The Soulmancer’s Ascension

The Hunters Society in Gallowind occupied a small, polished building in the outer area of the town. Zephyr might have mistaken the building for another house if the flashy words weren’t carved on its wooden door. Clearly, the Hunters Society hesitated in pouring money in this branch.

Zephyr pushed open the door to the Hunters Society, and a bell chimed. An elegant lady in her late twenties sat behind a desk, talking to a woman in violet robes.

“Two visitors in one day?” the receptionist looked in disbelief as if a miracle had happened. She pushed up her glasses and showed a professional smile. “How do I help you?”

The person before the receptionist looked over her shoulder. “Zephyr.”

“Veronica.”

The sorceress’ face turned cold. “Why are you here?”

“I can’t be here?” Zephyr looked around the guild with wide eyes. “Did your daddy Xander purchase this place for you? Wait, he can’t even buy Tier 1 items for you! How will he pay thousands for this?”

“You…” Veronica’s social skills paled in comparison to her sorcery. “You’ll pay for this.

Her voice became shrill, enough to make one cringe.

“I didn’t bring my wallet. Call your daddy Xander to pay.”

Her hands trembled as she struggled to stop herself from blasting the young man. She snatched the book from the receptionist and stormed out of the guild.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” The receptionist voiced her concern. Yet her eyes held amusement for the strange turn of events. “Veronica has drowned multiple hunters with her water element sorcery. The hunters call her Banshee.”

Zephyr shrugged. “I’ll be fine.”

Veronica hated him and Sherine the moment Xander tried to lure Sherine with Tier 1 items. The bridge between them was burned already. He may as well have fun shit talking to her.

Riven chuckled. “That sorcerer can kill you as you are right now. What happened to your ‘I’ll do anything to survive’ motto?”

‘She won’t try anything inside the town.’

“What about outside? Did you give up on leveling up?”

‘I got Sherine.’

Zephyr dragged a chair and sat face to face with the beautiful lady. “Why is this place so dead?”

The receptionist sank back into her chair and sighed. “It’s all because of Lady Achmea…”

The current ruler of Gallowind Town protected the town from every threat, whether it was an army of mindless monsters or the giant magic beasts lurking in the Star Ocean.

The receptionist named Laura looked reasonably pissed. “She bought thousands of fire keeper stones to stop high-ranked monsters from crossing the forest. She covered the entire road to protect carriages from monster attacks. Who spends hundreds and thousands of gold for this?!”

She ran out of breath listing the wasteful use of resources by Lady Achmea.

After she drank some water, she resumed her rant again.

Lady Achmea traded her quality potions for food, money, and other resources. The taxes here were nonexistent, so she also had to pay the hired soldiers and the sorcerers by her own income.

She spoiled these people rotten.

“My income is lower than a waiter in Altissia. I’m getting by because of Lady Achmea’s lax rules on taxation. And I never have to worry about the broods… I’ll give her credit for keeping this town safe.”

The love and hate relationship between her and Lady Achmea were interesting, to say the least.

Zephyr glanced at the bookshelf holding numerous books. He could read the words just fine. “Drake told me you guys keep guidebooks. Do I have to register to get them?”

“Yes. Register!” Laura’s blue eyes shone. “I’ll give you a ten percent discount on registration fees.”

Laura was desperate to get him to register as a hunter.

“I’m new here. Tell me about the Hunters Society.”

Laura puffed her large chest and gave a rundown on the Hunters Society. Basically, the Hunters Society used to be a small group of people hunting down the dangerous magic beasts. It had an explosive growth during the Crimson Era, when magic beasts ran rampant. From a small city guild to a worldwide organization, the Hunters Society became the preferred platform for people to hire hunters.

The war against the broods changed the organization’s priority from magic beasts to the brood monsters. The hunters were rewarded for completing quests like killing magic beasts and brood monsters.

The Hunters Society and the typical adventurer guilds had one minor difference. The organization of this world took a monthly fee from every hunter and a small cut from the quest money.

‘A subscription model for service.’

Laura drank more water. “How was my explanation? Ask me if you don’t understand anything.”

“You did good.”

Laura’s eyes teared up. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. A simple praise made her cry. It seemed her job took a toll on her emotions.

Zephyr offered her a handkerchief. “Take this.”

She nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. After she was done, she blushed and returned his handkerchief. “I’m sorry to bother you with this.”

“No, no. It’s fine.” He revealed a friendly smile. “I’ll register as a hunter.”

“What type of membership do you want? Normal or VIP? With VIP, you get access to more resources in the guild and the Ancient Device Sterk Sol.”

She pulled up a boxed screen from under her table. A golden magic circle bloomed inside the screen, and a slick interface took over. Apparently, this device was created in Natalon, the Glorious Elven Realm that perished decades ago. This and all the hunter Sterk Sols were connected to the giant library of Altissia, the City of Blessings.

The hunters used this device to communicate to each other. It had saved many hunters from death’s door.

‘What the hell is a tablet doing here?’

Either someone from earth reincarnated in Natalon or the elves were ahead of the rest of the world.

“Sign me up for the VIP.”

Laura grinned, her eyes narrowing to slits. Zephyr sensed a threat from the disturbing smile and unconsciously gripped his scythe. There was more to her than meets the eyes.

“It’ll be two silvers and fifty coppers from next month.”

Two silvers equaled two hundred bronze coins, which roughly translated to ten weeks of inn and food cost. Sterk Sol’s service was expensive for sure.

Zephyr filled up the registration form then handed the coins. Laura took the document and a round silver badge and slipped into the room behind her. A few seconds later, she handed him the same badge, but it had a wolf motif carved on it and his name engraved on the back in golden letters.

“This indicates your rank and your identity as a hunter. Take care of it. You’ll be charged if you lose it!”

Zephyr stuffed the badge in his breast pocket. “Can you tell me about the ranks?”

Laura answered his question while fiddling with the Sterk Sol. According to her, the hunters were ranked according to their strength and achievements. The Hunter Society currently gave five ranks to the hunters.

Wolf, Hawk, Wyvern, Griffin, Dragon.

The Golden Siren Annalise and her party were the only Dragon-rank hunters in the entire world. Of course, they were also known throughout the Hydralae Continent as the heroes.

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