Chapter 18: First Hunting Contract 1

*Hustle, Bustle*

Allen Stryka was awakened by the noises coming from the busy street outside. He then opened his eyes. He saw the ceiling of his room.

The time was already around 5 in the afternoon. He was lying on a bed in a cramped room. The total area of the rented space was around two and a half square meters. This was a typical run-down lodging unit in the cheapest district of the city of Nosales.

The young man stretched his newly revitalized body. He then walked out of the room. Someone was waiting for him outside after all.

"Rise and shine sleepyhead."

The person who introduced himself as Gurim greeted. He was sitting by the window of the corridor where the rental room was located. He looked at the young man who had just opened the door.

"Good day."

Allen greeted back. He massaged his eyelids to fix his blurry vision. He then began scratching his back.

Gurim looked troubled upon seeing these actions. He cleared his throat. He then asked,

"Will you need a few minutes to freshen up or what?"

"No need. Let's get this going."

The young man dismissed. The deal they had a few hours ago was that Gurim would first provide a place for Allen. Then they would move out to do a hunting contract once the latter woke up.

But it seemed like the green-haired person had waited longer than he expected. He said impatiently,

"You do know that Nosales have a curfew, right?"

"Yes. That's why we should move already."

"Fine."

The green-haired person sighed. He jumped off the window and landed on the corridor floor. He then walked hurriedly to exit the building. The young man followed through.

Gurim had actually discussed a few crucial information as they walked towards the lodging building. This was before Allen crashed on the bed and slept like a log.

The first information they discussed was that Nosales would close its gates after eight in the evening. This was apparently to guard the city more effectively against beast attacks at night.

The second information was finally about spirit crystals!

This particular resource was actually soul energy in solid form. People could consume this resource to strengthen their own soul. Those who had failed to develop an ability when they got vaccinated could use these crystals to improve their souls and gain an ability. Although the success rate would still depend on the person consuming the said resource.

Spirit crystals were also a good source of alternative energy. Some would dilute one gram to some liquids to produce a wet cell battery that can provide enough electricity for a day. Some would also use these dissolved crystals as a substitute for liquified petroleum.

The third information was something they were discussing as they walked.

"Are you sure you can take on the mutated beast?"

"Of course. Why?"

"You're just a Tier 1 Ability-user, you know."

"Tier 1?"

"My gosh, you don't even know that?"

Gurim slapped his face when he heard the clueless reply. He looked like he was smiling but for some reason it was not happiness that he was feeling. The 'smile' was also contorting. He then managed to speak some words. He said slowly,

"Perhaps you're misunderstanding things here. The ones that you have 'hunted' were probably Tier 0 mutated beasts."

"There's a Tier Zero?"

"Of course there is!"

Gurim finally snapped. He was breathing heavily. And it was most likely not because they had walked far away from the city. The time was around six in the evening by the way.

The green-haired person was gnashing his teeth. He took a couple of deep breaths. Very deep breaths. He then decided to explain the situation. Albeit there was a tinge of tears forming at the edges of his eyes. He said,

"Tier 0 is what we refer to creatures, and humans, that was unable to develop an ability."

The Tier system was devised to classify the realms where a being belonged. Each Tier was divided by the power-level of an individual which was attributed to the soul energy within that individual. Because apparently all creatures have soul energy even if they were unable to develop an ability.

"For your information, a Tier 0 mutated beast is much stronger than a Tier 0 human. And this discrepancy remains true even if they both reached Tier 1."

Gurim added. The tone of his voice had become flatter than usual. Perhaps he had lost hope or something.

Allen was not bothered by this though. He simply smiled in confidence. He replied,

"Don't worry. I'm pretty sure I have hunted a Tier 1 mutated beast before."

"Sure, sure. I don't even care anymore."

Gurim answered dejectedly. He stopped talking and continued walking. A few minutes later, they have reached a grassland area which was a few distance from the city.

They stopped walking as they stumbled upon a mutated beast. It was frog that was around 2 meters in height. It has a dark green skin and brownish outlines on its body.

Allen was nodding when he saw the beast. He was now sure that most of those mutated beasts that had developed an ability would have probably grown in size. Perhaps breaking through Tier 1 had enabled them to gain an additional mass that made them grow that way.

He also remembered some of those mutated beasts that he hunted when he was together with Boss Mo and the others. They had indeed retained their original size despite gaining improved physique. They were also unable to fight against his ability. They indeed belonged in Tier 0 then.

However, Gurim was not having any of such enthusiasm. He cleared his throat. He then spoke in a flat tone once again. He stated,

"The mission is to hunt down a Tier 1 Mutated Grassland Frog. The creature possessed an affinity towards the water element."

Allen glanced at the person beside him. He narrowed his eyes. Several thoughts occurred in his mind.

Was this intentional? Did Gurim chose a hunting quest that had an elemental advantage to the young man's ability? If so, why did he look so uninterested?

He's probably testing me.

The young man concluded anyway. He did not speak his concerns though. He simply walked forward. He clenched his right fist.

Croak!

The mutated frog seemed to have noticed him approaching. But it did not move an inch. The beast was probably wary of the human though.

"Let's try this out."

Allen decided to probe on the mutated frog. He was currently around a meter away from the target. He threw a right straight punch towards the beast. Flames then erupted as his fist was about to land a hit.

[Fire Fist]!

But the mutated frog countered. It stretched its tongue and collided with the incoming punch. The tongue looked transparent and viscous.

Fizz!

The flaming fist was doused by the wet tongue. That was most likely the water element of the mutated beast. The troubling part here was that the beast could pull out such a move at a close distance.

"It's similar to the mayor's attack."

Allen smiled wryly as he contemplated. He felt nostalgic as well. How long was his fight against the town mayor, again? It seemed like ages ago.

Croak!

But his thoughts were interrupted as the frog leaped backwards. With only three hops it was able to distance itself for around ten meters. It had then taken a stance and was about to attack.

"Time for payback then!"

The young man declared. He rushed forward to preempt the attack. He raised both his fists in front of him to take up the peek-a-boo stance. He started weaving his body left and right as he moved towards the frog.

Croak! Whip! Croak! Whip! Croak! Whip!

"Urgh!"

Allen grunted as he was hit by the water tongue. Fortunately, his guard was raised in front of him to tank the damage. He was then able to dodge the second whip. But he was hit by the third.

He was using his [Life Detection] to observe the movements of the frog. It was a passive skill that enables him to sense the soul energy of creature around the vicinity where he was at all times. This meant that it was always in effect. But that actually meant more trouble than it sounded in theory.

The young man had to suppress the skill at all times. Or else he would be bombarded by too much information every second. Or worse he could suddenly faint from energy depletion.

His path of training the skill was to get used to holding off its effects whenever he did not need the information it provided. Once he became more adept at it, he could someday loosen the restrictions on the effect. And he could also widen the range it covered.

That was why he was still hit by the attack even though he had anticipated it. Nonetheless he could bear the damage he received. His guard had been strengthened throughout his training with the mutated rats. And besides, the tackles of Boss Mo were way stronger than these whips.

"Let's go!"

Allen roared as he continued his attempts to dodge. He was hit by another tongue attack. But he endured the pain as he took a step forward. They were now eight meters apart.

Whip! Swoosh!

Allen was able to avoid the tongue whip. Now that he had locked on the soul energy of the mutated frog, he could finally focus the effect of his second skill on the target. The distance from the target was now five meters. He then grinned.

[Fire Fist: Pugilism]!

Both of his fists ignited as he opened his guard. His flaming knuckles were now poised to unleash jabs at any time. This was what they called as a No-guard stance.

Whip! Bam!

Allen was able to parry the incoming tongue with a left jab. He took a step forward as the mutated frog retracted its tongue. The distance between the two was now three meters.

Whip! Swoosh! Whip! Bam!

The young man was able to dodge the tongue whip. He then parried the follow-up attack with his flaming right jab. He continued on moving forward to close the gap.

The distance was now one meter.

"Rargh!"

Allen pivoted his body as he swung his left fist. He unleashed a flaming hook punch.

Bam!

The mutated frog was hit before it could pull out its water tongue.