Hunters

The next day, Souta woke up early in the morning. He quickly went to the bathroom to wash his face, then he went downstairs to have breakfast.

After that, Souta went to the ranch to feed Yuko.

"We're going out, Yuko. I will introduce you to my classmate," Souta said while looking at Yuko who was eating her breakfast.

"Mu," Yuko looked at him for a second before she went back to eat her food.

Souta smiled looking at her.

...

Souta and Yuko arrived in the Adventurers Guild and found that Bryan was already there waiting for him.

"Yo! Bryan!" Souta called Bryan while he raised his hand.

"Oh! Souta... W-What's that?" Bryan said while pointing at the huge bear behind Souta.

"This... She's Yuko, my partner," Souta said.

"Don't tell me... You're the rumored Tamer!" Bryan said while looking at Yuko.

"Ah! Hmm... Yeah," Souta could only nod his head. He tried to recall if there were any other tamer in this city and found none in his memory.

Most of the tamer could be found in Ambrosie. Ambrosie was a powerful country that was situated in the north of the Forest of Light. It was a country where people didn't discriminate against monsters as most of them were tamers. This was also the reason why other countries, who suffered from the monster tide, were isolating the country. They tried to bring down Ambrosie many times but unfortunately for them, Ambrosie's army was extremely powerful.

"Ooh! I didn't think that you're a tamer, at all," Bryan said in amazement as his mouth turned into an "O" shape.

Souta noticed that the Adventurers Guild was strangely quiet this time. He asked Bryan about this.

"Ah! I think someone said that the hunters are here!" Bryan replied.

"Hunters..." Souta rubbed his chin. He looked at Bryan and asked, "Are you sure that it's the hunters?"

"I don't. I only heard it while standing here," Bryan tilted his head.

"Okay, wait for me here!" Souta said before he approached one adventurer. "Can you tell me what's happening?" He asked the adventurer.

"There's a sighting of Basilisk with a monster orb near the city so the Hunters came here to subjugate that monster," The adventurer said.

"Thank you!" Souta thanked the adventurer before he turned around but the adventurer called him.

"Hey!"

Souta turned around and looked at the adventurer. "Is there something wrong?"

"You're a tamer, right?" The adventurer asked Souta.

"Yeah," Souta nodded in response to his question.

"Be careful. Don't offend them. The hunters have deep hatred for the monsters. One wrong move and they will kill your pet," The adventurer warned him.

"Okay, thanks for the warning. If they come to Yuko then..." Souta's voice turned colder. "... I will kill them all."

...

Souta went back to Bryan. "Let's go!" He said as he picked up his luggage.

"Yosh!" Bryan raised his fist up in the air.

Yuko just followed behind Souta without making any sound.

'Hmm... Should I try to hunt that Basilisk? But... with this force, I don't think it's possible,' Souta thought as he turned his head to look at Bryan and Yuko.

All the monsters that gained monster orb were level 40 and above. The beast energy the monster orb produced was extremely potent to the point that it could kill an ordinary human or demi(level 1-5) just by making contact with the beast energy. It was poisonous to those lower life forms. It was one of the reasons why those countries tried to exterminate monsters.

No ordinary human or demi could escape alive once they made contact with a level 40 monster.

'Even if we could hunt it. There's no time left because the hunters could leave the Adventurers Guild anytime,' Souta thought. He doesn't have time to deal with level 40 monsters as it will need a lot of time and preparation to hunt it. Also, the Hunters will get angry at him if he stole their job. It will give them a reason to trouble him.

The Hunters were specialists in dealing with monsters. They were the force of Adventurers Guild that only took the monster subjugation quest. To become a Hunter a person needed to become a Rank B adventurer. In other words, each one of them was powerful in their own right. It's not something that a monster who only undergoes first evolution like him could handle.

The Hunters were also the problem of the monster character players in the game. The Hunters chased those players until they died. It was also the reason why monster players banded together and attacked the main guild of the Adventurers Guild in the Nivari Kingdom. It was chaotic in the Nivari Kingdom at that time as the players killed every NPC they saw. It only stopped when the S Rank Adventurer annihilated the players.

Souta shook his head and removed those thoughts in his mind. Right now, his priority was to complete the requirements of his second evolution.

"Say, Souta. Where would we go now?" Bryan asked him with an excited expression.

"The Desolate Woods," Souta replied.

"Eh!!" Bryan exclaimed, then he asked, "What is it?"

"Hais..." Souta sighed and then said, "The forest between Hebrei Kingdom and Melosa Country."

"That's it!" Bryan said as he understood where they would go. He then tilted his head and looked at Souta. "Isn't that place pretty far?"

"Yeah, that's why we would miss the class if we took longer than what I expected," Souta said.

"Ehhh! I don't want to miss the class! Come let's go finish it quickly!"

...

Yesterday, Souta took the escort quest to the village near the Desolate Woods, so they don't need to walk. They had a smooth journey as they didn't encounter any bandits on the way. It took them one and a half-day before they arrived in the Dry Gulch Town.

Dry Gulch Town was the largest town in this area. It has a population of more than ten thousand. Many humans and demi visited this place and some huge corporations even went their way here to sell their merchandise. Since this town wasn't part of any country or kingdom, the merchants used this chance to expand their business here. The tax here was lower compared to those huge countries and kingdoms. They would export products from other countries to this town, so it's not easy to guess why this town was more advanced than other towns.

"Oh? So this is the Dry Gulch Town!" Bryan exclaimed when he saw the bustling town.

There were people everywhere and shops. It looks more like a city than a town. A lot of people turned their heads to look at him. It was rare to see a tamer in this place. All of them focused their attention on the group of one human, one demi, and one monster.

"It's nice, right?" Souta said as he stepped forward and entered the town. He ignored the gazes of the people around him.

"Let's go!" Bryan was excited as he rushed forward.

"Let's check in an inn first," Souta said to Bryan.

Bryan turned his head and said, "I know."

Both of them checked in an inn and left their luggage there before they went inside the Adventurers Guild. The Adventurers Guild looks the same as the one in Ladros City. They have the same looks and materials, and even the interior part of the building was the same as the one in Ladros City.

Souta opened the door and looked inside the guild. They saw many round tables that were full of different people laughing and chatting. Some of them were looking at the quest board finding a quest suitable for them, and the others were talking to the receptionist.

Souta and Bryan stepped inside the guild. Some of the people glanced at them while the others didn't bother looking at them. They knew that a lot of different people came in and out of the Adventurers Guild.

"First, we need to let the receptionist record our quest," Souta said as he fall in line.

"Okay," Bryan nodded and followed him.

They needed the receptionist to record the escort quest that they completed. It will help them have a good record in their Adventurers ID. It will increase their completion rate and some of the people will personally make a quest for them. Just like some of the nobles that have personal adventurers. Those nobles didn't make a request to the guild but they instead personally requested those adventurers that they trust. The rewards of their quest were much higher than normal, so a lot of adventurers wanted a noble to hire them.

...

Souta and Bryan sat down in a vacant chair. Souta noticed that some of the adventurers were acting strangely. They were restless while talking about something.

Bryan wasn't that sensitive in his surroundings so he doesn't have any idea about the strange atmosphere.

"Wait here!" Souta said to Bryan before he stopped up and approached the table beside him.

"Did something happen here?" Souta asked the three adventurers.

The three adventurers looked at Souta before they looked at each other.

"You know there's a sighting of Mystical Light Cherry."

"What?!" Souta exclaimed loudly when he heard the words, "Mystical Light Cherry."