carl continued walking forward, until he vanished in sight.

...

Meanwhile, the panel dividing the driver side and the passenger side of the car started to go down, and the male driver, who was in her thirties, looked at the blonde beauty with his mirror.

This man had dark skin, braids, and a lean muscular physique.  He was both the driver and bodyguard of Cath. He was one of the Top 25 level 3 acolytes, in mage club GKS. 

His name was Zoran Young.  He was elementless, but he was an expert in hand to hand combat and a former high-level hunter. 

"I know the boy is an otherworlder, but he's only a level 1 acolyte. Is it really all right to send him there? Other places could've been better." He commented.

The Seventh Mountains indeed was one of the easiest hunting grounds for acolytes, but it was actually still dangerous even for veteran hunters. 

Hundreds of newbie hunters go there every day to hunt and that's okay, but the Seventh Mountains was separated into five floors. The higher the floor, the more dangerous the monsters that inhabits the grounds.

Also, the Seventh Mountains was a hunting ground with a pretty high altitude. The higher floors the thinner the air becomes. 

Anyone who was starting might cope up with the stress in the environment, but going up might not be a good idea. Every year, newbie hunters choose the seventh mountains to start hunting. And because of how weak the monsters on lower floor,s they easily start to underestimate the environment and try to go up to the higher floors, and end up dying in accidents and monster attacks. 

"I looked at that boy very carefully, and I believe though he looks weak, he's not afraid of going up. Isn't the fourth floor gaining up considerable fame since last week because of the new monster there?"

Looking at the driver's mirror, Zoran saw that Cath was expressionless.

Hearing something she already knew was just annoying. Dangerous? Of course, she knew this very well. It was exactly the reason she chose that place with a reasonable purpose in mind.

"The monsters in seventh mountains are all melee-types that fight and hunt their prey with their body. They're merely wild animals on steroids. If Carl could not even prove himself in such a place, he should forget he's even human." Cath said coldly. 

"I understand the logic. That's why it makes them perfect targets for training. But isn't that boy someone the madam told us to take care of? Seventh mountains might be perfect for other days, but with the potential threat of the unidentified monster in the higher floor, don't you think an escort for the boy might have been better?" Zoran said. 

Cath for the first time looked at Zoran as if he was crazy. 

"An escort? Are you her mother? Are you really a former top hunter?" Cath shook her head. 

She had worked with Zoran for eight years, and this was the first time, another acolyte who was on the young side had been assigned to them compared to other managers. Just knowing Zoran's personality, Cath knew Zoran was being overprotective. 

Hearing Cath, Zoran did not react much, but he also did not deny anything. 

Seeing this, Cath also pictured Carl's image. Then, she grinned, "He won't die at the very least."

Zoran only nodded. He still had a worried and puzzled expression on his face though.

Few days ago, Zoran waited on the mouth of the undergound city and witnessed the fat boy for the first time. Then he drove the car to the hospital. But back then, if the Madam was not there, Carl might not have been alive. 

Zoran saw the injuries Carl had, and being struck by lightning. It was quite unheard of for a young boy, even if he came from another world.

To Zoran, Carl might be special, but cultivators cannot transcend the limitations and rules of the world that was set in stone, just like how regular humans simply cannot be cultivators and become superhumans. 

Maybe it's his lack of knowledge and talent but he had never summed up what otherworlders were actually capable of. All of the otherwordlers he knew was already powerful.

Carl Craze was the first otherworlder he met right as he had only transmigrated to this world, and he was quite weaker than he'd expected. He had peered onto his records, paying more attention for the first time to someone so weak in the cultivation world.

Alas, Carl Craze only has as much as the power of an above average regular person, absolutely nowhere near the level of slugging it out against some monsters.

It does not matter who's behind the screen controlling the weak character.  If something goes wrong, anyone that weak would be eaten alive!

Currently, Carl Craze was borderline regular human. Nothing short but a slightly stronger regular person.

'That Zoran...' Cath thought in her mind. 

She thought of putting the fat boy onto an easier hunting ground at first, but she changed his mind when she saw Carl's body earlier. It only has been three days ago since they last met. And she measured Carl's cultivation progress both times, but earlier, a lot definitely changed in Carl's body. 

'I knew he had the Earth physique, but it's quite phenomenal how fast he improved in such a short amount of time. Maybe only seven acolytes in our club surpasses him. And they all have Heaven physiques.'

There were no visible changes, but Carl's body had definitely grew closer to advancing to rank 1. If he cultivates more, it would advance. 

With a rank 1 body, Carl's physical attributes would be twice as strong. In the whole Seventh Mountains, Carl might be the strongest newbie hunter at the moment. 

As they exited out of the Crayon Province, Cath found herself in deep thought about what Carl could later bring to the table, but once she realized what she was doing, she shook her head aggressively, and rubbed all her thoughts away from her head.

"Is something wrong? Are you also worried?" Zoran said. 

Cath could not believe Zoran was still on the same subject.

"Zoran, please just drive," she said coldly.