Ginger took a last look at the lopsided, shoddy building.

What an experience, however short-lived it was.

He considered himself lucky to have been able to meet Fai and Shan on his first try for a suitable Hunting Limb to join. Or was it better to give all the credit to Ancor instead, since he was the one who transported him to Good Yield Street in the first place?

'Maybe,' Ginger thought, a small smile crept on his face.

As he maneuvered through the still-crowded street, trying his best to ignore the stares and shaken reactions from other pedestrians, most of whom steered clear of him, he once again gazed at the two sheets of paper in his hands.

Both had a bold print at their headers which read, 'Stalwart Stallions'.

This was – unfortunately – the name of the Hunting Limb Ginger had just joined.

While he admired everything else about the operation Fai was running, the Limb's name was one of the two things Ginger absolutely despised. Granted, the name Stalwart Stallions could have had some thrilling inspiration behind it, but like several other things he hadn't bothered with, Ginger hadn't really wanted to infer more.

The dragonling sighed.

The first sheet in his hand was a formal certificate representing that he was indeed taken in by a legal and up-to-standard Hunting Limb. His name was also written in bold midway through the page.

Overall, Ginger was happy to own this, though he couldn't quite read everything that was written yet. While it was a bonus that everyone, dragon or otherwise spoke the draconic language, the plump dragonling still had challenges reading the more complex words.

'I'll just have Reiss spend more time teaching me,' Ginger thought.

The second sheet was different from the first content-wise. It described the contents of Ginger's first Hunt next Breather.

Indeed, after Ginger's bold declaration at Fai's inquiry about what he hoped to achieve by joining the, uh... Stalwart Stallions, the skinny man had immediately hopped to discussing with him if he was interested in going on a Hunt, a minor one, as he said.

Of course, Ginger agreed. He was eager to get started.

He had goals he never forgot about.

He had people waiting for him back in the Wild.

People he hoped to be able to help after he maximized his potential.

Thus, he was up for getting things moving as quickly as possible, hence this second sheet.

By regulation, the details of a Hunt were supposed to be printed in text and submitted a Stride in advance by a participant – the member of a Limb – to a supervisor of whatever relevant kind.

Basically, this second sheet was for Ginger to give to Professor Lyall, his Prime Instructor to vet and approve so that his three-day outing in the following Breather would be considered legal.

The thought made Ginger excited. It felt like he hadn't been on an adventure in a very long time.

On this first Hunt, he was supposed to be going with Shan and her older brother, Long – the one who had been sleeping on the desk.

Ginger wasn't sure he was going to get along with Shan very well. He didn't know her well enough, and she certainly didn't try to know more about him during the latter section of his interaction with her and her father minutes ago.

Fai seemed to be as uncompromising as her father. She seemed to have steady ideals, just like Fai, whatever they were. They apparently involved not being too friendly.

'I'll get to know her and her brother next Breather, I guess.'

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That said, going on this little journey did make Ginger wonder if this following Stride wasn't going to have a ton of homework. After all, while Hunting was encouraged by the school, it wasn't supposed to affect the learning process behind Draggard-Phoenix's bronze walls.

'It'll probably be fine. Didn't Reiss say he would do my homework if I taught him how to fight?' Ginger grinned darkly.

A few around him were spooked by this. Ginger realized belatedly that his Kardia must have spiked with his emotion, terrorizing other pedestrians.

Stowing the two sheets in his sling bag, the plump dragonling made his way out of Good Yield Street and instead of heading back to the school, he turned to another street.

It was best for him to get to know this little town, Proin, a bit better.

Not all the adventures he had, had to be perilous and mystifying, after all.

The boy spent the better part of two hours exploring the sheer variety and uniqueness of every street in town. Granted, there wasn't much town, but it was sufficient.

Underdog Maple Street stood out particularly to Ginger. It was packed with a lot of confectionaries, as he learned they were called. Shops that sold baked goods and sweets stole the bulk of the attention on the street, each with the same glowing bulbs right over the frames of their entrances.

The smell of freshly baked bread sprinkled with sugary goodness had drawn Ginger in.

The Wild had nothing quite like this. He knew a few bakers, but most of them were hardly just that. They were also warriors, carpenters, or physicians; holding to just one occupation in the Wild was pretty much suicidal. As a result, some of their best works in sugary foods… were abominations when compared to what Ginger saw on displays in Underdog Maple Street.

Seeing that there was such luxury even in a small town like this made Ginger feel a little weird inside, and that wasn't just because his tummy was rumbling hungrily with each confectionary he passed.

And since the baked sweets hadn't been enough to pull Ginger's attention entirely, Underdog Maple had presented the boy with a single, packed shop that produced some ridiculously fragrant fried meats.

The aroma of the savory deliciousness had finally made Ginger remember that aside from whatever currency was in the pouches Ancor had told him to give Ira, he was given his own money to use.

The temptation was immense.

In front of a clean, white shop tagged "Hilly's Red Meaties" was the only place where his presence was barely recognized by the Wolfmen, Snakemen, Stonemen (?), Ogres, and others that formed a long line, waiting for their chance to order.

Ginger also saw a few of his upperclassmen in the line.

Still, he managed to resist. If he was going to spend his money, it wasn't going to be on food. At least not for now.

Another stand out in Proin, was Rigged Innovator's Avenue, where Ginger was finally confronted by the thought that Ravi wasn't just more advanced than the Wild. It was leagues ahead.

He had seen signs of this back at Draggard-Phoenix Institute, but the stores in Innovator's Ave. proudly displaying magical devices that captured a variety of faces on their lit screens; hardware tools with runes that a few large, bat-like creatures in coarse overalls tested on broken metallic contraptions; complex, Mana Essence utilizing 'compasses' which Ginger saw displayed in the middle of the avenue, absolutely floored him.

Ravi had more uses for Mana Essence than the Wild had for Fetid, and that was on top of the immensely advanced technology.

What shocked Ginger even more was that all this was within a small, probably insignificant town. As far as the boy knew, Proin was under the care of Draggard-Phoenix for the most part.

What about the great cities all over Ravi? What kind of absurd things did they have?

Ginger spent an hour in Rigged Innovator's Avenue before finally leaving it.

His next stretch of earnest exploration led him to discover something he hadn't thought he'd come across but probably should have expected.

The boy found the location of two other Hunting Limbs.

By the looks of their grand, nearly majestic appearances – in his opinion – they were the more famous Hunting Limbs in Proin. The buildings belonging to these organizations were large, stylish, and most important of all, full of both his fellow schoolmates and others from different species, though in very low numbers.

Fai had mentioned to Ginger that it wasn't only dragonlings that came to work for Hunting Limbs. The organizations were set up to help young students grow, yes, but they also served to respond to low to medium threats that reached areas close to Proin. For those, it wasn't reasonable to enlist a bunch of students to help. Professional Hunters would usually show up for the job.

Ginger saw several students leaving for Hunts in lavish and purposefully large carriages drawn by different species of beasts. Of course, all of them without exception were wearing their uniform, which made the boy groan. The school was really adamant about making all the students go everywhere with it. Was it some kind of advertising tactic?

'I really should ask someone why,' the boy had thought.

After lamenting about whether or not the Stalwart Stallions had resources that could match those he had seen from other Limbs – horses for better-than-average travel, at least – Ginger finally decided to head back to school. His mind was littered with many different thoughts, so much so that he didn't exactly mind the lonely trip.

After reaching the bridge, however, Ginger felt that the weather suddenly turned windy. Too windy.

Even in Ravi, the gust that suddenly came seemed abnormal.

And indeed it was.

The cause - vast and heavy - sped fast, casting a shadow on the ground that barely stuck around for a second.

Ginger did his best to hang on to his scarf, but soon the winds died down.

He and several others standing close gaped east, where a large set of wings kept a huge, red creature airborne, and cast it far into the distance.