Chapter 22: Suspicion [2]
"The livestream is about to start. I need to pay attention to it. Bye," Philip added before ending the call.
He placed the phone back in his pocket and looked at his system interface, showing a video of five familiar individuals. He stared at the four candidates, most especially Abel, with interest.
His gaze lingered on Abel.
"What an interesting bunch! If you go this far to hide your abilities, then it better be worth the suspense," Philip said.
This was the age of Golden Age Streamers—Hunters danced with danger and death in hopes of attracting viewers from awakened individuals and Patrons alike. Strength was highly respected, and information was treated as gold.
There had been many Hunters like the four individuals before him. Although not as special, they had believed that they were shooting stars about to soar into the skies. They had ended up as fireflies or crashed onto the ground like the others after a brief streak across the heavens.
He hoped for an interesting livestream and was even prepared to donate if they managed to satiate his curiosity.
***
On the other side of the phone call,
Within a luxurious room resembling that of a five-star suite,
Isiciah sighed in defeat as he closed his phone and placed it on the table beside him.
"That greedy wolf probably won’t share any information with me unless I give him details about the Hollow Nest Dungeon," he said, adjusting his robe.
Seeing that he had no chance of getting information about Abel’s registration status report, he summoned his system interface and opened the link ID that Philip had sent him to watch the stream.
As the livestream launched, he picked up a glass of red wine from the table and took a sip.
"Tskk!! Tskk!! Giant Feet Rabbits. These guys are really going all out. Aren’t they afraid of scaring the newbies?" Isiciah asked in confusion.
"So Bear Bard is leading them. What an unlucky bunch!" he sighed, quickly spotting a bald man with fair-tanned skin dressed in a red robe with golden inscriptions and embellishments, holding a staff.
He swept his gaze across the five individuals before him before settling his attention on Abel.
Seeing the double-bladed battle axe, wrapped in chains and anchored to Abel’s hand., Isiciah’s eyes twitched.
"If you don’t want to draw attention, is that really the best weapon of choice?"
He was beginning to doubt whether Abel had hidden his status report to avoid getting attention or if it was for some other reason. Because it wasn’t that uncommon for newly awakened Hunters to be debtors and, as such, hide their identities until they could find formidable backing or a way to pay back their debts.
After a brief hesitation, Isiciah picked up his phone and called a number.
Beep!
"Hello," he said. "I sent you a link to a Hunter Association newbie dungeon trial livestream. I think you can find potential candidates for your guild."
He switched off the phone and placed it on the table. He focused on the unfolding livestream before him.
"I’m curious, so you better not disappoint me," Isiciah said, sipping his wine as he watched the livestream.
***
The sun hung brightly in the sky, radiating a soft brilliant glow on the vast grassy field below.
[Party Name: Newbie Dungeon Raiders #523212243125]
[Party Leader: Bear Bard]
[Party Members: 5]
[Live: Giant Feet Burrow (Level One Dungeon)]
[Viewers: 8]
[-Live Chat-]
Abel glanced at the system interface floating in the corner of his vision and saw that three more individuals had joined the livestream.
He closed it to avoid distractions as he looked at the sight before them.
A huge rabbit about 8ft(2.4m)tall, with a robust body and white, glistening fur, fed on the field of wild grass below.
"You can cast a skill called [Inspect] to view a monster’s profile. This is a system-level skill, so it can be used by anyone. It does not drain any mana and can be cast at will. The downside is that it cannot be levelled up," Bear Bard explained, moving to the back of the group.
"Inspect."
Although Abel was surprised by the revelation, he cast the skill without hesitation.
[Congratulations, you’ve learnt a new skill: [Inspect]]
[Gaint Feet Rabbit (Level One)]
The skill appeared in his active and passive skill stats. Since he also possessed a system-level related to the unique system he had awakened, he quickly recovered from the revelation.
After creating his channel, Abel discovered that he could also edit his personal status sheet. Due to his numerous stats, he decided to create another stats holder for system-level skills.
The others did the same and learned the new skill.
"Each of you should fight without fear and to your heart’s content. I’ll do my best to protect you to the best of my abilities if you get injured," Bear Bard said.
Abel and the others nodded in response.
They turned to look at each other.
"As you can see, I’m an archer, so I’ll be supporting from the rear," Poison Rose said.
"I’m a mage, but with my abilities I can also fight on the front lines," Firestar added.
"I’m a warrior, so I can support you on the front lines," Executioner Five responded. "You can draw the attention of the enemy while TYRANT and I launch a surprise attack from behind."
"I agree," Abel chimed in.
"Alright, let’s begin," Firestar said.
Abel and Executioner Five turned and dashed toward the giant rabbit in the distance.
Poison Rose raised her bow and aimed it in its direction.
"Allow me to go first," said Firestar, turning her head toward Poison Rose.
Poison Rose nodded. Even though she wanted to be the first to reveal her skills to the audience, it wasn’t a bad idea to see what the other person could do and whether she could overshadow her.
Her goal was still to become the best among the other candidates.
Firestar could guess what her teammate was thinking.
But did she care? No! Because she was going to step out of this trial as its most brilliant candidate, and potentially one of the most promising Hunters.
She stepped forward with a smile and raised her staff.
