Karl lowered Noctis onto the floor beside his grandfather before stepping backwards.
The Black Fang Tiger cub remained still for barely two seconds before immediately walking after him.
By the time Karl reached the doorway, Noctis was already pawing repeatedly at his boots as though refusing to let him take another step.
Karl looked down at the cub and released a helpless sigh. "I told you, you’re staying here."
Noctis stared up at him before placing another paw against his foot.
Karl had already decided not to bring the cub into the wilderness this time.
Noctis possessed an Imperial bloodline, but he was still extremely young and had not even formed a proper contract with Karl yet.
Taking him outside the city now would serve little purpose besides creating something else Karl needed to protect.
Unfortunately, Noctis appeared completely uninterested in Karl’s reasoning.
Arthur watched the two of them for several seconds before laughing from his chair.
"Now, now, you clearly don’t know how to handle these little beasts yet."
Karl looked toward him. "Then Grandpa is welcome to demonstrate."
Arthur snorted before leaning forward and casually picking Noctis up beneath his front legs.
The cub immediately twisted around, before Karl could say anything, Noctis opened his mouth and bit Arthur’s hand with everything his small body could manage.
Arthur’s fingers twitched slightly as Noctis continued biting, Karl stared at the scene with a strange expression.
The cub’s tiny fangs had not even managed to break Arthur’s skin, although the little bastard clearly believed he was fighting for his life.
Arthur slowly looked down at him. "You have quite the temper for something this small."
Noctis growled around his hand and tried biting harder.
A faint pressure suddenly spread from Arthur’s body and the effect was immediate.
Noctis froze, his ears lowered, his body stopped struggling and the same cub that had been violently attacking Arthur a moment earlier became completely obedient within his hands.
Arthur adjusted him comfortably beneath one arm before looking toward Karl with obvious satisfaction.
"See?"
He rubbed the top of Noctis’s head with his free hand.
"This is how we take care of little kids."
Karl stared at his grandfather with a completely blank expression.
"Indeed."
Arthur laughed loudly.
Karl shook his head before walking toward the door again.
This time Noctis remained quietly inside Arthur’s arms, although his dark eyes continued following Karl until he disappeared from the room.
Victor was already waiting outside the residence.
However, instead of the black luxury car they had used around the city yesterday, a large reinforced jeep stood near the entrance.
Karl looked over the vehicle before nodding slightly, that made considerably more sense.
Most luxury vehicles were perfectly usable within Ardent City and along the maintained roads connecting nearby settlements, but they were terrible choices once someone entered the wilderness.
The roads beyond Alliance-controlled territory quickly became uneven or disappeared completely, while encounters with monsters could happen without warning.
A heavier wilderness vehicle was far more practical.
Victor opened the driver’s door. "Ready, Young Master?"
Karl climbed into the passenger seat. "Let’s go."
The jeep soon left the Reed estate and moved through Ardent City’s morning streets, their first stop was the Vayne residence.
Mira was already waiting near the entrance when they arrived, wearing lightweight dark combat clothing with the pair of Diamond-grade daggers she had taken from the Reed family vault secured at her waist.
A storage necklace rested beneath her collar, while a small pack hung over one shoulder.
Mira smiled before opening the rear door and climbing inside.
"Where’s Noctis?"
"With Grandpa."
She looked surprised. "You’re not taking him?"
"He’s too young."
Karl leaned back against his seat.
"We haven’t even established a contract yet, bringing him into the wilderness now would just mean protecting him the entire time."
Mira nodded after thinking about it.
"Fair enough, I also left Astra with my parents."
Victor started the vehicle again and the jeep continued toward the outer districts.
Buildings gradually became less dense as they approached Ardent City’s defensive perimeter, until the enormous city wall came into view ahead of them.
The main gate was already crowded with hunting teams, merchants and professionals preparing to leave the city.
Several large transport vehicles waited beside the inspection area while armed guards checked identification and travel permits before allowing anyone through.
Karl spotted Leon almost immediately, he was standing near the side of the gate munching on something.
The jeep slowed near the side of the main gate before stopping directly beside Leon.
Leon finished whatever he was chewing and opened the rear door, sliding into the seat beside Mira.
Karl looked back at him. "What did you buy?"
Leon immediately grinned, instead of answering, he reached toward his storage equipment and pulled out a chocolate bar before tossing it toward Karl.
"Here."
Karl caught it instinctively and stared at him. "What is this?"
"Chocolate."
"I can see that."
Leon ignored him and reached into his storage equipment again.
Within moments, packets of dried meat, bottled drinks, several boxes of sweets and enough snacks to occupy half a small convenience store began appearing between them.
Mira stared at the growing pile, victor glanced toward the rear-view mirror.
Karl slowly raised one hand and slapped it against his forehead.
"Damn, I was wrong."
Leon stopped midway through pulling out another packet. "What?"
"I actually trusted you to prepare the supplies."
"Oi, I did prepare them."
Leon hurriedly pushed several of the snacks back into his storage equipment before Karl could continue judging him.
"I have instant food, tents, recovery potions, emergency talismans, spare clothes, water purification equipment and everything else we should normally need."
He reached inside again and pulled out several folded maps.
"I even bought updated wilderness maps."
Karl’s expression eased slightly.
Mira released a breath beside him. "So you weren’t completely useless."
Leon looked offended. "I spent half the night preparing all this."
"Half the night buying snacks?"
"The snacks are part of the supplies."
Karl shook his head before turning forward again. "Fine, you did better than I expected."
Leon proudly leaned back against his seat. "Exactly."
Victor started the jeep again and moved toward the inspection lanes leading through Ardent City’s main gate.
The closer they came, the heavier the security became.
Armed guards stood beside reinforced barriers while several Association professionals inspected vehicles and verified the identities of hunting teams before allowing them outside the city.
However, the moment their jeep approached, several guards immediately noticed the Reed family insignia displayed near the front.
Their expressions became noticeably more serious, victor guided the vehicle toward one of the inspection booths before lowering his window.
The guard inside had already straightened by the time he saw the person sitting behind the wheel.
His body stiffened slightly.
"Sir."
Victor looked toward him calmly, the guard glanced at the Reed insignia once more before hurriedly activating the barrier.
"You are clear to go, sir, there is no need for inspection."
Victor gave him a mild smile.
"Indeed, the Reed family always follows the necessary regulations."
The guard’s expression became slightly strained.
"Of course, sir."
Victor raised the window again and drove through the opened barrier without another word.
Karl glanced toward him but chose not to comment.
The jeep had barely travelled several dozen metres beyond the gate when the guard inside the booth suddenly released the breath he had been holding.
His legs weakened beneath him and the man collapsed directly onto the floor.
Several nearby guards immediately rushed toward the booth, only to discover that he had simply fainted.
One of them hurriedly took over the checkpoint while the others carried their unconscious companion toward the nearby medical station.
By then, Victor had already continued along the road leading away from Ardent City as though nothing had happened.
Leon looked through the rear window.
"Did that guy just collapse?"
Victor kept his eyes upon the road. "No idea."
Once the walls of Ardent City had begun shrinking behind them, Karl unfolded one of the wilderness maps Leon had purchased and spread it across his lap.
The map covered a large region surrounding the city, with established roads, hunting zones, known monster territories and several recently discovered locations marked across it.
Karl studied it for several moments before taking out a pen, he marked one location, then another.
Several more followed until a rough route gradually appeared across the map, Victor glanced and after several minutes, he finally nodded.
"Not a bad route."
Karl continued marking the final section.
Victor pointed toward several of the locations. "But why here?"
Karl looked at the places he had indicated. "They’re already along the way."
That answer clearly did not satisfy Victor, but Karl offered nothing else.
Several of the locations held things Karl remembered from his previous life, although there was no reason to explain any of that yet.
For now, they had a much simpler problem, all three of them were still Level 0.
No matter how exceptional their classes or talents were, their current attributes remained those of professionals who had awakened barely a day earlier.
The wilderness surrounding Ardent City was not designed for people at their level.
Weak monsters rarely survived for long outside protected breeding areas or beginner dungeons, while most creatures roaming freely near the city were already around Level 30 or higher.
Karl looked toward Victor, that was precisely why bringing him along mattered.
Before the three of them could begin hunting properly, Victor would need to capture several suitable monsters and restrain them enough for Karl, Leon and Mira to finish them themselves.
It was hardly an impressive beginning to their wilderness expedition but everyone started somewhere.
Victor seemed to understand exactly what Karl was thinking from his expression and slowly shook his head.
"Three newly awakened brats entering the wilderness at Level 0."
Mira turned toward the window to hide her smile. Karl continued studying the map while the jeep left the maintained roads surrounding Ardent City and moved farther into the wilderness.
Their first destination was not particularly far away, a wolf den had been discovered in the region only recently.
Karl folded the map and looked toward the increasingly dense wilderness ahead.
Their first hunt was about to begin.