Volume 8 Chapter 12 The Return Of The Hunt (Part II)
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Riege! I’m sorry, but please take Feria to a safe place!”
It seemed like Riege heard me, because he backed away with Feria, taking them farther from the Cloud Whale.
”Feria sure is reckless, huh? But that Cloud Whale is pretty weakened now.”
It was slowing down thanks to Manon continuously sniping it with her Firelater and Feria’s Divine Magic attacks.
But a few C-Rank Small Cloud Whales arrived above us, diving down to try and eat us.
”No one gets near my master!”
”I won’t let Sir Kent be touched!”
Carly activated a Freezing Storm, and Flamil fired off Induction Barrages, creating a deadly zone of ice and steel balls right in front of the incoming Small Cloud Whales.
Black mist erupted from the Small Cloud Whales that flew into the deadly zone, shrouding the area in a haze.
Desperate cries echoed all around.
Their attempt failed, and the Small Cloud Whales were left broken and scattered, their Materials scattered around.
”Well, guess it’s not my turn…”
”I’ll snipe it with my Elitzina SC-nya!”
Manon hands me a customized sniper rifle she made for herself.
With the vanguard group reduced to just Milly and Ines, she probably wants me to weaken the Cloud Whale as soon as possible so we don’t get caught up in it.
I load the magazine and aim through the scope, settling on the Cloud Whale.
Without skills like Hawk’s Eye or Concentration, I knew there was a chance I’d miss, but the target was so big that even if I shot randomly, I could probably hit it.
I aim for the Cloud Whale’s temple and pull the trigger on the Elitzina SC.
Boom!
The bullet shot straight out, hitting the Cloud Whale’s temple and causing it to erupt in a cloud of black mist.
Job Level Up: Gunsmith LV3 → LV4
Skill point gained: 1 point.
Hitting the target with a bullet caused my Gunsmith job level to rise.
Whether it’s due to the lingering effects of yesterday’s cheating or the high experience from strong monsters, I’m not sure, but it seems like my job level can rise significantly if I keep this up.
I focus on nothing but hitting my mark as I pull the trigger of the Elitzina SC.
Since it’s an auto-loading Sniper rifle, the remaining 4 bullets in the magazine are unleashed one after another towards the Cloud Whale.
VOOOOOOOOOOO!
One of the shots I fired in rapid succession pierced the Cloud Whale’s eye.
Job Level Up: Gunsmith LV4 → LV8
Skill point gained: 4 points.
That’s when the Cloud Whale’s body started turning red.
And then Milly shouted a warning at the top of her lungs.
”Everyone, watch out! It’s a pre-attack behavior! Dodge the clouds!”
The Cloud Whale let out a huge ROAR, trying to drown out Milly’s warning.
With a deep bass sound reverberating in my gut, a massive chunk of cloud was spat out from its gaping maw.
Manon, Carly, and Flamil, who were casting spells and shooting, all evacuated the area.
Of course, I stopped shooting and shouldered the Elitzina, running to put distance between me and the Cloud Whale.
As I sprinted towards a grassy thicket to take cover, it suddenly started to quiver.
Inside was a deadly poison ivy plant, ready to strike with its toxic thorns aimed right at me.
Ambush!
Just as the vines were about to skewer me, they were enveloped in flames and instantly carbonized.
It seemed Flamil had unleashed a powerful fire magic spell without an incantation.
A dark mist was swirling around her, indicating the strength of the magic she had used.
”Sorry! Thanks for the save!”
”Sir Kent, behind you! The cloud is coming!”
I turned to thank her, but Flamil cut me off with a reprimand.
I looked in the direction she pointed and saw the numbing cloud spat out by the Cloud Whale was hot on my trail.
I narrowly dodged the numbing cloud as it closed in on me.
”Whoa!? What is this? It’s locked!?”
A passing cloud curved back towards me like a giant crescent moon.
”My master, that will continue to track its target forever unless we dispel it. I’ll handle that, so you keep attacking the Cloud Whale! If we don’t do something soon, it will keep generating those paralyzing clouds, and we’ll run out of magic!”
Carly unleashed a fierce gust of wind, systematically destroying the paralyzing clouds that were spewed forth.
”O-okay! I’ll handle the clouds! Manon, let’s go!”
Tossing aside an empty magazine, I quickly loaded a new one and resumed firing, aiming just enough to keep my shots steady.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
──Job Level Up: Gunsmith LV8 → LV13
──Acquired 5 Skill Points.
”Is the shooting doing any damage…?”
”It is-nya! The clouds are dispersing, and we can see more of its body-nya!”
The Cloud Whale showed no signs of weakening, but compared to before, the clouds enveloping its form were thinning out, revealing more of its blue body.
Milly, Ines, Beatrice, and the rest of the Vanguard had already boarded the Cloud Whale, directly attacking its fins and gills.
The Cloud Whale, under concentrated attack, was flailing in the air, releasing thick black mist all around.
After switching out my magazine and finishing the reload, I fired again without holding back.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
──Job Level Up: Gunsmith LV13 → LV18
──Acquired 5 Skill Points.
──[Hawk’s Eye] Skill unlocked.
Finally getting the coveted [Hawk’s Eye], I immediately activated the skill for a tactical edge.
Through the scope, the Cloud Whale moved sluggishly, as if it were struggling.
As I peered through the scope, I noticed it wriggling something that looked like an opening on its lower abdomen, then suddenly, it erupted in a massive spray of water!
It was already right above us, and the water it spewed rained down on my armor and body.
Then, with a smell like burning, my metal armor started to melt.
At the same time, a searing pain shot through my whole body.
”GYAAAH! What the heck is this?! Burns!”
A stinging pain spread all over my body where the water had touched.
I reflexively dropped the Elitzina SC I was holding.
This time, the Mr. Golerg armor I’d hastily prepared hadn’t gone through the acid-resistant plating process, so only my armor ended up corroding from the Cloud Whale’s acidic rain.
Manon, Carly, and Flamil had a lot more Monster Hunting experience, so their capes and robes were acid-resistant.
They were taking it easier than me, even though they got hit by the rain too.
”Sir Kent! Are you alright?!”
”Yeah, I’m fine! Just a little crispy!”
Flamil came running over, looking worried.
Luckily, my injuries were light, and my skin just stung a bit, but I could still move.
Just then, a huge chunk of blue stuff fell from above and landed with a THUD next to us.
Looking closer, it was a chunk of meat, probably from the Cloud Whale’s dorsal fin.
Milly’s gonna be PISSED…
Every time the Cloud Whale above us recoiled, more chunks of meat rained down.
I figured Milly and the others were hacking the Cloud Whale to pieces for hurting me.
VWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!
”This is bad, Milly’s really angry. If we’re not careful, it’ll probably fall on us.”
”My Lord, I believe it would be wise to retreat before that crazy woman, Miriallia Blackdagger, finishes off the Cloud Whale. Judging by the looks of it, it’s about to be done for.”
Carly put her arm around me and helped me up.
The skin peeled back from my melted flesh, and the wind made it sting like crazy, but I didn’t want to get squished by the Cloud Whale, so I gritted my teeth and started running.
”Come on, come on, come on! Uooooh! Gather here, magic element! Transform into healing and close the wounds! First Aid!”
Finishing the incantation while running, she activates Healing Magic.
The skin that had been drooping and hanging limply peeled off, and new skin began to grow.
The pain lessened considerably with the new skin.
”Gather here, magic element! Become a shining light and heal this one’s wounds! Recovery Glow!”
Thanks to Flamil also casting Healing Magic, the wound began to close up right before my eyes.
Flamil’s magic is so powerful, maybe I recovered a bit too much, because a little bit of blood started to run from my nose.
It was embarrassing, so I decided to keep it to myself.
”Here it comes!”
The Cloud Whale let out a cry of despair and, losing its buoyancy, plummeted from the sky.
With a BOOM!
sound, it slammed into the ground, releasing a large amount of black mist from every part of its body and dying.
”Kent! Whoa whoa whoa whoa!”
Just as I thought I heard Milly’s voice from above me, Milly’s soft chest landed on my head.
Apparently, after finishing off the Cloud Whale, she jumped down.
Milly looked worried and was patting my face, checking my wounds.
”Ah, Ms. Milly. If you’re going to finish off a Cloud Whale above me, I’d have appreciated a heads-up…”
My wounds had already completely healed thanks to Flamil’s magic.
”But I thought Kent was going to melt! I panicked… I wouldn’t usually get this flustered even during a normal hunt…”
From where I was, I couldn’t see Milly, who was above the Cloud Whale, but I could imagine Ms. Milly, enveloped in that black aura, tearing the Cloud Whale’s body to shreds.
”It was a little painful, but it wasn’t a fatal attack. Mr. Golerg’s armor melted, but it did its job.”
I showed Milly the melted armor.
The brand new Steel Armor was completely melted, with some places even having holes.
”If that fool, Miriallia Blackdagger, hadn’t panicked and dropped a cloud whale right on our heads, my master wouldn’t have had to Geass a move that came with pain.”
Carly, sitting next to her, started to make snide remarks about Milly’s actions.
With this, Milly, too, began to heat up because it was Carly she was dealing with.
”How dare you! You slave girl, not even trying to protect your master, letting him get drenched in acidic rain is worse!”
”What! Don’t you dare ignore me! The theory of hunting a B-Rank cloud whale is that those riding it should take the flak! We, the Magicians and the long-range attack group, only approached the cloud whale because of Miriallia Blackdagger’s lack of power!”
It seemed the conversation was heading into tricky territory, so I decided to step in and mediate.
Leaving the two of them to bicker could potentially set off the other girls as well.
As a monster hunter, I’m used to injuries being part of the deal, so I didn’t think anyone was really at fault this time.
”Come on, Carly, Milly, enough! We’ve successfully hunted a B-Rank big game! Besides, there are others injured too, we should prioritize treating them.”
The two facing each other sighed in resignation.
”If Kent says so…”
”I will follow my master’s words.”
And so, with a bit of danger, we successfully took down several monsters, including the B-Rank cloud whale.
That day, the tally of monsters hunted was 50 D-Rank, 15 C-Rank, and one B-Rank.
It was a decent result for a day’s hunt.
Another thing I discovered was that the job rush since yesterday seemed to be a result of me defeating Orphée Bleu, and the new Title I acquired seemed to have a cheat function, with the behavior experience points jumping tens of times.
It looked like I could obtain jobs just by taking actions related to them, and at lower levels, just performing the actions would raise the job level.
Thanks to that, I had newly acquired the [Combat Commander] title as well.
Kent
Race: Majin Clan
Age: 16
Card Color: Red 13/∞
HR: 84
Remaining Skill Points: 24
Combat Jobs:
- Gunsmith: Level 20
- Warrior: Level 4
- Swordsman: Level 4
- Magician: Level 3
- Scout: Level 3
- Fist Fighter: Level 3
- Hunter: Level 3
- Gunslinger: Level 3
- Healer: Level 6
General Jobs:
- Royal: Level 35
- Gigolo: Level 23
- Casanova: Level 1
- Combat Commander: Level 3
Modifier Skills:
- Handsome Guy (Gift)
- Protective Instinct (Gift)
- Woman Killer (Gift)
- Sexual Prowess (Gift)
- Gun Handling II (10)
- Spearsmanship I (5)
- Defense Technique I (5)
Combat Skills:
- Rapid Fire I (5)
- Sniper I (5)
- Attack Magic I (5)
- Healing Magic I (5)
- Trap Creation I (5)
- Hawk’s Eye (10)
General Skills:
- Detection I (5)
- Ambush Prevention I (5)
- Sexual Recovery I (5)
- Document Creation II (10)
- Combat Command I (5)
Equipment:
- Right Hand: Steel Sword (Elite-level)
- Left Hand: Steel Shield (Elite-level)
- Armor: Steel Armor (Elite-level)
- Accessory: Decoy Bracelet
Languages:
- Western Language (Fluent)
- Reading Comprehension: Western Language
Titles:
- B-Rank Hunter
- Exceptional Commander
- Beast Monster Hunter
- Lord of the Kingdom
- Duke of the Southern District
- Savior of the Nation
- Harem King
- God Slayer
Inventory: 6/20
- Elitzina
- Dragunov
- Invisible Cloth
- X-ray Glasses
- High-Level Grooming Brush
- Meat Doll Type S
Elitzina Dragunov’s Invisible Cloth, X-ray Glasses, High-level Wool Repair Brush, Meat Doll Type S
~New magic~
Spark Explosion (Sparks Explusion)! Gather, magic elements (Mana)!
Become sparks and shatter the enemy!” Attribute: Fire.
Target: 10-meter radius area.
Attack Range: Within 20 meters from the caster.
Magic for Elementalist only.
Using elemental conversion, change the magic elements (Mana) into flammable gas and release sparks, causing explosions in the target area.
Mid probability of inflicting the status abnormality [Burn].
Power depends on the caster’s magic power.
Guided Bullet (Induction Bullet)! Gather, magic elements (Mana)!
Become unavoidable bullets and strike down the enemy!” Attribute: Earth.
Target: 10-meter radius area.
Attack Range: Within 20 meters from the caster.
Magic for Elementalist only.
Using elemental conversion, change the magic elements (Mana) into steel balls the size of marbles and scatter tens of thousands in the area simultaneously.
Can distinguish between friend and foe.
Power depends on the caster’s magic power.
Blazing Fire (Raging Fire)! Rest within me, magic elements (Mana).
Become Blazing Fire and burn the enemy to ashes!” Attribute: Fire.
Target: Single.
Range: Within 20 meters from the caster.
Release a band of flames from the caster’s palm, entangling the target and dealing continuous damage.
The entangled target becomes unable to move.
Power depends on the caster’s magic power.
”Rest within me, magic elements (Mana).
Become a fierce wind and cut apart the enemy!” Attribute: Wind.
Target: Single.
Range: Within 20 meters from the caster.
Release a cross-shaped vacuum wave from the palm to attack the target.
Deals double damage to flying enemies.
Low probability of instant death effect.
”Rest within me, magic elements (Mana).
Become cold ice and freeze the enemy!” Attribute: Wind.
Target: Single.
Range: Within 20 meters from the caster.
Generate white mist to instantly freeze the target.
Low probability of causing the status abnormality [Frostbite].
”Descend, O Sword of the Divine (Diostarudo Avento)! Lend me your magic element (Mana)! Become the sacred blade that cuts down my foes before me!” Attribute: Light | Target: Spellcasters | Range: None | This Divine Magic summons the celestial artifact, the sacred sword, to the earth, fueled by one’s own magical power.
Once activated, as long as the magic power persists, the sacred sword (Diostarudo) can be used to slash enemies apart.
~Monster~
Venomous Vine Plant (Creeper) | Rank: D | Type: Plant | This plant monster has gained a will after years of being polluted by magic elements.
Masquerading as ordinary grass, it entwines its tendrils around its target like a whip, weakening them with its toxic needles at the tip before absorbing their bodily fluids.
The toxic needles that can be materialized are highly valued as ingredients for medicine.
Mist Moth | Rank: D | Type: Insect | This moth monster possesses wings that resemble mist, shrouded in haze.
Often acting in groups, they release a mist-like liquid containing phosphorus from their misty wings, projecting illusions to throw off their attackers.
While each individual’s combat strength is low, overabsorbing phosphorus can potentially harm one’s mind.
Chaos Horse | Rank: D | Type: Animal | This horse monster emits a scent from its mane that confuses the mind.
Swift in movement, it can quickly close in and disorient its opponent with the smell released from its mane.
Watch out for its powerful kicks with its hooves afterward.
Small Cloud Whale | Rank: C | Type: Aerial Creature | Presumed to be the young of the Cloud Whale, this monster is also known as the juvenile Cloud Whale.
Unable to release acidic rain or numbing clouds, it is still feared for its Sudden Rush from above and its ability to crush, making it a disliked monster among Hunters below the Intermediate level.
Cloud Whale | Rank: B | Type: Aerial Creature | This monster originated from a land whale that was corrupted by magic elements.
Larger individuals are cherished due to their slow growth over many years.
Its numbing clouds and acidic rain released from its underside can melt uncoated metal armor, making it a monster that few but seasoned Hunters dare to take on in quests.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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