“I assumed it would’ve taken you much longer but after only two more days you have full mana control. It makes me wonder if you were even trying until the other day…”
Master Craven’s face is somehow stuck between being proud of me and also distressed at my stubbornness. Once I decided to take things more seriously it all came so easy for me. I should’ve been more willing to listen to him but to be fair, meditating is really boring.
“What’s next? I can start learning actual moves now right?!”
“Hmm, not quite.”
Oi, old man don’t tell me the next lesson is more boring stuff! If I have to do something like meditating underneath a waterfall to better learn mana control I’m going to lose it!
“Now that you are able to suppress your mana you’ll need to learn how to bring it out properly.”
“Oooh, that’ll be easy! I can do that, watch this!”
I focus my mind into pooling magical energy into my fist which I eagerly show Master Craven. With an unimpressed look he hits my hand with a wooden stick which causes my hand to sting a bit. Wait, why does that hurt?! The magical energy usually shields me from harm like when I fought the cave troll.
“Still as arrogant as ever I see.” Master Craven let out his trademark sigh. “You need to learn to release your mana without showing it.”
“Wait, that’s possible?”
“Yes, how do you think I was able to hurt you just now?”
Don’t tell me, he was channeling mana just then? I didn’t see any energy… ah I see. I can already figure out what Master Craven is getting at before he even starts.
“If your opponent can see how you're using your mana they’ll be able to think of ways to counter it. You always want to have your opponent question what your next move is. The more they think the less time they have to react when you attack.”
I’m ashamed to admit I hadn’t thought of something like that before. I just thought the aura of energy around my fist looked cool. Now that I thought about it, the cave trolls from before never had that. I assumed they were using magic but it didn’t occur to me that I couldn’t see it.
Still, even if I can say he’s right I’m slightly worried I’m going to be stuck with more meditating. As if reading my mind, Master Craven showed a smile upon his face.
“I think you’ll be happy to know your next step in training will require some actual field work.”
***
With that Marie and I had found ourselves in front of a large building Master Craven had called the Hunter’s Guild. A place where people can apply to become hunters to hunt down various monsters that pop up outside the capital, usually causing a problem for the various small villages and farms near the capital. It’s especially bad for the farms since they provide much of the food for the capital.
Doesn’t this sound like an adventurers guild? Though in those types of guilds they do more than monster hunting. Not to mention there doesn’t seem to be any official job like adventurer. Well, adventurers did exist in this world but they had no organization backing them up. They were more like rogues that did as they pleased.
The only reason the guild even exists is due to the War on Three Fronts causing strain on the capital’s security.
It’s hard enough having to send more and more soldiers with each passing year but with reliable guards becoming harder to come by it’s bad enough inside the city so I can only imagine how much worse it is outside. The kingdom had to rely on hiring freelance workers to deal with the problem thus the Hunter’s Guild was eventually born.
Entering the building we found ourselves in front of a small line of people waiting before a counter where workers were helping out hunters. To our left was a small tavern area where hunters were enjoying food and drinks.
There were two lines, one dedicated to signing up for the Guild and another for taking hunting requests. Lucky for us, the sign up line was empty so we quickly approached the counter where a girl with short brown hair waited with a smile on her face.
At least she was smiling until she saw me. Nervousness grew over her face which was probably due to my mask. Master Craven told me hiding my identity would normally prove to be an issue but he ended up giving us a signed letter of recommendation which should help us out. I hand the said document to the girl who reads it over, her eyes grow wide then she excuses herself for a moment and heads towards the back.
Oi, did it work or not? My anxiety increases as the girl makes her way back after nearly five minutes.
“Follow me.”
Why do I feel like I’m being sent to the principal's office?
We followed the girl upstairs to a large door down a long hallway, upon entering we were seated in front of a woman who must’ve been in her early thirties with long blonde hair. She sat in a large chair behind a desk. While she was dressed professionally I couldn’t shake the feeling she was far from it. She looked like the kind of woman who would punch you out if you looked at her wrong. It wasn’t just the way she carried herself but also the eyepatch covering her left eye, I could see a large scar peeking out underneath it.
This woman knew battle that much I was sure of.
“So, Craven has taken interest in you two? It’s pretty rare for him to go out of his way like this.”
“Eh? You mean, me as well?”
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Marie was shocked to find that in the letter apparently Master Craven had also spoken highly of her as well. I hate to say it because it makes me sound like an asshole but I am a little surprised myself. Mostly due to the fact that Marie merely sat in a corner taking notes while I trained.
“Yes, Marie Hart is it? Says here that he sees a lot of hidden potential in you. Wants me to allow you to take a look at our stock of alchemic tools. And you, you must be Szandor.” She sized me up with a glare. “Craven has asked me to grant you the privilege of being a licensed hunter without any identification. I don’t like people who hide their identity. Only scum and criminals do such a thing. Is that what you are?”
Her cold demeanor and piercing blue eyes made me fidget internally. In fact, everything about her sent me on edge. I couldn’t help but wonder if we were to fight if I could even take her down. She was an intimidating woman.
“No, ma’am. I have other reasons.”
She let her icy stare relinquish a bit with a long sigh. “Hmm, I will only allow this because Craven has asked, however, I will be keeping a close eye on you. You will only come to me for hunting requests and once you return I will be the one to evaluate your performance.”
“Of course, Miss uh…”
“Alexandra Frost. You will only refer to me as Guild Master Frost, understood?”
“Yes, Guild Master Frost.”
Once that whole ordeal was down we were finally registered hunters with the guild. After that Frost discussed with us our first hunting request. Apparently a farm, near the south gate, was being targeted by goblins from a nearby valley. A little bit surprised the first request wasn’t slimes but goblins would’ve been my second guess. Then again, I wonder if slimes exist in this world. In fact, considering what the cave trolls looked like I was curious to see what the goblins looked like.
After accepting the request Frost shooed us out of her office with an angry look as the young woman from before escorted us to the stockroom for the guild’s alchemic tools. Marie was getting visibly excited to see what kind they had.
“That is an amulet that keeps tier one through four magic that affect the mind and soul at bay.”
The woman held up a silver necklace with some kind of insignia that resembled a dragon. Marie was interested in what she was seeing and constantly writing down notes but at the same time when asked if she wanted something she would cast her eyes downward.
“You don’t want that one either, Marie?”
“It’s not that, Szandor, it’s just… Whenever I use alchemic tools they always seem to backfire. The only reason I can use my staff is because it was tailor made for me. My dad knows how my mana control works.”
I understand where she’s coming from, but is that way of thinking best for her? It’s possible she just used the wrong kinds of tools. Not to mention, Master Craven clearly sees something in Marie that makes it worth it to have the guild let her take anything from this stockroom so wouldn’t it be a waste to refuse this opportunity because of a possibility of something going wrong?
“It may be a good idea to at least take something, like that amulet. There must be a reason Master Craven said what he said about you.”
“I see, you may have a point…”
“At least with the amulet I can’t imagine it causing too much damage if it ‘backfires’ on you.”
Marie pondered on it some more before resolving herself with an adjustment of her glasses, agreeing to take the amulet. I figured, at least with this amulet it’ll likely protect her when I can’t. We’ll have to worry about something more offensive when she’s ready.
After accepting the amulet we headed out with our hunter licenses in hand.
***
After some time we successfully made it out of the city, the guards only needing to see our hunter licenses (so no more bribing yay). Shortly after that we found our way to the farm, several people were gathered on the road a short distance from the said farm. Apparently the goblins were currently in the corn field stealing their crops.
We identified ourselves as hunters which made one of the men, the owner of the farm, quite happy. He pointed us in the direction of the corn field and I quickly headed out. Marie stayed behind because she felt she would’ve been “no use to me.” I tried to convince her otherwise but to be fair she didn’t have any way of fighting the goblins and it wasn’t as if I need healing so I went to deal with the goblins myself.
I was nervous at the prospect of there being too many goblins to deal with but once I saw there were only three I was relieved.
These goblins looked like regular goblins, but something about them was off. From the initial distance I saw them it was hard to tell but the closer I came the more I realized why they looked wrong. Unlike goblins in most fantasy where they were flesh and blood, these creatures were made up of various plant life.
It seemed, just like the cave trolls from before, they were something from nature that was twisted by the magical energy of the World. One of the two goblins, who I assumed was the leader, had a large sunflower sticking out from its forehead.
It didn’t take long for it to notice me as it hissed in my direction, signaling the two other goblins to attack with wooden sticks sharpened at the end.
The one on the left was quicker as it was the first to stab its stick towards me. They were far shorter than me, they’re heads reaching to about my waist, so dodging their moves was awkward at first.
More than likely I could defeat them quite easily and fast, but Master Craven wanted me to focus more on observing the creatures than fighting them. He said to first start with trying to sense their mana and then follow its flow to its origin.
Master Craven said it would prove to be more difficult with monsters due to the fact they were “pure magical beings” but since their mana was “similar” to mine it would best for me to learn from watching them.
So, I did. I watched as the two goblins continued their barrage while the goblin with the sunflower watched with a worried look.
Surprising even myself, it didn’t take me long to identify their “mana origin.” Seeing their attacks and assuming they were enhancing their thrusts with mana I did my best to sense it. Once I was able to, I tranced the energy to the origin Master Craven had mentioned. He said it was the magical core of all beings. Maintaining the flow of all man through the body.
If I could observe the origin then I would be able to see how the monster would use its magic and then I would have a better idea of how to visibly suppress my own mana just like they do. At first when he told me all this it all felt rather complicated and I thought it would’ve been much harder but that certainly wasn’t the case.
After defeating the two goblins the third one slowly approached me while slightly shaking. While it seemed scared to take me on I respected the fact that it wasn’t going to back down despite that fear. With a weak hand it pulled a rusty dagger from its sheath and eventually let out a war cry before charging towards me.
I can see it. The mana traveling from its origin into its legs to make itself swifter and also the very arm carrying the dagger to better stab me with it. Its mana control was far sloppier than the two goblins before but this may be due to the goblin being afraid of me. Or, it's angry. Angry I killed its companions and is only charging out of a lust for revenge.
I can’t help but to feel sorry for this little guy, but I had to do what I had to do. In an instant I killed the goblin. After collecting their mana origins, to prove to the Hunter’s Guild we completed the request, I headed back to meet up with Marie.