CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 10

The Previous Day:

In a lively tavern, located near the merchant district, the clamor of voices and laughter filled the air. Many adventurers after a long day of hunting had come here to unwind with their comrades. It was a normal scene, one that could be seen almost every evening in the city's taverns.

Among the numerous adventurers and workers, a group of four people sat in a remote corner, engrossed in animated discussion.

The group consisted of two men and two women.

On one side of the table sat a man with a shaved head and a sturdy build, dressed in leather armor. Beside him, an individual of medium stature, golden hair and blue eyes, wore an elegant silver armor.

On the other side of the table, two women sat. One of them seemed to be a mage, with a pensive air, while her companion, dressed in light leather armor, had red hair tied in a ponytail and a bow resting beside her.

"We can't go on like this. We're draining the last of our savings. Why don't we try hunting a Rank E beast? With four of us, all already at Rank F, it should be within our reach, right?" said the archer woman, addressing the golden-haired boy in front of her, who seemed to be the group's leader.

"Easier said than done. We may all be Awakened, but let's not forget that two of us awakened only recently. We're still struggling with Rank F beasts; we can't go after a higher-ranked one," replied the golden-haired man calmly, taking a sip of his drink.

"But..."

"Jenna, stop it. You know Adam is right. We may be short on money, but that doesn't mean we can go hunting stronger monsters. Instead, we could modify our hunting routine. Clearly, the few monsters we kill aren't earning us much. Why not try hunting more Rank F beasts? I've heard that lately in the northern part of the forest, there are many earth lizards. If we're careful, we could hunt down some weaker ones without attracting the attention of the others," intervened the bald man calmly.

Jenna wanted to retort, but she knew he was right. She turned her gaze to Adam, the man in silver armor, and asked, "Adam, what do you think of this plan instead?"

Adam thought for a moment and then said, "This plan is also acceptable, I suppose, compared to hunting a Rank E. At least we have a better chance of success with Rank F beasts. Alright, if no one has objections, we can meet tomorrow to try hunting the earth lizards."

Everyone nodded. Having no better ideas for now, they could do nothing but proceed with this plan.

Seeing this, Adam concluded:

"Well, let's meet tomorrow morning outside the forest, in the northern area. Prepare supplies and have your broken weapons repaired. If we're going to do this, let's do it properly to avoid unnecessary surprises during tomorrow's hunt."

Then he stood up, preparing to leave. The bald man also prepared to leave, while the two girls decided to stay a little longer.

Clarisse, the mage girl, was still lost in her thoughts. She was born in a village near the city of Andris. She had just turned 15, and had decided to venture out for a year to gain experience and hone her spells in preparation for the entrance exam to the Magic Academy.

Having recently joined the group of adventurers, she was still very inexperienced. If it hadn't been for her friend Jenna, it would have taken her a while to join a group. This was because she was a fire element mage. And having awakened recently, she could only use basic spells, which were not lethal against magical beasts.

Even those of Rank F, did not suffer more than a simple burn from her attacks, but that was fine too. She was still skilled enough to distract the monsters with her continuous attacks, giving the others in the group time to kill them more quickly.

But the recent hunts had not brought her much profit. All they managed to earn from the monsters they hunted ended up being used to repair their equipment.

It would have been fine if they only hunted Rank F beasts, so at least they would strengthen over time, but it wasn't so. In the last few days, they had only fought one Rank F, the others were all unevolved beasts.

With some low-grade missions from the adventurers' guild, she could still support herself, but if they continued like this, she would have to resort to missions like herb collection and other small tasks to earn enough to prepare her equipment and get back to hunting beasts again, after all not all the corpses of the beasts they killed were good enough to earn anything.

Most of the time they could only sell meat and a few other materials, because the rest would spoil during the hunt.

She really hoped that tomorrow's hunt would go well, because she needed to become stronger to have a better chance of passing the admission exam.

***

Back to the present:

Reily had just arrived outside the forest, this time heading towards the northern area because he wanted to hunt some Thorkas. They were creatures similar to armadillos with spiky armor. Usually peaceful, they rolled into a spiky ball and crushed anyone who angered them. Their armor was almost as hard as iron, so it was best to eliminate them when they were not rolled up.

Reily had encountered one during his previous hunts. The beast was busy crushing another beast to death. Seeing that scene, Reily had fled without a second thought back then. He knew all too well that he would have had no chance against such a beast.

But now things had changed.

Not only was he stronger, but with his increased agility, he could quickly deliver a fatal blow to the beast. As long as the Thorkas wasn't evolved, he was sure he could handle it even if it rolled up.

What he had to be careful of was not encountering more than one at a time. Though confident in his speed, he didn't think he would come out unscathed if two of these monsters decided to surround him.

Thinking this, he quickened his pace. In a little over half an hour, he reached his destination. In the distance, he could see a couple of creatures shaped like balls, with a diameter of a meter. Some of them were rolling around, while others, not rolled up, were busy eating grass and some berries growing nearby, on the bushes.

Reily hid from their sight, and observed them for a while. After not too long, he spotted one of the group that was a bit far from the others, enough for Reily to hunt it safely. With a cold, predatory look, Reily moved to start the hunt.