9 Hunter’s works
After showering and changing into a new set of clothes, Hans headed out, making his way towards the awakened association.
Even before entering the building, he was struck with its grandeur and elegance, though it was just a branch, the building was made out of a material similar to that of quartz and had tall columns, resembling an old Greek temple.
Once inside, Hans was further impressed, just from the first impression, he could confirm something: the association truly floated in a sea of money.
Approaching the front desk, he asked one of the four ladies, "Excuse me, could you tell me where I can take job assignments?"
Taken aback by his question, the receptionist stared at him with eyes full of surprise, this was because it was the first time she had seen a customer not knowing something like that.
With enthusiasm, the lady then started explaining, happy to finally repeat what she had learned, something she had thought she'd never need to explain, "Oh you must be new around here, watch," saying as she picked up her phone and opened an app before she continued.
"We mainly use this app for the awakened works, for example, this: [Mission: To close a Rank-E gate. Reward: 75% of the funds obtained by the selling of the monsters' carcasses."
Understanding it with ease, Hans nodded, "Oh, it sure is useful, I thought I would need to come here every time if I wanted to pick up a job."
The lady smiled at the young man's ignorance and said, "But for that, you must first be registered."
With that, the receptionist led him to another room filled with strange machines and computers.
The first question he was asked was, "Are you a mage or an adventurer?"
And of course, Hans lied about his ability.
After that, he was asked to punch an iron wall, which measured his strength, and later on run for a hundred meters before doing some simple exercises, all this was done to test his strength, speed, and endurance.
"Here!" With all the tests done, the lady handed over a card, officially registering him as an E-Rank knight.
Though it was low, it was enough to allow him to enter the gates and have access to job assignments.
With all the things done, Hans scrolled through the app for a while before finding an appropriate target.
[ Mission: To close an F-rank gate. Reward: Receive 85% of the funds after the selling of the monsters' carcasses.]
And then it was decided.
However, first of all, he had to get himself a weapon, though it wouldn't particularly turn out to be useful for him, a weapon would be useful for a coverup.
And since he wanted just an average weapon, Hans entered the very first shop he came across.
Inside, the shop was heated and comfortable, compared to the freezing cold outside, making him want to stay in it.
The weapons in the shop looked nothing out of the ordinary and the furniture wasn't luxurious either, this modest appearance was what Hans sought after.
A couple seconds after he rang the bell, a stout middle-aged man with some of his hair already white emerged from the back as he made his way through a black curtain.
The middle-aged man was dressed in a single T-shirt and shorts, his arms and legs extremely muscular while his entire body was dripping with sweat.
His left hand wielded a sturdy black hammer, while in his right he held a long black pipe with some smoke coming out of it.
The old man took a breath from the pipe and asked, "Wacha want?!"
Both intimidated and surprised by the blacksmith's tone, Hans replied, "I- I came here to find a weapon."
"What wud' someone like you need a weapon for anyway?!!"
"It's not like you're a warrior or somethin'," stated the old man with one of his brows raised as he looked at Hans without any interest.
Hans was taken aback, afraid that his ability was already seen through by the blacksmith, and couldn't help but feel alerted, "Ho- how do you even know that?"
"Watchu mean how do I know 'tat, anyone cud' tell just by lookin' atch yor' hands, what're u? A pretty doll? I can't see a single callus on yor' palms"
Hans gazed down and thought as he stared at his hands, 'Are they really that bad?'
"Ye it is," muttered the old man.
"What now?! Can you read minds too?!" Hans asked with a dumbfounded look on his face.
"Calm down, will ya kid? It's written all over yor face," the man stated as a matter of fact.
Hans sighed aloud and then restarted the conversation, "Good morning sir, I came here to buy a weapon, it's my first day as a hunter and I currently don't know which type of weapon I should choose."
"Well, a pleasure to meet ya kid, my name's Sven. Mhhh, as for the weapon, which kind would you like?"
Without a slight hint of doubt, the young man replied, "A cheap one."
Hearing the response, the other side remained silent with their mouth open for a moment before replying emptily.
"I- I see."
All the formal, honest words previously used by the young man caused the shopkeeper to be surprised when his attitude shifted to that of a shameless person.
"Then wait here a secon'."
After saying that, the old man vanished behind the black curtain only to return half a minute later while holding a silver-colored long sword in his hands.
Although it wasn't particularly aesthetically pleasing, Hans found it remarkably easy to wield, suggesting its excellent balance.
"I am grateful that you showed this to me, but... I'm not sure if I'll be able to afford it, you see, I don't have much money," Hans hesitated before committing anything.
"Nah it's okay, it's da first one of tha' type I made, I was searchin' for someone to test it. Come back in a week and tell me how it feels, will ya?" the middle-aged blacksmith waved his hand
Hans nodded gratefully before giving a slight bow, "Thank you. I'll repay you as soon as I can."
"That's not what I need to be exact, but anyway, get outta here.
I still got work to finish!!" saying that, the blacksmith waved Hans off.
Hans hurried out of the smithy before the old man could kick him in the butt.
"What a… unique person, truly an interesting character," Hans muttered as he walked away from the building.
Inside the shop, the old man hammered a scorching hot iron ingot and took a puff from his pipe.
After letting out a long sigh of smoke, he whispered, "Did I do what should be done? My son."
"Anyway, what would a second circle mage like him need a weapon fo'?
When he entered the shop, I thought he was just her' to fool around and make fun o' me."
_____
By the time Hans reached the gate, the sun was high up.
Probably because of its lower rank, this gate was smaller than the one he had been to a few days ago, and with a size like that, only one person could enter it at a time, not like anyone wanted to go inside.
When he did, Hans understood why this gate wasn't cleared even though it was one with the lowest ranks available.
A putrid smell emanated the whole area, and for mages like him, who had heightened senses, this would turn out to be even worse, the smell was so bad that Hans had to concentrate and create a wall of mana so as to surround his nose just so that he could not smell it.
Right after he created a small barrier to stop the odor, a window popped up:
[Congratulations on acquiring a new skill:
{Mana Barrier (Tier- 0)
Effect: Creates a barrier around parts of your body. Capable of withstanding hits from a G-Rank creature.}]
"Ugh finally, that was unbelievably worse than what I had in mind," Hans breathed in some air in relief.
After solving the problem he wandered into the foggy terrain filled with dead trees around; it looked more like a swamp that had been drained of its water.
Soon, a repulsive sound came from his right.
It sounded like many tiny legs were ticking on the ground, and indeed, when he turned around, standing with its head at a height of thirty centimeters was a green and disgusting centipede with its fangs covered in a dark green and thick liquid which Hans instantly recognized to be its poison.
While he wasn't sure if it was, he didn't wish to test it.
Unsheathing his sword, he rushed forward and slashed it down on the disgusting creature.
Much to his surprise, the monster was cut through like a hot knife through butter under the sharpened and refined blade of his long sword.
Even after being dead, the monster looked as disgusting as before, but for the sake of money, Hans had no choice but to carry it back to the gate and leave it down there.
He then continued hunting a few more, carrying them back in groups of two or three until he couldn't find any more.
After a couple of hours, a mountain of those centipede monster corpses had formed beside the gate exit, and behind them was a net Hans had brought to make it easier for him to carry all of them in one go.
And now, there was just one thing left for him to do, defeat the boss, and close the gate.
He had already found the boss's location but took his time in hunting all the little centipedes and gathering them so that when he defeated the boss monster, he could bring all of them outside and sell them.
With that, Hans ventured into the gate before arriving in front of a bunch of trees which were disposed of circularly, creating a sort of natural arena.
Hans thrust his sword into a tree and cleared a path between its thick branches.
When he finally made it to the other side, it looked like he had walked into a completely different territory.
The fog that he had seen before wasn't there anymore and a blue moon shone upon a giant centipede that stood in the middle of the arena.
Without hesitating, Hans activated his skill, {Piercing Gaze}
[ Boss Monster: Giant Centipede.]
