Chapter 21: Suspicion
"I’m ready," Abel said, looking at Hunter Bear Bard, knowing that they were waiting for him to complete his preparations.
Hunter Bear Bard studied Abel’s gear with a questioning gaze.
"Will you be able to fight with that?" he asked. "You don’t need to try out weapons that you aren’t accustomed to or try to draw in viewers on your first raid. All you need to focus on is passing the trial through effort and teamwork."
He had seen many new Hunters pick unwieldy weapons on their first run, either to stand out or attract viewers and Patrons. Based on reports, Abel was an ordinary civilian who awakened after a life-threatening event, so he assumed Abel was one of those Hunters.
"I’m used to this type of weapon. I promise that I’ll be fine," Abel responded.
He let the battle axe fall out of his grasp and then caught the chain connected to it midway. Then, he swung it around by his side.
WOOSSHH!! WOOSSHH!!
The sound of the battle axe slicing through the wind echoed as it spun rapidly.
Hunter Firestar watched Abel’s movements with interest.
The others were impressed as well, but they didn’t reveal it in their expressions.
Abel slowed it down and caught his axe skillfully.
"Impressive. I’m looking forward to your performance then," Hunter Bard Shard nodded, impressed.
Hunter Executioner Five and Poison Rose snorted inwardly.
A sword and shield, or a bow and arrow if one possessed high dexterity, were always the most preferable and safest choices, even for an expert professional Hunter. If he was trying to draw viewers in with a sense of novelty, then the quicker that novelty wore off, the better they could retain their attention.
"Let’s go in," Hunter Bear Bard. He turned and walked into the blue portal.
The others followed closely behind him.
Meanwhile, at the air carrier,
Philip opened up a bowl of fried chicken and sauce, which he had bought on his way there.
Ring!! Ring!!
Philip pulled out his phone from his pocket and picked up the call.
"Hello. I didn’t think that the laziest Hunter in Ciro City would bother calling me at this early hour of the day. If you’re interested in scouting out some new talent, get in line with the others and watch the new newbie dungeon raid trial on the forum with everyone else, because I’m not releasing any information, no matter how much you offer this time around," he said, tearing a piece of meat in his hand with his teeth.
Philip’s eyes widened, his expression shifting into surprise upon hearing the man’s response.
"Then why are you calling me at this time of the day? Did I tell you that I was on duty?" he asked, slightly irritated that he hadn’t received the response he wanted.
Naturally, he was meant to receive some form of pushback before settling on a price, but the sudden turn of events left him curious.
"Abel Gregory? Of course, I have his status report here. Didn’t I tell you that I wouldn’t give you any information on the candidates?" Philip stopped eating, his tone and expression turning solemn.
Philip’s brow furrowed, listening to his response. "That’s impossible. But hold on, let me check."
He placed the call on hold and retrieved a file from the safe under his seat. It contained the registration status reports of Abel and others who had registered today.
He searched for Abel’s Hunter Registration file. Finding, he read through it.
[Status sheet]
—
[Evaluation]
[Mana Purity [Unknown]]
[Innate Potential [Unknown]]
—
Philip’s expression shifted into shock and astonishment.
He could not believe what he was seeing. Yet he couldn’t say that the registration status report was wrong because it was tailored to register a wide range of awakened Hunters.
The margin of error was close to 0.1 per cent.
Even if Abel’s status report was an error, his innate potential should have given a clear reading, but instead, it was unknown, just like his mana purity.
This could only mean the purity of Abel’s mana was so high that his innate potential could not be ranked. Or it was so low that it was unknown.
This was also the same reading gotten when calculating the mana purity and innate potential of a normal human being. Yet the fact that Abel was an awakened Hunter proved the latter false, making the former much more believable.
Not only that, but the fact that he hadn’t awakened a unique talent or a skill meant one more thing... He was hiding it.
It wasn’t difficult for anyone to reach such a conclusion given a status report this bizarre.
Philip couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
His booming voice almost startled the pilots having their meals in the pilot area.
Philip picked up his phone and resumed his call.
"I’ve looked through his report, and you’re right. There’s something strange about his mana purity," Philip said. "Only his main stats are revealed. I think he has hidden every other important detail, such as his skills or unique talent."
Receiving the response from the other side, Philip snorted. "It would be even more impossible for him to have such a report if he hadn’t awakened any. Every Hunter has the right to hide or reveal the details of their status sheet. You should know this, too. So if you want to find out anything, you either send a message to the Director so he can launch a formal investigation if you’re sensing foul play, or wait until he reveals his secret."
Philip paused.
"You want information on the others? Don’t think about it! Watch the livestream if you aren’t interested in finding new talent for your guild," he retorted. "They’re also impressive, so I assure you that you won’t regret it."
After looking through the status reports of the others to see if he could find out any more anomalies, though he suspected there were, he couldn’t help but be impressed.
"The livestream is about to start. I need to pay attention to it. Bye," Philip added before ending the call.
