Layla was trained to be a hunter before aiming to be a beast tamer so she could get familiar with the jungles and lay a good foundation to become a beast tamer.
Skinning and butchering was a part of being a hunter, to collect their loot and carry less luggage when heading back while making the best profit.
Soon she finished skinning and removing the carcass, she packed the skin, horns, teeth of the foxes and the deer that could be sold in her bag then headed back towards the academy with Kale.
They weren't that much tired but they now had extra luggage to carry moreover they were quite far away from the academy, Kale could see that it wasn't Layla's first time in the jungle so he didn't need to pursuer her to head back, she suggested it herself.
To survive in the jungle, one needs to follow its rules.
Overconfidence won't do any good here. Layla already knew it.
"Hey, Kale by any chance are you the Night Hunter?" Layla asked in a hesitating tone.
Kale looked at her, he said "Who's Night Hunter? Is it someone from the Examination ranking? You associated him with me means he didn't reveal his identity and used a fighting style like me, am I right? Well, you are wrong I can't be him because I didn't participate in the examination,"
Her one question was enough for him to deduct the story behind it, he didn't need to reveal all these things but he did to put psychological pressure on her, he was slowly making his image incomparable in her mind.
"So you are not him, he uses machetes, hidden weapons and is expert at ambushing from shadows so I thought you were… Wait you didn't participate in the examination? Why?" Layla asked in surprise, she was a little doubtful about Kale's identity since the start because she couldn't remember who he was in the examination, after seeing him ambushing the foxes she guessed he might be Night Hunter, their build-up was also a little similar as for hair colour, they can be dyed.
Now the question that bothered her was, why did he not participated in the examination? She only spent some time with him but could tell that it wasn't hard for him to secure a good rank, a good rank will not only provide him a good reward but also fame and attention from academy instructors which is a good thing for his future in the academy.
Kale shook his head helplessly, he said "I wanted to participate in the examination but some time ago, I got into a big accident and was seriously injured, although my physical injuries healed, I also received some head injuries that need time to be healed, I developed minor amnesia.
In simple, I forgot about a part of my life and my father was worried because of this, he didn't let me participate in my condition, only after I got better and he made sure that I'm mostly fine that I used the other way to join the academy, not donation just some connections,"
Kale had long prepared for this excuse, Riyan also told him to hide these things because in most people's eyes it was absurd if they heard that a child with 3 years of mentality was on par with those who have lived for more than 15 years.
Layla looked at him in surprise while nodding, she now understood what had happened, this guy hadn't got the chance to participate in the examination, no wonder he didn't have any fame.
For the rest of the way, Layla remained silent, she seemed to be thinking of something.
Kale looked at her from time to time from the corner of his eyes as he thought 'Why is she taking so long, shouldn't she give it to me by now? Although the humans here have different mentality because of living in a different environment but isn't she just a child. She is smarter for a child if I have to say,'
After they came back to the academy, Layla took him to the Adventurer's Guild
Adventurer's Guild was another global organization that was spread all over the world just like GHO.
It was a guild where people who loved adventures would sign up to become adventurers, they can receive missions related to hunting beasts, collecting herbs, escorting merchants, etc... And can make easy money while adventuring in the wilderness. This was the best choice for practitioners who doesn't stay in one place for long and keeps on traveling to make money and get resources for their cultivation.
"This branch of Adventurer's Guild here is in collaboration with the academy so you can choose to exchange these things for either money or CP," Layla said.
They were standing in front of an old-style, stone-fort-like building. It was the main style followed by Adventurer's Guild.
There was a big wooden signboard hanging above the main gate with the words Adventurer's Guild written on it.
Both of them entered the building.
Inside, there was a big grand hall with several round tables placed here and there, many students were occupying some of these tables. There was a wine counter on the right with a female bartender filling wine in the empty mugs for the customers, having a wine counter in an academy was not one of the best things but it was a custom of Adventurer's Guild, Academy could do nothing about, so manly the mature students or deacons working around would enjoy it. On the left was the mission submission counter, a middle-aged man was dozing off in his rocking chair.
And last but not the least, in front was the main counter, responsible for the registration of new adventurers, confirmation of mission, rank advancement and complain like services.
Higher rank adventurers could accept missions on phone by using apps or making a call, but this facility was not available to a newbie adventurer.
Kale looked at the woman at the counter and raised his eyebrows. The woman was neither too tall nor too short, she had light pink hair, her left eyes was covered in an eye patch that was further covered under her hair bags, she had a pair of long rabbit-like ears on her head, her eye was in the shade of yellow.
But what caught Kale's attention was the area below her neck. He thought 'Her body build is similar to some demonkind in Kazeer, but she doesn't have bloodlust towards humans and looks quite... Feminine,'
Layla followed his line of sight and found the mountains and valley he was looking at. She leaned closer to his ear and whispered "She got a nice rack,"
Kale turned to her.
Layla retracted her head and averted her head, feeling embarrassed, she realized she had crossed the line again, she hurriedly tried to explain "You misunderstood…, I was talking about… "
Kale interrupted her "Just having a good rack isn't enough, she could change her dressing style, it would be better to wear something that does reveal much skin but the way it reveals makes it enchanting, how about a heart-shaped opening below the neck and leaving the waist exposed? It's easy to move and appealing to the eye while also not being too revealing,"
Layla's eyes brightened, she felt like she finally found a buddy that is matching her taste, she exclaimed "You think so right?"
Kale nodded, he thought 'This lass is into girls albeit she has a good taste, but to think I had to say all that,'
Kale moved to the counter, the woman who was idle all around noticed him and perked up. She then also noticed Layla.
"Hehehe… So the wild little girl has finally gotten herself a boyfriend?" The woman said in a teasing tone.
Layla waved her hand "He is a classmate I met today, and I am not a little girl,"
When Kale heard their conversation, the thought that had appeared in his head a second ago quickly disappeared. He then looked down at his child-like body and sighed, he almost forgot his age just now. He shook his head and decided to focus on what he came for.
"I would like to register as an adventurer," Kale said in his usual flat tone, interrupting their movement.
Layla's lips arched into a grin when she saw him acting like that, this tone didn't match the one from a few seconds ago.
We can really not judge a book by its cover… She thought.
The pink-haired girl looked at the masked boy in amusement, she was pretty sure that someone was staring at her for quite a while earlier, and instead of flattery, his tone sounded quite cold.
She was a variant of the human race.
The humans in this world were quite different from the beginning, they were born with a strong physique, had the innate ability to sense origin essence, and obviously, they had quite a big peculiar history.
According to a theory humans were evolved from apes, they didn't directly evolve from apes but had to follow a lot of steps, like a caveman and early humans.
During that time, different environmental conditions, places, flora, and fauna played an important role leading to different results, and this role gave birth to an unexpected factor during the evolution of the race, it was… natural mutation.
They were highly similar to humans but because of slight differences they were called Variant Humans, there were many examples of variant humans like Catkin, Rabbitkin, Elven Human/Elves, Stoneman, Fireman, Dragonman, Lizardman, Snakeman, etc. But unlike humans, their population is very low.
Some of them had high intelligence same as normal humans so they lived among them, some had a different mindset and formed their tribes in different locations, some were restricted by their environmental conditions and it's not favorable for them to live anywhere they want. Regardless of this every one of them had their pros and cons.
There were many types of the variant human race but the one with the highest population and development in time were the humans or we can say homo sapiens, they are the jack of all trades from birth whether it was an aptitude for magic, martial arts, or being a mutant they didn't have any type of restriction, their innate talent was neither too good nor too bad but their ability to adapt is something that cannot be underestimated.
Unlike humans who can get random mutant ability by becoming mutants, it is different for them, variant races are already mutants in their way so they won't get another different ability. If they still cultivate mutant path technique then they will become stronger depending on their race type.
The pink-haired rabbit girl smiled at him, she pointed at the swiping machine beside the computer on the table.
Kale took out his ID Card and swiped it on the device. The girl then accessed his ID and checked his previous records, she went through the details once then pointed at the touchpad on the side. She said "Fingerprint verification is needed,"
Kale pressed his hand on the smooth glass surface, a green curtain of light scanned through them. The girl signaled him that it was done, and he retracted his hand.
She typed for a few seconds, during this time, Kale didn't say anything, and Layla silently looked from the side, she was wondering how long can he keep this cold façade.
The pink-haired woman stopped typing, she touched her chin then looked at Kale, she said "You doesn't seem like the type who would use the real name so have you decided upon any nickname you want to go with?"
Kale kept quiet and thought 'A nickname? I had many nicknames in my last life, the most famous one being Demonic Angel but the words demonic in it won't leave a good impression, and it sounds quite overbearing for a current weakling like me, what should I go with... Eh..' Kale looked at the few wanted posters on the mission board on the walls and a light flashed through his eyes.
"I will go with Anonymous," Kale said.
"Anonymous?" The rabbit girl lightly chuckled but still input the name without any ado.
When she finished registering, Kale felt his phone buzzing, he took it out and saw the system asking for permission to install a new app, he chose yes and a new app icon with 'A overlapped by G' like symbol appeared on it, he opened it.
[Nickname: Anonymous
Rank: Copper
Status: Encrypted]
Adventurers were graded in rank based on the missions they had completed and the strength they have shown. The ranking starts from Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and so on.
"The registration fee is 50 S, you can also pay with CP if you want," The girl said with a smile.
Kale shook his head, he transferred the money from the app after linking it to his account. Then he moved towards the mission submission counter without wasting any time to sell the fox skin and other materials he brought with him.
Layla tapped on the counter and the man dozing off on his chair woke up. She said, "Would you be so kind enough to do some work mister?"
The man bitterly smiled.