An ancient saying had always circulated in this world: the Blessed Ones would build a high tower reaching the sky. Professions were the bricks and stones of this tower, and each brick had its own way of being obtained. Taking the responsibility to tell newly arrived Foreigners how to obtain these bricks—no, how to obtain a Profession—was one of the few things hospitable Ordinary People could do for them.
Blaze still missed the days when Foreigners were like curious babies. Back then, he could still give them some information on obtaining Professions, but now... The fastest leveling routes, perfect starting Profession combinations, the three branch Transformations after obtaining a hidden Profession, the Profession combinations for the Strongest Knight, and so on. The Foreigners already knew more than the locals. Although this made Blaze feel a bit disappointed, it was actually a good thing right now.
Over time, he had overheard a complete set of leveling guides from the Foreigners, in which the Hunter Profession was featured in both the fastest leveling route and the perfect starting Profession combination.
[Hunter Level 1 (2)]
[Learnable Skills: Stealth / Tracking / Low-Level Taming / Aim / Danger Perception / Forest Blessing]
Blaze first chose to learn [Danger Perception]. The moment he selected it, he felt a Transformation from the inside out. It wasn’t an increase in physical ability, but rather a change in his soul. The surrounding sounds became clearer—the chirping of insects, the singing of birds, the running of Wild Beasts. It was as if his ears had been nearsighted, and now they had put on a perfectly prescribed pair of glasses. Just like its name suggested, this Skill allowed him to perceive danger in advance to a certain extent.
He still remembered the Foreigners discussing with great relish how to cheese the game and defeat the Black Beast Knight without taking damage. Their methods were so cruel, their actions so despicable, and the outcome so tragic that it almost made someone want to yell out in defense of the Black Beast Knight, "He didn’t deserve this!" In the past, Blaze had felt terrified listening to this as an outsider, let alone now that he had become the victim himself.
Another reason was what the Foreigners had summarized as the essence of the Hunter Profession: [Forest Blessing].
[When in a forest, receive a Blessing from the forest, but also fulfill the corresponding duties.]
[Agility slightly increased (5%), obtain special status: Close to Nature.]
Initially, this Skill wasn’t highly regarded. In fact, the Hunter Profession was even looked down upon because of it. The [Close to Nature] special status required the Hunter to become part of the Natural Cycle, eliminating Monsters according to their own hunger levels and eating the food-type drops. Could anyone imagine that even goblins—Monsters that actively formed swarms to attack cities and villages—were considered part of the ecosystem? They actually dropped some kind of edible meat. One couldn’t help but admire the first Foreigner who ate a goblin.
For Blessed Ones who needed to gain Experience Value, being forced to spare more than half the Monsters in every battle and eat the dropped meat made them feel it was better not to have this Profession at all. But things changed after the Hundred-Womb Ganges appeared. Flora and fauna eroded by the Evil God’s Blood were considered invasive foreign threats to the forest. Anyone with this status would be guided to kill Titan Hybrids, and for each one defeated, they would receive extra drops and special Experience Value.
After accumulating a certain amount of special Experience Value, [Close to Nature] would transform into [Natural Guidance], allowing the player to hear the calls of Ancient Races of the forest and gain the opportunity to accept the trials given by them. In the words of the Foreigners, rather than a Skill, [Forest Blessing] was more like a special, exclusive storyline for the Hunter.
Of course, the most important reason was that Blaze wanted to meet the Ancient Races. There were some catchy sayings on this continent, one of which was: "Want to know the embarrassing secrets of the first Human King? Just ask those long-eared folks." If one wanted to learn about Kingdoms lost in history, the best targets to ask were the races with long lifespans.
"Golden Country, Soul Suppressing Knight, and Armor," Blaze tapped the text on his Blessing. To him, the Golden Country was just a legend from folk ballads, let alone the Soul Suppressing Knight—a Profession he had never even heard of. Following the guidance of the Blessing to lift the Armor’s Curse was too passive. It would be better to take the initiative and find information about the Golden Country himself.
Mustering his courage, Blaze tapped [Forest Blessing]. Unlike [Crisis Perception], there were no Transformations at all. If he had to say, maybe his body felt a bit more agile?
[Save... save... me... anyone...]
A blurry voice suddenly echoed in Blaze’s ears, sounding as if it came from all directions, yet clearly pointing out a specific route.
"This way?" Blaze immediately dashed in the direction of the cry for help. The voice didn’t come from the depths of the forest, but rather from the exact opposite—the outskirts of the forest. Describing it as the outskirts might be a bit of a stretch, because it used to be the center of the forest until the Hundred-Womb Ganges cleaved it in two like a Giant Sword.
As Blaze quickened his pace, he heard what was happening ahead. It was the Foreigners.
[I told you not to come to the Hundred-Womb Ganges. It’s gloomy here and no fun at all.]
[But we spawned a rare Monster. They only have a 5% chance of spawning.]
[What’s the point if we can’t beat it? I’m out of mana, and you can’t deal enough damage.]
Outside the territory of the monkey hybrids, on the empty plains, a three-person party consisting of a Nun, a Precept Monk, and a Spear Knight was surrounded by over a dozen brown Lions. These Lions were all hunting lionesses, their bodies long and powerful, their ferocious fangs gleaming with a terrifying purple luster amid their low growls. The Precept Monk and the Spear Knight held the lionesses’ aggro well, but they didn’t notice that a cunning Hunter was lurking in the tall grass, enduring the torment of the Evil God’s Blood and waiting quietly in Stealth.
At the very moment the unsuspecting Nun stepped her pretty ankle boots into a mud puddle, staining her white socks with filth, the Hunter pounced. Baring fangs laced with lethal, Highly Poisonous venom, it snapped at her fair neck, which was adorned with a holy Cross.
"Dodge!" Blaze stomped his right foot on the ground, using the momentum from his sprint to launch a Throwing attack with the Twisted Giant Sword in his hand. [Lethal Execution] could only be triggered in close combat, but the sheer power of this Giant Sword was capable of Piercing the Hunter.
The Giant Sword struck the Hunter dead center, but the moment it touched its fur, a brilliant Spark erupted. The Giant Sword, which was much larger than the Hunter, was surprisingly deflected and sent flying away. The Hunter was completely unscathed, but this bought the Foreigners enough time to react. The Nun, hit by the jumping Spark, jolted and let out a scream, crouching down just in time to dodge the Hunter’s pounce.
"Holy shit! Why is there another one?!" Hearing the scream, the Precept Monk instinctively turned his head. Seeing the foul-smelling, gaping maw charging straight at his face, he shuddered and punched the Hunter, sending it flying.
The trio finally got a clear look at the Hunter. It was a lioness Monster, looking exactly identical to the other lioness Monsters around them. From the very beginning, one Monster in this pack had not attacked. By quietly laying in Stealth, it naturally avoided drawing aggro, allowing it to precisely target the weakest among them. It was exactly like a truly ferocious and sinister Hunter.
"This damn AI really gives me the creeps sometimes." Realizing what had happened, the Spear Knight’s expression turned ugly, while the Nun, having just survived a brush with death, looked even paler. These lifelike, bloodthirsty Wild Beasts even let out low pants that sounded like sneers, giving the group the urge to forcefully log off right then and there.
At that moment, a party join request appeared.
"Ah!" the Nun cried out. The realism and ferocity of the Monsters had made her forget that someone had just saved her from becoming Wild Beast rations. Turning her head, she saw an imposing black figure standing in the swirling dust.
"A pro! A pro player is applying to join the party! Quick, accept it!"
As the party leader, the Spear Knight subconsciously accepted the request.
[Black Beast Knight Blaze has joined the party]