Chapter 59: The Frostlands
Anastasia continued hunting higher-tier beasts, her rifle effectively clearing out most of the lower-ranked ones without the slightest trouble.
Meanwhile, Ronan was already deciding which job or region to pick, using it as a distraction to keep his mind off Sarael.
"Hey, wait...!"
A voice came from one of the cages. A hunter stood there, and inside were two others lying on the ground, both gravely injured.
It was a sight Ronan was used to. Hunters being overconfident and challenging beasts far above their level was common.
Death was just a very common side effect of that kind of mistake.
"F-Fuck it!"
The hunter yelled and sprinted toward the cage’s exit, kicking it open and running toward the hunting grounds. He didn’t even bother closing the gate behind him.
GROWL!
A massive hawk the size of a bus burst through the opening, its feathers sharp as blades. It was an A-Rank beast, one that could easily have killed Ronan in the past.
"I’ll handle it," Ronan said, already drawing his sword halfway.
But he didn’t need to.
Sarael was already on it, flicking her fingers to the side.
A faint, inky-black blade formed out of thin air and sliced through the hawk’s neck, decapitating it instantly before it could even scream.
"Disturbing my husband while he’s thinking. Ridiculous."
Sarael frowned, her hand reaching out toward the direction the hunter had fled, but Ronan stopped her before she could likely kill him, a nervous smile on his face.
"He learned his lesson..."
He said it while watching the healers already arrive and enter the now-cleared cage to rescue the two injured hunters.
[Soul Absorbed: 3,000 EXP]
"Idiots..."
Anastasia sighed beside Ronan, making the two of them glance at her.
"What? Even I could tell they couldn’t handle that thing. Doesn’t take a genius to know fighting a giant flying hawk is a bad idea."
✧ ✦ ✧
After a few more minutes of testing her capabilities, Anastasia finally met her match against an A-Rank monster.
The beast easily dodged her bullets, forcing Ronan to intervene and decapitate it with his sword before it could actually reach her.
He had all the information he needed. She was pretty much at the peak of B-Rank. But A-Ranks were still a no-go for her.
"It’s like a cockroach..."
She was breathless, sitting on the ground and catching her breath as she stared at the dead corpse. She had never imagined something as big as a wolf could change directions that quickly on the spot.
"A less disgusting cockroach," Ronan added, sheathing his sword.
"Cockroaches are disgusting?" Sarael asked, looking genuinely perplexed.
"Well, I guess to you they don’t really matter. It’s not like you can get sick..."
Anastasia replied.
"Still, it’s better if you do think of them as disgusting."
Ronan said. Having Sarael be independent and have her own likes was one thing, but letting her think cockroaches were okay was far from his list of approved ideas.
After fighting skitters, he’d prefer Sarael just kill anything that resembled them.
"Well, this settles it. We’re heading to the frostlands."
✧ ✦ ✧
The frostlands were the northern region of the Frontier, where one of its other major capital cities was located. And it made sense why.
Frostheim.
The capital of the snow elves. And by now, probably populated by multiple humans as well. It was the perfect place for Anastasia to train.
The snow made it ideal for sniping with her rifle. It also limited the movement of any creature she’d fight there.
And most importantly, her element suited the terrain perfectly.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Her gunfire echoed through the snowfields, dropping snow wolves from a distance before they even spotted her.
The three of them had decided to take the more perilous route, which meant more enemies and more chances to find places of interest.
Ronan already knew what the main route looked like, and it was obvious that bringing her through a path dozens of hunters used every day would be a disaster.
The arguments alone over who should claim each kill were reason enough to avoid it.
"Is this all there is to it?" Anastasia asked, scouting ahead with her rifle. Her feet were practically walking on top of the snow, as if she weighed nothing at all. Compared to Ronan, who was now knee-deep in it.
With Sarael floating as usual.
"You need to take supplies and a place to sleep into account. So it’s probably harder than you think," Sarael replied, catching Ronan off guard.
"Guess you studied up on hunter routines."
"Of course. It’s the least I could do."
Anastasia nodded at her answer, then looked over their surroundings. The night sky and lack of natural light made it nearly impossible to find anywhere to sleep.
That realization alone was enough to make her lower her rifle, a hint of panic creeping in.
"Am I the only one concerned here...?"
"Pretty much," Ronan replied. He had already planned this entire thing.
"What...?"
"This is for you to get experience, so I decided on a more hands-on approach. Basically, you do things on your own while me and Sarael only step in once you’re in real danger."
Anastasia nearly dropped her gun.
"Wait, so I was...!?"
"Yeah. You were the one leading us. The one who had no information about this place’s layout at all."
"I think it’s a good way to learn," Sarael nodded, remembering the times Ronan’s grandmother had taught him when her worship was still predominant. And she realized...
Ronan had more than likely inherited that same teaching style. And now it seemed Sarael was going to inherit it too.
"Can’t you at least point me where to go!?" Anastasia shouted, and Ronan only gave a smug grin before shrugging.
"You’re the hunter with the ice element here. It’s your call."
"Y-You..."
Turns out, being tutored by someone the same age as you had its own disadvantages as well as advantages.
The advantage? It was casual.
The disadvantage? It was way too casual.
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