After Leon introduced himself, Lake couldn’t help but feel that his name sounded a little familiar, so he took a deeper look at his fate.
"So you’re a reporter for Hunter’s News Agency? Then what are you doing all the way out here? If I remember correctly, HNA 1 focuses mostly on high-ranking hunters. Why the sudden interest in students?" Kate asked with a passive expression. She seemed quite familiar dealing with situations .
"Yes, that is indeed the truth, but recently HNA decided to do an article on the students of the Academy after hearing word of the first-year exam conditions this time."
"As a student, I’m sure you’re already aware that an exam of this caliber has never been held for first years before and is mostly reserved for second-year students. It’s even more unheard of that it is also the first end-of-month exam."
Leon rattled off, the excitement in his voice barely contained. He seemed to be genuinely excited for the chance to get this scoop.
"Hmm, I see your point, but what exactly are you trying to get footage on?" Kate asked after a moment of consideration.
"Ah- There’s no need to worry, Miss Student. My goals are simply to get a few clips of the first-year students of this year hunting in the Field, while also conducting a few interviews."
"Hm... Well, if that’s the case, I have no problem with it."
"Really, that’s great! In fact, I was wondering if I could ask-"
"But," Kate promptly cut off Leon, "I also have no reason to entertain your questions. You can go find other students to interview."
Hearing Kate’s cold response, Leon froze up for a moment.
"Come on Lake, let’s go."
Hearing Kate call out to him, Lake stopped watching Leon’s fate as a wry smile appeared on his face.
"Haha... I’m sorry about this, buddy." Lake stretched out his hand and patted Leon on the shoulder. As his hand touched the coat, however, a small flash of light appeared momentarily, but no one seemed to notice it.
"I actually thought you and I were quite fated from the first time I saw you. It’s a shame we won’t get to talk longer."
After saying that, Lake turned around and followed Kate into the Field.
He had just read Leon’s fate and couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw just how much he had unknowingly crossed paths with this seemingly simple reporter, and in the most unexpected of places at that.
From his battle with the Spider Empress, to the terrorist attack and even the clean up after that, this man had been there reporting every action he had made in public dust far just barely out of sight.
Without even knowing it, this man has been silently supporting Lake’s public image.
It also wasn’t a coincidence that he came up to Kate and himself either among all the students passing in and out of the Field.
He had specifically done research on every first-year student before deciding that he and Kate would have the highest chance of providing him with interesting footage for his article.
It’s a shame for him though; neither Kate nor Lake had any plans of revealing too much of their information to the public so his interview was destined to not happen.
Just to make sure of it too, Lake even left a tracking magic on Leon’s shoulder. The magic would alert him whenever Leon was within close proximity to him, in case the dedicated reporter snuck up on him.
Lake couldn’t help but smile as he walked forward.
As the Master of Fate, his relation to the world is that of an outsider, so to think there was someone who had such a connection to him despite this was truly amusing to him.
"Sigh... To think they saw through me."
Leon stood still as he watched Lake and Kate walk further and further away.
He had done his research beforehand and really wanted to get the chance to interview those two students.
The awakened Martial Warrior and daughter of the Blackheart Guild’s Guildmaster, Kate Blackheart. Said to be incredibly talented in both martial arts and intelligence, starting her own business at a young age that has become a small conglomerate in the hunter industries.
It is also said that she is incredibly beautiful, a fact that he could confirm after seeing her himself. In Leon’s opinion, she had all the traits required to make her the perfect celebrity.
If he could have gotten even an interview with her, he could’ve guaranteed that his article would have been a big success, even if he didn’t get any decent footage.
As for the other student, Lake Egoven; he is the ’psycho’ who massacred a camp of goblins, burning down their village and using fear tactics to his complete advantage. He gained first place among the entrance exam candidates and is also said to be quite the looker.
But that wasn’t all there was to this seemingly merciless student. Aside from claiming first place in the exam, only a few days ago, he made an appearance in the biggest terrorist attack to happen in the history of the Grey Dragon Continent.
His appearance was like that of a noble in times of trouble. He appeared out of nowhere and with nothing but just his voice, quelled all the chaos and aided greatly in the post-disaster operation.
His majestic aura and handsome appearance left a lasting impression on everyone who saw him, including Leon himself, as he was also there to witness the astonishing display of power.
Unfortunately, his camera’s hard drive had been filled up at that time as he had recorded the legendary battle of the ’Monster King’ vs the Prestige leader only moments before Lake made his appearance.
If he had gotten the chance to interview two such students, his articles definitely would have exploded.
With another sigh, Leon turned his head as he started contemplating his next move. However, before he could even think, he heard the loud chatter of another pair of students who had returned from the Field.
"Damn, those crocs sure were annoying, don’t you think, Boss?"
"Okay? Just, OKAY? Those bastards were dipping in and out of the fucking swamp! Neither my arrows or spear could fucking travel in that muddy water! Hell, I could barely even walk through it!"
"I mean, just look at my feet! There covered in sticky and smelly mud!"
Leon looked over hearing the two students loudly chatter. In fact, not only Leon, but a lot of passing hunters were watching the two students with interesting expressions on their face.
One of the students, the one that was complaining, was covered in mud while he carried around five crocodile corpses atop his shoulder.
"All your complaints are to deal with the environment, not the creature itself. Although it is true that they used the environment to their advantage, it still doesn’t change the fact that they themselves were only okay. Please don’t mix up the threat level of a creature with the threat level of its environment, Allen." The other student, comparatively more clean than the other, lectured the complaining student called Allen.
When Leon took a closer look at the two students, he couldn’t help but smile after recognizing their identities.
’It seems like my luck hasn’t run out yet!’
The grandson of the Hundred Weapon Master, Allen Spindale and the runner-up during the Academy’s entrance exam, Bradford Keraunos had made their appearance in front of him.
The two of them could be described as the next best thing after Lake and Kate.
After adjusting his mood, Leon put a polite smile on his face before walking over with excited steps.
Kate and I walked further into the Field after leaving the reporter behind.
We’ve been walking for a few minutes now and were a good distance away from the Stronghold.
When I realized which direction we were heading in, it didn’t take me long to figure out where Sylph and the others were.
After walking for a few more minutes, we came to an open clearing a little distances away from the grassland and a few trees dotting the surrounding.
In the far distance, I could see the massive corpse of the Giant Horned Bison towering like a mountain in the middle of the grassland.
Even without my enhanced vision, I guessed that anyone would be able to notice such a colossal behemoth if they were to stare off into the distance.
A few wolves were stationed around the corpse, guarding it as per my orders, but I didn’t pay attention to that for long.
Instead, I turned my head to look at the truly curious sight before me.
The Alpha Wolf, a creature of immense pride and strength, the leader of a large pack of over a hundred Rank One wolves, and the beast that I had to spend a lot of effort to ’tame’, was sitting on its back with its tummy facing the sky. Its tail waggled from side to side excitedly as a pair of small hands rubbed its luxurious fur.
I felt my mind go blank for a few seconds as I tried to comprehend the sight before my eyes.
It was then that the one who was rubbing the tummy of the proud Alpha Wolf finally noticed my presence as she waved her hand at me.
"Lake! You’re back!" Sylph called out to me with a bright smile.
Honestly, I don’t know what was going on anymore, and all I could do was stare blankly at the Alpha Wolf with cold eyes.
The Alpha Wolf, finally noticing my presence, also stared back as its previous goofy-looking face froze.
And just like that, both man and wolf continued to stare at each other, in perpetual silence.