14 Prologue End (2/2)

Lydia said while looking at Travis and the team. ”Well done, that's five points to your score. Do you want to go after a sky panther now?”

Their faces were green, and in their eyes, there was a trace of fear. This was no surprise, to people that lived their whole lives protected in the cities, far from monsters that could hurt them. No matter how many gruesome scenes you see on the TV or learn about the monsters themselves, it won't prepare you for the real experience.

I was the same, so I can't judge them.

”Now there is still on more here, get ready.”

After killing the last goblin, we moved, looking for another group of goblins.

Two hours later, we stopped beside a stream. Travis and the rest were tired, their elemental essence was almost exhausted, and Hannah and Madison physical couldn't stand anymore. The two being arcane artists it is to be expected to be weaker but not to this extent.

”You guys should head back now.”

”But are you going to be ok? Madison and Hannah only need a little bit of rest, and we can keep going.”

”No, rest properly and prepare for tomorrow, this will be when you can start hunting by yourself. Either way, you won't be of much help to me. You are good Travis, In a year or so you probably won't have any problem hunting here for real.”

”Thank you.”

”And Lydia… my pay.”

”Sure.”

I took the money and stashed it in an inner pocket, with uncertainty I spoke to Lydia. ”I don't know how you are willing to spend so much on such an easy task. I saw you kill that goblin, like you were crashing an ant. What was the point?”

”I have to follow the rules that the University. You helping them is fine, but I can't tell them anything. They were supposed to come to their own conclusions, before I was supposed to give them advice. But with you, I was able to skip a few steps.”

”… you are just impatient in other words.”

”It was nice meeting you. Bye!”

Watching them leave I counted the money, just to make sure. The amount was right, but on one of the banknotes, there was a phone number written in blue ink.

Maybe later.

I got up and set out to hunt. This was the first time I hunted alone, but with only goblins as targets, it wasn't too hard. I tried to avoid larger groups, focusing only on these with ten or less goblins. The hunt was going along well, and by evening I killed almost seventy of them. The efficiency was much higher than when I hunted with Jackson, only the danger was enormous.

There were a few times a goblin managed to scratch my skin. If I don't pay attention, I would've been wounded multiple times by now. I noticed that my strength was higher than before, not my by much, but higher. The soul image enhances my strength, and to be more exact it looks like it multiplies my strength.

Before it was multiplying it by about 3, but now it is about 3.2. It wasn't a huge change, but it was something.

Other than this I tried to change the shape of the soul image, trying to incorporate it into my fights. As expected the control over it was slightly harder, with that I was hardly able to change the shape on my knuckles, making them do marginally more damage.

With my soul essence almost exhausted, I started to make my way out of the hunting ground. Walking in between trees, avoiding monsters, and listening to the wind. I walked and walked and got nowhere.

I looked around and tried to find any place that looked familiar, but there was nothing. I actually never paid attention to this, but I always followed Jackson and his team. How did I overlook this?!

But still, I never had any problems with finding my way, and this is my first time I got completely lost. This was unusual.

I checked my phone, which was out of battery. I can call the MCA with a satellite phone, but it will cost me a lot. I can stay here for the night, as long as I find the right place it will be safe.

While I was looking around, I heard something.

”CAW!”

I turned to where the sound came from. There a golden raven with three legs standing on a branch, it looked at me then looked at my feet. I looked down and saw the ground crack and collapse.