Chapter 78
I looked at Quill, who stayed behind as everyone else departed. The Hunter, Shadow at his side, seemed to be aware we were completely uncertain about what to do. It was only our second day as proper Climbers, after all, and while we’d just been rewarded, greatly, technically, hadn’t it been a fail?
“We should head back as well.” Quill said, motioning towards the portal. The last few Hunters and Climbers were quickly stepping through it, teleporting back down to the first floor, and then out of the Tower. Considering all that had happened, and the fact the hunt for the day had been cut short, everyone had seemed in a… weirdly good mood.
“Is that okay?” I asked. “Is the day really over for everyone?”
“When a Titan spawns, it ends the hunt for the day. Generally, far as I know, even after a Titan is killed, it’s viewed as bad luck to stick around and keep hunting. Pretty sure all of the regular gorilla actually disappear completely anyways, when the Jungle Titan appears.” He shrugged, “either way, everyone else is gone, and it’d be reckless for me to stick around.” He held up his gold coin, before it disappeared into his inventory. “Can’t complain about Jade’s generosity. It makes me not hitting my quota for my Master Hunter test sting a little less.”
“You’ll be able to get the quota tomorrow, or on your next hunt, won’t you?” I asked as we all began to move towards the portal. Alax had rejoined our group, though his eyes were distant. If I had to guess, he was excitedly thinking about what Jade had said. Or, more likely, the fact she’d agreed to help him out. With her to guide him, I had no doubt Alax would become extremely powerful.
Quill winced at my words, and let out a heavy sigh. “That’s, not quite how it works.”
“What do you mean?” I pressed.
“To reach Master Hunter, you have to be not only skilled, but also consistent. You have to show that you’re capable of completing and hitting certain goals, every hunt, regardless of circumstances.”
“Even though your job relies heavily on the Climbers that take up job postings each day?” That didn’t seem fair.
“Especially because of that.” Quill said with a nod. “A good Master Hunter can adapt and overcome almost any situation, other than,” he looked at Alax, “you know, a Titan being summoned.”
That drew Alax from his own mind long enough for the spear and shield focused Climber to let out a dejected, “sorry.”
“That being said, there are exceptions, of course. No one is perfect. Not even Master Hunters. To qualify for your chance at earning a Master Hunter title, you have to accomplish a handful of things. First, is a matter of holding your Journeyman rank for at least five years.” He grinned, “because I earned my Journeyman rank just as I turned 21, I’ve got that requirement in the bag.”
He held up two fingers, “second, is to showcase your skills at trap making, accuracy, and the likes. You have to run through a gambit of tests, overseen by multiple Master Hunters, outside of the Tower, and within.” Quill smiled, “I managed that as well. Two months ago actually.”
“And the third is the quota?” I asked, intrigued at the process the Hunters had to go through. Was it similar to how Climbers ranked up? Alexandra had stated completing jobs was how Climber’s ranked up, though she’d implied, rather than flat out said, that it also depended on the types of jobs, and other factors she likely judged herself. Obviously, there wasn’t a strict timeframe on holding Ranks for Climbers like there was for Hunters. Otherwise, there’s no way Ryker would already be Rank C. Which begged to question, what all went into it?
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“Third is the quota. Depending on the prey, a certain number of kills need to be confirmed in any given hunt. It’s the same as earning Journeyman actually, but obviously for Journeyman it’s a lower number. You have to hit that quota, consistently, across ten hunts, with only two failures, meaning, eight out of ten. For comparison, to earn Journeyman, you only needed to earn the quota across five of ten hunts.”
“How many gorillas,” Nyle asked, seemingly just as interested in the topic as I was, “did you need for your quota?”
“Ten.” Quill said with a sigh. “We were actually on a good pace to get them too. All things considered. We’d started slow, but that double up, and with our teamwork shaping up, and Ash’s buff from Claw and Fang, it would have been doable.” He smiled at Nyle, whose mouth was open, already beginning another question. “For Journeyman it was five. And like I said, it changes based on the prey.”
“Ten?” I said the number aloud. “It took us hours to get set up and bring down three. And you’re saying we would have managed ten today?” I had a feeling Quill was being more than a little optimistic.
“Once you finish off the strongest in the troop, the others are much easier to hunt down.” Quill said with a shrug. We were almost to the portal. “The first few took us a while because of issues with our teamwork, and the fact your levels are pretty low. But like I said, it was going to get quicker. Getting ten isn’t that hard, if you’re efficient.”
“Uh huh,” I wasn’t buying it. Quill was definitely being overly optimistic. Maybe he just didn’t want to hurt our feelings. Either way, Titan or no Titan, I found it hard to believe we would have managed to slay ten gorillas. Thinking about that number though, if we had, that would have been a total of 2 silver and 50 copper coins earned. Compared to the gold coin Jade had given each of us, we’d made out far on top.
“Either way,” Quill let out a sigh, “we didn’t hit the quota. And today was my third failure.” He shrugged, “meaning, I’ve got to start the grind all over again. A little over a month of work, all for nought.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Lyn pipped in, flashing her own gold coin. “Surely the payout has to be worth something. The coin is worth a lot of slain gorillas.”
“That is definitely true,” Quill replied, a smile on his face. “And honestly, the chance to see the Titan Slayer take on the Jungle Titan was well worth it. Not to mention, the materials from the Jungle Titan will be spread across the Hunters on the job today, after Jade gets the pelt she’s been waiting for. All in all, it really did turn out for the best.” He shrugged, “just means another month or so before I’ll be able to earn my right to try out for my Master Hunter title.”
“I’m assuming there’s a final test then?” I asked, noting he kept saying he’d get the chance to try for the title, not that he’d earn it. “After you hit the quota?”
“That’s right,” Quill nodded as he stopped walking. We were just before the shimmering portal that would take us to the first floor. “Once you’ve held your title the proper length of time, shown off your skills, and met your quota, there’s a final step before you can truly become a Master Hunter.”
“And what is it?” I asked the rest of my friends, including Alax now, all gathered around Quill, watching him intently. “What’s the final step?”
“A special test, completely unique, encompassing all that it is to be a Hunter.” Quill said, a mysterious smile played across his face. “You see,” his smile grew, “in order to prove yourself worthy of being a Master Hunter, there is one thing you must prove, without a doubt, to the others.”
“Which is,” I pressed.
“That you are, without a doubt, a hunter, a predator. Not prey. To earn the title of Master Hunter, you have to be able to overcome the most dangerous game.”
Before we could ask any more questions, he laughed, and motioned to the portal. “I’m not being paid to stand around and answer your questions. And I think we’ve all better things to do with our time today, than stand here chatting.” With that, Quill and Shadow stepped through the portal, disappearing before us. Without a word we followed suit. Quill was right, after all. There was at least half a day left, and there were definitely better things we could be doing, than just wasting time and chatting.
The sooner we reported back to the Hunter’s Guild, to finish our assigned job for the day, the sooner we could come back to the Tower, after all. While there may not be gorillas for the Hunters to deal with, there were still, certainly, monsters for us to defeat. And after seeing Jade’s display of power, I knew full well I wasn’t the only one of my group eager to get back to slaying Tower monsters to increase our levels.