On the way to the next city, I had encountered another three patrols, each the same size as the first. There would always be one archer, one spearman, and one swordsman among them. And each time, they would stop and question me. Once they learned my purpose in being here, none of them seemed all too keen on delaying me.

At the same time, I had managed to learn that the Mad Monk had indeed stayed on the road, rather than simply waiting until the first patrol was out of sight. This reassured me that I would finally be able to catch up to him, so long as there was a druid stationed in the next city. As for that, I was going to find out soon enough, as I could see the city’s walls in the distance.

Perhaps the forest tyrant had scared away the other monsters from the road in the disputed territory, but my journey was fairly smooth, making me glad that I wouldn’t have to reimburse the guild for the loss of the wagon. Either way, once I approached the town, I could see one more group of guards standing watch at the gate. The archer was on the wall above, while the swordsman and spearman were stationed on either side of the gate itself.

Due to the city being so close to the border, it was naturally built like a fortress, to withstand the attack of an army. The walls were dozens of meters high, enough that even a monk would have a hard time leaping over them. Along this side of the city, there was only the single gate, though the lack of traffic made it seem more abandoned than normal.

Once again, the guards at the gate questioned me briefly before letting me past, giving me directions to the local Hunter’s Guild. Thanking them, I drove my wagon through the road slowly, doing my best not to run over anyone who might not be paying attention. At this point, I could afford the extra time, since it seemed like my target wouldn’t be staying in this town long.

After arriving at the Hunter’s Guild, I immediately went around back to park the wagon, placing it among the several others that had been lined up along the wall. Next, I went inside, finding the interior to look almost the exact same as… well, every other Hunter’s Guild. Would it really be so bad to change things now and again? I asked myself, moving to greet the receptionist.

This one was a young, thin man. His hair was black, combed back neatly as he stood stiffly behind his desk. Given the way he was looking at me with a mix of fear and apprehension, I could guess that either he was new, or he didn’t know very many patient hunters. “I’m here for the Mad Monk case.” I told him, showing my badge. “You should have received word that I was arriving, my name is Theol.”

“A-ah, right! Hunter Theol. We received a message that you would be heading this way two days ago. There is another group of hunters that will be arriving shortly from Jansen. We are just waiting on our druid to arrive to bring them in.” The boy spoke nervously, which only made me give off a relieved sigh.

“Well, at least he’s already on his way, that’ll save me some trouble.” I said with a small smile. “According to the guards I met on the road, the target is likely going to be heading towards Jansen, rather than stopping here. I’d like you to pass that information along, should any other hunters come by.” Although sharing the bounty wasn’t exactly my first choice, the Mad Monk’s abilities made it clear that more people fighting him together would be beneficial.

“I-I see.” He nodded his head quickly, grabbing out a quill and a few papers to write down that information.

“I need to make a report, as well. I’ve learned some new information about the Mad Monk’s fighting powers on the way here.” When I said that, the receptionist seemed surprised, before hurriedly pushing the quill and papers to my side of the desk.

Without wasting any time, I began writing about the fight between the Mad Monk and the forest tyrant, including all of the abilities he had displayed during it. Hopefully, as long as this information was left here, then even if him heading to Jansen was a lie, it would still allow whichever hunters were close to have better luck tracking him down.

By the time I was done, a middle aged woman had walked into the Hunter’s Guild. “You called for me, boy?” She asked, narrowing her eyes towards the receptionist.

“Y-yes, mother…” The boy said, lowering his eyes to the desk, before glancing over to me, as if pleading for help.

I couldn’t help chuckling when I saw this, glancing back towards the aged woman. “I need to get to Jansen immediately. I take it you are the druid with a gate that leads there?”

“That’s right.” She nodded her head slightly. “I can get you there.” As she said that, she led me towards one of the back rooms, where there was a large fountain. “Jansen… that’s the one to the south.” She muttered to herself. When she extended her hand to the fountain, the water within it suddenly shot up, forming a circular portal. Through the portal, I could hear voices coming from the other side.

“Ah, about time. I was just about ready to drive up there myself if this took much longer.” A deep, male voice spoke out, followed by a feminine laugh.

“Now now, Mander, it’s no use getting upset by merely this.” The feminine voice spoke up in response, and I could tell that they were moving closer towards the portal.

Two-way traffic through portals was rather inconvenient, since the gates were so small, so I went ahead and jumped through. With a splash, my feet landed in the water on the opposite side of the portal, after which it closed behind me. I could hear an annoyed groan coming from the male voice I had heard. “Oh, great, was that not ours?”

“Looks like it.” The female voice said as I turned around. “Either way, hello there. Mind telling us where you just came from?” The woman was petite, hardly the frame of a fighter tasked with hunting down criminals. Her height barely came up to my chest, yet her smile was bright as she asked her question.

“I… never really got the name of the town.” I shook my head. “However, it should have been the one you two were heading towards. Figured that I would come through first, that way you didn’t waste your time.”

The woman raised a curious eyebrow at that, but it was her male companion who spoke up. “Waste our time? What’cha mean by that? Or did you already get his head?” Whereas the female was short and petite, the man was practically a giant, standing a full head taller than me. His bulging muscles and scarred body, combined with his apparent personality, left me with no doubt that he was a berserker.

“Now now, Mander, give the man a chance to explain himself.” The woman said, patting ‘Mander’ on his side. “But first, do get out of the fountain.”

I nodded my head at that, moving to walk out of the fountain and onto the dry stone floor. Communing with the spirits of the world made it a simple matter to dry off my shoes, so it wasn’t really uncomfortable once I was out of it. “My name is Theol. I followed the Mad Monk into the country from the east, and heard several guards saying that he was heading towards this town.”

“And ya believed them?” Mander asked, a small sneer on his face.

“Considering that the reason he is heading this way is for the school… yes.” When I said that, the faces of both hunters seemed to cramp up momentarily, before they nodded in understanding.

“Wait… Theol. ‘Storm Lancer’ Theol?” The smaller woman suddenly spoke up, as if noticing something.

“Uhm.. what?” I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about… Well, I kind of did, but I had never heard that nickname applied to me before.

“Yeah! In Brahmin, a lot of big name hunters get their own nicknames, just like our targets do. With your appearance… you should be Storm Lancer. Guess that means we won’t be getting the live bounty.” She nodded her head confidently as she said that, causing Mander to release a small groan. “We’re Muse and Manic, and I guess we’ll be joining you this time.”

“I’m Mander, and she’s Kahli.” The big man corrected, drawing a pouting expression from Kahli.

“Hey, the guild branch gave us these nicknames, so why not use them?” She asked, turning to face her partner.

“Because this is the only kingdom that even does that, so why bother? Isn’t it basically saying we’re no better than our targets?” Mander asked, crossing his arms and looking down at Kahli.

“Definitely not! Our names are cooler. I mean, just think, ‘Muse and Manic’! There could be legends about us one day.” It seemed that she was rather unwilling to let this go.

“Or a bounty. Either way, it looks like we have to wait around for him to head this way.” Mander shook his head as he thought about that, which only made Kahli sigh as well.

“I don’t suppose this guild branch has rooms for hunters?” Depending on the size of the city the branch was in, they would sometimes have accommodations for traveling hunters, or those whose target was in the town. It was definitely easier than looking around for a tavern to stay at for the night.

Kahli nodded her head, turning back to look at me. “Yeah, four or five rooms on the upper floor. We got in last night, so we’ve been staying here until a druid could take us to Maren. Didn’t expect we’d end up needing to stay longer.”

“Well, that just means that we have time to get to know each other.” I shrugged as I spoke. “The more we know, the less likely we are to accidentally get each other killed in the field. And personally, I’d prefer not dying if at all possible.”

Although there was a basic education that hunters all needed to pass in order to earn their title, every hunter had their own specialties. For instance, Mander no doubt focused on being a berserker, while Muse sounded like the name of a bard. I shuddered slightly as I thought about that.

Bards were by no means a weak class when they worked. However, it was one of the hardest classes to properly train for battle. At the lower levels, a bard would practice singing, dancing, and recording history. Yet, once they became stronger, they found their calling in battle. A single bard who knew what they were doing could likely be considered the ultimate support class. Another nickname for their class, which the church wasn’t overly fond of, was the ‘voice of the goddess’.

“Yeah, you got a point, I guess.” Kahli said, still slightly upset over the idea of their nicknames not being used. “Let’s head up to the room, and we can talk. It’ll be more comfortable than simply standing around here. And, no sense clogging up traffic if someone else comes through.”

Like that, she led us towards a set of stairs down the hall, which opened up to another hallway. A series of doors lined both sides of the hall, each one leading to an identical room. Kahli simply stopped at the first door, and ushered us both inside. “Well, Mander and I have known each other for a while, so I guess we can start. As you probably guessed from our nicknames, I’m a bard, and he’s a berserker. Energy control doesn’t really come easy to him, so I usually handle the investigation and tracking.” Kahli shrugged as she sat on the bed, while Mander leaned against a nearby wall. “Still, he makes an excellent guard. Hardly anyone worries about attacking the frail little girl when he’s charging at them.”

Mander let out a light laugh at that, shaking his head. After which, he turned towards me, silently waiting for me to begin my own introduction. With a nod, I began. “I’m guessing you already know a little bit about me, since apparently I have a nickname here with enough information to identify me… Still, my focus is as an elementalist and a warrior. I can cover close or mid-range in a team fight.”

Kahli nodded in satisfaction as she listened to me talk. “Hopefully, we’ll get to see the famous ‘sky bolt lance’ soon.” She smirked mischievously as she said that, causing myself and Mander to groan in response.