"Just buying all these potions emptied my months of savings, huh… Potions are so expensive."

Stella frowned after recalling the amount they've spent at the Gentle Leaves…

​​

She already knows the price of beast cores and thought that by becoming a hunter, she can actually become rich. However, she realized that the amount of money that Hunters spent to guarantee their survival was also costly…

"Well, it would increase your survivability in the forest. So that should be fine…"

Reiji commented while looking at Stella who's still eating…

Stella nodded at this and continued to gobble her food.

Anyway, they will surely earn some money today so Reiji instructed Stella to just spend everything.

She also bought three pieces of flavored bread and ate one for now while the two will be used as her provision.

Although she knows where to get edible fruits in the forest, it would be difficult if she also met some beasts who wanted to eat…

As for her drink, she has a canteen filled with water and she can easily fill them in the river somewhere on the hillside of the forest.

"I'm good… I'll be entering the forest now, Master…" Stella said after finishing her meal.

As they were about to enter the Wailing Forest, they met a few guards who greeted her...

It seems that her popularity in the village has increased a lot after the news about Frank's incident spread around the village.

She continued walking and as soon as she saw the Forest, she was stunned.

Since it was still early in the morning, the sky was still a bit dark!

Stella gulped after realizing that the forest seems to be too dangerous at this time.

However, she saw three Hunters entering a different path to the forest so she immediately tried to calm down.

Although Evil Beasts are strong during the night, or whenever it is dark, they weren't necessarily lurking everywhere, right?

'But they're still active at times like this… Is this really alright?'

Stella mused before shaking her head…

'I can do this… The sun is almost up anyway… Those strong Evil Beast must be returning to their places already.'

If she was alone, she would surely run away from here. However, she's together with her Master so she has nothing to be afraid of…

"What should I hunt today, Master?"

"Ho~ You're confident, huh…"

"Ehehe…"

"Then, try to find a mid-grade wild beast first before you hunt someone stronger…"

"Mid-grade wild beast… Like the Forest Wolves and Armored Bears? Alright.."

Stella asked but she wasn't waiting for an answer… Forest Wolves and Armored Bears were known as low-grade wild beasts but they also have mid-grade in their midst.

Just like how a grade of Scaled Bear was identified through the colors of their scales, the others also had their uniqueness that any Hunters could use to identify the grade of these beasts.

Once they understood the beast's grade, they would know whether the beast could block Arcane Magic, whether they were weak with piercing weapons, whether they have resistance against certain debuff potions and many others…

Knowing all about the beast you're fighting against was very crucial for being a Hunter, so Stella learned a bit about the beasts living in this forest…

"Mhmm… Horned rabbits…" Stella muttered after seeing a couple of single-horned rabbits. They would normally run away after seeing humans unlike those twin-horned so she just ignored them.

She's not in the mood to run around trying to catch them.

Eeeekk!

A cry from a bird beast suddenly resounded throughout the forest… It was followed by several sounds of bowstrings being released…

"A fight… Perhaps, it's the three Hunters a while ago?"

Stella guessed after identifying the place where the battle was happening. It wasn't too far from her so she quickly moved away.

It seems that they were fighting against a flying beast and it would be a problem if she's hit by stray arrows.

"Salt Bead Moss… Lina Densiflora… That poisonous plant… is that Bobu Sassafras?"

Stella recognized the plants, herbs, and flowers she saw around… Of course, she was still cautious in her surrounding as she constantly surveys the area using her Spiritual Energy sensitivity.

She doesn't have plans of harvesting these plants and only identified them to test her memory.

Anyway, if there's any beast that leaks Energy in her range or someone who doesn't know how to hide it, she would immediately notice them and avoid being ambushed.

It wasn't a complicated technique and any Spiritual Energy practitioner can learn them naturally.

Finally, the sunlight was getting brighter and brighter as Stella got deeper into the forest…

But the young girl frowned at her situation… She's been walking around this path for about thirty minutes but she didn't find any forest beasts at all!

Anyway, she didn't give up and continued her exploration.

"What's going on?" Stella couldn't help but voice out her confusion after walking for more than an hour and did not find a strong wild beast…

She looked at the path she's taking and it doesn't seem like any recent Hunters went this way. It means that the beasts around the area shouldn't have scattered yet.

There were also no traces of recent battles so she was sure that the beast shouldn't have disappeared from here… Unless something happened that made them flee from their homes…

"Perhaps, they really went deeper?" Stella guessed but it would be too difficult for wild beasts to live together with other species… Aside from that, they'll just be hunted by stronger beasts in that area.

"Sigh~ Anyway, I'll try to change my path instead…"

She only saw, few birds, squirrels, rabbits, and small snakes while walking around. They were creatures that can be ignored since there were also specific Hunters that would capture them for food.

"Eh?"

Unfortunately, instead of finding a Wild Beast or Evil Beast, Stella met a human…

The path she's taking was one of the three paths being used by hunters to get into the central area of the forest where the Beacon Tree was situated.

It wouldn't be surprising to bump into some hunters but it was still too early and she didn't find any traces of another person using this path… The man perhaps circled from another path or he really just came from the other side of the forest…

Stella remained vigilant as she observed the old man in front of her… After realizing that she wasn't familiar with the guy, she quickly stepped back while looking at the person…

Their village was small and she knows everyone who would dare to enter the forest alone… They are the Arcanists of the village or perhaps the two-star Hunters in the Association… It means that there's only a few of them… But this guy was not one of them…

"Who are you?!"

Stella suddenly remembered the cultists… Although he doesn't look like one, she still has to be careful in case he was only in disguise…

The old man was wearing a hat and normal villager's clothes. He's not wearing any armor inside this forest! How brave!

His only weapon was perhaps the cane he was holding… Although her weapon was also a wooden sword… It is still a sentient Arcana!

'Oh… Perhaps that cane is also an Arcana….' Stella mused for a moment before she heard the old man's voice.

"Mhmm… I should be asking that… Anyway, I'm a licensed Hunter from the village on the other side of this forest… Who are you? Why are you alone in this part of the forest?"

The old man said while flicking a black card in his hands to show his license card. Although there are many strong people in this world, a young girl entering a dangerous forest alone was still not a common occurrence.

This made him a bit suspicious about the young girl.

'This could only happen if she's an Arcanists or perhaps—'

"I'm just a villager that knows a little about the sword… Hmph!" Stella said and made sure not to mention her name since the old man was not doing it as well.

"I'll be going on a different path… Bye!"

Stella said after her master gave her an instruction.

The old man only looked at the lady curiously until she disappeared…

"That sword… It's similar to what Diether was using. Is it some kind of a trend? Mhmmm… Perhaps, I should ask someone to make something similar once I returned…"

The old man contemplated while touching his beard…

***

"Master? Do you know that person?"

Stella asked after they got away.

"Mhmm… I saw him at the other village called Farahn." Reiji didn't hide it from her as it wasn't a big secret.

"Farahn Village? I see… It's indeed on the other side. However, he's too close to the village now… Was he planning to visit our village?"

Considering that it takes several days to cross the forest using a relatively safe route, the old man must be tired already…

'Careful… Jump back…'

Boom!

Stella quickly jumped back as instructed and was almost caught by the large creature who bolted on her.

"Grrrrr!"

The beast growled as the dust started to fade…

'Oh no! This is an Evil Beast!'

Stella screamed in her mind as she saw a genuine Evil Beast targeting her!

She was nervous and even Reiji felt that this would be a difficult opponent.

Stella observed the beast after the dust completely faded away. It has the body of a huge black panther but there were two curved horns on its muscular head and there were even smokes coming out of its nostrils…

Lastly, it has four freezing eyes staring at her and this almost made her immobilized just by staring back.

'So that's why I haven't found any wild beast! They must've sensed the presence of this guy!'