When everyone heard that Gravis wanted to fight a low-grade demonic beast, they fell silent. Some looked shocked, some amused, and others looked on in disdain. The new guy had just killed a ferocious beast, and now thought he could pierce the heavens. The new guy didn’t talk to others because he was antisocial, but because he obviously had an inflated ego.
The lady behind the counter snorted. "You fought a ferocious beast and already think you can fight a demonic one? Don’t make me laugh! First, you should kill some more ferocious beasts. Then, you have to find a hunting team that is capable and willing to hunt a demonic beast. You’re a newbie, so you have to prove yourself first before others will accept you. Also, can you even afford the contracting fee?" the lady explained in arrogance.
Gravis’ eyes narrowed. The first couple of points were no problem, but the contracting fee was an issue. "How much is the contracting fee?" He asked.
"Between two to three gold on average," the lady continued.
Two to three gold. So, the reward would be around ten gold. On top of that, there was an additional bounty reward. Gravis could probably buy two Skin-Pills with that money. The issue was the contracting fee. Gravis wished that he had taken the money from the bandits he had killed in the village. Yet, he forgot looting them because of his embarrassment.
"Alright, I’ll get the money, and I’ll come again," Gravis said as he walked towards the mission board. The hunters shook their heads in helplessness. This guy couldn’t be helped.
Gravis looked at the mission board and took some of them down. "Hey! You can only take one notice at a time!" Gravis heard the lady shout from behind. He frowned again and put the notices back until he only had one. He took the closest one to the Hunter’s guild and walked back to the counter. He gently put the notice down and then slammed his emblem into the table.
The table broke in the middle, while his emblem was dented. Everyone in the hall shut up and looked over in shock. It was not easy breaking this table! The table was very thick and very hard.
Gravis had enough! He was pissed from continually being underestimated, so he made a show of force to shut the people up. Gravis hadn’t let go of his emblem yet, as he looked at the lady at the counter.
She looked at Gravis with a white face and an open mouth. Then, she clenched her teeth. "Hey, you gotta-"but she immediately stopped as she looked into Gravis’ eyes. He had released his Will-Aura, and she felt like death was about to come. She whitened further and took some steps back, deep fear showing in her eyes.
The others watched and gulped in nervousness. Some seconds went by until Gravis finally spoke. "What are you waiting for? Register the mission," he said while looking at the lady with a death-stare. He let go of the emblem, and the lady could see that its form had changed from a plate to a metal stick. She took a deep breath. The emblem was made of solid metal!
Slowly, she walked forward and carefully took the notice, as well as the metal stick emblem. She had never gone through a registration that quickly in her life. After she finished, she placed the ’emblem’ and the notice back in front of Gravis.
Gravis took the emblem and the notice and walked out of the Hunting Guild without another word. After he left, everyone could finally breathe again. They unanimously decided not to come into contact with that madman. The cold aura they felt couldn’t possibly come from a nice guy. The hunters tried to get back to talking with their friends and colleagues, but the carefree atmosphere was destroyed.
----
On the next day, at around evening, Gravis came back to the Hunting Guild. He carried a corpse to the bounty room and received his bounty, as well as the mission reward. When he had walked into the main hall, the atmosphere changed, and no one looked at him. Everyone was trying to be as silent as possible. Yet, the lady was forced to interact with Gravis. She finished everything professionally and quickly.
When he got his reward, Gravis walked to the notice board again, looked for a specific notice, tore it down, and registered it. Then he walked out and returned, not even a minute later, with the corpse of the mission’s target. He had remembered the notices and hunted the beasts anyway. He had hidden the bodies in the nearby forest.
The freshly rejuvenated atmosphere broke again when Gravis came back. He quickly took his reward and did the same thing another time. After just another minute, he had collected his third reward for the day. But, this time, after getting his reward, he didn’t leave again.
"I should have enough gold for a low-grade demonic beast now," he stated flatly.
The lady didn’t comment and took some papers out from below the counter. She slowly moved them towards Gravis and pulled her hands back. Gravis looked at them and quickly chose his target. He put the notice, his metal stick emblem, as well as two gold and 50 silver before the lady. Every time she saw the emblem, a cold shiver ran down her spine. She pulled the other papers back and finished the registration, being especially careful with the money.
After that, he left the hall without a comment. As he left, the hunters began to discuss. They talked about Gravis’ chances of returning alive. Most thought he would die. Some thought he would fail but return alive. Only a few thought that he would succeed.
-----
Gravis had the choice between three targets. A snake, a boar, and a tiger. He had chosen the tiger. The main reason was that a tiger would always be considered a king among beasts. For someone inexperienced, this sounded like the hardest one. Yet, in Gravis’ eyes, this was probably the easiest one. A tiger was king and would not have many enemies. While the tiger might be physically stronger than the other two, it would probably have a weaker will due to its lack of rivals.
The tiger had inhabited a hill near a village. The farmers initially used the hill as grassing ground, but stopped, for obvious reasons. The tiger was big and had a big appetite. The farmers created a union where they rotated, whose cow would be sacrificed. This situation had been going on for months. The whole village had to pitch in to get enough money for the Hunting Guild.
There were not many hunting parties willing to take on demonic beasts. While the reward was high, the risk was also high. They never left with less than ten people, and they would always return with fewer people than before. The reward would have to be split, too.
Gravis arrived at the village in a couple of hours and immediately saw the hill, as well as the tiger resting on it. The tiger didn’t care about its surroundings since nothing was willing to provoke it. Gravis saw a small hill of bones lying behind the tiger.
The tiger itself was two meters tall, around as big as the lion he fought in the third practical test. Its claws were nearly as long as an arm, and its mouth looked imposing and dangerous. Its muscles bulged from its body at the shoulders, while its deep breath could be heard from several meters distance.
Yet, instead of being intimidated, Gravis was happy about the tiger’s imposingness. The more imposing it looked the fewer enemies would be willing to attack it. When he heard that the tiger was lying on a hill at some village for a couple of months, he knew that the tiger had no ambition to become stronger.
This was precisely the opponent he needed.