章 40: Wolf Hunt, Part 1

Without wasting any time, Gerald went straight to the Guild's bulletin board to select a task for the day. It was still early in the morning so there was a lot to choose from.

He wanted to collect some more herbs for his potions, but at the same time, he didn't want to spend an entire day in the forest just to pick up a few flowers.

Preferably, he would get a beast-slaying job that paid well, and at the same time, he could collect some materials for himself.

Suddenly, a happy voice came from behind, "Gerald! You are finally back. Where've you been?" it was obviously Sera, worming her way through the crowd to come closer.

"Oh, Sera," Gerald said. "You came at just the right time. I'm planning on going on a hunt, wanna join?"

Her eyes sparkled when she heard the invitation. She said, "Realy? What are we hunting?"

Gerald turned back to the board with all the possible missions and said, "You tell me. I want something that pays well, but it can't be too dangerous. There are just two of us after all."

"What about this one?" Sera took off a piece of paper and gave it to Gerald.

"Twenty wolfskins for an armor maker. Fifteen silver each?!" Gerald was shocked to see the price for a single wolfskin was so high. It was no wonder that Grim Frolf was so nice to him when he gave him two skins for free.

"Hmm, but the skins have to be in good condition. That makes things difficult. I can't just turn them into a target for my Stone Bolts. And also twenty wolves… That is going to take a while," Gerald pondered his options.

"Oh, please? Let's go for this one. Pretty please?" Sera employed her charms to try and convince him to agree.

Gerald didn't answer her immediately as he had to evaluate his options. Now that he had some armor, even though it was just leather, it was really good against scratches. Wolves would have a hard time tearing through it.

He also had iron-reinforced forearm guards and above all, he learned to use the Unmoving Boulder Combat Art. It would probably be difficult for mere claws and teeth to draw blood. As such, he felt pretty damn confident.

"Alright, sure, why not. We can take this one," he said. Besides, they didn't have to face wolves head-on. Instead, he could just shoot them from a distance and test out his crossbow on moving targets.

"You go and register us for this mission. I need to buy a few things before we depart," Gerald said.

Sera had no problems with that, in fact, she was really excited and quickly went to stand in the line for mission registration. She was truly happy about the upcoming hunt, after all, she was a Hunter. It kind of came with the profession.

In the meantime, Geral went to buy some proper hunting ammunition. He got a few dozen Broad Bolts, they differed from the normal ones in that they had a much broader arrowhead, designed for cutting through flesh.

Since the wolfskins had to be mostly intact, Gerald had no choice but to aim at the neck where the main artery was.

Usually, you would shoot at the heart or lungs, but this time the target was somewhat trickier. Not by much though.

After buying Broad Bolts, he also got a few more trinkets that could come in handy on the hunt. Overall, the entire haul set him back almost two gold coins. The bulk of the price was just the Broad Bolts. Luckily they could be reused many times, otherwise, Gerald would never spend so much on a single mission.

When he returned to the Guild, Sera was already waiting for him. She was waiting together with Luna at the front desk. They didn't move forward to meet him. It was then that he figured they had probably something to tell him so he stepped closer.

"Gerald," Luna greeted him, "We were just talking about you. Since you two formed a team, you should probably choose a name as well."

"A name?"

Sera nodded enthusiastically and said, "Yes, we need to get a team name. That way we will be recognized for our work."

Gerald lifted his eyebrow, "What do mean, be recognized? What does it matter?"

"I'm talking about our reputation of course. If we are a successful team, then we can get access to special, more demanding, and better-paying missions!" Sera said, all jittery.

"Is that so?" Gerald said. It honestly aroused his interest. If he had a few better-paying missions, then he would have to work less often. That way he could have more time to explore the wonders of magic. "Alright then, are there any rules about the name?"

Luna shook her head and said, "None at all, just please don't go for something inappropriate."

"How about we call it Perpetual Hunt?" suggested Sera.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Gerald quickly denied her suggestion. He rubbed his chin, thinking of a suitable name when his eyes fell on the ring on his finger. Looking at the black gem, he got an idea. "We'll call ourselves the Black Onyx."

Looking at the gem on his ring, Gerald remembered the black crystal that allowed him to come into this world. It reminded him of an onyx stone when he first saw it.

Although he now knew that it was an Etherium Crystal, he couldn't call himself that. The name Black Onyx seemed more appropriate.

Luna clapped her hands together, "Black Onyx, it's a good name."

Sera sighed in resignation and said, "I guess so…"

After the formalities were done, it was finally time to depart. Every respected team would also have its own emblem to signalize its importance. Gerald had no time to think about that for now. It was time for a hunt.

Sera was a guide this time. She was more familiar with the terrain around Geldern and she knew where the wolves liked to gather. They were going back towards Bloodhorn village, just a bit more to the north.

The road was long and boring. They had to travel for the entire day and they would only start the hunt the next day.

Gerald spent most of the time training his mind and playing with magic. He attempted to move bigger and bigger stones with just his mind. But it proved much more difficult than just casting a spell of the same magnitude. Still, he insisted on training this way. It helped to keep his mind sharp and alert.

He also felt like his effort would prove itself worth it later down the line.

After traveling for the whole day, they set a simple camp by the side of the road and kept warm by the campfire. Since it was still early spring, the nights were quite chilly and that annoyed Gerald quite a bit. He took another layer of clothing but he still felt cold.

Sera was more used to the environment so she just ate the dried boar jerky and felt quite comfortable.

In the end, Gerald figured that he couldn't sleep like that. Instead, he decided to change the environment around him to suit his needs.

A typical human behavior.