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Nico had prepared a dozen talismans for each of those two types.
Aside from finding its weaknesses, Nico had fully a.n.a.lyzed the structure of the gooey slime ball. He suspected that the acid was poisonous, and wasn't planning to replicate the spell anytime soon until he had an antidote for it. He kept three jars of the acid. The structure of the acid in the jar changed everyday, indicating that its effect was weakening.
Nico left early in the morning on the 7th day of the week.
The contribution hall had officially released a mission regarding the Karkardo, the manacentipede sleeping within Arango Forest. Unfortunately, they had restricted gathering stage students from applying.
Nico walked into the South Launtel Hunter Guild. As a student of the Academy, he was automatically given members.h.i.+p into the Hunter Guild.
The Hunter Guild was created more than a thousand years ago, with the purpose of protecting humanity against manabeasts attack.
The party of hunters reviewed the mission that had appeared recently, the disposal of the Karkardo in the Arango Forest.
Disposal missions were one of the most common types of missions in the hunter guild. The purpose was population control and extermination for city expansion. Since the hunters could keep the carca.s.ses of the manabeasts, the missions were also popular.
"I can't believe there is a terror in the Arango Forest, how are we supposed to hunt with that thing there?" One of the hunters complained.
Manabeast terrors were not taken lightly, and it was the main reason why the Academy had barred parts of Grisham Range from regular people.
Others were thrilled. "This is great! There's only one terror, so it'll be a lot easier to hunt than at Grisham Range. I'm ready to collect the 100 gold pieces."
Many experienced hunter groups hastily prepared to track down the manabeast terror before the Academy could nab the Karkardo. It was rare to find a single manabeast terror isolated from other terrors.
Nico sat by the bar counter.
The Hunter Guild's bar area only sold house ales and information. The registration clerk was the heavy woman named Norma working the bar. Despite her barmaid appearances, she was a 4th stage Foundation expert.
"Hey kid, looking to start work already?" Norma asked.
Norma had registered Nico into the Hunter Guild the week before.
"Yes ma'am!" Nico gave her his best toothy smile.
"What a charmer, but you won't get free information from a smile," Norma commented. "What sort of work are you working for?"
Aside from disposal missions, the Hunter Guild regularly posted mission requests from other members. The requester would give money in exchange for protection, manabeasts parts, and miscellaneous jobs that only pract.i.tioners could handle.
"Just looking," Nico scanned through the list of missions.
Nico noticed two men walking in with their faces completely covered. He had seen it before in the streets, and found it odd that no one said anything.
"Is it normal for people to walk around like that?" Nico wondered.
"You will be surprised, but it's common," Norma answered. "Most people like to keep their ident.i.ty a secret. There are some places that will restrict their access unless they have special ident.i.ty tokens."
"What sort of ident.i.ty tokens?"
"One either granted by the kingdom or guild halls."
"I see," Nico found the Karkardo's mission. "Can I register for this one?"
"Pss.h.!.+" Norma laughed with amus.e.m.e.nt. "Are you crazy kid?"
"Is it restricted?" Nico wondered, the Academy Contribution Hall had a restriction.
Norma knew that Nico was thirteen when he gave her his identification doc.u.ment. It wasn't unusual for cultivators to look older than regular folks. The Hunter Guild also had an age limit, but only for registration. Usually, there were no restrictions for the missions.
"It's not, but it's not an easy mission to handle," said Norma. "A party came back heavily injured the other day and another one lost some members."
"So there must be a lot of hunters looking for it already."
"Yep."
"Can I still get a slot?"
Each guild hall had 10 slots available for each mission. Registration for a slot meant that the Hunter Guild officially hired the hunting party to seek and destroy a manabeast. Aside from loaning weapons, information was also shared without the need to pay the guild.
"Unfortunately, all slots are taken," Norma replied with a shrug.
"When is the next slot available?"
"Next one in two days," said Norma. "Deadline is seven days."
"Any party looking for an extra party member?"
Most missions were limited to six members in a party.
Norma hesitated to answer.
There was a party with five members registered, but the party was led by Harrick, who didn't have the best reputation within the city. They were known to steal manabeasts from other parties.
"There's Harrick party, but I wouldn't recommend the party," Norma explained. "They are not the most pleasant people to work with and Harrick is the leader of the Fishman's Gang."
"Fishman's Gang?" Nico had an encounter with them before at the Killo Restaurant Inn. "Is that the guy with a gold tooth?"
"No, that's the vice captain. Harrick is ten times worst. You should avoid them if you can."
"That's too bad, I guess I'll wait until next time."
A week later, Nico loaned out a horse and galloped toward the Arango Forest. It had been only two weeks since he began horseback riding, so he couldn't go to fast. It was still enough to get him to Arango forest around 9am.
Once inside the forest, Nico slowed down and entered the area. He was familiar enough with the location of the small crevice that he didn't need Snowy or markers to lead the way. Nico noticed more markers on the trees.
The rumors of the manabeast terror had enticed more hunters to Arango Forest.
Up further ahead was Prince Keras and his party.
His party consisted of three knights, one magician, a scout, and Obi.
The scout named Oryan led the way, arriving to a crevice leading down to the Karkardo.
Oryan was one of the three Vice Captains of Marsien Mercenary Group. He was hired to lead the Prince into the Karkardo's hideout.
Oryan was an early Knight stage cultivator that specialized in knife combat and reconnaissance.
"Sir Valgan, the Karkardo nest is located below," said Oryan. "We need to brace ourselves for the terror and the other hunters."
Sir Valgan, the knight stage cultivator in light armor, nodded.
Other hunters were often worse than the manabeast terrors.
They prepared their equipment and lowered down into the cavern.
It was daytime, but barely any light made it through to the cavern floor. Oyran lit an oil lamp and gave them to Obi.
Oryan watched the lady magician in the back effortlessly cast a light spell.
She's good, Oryan thought.
Everyone remained silent as they walked through.
The smell of dead carca.s.ses from manabeasts and humans propagated the air. It nearly caused the prince to choke. He wasn't the delicate type, but the odor was strong.
As they continued through the rough path, they noticed debris and cut marks that indicated earlier battles and disturbances.
Oryan stopped the party as soon as he sensed the monster. He had scouted the area before, and knew how dangerous the manabeast terror was up ahead. It was not a simple manabeast terror to handle.
