After collecting himself, the old guard began speaking while wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes.
"You look exactly like the killer from one of those slasher movies."
I was a bit confused and asked.
"Isn't it common for warriors to come back covered in blood?"
"Well, only for solo hunters. Most parties have a wind mage or water mage to prevent this much blood from getting on their clothes." He explained.
"I have seen a lot of people come out looking like you, but he hasn't." He pointed at his coworker.
"Most mercenaries party up and split profits, it's safer that way." The young one said in his defense.
"But it makes less money. I bet our friend here has come back with a few spoils himself." He countered.
I nodded and took out the horns and the mana pearl and asked.
"Can I sell these?"
The guards looked at the mana pearl in disbelief before the younger one said.
"Sir Liam is that a-"
"Mana Pearl, yes." Liam the older guard responded.
"Stay here." Liam commanded me before he let out a whistle and held his hand out.
Soon, a white feathered sparrow landed on his gloved arm and as he released the bird his eyes went hazy.
"Sir Liam has a familiar, he uses it to scout for injured hunters or in your case, confirm bounty kills." The other guard explained.
"Bounties? I thought they were only for beasts that got close to cities."
"Usually, but when a beast is too strong for the zone it's in, we put a bounty out on it." He explained.
Liam returned saying "It's dead. Since there were no other entries and you have a mana pearl, we can give you the credit." and then went inside his cabin, returning with a form he had signed.
"You can give this to the awakened center over there and also sell the monster parts there. Should be hell of a payday." He said pointing to a large building close to the gate.
I nodded retrieving the box containing money and identification I had left at the gate and was soon standing on a tiled office floor with blood drenched clothes.
The employee didn't look surprised at all and simply took the signed form and mana pearl along with my mercenary ID.
"Thank you for your service to the Monarch" he said taking out a significant amount of cash from the counter and handing it to me.
Looking at the amount I asked.
"Are you sure there isn't a mistake?"
He laughed and said, "2000 for the bounty, 3000 for the pearl and 500 for the 7 horns."
I stood there in a daze.
I only came here for the Bow Art, I wasn't expecting this at all, but I took it quickly placing it into the box and making sure not to damage it.
I spent 30 Credits for fresh clothes and a shower before looking around the area surrounding the danger zone.
As it was about to be 2 PM, hunters began to arrive from the train station and the previously deserted street was now filled with life.
It was my first time seeing such a large group of hunters. As the guard had said most of them were in groups of four and five and conversing with each other.
It was funny to see traditional fantasy elements like full plate armor and mage robes being worn by people who were using smartphones and the most surprising thing was seeing different races aside from humans.
A man with a large frame had ox horns protruding from his helmet and many hunters had the signature pointed ears of elves.
I knew I was in a different world but seeing all of this on something aside from my cracked phone screen would always be disorientating.
I even saw a batch of second year academy students being led by an instructor. The other hunters all made way for them, showing the respect the academy had but I didn't have the time to dwell on these things as I made my way to a large weapon shop that I had seen before.
I didn't full plan on buying a bow right away but rather look at the price for a suitable one. It wasn't really explored in the novel as following the example of many novels, the main characters weapon was crafted by a dwarf smith.
I didn't have the luxury and went into a commercial weapon store owned by the Reinhold corporation.
The store was quite fancy with marbled floors and weapons propped up on fancy displays, making it look more like a showroom than a traditional weapons store.
As soon as I walked in, an employee put on a wide smile and walked towards me.
"Welcome sir, how may I help you?" He spoke politely.
"Um... I'd like to look at the bows." I panicked as I hadn't expected an employee to talk to me.
"Certainly, I assume this is your first weapon?"
I nodded in response as that was somewhat true.
"You came to the right place! We will make sure that your first weapon guides you to greatness!" He spoke in an overly excited tone that made me slightly uncomfortable.
"Let's see. I assume your budget is around 2000 Credits as per the academy fund, yes?"
2000 Credits was a lot, but I couldn't get a good weapon for any cheaper, so I agreed.
"Hm, that won't get you one of our compound bows I'm afraid, but we could always get you one of our standard recurve bows, they help with training as well." He said pointing to a recurve bow on display.
"A string made of Clacker spider silk for mana conductivity along with wood from the enchanted willow trees of the foggy forest for sturdiness, simple yet effective and an F- rank artifact, all for 2350 Credits."
The recurve bow was painted black and had a golden R symbol on the center, it seemed appropriate, but the price tag still hurt to look at.
"For you we will even throw in a back quiver and 24 arrows for just 50 extra credits." The salesman said seeing my hesitation.
I knew he was being generous as he thought that when I outgrew the bow, I'd come back for a more expensive model but it worked in my favor for the time being.
"Ok."
I felt awkward buying the first product he suggested but I knew that the Reinhold family had a good reputation, after all one of the main characters was from it.
"Wonderful! If I could see some ID that'd be great and we'll have this model prepared for you in no time."
I gave him my mercenary ID which he was surprised to see as he expected an academy ID but as a professional, he wiped the surprised expression from his face and went to the back.
He came out with a large briefcase that contained the bow, quiver and arrows. It looked like an instrument case, but I was able to carry it in one hand.
I paid him the money and after receiving the change, he gave me a broad smile and spoke.
"Pleasure doing business with you."
Nodding, I left the shop, feeling awful about spending such a large sum of money I had just received but I had to get used to it.
I went back to the now crowded station and got a ticket for a metro to return to the center of the city.
I had gotten the first Combat Art, a reality still difficult to accept. There would be no more Demon Archer to kill many promising heroes, but my goal was never to save their lives.
I wanted to save my own, maybe live a life worth living this time.
Or maybe I would fail and live one more miserable than my previous life.
Whatever the case, I had to grow stronger and the best way to do that was to utilize the Combat Manuals I had, and so I decided to spend most of the remaining day at the Awakened Training Center.