Chapter 3 The Old Hunter's Tale

"Recruiting again? So this isn't the first time this female hunter has done this?"

Guné's eye twitched slightly.

"What do you mean 'recruiting again'?" Diana said irritably toward the corridor.

"I'm strengthening our hunter team, understand?"

"Raylu's team already has seven hunters, and we only have three. How can we surpass them like this?"

"Today I finally found a talented supernatural, and you ruined it again."

As Diana spoke, an old and a young hunter, both dressed as supernatural hunters, appeared at the entrance of the small booth.

The young hunter was only thirteen or fourteen, with a first-order source energy aura, and his source energy wasn't well-contained, clearly having just advanced to first-order not long ago.

The old hunter was tall, with a rugged face marked by high-altitude redness, slightly graying stubble, and strikingly bright eyes.

He had no trace of source energy about him, looking like an ordinary person.

But the feeling he gave off was very dangerous.

"A battle-hardened, veteran hunter who has hunted countless times," Guné assessed inwardly.

After the old hunter's gaze swept over Guné, a hint of apology appeared on his face.

He took off his hunter's hat and bowed slightly to Guné. "I'm very sorry, sir. Diana is quick-tempered and outspoken. If she has offended you in any way, please forgive her."

Some people are straightforward by nature, wearing everything on their faces. Though such people may sometimes be careless and not well-liked, at least they won't stab you in the back at a critical moment.

"Oh, it's nothing." Guné waved his hand, a slight smile appearing on his face.

"Fortunately, this beautiful lady killed that soul monster earlier, or I might have had to put in some effort."

"If you don't mind, elder, please come in and sit."

"I haven't seen that kind of soul monster in the illustrated guide to supernatural creatures. Could you tell me something about that monster?"

For an experienced old hunter like this, exchanging a few words would always yield considerable gains.

Moreover, Guné also had some things he wanted to ask the elder.

After a moment's thought, a slight smile appeared on the old hunter's face, and his wariness eased a little.

From his tone and mannerisms, he could roughly judge that this supernatural was likely one who had received a good supernatural sequence education, possibly even a noble.

Given his youth, he probably had no ill intentions.

"Those servants of the devil have been dealt with. Then I'll intrude," the old hunter said with a smile.

The booth was spacious enough, and the three of them sat together quite comfortably.

"Joe Eric, you can call me Old Qiao," the old hunter introduced himself after sitting down.

"This is Diana Luke."

"I'm Hodge Brute. My goal is to become a great hunter, hunting powerful demons and devils, and also those very evil evil gods."

The young hunter Hodge Brute introduced himself confidently.

"An ambitious goal. I think you'll achieve it," Guné praised.

"I'm Jack Sparrow, an ordinary supernatural." Guné introduced himself.

Since he was hiding his identity, Guné naturally couldn't use his real name.

"Elder, you mentioned 'servants of the devil' earlier. Were those the soul monsters?"

"Yes," Old Qiao nodded slightly.

"Some ancient altars deep in the northwestern highland mountains have collapsed, and many creatures that have lived in darkness underground for years have come out."

Altars, underground dark creatures.

Guné effectively seized the key information.

"Dark creatures? Haven't they been absent from Oya Continent for many years?" Guné said.

"Indeed. Even a few years ago, many hunters in our circle said those dark creatures had vanished from Oya Continent."

"But in recent years, especially since last year, many altars, ancient sealed places, or areas shrouded in dark power have seen the emergence of many dark and necromantic creatures."

"Such as the original blood clan, dark werewolves, ghouls, skeletal creatures, evil witches, and the devil's servants you just encountered, and so on."

"I see." Gune pondered this useful information, gradually gaining understanding.

"Just after spring began this year, when the snow melted, we entered the mountains. Senior, why did you leave Sog Ruins City and head south?"

After a moment of deliberation, Gune voiced the doubt in his heart.

"Naturally, because..."

Old Oak smiled.

"The dark creatures in the north have been hunted almost to extinction by us."

"Hunted to extinction?" Gune was taken aback.

Hadn't they said those creatures that came up from the dark underground were very powerful?

Hunted to extinction so quickly?

Logically, with the coming of the mysterious tide, darkness would shroud the land, and terror and death would flood this continent like a tide?

I haven't even felt the power of darkness, and it's already over?

As if sensing Gune's confusion,

Old Oak slowly began to explain.

"Times have changed."

"When I was young..."

Old Oak, lost in thought, seemed to recall the past as he spoke.

"At that time, there were very few supernaturals, and supernatural resources were equally scarce."

"And the territory of our Northern Empire had not expanded to its current size."

"I remember the first time I came to the northern frontier to hunt with my witcher teacher; it was a vast, dangerous wilderness, with no railway tracks or these roaring trains."

"My teacher and I shared a horse, but halfway there, the horse was eaten by a pack of steppe wolves."

"My teacher and I had to travel the remaining eleven days on foot."

"Every night, we had to prick the blisters on our feet, or we wouldn't be able to walk the next day."

"I clearly remember that the only valuable thing I had on me was that 'Witcher Dagger.'"

"Every three days, I had to channel source energy into that old 'Witcher Dagger,' which contained a small amount of black iron, to maintain its lethality against supernatural creatures."

"Otherwise, it would feel too dull even for cutting vegetables."

"In the end, my teacher and I arrived at a witcher town in a valley, a gathering place for witchers and adventurers."

"At that time, hunting income was very, very low. Many witchers could barely make ends meet and had to double as itinerant merchants and wilderness hunters."

"And supernatural equipment was extremely rare back then."

"A complete 'Magic Copper' grade short sword, dagger, or longsword was a symbol of a strong individual."

"And witcher pistols were only held by the top-tier witchers."

"I once attended an auction in that town with my teacher. A witcher pistol was eventually bid for by a wealthy noble for over a hundred gold pounds."

"At that time, a hundred gold pounds was not the same as a hundred gold pounds now. Back then, the most money I ever had was five silver dragons, twenty-two copper yuan, and eight jiao coins."

"Now, the monetary unit 'jiao coin' has disappeared."

"As for potions, no witcher could afford to use them."

"My teacher, that excellent witcher, had his abdomen torn open by a powerful fourth-rank elite witch using a poison-edged blade."

"Blood spilled all over the ground, and even his internal organs fell out."

As he spoke, Old Oak's tone was full of emotion and remembrance.

"In the end, my teacher still killed that evil witch."

"If we had had even an ordinary low-grade recovery potion at that time, my teacher wouldn't have died."

"But now... times are completely different."

The old witcher's face gradually shed its nostalgic expression and broke into a smile.