As the night fell, after eating two loaves of bread bursting with the scent of wheat and free of any preservatives or additives, and a large bowl of aromatic meat soup, Kane lay on the single bed in the room assigned to him.

Holding the bead emitting a faint green glow in the dim room, he recalled the thrilling moment from the afternoon and couldn't help but murmur, "Lucky for me, I reacted quickly and stored you in my storage space..."

"Alright, let's have a look at these two items and see what treasures they are."

After a while, staring at the golden interface that popped up before his eyes, Kane was slightly stunned by the message that appeared in a small window.

"Would you like to spend 1 Soulstone to appraise this brooch?"

"Would you like to use the 'pioneer' privilege to appraise this brooch for free?"

This so-called chosen profession, 'pioneer', came with such privileges. Well, it should save me quite a bit on appraisal fees in the future.

Faced with the two prompts, being penniless, Kane naturally opted for the second appraisal choice.

As the windows for appraisal options disappeared, the properties of the brooch he found that afternoon were fully revealed before Kane's eyes.

Emerald Brooch: Black Iron Tier

Can enhance wearer's attributes: 0.3 points to Constitution, 0.3 points to Dexterity, 0.3 points to Spirit.

Attached skill: Purification Spell

Activation Spell: wλ

Usage: 1/1

Recharges automatically every three days.

Note: This is a magical ornament. The patterns carved on its surface clearly show the craftsmanship of an elf artisan.

Note 2: Attribute enhancement is only effective when the wearer's attributes are below 15 points.

Value: 6 Soulstones. (Of course, this is just the crystal's recycling price.)

Could this be the legendary magical equipment... Damn, just arrived in this world, and I already obtained a piece of magical equipment on my first day. Isn't this a bit too easy... Or is it that in the land of Korlos, magical equipment isn't as rare as described in those novels?

However, what is that annotation after the value about?

Well, although these thoughts about the emerald brooch flooded Kane's mind for a moment he couldn't ignore the assistance this brooch could provide him at this time.

Thus, without further ado, he took the emerald brooch out of his storage space and pinned it on his shirt in front of his left chest. Kane instantly felt changes in his body.

Firstly, the numbness and swelling in his legs, which had walked nearly twenty kilometers through the wilderness today and were still sore, started to dissipate somewhat.

This must be due to the 0.3 points increase in Constitution.

Then came the increase of 0.3 points in Dexterity.

Stepping off the narrow single bed and beginning to hop around the room—less than twenty square meters, furnished only with a single bed, a desk, and a chair—Kane moved with an experimental nature to test his body.

He discovered that whether it was jumping power, speed, or overall agility, there had been a noticeable improvement. Although Kane was still unsure how to accurately measure the enhancement "Spirit" brought to his body,

Just the "Constitution" and "Dexterity" enhancements alone made him feel so invigorated and pumped up that he inwardly shouted, "Awesome!"

However, knowing that there were other Demon Hunter reserves in the building, Kane could only shout a few times in his heart.

After calming down from the excitement, he proceeded to use his pioneer privilege to appraise the green bead he had "treasure hunted" with his Talent in the afternoon.

Natural Essence: Black Iron Tier

Weight: 32 grams

Note: Contains pure wood elements.

Note 2: For some alien races or witches, this is a rare gift from nature. As for the current stage, you can only sell it.

Value: 8 Soulstones. (Of course, this is also the recycling price of the crystal.)

Well, Kane had to admit that the explanation in this "Note 2" and the annotation after the value were indeed just as frustrating.

………………

In the dead of night.

The sound of hooves, growing louder as they approached, jolted the Demon Hunter, who had been on the verge of sleep during his watch at the lookout tower, awake.

Illuminated by the fire basins along the road, he instantly recognized the black horse galloping towards Helensburgh and its rider, a Demon Hunter with a black cloak billowing in the wind.

He shouted to his brothers on the city gate duty, "It's a ranger! Open the gates!"

As the heavy gates, constructed of two layers of ferrous wood, began to creak open amidst the turning of the door hinge, they were slowly swung open by the effort of seven or eight Demon Hunters who had rushed over upon hearing the noise.

Bathed in the bright glow of the bonfire near the city gate, the ranger, decked in a signature black Demon Hunter cloak and non-reflective black metal armor, circled the open ground at the entrance of Helensburgh on horseback.

Upon slowing his steed, the ranger's dismount was notably unsteady, his steps faltering!

Having grabbed his long sword, which was fastened with a leather belt to its sheath, Jonathan, who had just stepped out from the duty room, witnessed the scene.

Realizing the ranger was wounded, he didn't hesitate to rush forward. Intending to support the ranger, who seemed on the verge of collapsing, Jonathan, as he drew closer, detected a remarkably odd scent of blood amidst the air reeking of it.

With over twenty years of encountering dark creatures in his career as a Demon Hunter, Jonathan knew such a peculiar smell of blood could only signify the presence of a vampire. He immediately became cautiously alert.

But in the next moment, the ranger, no longer able to hold himself up and collapsing to the ground, removed his helmet and tossed it aside, then yelled to the Demon Hunters, who were momentarily stunned,

"Quick, notify Master Billy, I need holy water above number 32!"

Watching a Demon Hunter dash off towards the distance, Jonathan, who had recognized the ranger's identity as soon as he removed his helmet, laid down his guard and quickly stepped forward to help him up, asking, "Hank, what happened?"

"We discovered a vampire stronghold in Horseshoe Town. In the process of destroying it, we didn't expect a Blood Beast to be present…"

At this, Hank asked Jonathan, "Old pal, got any booze?"

Only then did Jonathan notice the breastplate of Hank's ranger armor was torn apart by brute force, leaving three gory scratches. He bellowed, "Simon, quick! Go to the duty room and bring over those two bottles of number 46 holy water kept in the sacred box…"

As he spoke, Jonathan, as if suddenly remembering something, shouted toward Simon's retreating, "And bring the jug of liquor I left on the table."

………………

Early morning.

Amid a chorus of melodious bird songs, Kane opened his eyes while lying in bed. He peered through the window at the dim morning sky, realizing it was still quite early, and closed his eyes again.

He planned to snooze as before, but soon found himself wide awake, unable to fall back asleep.

“Is this the earliest I've woken up in years?”

After mocking himself, and tossing and turning in bed for a while, Kane, buzzing with energy and unable to sleep, sat up in his single bed, muttering, “Could this be the effect of that 0.3 point boost in my mental attributes?”

It's indeed true that an enhancement of mental attributes can result in more effective rest.

Regarding how he knew the precise time, his system interface featured an electronic clock and a function to display external temperature changes.

Such an advanced "system" surely wouldn't be prone to something as basic as incorrect timing.

Hearing a knock at the door and while donning his Demon Hunter reserve uniform armor, Kane approached and opened the door.

“Kane, are you awake? It's almost time for morning training…”

He looked at Jim, the boy who had counted targets for him yesterday. After selecting the right alchemy spectacles from the Alchemy Guild, Kane had gotten to know him during the few hours upon return.

“Jim, perfect timing, help me with this armguard, will you?”

Saying so, Kane lifted his right arm, displaying the leather armguard that was barely secured with two buckles, with several more needing to be tightened, then added, “These buckles are a bit tricky. I've tried but can't seem to get them all fastened tight.”

Five minutes later, with the boy named Jim's help, Kane had his full set of roughly seven or eight kilograms of Demon Hunter reserve armor properly fitted.

The two then left the room, washed up at the communal bathhouse, and joined the other reserve Demon Hunters who were already warming up at the training ground for the morning routine.

The training slate for Demon Hunter reserves, though sounding straightforward, was indeed challenging to complete.

First up, a six-kilometer jog in the morning.

Then, after breakfast, came the close combat weapon practice.

Lifting a three to four-kilogram blunt sword and performing a hundred sets of moves—downward chops, stabs, side slashes, and upward strikes—without completing them meant no lunch.

After lunch, despite having an hour to rest, what followed was the real deal.

For example, being assigned to archers, Kane didn't need the same brute strength or muscle as frontline combat-focused reserves, but what about shooting two hundred arrows with a training longbow?

Considering his arms were sore after just three pulls the day before, one can imagine the strength required to draw the so-called training longbow each time.

And you weren't expected to shoot a hundred arrows non-stop but within the allocated four hours.

But still, that was inhuman, wasn't it?

As for the nights, mainly spent acquiring knowledge from scholars, this was a breeze for Kane in comparison to the physical exertion.

And if all went as planned, this would be the daily training quota for Kane until he became a full-fledged Demon Hunter.