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Chapter 22: Specter hunting III

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Val made his way to the largest building in the area, a lively grey building that could elude one from what it is for.

He noticed the different clothing of the seekers here. Most were adorned in light clothes like robes and simple outfits, and only some were wearing armors.

He was sure that if he were to compare this to the monster hunters association, he would find a massive difference. After all, they specialize in different fields. That requires entirely different things.

However, something agreed upon by all is that the trickiest to deal with are always specter hunters.

Specter hunters deal with bizarre entities, and they require ample preparations, so if you give them time to prepare, be ready to suffer the consequences.

The difficulty of the hunt makes it so that their numbers are nowhere as large as monster and beast hunters.

As expected, the air was gloomy in the entire area and only gloomier within the grey building.

Most specter hunters were donning a grey cape with a hood hiding most of their faces. The cape had a white S symbol carefully designed with runic symbols.

Val was an anomaly in their midst, so naturally, most of them paid attention to him as he walked towards one of the front desk clerks. He like everyone else pulled the hood of his coat, hiding a portion of his face.

However, violence isn't allowed in towns and cities. No matter who the person is, they'll be hunted till capture or death. All they could do is observe the newcomer.

Val found himself faced with a short pale old man. His face was cold as he eyed him and asked, "What do you need?"

Social statues aren't supposed to work here. It's supposed to be an equal ground for the hunters of the dark, though it's safe to assume that corruption flows everywhere.

Val's father claims to be a 'great father' thus wants his son to stay out of corruption and become a specter hunter through sheer effort.

The clerk assumed the young man before he is of a high statue from the clues on him, the sword being the most prominent example.

The gemstone on it appears to be valuable though there is no obvious way to detect if it's an actual noble artifact, many however assumed that it's an entity's core, something quite valuable.

"I'd like to apply to be a specter hunter." Val calmly responded while still observing his surroundings, noticing the lack of people in the area as he could roughly estimate that there are no more than three hundred seekers throughout the seeker district, and only a hundred of them were within the establishment.

The old man nodded and picked up a piece of paper from the stack and handed it to him, "Fill the form, and take your time."

Val nodded and took the form, then walked towards one of the empty tables in the hall. There weren't many things to fill in the form, and Val didn't find anything in it that he needs to lie about.

He wrote his name, the year of birth, the location of birth, and a few other minuscule information.

Some of those were optional, but there was one that's mandatory to a strange degree.

A question that's answered with a simple yes or no. It's whether the applicant is a seeker or not. Lying would lead to immediate execution.

Whether monster, beast, or specter hunters, they all don't necessarily require one to be a seeker. As long as the applicant completes the test, they can join no matter what.

After that, Val handed the clerk the form. The latter took it and looked through with a frown surfacing on his face and his body visibly tensed.

He did get his bearing back after a moment as he said, "You'll need to wait for a few minutes. Is that okay with you?"

Val nodded at him. His face still has his usual faint smile as he observed human psychology in play.

The Helious family is one of the three great families known throughout the kingdom.

The clerk naturally knows of it, and when he saw his name, his body acted on its own despite the association's rules. Equality was thrown out of the window.

Val walked back to his empty table and sat down with his legs crossed. He then rested his hand on the hilt of his rapier.

'They say that there is a state where one can become one with their weapon as if an extension of their own arm.

But one needs to have contact with their weapon at all times for that to be possible. I tried replicating that, but I didn't even come close to feeling anything.'

Val gave a glance at his sword and thought back about the fact that it didn't work with his bow either.

'I guess it's just not for me. Weapons are tools for a purpose. They're also art but becoming one with them is kinda... Perhaps I just don't like the phrasing of the state, thus I unconsciously reject it?

Anyway, it doesn't matter. The state doesn't in any way affect one's path to mastery. I can become a grandmaster without it. Moreover...'

His thoughts were interrupted by the uninvited guests that took the vacant seats around the table, despite the few empty tables remaining in the hall.

The person who appeared to be their leader took a seat, a comfortable position with his legs wide open like he owns the place.

Val heard the excitement in the man's words, making him realize that it's just the man's way of behavior.

"You're new, right?! Join our group!" The excitement and hope in his voice were apparent to all. Val could even detect urgency.

"Ouch!! Why?" Directly after that, the man hissed in pain and turned his head to the person next to him, a bit more timid than his previous expression.

The group had four people in it, two of which were women, and the other two were men. The group's structure became clear once he noticed the woman stomping on his feet as discreetly as possible.

"Calm down and behave respectfully." The woman spoke coldly before returning to her original silence.

In contrast to his casualness, she appears to care more for appearances as she kept herself in utmost elegance.

That calmed the man's excitement as he coughed in embarrassment and turned his attention to Val.

"Sorry about that, I lost myself a bit there. Anyway, if you don't mind, how about joining our group? We can help each other in passing the test."

The man then waited for Val's answer while the latter seemed thoughtful, so he added, "If you're wondering, there are no rules that forbid collaboration, but we still have to complete a contract for each applicant. Moreover..."

"I know. I'm thinking." Val interrupted him and continued with his bizarre thought process.

'I'm inclined to agree, they could be good meat shields, and their leader seems susceptible to manipulation. Well, the lady already has him in her fingers but with good intent.'

He was looking a bit down with only his mouth being apparent to the bunch. All they could see is his gentle smile as he thought of how to entertain himself, becoming even more convinced to join.

Even when one becomes a specter hunter and is given the grey cloak, they're still in the testing period, and their every action and achievement helps in the test result... All for the black cloak.

At the end of the day, wits were valued more than power in such a dangerous and obscure field, so one can use anything to their advantage. All that matters is completing the contract.

"I'm inclined to agree, but we should talk more later." Val finally gave a response, and it wasn't a no. That made the man let a sigh of relief.

The woman next to him seemed to agree as she nodded and coldly spoke, "I also agree. We should talk further before making a decision, lest we regret it later... No offense to you."

"None taken. We shall meet at the Inn am staying in tomorrow morning, bright Ices." Val directly stood up after that and walked up to the clerk who has been waiting for a little while.

"Please follow me." The old man respectfully said before heading towards one of the rooms, side of the hall.

He led him to a large table fixed on the wall with numerous papers attached to it, those are all contracts for suspected specter occurrences.

The specter hunters' task is to investigate and send back information before exterminating the specter if possible.

"You can choose any contract from these, and choose wisely because some are harder than others."

Val gave a rough look at the contracts, seeking to see if anything picks his interest before turning his attention to the old man.

He brought a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to the old man, "This is my task. You should understand what that means, so just finish all the procedures."

The old man nodded, knowing that the powerful and the rich pick tasks either harder or easier for their own people. Most often than not, it's the latter.

As the man looked through the contract, he found himself speechless. He knows the reputation of the bloody general, but he didn't expect him to be so ruthless against his son... If only he knew.