Ability, instinct, and cold blood

Sahazel, Setanta and Fleur said goodbye to Laura on leaving the restaurant. Sahazel and Setanta came out normal but Fleur had a strange smile on her cold face, it seems that eating the monstrous flesh had made her happy.

"Were you that hungry?" Setanta asked.

"Don't you understand? Although it is level 1 meat, for ordinary people it is almost impossible to get more than 1kg of this meat per month. That's why it's very difficult for ordinary people to reach level 1 and they have to hunt monsters, losing their lives because they don't have good equipment or strength," Fleur explained.

"Only talented youngsters can reach level 1 before 18 to join the Hunter Academy, those who have reached level 2 is only because they have been lucky and have been able to put their hands in monstrous flesh of level 2 and not because their talent is better than those of level 1" Sahazel complemented the explanation.

"That's right, although the monster flesh of the same level can help to increase the strength slightly, the monster flesh of a higher level makes the hunter's strength increase by leaps and bounds".

Setanta seemed to understand the reasoning behind this, though it was actually quite simple. The higher the level, the stronger you become.

The first class of the year was going to start early, so they decided to hurry up and get there quickly and get to training camp number 4.

The training camps were divided into 1, 2, 3 and 4. Each training camp was the same as the previous one and was intended for each class. Field number 4 was the class D training field.

When Sahazel and the rest arrived, almost everyone else was already there waiting. Everyone was excited and nervous waiting for the first class, they hoped to have a successful future after graduating from Hunter Academy.

"Have you seen the restaurant? They give us free monster meat there every day" An excited boy comented.

"It's amazing, before I could only have level 1 meat every two weeks and now I can have it daily.Previously I had to absorb all the energy carefully so I wouldn't waste anything."

Students who had gone to the Hunter Cafeteria commented on how wonderful it was to be able to eat level 1 meat daily. All the students in class D were commoners so they knew how hard it was to get level 1 meat for poor families like theirs.

Well, everyone knew how hard it was except for a few exceptions. Two boys entered the training camp with arrogant air.

"Am I listening right, Austin? Is anyone saying that getting level 1 flesh is difficult? I've been eating level 1 flesh since I was 6 years old and I could absorb Hunter energy." Ryan came in with his arrogant air.

The students bowed their heads in shame and clenched their fists in fury. They dreamed of eating level 1 meat and now someone was despising it in such a way.

Fleur couldn't stand it. She wasn't a nice girl from the beginning so she decided to cut Ryan's arrogance from the ground up.

"For level 1 meat for breakfast since the age of 6, isn't it too sad that you're in class D with us?" Fleur said sarcastically.

Ryan's face became unnatural. He wanted to show off in front of Fleur so he could get her attention, but it looked like he'd been shot in the head.

"Ahh, how disappointing" Sahazel sighed.

"Yes, it's so cliche that it's disgusting" Setanta accompanied him.

Ryan and Austin were the only ones yet to arrive, although they were the last to arrive five minutes before the designated time. They, too, were nervous and excited to start classes at Hunter Academy.

The 5 minutes passed and Atalanta entered the training camp. She nodded in satisfaction when she saw that all the students were present.

The students saw their teacher come in. They were confused when they saw her carrying a large metal box with her.

Sahazel focused his eyes on the box and smiled inside. That metal box was a special artifact capable of containing living beings inside, probably Atalanta had brought monsters to have a first practical class.

The training field was similar to a football field. It was a grass field 100 meters long and 40 meters wide. On the sides there were rooms with glass walls from which you could see everything that was going on inside the training camp.

Atalanta left the small metal box in the middle of the training camp and led the students to one of the side rooms. Inside the room there were a total of 20 chairs and a blackboard.

The students quickly sat down without thinking much about where they sat. Atalanta stood on the blackboard and began to explain.

"Hunter Academy's first class is usually about Hunters, it's usually a boring theory class. This time I've decided to make it a little more interesting."

"I'm gonna start with a question. What do you need to be a good Hunter? Raise your hand whoever wants to answer."

A girl with glasses in the front row quickly raised her hand.

"Claudia?"

"A good hunter needs to have a high level," said the smart looking girl.

"It's partly true, but it's not the main thing"

Another boy raised his hand.

"August?"

"You need to hunt a lot of monsters."

"It's also true, but it's still not the main thing."

All the students were confused, they didn't understand what it took to be a good Hunter. The word Hunter was associated with leveling up and hunting monsters, so they thought this was what was fundamental to a Hunter.

Now it was Ryan's turn to raise his hand.

"Ryan?"

"Money and fame, all the superior hunters are famous and idolized so this is one of the fundamental aspects of a Hunter."

"I think you're misinterpreting something. It's true that the higher Hunters are idolized and famous, but this is because it brings a sense of security to the little population we have left"

"Doesn't anyone know what the fundamental aspect of a Hunter is?" asked Atalanta for the last time. She was slightly disappointed, but it was normal that they didn't know this.

"Ability, instinct, and cold blood" A flat voice was heard from the back of the room.

Everyone turned and looked at the student who had spoken without asking permission. They all looked at Sahazel and saw his lazy green eyes.

"Can you explain why?" Atalanta asked, she looked at Sahazel as if he were a treasure.

"A Hunter needs skill when facing a monster, a low level monster can easily kill a higher level hunter if he has no skill and the same thing can happen to the opposite"

"Instinct helps the Hunter analyze the sense of danger. This is very helpful when undertaking a mission in territories such as forests or jungles and can help prevent a surprise attack"

"Cold blood is the most important thing to me. Only with cold blood and determination can you escape from adverse situations and turn the situation around".

Atalanta looked at Sahazel in astonishment, she did not expect this quiet, lazy student to be able to explain the Hunter's three fundaments so accurately.

"Perfect. It is as Sahazel has said, ability, instinct and cold blood is the most important thing for a Hunter. That does not mean that levels and other things are not important, but that they are secondary to these three characteristics"

"In this first class we're going to test your cold blood," Atalanta explained.

She removed a ring from one of her pockets. She gestured with her hand and 20 steel swords fell to the ground.

The students were surprised to see so many swords appear out of nowhere.

"This is a storage ring, they are created with special materials by the Long family. Since they have a place within the council of elders, they donate a small amount of them every year" Atalanta explained as he looked at the confused faces of the students.

"The box I brought is also a special artifact, the Void box. This particular box is level 1 and can only bring in a total of 20 level 1 monsters, which makes it perfect for this first practical class.

"Inside the box are 20 toothy hares. They are the most basic Level 1 monsters, just be careful with their relatively high speed. In today's class you will have to fight a toothless hare for yourselves, one by one".