"Next," the interviewer said.

The Silverback Hunter's Association was recruiting. Just yesterday, Sariel had received an invitation from someone associated with it.

He had been eagerly searching for a job all week, but no one was willing to hire him. Hungry and homeless, he jumped at the opportunity.

Sariel got up from his seat outside the office and opened the door. Inside, a woman with glasses sat behind a desk piled high with papers. She had a stern expression and gestured for him to sit.

He took the seat and said, "Hello."

"How are you today?" she asked, quickly looking him up and down.

He wore a black knit hat and a robe that had clearly seen better days.

"Good," he replied.

"Glad to hear that. So, what's your name?" She got straight to the point.

"Sariel."

She waited for a last name, but when none came, he added, "That's all."

Her eyebrows furrowed for a moment. She recalled hearing about a nameless kid recently.

"Are you the one the city gate guards tried to kill?" she asked.

Sariel's hands tensed. "Yes. Is any of that important?"

She shook her head. "Not at all... So what made you want to become a hunter? And why choose this hunter's association out of all of them?"

"I got an invitation from Sir Lurock," he answered. Sir Lurock was the guild's boss.

She made an expression of understanding and said, "I see, I see. Do I have permission to see your level? It's needed to gauge what squad you should be assigned too."

Sariel half-smiled. "I would say no, but..."

She smiled back. "It's a requirement. Asking is just a courtesy."

"You'll be disappointed."

"Don't worry. Most start at level 1."

Her eyes glowed red, and then...

You don't have permission to observe this soul.

"Oh, that's... How... the... That's interesting," she mumbled, trying to maintain her professionalism. But it was obvious she was unnerved.

Not only was it impossible to read his soul, but he and the person also heard that strange voice in their head—a voice that sounded like a woman of high standing, like an empress looking down on peasants. Or perhaps a goddess.

Sariel was accustomed to it and to the disgusted reactions that came afterward, as if he wasn't human, but a monster pretending to be one.

But he was human—just an unlucky one.

"I'm level 5, though," he said.

She nodded. The interview went quickly, and when it was over, he was sent to the back of the room where a white box took a picture of his face.

In less than an hour, he had a Silverback Hunter's license and was given the standard-issued weapons and uniform.

It was just a cape, with a design of a white bear with metallic-organic shells on its back, and a ground trap symbol beneath it.

He wasn't a fan of bows and arrows, so he chose the mace and shield.

He felt somewhat happy. He might be able to buy something good to eat today. And eventually, he would be able to rent a house.

His dreams were simple, but he liked them. He had other dreams, of course—grander goals. But they were unrealistic. He had given up on them.

Sariel made his way to the main hall and went to the hunting schedule. Each hunting squad had a list of tasks they were supposed to complete by a certain date.

Because Sariel was new, he was assigned to a newbie squad, 'Tak45.' Their first task was to bring in 50 blue-horned deer by the end of the month, a job located near the front of the forest.

His squadmates were Dandy, Meil, and Randy.

They were standing near the schedule, looking at it with determined eyes. Dandy looked around and saw the three of them examining the same schedule.

He was appointed as the squad leader and, unlike them, wasn't a complete newbie—he had three months of experience.

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"Hi. My name is Dandy," he said. "I'm guessing you're Sariel, Meil, and Randy?"

Sariel nodded. "Yeah, I'm Sariel."

Randy, the only other guy, muttered, "Such a weird name."

Sariel ignored the comment.

At least they weren't sure of his identity. A lot of people had heard of him, but few knew what he looked like.

The woman with shoulder-length black hair said, "I'm Meil."

Dandy nodded. "Cool, cool. So what made you guys decide to become hunters?"

Meil said, "Uh... Sir Lurock recruited me."

Randy replied, "Same. I didn't have a job before, so this is good for me. My mom will stop telling me to get work, at least."

"Yeah, he's a good man," Dandy said.

Sariel remained silent, not joining in the praise of Lurock.

Dandy nodded. "And you, Sariel?"

"I need money," Sariel said bluntly.

Dandy smiled. "Good, good. Anyway, instead of all this boring talking, how about we head out of the city walls and go hunt some deer, huh?"

Randy smiled. "Can we kill extra ones? For the level-ups."

Dandy shrugged. "Do as you please. Just know that those deer won't be easy to kill. They'll be trying just as hard to kill you."

"Don't worry. I'll make it look easy," Randy said.

"That's the spirit!" Dandy replied. "Let's go!"

The squad left the building and made their way to the city's gate. The Silverback Hunter's Association was built close to the gate, so they didn't need to take a taxi.

Above them, a great number of crows flew over the city and beyond the walls.

Not a single day went by without seeing a crow flying high or resting somewhere.

The streets were busy, with carriages passing by, people chatting, and children heading to school.

Soon, they reached the concrete walls, which stood incredibly tall, about 25 meters high. At the top, guards kept watch, wearing uniforms similar to those of the ground guards: long black hooded cloaks.

On the back of their cloaks was a symbol of four interlocking scythes, each a different color: pink, blue, white, and green.

Sariel wasn't sure what the symbol meant; he had never cared enough to ask. All he knew was that only Slayers wore it—the true combat force.

Dandy pulled out his license, and the other three followed suit. "We're beast hunters," he said.

To leave the city, one often had to pay a fee—unless you were a hunter, a Slayer, part of a ruling clan, or a member of a noble family.

The guard checked their three licenses and then turned to Sariel. He looked at Sariel with hostility as he snatched the license from his hands.

He inspected it thoroughly before handing it back. The gates opened, and they stepped outside.

Many of the city gate guards glanced at Sariel with disgust or contempt.

The reason was simple: the voice they heard when they tried to soul-read him.

Before coming here, Sariel had been lost and had nowhere to go.

A trio of Slayers had found him, and after a discussion among themselves, decided to bring him here. However, when one of the gate guards tried to soul-read him, things went south.

If it hadn't been for the trio, he would be dead.

Meil noticed the looks Sariel was getting and asked, "What did you do to piss so many of them off?"

"Nothing," Sariel replied.

They began walking toward the forest in the distance.

The sun blazed overhead, and the walk soon became draining. Meil took a flask of water from her bag and began to drink. "I should have brought something to shield me from this hellish heat..."

Randy muttered, "Same."

Dandy was sweating too, but he tried to look confident. "Come on, this heat is nothing!"

It was an act, but as the leader, he had to appear the most resilient.

Sariel wiped the sweat from his face as he walked silently. The heat was bad, but not unbearable.

They were getting closer to the massive trees. The sound of wood being chopped could be heard, indicating they were near.

Once they entered the forest, they were shaded from the sun. Randy and Meil sat on the ground, taking a brief rest.

Sariel leaned against a tree. Dandy looked around and said, "Let's move again. Blue-horned deer like dust flowers, and we're getting close."

"Just... a second," Randy said, taking deep breaths.

Sariel readied his mace. "Ready."

Three of them moved forward, and Randy got up to follow. "Come on, man..."

They walked for a while before spotting a deer eating a brown flower. With every bite, the petals crumbled into blue dust that floated in the air.

Dandy said, "Okay, kill it. We’re not going back until we get 10."

"Ten?" Sariel asked, confused. "I thought we were supposed to bring a total of 50 by the end of the month. Why rush?"

"Because it would look better, obviously. They promote the promising ones. It’s about time I moved to a Tier 1 squad instead of this newbie group. So hurry up."

Sariel squinted. "Wait, so you’re not going to hunt too?"

"I'm training you guys. Why would I...?"

Meil bit her lip and said, "Okay..."

Randy scoffed, stepping forward with an axe. "That's sad for you. I'll be more than happy to gain the levels in your stead."

"Hm... about that. I'll be taking eight of the deer soul spheres."

"Eight?! That's barely leaving any for us!"

"Oh, please. Two is plenty. I need the levels the most. Once I get to level 16, you can absorb as many soul spheres as you like. All squad leaders do this with newbies. I’m not doing anything new. It's not that deep. So, get to work."

Sariel sighed. Everyone in this world seemed twisted to the core. Almost everyone.

He started walking on his own. "I see."

He had no interest in helping this guy get stronger.

Sariel eyed the deer for a moment, then dashed toward it. Randy and Meil gave chase as well.

The deer looked up at them, and Sariel's eyes widened in surprise.

He stopped running.

"Hey, this deer is very dangerous," Sariel quickly warned the others.

Randy ignored him. "Whatever, pussy!"

To them, Sariel was just saying empty words. The deer's expression hadn't changed since it was eating the flowers. Nothing seemed unusual, except that it was looking right at them.

Suddenly, the deer bolted toward Randy. He had expected it to cower and run away, so the turn of events shocked him.

The deer struck him in the chest, throwing him into the air.

If its horns had been angled lower, his lungs would have been pierced.

Sariel didn’t intend to run away; he just didn’t want to be its first target.

He swung his mace, hitting the deer on the side of its head with all his might.

It squealed and tried to move toward him, but he struck it again, disorienting it.

Another strike, then another, and it dropped. Being level 5 instead of level 2 or 1, like Randy and Meil, had its advantages.

A ball of purple-reddish energy lifted from the deer. Before Dandy could say anything, Sariel grabbed the soul sphere.

It became a stream of energy as it entered his nose.

The energy moved about his body, making it stronger.

Level 6.

Dandy and Sariel stared at each other, ignoring the groaning, bleeding Randy. His injury wasn't going to be fatal.

Sariel asked, "Was my performance good?"

Dandy could see the defiance in the boy's eyes and replied, "It was excellent."

Sariel was going to be an annoying one to deal with, but that didn't mean Dandy had to lose his composure. After all, he’d given them permission for two soul spheres.