"Dismiss," Ethan muttered under his breath as he confirmed the allocation of his stat points was now complete.
With roughly eight more minutes required for his injuries to fully heal, Ethan decided this was a prime opportunity to seek out a new mission.
To enhance his system and amass greater strength, he was convinced that battling and slaying more beasts was essential. Though he wasn't quite ready to confront a corrupted-level beast, his targets were set on the servant beasts.
A servant beast is a beast not yet fully overtaken by the corruptive power rampant among the demonic beasts and has not undergone the full mutation into a demonic beast. Consequently, these creatures were significantly less formidable than the corrupted-level beasts.
In essence, servant beasts were akin to unawakened humans—uninitiated and vulnerable. However, even in their base state, a beast's innate physical prowess far surpassed that of a human. This stark disparity meant that pitting a normal, unawakened human against a servant beast would invariably place the human at a disadvantage. Fortunately for Ethan, he was no ordinary unawakened human; he was Ryan.
Ethan raised his arms, directing his attention to the hunter's watch clasped around his right wrist. Fingers poised, he began to interact with the device.
As he tapped the watch's surface, a holographic screen materialized mere inches from his face.
Navigating to the mission feature, Ethan scrolled through the list of available tasks.
The hunter's watch served purposes beyond facilitating payments and mission assignments. It was designed for hunter convenience, allowing for the purchase of items and the management of one's contribution points, among other utilities.
Another crucial function of the hunter's watch was its role as a lifeline for the hunter's guild to communicate with hunters in the vicinity during emergencies.
For instance, if a shelter fell under siege by a horde of demonic beasts, the hunter's guild would dispatch a distress signal to every hunter within range, summoning aid to repel the onslaught.
This device had become an invaluable asset to the hunter's guild and all hunters worldwide.
Patiently, Ethan sifted through the missions listed on his watch.
Tailored to the user's level, the hunter's watch ensured that Ethan, still a novice, could only access goods and missions appropriate for his rank.
He came across a variety of missions. Some were lucrative, yet time-intensive—unappealing to Ethan, who was intent on augmenting his strength through combat, a goal not served by such assignments.
One such task read:
_THE HEALERS AT THE SOUTHERN GATES ARE IN NEED OF HELP.
_RISK - 1.2 DANGER LEVEL
_DURATION- 3 WEEKS.
_PAYMENT- 500 POINTS - 300 CONTRIBUTION POINTS.
Despite the low risk and substantial reward, this mission's protracted duration was a deterrent for Ethan, who sought to expedite his progress through beast encounters.
Other postings sought groups of hunters for various needs, but Ethan found none aligning with his current objectives.
After about five minutes of diligent searching, Ethan had yet to find a mission that suited his immediate needs.
Ethan found himself sifting through missions that were either too time-consuming or didn't offer sufficient compensation. Many of the tasks at hand involved mundane roles like porter work or assisting warriors or healers at the Southern Gate.
The Southern Gate was notorious as the most frequently besieged entrance to the Silverdale Shelter, which was divided into four sections: the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Gates.
Ethan and the others had embarked on their hunt through the Western Gate that very day, a gate that led toward the ghost town.
The Eastern Gate, nearest to the third district, led to the Crimson Desert—a dry expanse of red sand known for its perilous terrain. To traverse the desert safely, one would need an armored vehicle to ward off the poisonous sandworms that lurked beneath, emerging violently at the slightest vibration.
In contrast, the Northern Gate presented a safer passage. As the shelter's main entrance, it connected directly to the first district via a well-paved road, allowing travelers to come and go by car, train, or other conventional means. This territory, frequented by humans, harbored few threats from demonic beasts and was, by and large, a colonized human domain.
The Southern Gate, however, ushered into a rugged landscape of rocky paths and mountainous regions, predominantly inhabited by wolf-type demonic beasts and flying demonic beasts nesting in the high peaks.
The southern gates problem was not the flying beasts but the territorial wolf-types that posed the greatest threat here, their aggressive and territorial nature driving them to defend and expand their territories, often clashing with human settlements like Silverdale in the process.
As Ethan continued to scan through the available missions, disappointment set in; none matched what he was seeking. Just as he was about to abandon his search, a mission caught his eye. He quickly scrolled up, bringing the details into view:
_AN IRON TOOTH RAT NEST HAS BEEN DISCOVERED APPROXIMATELY 500 METERS EAST OF THE EASTERN GATE.
_RISK - 4 DANGER LEVEL
_DURATION - 3 DAYS
_PAYMENT - 1000 POINTS - 1500 CONTRIBUTION POINTS.
A smile crept across Ethan's face as the mission resonated with what he had been looking for. Without hesitation, he selected the mission.
As he confirmed his choice, additional information appeared on the screen:
===MISSION DETAILS===
_ESTIMATED NUMBER OF BEASTS - 300 SERVANT-LEVEL BEASTS AND A CORRUPTED-LEVEL BEAST, WHICH IS THE QUEEN OF THE NEST.
_WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCEPT THE MISSION?
[YES] / [NO]
Ethan paused to weigh the risks against the rewards. The payment seemed almost too generous. A risk level of 4 was steep, but the payout was substantial—1000 points equated to 500 Earth Coins (E₮), the global currency, where two hunter points were worth 1 E₮. Moreover, 1500 contribution points were exceptionally high; a novice hunter required only 2000 contribution points for him to ascend to the rank of a seasoned hunter.
As he mulled over the offer, Ethan couldn't help but wonder, "Why is the reward for this mission so high?" The question lingered in his mind, hinting at the possibility of unknown dangers lurking within the mission.