Chapter 15: Member of the Frozen Huntsman

Only a fool wouldn't take such an opportunity to belong to the most powerful team in the camp, the Frozen Huntsman. For Valier, joining this team would give him resources he needed, such as Beast Crystals, and money. Moreover, since this team mostly hunts down Beasts, he would learn and gain experience in hunting these creatures.

Although he did suspect that what happened last night was an inside job, passing by this chance will only make his life harder. His earnings as a hunter were only enough to keep himself fed, and it would take a long time to gather money he could use to travel around the Kingdom, finding beasts.

Whereas if he joined this team, his earnings will come from hunting beasts, not normal animals. The pay is surely much higher. He just had to be careful, and cautious of who he would hang around with. For now, he did not know much about the rest of the men of the Frozen Huntsman.

Peirus wasn't the only Frozen Huntsman member present. In fact, 15 out 16 were here. He did not properly introduce himself to them yet, he already knew more than of them didn't seem to be fond of him.

"We've been standing here for almost an hour, and just for this kid?" A young man sneered as he questioned, looking at Valier head to toe. His name was Luklien, and he did not find anything significant in Valier, and in fact, he saw him as someone weak.

Valier looked injured, with bruises all over. Although he looked to be in better shape than those of his peers, he still looked like a kid.

The man beside him, with arms crossed, leaned a bit to him. Known for donning his signature brass armor and large sword, he was Gigan. "I heard that he fought 15 by himself, completely naked in the dead of night, and with no weapon. He survived, with no fatal injuries."

Luklien chuckled. "Let me guess, the leader rescued him before he could get seriously injured?"

"No. According to the witnesses, he was about to escape them." Gigan replied.

Luklien let out an air of mockery. "A Frozen Huntsman escaping from a group of gangsters? How embarrassing."

The man in long black robe in front of them heard their conversation and promptly turned his head, giving them both a glare from under his hood that made their mouths clamp shut. Known for being the first member of the Frozen Huntsman, he was also the second strongest, just a step behind Peirus. His name was Collin.

There were many other members of the Frozen Huntsman Valier recognised, and idolized. And all of them were gazing at him. Having so much attention focused on him, he gulped nervously while maintaining his humble smile in front of Peirus.

"From this day forth, you're officially a member of the Frozen Huntsman. Congratulations." Peirus patted Valier's shoulder. Afterwards, he nudged Valier towards the other members of the group. "From now on, he's part of us."

"Congratulations! I hope I can see your skills in person."

"You look very young, congrats, kid. You certainly have so much room to grow!"

One by one, Valier shook their hands and nodded, full of enthusiasm, at their words with a smile on his face. The welcoming went well with others, but not so much when he got to the couple of last members of the team.

'They're testing me.' He noticed that when shaking with their hands, their grip would become tighter. Fortunately, he wasn't weak himself and responded with the same level of grip. That was when they would let go and pass him to another member, whose grip was much stronger than the last.

He got past the twelve members, and now on to the last three. It was the man in full brass armor, standing like a giant in front of him. He was Gigan, and he removed his gauntlet and held his hand bare. Instantly, Valier felt his hand being squeezed forcefully.

'He's strong!' He exclaimed inwardly, gritting his teeth in secret whilst maintaining his humble smile. The crowd weren't stupid, and knew what was going on, and they kept quiet and anticipated the result. Meanwhile, Galleon stood in the sidelines, biting his nails anxiously.

Valier's hand began to tremble, and he felt the bones of his hands being wrapped so tightly that he feared they would snap if the man let out more of his strength. Thankfully, Gigan did not, and let go of him.

"Congrats." Gigan congratulated with a smile of approval. He began to put on his gauntlet. Seeing the result, the crowd began to nod in approval of Valier's strength.

Valier went to the next person who he would congratulate. Looking up and meeting Luklien's gaze, he felt a heavy pressure rooting him on the ground. That was when he discovered it was hard to move. Even raising his hand for a handshake was a struggle.

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Spell Name: Above Limit

Tier: __

Casting Requirement/s: Inherited / 0.50 Mana Point

Description: Grants the Sorcerer the ability to double his physical status for 5 minutes.

Warning 1: The spell cannot casted once again if the previous spell is still in effect.

Warning 2: After 5 minutes, the caster may feel severe exhaustion.

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[Spell (Above Limit) is casted]

[Spell (Above Limit) will end in 4:58 minutes]

Grab!

Valier's hand launched forward suddenly, clinging onto Luklien's hand and squeezing it tight. At this sight, the members of the Frozen Huntsman looked at him approvingly, except for Luklien, who struggled to process how Valier became stronger out of nowhere.

Valier's sudden surge of strength startled him, but he was quick to snap back to reality and retaliate. His grip began to tighten up, trapping both their hands in each other's grip. None of them was willing to let go.

Their eyes were locked together as their smiles turned into smirks. The crowd whistled, and began to pick their sides for the last man to let go. Expectedly, many voted for Luklien to remain the last man standing.

And they were right. Valier sighed in defeat and loosened his grip. He knew he wouldn't win against Luklien, even with the spell in use. The young man was far stronger than he was showing at the moment. Luklien was just limiting his strength to be at the same level as him, yet winning against him was currently out of reach.

With the smirk still on his face, Luklien mumbled, "You aren't as weak as I thought."

'Thank you…?' Valier did not know if he should take that as a complement or not. After nodding his head, his attention turned to the last man he would shake hands with. Collin, nicknamed Cold Shadow.

He was a man in a long baggy robe, with a hood covering most of his face. He had a long white beard, and boney hand that he stretched out for a hand shake. Looking at the thin wrist, he wondered if this man even eats.

Surprisingly, the handshake was normal. There was no test whatsoever, which weirded him out a bit. After a moment, he shrugged it off as Peirus approached, carrying a paper scroll. He knew what the scroll was, couldn't help but beam seeing it.

Accepting the Frozen Huntsman badge will make a person an official member of the group, however, the scroll contains things such as his payment, cut of profit, schedule, and many more. He simply needed to sign it, for it to be submitted to the Khennet's office.

Upon getting the scroll, he opened it slowly, unveiling its contents. He saw what he expected, and his eyes lit up happily. If it weren't for the gazes all directed to him, he would have jumped around in joy at the moment.

After reading it, he was given a pen by Peirus and signed at the bottom of the paper. With that, he was officially part of the Frozen Huntsman in the eyes of the law. He couldn't be more happy. It had always been a dream of him to hunt along with these people, and it would soon come true. He was excited.

Peirus got a scroll and stuffed it in his pocket. He then turned to the direction of the Frozen Huntsman's tent. "There's something I wanna show you. It's customary to every member to see it before being with our side in fights."

Valier did not know something like this about the Frozen Huntsman, but he did not question it and just gave his nod of agreement. The crowd parted almost instantly when Peirus walked in a straight direction, while all the Frozen Huntsman trailed behind him. In minutes, they reached the blue tent and went inside.

It was the same as the last time he saw it, and not much had changed. He saw the man that gave him the blue book on the corner, wiping the dust off of some furniture. The man noticed him as well, and waved in a friendly way.

Peirus glanced at Valier. "That's Heiniv. He's my butler, but if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask him. Trust me, he knows many things around here."

"You make me sound like a creep, leader." Heiniv retorted. He liked roaming around and talking to others, but it had not gotten to the point of being creepy just yet.

"You are." Luklien unexpectedly admitted, drawing all the gazes. Yet, he simply shrugged as he spoke the truth. Others also nodded at his words. Heiniv pops out of nowhere, and all in unexpected places. They didn't even know how he's doing it.

"Stop it, everyone." Peirus sighed and turned to Heiniv. He gave the man a light pat on the shoulder. "You're not creepy. But… I think you should stop popping out of nowhere. Announce yourself, or something."

"Alright…" Heiniv nodded slowly.

"Good. Everyone, including you, Heiniv, let's go to the basement." Peirus announced. And they began to head for somewhere by Peirus's lead. After going down a series of steps, they found themselves at the entrance of the basement.

When they got into the basement, Valier looked around and saw many stuffed heads of animals on the wall. At the center of the room was a rectangular wooden table, with seven seats at each long side and one seat at one short side of the table.

"Avant is absent, so Valier, take his seat for now." Peirus guided as he pointed at the third seat on the left.

Valier sat down the seat given to him, and watched as the other members took their seats, except for Heiniv, who stood beside Peirus's seat. When all of them were comfortable, Peirus gently placed a black cube on the table. It was unnaturally black, and not even light reflected on its surface, which was strange.

The longer he stared at it, the more he felt it was not normal. And Peirus confirmed that. "This is an item given by a Mage. It's mine, but I let everyone use it because of its protective effects."

Peirus pushed the cube towards Valier, sliding it on the table surface. Valier caught it, and looked at it up-close with interest. That was when green bars popped out.

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Item: Sunnic's Cube of Shield

Tier: 3

Effect/s: Sunnic's Protective Shield

Description: Created by Mage Sunnic, this item grants whoever registers as its user a one time chance to resist all physical attacks below Tier 3 by summoning a spherical shield.

Warning 1: The shield summon only lasts 5 seconds.

Warning 2: A person can only register once.

Warning 3: The effect is passive, and does not require any form of casting.

Warning 4: Would only take effect when the blow can be deadly to the registered individual.

Warning 5: Blood is needed to register as a user.

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Peirus explained the effects of the item, and his words were the same as what was written by the Guide. When he was through the explanation, it was time to register. Valier bit his pinky, drawing a droplet of blood.

The blood fell on top of the cube, and golden cracks started to form at all sides of the cube. From these cracks, golden smoke flew out, rising in the air, forming a small golden shield.

"Touch the shield." Peirus instructed, and Valier did as he was told.

When his finger felt the smooth golden surface, the shield began to crumble into smoke, entering his body through his finger. When nothing was left, the cracks on the cube faded and it returned to normal. The blood on it was nowhere to be found.

Ding!

[Sunnic's Cube of Shield has granted (Sunnic's Protective Shield)]

With amazement in his eyes, Valier gazed at his fingertips. He knew Mages were capable of mind-blowing things, however, this exceeded his expectations. With this shield, although for just five seconds, he was immune to any attack below Tier 3, which are deadly blows that could end his life. It was more reassuring now that he has a shield that could protect him in desperate moments.

"How do you feel?" Peirus inquired.

"I didn't feel any changes." He replied.

Peirus sighed in relief. "That means it's compatible. Good."

Luklien, barely keeping himself awake from boredom, finally voiced, "Great. It's done. Can we leave now, leader? I still have things to do."

Most of the hunters nodded with his words, including Peirus. With that, most of the hunters began to leave their seats and guided themselves out of the basement. When they left, only Peirus, Valier, and Collin remained in their seats.

Peirus suddenly changed mood and became serious. "Valier, do you remember what happened last night?"

"Uh, yes." He admitted.

"I apologize for that. I used you as bait."

"It's fine, leader." Valier replied.

Peirus nodded while leading against the back of his chair. He let out a depressed sigh. "The problem was that I didn't find who sent those people."

In an instant, Valier's expression fell.

"They move fast. The moment I got to the "friend" this "friend" was already a cold corpse, leaving no trace of who did it behind." Peirus looked him in the eye.

Valier gulped.

"So I advise you to be careful, Valier."