Chapter 102
“What is the urgent task about? Is it very dangerous?” Dudian could not help but ask.
Young instructor replied: “I heard there is a rare monster which appeared. There is a bit of a danger but the team will be led by Glenn. She is one of the two strongest hunters in the consortium. By the way, you will be only responsible for tracking the smell. They will protect you as long as you don’t fall behind.”
“Rare monster?” Dudian thought of the the juranzhi that he had killed. Is the new monster same as that beast? He continued: “Is it alright if I go to residential district?”
“Of course not!” Young instructor continued to walk: ” It is very urgent. We will be going to castle’s hall for them to get you. Others should have arrived by now.” He grabbed Dudian’s hand and began to run without giving further explanation.
Dudian was anxious as everything happened in haste. He couldn’t figure out how to get the bombs as they were big part of his self-defense. He was concerned about his own safety because he wasn’t sure he could protect himself with bare hands and new archery skills.
Both of them passed across the river and came to the other side of the territory. Castle was colored in black. There was a gloomy atmosphere which surrounded it.
Young instructor brought Dudian to the castle: “Go fast, they are waiting for you inside, I’ll get some dry food for you!”
Dudian’s heart sank. He turned around, took a deep breath and went into the castle.
Guards at the door opened them as they saw Dudian coming over.
There were six figures in the dimly lit room of the castle. Four men and two women were chatting when the door opened. They looked over.
“Is this little guy?” Asked one of them.
Another youth replied: “I heard he was a scavenger and by some luck got his hands on magic marks.”
There was a woman in her early twenties which had white skin. She looked beautiful. She was wearing set of tight-fitting black hunter armor. She glanced at Dudian and commanded: “Immediately put on your armor. We are leaving!”
Dudian felt that the woman was familiar. He remembered that when he had just become a scavenger he was invited to a party held by an aristocrat. He had seen two hunters back then and the woman was one of them. Presumably, she and the other youth were the top two strongest hunters of the consortium. No wonder, the nobility were taking the initiative to talk them and their attitude was extremely friendly.
“Yes.” Dudian answered. There were pile of black armor sets stacked on the chair. He took them and found the one consistent with his height.
In addition to armor, there was a black bow.
Fully armed, Dudian said to the woman: “I’m ready.”
Woman nodded slightly as she saw Dudian’s efficiency and turned towards the others: ” ‘Black weaver’ has appeared. We gotta do everything we can to catch it. Letting it slip away is not an option. Am I clear?”
“Yes!” The other five stood at attention.
Glenn nodded and waved: “Let’s begin!”
The front door of the hall opened. They went outside to see a dozen or so black horses which had simple helmet and armor on them to prevent radiation and the other small monsters to bite them.
Although the radiation and monsters within the giant wall couldn’t be compared to the ones outside but it was still extremely dangerous. But hunters were not responsible for cleaning the area inside the giant wall but it fall under Holy Church and army’s jurisdiction.
All of them rolled up and launched.
Dudian saw that instructor haven’t brought any dry food so he gave up on him. He got onto the horse and seven of them immediately left the area towards the giant wall.
After passing out of the commercial district they went into the radiation zone.
Occasionally they met beasts that were affected by the radiation. There were pythons coiled in the roadside or small group of scattered wolves. The radiation had affected them in the wilderness so their bodies had slight mutations. Some parts had strange growth which was unusual for normal animals.
These hungry beasts were about to rush at them but Glenn did nothing but snorted. Hungry beasts were scared and scattered quickly, as if they had faced a dangerous foe.
Dudian was not surprised as he knew that it was the result of Glenn’s magic marks. Human’s can’t intimidate beasts. Especially hungry beasts who would attack at first sight. Hunters were like monsters dressed in human skin so for a normal monster from the giant wall to prey no them was nothing but a joke!
Soon, everyone came to the giant wall.
“You came, the passage has been opened to you.” Middle-aged man wearing Mellon consortium clothing stood before the giant wall.
Glenn nodded to him and dismounted. She was the first to enter the underground passage.
As soon as they entered the underground passage Glenn and the other five instantly stopped and began to pray to the goddess depicted on the wall. Because of the emergency the prayer was symbolic and took a moment or so. Then they quickly walked along the passage.
Dudian looked at the pictures of the goddesses but didn’t pray. He followed after the team.
They reached to the other side of the giant wall.
Dudian found out that the entrance which they used this time was different from the previous one which he had used. It should be another passage controlled by the consortium. As this time when they went out, it was not plain area but there were trees which were more than 20 meters high. The trees looked like poplar but without branches and leaves.
Glenn went into the forest.
The others followed, keeping Dudian at the center of the team.
Dudian suddenly feel the gap between himself and other hunters. They could easily keep up with Glenn’s footsteps while he need to give extra effort or else he would have fallen behind.
“It seems there are physical differences even amongst the hunters.” Dudian thought as he did his best to follow them: “However, its been two months that I’ve been officially named as a hunter. I haven’t got enough ‘blessings’. I have more than 200 cold crystals in the area no 9.”
After passing the forest of the giant trees they come out to see a broken highway covered in moss.
“On the bridge,” said Glenn as she quickly jumped onto the highway.
Dudian mouth twitched at sight and followed after.
“We going to enter area no 1.” Glenn looked back at Dudian: ” In about a minute we will the area. You have to protect yourself too and don’t take my words lightly. It is one of the 20 areas under the command of our Mellon consortium. However, it is the most dangerous after the forbidden area. There are lots of level 10 or more beasts in here. This time our aim is to catch ‘black weaver’. ”