As Lake stepped into his room, he closed the door behind him and opened the system interface to take a glance at his accumulated points.
[RP Points = 11,791.325]
Yesterday evening, he had finally surpassed the ten-thousand mark. After adding another thousand to his total from last night’s hunting with the other students, his total was now just shy of twelve thousand.
He was only two thousand points off before he’d attempt to unlock Bloom from the Rubik’s Cube. Thankfully, it didn’t look like it would take a long ti to achieve this goal.
With the current rate of progression, as long as he cleared out either the swamp or forest region of the Myriad Bay Field, he’d have enough points and could finally lay his hands on the super AI that would assist him in his future endeavors.
’For now, I should do so scouting.’
After checking his points, Lake walked over to the window and started to read through the fates of the hunters passing through the streets.
Although he had enough information on the Field from his previous research, he thought it wouldn’t hurt to go through everything again in case there was a change.
He started by looking through the last two days of the passing hunters to catch up on what was happening around him.
However, most of the information he gathered was relatively useless as it didn’t differ much from what he had expected or already known.
The only thing unique was the group of hunters that had been following him around and picking up the scraps he left behind during his hunt.
’Hm, I guess there’s nothing new on this end...’
At this thought, Lake started to look through everyone’s future instead. Since the past held nothing of relevance, maybe the future could give him so insights on what to expect.
He started by observing a passing hunter’s fate. Taking a glance at the green halo representing luck above his head, he was about to start browsing through the next twenty-four hours of this random man’s life when he suddenly saw sothing that left his eyes wide open.
’...It changed...’
From the vibrant green, to an ominous black, the halo above the middle-aged hunter’s head flickered between both states a few tis.
Lake felt his breath stop when he saw this sight. He had seen such a phenonon once before, back during the terrorist attack on Moonbright City.
It was a phenonon brought forth by an anomaly in the intricate Web of Fate, representing the distortion of a person’s intended destiny.
Aside from Lake, no one was supposed to be able to manipulate fate like this and bring about such an unnatural change in destiny, yet in Lake’s mind, the information of a particularly hateful organization began to appear in his mind.
"Prestige..!"
Gritting his teeth, Lake barely muttered these words out with bated breath as an familiar rage began to boil up within his mind.
He clenched his fist tightly, causing bone-cracking sounds to ring out as he felt his hot blood flow through his veins.
As he watched the middle-aged hunter walk about his day, seemingly unaware of the grave misfortune awaiting him within the next twenty-four hours, Lake could only feel his seemingly unending fury rising.
’Not once, but twice! These bastards had dared to step on my authority right in front of my face!’
Lake struggled to control his hatred as he tried to take several deep breaths to calm his burning rage. His mind had been slowly filled with thoughts of these bastards manipulating fate right in front of him, the Master of Fate, yet he still tried to keep his thoughts under control.
As his mind slowly cald down, he took another glance at the middle-aged hunter’s fate. The halo had reverted back to the intended green state but he knew it could change at a mont’s notice.
After finally regaining so rationality and reining in his anger, he wasted no ti before delving into the hunter’s fate, intent on finding out what was going on behind the scenes. If he could help it, he wasn’t going to let Prestige have their way this ti.
****
It took Lake no ti to navigate the fates of the passing hunters and identify the anomaly. Using the sa thod as before, he delved into the intricate Web of Fate, pinpointing the connecting threads between incidents.
’The bay...’
Yes, all paths converging on the anomaly led back to the bay. In roughly twenty-three hours, a grim event was set to unfold, claiming the lives of countless hunters in that area.
Despite unraveling this mystery, Lake was still left utterly confused.
The ongoing exam had turned Myriad Bay into a bustling hub of high-ranking hunters, so even Martial Masters assigned to protect the students. With such a formidable force, any threat should be easily dealt with, which only served to intensify his bewildernt.
’I can’t decipher their objective...’
No matter how he analyzes it, there’s no discernible benefit to Prestige’s actions. After scrutinizing more than half of the fates of the hunters in the Stronghold, his convictions solidify.
The affected hunters were exclusive to those near the bay during the incident.
If his assumptions held true, high-ranking hunters would swiftly respond after the event was revealed, and deal with the threat. Unfortunately, a few hunters would die in between these events, yet there was no other obvious effects besides that, at least none that would benefit Prestige.
"Whatever, those psychos never made sense from the beginning."
Recalling Prestige’s dark history, Lake was reminded that their actions never had a purpose—just a coalition of psychos propelled by destruction and violence.
"Moreover, considering it, there’s no reason to believe that only Prestige can disrupt the Web of Fate."
After mulling it over, Lake realized that he might have accused Prestige too hastily. For the first ti in his life, his emotions had clouded his judgnt and rationality.
It was a montous occasion in his life that signified that he was one step closer to becoming "human", but for now, he was just glad to regain his clarity and logical thinking.
’Well, even if it’s not Prestige, but another faction or entity, that still leaves with more questions and no answers.’
Lanting the lack of clarity, he sighed before rising again. Sothing was brewing in the background. Since he wasn’t able to figure it out on his own, he might as well just dump the responsibility on soone else.
Soone with power, competence, and the authority to command hundreds of high-ranking hunters. Soone who was even stronger than a Martial Master, standing at the entry realm of a Grandmaster!
With an evil smirk on his face, Lake walked out of his room before walking down the hall. After arriving in front of a door near the staircase, he flung it open without hesitation.
Disregarding all forms of formality and politeness, he gazed at the tired looking man sitting down with his head buried deep within a mountain of paperwork.
The man seed to be quite busy, but when he saw Lake walk in without even knocking, he seed to be sensing a deep migraine incoming as he rubbed his temples.
"Hey~ teach!"
"GET THE FUCK OUT!!"
Lake smiled as he dodged the book viciously flung his way.
He had finally managed to make Alec snap and subconsciously curse.
****
In another inn located within the Stronghold, a group of hunters had gathered to talk about their recent experiences, acting as guardians for this year’s batch of first-year students in the Academy.
Roro sat among them and listened quietly as he felt cold sweat dripped down his back.
"...They did what?" Roro asked for confirmation after hearing what one of the hunters sitting around the table said.
"I’m telling you, man, those kids are fucking insane! They went out in the middle of the night and hunted till morning! I saw it with my own eyes!"
Roro held his head, hearing the hunter’s ridiculous tale. Not even full-ti hunters would dare to hunt late at night out in the Field, where no technology was capable of being used. The Fields were usually extrely dark and filled with vicious nocturnal predators. The only light they could use would be a lantern or the equivalent, but if they did that, they would only end up attracting more monsters hiding in the dark.
For students to perform such an act could only be described as suicidal and nonsensical, but the craziest part Roro found was that he actually believed the nonsense that was coming out of the hunter’s mouth.
"Listen, man, I’m telling you, one kid led all the other students out in the middle of the night on a suicide run, and those brats actually followed!"
"I can confirm, I was one of the assigned hunters for the whole ordeal."
"So was I."
A few hunters chipped in to testify to the first hunter’s story.
"But man, I have to say, those kids sure are sothing else. When I heard about the contents of the exam, I ca in half expecting a good few of them to be wiped out within the first day, but even after last night’s hunting ordeal, not a single student has yet to fail."
"You said it, brother." Ria, the hunter that had followed Lake around during the day along with Roro, also chipped in as she raised a bottle of beer.
Everyone was looking at her with slightly embarrassed gazes as she did this.
"Co on, Miss Ria, you shouldn’t be drinking in the middle of the day. You do know we’re still technically on the job, right?" Roro tried to consult Ria’s drinking, but she simply slugged one of the empty bottles towards Roro.
"Oh shuh it! Cahn’t a gurl drown in her shorrow..?"
Hearing her slightly slurred speech and strange accent, everyone knew that the tigress was already a drunken ss.
Roro could only sigh at this sight.
When the two of them had returned from Lake’s adventure yesterday, Ria had imdiately hit the bar and has been drinking since then.
Roro also felt slightly bad for her and accompanied her through the night as a chatting partner, but he really didn’t expect her to drink straight through the night.
It was only once the sun rose up and the other hunters walked into the inn did the current gathering of hunters happen.
As for the reason for Ria’s sorrowful drunken ss, well, that was obvious if you sat with her for more than five minutes.
"Afta watchin’ those monshtersh in battle, I’ve alreashy given up on my career as a hun’er, you know..."
"Yes, yes, I know already, so why don’t you go to your bed and sleep off your current state. Maybe you’ll feel better after you wake up."
Ria groaned after hearing Roro’s advice as she wordlessly turned her head that laid flat on the table in the opposite direction.
Roro sighed again after seeing this. In a few minutes, if her condition didn’t improve, he was going to ask so of the other female hunters to forcefully carry her back to her room.
Although he really didn’t wish to admit that the drunken ss of a woman was related to him, he still had to acknowledge the fact that the two of them ca from the sa guild, so he had to look out for her.
Besides, she was a friend to both him and Eliza, so at least he had to make sure she was okay.
"Man, those students really did ss her up, didn’t they?" The other hunters had already heard the tale of what happened with Roro’s team of students but still found it unbelievable, and that was when they compared it to their already unbelievable night!
While Roro listened to the others tell tales of these unbelievable students, Roro’s mind narrowed in on one particular ’monster’ that had left a deep impression on him.
’Could it really be him...’
He had been questioning it ever since he saw that student use that mysterious aura and brought the wolves under his command. It was like a scene straight out of a fairy tale, yet Roro couldn’t help but recall a similar scene he had seen a long ti ago.
When he overlapped the two figures in his head and how the student had approached him first with that strange yet familiar smile, Roro couldn’t help but think the two were one and the sa.
But that didn’t make sense because if that was the truth, then that ’student’ could no longer be called human.
This was because as far as he was concerned, not even half a year ago, that student was only revealed to be at the level of a beginner Martial Apprentice at best in his entrance exam video.
The figure in his head that he had t a month after the entrance exam was a monster capable of subduing an injured Rank Three Beast.
Although that may not sound as impressive considering the creature was gravely injured before that, one still had to know, a Rank Three creature was only capable of wiping out hundreds of hunters in one attack.
Even if it was gravely injured, it was not sothing that a student rely at the level of a Martial Apprentice could subdue.
Roro sighed for the third ti when his thoughts reached this point.
The matter was too confusing, and the figure in his mind had already cented himself as a mysterious existence among the citizens across the continent.
Recalling the title people had given him online, Roro compared the two once more in his head.
King, the man capable of leading an army of beasts, including Rank Three creatures, into battle, and Lake Egoven, the monster among monsters being nurtured by the Academy.
Their similarities were many, but the difference dividing the two was one that would break all known precognitions if it were to be revealed that they were one and the sa.
"Blargh!!"
Suddenly, the loud sound of soone vomiting jolted Roro out of his thoughts.
Turning his head to his side, he saw the sorry excuse for a woman vomiting her life out on the inn’s floor.
"Hah." Sighing, he reached out and patted the woman on her back as he quickly dragged her to the bathroom.
As he watched the woman kneel before the toilet, Roro tilted his head upwards as the loud sounds of barfing filled his ears.
He was going to have to compensate the inn for the ss in the hall later, but right now, he truly was questioning what he was doing with his life.
User Comments
0 comments from readers