Chapter 16: Hunters
"But how the hell is he still alive?" Lans asked, his voice tinged with disbelief.
"That's what even I am wondering," Norn muttered, narrowing his eyes
"I personally made sure his breathing stopped before we ran off... Did he fake it? If yes, then he is a damn good actor."
Juan spat to the side and said darkly.
"Well, now it doesn't matter, does it? Let's finish our job, and this time... we will take his head for the proof."
"Yeah," Lans grunted
"I don't want to deal with furious Zolton again. I thought he was going to kill us for not doing the job properly; thankfully, he gave us another chance – and I am not taking any chances when he has awakened."
He could still clearly recall how mad Zolton was on them when he figured out Leo was alive and had even awakened Beast Taming talent. If Leo wasn't killed this time, they had to be ready to leave their heads behind.
"Tsk. All because of his lust after that commoner girl" Hans clicked his tongue.
Leo watched their exchange with cautious eyes. If he did it right, he could escape or rather kill them outright, nipping the problem here itself. From what he knows, these three were not Beast Masters but Hunters, so he could try to deal with them.
Hunters were people who stepped into the path of Beast hunting, even though they didn't manage to awaken a beast-taming talent. Most of these were people who had soul rank, since soul rank meant a person had mana in their body and could temper their body comparatively more easily than those with no soul rank. However, hunters are still far inferior to Beast Masters due to their inability to make contracts with beasts. Since a tamed beast allowed its master to get skills and made it easier for more effective and efficient use of their soul, also the fact that they couldn't fight alongside a beast, they were much, much weaker.
Hunters had a different guild called the Hunters Guild, these were specifically for people who were not beast masters but had the ability to fight beasts with magic equipments and soul techniques. Unlike Beast tamers, they didn't have ranks and were not rewarded with a nobility status. All hunters are of the same rank and authority, but to separate veterans and newbies, they have a credit system. These were given to a hunter when they completed a mission; a more difficult mission provided more credit. For instance, a hunter is said to be a veteran when their credit is above 1000. And a simple goblin subjugation(low to mid 1★) task(F - rank) provided 2 - 4 credit points.
Norn, Juan and Lans credits averaged around 400 to 500 points, so they were still not considered veterans, but enough to deal with commoners and newly awakened Beast Masters. Zolton had hired them to kill Leo previously because Beast Masters, even 1★, are expensive, and didn't want to make an unnecessary expense.
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"Shouldn't he receive the knight's 5 silver monthly stipend?" Norn sneered, stepping forward with his sword dragging lazily by his side, "Well, looks like we're finally becoming rich today."
Zolton had hired them for just 20 Bronze coins each, and they needed money to pay off their debt, which had occurred due to gambling and juicy nights.
Leo's eyes twitched as he heard them. They practically already take him for dead!
"Stop where you are!" Leo said with a slightly raised but firm voice.
"Hm? Did I hear a dog bark?" Juan sneered, cracking his neck
"Looks like surviving once from us made you confident, huh?" Lans smirked, sword gleaming under the dim light. "And there's also the fact that you became Beast Master... Well looks like the world will have one less Beast Master today." Lans said.
Leo's tone turned sharp."Do you fools not know the consequences of trying to harm a noble?"
"Noble? Ahh yes, a noble, but doesn't a higher noble have our back? And it's not like anyone's gonna figure out who is killed when their head is missing." Norn chuckled, showing his yellow teeth. He was just a few meters apart from Leo, as he didn't stop moving forward. He raised his sword for a downward slash at Leo's chest.
"Heh. Don't say I didn't warn you." Leo said as he suddenly sidestepped while increasing his stats, the blade slicing empty air.
Stats Update:
Vit – 2.5
Str – 3.1 → 5.1
Agi – 3.8 → 6.8
Sta – 2.3/2.9 → 4.3/4.9
Int – 4.0 → 5.0
Mana – 288/288 → 400/400
Unallocated Stat Points: 8 → 0
Leo felt the newfound strength surging through him, now his build was far superior to these scums. He strength and agility were now comparable to a High 1★ Beast! And these people only hunted low and rarely mid 1★ Beasts.
Before Norn could regain his balance, a fist came and hit him squarely on the chest with a thud.
"Guhhh--!" Norn choked, blood spilling from his lips as he stumbled backwards, coughing violently
Juan and Lans were alarmed by Leo's sudden counterattack and drew their sword as they charged forward.
They had expected a clean kill by Norn as Leo's head fell off, but not only had he dodged two times, one of which being a ambush, he had also brought Norn to his knees! This was unforgivable! They only though Norn was careless and Leo got a lucky shot.
"You Filth!!" Juan shouted as he got in range of Leo and striked his sword down.
Leo wore a calm expression.
Slow...Very slow
Juan movements were as if watching a turtle.
He pivoted and chopped down at Juan's wrist with a precise strike.
Crack!
"AAARGH!" The sword from Juan's hand fell to the ground as he shouted in pain.
Lans seeing all this took a step back, becoming wary,
This... this is not the one we—!
Leo was already on move, before Lans could react, Leo's next blow connected with his arm. The impact numbed it instantly, and Leo used the momentum to grab and hurl him into a nearby wall, the wall was painted with spiderweb cracks. Lans groaned, blood trickling from his mouth as he tried to stand.
Then came a scream—piercing and agonised.
"AaaAAArrraaa--!!"
Leo turned, and what he saw made him scrunch his legs.
Shyra, whom he had summoned earlier with her stealth skill activated, had latched onto Juan's crotch, biting down hard. The man convulsed, his screams turning hoarse as he clawed helplessly at the cub with his broken wrist, in process falling and rolling on ground.
"Damn, is it her racial trait that's in play!? I don't ever want to deal with her when she is angry..."
*Explosive Power: Panthers strike with sudden bursts of strength. This cub's lineage allows it to unleash immense force in short intervals, making its attacks deceptively lethal despite its small frame.
"Indeed... lethal," Leo muttered