Chapter 179 - 179. Hunt
Noah came out of the Hunters' guild and found Ivor quietly waiting for him.
He didn't enter the second floor.
Since he still had to deliver his first monthly quote, he had no discounts on the materials so he decided to complete a hunt before entering there.
"So?"
Ivor asked seeing him come out.
"I've registered for a hunt, let's find an accommodation now."
He had signed for a danger zone mainly populated by Swamp lizards and, as their name suggested, their location was inside a wide swamp in Mellow forest.
It was about five hundred kilometers away from the Royal city, not too far away, and there was only another hunter signed for that same area.
Rank 3 Swamp lizards' bodies were valued thirty-five Credits if they were intact, quite a good price for a rank 3 beast, yet most of the hunters were scared by the presence of rank 4 specimens in the swamp to go there.
If an area had rank 4 magical beasts in its environment, it would be branded as a danger zone so to warn those that wanted to cross it.
However, Noah wasn't scared of their presence.
'Even if I'm not able to kill them, that doesn't mean that I have to fear them!'
Those were his thoughts when he signed for the hunting area.
The reason was simple: none of the dangerous beasts in that environment could fly.
Also, his power had greatly increased since the last time he faced a rank 4 beast, if there was the chance, he would gladly test the limits of his new strength.
"Where to?"
"Somewhere near the West gate, the rents should be more affordable there."
Since the gates were the farthest places from the center of the capital, the concentration of "Breath" was on a normal level.
Nevertheless, Noah had to simply drop Ivor there while he did his mission, there was no reason to spend more for something that he didn't use.
They requested for a carriage in one of the gathering spots and traveled for one day to reach the West gate area.
The situation was the same as the other gate, with transport businesses crowding the main street.
They found a plain-looking building, renting rooms for five hundred Credits per month.
The room was simple, twenty square meters wide with only a bed in it but it was more than enough for Ivor.
"Here, I want you to sell these while I'm away."
Noah handed the casket containing the seven Moon needles together with two thousand Credits to Ivor.
"Why don't you simply take the test and become accepted as a beginner inscription master?"
Noah shook his head.
"My element must remain hidden, if you don't want me to disappear, take care of this."
Ivor saw the stern expression of his student and nodded, taking the casket and the Credits in his hands.
"Try to gain something from that, I don't want to come back and find out that you spent everything in wine."
He reminded him before stepping out of the room and exiting the city.
'Finally alone.'
As he exited through the West gate and the vast prairie appeared in his line of sight, he felt like an enormous burden had been lifted off his shoulders.
Most of the time, Ivor was a weight and, in the area of the academy, he always felt like he was under strict observation.
Now that he was off for a long mission, he felt like he regained some of the freedom that he had obtained when he escaped from Eccentric Thunder's dimension.
'She must have decided to go there by now, I don't believe she can resist the temptation of a complete inheritance with her character.'
He smiled a little thinking about Eccentric Thunder and June.
He knew that if it wasn't for that fortuitous encounter, most of his current achievements would have been impossible.
'I can't slack off either. I wonder if I'll meet Doris once I reach the swamp.'
Doris was the other hunter signed for Mellow forest.
'I hope she won't cause trouble for me. Well, I'm not in the academy anymore.'
As he thought of that, his eyes focused on a spot in the distance and his aura intensified, some of the magical beasts nearby cried due to the fear that Noah's coldness caused them.
Then he jumped ahead, shooting at high speed in the distance.
Five hundred kilometers weren't a big distance for a cultivator with a rank 3 body but Noah still took three days to cross them.
He followed the general directions of the map on the first floor and, in the end, he reached Mellow forest.
It could have taken less but he still decided to take many breaks to continue to train.
Even if the concentration of "Breath" was nowhere near the one of the academy, he still didn't want to completely stop his improvements.
Also, the training with the third Kesier rune didn't depend on the density of "Breath", so the enlargement of his mental sphere continued at a normal pace.
'Now, the swamp should be in the northern area of the forest.'
Noah didn't waste time and wielded his sabers as he entered the wood.
The daylight illuminated the uncovered spots below the trees and the environment was wet, that area seemed subject to frequent rains.
A black figure jumped from branch to branch toward the more humid part of the forest.
Noah had resumed his habit to move using the branches of the trees and he used his mental energy to scan his surroundings.
From time to time, a sound inaudible by humans was released from his back, Echo scanned the area around him looking for magical beasts.
Yet, with the exception of a few rank 1 creatures, Noah didn't find anything valuable.
'So much for a danger zone, even a kid could survive here.'
He didn't meet any danger in his few hours of exploration and the swamp area was getting closer.
'Maybe the other beasts were eaten for the birth of rank 4 specimens.'
Noah ran for half a day before finding the first rank 3 creature.
It was a Poisonous toad, one meter tall and with yellow eyes.
However, it was deeply injured with cuts all over its body and missing a leg.
It was frantically trying to run away from the direction where Noah was going to but its pitiful state made its movements extremely slow and clumsy.
Noah jumped on it and directly severed its head before inspecting its body.