“What was that?”

David pretended he hadn’t heard him as he stalled for time to prepare himself for this encounter. The man looked to be middle aged. He wore a loose fitting robe, that was much longer than his own, and his chest length hair, both head and face, was streaked with gray.

“ You're new to the area.”

The way he said it as a fact and not as a question put him immediately on edge. He held his face in check, not showing the racing thoughts going through his head.

“Yeah I just got here.”

“Where you from?”

David wasn’t sure who this man was, but since he wasn't dressed like one of the guards, he figured he should try to get out of telling him anything.

“Places. Now what do you want?”

‘Please don't antagonize him. He is too high of a level for me to read.’

“I have the guards keep a lookout for any interesting people. To see if they are a spy or someone I should recruit.”

“What guild are you with? I was just on my way to get assessed and get offers. I can add yours to my list if it's of a type that interests me.”

“Not a guild but a house, House Trezon.”

‘Who is that?’

“That would be the faction that controls this area.”

‘Shit.’

“I mean no disrespect to such a great house but I feel I don’t have that level of ambition. I am only joining a guild because I am stagnating here. I just wish to continue my hunts in peace.”

“The world isn’t always so cooperative.”

“I guess I’ll just have to conquer the world then”

LGG’s voice was frantic as he said

‘Act scared now’

He didn’t need to act scared because LGG’s warning scared the hell out of him. He started to look around as frantically as LGG had spoken. Seeing everyone that had been passing back and forth in the streets come to a dead stop and look around. Even the horses had skidded to a stop and were searching for something.

“Well it seems something has come up. I will have to go check on this but I will be back to take you to your assessment.”

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The man just suddenly vanished. Not light show or smoke. No indications of any sort of spell. He just suddenly wasn't there anymore.

‘What just happened? Why is everyone freaking out?’

‘I think you generated a regional threat. Possibly even a world threat.’

‘How?’

‘There must have been some seriousness in your heart when you said you would conquer the world if you had to, along with the ability to follow through.’

He was dumbfounded by the thought. It was one of those absurd statements he would make to deflect that also happened to be completely true. The fact the world acknowledged him was just not something he knew how to handle.

‘I am not hanging around for that guy's assessment. Worse case scenario they realize it was me that triggered the threat, and still bad, is if they decided to assess me and want me. I have no desire to be beholden to some fancy nobles.’

He walked through the terrified people on the street. They were no longer frozen but they walked much slower than the pace they had been before. Constantly searching for the source of the threat despite it walking briskly past them.

When he got to the hunters' district, he honestly couldn’t tell it apart from any of the other districts. The people were still on edge by the time he arrived but they had at least started walking at a reasonable speed again. Having to walk around everyone was annoying and he feared it made him stand out. He however feared the man from House Trezon more.

He walked into the first building that was marked with a hunter’s emblem. The outsides all looked the same so he had no real reason to not walk to the one closest. Especially if he was going to try several anyway.

The inside looked alot less drab than the outside. Just inside the door and to the left was what appeared to be a giant dining hall. It was half filled and loud. His eyes darted between all the tables taking it in.

Not everyone was at the same stage of their meals. So not defined eating times. So hopefully I will be able to find a time when it's not so crowded.

To the right was a shop. It seemed to have a large variety of items, ranging from weapons and armor, to food stuffs and bed rolls.

I suppose everything one might need on a hunt.

In front of him was what appeared to be a reception desk. There was a line of only a handful of people so he hoped the three receptionists would get through them quickly as he joined the rear of the line.

He listened to the conversations the people were having with the receptionists. Two of the three had just come back from a hunt. Different hunts or at least they were claiming different beasts. They were both arguing the same thing though. That the corpses were not as damaged as the receptionists had claimed. It seems they were supposed to harvest the corpses but they had been so badly damaged from lightning that most of the parts were useless.

The third was joining like him. He paid extra attention to that one. The man grabbed a small sphere that measured him in some manner. It was probably common knowledge since it was never specified. Afterwards, they haggled over the terms if the man joined. The man claimed he was stronger than the device was reading and that he warranted preferential recruitment with a thorough assessment. The receptionist seemed to disagree completely though.

He was so engrossed in what was going on in front of him he didn’t notice the man from earlier was standing besides him. Though in his defense when you can silently teleport without any noticeable effects it's easy to sneak up on a person.

“You’re really adamant on this whole, just want to be a hunter thing.”

“Well yes because I just want to be a hunter.”

“Well after I assess you, if you don't want to join House Trezon I will return you here.”

“Return?…..”

He suddenly found himself in a completely different place.