Chapter 21: First Mission
Since we will be working with each other until this mission ends, let's introduce ourselves. I am George, a D-rank hunter," one of the hunters who came from the association said.
"I am Dean, also a D-rank hunter."
"James, D-rank," James replied with a flat voice.
"I am Evan, an E-rank hunter," Evan said without much interest.
Everyone was surprised after hearing Evan's rank, but the most surprised person was obviously James because everyone in the academy knows that Evan is an F-rank hunter.
"You are quite brave to take on a mission like this when you're just an E-rank hunter," Dean said after hearing Evan's rank.
"You can say that," Evan replied to Dean with a light smile.
"You are from the academy, right? You must be quite famous in the academy with this kind of face," George said with a jealous voice when he saw Evan's handsome face.
When Evan heard this, his eyes twitched. "Yeah, I'm pretty famous in the academy," Evan said, as everyone in the academy knows about him. After all, he got the title of the weakest hunter in the academy.
"So, what do we have to do? This is my first time doing a mission like this. I thought the van would be slower, and we would have to protect it against monsters. But looking at the speed of the van, I'm sure even a D-rank monster would have a hard time catching up," Evan asked with a confused voice.
"Oh, it's your first mission. Well, let this senior give you a brief summary then," Dean said with an old man-like expression.
"It will take us two days to reach our destination, and they can't drive continuously for two days. They will eventually stop to rest, and that's when there is a high chance that monsters will attack them."
"Monsters are one thing, but there are also bandits who rob merchants whenever they get a chance. These bandits are more dangerous than monsters because, unlike monsters, they can use tools that can negate the barrier and other functions of this van."
Evan was surprised and a bit concerned that they might have to face a bandit higher than D rank, but after hearing Dean's next words, Evan relaxed.
"Although these bandits are dangerous, you will not find anyone higher than D rank since the association clears these areas every month."
"And it's not impossible for monsters to catch up with us even when we are going at a pretty fast speed. There are some monsters like Sky Eagles and Forest Tigers who can easily catch up with us with their speed," George added when Dean finished his explanation.
Evan nodded and understood what they had to do during the mission. Everyone stopped talking after this. George and Dean closed their eyes and did not say anything.
James sat silently, not saying anything after introducing himself to George and Dean.
Evan looked outside from the window with a bored look, but suddenly he saw someone following them.
Evan looked carefully and saw five monsters chasing the van. Their speed was also quite fast, and they looked like hyenas. All five monsters were two meters tall, and their fur was light brown.
"There are five monsters chasing us," Evan said while looking out the window.
Dean opened his eyes and looked outside. "These are wild hyenas. Although they are fast, they will not be able to catch us."
Evan nodded when he heard this because he could also see that the speed of the hyenas was getting slower as time passed. Unlike the van that runs with the help of cores, the monsters were spending their stamina to catch them.
"If you're bored, you can look outside using that,"
:
Evan heard George's voice, and saw him pointing his finger towards the roof of the van.
When Evan looked at the roof of the van, he saw a slider there. Evan stood up, pushed the slider forward, and brought his head outside the roof of the van.
The barrier of the van was currently deactivated to save energy. Only when a monster came near the van did they activate the barrier.
Evan felt the cold morning wind as he brought his head outside the van. "The air is quite fresh here," Evan said, enjoying the cold wind.
Evan was enjoying the view when he suddenly saw another group of hyenas start to chase after them. He glanced at James and the other hunters to confirm that they weren't looking outside.
Once he confirmed they weren't looking, a smile appeared on Evan's face. "Since I'm getting bored, I should practice with Shadow Bullet."
Evan pointed his finger towards one of the hyenas chasing them. "Shadow Bullet."
A pitch-black small bullet formed before Evan's pointed finger and shot toward one of the hyenas at lightning speed.
Swish!
The bullet arrived before the hyena in the blink of an eye and pierced through its forehead. However, Evan didn't use much mana in the bullet, so it didn't penetrate too deep. Nevertheless, the running hyena dropped to the ground when the bullet struck it.
Howl~~~
[The blinding effect of Shadow Bullet activated. Your target is blinded for two seconds]
A notification appeared before Evan informing him about the blinding effect of his shadow bullet.
Evan was surprised when he saw that even the blinding effect of his Shadow Bullet activated.
--- Shadow Bullet: You can shoot a bullet made of shadow using mana. The power of the bullet depends on how much mana you use to cast it. There is a 5% chance that the target will become blind for two seconds after being hit by Shadow Bullet.
The hyena howled in pain upon being struck by the bullet. The loud howl caught the attention of George and the others, who quickly looked outside.
"What happened?" Dean asked, looking at Evan, as he was the only one looking outside.
"Nothing. That hyena suddenly fell while running and crashed against a rock," Evan replied without looking at them.
When Dean and the others heard this, they stopped looking outside and closed their eyes once again.
"I completely forgot that they will definitely make a loud sound after getting hurt," Evan said, sighing in relief.
He didn't use Shadow Bullet again, and after six hours of continuous travel, the driver finally stopped the van to take some rest.
Chapter 22: These D-Rank Monsters Are Too Weak (Part 1)
"Let's take a short break here," Henry said to Evan and the other hunters after stopping the van.
"Evan and I will stay here to protect Henry and the cargo. You two should scout our surroundings," George said to James and Dean after coming out from the van.
"Alright," Dean said and went to scout their surroundings along with James.
"What kind of monsters can attack us here?" Evan asked while guarding the cargo.
"There are many types of monsters you can encounter here. But most of them will be around E rank. And if I'm not wrong, there is a pond not so far away from here. So there is a high possibility that we can encounter water-type monsters here," George said while looking at their surroundings carefully.
James and Dean returned after twenty minutes. "We scouted two hundred meters around us. There were just some E-rank monsters. We took care of them without any problems," Dean said after coming back.
"That's good. If nothing goes wrong, we should be able to leave from here without facing any monsters," George said after hearing Dean.
"Hey, guys, lunch is ready. Come here," Evan and the others heard Henry's voice.
When Evan looked in their direction, he saw Henry and his driver had set up a small barbecue stand and were grilling some meat.
What is this?
Are these people nuts? Or I am the odd one here?
Evan thought with a speechless expression when he saw Henry and his driver doing a barbecue in this wilderness.
He looked at George wanting to say this is not good for them to barbecue like this, but when he saw George's normal expression he closed his mouth.
'Looks like I am the odd one here.'
"You two go and eat first. We will keep watching until you finish," George said to James and Dean since they had just come back after scouting their surroundings.
Evan and George kept watching their surroundings for monsters until Dean and James came back after eating.
"Are transportation missions supposed to be this easy?" Evan asked while eating.
"Nope, most of the time you will have to face monsters whenever you stop in the wilderness. I am surprised that no monster has come to bother us even though we have been here for more than an hour," George said while eating a large chunk of meat.
Howl! Howl! Howl!
Just as George said howls of wolves rang out one after another.
"Looks like I jinxed it," George said with a speechless look on his face.
Just as George finished speaking, everyone heard the howls of wolves. "Get ready to fight. A pack of wolves is coming towards us. They will be here in twenty seconds," Dean shouted after hearing the howls.
"You guys go inside the van. We will take care of these monsters," George said to Henry and the driver, who quickly rushed towards the van after hearing the wolf howls.
"How many are there, Dean?" George asked after he and Evan came back near the van with Dean and James.
"If I'm not wrong, there should be three wolves," Dean said while holding his sword.
'is this his ability?' Evan thought to himself when Dean was able to tell how many wolves will be attacking them.
"You two can take care of one wolf," George said to Evan and James. "Dean and I will take out the other two."
Evan and James nodded and didn't say anything.
'Even if there are more than three, it should be no problem for me to take care of them,' Evan thought while looking in the direction from which they heard the wolves howl.
After twenty seconds, Evan finally saw three wolves coming towards them with rapid speed. The wolves were two meters tall, and their fur was completely green. All three wolves were looking at them with their deep yellow eyes which were filled with bloodlust.
"Be careful while fighting against them. They are wind wolves, and their agility and reaction speed is quite fast. If you give them even a single opportunity, they will not miss it," Dean said to everyone after seeing the wolves.
Upon seeing the wolves, Evan extended his hand forward, and a sword shot out from his shadow, which he caught without any problem.
"What the hell was that?" George, who was standing near Evan, asked when suddenly a sword came out from the ground.
"Just one of my skills," Evan replied while looking at the sword.
"Dude, at least tell me beforehand if you're going to do something like this. I thought there were bandits who attacked us by taking advantage of the situation," George said while shaking his head. Anyone would be scared if a sword suddenly emerged from the ground.
James was holding a spear surrounded by purple lightning, George was using a long sword, and Dean was the only one who was bare-handed.
"Let's kill these bastards so I can eat my lunch," George said and was about to charge towards the wolves when he heard
"Haste!"
Swish!
With a swift motion, Evan, who was standing beside him, disappeared. When he looked towards the three wolves, George saw Evan suddenly appear in front of one of the wolves and slash his sword at its neck.
Evan's sword was shining in a light blue color, indicating that he was using mana to increase the power of his attack.
Evan's speed was too fast. When he slashed the sword, George and the others couldn't see his slash clearly. They only saw Evan moving his hand slightly while holding the sword.
Thud!
The next second, the eyes of James and the others popped out from their sockets when they saw the head of the wolf standing in front of Evan severed cleanly, and its body dropped to the ground lifelessly.
The entire area fell into dead silence as everyone witnessed what had just happened.
"What the hell did I just see?" Dean asked with a dumbfounded voice when he saw how a D-rank monster was killed with just a single strike.
The shocking thing was that since Evan used mana while killing the wolf, they could all tell from his aura that he is still an E rank hunter.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
14 Power
stone 
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