Steps To Moving Forward
[Elijah's POV]
<<January 16, 2023>>
<<Manila, Philippines>>
It was around 3 PM when I got a message from Jonathan, stating that he's arrived at the association and is currently waiting outside of the Association's building. Letting Shelly know that I'll be stepping out for a bit, I headed out feeling a little giddy. Who would have known that meeting Jonathan would make me feel excited, but with all that's happened today, I definitely need some Jonathan in my life right now. When I exited the Association's building, I immediately spotted Jonathan from a distance. He was sitting at a wooden bench near the fountain and wore all black. I'm talking black cap, black fitted shirt, black joggers, and black trainers shoes, which made him look extremely pleasing to the eyes.
When Jonathan saw me approaching, a smile lit up from his face as he stood up. The moment I arrived in front of him, he encased me in a warm hug, making me melt in his arms. Hugging him back, I rested my head on his hard chest, letting me hear the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.
"I missed you," Jonathan said with a tender voice.
"I missed you as well," I said back because honestly, I do miss him a lot. Again who would have known that just being apart from him for some time would make me miss him so much? I didn't, but here I am, feeling just that.
We stayed in each other's arms for a couple of minutes, not caring about the stares people are sending us. Afterward, I slowly stepped away from him and held his hand into mine.
"C'mon, your new hunter's license is waiting for you," I said, before leading him inside the association, by the hand.
We got, even more, stares from people when they saw me walking hand in hand with Jonathan, but it didn't really bother me. All I could think of at the moment was Jonathan's warm hand in mine. Also, this was also to shoo away all the pesky flies from what's mine.
Arriving at the manufacturing division of the association, I was greeted by the head chief when he saw us enter.
"Eli, great to see you!" The head chief greeted with a smile.
"It's great to see you as well. How are you, Logan?" I politely greeted him back, with a smile.
"Oh you know, same ol', same ol'," He replied with a tired sigh.
"It's gonna get better, I promise," I told him with a sympathetic gaze. I mean, how could I not? The manufacturing division is being overworked to their bones, without the proper pay that they deserve. And who's at fault? Mainly the old geezers that have been sticking to Benjamin like leeches. Now that I have taken their place, one of the changes I'm planning is making the manufacturing division's lives a little bit easier to live.
"I do hope so," Logan said with a resigned breath.
"I'm sorry for asking a special request from you when you already have your hands full," I said apologetically.
"You don't have to worry about it. You've done so much for me in the past, it's the least I can do for you," Logan said.
"So, is it ready?" I asked, feeling a little excited.
"Yup, we just need to have the finishing touches and it's good to go," Logan said before he turned his gaze to Jonathan. Letting out an impressed whistle, he said "So this fine gentleman over here, must be Jonathan."
"Yep," I replied proudly. "Tan, this is Logan, the head chief of the Association's manufacturing division. Logan, this is Jonathan, my vassal." I introduced
Jonathan just lightly tipped his cap towards Logan in greeting, to which Logan responded with a curt nod.
"A man of few words, I see," Logan said with great interest. "And did you say, vassal?"
"Yes, that means he's mine," I said, claiming my territory
"Hey, he just piqued my interest. I'm not gonna snatch him away from you," Logan said with an apologetic smile, raising both of his hands up, in surrender.
"You can try, but we'll see if you succeed, though," I said with a confident smirk.
"Fine, fine, he's yours. Now let's get you that license," Logan said, as he started leading us deeper into the manufacturing division.
But before we could follow him, Jonathan suddenly planted a quick peck on my cheeks, startling me.
"What was that for?" I asked, pleasantly surprised.
"I just wanted to do it," Jonathan answered with a tender smile.
"Cheeky brat. C'mon, let's go get that license of yours," I said with an amused grin, before leading forward.
The finalization of the license didn't take a lot of time. Jonathan has also gone through it before, so he's quite familiar with the process. He only needed to get his picture taken, and then inject his unique mana signature on the license card. After that everything is done. After thanking Logan for his help, I assured him that if he needed some help, he could just call me. Before we went out separate ways. I wanted to show Jonathan my office, so I led him there next. As we are walking, Jonathan kept examining his new license, with his free hand.
"There's something different with this license," Jonathan said with a frown, not quite able to it figure out.
"Well, for starters, that license is made out of mana crystal. Which are leagues away from the previous one that you had, which was made with a mana stone," I told him, which made him give me a questioning look.
"You see, hunter's licenses are somewhat of a proof of a hunter's standing. The type of license that they have indicates that. The licenses that were given out after the hunter's training graduation, are all standard licenses made from mana stone. While the ones, you and I have, are made out of mana crystals, which give us more access to more benefits. For example, we can just enter any gates ranked platinum and below, just by showing our hunter's license. When hunters with licenses made out of mana stones, will have to undergo a thorough process first before they can even enter a gold-ranked gate. If the hunters with a mana stone license want to upgrade theirs to a mana crystal one, then they will have to undergo an evaluation, to test their capabilities first, to see if they are really capable of possessing a license made out of mana crystals. Just like how the saying goes, 'With great power, comes great responsibility," I said, giving him a brief explanation.
"So if what we have can only give us access to gates ranked platinum and below, what kind of license would one need to enter a higher-ranked gate?" Jonathan asked in curiosity.
"Licenses made out of mana jewels. They are extremely expensive, as they are hard to come by. Only a few individuals in our country possess them, namely: the Association's president, his secretary, his brother, the Kampilan Guild's leader, and vice leader." I replied, to which Jonathan nodded in understanding, before examining his new license again.
It actually made me curious as to why Jonathan didn't ask how he got a mana crystal license without going through an evaluation, but on second thought, I think it's for the best that he didn't ask. I mean, I'm confident that Jonathan can pass the evaluation with flying colors, but why go through all that trouble when I can pull in a little favor here and there. Don't get me wrong though, I did pay for the license, more than its actual price.
Now that Jonathan has gotten his new hunter's license with his new name on it, I believe that these things are helpful steps for him into moving forward, and completely leaving his past behind.
As we once again entered the main hall of the Hunter's Association, a huge frown appeared on my face, because people are running all over the place, in an urgent matter. It is then that I saw, William and his legion, gearing up, in the middle of the chaos. Rushing over to their direction, while still having Jonathan's hand in mine, I expertly weaved us through the crowd of people.
"William, what's the matter? Why are you all gearing up?" I asked anxiously, being affected by the tense atmosphere.
"A gold-ranked gate is on the brink of breaking. We're being dispatched there to prevent that from happening," William answered as he tighten the straps of his armor.
Upon hearing him, my frown got deeper. Another thing that needs urgent attention, is gate management. As I've mentioned before, The Philippines has a lot of gates scattered all around the country, but only a few capable hunters are able to clear them. And with the constant risk of having gates break, at any given time, the association is always on its toes.
A gate break occurs mainly because a gate has been left alone for a set amount of time, and the gate gets too overpopulated by the monsters, which then causes the balance of mana inside the gate to be disrupted. Now, in the case of Gold-ranked gates and above, those types of gates close their portals, whence hunters enter. As was mentioned before, in order for the gate to open once again, the hunters that entered the said gate will have to complete certain requirements. Certain gates may have different requirements than others, but there is one requirement that's constant, killing the boss, which also clears the gate. Clearing the gate will then make a gate enter a state of "Hibernation", where it closes its doors for a certain amount of time. This time taken will help the gate restore all of its mana, which would result in creating new monsters to inhabit it once again.
Now, if a party of hunters is unable to clear the said gate, they can always complete the other requirements asked of them, for them to exit. For example, killing a set number of lesser monsters or finding a certain kind of artifact. Anything goes, and it always differs each gate.
Having said all of that, since the Philippines don't have many capable hunters in clearing gates, the association proposed the idea of gate management. It's a method of preventing gates from breaking, by thinning down the gate's monster population before completing the other requirements asked. This way, hunters not capable of clearing gates, can avoid the boss monster, while still successfully preventing the gate from breaking.
But everyone knew that this method would not last long. While, yes, a few gates are successfully being cleared. The number of gates on the verge of breaking on the other hand continually racks up. There is a lot of demand but the supply couldn't keep up.
In order for us to get out of this abyssal trap, we need to start clearing gates at a fast rate and not only prevent them from breaking. This will not only help the hunters take a breather, but it will also immensely help the citizens. Significantly lessening the fear and worry of the citizens over gates breaking. And for that to happen, I will have to start taking action, as well. It might be a little earlier than expected, but the current situation is not really giving me a lot of options.
"What gate was it?" I asked, wanting to confirm it first before I make my move.
"Goblin Cave," William answered with a deeply troubled expression on his face.
And yes, there is a great need to be troubled when the word goblin is included. Those green-skinned perverts are menaces to society. The horror stories I've heard about those creatures are enough to make my skin crawl in utter disgust. They're kleptomaniacs, violent, and always on heat. Many hunters, men, and women alike, would get kidnapped by those goblins and be used for their reproduction since not many female goblins exist. Male goblins have the ability to breed with any other species, whether it be male or female, and make them conceive their goblin offspring. Just imagining male and female hunters alike, their bodies being violated and being used as a goblin reproduction machine, just makes me wanna puke my guts out, at the same time make me seethe in anger.