The next day, Ran woke up early and went to the town of Tubod. It’s the place where the Hunter’s Association had set up their branch. As San Isidro village was under their jurisdiction, it’s only natural for him to go there to register and not to other towns.
When he entered the town, the place were already buzzing with activities. People are moving around busily from normal people in civilian clothing, workers in company wearing suit, and hunters with their armor and swords in full display. Wherever they go, they will be looked up upon by the people.
Ran just ignored everything and headed straight to the Hunter’s Association. By the time he arrived at the waiting area, there were already four young men and a woman in heated discussion. Showing off that they had awakened and that they’re strong.
“Hello, are you also going to take the assessment?” He asked gently.
The only woman in the group looked at him curiously then replied inquiringly, “Are you also here for the assessment uncle?”
Ran’s mouth couldn’t help twitch being called an uncle. He was clearly a young man and not that old yet. Moreover, he was asked back instead of answering his question. But still, he nodded his head in response.
When they saw him nodding his head, they all looked at him weirdly. It was as though they were looking at a clown. A while later, the five completely ignored him and distanced themselves. This made him even more speechless, young people nowadays are becoming more and more rude.
Though, he kind of understand them. Normally, in today’s timeline only young people at the age of 15 to 20 had the chance of awakening. Him awakening at the age of 25 is something that’s not heard of unless it’s in the past when dungeons just first appeared on earth. Well, there’s nothing he can do about it and could just sigh helplessly.
Half an hour later, the assessment staff called them out one by one. Thankfully, he came here early and he’s the sixth person to be called. By the time he left, there were already a crowd of people in the waiting room and everyone was talking at the same time. From the quiet waiting room, it was transformed into a marketplace.
“Hi, please have a seat.”
“Um.. Am I allowed to register even though I’m already 25 years old? Is it still free?” Ran quickly asked after sitting down.
The assessor smiled at his question, “Don’t worry about it. It’s still free even if it’s an old man who wants to register.”
Hearing her response, a sigh of relief came out of his mouth. He didn’t want to spend money even if it’s very little unless it’s necessary.
“Please fill out this form.”
Ran accepted the form and began filling it out. It only asked for his basic information as well as the day of his awakening. There’s also a section that asked about what his skills are but he just left it blank.
“One last thing, put your hands on this orb. This will measure your magic power and will determine your rank.”
He nodded his head and put both of his hands on the orb. Moments later, the orb shined in otherworldly light for a few seconds before vanishing without a trace. As for the assessor, she was busily tapping the keyboard of her computer.
A few minutes later, the printer released a clicking sound and his license came out. The assessor quickly laminated it before giving it to him.
“That would be all. Thank you for registering as an awakened. You can be considered as a real hunter now and can get your monthly stipend of $50.”
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“Thanks.”
Ran thanked happily before leaving the association. When he’s finally in a less crowded space, he quickly took out his license to take a look.
Name: Ran Datu
Rank: F
Ability: None
ID no: xxxx-xxx-xxxx
Seeing the information, a sigh again left his mouth. Even the orb at the Hunter Association measured him as an F rank hunter.
Brrr… Brrr…
Just then, his phone started vibrating. Wondering who it was, he casually took out his phone from his pocket and saw that it was his grandfather.
“Where are you? Forget it. Come back home early, I have some great news for you!”
After saying that, his grandfather ended the call. Ran could only shake his head before heading back home. It seems like his grandfather doesn’t like sharing his big business deal on the phone.
By the time he arrived home, his grandfather was already waiting for him in the living room. “Let’s go. We’re going somewhere.”
“What?!” Ran blurted out. He suspiciously gazed at his grandfather and asked, “Did you offend someone? Or are you trying to escape some loan shark?”
“Damn brat! What do you take me for?” Jamal angrily berated, his eyes glaring intimidatingly at his grandson. “You want to become a hunter right? Let’s go. I’ll buy you an awakening solution.”
“A-Awakening solution?!” Ran was shocked. An awakening solution was a very expensive product. It was said that drinking one would let a person gain a 10% chance of awakening.
However, there’s no guarantee in that. There are hundreds of tycoons spending all their fortune just to awaken themselves but only a few of them succeeded. But even then, their rank and abilities were mediocre compared to normal awakenings.
“N-No. I’m fine. There’s no need for you to go that far. Besides, our money won’t even be enough to buy one.” Ran refused shaking his head. Though he felt happy that his grandfather really treasured him.
“Don’t worry about that, I have enough money to buy three of them.”
“What?! Where did you get that much money?” He couldn’t help but asked. The poor old man who kept saying that he don’t have any money everytime, had now suddenly become rich?
“Bah! How many years did you think I worked as a blacksmith? Do you think I didn’t earn even a penny?” Jamal rolled his eyes before grabbing his grandson’s arm, “Let’s not waste any time.”
With the strength of his grandfather, Ran was easily pulled. Even when he tried to resist, it’s still of no use. ‘Damn it! I want to hide this fact to surprise you in the future but I have no other choice.’
“Gramps! I already awakened. There’s no need for us to buy some awakening solution!”
“Like I’ll believe yah hahahah!”
Jamal laugh heartily, thinking that his grandson was joking. But the moment he saw the license in his grandson’s hand, his smile froze immediately. Then he took it and stared at it intently, trying to determine whether it’s fake or not.
“Y-You!”
After identifying its authenticity, he was stunned and can’t complete his sentence. Then he remembered what happened yesterday at his workshop, when the twenty two long sword he crafted became forty three.
“How dare you lie to me! I even thought I was just hallucinating due to pressure, but it was your doing!”
‘Ah sh*t!’ Ran stiffened, his grandfather must be talking about the long swords. He smiled sheepishly and explained, “I had no choice but to hide my ability, what if other people learned about it? I’ll become a laborer for the rest of my life if that happens.”
Jamal’s face turned serious before cautiously looking around, before bringing his grandson inside the house. “So what is your ability? You didn’t put one on your license.”
Ran smiled gently, “I hid it from them. I’m sure they’ll make me demonstrate my power and when that happens, it will be over for me.”
“As for my ability…” He continued before extending his hand, “Give me $100, I’ll demonstrate it to you.”
“Damn brat! Do you think this is an exhibition?” his grandfather angrily said but still gave him what he asked.
“Alright. Watch closely. Replicate!”
Ding!
[100 magic power has been deducted!]
[Replication time in progress! Estimated time to finish: 5 minutes.]
Jamal stared intently at the hundred dollars in his grandson’s hands.
One minute passed…
Two minutes passed…
But even after three minutes passed, there’s still no changes. He couldn’t help but frown then looked at his grandson’s face. Thinking that maybe he was just playing with him. However, he shook his head immediately when he saw how dead serious his grandson’s face was.
Ding!
Five minutes later, Ran Datu heard the system’s crisp notification sound inside his head. A wide smile quickly formed on his face.
Smack!
“Ouch! What was that for?”
Jamal who smacked his grandson on the back of his head said, “It’s already been five minutes and there’s still no changes. Are you joking with me right now?”
“What the hell Gramps! Just where did your patience go? You can endure hammering iron swords for several hours and you can’t even wait for five minutes?!” Ran stated angrily with his eyes open wide. After that, he waved his hand and a card that has a $100 money drawn on it appeared.
“Here, crush it and you’ll get your money.”