Chapter 7

Gluttonous Company

Thrednesday morning, 24th day of the 11th Moon, year 659.

After a long talk with Hroar, Bellamy began his journey out of the capital. It was Hroar who had offered Bellamy a source of income when no one else would. Who would hire a 16-year-old without an Expertise Diploma? A Diploma was required in most lines of work, graded into three levels: Intermediate Expertise, Advanced Expertise, and Master Expertise, each education requiring two, three, and five years, respectively. It was a necessity to undergo a formal higher education in order to get a proper job.

For instance, the shops in large cities like Farinmore would usually hire employees with at least Advanced Expertise within a field. Such employees, like the assistant in The Hidden Element, were commonplace. To become a manager, one would normally be expected to have a Master Expertise Diploma, in addition to several years of field experience, unless, of course, you derived from a noble lineage.

Previously, Bellamy had decided to enter an elemental blacksmithing academy under the Advanced Diploma. After a conversation with Hroar, revealing that he had become an Awakener, Bellamy left his resignation letter. Hroar perceived the resignation commendably and was happy on Bellamy's behalf. Yet, Bellamy promised to visit whenever he was free. It was a sense of duty rather than an obligation. When none of the local shops and businesses would hire Bellamy, Hroar took him under his wing, teaching him many useful blacksmithing crafts and various equipment market prices. This sort of knowledge would surely become helpful to him as a fledgling Hunter.

...

The weather was colder outside of Farinmore. The city climate and the climate in nearby towns and villages were of two different natures. Although Bellamy had only traveled by foot for a couple of hours, the temperature had dropped significantly. The morose weather would often remind Bellamy of the day of his parents' disappearance. Most leaves decorated the grounds instead of their branches. Bellamy, in a sense, was the tree, and his parents, the fallen leaves. A strong breeze blew by as Bellamy traversed the main road toward Golan, a medium-sized town north-east of Farinmore.

It was after careful consideration that Bellamy had decided to start his monster-hunting adventure near Golan. The locals would sometimes travel to Farinmore and other large cities to post help-wanted parchments to ask for assistance on smaller tasks. Lately, there had been numerous requests from Golan-locals beseeching Adventurers and Hunters to drive off low-leveled monsters.

If monster inhabitation grew out of control, such requests were usually unnecessary as various large guilds would be alerted. Voicetronias, magically enhanced communication devices, had already become a daily necessity, and every household would own one because of its affordable price. Hence, most of the densely populated areas in Thorsheim had no difficulty keeping the monster population notably maintainable. Rather, the villages and the smaller towns suffered the most from monster raids and incursions.

Bellamy glanced at the requests he had accepted as he opened his Soul Window, and a few quests emerged.

[Quest: Kill 10 Mutated Rats]

[Quest difficulty: Bronze+]

[Quest information:

Mutated Rats have been ravaging Golan's farms. Help the population by eliminating the threat. Repeatable quest. 84 rewards remaining.]

[Reward: 20 silver.]

[Quest: Kill 8 Goblin Warriors & 2 Goblin Shamans]

[Quest difficulty: Bronze++]

[Quest information:

Goblins have been pillaging Golan's farms and stealing their livestock. Help the population by eliminating the threat. Repeatable quest. 31 rewards remaining.]

[Reward: 70 silver, 1 piece of Warrior beginner's equipment.]

[System warning! Your hunter level is inadequate in contrast to the quest difficulty. Leveling up is recommended.]

[Quest: Durim's Necklace]

[Quest difficulty: ???]

[Quest information:

Durim's necklace is missing. He remembers last wearing his necklace in an outing near Tehemena Falls north of Golan. Unique quest.]

[Reward: 20 gold, Surge Lv1 Skill book, 5 Health Potions Lv2, 3 Mana Potions Lv2, 1 Restore Potion Lv1]

[System warning! Quest difficulty is obscure. Caution advised.]

The two first Quests were repeatable. It was Bellamy's opportunity to farm some Experience and Level up; the wait was long overdue. The last Quest was something Bellamy had accepted on a whim. He was unsure whether it would be clearable, but Bellamy kept it in his Soul Window, hoping that he was not biting off more than he could chew.

When a Unique Quest appears, the first person to clear it will receive the reward. Once the Quest clears, it will not reset. Such Quests were usually a Hunter-Party challenge, and it was ill-advised to try and solo clear them. A cold feeling crept up his neck as he sneezed.

"A-atchoo!"

To avoid wary eyes and for discretion purposes, Bellamy decided not to use Soulseeker. He would only bring it out in the case of a crisis. The only equipment he wore were common adventurer equipment such as Crude Iron Sword, Worn Cuirass, Worn Leather Pants, and Casual Work Boots. On top of that, Bellamy chose to wear the Multi-Purpose Cloak for the stat bonuses and the additional Skill options.

Slash.

"Kriee!"

Stab, stab.

Slash!

"Sqweee!"

A handful of Mutated Rats fell at Bellamy's feet. The Soul Window designated the Mutated Rats as Level 2 Common monsters. It would be dangerous if ordinary Thraeans went up against these monsters alone, but experienced Adventurers could hunt these monsters singlehandedly with ease—not to mention Hunters.

After repeating the Mutated Rats quest 12 times, killing 120 rats, Bellamy earned a considerable amount of Experience. With the innate +45 Defense from Multi-Purpose Cloak, in addition to the +15 to Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wisdom, there were several easy ways to kill the rats. Bellamy opted to use the most efficient method he knew—tank the damage and swiftly strike them down, ignoring incoming non-lethal attacks. The high Defense from his Cloak alone offset more than 70% of the rats' Physical Attack power. As long as his vital areas were protected, he could avoid getting critically hit.

There was only one instance where the situation had become somewhat dire. Five Mutated Rats had swarmed Bellamy at once, making him lose 60% of his total Health points. Each strike against him was minor, and Pinnacle of Retribution had never triggered, so he chose to activate Judgment. The disadvantage of Judgment was the cooldown time. He was careful and became invested in not aggroing too many rats simultaneously. With high Mana costs Skills, he forced himself into melee combat and chose to use his Mana sparingly. A slow Experience grind was expected, but every 3 hours, Bellamy entered a lethal killing-spree after activating Judgment for 20 seconds.

Even though Bellamy's Wisdom was on a whole new level than before his Awakening, there were plenty of things he did not know about real-life combat. The targeted rats were the size and had the shape of cats or small dogs. But he only had experience dealing with humanoid opponents. He would often get into petty fights against bullies and nobility in his early school years, especially against those he deemed exceedingly arrogant or picked on the weak. He had finally experienced the taste of two completely different fruits. He became warier and realized that fighting humanoids and fighting non-humanoid species were not the same two peas in a pod.

To alleviate pressure from the rat-hunting, Bellamy decided to summon his pet in the latter half of the day. Most of his consumable potions were spent, so it was an excellent opportunity to familiarize himself with his Wood Sprite—a Support-type pet. His Wood Sprite Lv1 could cast Heal Lv1 and offered Buff Skills such as Resilience Lv1 that gave Stamina +8, and Strengthen Lv1 gave Strength +8. Since his Strength attribute had no direct amplifiers from any of his currently equipped items or Titles, Strengthen Lv1 became a massive contribution to the increase in his Physical Attack power. The Mutated Rats normally withstood five to seven hits before dying. With Strengthen Lv1, the rats died in three to four hits with the Crude Iron Sword.

Each Heal Lv1 the Wood Sprite cast would heal his Health points by 30%. Since Bellamy rarely dropped below 70% of his maximum Health points, his Health gauge would remain full. The troublesome part was that the pesky little thing rarely paid attention to his fights, as it wandered off and flew around jestingly, and direct orders had to be used consistently. Another troublesome part was that the Wood Sprite would run out of Mana and required rest often. Bellamy also realized that he needed to increase the Pet Loyalty that was currently at 3/100.

"Say, little one, do you have a name?" Bellamy inquired.

Woosh!

Crash!

The Wood Sprite had slightly miscalculated its flight path and speed, banging his face into

Bellamy's metal Cuirass. Chickens appeared above its head.

"Woawoo! Blelelele…" the Wood Sprite shock its oversized head and continued, "Young Master has not given me a new name. Young Master meanie."

[Your pet is starting to dislike you. Pet Loyalty has decreased by -1.]

Huh? This little brat.

He considered slapping Luny's face off.

"Erhm," Bellamy was silent for a moment. "Luny. Your name from now on is Luny. How does it sound?"

The Sprite's eyes sparkled with joy as the chickens above its head slowly disappeared.

"Thank you, Young Master!"

[Your pet, Luny, likes his new name. Pet Loyalty has increased by +2.]

What?!

This is crazy, Bellamy realized.

"Growl."

"Grooowl..."

Two rumbling stomachs introduced themselves.

[Your pet is hungry. Pet Loyalty has decreased by -1.]

!

"Hey! I'm hungry too, you know!" Bellamy stressed. "Let's grab dinner."

[Your pet likes dinner. Pet Loyalty has increased by +1.]

Bellamy was no longer surprised by the stupid System notifications.

"Say, what do you normally eat, Luny?"

"Luny likes steaks!" Luny grinned. "Weee! Will Young Master buy steak for Luny?"

!!

Its eyes sparkled even brighter.

Damnit.

Bellamy decided to end his Questing for the day. He had leveled up thrice and was now level 3. Luny also made significant progress and had reached Level 2 and learned a new Skill. The effort from a single day's hunt was tremendous, but the Experience gained had also gradually diminished as their Levels rose. Bellamy, accompanied by Luny, headed toward Golan with growling stomachs. It had become a tummy noise competition between the two. To his surmise, the silvers earned today would be spent into Luny's belly.