"Hmm..." I groaned for the umpteenth time as I looked at the clock that ticked soundlessly in the Sect compound.
It's been three fucking days since Emma ran off to go hunting with the others. That was two days since I reached the first Stage of the Saturation Realm, and I'd already made a ton of headway into reaching the second Stage.
Those guys… They abandoned me, didn't they?!
Wait, no… No they didn't. It wouldn't make any sense for them to waste their time letting me into the Sect, explain things, and even giving me access to all these books, if they were planning on just abandoning me.
Still! They were taking their sweet time hunting or whatever, and I'd had enough of just sitting on my ass. There was literally nothing else I could do but cultivate or read and I'd long since filled up the break sessions in between cultivation with reading about basic unarmed combat techniques.
Emma said I'd be ready to take on the field after reaching the first Stage of the Saturation Realm, and I was ready to do literally anything but continue cultivating.
Was it a good idea to leave the safety and comfort of my dingy Sect to hunt literal demons? Probably not, but I'd rather that than spend another second sitting in silence, alone and unstimulated.
Besides, it's not like I wasn't going to fight behemoths capable of threatening countries. I wasn't looking to fight a dragon, just some F Rank fodder.
Well, I guess that goes both ways, seeing as I'm also just barely an F Rank Cultivator after properly entering the Saturation Realm.
In any case, my mind had been made up: It was time to head out.
…
'You know what? Maybe I'm not cut out for this…' I thought, as I ran like a bitch from the smallest, least intimidating monster to ever exist.
Behind me, a horned rabbit was hauling ass as it chased after me and somehow kept pace with me even with my newfound speed. Having entered the first Stage of the Saturation Realm, I was an honest to god Cultivator. Maybe the weakest of all Cultivators, but even then I was leagues stronger than any human from Earth.
Right now, I was probably running at forty miles an hour across a grassy flatland. Yet that fucking rabbit only seemed to be getting closer every time I shot a look over my shoulder to check.
God, why did I ever think it'd be a good idea to hunt demons for the first time without a weapon? I mean, It's not like I had the money to buy one before leaving the city, but still…
Welp, regretting now won't change the fact that the horned rabbit will eventually catch up to me, so…
I turned around and tried to copy a stance I saw in one of the Martial Arts books on a type of kickboxing, back at the Harbinger Sect compound. It was probably awfully flawed, but fortunately, I was up against an F Rank Demonic Beast and not another human.
'Hopefully, the disparity in intelligence will help me…' I thought just as the rabbit shot towards my face, horn first.
"Jesus fucking Christ!" I couldn't help but curse as I side stepped out of the way.
I took too long thinking and calming myself down from that perceived life threatening attack as the horned rabbit had already landed and shot itself at me again.
For nearly a minute, the horned rabbit and I would dance this… perilous tango. It would shoot itself, horn threatening, while I dodged with my heart in my throat.
Fortunately, the Demonic Beast was as unintelligent as I'd hoped as it didn't even try to fake me out or use other methods to fight me, and eventually, I got used to the simple attacking pattern.
From there, things would only end in one way for the horned rabbit. It would try to stab me with it's horn for the last time while I stepped out of the way and seized it out of the air with my own hand and…
Crunch…
"Uug..." I cringed at the ease I found in snapping the thing's neck.
It made me question whether or not we were both truly F Ranks. I mean, was there a Rank below that for Demonic Beasts?
"See that?" A man's voice brought me out of my thoughts. Said man looked to be in his early thirties or late twenties and he was pointing at me whilst talking to the two teens behind him. "Let that be a valuable lesson for you brats to never underestimate a Body Cultivator. Even an utter beginner like him can instantly kill F Ranks in favorable conditions."
"Yeah, but… Look at how long it took him to get the one single kill," a girl, maybe a year or two older than me, with brown hair and eyes scoffed. "Ren and I could kill dozens of those trifling baby Nejos in a matter of seconds."
"Yeah?" the man looked unimpressed as he suddenly turned and called out to me, "Hey you! How long have you been hunting?"
"Uh… Today's my first day. This is actually my first time killing a Demonic Beast," I answered honestly, if only to spite the rude girl.
"What?!" The girl didn't even take in the older man's smug smile as she ran over to me and snatched the now-named Nejo out of my hand.
She didn't try to run off with it or anything, only stare with a grim expression at its fatal neck injury before she shoved it back into my hands and eyed me. "Are you… lying?" She sounded and looked like she would kill me regardless of my answer.
"Uh, no? You think I would've been scared of this harmless thing if I knew how stupid and easy to kill it was?"
Obviously she and the other two bystanders had been watching me. For how long, I don't know, but they should have at least since my pathetic performance in dodging the Nejo's predictable attacks.
It would take a few tortuous seconds for the scary brown-haired girl to stop trying to glare at me to death and even then, she only let out a, "Hmph," and walked away.
"Tsk, don't concern yourself over a coward like him," the teen boy that had remained quiet, Ren, I presumed, finally spoke to comfort the girl at my expense.
"Hey, what gives?" I couldn't help but defend myself. "I'll admit that wasn't the most impressive first hunt, but that's all this was; a first hunt."
"That's not what I'm talking about, coward," Ren sneered at me. "You..." he emphasized, "are coward for waiting so long before going out on a first hunt!"
"Uh… what?" I had no words to refute such a ridiculous claim.
"What are you, a third, maybe fourth Stage Saturation Realm Cultivator? And only now have you decided to get off your lazy ass and hunt? It's honestly sickening!"
"Pfff—Hahaha," I couldn't hold in my laughter even if I tried. Why this idiot would assume my cultivation base was so much higher than it was in reality eluded me.
"Oi..." Ren glared at me even fiercer than the brown haired girl, "The fuck are you laughing at?"
"S-sorry," I managed to say through my laughs, "I just can't comprehend why you'd think I'd be in the third or fourth Stage of the Saturation Realm."
"Are you claiming otherwise?" The older man interjected with a glint of confusion in his eyes.
"You're not serious right? I mean, even if I am a little fast with regards to cultivation speed, it's only been three days since I started. I'm not even halfway through to the Second Stage, in all honesty."
Everyone suddenly seized up.
"Huh?" They all looked at me like I had grown a second head.
As the three started sweating and paling, the girl asked, "W-who are you?"
"I go by Joji."
"Of?"
"Of… what are you talking about?"
"You're Sect, dude..." Ren sighed, only to be glared at by his companions.
"Oh, it's a new Sect called the Harbinger Sect."
"Well," the older man pulled out a card from his jacket pocket and handed it to me with both his hands, "tell your leader that my Arling Sect will watch out for you guys." With that, he bowed and left with his two juniors.
'Ah shit… Did I just make an enemy for the Sect?' That's what the older man's tone implied, but then again, he hadn't tried to harm me in any way while we were isolated out in the fields, far away from the city. Whatever the case, Emma would tell me whenever she came back.
For now, I'd concern myself with returning to the city and selling this Nejo corpse. Depending on the amount of money I got, I might be able to buy a weapon or maybe something to hunt more than one thing per trip outside the city. Not to sound arrogant, but I was horrifyingly strong if my grip strength alone was enough to instantly snap a Demonic Beast's neck; regardless of Rank.