My Last Hunt

Level Battles 24

It was raining however the sky was illuminated with the bright light being released from stones. Lam carefully looked around. Qiao gestured him to move away.

This stone attack was not aimed at him. However it was dangerous in the open forest because senior hunters were fighting with a beast above in the sky.

"Perhaps senior hunters are battling." Qiao voiced. Along with the bright light he could see two too three shadows of bigger beasts as well. The battle was in full swing. Almost all the monsters in the fifth Sepedra hid themselves in their dens. Qiao also found a small cave and sat there. He did not want to get caught up in unnecessary trouble.

Half of the night the battle kept thundering the skys of the island and only when the sun was about to rise did the battle end. Qiao couldn't tell the end result of the battle but he was set on the path of becoming one of those affiliated hunters who were given missions of the same level as the these hunters who raged in the skys.

The new day brought new adventures. He went towards the lake and found a bunch of level seven monsters. These monsters were already afraid of him because the previous day he had been chasing around other monsters and wreaking havoc in the entire fifth Sepedra.

His techniques were getting sharper with the gain of experience points. The boost in his strength was visible. He used most of the level seven stones that he possessed while in battle and after killing the monsters, he collected their stones as well. Back then he was slightly worried about stones and spoils however after reaching Hightown he never felt that he was out of resources.

The elders were responsible and generous when sending him for missions. They never took back the reserved stones. It helped him wash away his worry once for all. There was no strong monster in the fifth Sepedra anymore. Qiao remembered that he had yet to visit the third Sepedra one last time. For he had found a strong monster of level eight and thought of killing it because it might start bringing trouble for the Hunter Association.

With the endless hunting he was able to kill many monsters and grabbed enough experience points to reach the peak of level seven. He was quite sure that after hunting the last monster; it would give him enough experience points to pass through level seven. It would pave his path for the Class Test.

After spending half of the day in the fifth Sepedra he was done hunting. "Lam we are leaving fifth Sepedra." He announced and they left in somewhat of a rush. The distance between the two islands was huge however for Qiao it was similar to the distance between two small cities, which he could pass with a bus but his rush skill was better than a bus.

He could run faster than wind with this skill. Lam was ready to venture with its master. They reached the periphery of third Sepedra in no time. They heard the sound of some monsters howling in the island. Qiao could recount a specific howl. It belonged to the water monster.

"It is already eager to face us." Qiao chuckled. He was enthusiastic to defeat and kill this water monster for many reasons. First of all, his peak level needed a push to reach the next level; second reason was that Qiao was curious about its stone. He wanted to get the stone. The thought of earning his first rare stone made him come up with many strategies to take possession of it.

"Master has set his eyes on the right target." Lam praised Qiao's choice. "We might be working together if it turned out to be tough nut to crack." Qiao hinted. Lam was already ready for this job.

The water monster was not happy since a few homeless creatures came in its personal territory to get access to the biggest lake. The lake was not small, however the monster was still angry at the creatures. It did not let them use the lake instead kept an eye on them so that none of the stray creatures could enter inside the lake.

It stiffened the overall atmosphere of the island. The native hunters left the island immediately. They were scared of the upcoming devastation on the island. The conflicts between the monsters were never small and seldom ended quickly. It took a lot of time but the stronger side eventually crushed the weaker ones.

This was the only method for solving conflict between monsters. "Wait here…" Qiao voiced and walked towards a comparably well hidden place. He carefully opened his leather bag and brought out the stone he got from the previous water monster he battled in the Snow Island.

Qiao took it in his hand for precaution. He had some premonitions about the water monster. After this he walked out. He was heading towards the direction from where the howling could be heard. As the distance was closing; he could sense the aura of the monster.

He encountered a few dead bodies of monsters on the way. It was a sign that the monster was not in a good mood.

….

The same day one of the elders reached the Hunter Association. He handed the new mission for the stronger hunters of the Association and also brought a sealed envelope. A senior received the elder from Hightown. They sat in the office and talked a bit about the recent matters happening in the seven continents. Then the senior asked about the envelope.

"Currently affiliated hunter called Qiao Tai is in the South Sepedra. Did he report in the Hunter Association?" he asked the senior. "Indeed he is here and hunting in the fifth Sepedra; here is the report that I compiled." The senior was sure that soon, someone would come looking for this report.

The elder glanced at the report and kept it with him then voiced, "If he is able to fulfill the normal mission then you are obliged to hand this sealed envelope to him. Also the normal mission is slightly tough. The western part of the last boundaries will host a big migration of level six and level seven monsters."

The elder paused to take a breath. "This migration should be guarded by the Hunter Association. The Hightown passed this order so that the monsters should not be hunted by the beasts hiding in the North Sepedra. In case the beasts directly attack, then the monsters would get scared and might scatter around the Nest. It might destroy the Nest and the near ten towns. So you can now understand the severity of this mission. Take your hunters and head toward the designated place. The migration has begun and the next three to four days will be tough during the migration." The elder explained.

The senior noted down everything. He collected the source stones for the hunters selected for this mission. Saving the Nest was not the only task, the ten towns would be trampled by the monster if there was any mishap. The mission was tough and according to the elder they could take the affiliated hunters with them.

The senior picked up the sealed envelope and secured it for the time being. Now he understood that the affiliated hunter was not a simple hunter. Perhaps he had strong backing or the Hightown was giving extra attention to him for some reason. The reason was simple. Qiao was struggling the most. He was earning trust of every important hunter or elder so that they could work for his well-being. After coming to Hightown the only thing which he carefully worked for was to gain reputation in the eyes of the elders by doing things rationally.

It proved fruitful otheriwse he could imagine himself begging for the recommendations. His hard work was paying off. This recommendation was immensely helpful because he did not want to travel towards Hightown so quickly.

The elder exchanged information about various topics. The senior handed him the assets of the scalawag which Qiao brought after killing him. Some of the possessions were extremely important to the Hightown.

The elder finally took his leave. It seemed that the Rank Master would soon meet some surprise and it might bring new hope as well.

The changing circumstances were terrible and hope was slowly dying down. If this kept on, soon another war would break out between the hunters and the beasts and it would be a survival war in the true terms.

The elders were very clear about it. Qiao the young hunter was their new hope. They would polish him in all possible ways so that he could stop this war. Once the war broke out it would bring endless destruction. The only way to stop the war was to change the present balance of power.

The beasts had almost gained equal position to the Hightown and signs were visible for the survival war. The Hightown was gathering its loyal members. Only the loyal memebers could battle the present threat. The real problem was created by the disloyal hunters and the beasts. They had been hidden from the eyes of the elders and working in the Hightown against the interests of the Hightown.