"Here," Nero said and casually hauled over four huge sacks. From the minute Nero entered, the inn went dead silent. Everyone focused their attention on him and the four sacks he walked in with. Nero was the center of attention because everyone knew he was a martial artist, and the news of him going to hunt a Bardian dragon spread out.
Everyone here was anticipating his return. The middle-aged man and the old man who owned the inn had their eyes widened till the point where they could fall from their sockets. If this was what they thought, then they might be in for the shock of their lives.
"What…is…this?" The old man and the middle-aged man asked in unison.
"The Bardian dragons you requested. If you don't mind, we had a deal." Nero casually tossed out a few words.
At this moment, he didn't look like someone who had even the slightest difficulty in his hunt. Although his clothes were full of holes, Nero didn't look worn out. The old man was shocked but soon recovered. He had long been convinced that Nero was a very strong martial artist, at least to his understanding. But the middle-aged man who knew a bit about how dangerous his request wasn't yet convinced.
Many times had he requested this mission at the hands of many strong martial artists however, his request would either be turned down or might lead to serious injuries on the martial artist, of which he has to compensate for many times the original payment.
After a long time of trying, he finally gave up on getting the scales of the Bardian dragon. Up until now when a mysterious fellow who was initially thought to be a mortal but turned out to be a martial artist suddenly arrived in their village.
Seeing the first time Nero dragged three sacks of flaming boars, he started to think of a plan. He was aware of the price he had to pay if Nero was to get hurt in the process. But if Nero was to succeed, then that would be a win for both parties. He would get the scales he had longed for and he would also be able to settle Nero without having to vomit blood. Even though he was hopeful that Nero would succeed, his chances were still slim. But now not only did Nero succeed but…if he was not daydreaming, then these four sacks would mean…
Impossible!! There's no way he can catch these many!!
The middle-aged man screamed in his heart. Although he was filled with doubts, he also anticipated this to be true.
The middle-aged man stretched out his hand to unfold the mouth of the sack. As expected, it contained the corpse of a Bardian dragon. The middle-aged man glanced at the other three sacks, his throat spasmed.
Four Bardian dragons! He didn't need to check the rest to certify that they were all Bardian dragons. What kind of concept was this? Killing four Bardian dragons and come back without a scratch, only torn clothes as proof.
For all he knew, Nero didn't defeat these beasts…he massacred them!
The Bardian dragons were nothing but a level two beast, it can't be considered worth much. But to these mortals, they were an untouchable existence. To easily kill these beasts was unimaginable…but not impossible.
These mortals were well aware that to those top powerhouses of martial arts, hunting down something like a Bardian dragon was just a waste of time.
However, having witnessed something like this was still a shock to them.
"Here, a 1000 gold taels as promised." The middle-aged man said after recovering from his shock and tossed over a satchel.
Nero who was wolfing down a bowl of stewed meat only nodded and received the satchel. After much munching, he replied, "If you have any more requests, come find me after 4 days."
After wolfing down two bowls of food, Nero went upstairs to room, took a bath, and started to meditate. As usual, he was not to be disturbed.
Like this, the days went by and Nero spent 23 days in this village. During his stay in the village, Nero had gotten many requests to hunt down many wild beasts. Some of which he turned down because they weren't worth his time. In total, he had earned over 15000 gold taels.
Though this was a village of mortals, that didn't mean they were subjected to abject poverty. They could afford the missions they requested of Nero. Today, he was surprisingly requested to hunt a lightning Jaguar!
A lightning Jaguar was a level three wild beast. Just like the name suggests, it is a wild beast that uses the element of lightning. Nero had killed a lightning Jaguar when he newly arrived in this unknown world. Nero chuckled lightly when he heard this request. This time around, the middle-aged man was the one who made this request. This was his second request after he got the corpses of the Bardian dragons.
"Lightning Jaguars are no joke. If you don't have the sufficient strength to resist them their lightning could easily reduce you to ashes." The middle-aged man taunted.
Nero smirked and asked, "What is your name?"
"Aiken."
"Well…Aiken, I've taken a liking to you. Unlike the rest, your requests are interestingly worth my time. You're the first to bring up a level three beast… fine I accept it. Just mark out their territory and ready my pay. I'll be back in a few days."
Out of everyone who had a request for Nero, only Aiken came with dreadful requests. The first was a Bardian dragon of which was only a level two wild beast but a nightmare to many martial artists. And now he requested a lightning Jaguar… a level three beast! One would think that he wanted to kill Nero by all means but Nero on his end found it entertaining. Nero received the map and a normal-sized sack. The lightning Jaguar wasn't so big but its agility was unquestionable.