8 Hunter net

" Hello, Claire ! " The guy greeted her eagerly. 

He was the husband of the woman who keeps making sarcastic comments. 

Claire nodded uninterestedly, then moved past the guy without greeting back. 

She did not expect him to reach out to hold her arm. 

Claire did not even bother to turn back. 

A gust of wind blew by, carrying the dust straight into the guy's eyes. 

The guy slipped on a pebble, falling right into itchy grass. 

Claire skipped away with a smile. 

She had enough of his petty harassment. 

As soon as she got home, she retrieved her little bread dough box, twisting out balls of dough, arranging it on a buttered tray. 

She does not have an oven. So, Calire just retrieved yesterday's earthen pot, placed the red bubbles in it. 

Then, she put the tray in and closed the lids. 

With her perception, she poked the bubbles, creating a rough oven. 

In another pan, she fried a few herbs in butter, added a little flour making rue, then added shredded potatoes with slime jelly to the mix to make it even richer. She added water to the mix. Just as it was boiling away, in another pan, she fried a few mushrooms and Onion. She added the shredded mix to the soup just as it was about to thicken. This is her rough method of making potato soup. She hated the smell of onions and mushrooms, so this gave her a chance to separate out a cup, in which she added grated cheese for herself. 

Instead of condiments on the table, she cut up red, green and white jellies, letting children add them to their meal. These jellies are rich with nutrients and mana. Over the course of time, this will increase their mana potential. 

Just as she placed them all on the table, Zayne knocked on the door, sending Robin in. 

The rest went to their own door, entered their house. 

Despite the houses being connected now, Claire wanted the children to pretend they are living in different houses. Brea understood, and the younger ones thought it's a fun game. 

All the same, in no time at all, they were all at the table, crowded against the dinner rolls and the soup, happily munching away at the soup, adding more and more jelly bits to their cups. 

When they were done, Zayne commanded everyone over ten to pick up and clean after themselves, while he himself took away Claire's plates to clean. The entire atmosphere was quite homely. 

They all put their little desks together in the now wide living room, each doing their homework, while the younger children played together. 

" We need to talk. " Claire said, looking at the children. 

Zayne nodded. 

" From now on, you and I both need to increase our strength.So, we need to make a hunting schedule. " Claire said. 

" Do you have a plan ? " Zayne asked. 

" I do. However, you might not like it. " Claire answered. 

Zayne did not speak. His expectant expression said it all. 

" We will follow behind the famous hunting expeditions, picking up leaks. During the days when there are no such expeditions, we will go to super low rank area's in high rank dungeons to hunt. " Claire answered. 

There's one more thing she did not say. 

' I will pretend to be an NPC to sell supplies in extreme locations. ' Claire thought. However, this will take some time, as she will need strength to even stand and breathe in some extreme environments. 

For example, she could stay unaffected in Irfit's Altar for only five minutes. After that, the heat will get to her. 

" The key point here is that we need precise information. " Claire told him. 

' Ah, this must be my responsibility. " Zayne thought. 

The beast outbreak had almost destroyed humanity. The result was no less than an apocalypse. The era of blood was just over, with strong bases built all around the world. However, wilderness is still the domain of the beasts. It's impossible to have dependable transport for more than a hundred kilometers. 

As such, most bases have the same plan of a strong hold in an extremely fertile area, just the right distance from a source of water. Then, a green belt is built around the base, with factories and farms. Claire's own parents worked in a factory. They are not great people, at the same time, they are not your loving family either. They are ordinary people just trying to make it. 

Claire, when at home, did all the chores from the time she was four. No, she wasn't Cinderella! life forced them. Her parents were a little more unfeeling than other kid's parents. Then, Robin's parent's accident happened when Robin was four, and Claire twelve. 

The base provided pension and compensation. The compensation was the job in the factory in the base. The condition was that they needed to look after Robin. Her parents decided to throw Claire with Robin, while they lived in the base. From the moment she was twelve, Claire has taken care of Robin. She is far more attached to Robin than her own brother. Weirdly, Claire also resembled Robin far more than she did her own brother. 

Given her parent's attitude, Claire suspected a birth secret, but she just did not care to check. As long as she calls Robin brother, what difference does it make whether she knows for sure or not ? 

Thus, this is the first time in both her lifes she felt like she has a family. Ideally, at this time, she should be feeling touched in her heart, but Claire did not. It's a lot of chores, a lot of noise, and far too many things to take care of. She did not like kids in the first place, then she was used to a solitary life for more than a decade. It's a hard shift. At the moment, she was making do. 

Fortunately, Zayne's nieces and nephews were well taught. They are a bit naughty, but not bearish. Thus, at the moment, this place felt alright. However, Claire knew.. Soon, the children will get acquainted with each other enough like siblings, then, it will be a real pandemonium. She needs to make rules before that. At this moment, Zayne piped up. 

" Actually, I have this with me. " he told her, bringing out a chain with a ring from his neck. 

Claire looked at it in shock. They are expensive. Far more expensive than the item box skill book which gives you space. 

" Is that a storage ring ? " She asked. 

Zayne nodded. Claire snorted in response. 

' Look at this. All this time, she has been thinking he is all honest with her, but he kept something as big as a storage ring private. Hmm.. This teaches me not to trust men, no matter how goody two shoes they are. ' Claire grumbled to herself. 

" My brother gave this to me before his last hunt. It contains all our family wealth. " Zayne told her. 

' Oi ! Oi ! Can you tell me something like this ? ' Claire snarked, still a bit miffed from the late secret telling. 

" So … ?" Claire asked. Even if Zaye holds the titles, shares and all the other stuff, he can not claim them legally. That is why he was in this remote location, surviving on the alms given by the government. 

" Before they sealed my home, I managed to put my computer in here. " Zayne told her with a smile. 

After a moment, it dawned on her. It's a hunternet verified laptop. 

To stop the desperadoes and stupid kids from attempting dungeons, hunternet is only accessible through specific devices bought from authentic shops. These devices are locked with toughest biometric measures, and if you want to open one after it's locked, you need to prove with DNA that you are the right person. 

" My brother key'ed me in. " Zayne told her. 

" Zayne Rhafyre ! You are something else ! " Claire exclaimed, beaming at him in happiness. 

These authenticated devices are not cheap. Normal hunters usually only managed to buy them in their third to fifth year of hunting. 

" I will set it up. " Zayne told her. 

Claire nodded eagerly. 

What came out first was a full fledged gaming server setup, which looked mighty expensive, but it's just a computer with good configuration. It was connected to the internet. 

While the children became obsessed with the computer, Zayne silently retrieved the laptop from his bracelet. 

Both Claire and Zayne huddled on the sofa to look at the screen. 

On it's little screen, the hunternet loading icon opened. 

Zayne put his finger on the biometric, looking into the cam at the same time for eye- identification. 

[ Hunter identity Verified ] 

The hunternet loaded. 

" Look for the scientific expeditions, and media expeditions. " Claire told him. 

Currently, cameras and electric equipment do not work inside the dungeons. 

They are researching the cause, there were multiple hypotheses, but a large scale media shoot solution had not been found as of yet. 

Claire has an answer for them. 

After all, the method was currently in research, and it has been effectively implemented in just under a year.