Chapter 13

Hunter Institution of Farinmore

Onesday morning, 29th of the 11th Moon.

A company of four Hunters strolled down the East Center avenues. Among them were a friendly-looking archer, a mage with wine-colored hair, a rogue with a self-effacing demeanor, and a young man wearing a tattered cloak over his armor.

"It's still early. We have two whole hours before the ceremony starts," the friendly archer stated.

"Well, yeah. How about we go shopping?" the mage with crimson hair grinned and embraced the tranquil rogue.

The rogue's cheeks turned slightly red and responded. "Fine with me."

The Hunter Party's attention turned to their cloak-wearing member. "I sorta also need to go shopping – at the Auction House. Anyone wanna join?" he inquired.

"Ooo, I'm in!" the archer raised his hands frantically, "I'm in dire need of more arrows."

"What about you girls?"

"Nah, I've had enough of Frederick's face for one weekend," the mage chuckled, "me and Mina are gonna spend some quality time. Isn't that right, Mina?"

"Sure," Mina answered, "I'm actually looking for something nice to wear at the annual Ballroom Dance. If we pass the entrance exam, that is."

"Alright, then that's settled. We'll meet up in an hour and thirty!" Mina emphasized cheerfully.

…

After the Party had split up in two, Bellamy and Frederick continued strolling toward South Center of Farinmore, where the Auction House was located.

"Man, thinking back to Tehemena Falls, you still haven't explained how we cleared the Dungeon," Frederick sobbed, pretending to be sad.

"I already told you everything, though," Bellamy replied calmly, "the Dungeon Boss fled."

"Fled? Fled how? How is that normal?"

"It isn't from what I know," Bellamy continued, "it was definitely not a normal Boss encounter, although that was my first ever encounter with a Boss."

"Meh…again with your secretive conduct," Frederick frowned.

Frederick was indeed onto something. Bellamy had once again not revealed the entire truth. It was not because he did not trust his new friends; it was a part of his self-isolating personality. He had grown up to be independent and to not rely on others to solve his responsibilities.

During his encounter with the Dungeon Boss, Bellamy had witnessed a strange circumstance. The Dungeon Boss had claimed that it was a Hunter. Or more accurately, it used to be a Hunter before becoming what he was today. Why would the Boss say such a thing? And there was no proof. Yet, Bellamy had believed the Goblin Warmonger.

There were no system messages that verified the goblin's statements, but within Bellamy, something, or someone, had communicated to him, preventing an immediate action. Of course, this alone would not justify the atrocities done by the goblins. However, the goblin explained to Bellamy of its memories. The memories were obscure, but in each incident, the goblin described human emotions. Bellamy had felt compassion, courage, and solidarity in its tone, which were all unprecedented for a sinister goblin.

In the end, Bellamy let the Dungeon Boss escape. "You must lead a peaceful life from now on," Bellamy had voiced. "I promise. I will never do harm to Thraeans ever again," the Dungeon Boss had stated. Thus, the Dungeon was cleared the moment the Boss abandoned its Dungeon. When Loretta and Frederick finally entered the Boss Room, the Goblin Warmonger was already gone, and Mina, freed from her cage.

However, was Bellamy this optimistic of a person? The answer was no. While Mina was recovering, Bellamy stealthily entered an escape tunnel. While the lengthy tunnel was pitch-dark, with Vigilant Eyes, he could see to some extent. He caught up to the goblin with Soundless and Scentless activated, closed their distance, and unleashed a flurry of melee attacks.

[You have defeated a Champion Monster.]

[Fame in Thorsheim has increased by 100.]

[You have gained a Level.]

[Congratulations! You have reached Level 10!]

[Soul Window upgrade is unlocked.]

[Congratulations! Class proficiency has reached Silver ranking!]

[The duration of Judgment has ended.]

Bellamy had explored all possibilities. A goblin will always be a goblin, known for its repulsive personality and outrageous acts. That goblin might have been a human in its past, but Bellamy had to look at the present truths. That would at least save the nearby towns and community from new goblin spawns from forming around a Champion goblin leader. And that was his final verdict. In the process, he had learned that a human could turn into a monster. Whether a monster could turn back into a human was an added question he had no answer to at that time.

After Bellamy and Frederick had visited the Action House, the Party of four gathered and headed to West Center, where the Hunter Institution of Farinmore was located. In the Auction House, Frederick had bought three new sets of Steel Arrows. The sets cost 50 silver each and held 100 arrows, meaning each arrow was worth 50 bronze coins. It was pricey, but local peddlers were unable to produce the number of arrows he wanted. Hence, he had bought all 300 arrows in one fell swoop and had more than enough arrows to go around for the entrance examinations.

The inside of the Auction House had been just as impressive as the Hunter Alliance's main branch building. Although the Auction House only had one large hall, its size was much larger than the lobby of the Hunter Alliance. The Auction Hall had the cross-appearance between a library and a marketplace, divided into the Main Auction Hall and the Peddler's Corners. The Main Auction Hall was so immense that the Action House could rent out Auction Stalls for Guilds that had the gold to use them. On the other hand, anyone could use the Peddler's Corners. It was particularly desirable for travelers and smaller businesses that had a few wares to sell. The only downside of selling your items in the Auction House was that each transaction would have a 5% auction fee. In contrast, there was a greater attendance of customers in the Auction House compared to the East Center shops and smaller businesses with distinct types of wares.

Today, Bellamy had visited the Auction House for three reasons. The first reason was to familiarize himself with how the Auction House functioned — its perks and downsides. The second reason was to store gold coins earned from his Quests and open a Soul Warehouse. He was comfortable having all his items and gold in his Soul Inventory. But in the future, when he would stock up on more items, equipment, and consumables, it would be a good place to store his belongings. After all, the current stock limit of his Soul Window was 20 items since he had leveled it up to Lv2. The final reason for his visit was to collect the rewards from one of his Quests.

Quest: Durim's Necklace

Quest difficulty: ???

Quest information:

Durim's necklace is missing. He remembers last wearing his necklace in an outing near Tehemena Falls north of Golan. Unique Quest.

Reward: 20 gold, Surge Lv1 Skill book, 5 Health Potions Lv2, 3 Mana Potions Lv2, 1 Restore Potion Lv1

System warning! Quest difficulty is obscure. Caution advised.

Durim's Necklace was a Unique Quest that required the partakers to meet in person. Not all Unique Quests had this sort of formality, but the Quest Patron had set this as a precept. It turned out that Durim was a nobleman from the Lancastor House. Bellamy, who in turn had no great expectations from a nobleman, was met with surprise. Durim held the second seat in the succession of the Lancastor House and had a stoic demeanor and a forthright personality. Bellamy had received all the rewards, including the Surge Lv1 Skill book. On the contrary, it came as a surprise to Bellamy and Frederick when Durim, a Level 81 Hunter within the top 1000 of the official Hunter rankings, had asked them to join his Guild.

Durim had been surprised to hear that a mere Level 10 Hunter had cleared a Silver-rated Dungeon in a Party of three Hunters. Bellamy and Frederick did not turn down the offer but would notify Durim on a later date. The same applied to Loretta and Mina, who had just gotten the news about Durim's appeal.

"Huh? Isn't the Lancastor family among the top 20 noble families in Farinmore?" said Loretta excitedly.

"Not only that," Frederick continued, "the family head, Daran Lancastor, is the Guild leader of Celcius, the second-highest ranked Guild in Thorsheim."

"Celcius?" Bellamy finally took an interest in their conversation. "I've heard about that Guild. Strangely, Durim didn't mention his Guild's name."

"Hah! He probably wanted us to figure that out by ourselves," Frederick figured.

"Oh– my– Goddess! Flame Flamingo's from Celsius! She's literally my biggest idol!" Loretta exclaimed even more excitedly than before.

"Hold your horses, grunt," Frederick taunted, "behold! 'Twas I, sir Frederick of Woodstock, who had directly been granted door to thy Guild!"

"Piss off!" Loretta wailed and punched the ridiculous archer in the guts.

Mina and Bellamy both laughed.

Noon was nearly upon Bellamy's Party, and the entrance ceremony was literally just around the corner. The air in Farinmore West Center bore its way to their faces with a cold and refreshing feeling. As they turned around the corner of the avenue, they were met by the sight of hundreds of rookie Hunters. In front of everyone's view was an enormous dimensional portal.

"Look at the size of that thing!" a rookie Hunter nearby shouted in astonishment.

"It looks a hundred times larger in real life," another astounded Hunter concurred.

Bellamy and his Party were just as fazed.

"It looks like we'll have to enter that huge portal," Frederick stated and gulped.

The Hunters closer to the portal entered it quite frequently, a dozen or two at the time. An indistinctive sound was emitted each time a Hunter was transported away.

"Zooom"

That sound– it's similar to the sound when Fleeting Space used his spatial Skill. I need to get my hands on some Ether-based Skills soon. I wonder if it's hard to get the proficiency up–

"Hey Bell," Loretta elbowed Bellamy.

"Ugh." Bellamy returned from his daydreaming. This mage had quite the power if you disregarded her slender frame.

"Let's go!" Loretta cheered as she ran ahead.

"I can see how your Party got screwed in that Dungeon," Bellamy scowled.

Frederick and Mina wearily nodded in agreement as they sighed.

"You guys go ahead. I'm waiting for a couple of friends of mine."

...

Just as Mina and Frederick entered the dimensional portal, he heard an annoying voice from behind.

"Well, lookie here, if it isn't little Bell," Peter announced as he grabbed around Bellamy's neck. "Decided to show up, ey?"

Bellamy smirked and easily pushed Peter off. "Who are you calling little. I'm just as tall as you, gorilla-face."

Rather than getting annoyed by Bellamy's primate remark, Peter was surprised how easily he was pushed off. "Bud, have you been working out lately?" he asked pressingly.

"Yeah, every now and then," Bellamy replied casually, "anyway–" he turned his attention toward Tisha, "happy birthday Tisha."

"You remembered!" Tisha's smile turned into a cheerful grin.

"How would I forget?" Bellamy saw Peter rolling his eyes from his peripheral vision. "Here's your present."

In his hands, Bellamy held a glowing book. The book itself was tinted green and exuded an unusual brightness.

!!

"Th– that's a U– unique Skill book!" Peter stuttered.

"Bell," Tisha stared at Bellamy with troubled eyes, "I can't accept this. If you bought it, I want you to return it immediately."

"Bought? Nope," Bellamy emphasized, "I found it."

"Found it? That's impossible. Either you bought it, or a monster dropped it," Peter said.

"Well, yeah, a monster dropped it," Bellamy replied, "a Treasure Goblin dropped it, to be exact."

The siblings became perplexed.

"What I'm trying to say is that..." Bellamy pursed his lips, "you don't have to say goodbye. I'm also taking the entrance exam."