"Master… Should I report that place to the Hunter Association?"

Stella asked after making sure that she's in a safe place.

​​

If the area was reported to the association, they will send scouts to identify the danger level of the cave and various missions might be available to explore the place after some time.

Aside from that, they may even have an idea about the identity of the human who died in there…

"Mhmm… Let's keep it a secret for now…" Reiji answered after thinking for a moment.

He doesn't have some grand plans about the cave and he only suggested it to avoid getting too many deaths among the Hunters…

A while ago, he sensed that there's something inside the cave that even he couldn't handle… With the level of Hunter and Knights in the village, they will surely die if they enter the cave unknowingly…

'I guess I might try once I became a Rare rank…' Reiji mused as he instructed Stella to continue her hunt for Wild Beasts…

"H-how about the pocket watch and bracelet?"

"Just keep it for now… You can play around with it after you return…"

Reiji replied. He did not appraise the items yet as they were in a hurry a while ago…

But now that they are in a safe place, he thought that it wouldn't be too late to appraise them later after Stella's hunt. They weren't in a hurry anyway.

Aside from that, he sensed some Spiritual Energy coming out of the two items so they should be valuable and they might fetch a lot of money.

'Hmm… Is it Magic Equipment or Arcana? I heard about a bracelet Arcana but not a pocketwatch…'

Reiji mused about the two special items that they looted… He wanted to find as many valuables items as he could so they can perhaps purchase a rare Arcana someday.

After all, that's the safest method he could think of right now.

"Eh? Master… We're in trouble… It's a Phantom Wolf!"

Stella suddenly exclaimed after realizing her next opponent… She only saw the silhouette of the wolf and thought that it was a Forest Wolf, a low-grade Wild Beast that can be found in this area…

However, as soon as she got closer, she realized that she was tailing an Evil Beast!

"Don't panic… Just treat it as a normal beast for now… The sunlight is everywhere, they're not in their peak condition at this time. You can do it…"

"Ahh… That's right, I can do this…" Stella encouraged herself as she held her two swords in a Zangetsu or Crescent Moon Stance…

'As I thought, every intelligent beast is always wary to a raised weapon…'

Stella thought after she noticed that the wolf eyed the raised sword… Anyway, an attack coming from above was something anyone should be careful with.

Reiji observes the Evil Beast and it has similarities with the Phantom Wolf that he saw together with Diether. The only difference was its size… This wolf seems to be younger unlike the one before…

"Phantom Wolf… They are strong at night but also lurks during the day to find their favorite food, the silver foxes… It should be afraid of fire… Their weakness would be their stomach… It's also not a good idea to target their iron-like head…"

"Mhmm…"

Stella nodded after being reminded by her master.

She was also aware of this but he informed her nonetheless in case she was too nervous to remember this.

Whoosh!

"Haa!"

Stella had no choice but to clash head-on after the Phantom Wolf suddenly appeared in front of her… It was too fast!

She shifted her swords and formed Juji no Kamae as she poured her spiritual energy to endure the wolf's pounce…

"Hmph…"

After she managed to stable her feet, she grinned slightly and jumped away…

'Kuku… I can endure that pounce… I can do this…'

Stella dropped her swords and then clashed with the wolf again!

She used Mu No Kamae at that moment to ensure that the wolf wouldn't know the trajectory of her next attacks!

Ha!

She used several feints to target the Phantom Wolf's head and body to hide her true aim… The wolf's belly!

However, the Phantom Wolf was just ignoring her strikes on its head and body even after several minutes of their fight!

'Tsk! So tough!' Stella grumbled after being unable to deal any significant damage to the wolf.

Suddenly, before she could retreat and take a breather, she realized why this wolf was called Phantom!

The Wolf appeared on her side like a true phantom and was almost bitten!

Her Suri-Ashi saved her as she glided swiftly on the ground.

However, the beast didn't stop even after failing to land an attack! The wolf uses its claws to try and rip her body!

"Urgh! Don't underestimate me!"

Stella yelled as she changed her stance again!

She dropped her hand at the level of her waist and pointed the two swords on the pouncing wolf!

The stance is similar to Enso no Kamae but it was lowered at the level of her waist… Reiji didn't teach this stance yet!

However, since she was targeting the wolf's stomach and perhaps wanted to use Enso no Kamae, Stella unknowingly used an advanced level stance!

It is Goyou No Kamae!

"Haaa!!"

One sword aimed at the soft belly of the Wolf while the other aimed at its throat!

***

"Hey, did you heard that sound?"

"Yeah… That's a Phantom Wolf's howl… Is there a Hunter group in that direction?"

"There shouldn't be any Hunters in that place… There are no missions in that area after the appearance of Mutated Armored Bears…"

"Well, it's normal to have some exploring Hunters here and there… Ahhh! They might not be doing some mission and hunting for easy cores…"

Even if there are no missions, the beast's cores and valuable parts of the beast can still be sold for money.

Only a few Evil Beast would eat the cores of their prey as most of them would leave these cores behind.

Hunters would normally look for these easy cores to earn some quick money. Especially now that the Mutated Armored Bear has appeared around the area…

"Should we take a look, Marak?"

They were a group of six Hunters called Red Storm Rangers… Their leader called Marak is a genuine two-star Hunter while the other five were still in the process of completing their rank-up quest…

"Mhmm… If it's only a Phantom Wolf, we can handle it even if there's a couple of them…. There shouldn't be a problem… Let's go…"

Marak said as he leads his team in the direction where the howl came from.

After a while, they heard the sounds of battle as they looked at each other.

Without waiting for a command, everyone halted their steps and moved as silently as possible. They tried to eliminate any loud sound from their movements before they continued in their way…

First, they did not want to offend the fellow Hunters in the area as they might be treated as someone who would steal their prey. Secondly, it would be disrespectful if the prey or the Phantom Wolf decided to run away after sensing their presence.

Aside from that, if the Hunter was surprised by their appearance and got hurt because of that, it would be a problem.

Of course, this is just Hunter's unwritten law, and there would be no other repercussions if it was not followed.

It's just that every hunter in the village knows each other and has fought together in life and death situations, so it wasn't surprising that everyone has grown closer to each other.

As soon as they arrived at the area where the battle was happening, they saw a young girl fighting against the Phantom Wolf alone!

It was such an incredible sight!

"Oh! That's the swordmaster!"

One of Marak's subordinates recognized the young girl.

Marak heard about this girl's exploit during the cult's surprise attack but didn't think too much about it.

After all, he also heard that prior to her fight against the two Cultist Leaders, they were already injured by the Five Arcanists left in the village.

"So, that's her… Ahh!"

"Oh no!"

The Hunter's worriedly exclaimed after seeing that the Wolf had almost ripped the girl's shoulder with its claws!

However, what happened next surprised them even more!

The girl sidestepped in a ghost-like manner before she shoved her sword towards the wolf's throat!

Unfortunately, the sword tip didn't penetrate the wolf's skin!

Luckily, her attacks haven't ended yet!

The other sword in her hand swiftly cut the wolf's belly!

Boom!

The wolf crashed on the ground and it could no longer stand!

It was the girl's victory!

Marak and the others looked at each other and noticed that everyone was looking amazed at the young girl's performance…

"She's really good…"

"Leader… Should we hire her?"

"What?" Marak asked in confusion.

"I mean, if we add her strength, we can probably complete that rank C mission…" One of the Hunters suggested. The others also nodded at this since it was indeed a good idea.

Marak went silent after hearing his subordinate's words.

As long as the mission was completed, the Association wouldn't mind about their methods as long as they didn't break their kingdom's laws... So getting her help shouldn't be a problem.

"Alright, let me speak with her…"