"What kind of bounty are we looking for?" Taria asked, scanning the bounty hunter’s board with focused eyes. She was searching for sothing reasonable, sothing low-level that wouldn’t get them killed.
That won’t get her killed.
Most of the bounties required venturing deep into the mountains or exploring the islands beyond the city, places where monsters road freely, hunting both each other and any foolish humans who dared cross into their territory.
"Sothing easy for you to handle," Kaedros replied, arms crossed.
They could hunt in the wilderness, sure, but it would be a challenge for Taria. And if Kaedros showed too much power, soone might start questioning how a rank one mage could do what he did.
"Here! There’s still an open investigation about those Scabbera we killed," Taria said, eyes lighting up as she pointed at a notice. "They want bounty hunters to trace the nest and destroy it."
Kaedros raised a brow. She sounded a little too excited, was she still riding the high from her recent break through?
Her enthusiasm dimd as she read further. "Oh... they’re asking for at least stage five rank one and above."
Kaedros’s eyes glead. "We should take it."
Taria spun toward him, eyes wide. "What?! Did you not hear the part about needing at least stage five of rank one?!"
He snorted. "So? We already killed so of them. There can’t be only few of them left."
Taria stared at him. She should’ve known.
It hadn’t even been that long since they t, and already she understood one thing clearly—Kaedros had a talent for reckless, borderline suicidal ideas.
"We could just pick sothing reasonable," she insisted, pointing to another slip. "Sothing for low rank one. Sothing we can do inside the city."
But Kaedros wasn’t going to waste ti babysitting bounties in the city.
"I’m not sitting around in this city doing nial work," he said firmly. "We need to advance. Monsters are the key."
Taria groaned. "Are you sure it’s just a few Scabbers? Not a whole nest?"
"At most, yes."
He didn’t say what he was actually thinking, that Scabbers bred like insects and for all he knew, they could walk into a swarm.
Taria sighed, then patted the spear strapped to her back. "Alright. Let’s do it. I’m curious to see what this thing can really do."
☆☆▪︎▪︎☆☆
The vineyard just as they left it, except the corpses were gone. In their place, bones were scattered around the clearing, picked clean.
"Looks like sothing else took care of the cleanup," Taria muttered, covering her nose against the stench. The air still reeked of blood and rot.
Kaedros approached the area casually, he had gotten used to blocking slls that he didn’t like.
"I forgot to ask, why didn’t we bring the Scabbers bodies back with us last ti?" Taria asked, frowning.
"These are low, level monsters. Barely any mana in their flesh. Not worth it." Kaedros grimaced. "They make terrible at, too."
"at?" Taria blinked. "People... eat monster at?"
"Of course. In places like Solre monsters with strong mana cores are delicacies. So of them help build muscle or even boost your cultivating."
Taria tilted her head, intrigued. "So... why not take the Scabber then? They still provide little at mana right?"
Kaedros gave her a disgusted look. "Because Scabbers are trash. Diseased, weak, and useless. If you want at that doesn’t make you vomit, we’ll have to venture deeper into the wilderness."
Taria raised a brow. "You really hate them, don’t you?"
"They’re the lowest of the low. No value except for spreading filth and multiplying. High-level monsters are different. Their parts can be used for weapons, potions... even holy offerings."
Kaedros stepped closer to the shed wall and began sniffing the air.
Taria stared. "What... are you doing?"
"Tracking."
She followed, puzzled. "By sll?"
"Yes. My technique give heightened senses." Technically true, his Draconic blood granted him far more than any normal tracking ability.
He caught a lingering trail, sothing faint but familiar, the unmistakable sll of Scabber. That scent would lead to the nest.
"So monsters’ at, blood, and cores are taken by the Celestial Order," he said offhandedly. "rchants buy the rest. It’s a big industry."
Taria blinked. She hadn’t thought about it before, but it made sense. Monster hunting wasn’t just about survival, it was a business as well. A big one.
Kaedros moved along the vineyard edge, nose twitching, eyes sharp.
"You’re really sniffing out their trail..." Taria muttered, jogging to keep up.
"You should pay attention," he said. "This is how we find the nest."
"I just didn’t know techniques like that existed," she said, admiring the way he moved, focused and smoothly precise. "You look like a bloodhound."
Kaedros gave her a smirk. "Better."
They moved out into the wild, following a faint trail deeper into the trees. The forest was dense, shadows thick between the tall trunks, every rustle and whisper putting Taria on edge.
Suddenly, Kaedros halted.
Taria almost walked into him. "What now—"
Her voice died.
Her jaw dropped as she saw what he was staring at.
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