I never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever want to use lightning magics again. Ever.

Just because it's been mentioned to me several times, I decided to spend yesterday and today getting spells up to Level 10. It was also a break from all the hunting I've been doing lately, and Thomas even convinced Colt to try. He didn't try very hard, Colt was more interested in playing with his friends, since they showed up both times.

Well, they came with him today. They showed up while Thomas was giving me my first math lesson yesterday.

After I stopped training today today, Thomas suggested I work on my lightning spells as well. He even taught me 'sheathe spells', which is where I wrap a weapon with the element. I can even use them on my body. It didn't feel like I had a choice in working on my lightning magics, not with the way Thomas was suggesting it.

It was horrible. The static spells were okay, but the ones that created actual lightning – even if there weren't any booms because they were too slow – terrified me. A lot. Thomas kept pushing me, saying things like 'you can do it' and 'just a little more, Max', and I hate it.

Thankfully, Lady Elise showed up to talk with Colt, saw what was going on, and then started yelling at Thomas. Like, actually yelling at him. I didn't know princesses could yell. While she was doing that, I slipped my tunic, vest, belt, and pack back on and slipped away into the forest.

It takes me awhile to calm down. I really, really don't want to use lightning magic again. It terrifies me too much. The shock version of lightning magic is acceptable, but I never want to use other lightning magic again. Never, ever, ever.

At least Lady Elise respects my fear of lightning.

I manage to calm down from the forced training session before reaching my destination, an area a named monster is said to frequent. This one isn't a goblin, though I have one of those in my plans. It probably won't be right now, though, as I want to kill this and turn it in.

This particular monster lives a little closer to the valley than the named goblins I learned about normally go. It's caused some newer fighters trouble recently, and killed a group of five Level 15 single-affinities just a few days ago.

Making sure the newbies are safe is more important than hunting down a named goblin that lives further in. If the new hunters and adventurers aren't safe, then they won't be gaining Levels as much. That will reduce the kingdom's overall strength as other people die off. So it's important to clean up this area first.

If I still have time after turning in this hunt, I'll track down the goblin on my schedule, as long as no one else has already done so.

Now, how to find this-

"KEITH!" A youngish voice calls out. "NO!"

More yelling occurs, and I take off in that direction. In seconds, I've found the group – and the named monster.

The monster itself is some sort of wolf. It's larger than other wolf monsters I've fought, and this one has three tails. Its fur is blue-grey, though there are a few silver streaks in it. A straight horn with a spiral pattern, yellow-grey in color, pokes out of the top of its head a little forward of its ears. The beast's eyes are silver, and there's a scar over the left one from an attack by another person who sought the bounty on it.

Though this is a named monster with a lot of power behind it, it's not from another area. The wolf monster simply became powerful enough to become a threat, and is smart enough to avoid getting caught by someone strong enough to kill it.

That changes now.

Its current target is a group of five men who look around seventeen or eighteen years of age. They're dressed pretty nicely, though their clothes are ruined from the battle. At a guess, I'd say they're all either children of nobles or merchants, considering they all have magic items.

One of them is on the ground, backed all the way up against a tree with fear in his eyes. Eye. His left eye has blood covering it, so he's probably blinded right now. From the looks of the injury, the eye itself was injured.

The reason he has terror in his gaze is because the wolf beast is bearing down on him. One of the other young men charges at the beast. He has a sword with a reddish-orange crystal on both sides of the crosspiece and another in the pommel, as well as one on each end of the hilt. Reddish-orange runes are set onto the fuller of the blade.

As he charges forward, flames form around the blade, a use of [Flame Sheathe]. I don't even need to be able to sense Mana and magic to know he's too weak. Though he can use [Flame Sheathe], the flames don't fully-coat the blade, only half-coat it. Besides, the wolf has no injuries at all despite all of the young men being wounded.

That alone is a sign they're pathetically weak compared to the monster before them.

The swordsman charges forward and tries to slash the wolf beast, which reacts immediately by jumping to the side and twisting. Two of the others shoot spells at it, bolts of green-tinted [Air Bolt]s and light grey [Stone Bolt]s. They simply break against the wolf beast's pelt as it snarls, then charges toward the swordsman, who attempts to stab it in the eye.

He misses. I knew he was going to miss even before he tried, the wolf beast is too smart and fast for that. It twisted to the side and grabbed his right arm, clamping down with its jaws. When he cries out in pain, I recognize his voice as the one who yelled about Keith.

Would that be the guy on the ground? The guy lacks any weapons, but he does have a staff with a yellowish-white crystal. A staff focused on light magics. I'd say he's the party's healer, and the wolf beast is smart enough to target that.

I'm going to do something I've been wanting to do for awhile now. I already know how to manipulate the air to create sounds, it's used in my [Flashbang Bomb]s and [Screaming Light]. This is just a more basic application of it. Or more advanced, depending on how someone sees it.

"Enough."

My voice reverberates through the air, filling it almost like thunder. The ground shakes a little, leaves rustle from the force, and the entire battle comes to a halt.

[Amplify Sound] Learned! [Amplify Voice] Learned!

I guess I skipped a step, there. Well, I was already experienced enough with the sound form of air magics, so it makes sense I could go straight to amplifying my voice.

The wolf beast releases the swordsman and looks at me as the five hunters do as well.

"Y-y-you!" The swordsman points at me with his left hand, his sword forgotten on the ground. "You control this beast! I'll have you-"

"I will give you one chance," I firmly say, my gaze fixed on the wolf. "Leave now and never bother this area again. Refuse, and I will eliminate you."

The wolf snarls, then charges forward. A pair of [Stone Bolt]s with pointed tips form in the air as it charges, shooting at me. A simple gesture from me, and a violet-tinted [Air Barrier] forms in front of me, a pair of violet-tinted [Air Bolt]s shooting the monster's own spells out of the air. They're obliterated into dust.

From the reports, the beast has around 300 Magic and only around 350 Strength and Constitution or so. It's not absurdly powerful, but it's still strong for this area. If I didn't hunt it down today, someone else would no doubt take it out tomorrow.

It crashes into my barrier, which holds firm.

"Then perish," I calmly state.

I release my [Air Barrier], step forward and grab the wolf before it can move, and twist, slamming its head into the ground with enough force to crush its skull.

+0.01% Experience!

Oh? I actually gained Experience from this? I was expecting to gain none. My reason for going after it was both to sell its body for parts and because it's been causing trouble to weaker people. Lord Trenton mentioned to me when we were discussing it that if no one took up the bounty today, he was going to ask one of the stronger members of his guild to go after it.

I suppose it makes sense that it would take a few days for someone to come after it. Someone with only one affinity, and with one of the basic four elements, would have to be around Level 115 or so to even hurt this thing. There are only six Rankers in the entire kingdom.

Lord Trenton, our king, our queen, Alphonse, Henry, and one person who Lord Trenton wouldn't reveal to me. He also asked me not to tell anyone about the queen being a Ranker, it's apparently a secret. Not as much as the identity of the sixth, apparently.

"Hyup!" I lift up the corpse of the wolf beast, setting it on an [Air Barrier] I created for it.

"Hey!" The swordsman exclaims. "That's our kill!"

He's clearly hurting from the wolf's last attack, yet he's going to try to convince me into giving him my kill? A kill he did nothing at all against? This guy is stupider than stupid could ever be. Rather than attempting to claim a kill he has no credit for, he should worry about his arm. I'm guessing his healer isn't powerful enough to heal it, so he'll have to pay a pretty coin for a proper healer to do so.

"No, it's not," I look at him, making sure I'm as clear as possible. "You weren't even able to hurt it. I'm betting you didn't get any Experience from it at all. If you want to lay claim to its kill, you can try, but I'm likely going to get the full bounty reward when I turn it in. If that's the case, then you truly did nothing against it."

"No one will believe you," he says. "You're just some kid. I'm the son of-"

"I crushed this wolf's skull by slamming it into the ground," I state. "I destroyed its [Stone Bolt]s, turning them to dust. I conjured an [Air Barrier] that stopped it without wavering. Ya can try to lay claim to my kill, but no one important will believe ya. Especially not when they learn ya are going up against a thirteen-year-old with a Title and the claim of having killed Na'Maerul to his name."

"Killing who?"

"Ask whoever ya were about to say was your father," I tell him. "And if ya really want to lay claim to it, then get someone like the king to come to the Violet Shield Guild. Ya should really take care of your injuries, first. Especially your healer's, he seems like he's close to death."

This group isn't important to me, so I'm not going to bother healing them. Especially not after their leader made it clear he wants to claim a kill he couldn't even help with.

I leave the group, ignoring the protests of the group and their promise to challenge my claim. Using my higher speed, I bolt through the forest, making my way back to the valley before I slow down.

Thomas and Colt are at the boulder, and they both give me curious looks when I arrive. Colt's friends are all here, too, though they're sitting in a circle, talking.

"You were barely gone for an hour and a half," Colt tells me. "You normally hunt until sundown."

"I went after a bounty beast," I inform him. "And found it sooner than I expected."

"Max," Thomas says. "I'd like to apologize for earlier. I knew you were terrified of lightning, but since you were using it, thought maybe you were trying to push past it. It wasn't until Lady Elise and I spoke-" interesting way to say that she was yelling at you. "-that I realized you were feeling like I was forcing you into it. My words were meant to be encouraging to you, that is all. So again, I apologize deeply for that."

He seems sincere, but it could just be an attempt at mending things so that I'm not angry at him and viewing him as a potential enemy.

"Okay."

"You killed that pretty well," Colt says. "I don't see any injuries at all!"

"I smashed its head into the ground."

"I see that now," he says, head tilted to the side. "Its face is all smashed in on that side."

"It's too weak for me," I say.

"I think I remember hearing about that," Thomas says. "Trenton was probably going to directly ask someone in the next few days if it wasn't dealt with."

"He was planning on doing it tomorrow."

"Okay," Thomas says. "Will you be returning to the hunts after you deal with that? I know it can take awhile, since you're now part of your own guild and will need to handle finding a buyer yourself. Even with time left, it might still take you awhile."

"No, I's be fine," I tell him. "The Violet Shield Guild has a cooperative relationship with the Spear of the Forest Guild. I can sell the stuff to them and claim the bounty there."

Though I'm not from their guild, the cooperative agreement means the fee I pay to them is lower. Lord Trenton agreed to it so that I don't have to worry as much while getting my guild set up and running. I do plan on being able to handle everything within my guild, though. Payments to guild members who earn bounties, buying stuff off of guild members, selling stuff to guild members, and so on.

Right now, we don't have the funds or experience to handle all that, so the cooperative agreement helps us out.

"Alright," Thomas says. "Then we'll see you later. I've managed to convince Colton and his friends to work on improving their spells, so that's what we're working on at the moment."

"Bye," I say, then continue on my way to the city.

I'm barely halfway to the guild hall for the Spear of the Forest Guild when I spot Hailey and her group walking down the street. All of them are cleaned up, and even their hair has been washed, and cut if needed.

All but one of the boys are dressed in outfits like mine, though instead of their vests being black, they're light blue. The girls all have on dark blue dresses with light blue collars and some light blue fade at the bottoms.

The only boy dressed differently is the twelve-year-old boy in the group, the oldest person after Hailey. He has a fire affinity, if I remember correctly. Rather than the same outfit the rest of the boys are wearing, he's dressed in a dark red robe with a white stripe down the center, a white sash around his waist instead of a belt or rope, and a seven-pointed star amulet in silver with a violet center, set onto a white potion bottle design, the metal chain fixed onto the top of the bottle.

This confuses me more than I want to admit. Those are not the outfits they had on when we met before I left the city. What's with Aiden's outfit and why is he the only one with a different one?

"Hailey?" I approach them, and the younger kids swarm around the beast corpse on the [Air Barrier]. "Matchin' outfits? What happened to the clothes everyone felt pretty in? And Aiden's outfit?"

"We's all feel pretty in this, too," she tells me. "Aiden's got it on underneath the robe. We decided that if we's gonna be employees of the guild, then we should have a uniform. Look! The dresses be nice!"

Hailey spins around on the spot, the bottom of her dress spreading out a little.

"It does look nice," I tell her. "Good thinkin' with the uniforms, but ya ain't gotta wear 'em outside o' the guild if ya ain't workin', Hailey."

"I know," she says. "But we's feelin' pretty in 'em, so we's wearin' 'em now."

"Okay," I say, then look at Aiden. "And that?"

"I's got meself an apprenticeship," Aiden tells me. "I's always wanted to be an alchemist. This be my uniform while I's learnin' from 'em. They's only gonna teach me basic stuff, they said, 'cause I's only a beginner and ain't able to read, but that's okay. I's gonna make potions for the guild. And salves. They said we's makin' those, too."

"Okay," I say, then try to speak better. "If you want to learn to read, then I will help you learn to read, Aiden. Knowing how to read properly will help ya out with guild work. Same for you, Hailey, and anyone else who needs it. Being able to read properly – and speak at least like commoners rather than slums folk – will help immensely with guild work. If we hire others, or if we receive job petitions, it will be important to be capable of this."

"Is so hard," Hailey complains. "I's tried it a few times, and is so hard!"

"It is," I nod. "It takes me a lot of effort, but I'm getting better at it. Good luck with the apprenticeship, Aiden, and if they hurt ya, lemme know and I'll put the fear of the gods into them. No one messes with my guild."

"Yes, sir!" Aiden responds.

"Good," I say.

"I'm going to sell this now," I indicate the beast. "Then I's going to go hunt something stronger. I'll see ya at the guild tonight."

"See ya," Hailey and Aiden respond.