Nel noticed his luck seemed to have taken a nosedive recently. Especially after obtaining the Skill. The first time he went to the dungeon after learning the skill, he met those two men from an unknown origin. One of them even managed to give him a trauma. The first time might be his fault for sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.

But, what about now?

What has he done wrong?

He was just minding his own business, but this woman came out of nowhere and attacked him. How could he stomach it? He couldn’t. Nel exploded in anger and gave a throaty roar. Stimulating his mana to its limit, he used Empowering to enhance his five senses.

She was using an invisibility skill. It would be hard to detect her but not impossible. Nel knew a few tricks which could help him find his hiding target. One of them was [Mana Ripple], a technique that only those who had mastered Empowering could learn.

Nel coated his index and thumb fingers with mana before clicking them. His mana covered a dome-shaped area of five meters around him. Anything that moves will be sensed by him while inside that dome.

“There!” Nel shouted as he shoved his spear to his right side.

Ting!!

The sound of metal clashing against metal echoed again. The cloaked lady revealed herself, blocking his spear with her dagger. However, Nel’s momentum was too much for her to handle. She continued to step back until her back hit a tree. Nel loosened his grip on the spear and closed the gap between them. He raised his left hand, aiming a punch at the cloaked lady’s gut.

The cloaked woman growled, sounding like a cat who had her tail stepped on by someone. Raising her left leg, she stopped Nel’s punch with her knee.

“Ugh!” Nel grunted as his hand numbed for a second. He felt like he had punched a metal plate. ‘She must be wearing a knee brace?’ Nel guessed. ‘How luxurious!’

A simple spider silk jacket already costs more than 50k crystals. How pricey would those made from metal alloys be? Even Chen and Loui couldn't afford those. This lady was wearing a knee brace made from dungeon metal. How wealthy is her family? Nel was jealous.

The cloaked lady took advantage of Nel’s momentary distraction and retaliated with a kick aiming at his privates.

Nel clicked his tongue and sidestepped, essentially freeing her from the deadlock. As he had expected, seeing the pressure on her had lessened, she hurriedly pushed herself away from the tree and stepped back, creating some distance between them.

However, she didn't use invisibility. Nel finally noticed she was wearing a blank white mask on her face. It didn't have eyeholes. ‘What a strange mask,’ Nel mused.

“I’ll ask again, who are you?” Nel inquired.

“How did you find me?” Instead of answering, the lady fired her own question. Her tone carried a hint of surprise. “Do you have a skill that can see through illusions? Is that why they sent you?” Towards the end, she sounded a bit hysterical.

“Huh!?” Nel frowned. “What rubbish are you spouting? I don’t know you,” Nel said. “No one sent me after you. You are a total stranger to me.”

“What? Then why did you come here? This place doesn’t have any monsters to hunt.” She countered. “You are definitely lying to me.”

“Lady, you are not from Vedan, are you?” Nel snorted. “How do you know there are no monsters here?”

“I’ve already searched this place yesterday. There are no monsters that live here.”

“Have you? Then what is that thing standing behind you?” Nel smirked, pointing his finger at her back.

“Huh!?” The cloaked lady looked back instinctively. A millisecond later, she regretted it.

“Fooled you!” Nel’s voice rang in her ear. Before she could do anything, a heavy punch landed on her gut, knocking her breath out. Her eyes behind her mask rolled to the back of her head as she lost consciousness.

Thud!

She fell down face first on the ground.

“Phew!” Nel wiped nonexistent sweat from his head. He took out a cable tie from the pouch on his thigh and tied her thumbs together behind her back. Then, he walked away from her and sat down below a tree, waiting for her to regain consciousness. His spear held firmly in his hands.

Nel reflected on the short but intense battle. Her troublesome skill and creativity nearly gave him a scare. If he was any less careful, he could’ve died the first time she threw that hidden dagger. He got lucky that she was around his level. Moreover, she seemed to be somewhat naive.

‘First those guys and now this, what is happening in this town?’ Nel’s grip on the spear tightened as the face of that young man flashed in his eyes. Nel knew he wasn't the strongest person in Vedan. Not even Chen or Loui could claim that position, as well. That title belonged to the guild master of Bloody Gale, the strongest guild based in Vedan.

Nel had met the man a few times. He was a 4-star hunter with three awakened skills. Even then, he had a hunch that the young man could easily defeat the guild master.

‘Whatever,’ Nel sighed, pushing those nightmarish memories to the back of his head. Who was strong and who was weak; this matter had nothing to do with him. He was just an average hunter struggling to have his ends meet. It will be more productive for him to stay focused on his own matters.

Currently, he had to make it clear to this woman that he wasn’t anyone after her and then be on his way. Before going back, he had to hunt a bear no matter what.

“Ahh~ what happened to me?” A few minutes later, the cloaked woman stirred. Then she recalled her situation and started struggling violently. “What’ve you done to me, pervert!! Release me this instant!” She demanded, struggling to break the cable tie.

But, no matter how much force she applied, the cable tie seemed to hold on just fine. Fear gripped her heart as her flailing became more violent. “Let me go!! Why doesn’t it break?” She demanded, lacking the bravado she had the first time.

“That cable tie is made from an alchemic process and threads from a Rank-II Red-Marked Spider. Unless you have strength surpassing a Rank-II monster, you can’t break it.” Nel said calmly. His eyes remained glued to the woman, reading her every movement. He was afraid she would try something while he was distracted.

“W-what do you want?” She asked in a trembling voice.

“You attacked me out of nowhere when I was minding my own business. Even when I said I don’t know you, you didn't believe me and kept on attacking,” Nel listed off her faults, much to the latter’s dismay. "I wonder what I should do with you."

“What do you want?” She asked. She was now convinced that this person was definitely not who she thought he was. If he was one of them, he would have already hauled her ass out of here instead of negotiating compensation. Since it was such a case, she had nothing to fear anymore. “I admit, I did make a mistake in recognizing you. I earnestly apologize for it. I’ll pay any compensation you want, just name it.”

“Pay me back? Haha!! I'm not a fool. I won’t take anything from you. I won’t be able to handle the consequences. But, if you really want to make up for your misunderstanding, then help me hunt a few bears.” Nel proposed his demand.

“What?” The cloaked lady gaped in surprise at Nel’s demand.