"I will turn 15 soon. In a few months, though I don't really know when exactly."
Zayn calmed down a little when he understood that he had been misunderstanding something. The members of the Hunting Unit were not shocked because of his name, but because of his young age.
'And here I thought I would have some trouble with the government. Are they even searching for me, or do they believe that I disappeared with the 400 Blessed?'
He was not too sure about the answer but it was a good sign that the Normies and Blessed didn't know anything about him. They were extremely shocked and didn't even think to connect him to the young Normie who had ruined the Colosseum's Gambling Ceasaria, the Colosseum's best business.
Zayn was not too sure if anyone was searching for him, in the first place, but he had planned to keep a low profile for the next few months.
That was another reason why he had been out in the wilderness, unbothered about entering any city.
"So you are handsome, ripped, you look like someone around our age, and you're a Soul Knight at the Mid or Late level…yet you're only 14 years old? Like seriously…what are you eating? By chance, did you come out to catch your afternoon snack or something like that?" David, the bulkiest in the group of the Hunting Unit asked.
The last question had been a joke but Zayn just smiled lightly as he pointed to the corpse that had once been a Lesser Earth Dragon filled with vigor.
"I was actually out to hunt something, but it looks like my prey ended up being squashed as well. Such a precious corpse was turned into…this…" He complained quietly.
Zayn sighed, and one could tell that his sight was filled with annoyance and frustration.
However, that was not something the members of the Hunting Unit were concerned about. They were just shocked, staring blankly at the remnants of the monster which they identified as a Lesser Earth Dragon.
'He is actually strong enough to hunt a Lesser Earth Dragon? Did this kid grow up in the wilderness, or what??'
"So…you have been hunting in this area…at your age? Why?" Mike asked while he was helping David and Leon.
Zayn smiled at the Blessed before he shrugged.
"I mean, you guys are here as well. I have collected more soul particles than you guys, and I have better equipment than you guys as well. I don't really think that there is a problem with me being in this region to hunt a bunch of monsters to make a living, right?"
"...Well, that's true."
While Mike seemed to accept Zayn's reasoning, Miranda couldn't help but shake her head.
"But we're not alone, and we're not that far from the Silverflame camp to rest. You are alone and you cannot be prepared to fight at all times. It is necessary for you to rest as well, otherwise, you might be too tired and you will end up sustaining severe injuries, or even die in a place like this! It's way too dangerous out here!"
Zayn was not too sure why Miranda was so agitated and serious about this, but it was not a bad feeling to be scolded about traveling around alone. He had his Spirits to protect him while he slept, however, that was not something the others knew about.
They just thought he was a powerful, yet lonely Normie who hunted alone.
"That might be correct, but I am already hunting near the mountain range for a few weeks…or has it already been months? Either way, I am still unscathed, while you guys are injured. Well, at least those two," Zayn said while pointing at David and Leona.
"His arms are broken, or fractured at the very least, and this girl is still unconscious. She probably won't wake up for a while. As for you, most of your energy has been drained to enhance your Guardian's power, defense, and endurance, otherwise, he would have broken his arms as well."
Zayn analyzed the condition of the Hunting Unit precisely, which led him to keep adding things as he pointed at Mike.
"His soul particles are also drained. I don't think he can fight another Troll, let alone groups of monsters with similar strength. That leaves only Jeremy with most of his power, though I am pretty sure that the impressive arrowhead soulblades, or whatever you guys call them, drain his mental power easily!"
Nobody could hide their expressions after being picked out like this. Zayn's analysis was detailed enough to show that he was not a fool and that his perception was good enough to detect dangers in the wilderness. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to precisely point out the issues everyone faced right now.
Being able to observe the surrounding at a glance and conducting a proper analysis of the situation was something very important to survive in the wilderness.
Unfortunately, Mike didn't like that he had been pointed out as well.
"But you used lots of your soul particles as…well…wait, you are not even sweating…" He said, just to end up more confused than everyone else.
'I could sweat that his attacks require a tremendous amount of soul particles. How come he looks perfectly fine?'
Zayn was calmly talking to everyone, he was not breathing heavily, didn't sweat profusely, and the power he radiated was extremely stable.
It was almost as if Zayn didn't fight against the Trolls in the first place, let alone that he had been hunting a Lesser Earth Dragon beforehand.
This was a great surprise to Mike and the others as they realized the same Mike had noticed.
"If you don't have anything against my help, I can bring you safely back to the Silverflame Camp. My hunt is over, either way," Zayn proposed.
His offer attracted some attention and the others looked at each other before recalling that they didn't really have much of a choice. All of them were tired out in some way, while Zayn was completely fine.
Having someone like him by their side would certainly be helpful.
"That would be great. If you don't have anything else to do, we would be happy if you could come with us," Jeremy said, which caused Nial to smile back.
'Let's see if we can find some members of the Normie Union amongst the cadets of the Big Three. Amongst hundreds of highly talented Normies, there should be a bunch of them, right?'
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