Hunt

The next morning, Zephyx woke up early and, as usual and after reaching Adventurers guild and without wasting any time, he headed straight for the quest board. He scanned through the various E-rank quests, each offering a modest challenge. After a brief moment of deliberation, he selected a D- rank quest to exterminate Rank-1 beasts from the outer region.

Tier-1 monsters in their capacity were normally equivalent in Tier level to Tier-1 awakeners. Tier-1 awakeners were individuals who had awakened their affinity, and in order to elevate their Tier, they were required to utilize a mana technique.

Zephyx approached the receptionist, a brown-haired woman with mundane features, and handed her his quest slip. She read his request and marked it under his name discreetly. He thanked her and left the guild, headed for the outside gates of the city. He handed his quest slip to the guards, and they nodded in return, passing him through the gates to the forest.

The moment he entered the forest, Zephyx drew his ice dagger from his inventory and began moving cautiously through the trees. After ten minutes of trekking, he spotted his first target. The beast, called a frobit—a creature with a frog's body, a rabbit's head, and a horn protruding from the top of its skull—which seemed unaware of his presence.

Zephyx quickly aimed his ice dagger at the beast and began forming an ice shard in front of the blade. The dagger's compatibility with ice affinity made the formation of the shard smooth and quick and then he launched the ice shard at the frobit.

As if it had caught wind of the assault, the frobit turned its head in his direction, but it was too late. The moment the shard struck, the creature's head exploded into a spatter of gore.

A wave of euphoria surged through Zephyx, but he quickly suppressed it, focusing instead on retrieving the beast's body. He placed the beast body into his inventory and continued forward.

Not long after, he encountered a group of goblins. There were three of them, and they had yet to notice him. He raised his ice dagger again, forming another shard, and swiftly launched it at one of the goblins. The ice shard pierced its skull, sending it crashing to the ground. The other two goblins, realizing what had just happened, shrieked in terror and charged at him.

Zephyx formed a fireball in his palm and shot it at one of the charging goblins. It collided with its head, throwing the creature backward, but still not dead. The other goblin swung a crude club at him, but he dodged just in time. As the goblin struggled to regain its balance, he took the opportunity to stab his dagger through its head, twisting it for good measure. The creature twitched for a second before its body went limp.

The last goblin, now terrified, stood frozen in place. Its eyes were wide with fear, and Zephyx could see the terror clearly. The sight brought a big smile to his face, as though he was enjoying the goblin's despair. Stepping in front of the goblin, he mercilessly stabbed its head.

After collecting all the bodies, Zephyx moved deeper into the forest and continued his hunting. By sunset, he had accumulated 15 goblins and 10 frobits in his inventory, though he had taken a small bruise from one of the goblins' clubs.

After looking all the bodies into his inventory, Zephyx went to the Adventurer's Guild to turn in his quest. The receptionist from earlier was still there.

"Did you come for a reward for exterminating the beasts?" she asked, as the quest was repeatable, and adventurers received rewards based on the number of beasts they killed.

Zephyx nodded and responded, "Yes."

She led him to an empty table stained with beast blood—most likely where adventurers placed their kills. He used his ring to show and took out bodies from his inventory on the table. As she tallied the beasts, she was taken aback. She must have expected many fewer bodies of beasts, considering this was merely his second mission.

[Author's Note: As for how she knows this is Zephyx's second quest, when she registered the quest in the morning, she saw that he had already completed his first quest—herb gathering. Receptionists have strong memories, which is why they get this job.]

Once the counting was done, she turned to him. "Five silver for each goblin and ten silver for each frobit," she explained. "That brings your total to 1 gold coin and 75 silver coins."

Zephyx accepted the pouch she handed him, thanked her, and left the guild.

Feeling satisfied with his progress, he headed back to the inn, but he wasn't quite done for the day. He made his way to the public hot spring, hoping to relax after the day's work. However, as he submerged himself in the warm water, the bruise on his arm stung, reminding him that he hadn't bought a health potion.

"Fuck," he muttered to himself. "I forgot to buy a potion."

After his bath, Zephyx retreated to his room and collapsed into bed, exhausted from the day's hunting and training. As he drifted off to sleep, his thoughts quieted.

[Author's Note: Why the fuck is he ending every chapter with sleep?]