Chapter 24 – Hike

Alex appeared to be a very cool guy, he does not talk much, but he makes an effort to do so when asked. He also introduced himself as a student—albeit older—so he was probably hunting for a while now.

But in Carl's eyes, Alex wasn't that ordinary of a youth.

'This guy is oozing with battle confidence. It's like he's emitting steam from his body.' Carl wouldn't be surprised if Alex already killed someone. Carl couldn't help but be wary.

Hunting grounds were totally controlled by clubs and in this case GKS and violence against other hunters weren't tolerated, but there were many cases where people died or was seriously injured on hunting grounds.

It was usually reportedly done by monsters or 'accidents', but it was no brainer that a human could've easily caused it.

Only a fool would deny that.

In any case, Carl won't deny a strong teammate. If Alex won't be causing trouble for him, Carl won't have any problem with him.

At this time, the raiding group had already gathered and began to advance.

"We would be walking until we get to the destination! There would be no sprints and separating from the group, preserve your energy, the Green Chasm is still far and if there are not trouble, we'' be there in a day and a half!" the leader shouted from the front line.

The front line was composed of five men including the leader, while those who were recruited occupied the rear and the side flanks.

They were eight of them who were added to their group. There were three veterans in the new group, a duo of swordsmen and an archer.

While climbing the mountain, the hunters were also introducing themselves as a way to familiarize each other's quirks and abilities.

The group captain was Austin Marshall, a veteran hunter with 14+ years of experience. He was a tall man in his late thirties, with a short brown hair and a balding head. He wasn't blessed with a magic element, but he was a proven master swordsman with a rank 2 body. His sword was about 1.5 meter long.

People like him and his group weren't normally spotted in beginner-level hunting grounds, but the emergence of the leader-class monster in the green chasm had attracted veteran hunters since last week, as he was told.

The other four with Austin was in a similar situation. They were not blessed by a magic element, but through physical training and cultivation, they became the existences they were today. Due to the lack of an element, they hardly use mana and focus on building stamina and improving their physical limitations instead.

These people were called 'elementless' and were very common in the cultivation world.

Earth encouraged their citizens to be mages, but in the end, only 1 in 10 people were blessed by a magic element.

Even if one had the talent, they might not be interested in honing them, or the talent might not be as assuring as they wanted for them to start pursuing it.

There were other opportunities. One's life as society saw was determined at birth.

Mage Academies look at all of these, and recruits children who at least had the talent to become a mage. If they could develop a mage, it contributes to the might of the country after all.

Elementless people on the other hand usually end up as hunters even at a young age, where although without a magic element, they have their body, skill, martial art, and knowledge to lean on in order to survive the life or death battles in the hunting grounds.

There were many organizations in the world they could learn this from, and people willing to teach them.

The resources one could get from hunting grounds were quite valuable after all and usually sold at a high price outside so many elementless cultivators ends up choosing this life. Many families had hunters as breadwinners.

If they were lucky, who knows maybe a club might reach out for a contract?

Thinking of this, Carl internally laughed as he really doesn't have a choice like them.

Contracted or not; he would be working for GKS. If he has the slightest intention of betraying them and going rogue, the MA would be on his ass.

The walk soon ended and the group entered a much bushier and less crowded grounds. The place was known as the third level of the Seventh Mountains. Their destination was located on Fourth level, just one level away before the top.

Looking around, they were also a little higher and deeper into the mountains than before.

The air was turning colder and thinner. The surrounding had also filled with more mist. Some sunlight could still be seen, but as they climbed forward, it was turning to be more like that of a blue dawn.

Soon, the group encountered a group of direwolves. Unlike the one Carl met at the first level, these direwolves were about 1.5 to 2 meters tall. They also had three eyes instead of two, and their fur seemed to be tougher. On the rear then, was the largest direwolf, which was obviously the alpha.

The direwolves started to awaken from their lair and circled across the human, snarling at their direction.

The hunters did not feel stunned at all. They carefully brought out their weapons and singled out their opponents.

The first to attack was the two archers on the group, which both shot incredibly accurate arrows on the duo of wolves, killing them on the spot.

Next came Mason, followed by the Captain. Mason charged forth and slashed his big axe, killing three in ten seconds. He laughed and smiled as the blood of the beasts poured down the ground like a faucet.

Captain Austin did not do anything flashy, and made sure to kill the wolves within his reach. The most amazing part only was his weapon. His weapon was a 1.5 meter heavy sword. One slash and the body of his targets were cleaved into half.

"It's coming towards you." the Captain shot a glance on the rear, and gestured for four wolves coming to their direction.

Carl gripped his daggers tight. The veterans had already made their move before he can, and luckily, he was stuck with the less experienced ones.

But he was not even able to take one step forward.

"I take care of it." Alex said, and he vanished on the spot.

Then he was seen dashing towards the quad of wolves.

"Is he insane?!" A hunter with Carl then shouted in ridicule.

Alex was fast. The proof of a body in the higher rank was quite evident. But he was completely unarmed.

Everyone couldn't help but look a little towards his way, curious of what was up with the blonde teen.

_pish, pish, pish, pish_

The sound of hammer consecutively hitting leather sounded as the hunters showed awed expressions at the scene they witnessed.

Alex passed through a quad of wolves alone and unarmed and in a matter of seconds, they were staring at the corpse of the four wolves at his feet.

The wolves were all about 1 meter tall, but these weren't like the wolves on the first level. They had an incredibly tough body, and their speed and strength were superior.

The hunters were amazed, even the veterans. Not necessarily, because he got rid of a quad of wolves alone but he did it unarmed and in a very short amount of time.

It was clear they got some young talent with them.