"That's a huge creature!"
Alden's eyes widened, deeply shocked by the sight before him:
Even from several kilometers away, he could still clearly observe the appearance of the gigantic beast.
It was a four-legged, burly wild beast. Its long trunk waved in the air, with four tusks protruding and its body covered in thick bone armor. Although its movements seemed slow, each step seemed to make the earth tremble violently.
"It seems like you really are just a high school student."
Fleeting Blossom looked at Alden's expression and couldn't help but laugh.
Professionals and students at Awakening University are deeply knowledgeable about the wilderness and wild beasts, but for high school students, aside from basic knowledge, they mainly focus on awakening power cultivation and breakthroughs, which don't involve these kinds of knowledge.
"That's a Titan Armored Elephant! It's a rare high-level wild beast that appears in low-risk wilderness areas! Its structure is very unique, with a very high awakening power absorption conversion ratio, so its offensive capabilities aren't strong, but its strength, defense, and vitality are extremely powerful. As long as you don't provoke it, there shouldn't be too much danger..."
However.
This wording caught Alden's attention.
Wild beasts, the true rulers of the Earth today. After the disaster, they evolved beyond the original biological organisms on Earth, becoming powerful beings.
There are a wide variety of wild beasts, far exceeding the original species. They generally possess immense power that can easily overpower ordinary humans, and coupled with the plague disaster, nearly wiped out the original human civilization.
Humanity has yet to fully explore all the different types of wild beasts. High-level wild beasts like the Titan Armored Elephant have only been tested by humans at the cost of blood.
"No danger usually..." Such a conclusion must have been drawn after experiencing danger.
Alden felt deeply moved, but this emotion quickly dissipated.
The impending disaster and the giant beast were still too far from him. His goal should be to enhance his strength and improve his family's life.
Just as Fleeting Blossom said, although they were not too far from the Titan Armored Elephant, the colossal beast, seemingly from ancient times, showed no reaction to them and continued to walk slowly on the ground.
With its ultra-high mobility, the Awakening Power vehicle smoothly crossed the depression, and Alden finally saw the woodland area in the wilderness.
However...
"These trees are way too tall, aren't they?"
Alden was dumbfounded, his pupils dilated:
He had seen trees in the city before, but those were mainly for improving the urban environment and the tallest were only three to five meters high.
But in this woodland area before Alden's eyes, these trees seemed only a few feet shorter than the high walls from his perspective!
To him, these kinds of trees were almost like monsters.
"This is normal. If animals can mutate, why can't plants mutate?"
"Where there are wild beasts, there are also mutated plants."
Fleeting Blossom explained nonchalantly:
"In fact, the vast majority of mutated plants pose little threat. Only a very small number of them are quite dangerous. However, these dangerous mutated plants don't exist near low-level cities."
Hearing this, Alden felt slightly reassured.
Otherwise, these towering trees made him somewhat uneasy.
"Sir, we're here."
Shortly after the Awakening Power vehicle entered the woods, it came to a stop in a clearing.
"Very good."
Sea nodded briefly, and immediately, a man who looked like a servant walked up from the back of the vehicle and handed Sea a package. With a flick of Sea's wrist, the package opened automatically, revealing a dark barrel of a gun.
"An Awakening Power gun!"
Alden exclaimed:
This kind of gun can directly use awakening power to convert kinetic energy for attacks! Its power is tremendous, far surpassing ordinary firearms, but its production cost is very high, and even the city guards don't have widespread access to them.
And yet, Sea casually pulled one out. What was he planning to do?
"Always making a fuss over nothing..."
Sea's dissatisfaction with Alden grew. Could such a kid really complete his hiring task?
Fortunately, this mission was probably not going to be a problem, and he had hired people just in case.
Sea quickly found a slightly elevated slope, raised the Awakening Power gun in his hand, squinted his eyes slightly, gazed for a moment, and then pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
After a muffled sound, a deer-like wild beast was hit and sent flying. Sea chuckled and said:
"Sir, impressive marksmanship..."
"It's just a horned deer, not much of a challenge. It's the downside of being in the jurisdiction of a black iron city. Although it's safe, it lacks excitement..."
Sea put away the firearm and found another position to set up his gun.
It was only at this moment that Alden understood Sea's purpose: hunting!
This influential figure had actually spent a fortune to hire three hunters to accompany him out of the city, all for the sake of indulging in his hunting pleasure! This activity had long disappeared in today's era, and Alden never expected that there were still nobles who took this as entertainment in this day and age.
"Elder Fleeting Blossom, is this really appropriate..."
Faced with this sudden turn of events, Alden asked Fleeting Blossom with some concern.
"This is the wilderness! Even though Awakening Power weapons don't easily attract the attention of wild beasts, Sea's open and blatant hunting could likely disturb nearby wild beasts."
"Don't worry, we've done this many times before and have a complete set of procedures."
Fleeting Blossom smiled, carefully observing the surroundings while explaining to Alden:
"Firstly, this area has been confirmed to be relatively safe."
"Secondly, before these nobles go hunting, they will intentionally or unintentionally carry out some wilderness tasks through the military or certain individuals in expedition teams to drive some rare but less dangerous wild beasts to specific areas for their hunting."
"So this kind of wilderness hunting appears dangerous, but it's actually quite safe. It's just a form of entertainment for these influential figures. Hiring the three of us is just a precaution. Generally, for aggressive wild beasts, three one-star hunters are more than enough... no, one would suffice!"
The dagger on the side coldly interjected, then suddenly leaped up, with a flash of his blade, causing a commotion in the woods.
Immediately after, the dagger emerged from the woods carrying the severed body of a snake with thick black stripes like a water bucket.
"This is a threatening Black Striped Python... Dagger, you've made quite a haul this time," Fleeting Blossom praised, with a hint of envy in her tone.
"Threatening" meant that this kind of mutant beast posed a threat to first-level Awakened individuals. Dagger could sell the kill for a substantial income.
However, at this moment, Alden did not pay much attention to these happenings.
"Leisure..."
Upon hearing this word, for some reason, a young and pale face appeared in Alden's mind.
In Alden's understanding, the wilderness was an extremely dangerous place. His previous experience in the hospital had given him a deeper understanding of this. The survival pressure on expedition teams was enormous, and even newly promoted first-level Awakened talents were sent to the front lines only to meet a tragic end. And now, the upper class of these black iron cities could indulge in hunting leisure within the safe zones established by the military and expedition teams? Perhaps this so-called "safe" hunting ground was explored by those brave expedition members! This land may be soaked with their blood and sacrifice!
Although Alden would not choose that path, he couldn't help but feel deep respect for those people.
Compared to the so-called "big shots" like Sea, they were truly not worth mentioning.
Of course, Alden's emotions quickly dissipated. He only regarded this mission as a routine business and wouldn't invest too much emotion into it.
Along the way, he pretended to be alert, arousing the vigilance of other hunters, and gaining some useful information and knowledge from them.
Being a hunter was an illegal profession, and the Hunter Association was an illegal organization. During missions, if any accidents occurred, hunters might suspect each other and even resort to killing. Therefore, being cautious was essential.
Alden understood this principle.
Several hours later, Sea continued to seek prey, while Dagger and Fleeting Blossom remained on guard nearby. They all understood the need to avoid excessive hunting to prevent danger, while also not disrupting the hunting grounds, which might displease the employer.
The Black Striped Snake was discovered by Dagger because it was too close. They wouldn't actively leave the area to hunt it.
Fleeting Blossom and Dagger acted very professionally and did not act rashly.
At this moment, both Dagger and Fleeting Blossom thought of Alden as a novice, and his behavior aroused their ridicule. They believed that after this mission, the employer's evaluation of Alden would be low, which would affect his future task assignments and might even lead to the cancellation of his hunter qualification by the association.
However, Sea finally ended today's hunt. A servant joyfully approached and took his Awakening Power gun. But this servant unexpectedly aimed at Sea and fired! At that moment, Dagger noticed something was wrong and took immediate action!
"Bang!" The gun fired, but it didn't hit Sea! The gun flew into the air, accompanied by half of a severed arm...
Dagger reacted swiftly, severing the servant's arm with a slash, then fiercely aimed for his heart!
"Damn..." the servant cursed and quickly retreated, and for a moment, Dagger couldn't catch up to him.
The three hunters immediately judged that this servant was an Awakened individual. If it wasn't for his innate strength and agility far beyond normal people, he would need at least an Awakening Power value of 160 or above to achieve this speed!
"Fleeting Blossom!" Dagger shouted loudly.
Fleeting Blossom did not blindly attack. "I'm not blind!" she cursed as she used the fallen leaves on the ground to launch an attack. Under her ability, these leaves turned into crimson petals, swiftly flying towards the servant's back!
The speed of these petals was very fast, even emitting bursts of breaking sound through the air! However, the servant's reaction was also very quick; he quickly activated his Awakening Power shield! These petals made a muffled sound upon contacting the shield and fell to the ground one after another.
A gleam flashed in Alden's eyes. "This is... Awakening Power protection!" He became more certain of the servant's identity. He understood that Awakening Power not only had varying levels but also different stages. There was a huge difference between before and after awakening. Before awakening, regardless of how high the Awakening Power value accumulated, it could only provide basic physical and mental enhancements for non-awakened individuals. But once abilities were awakened, there would be a world of difference in the perception of Awakening Power. After awakening, apart from their own abilities, there were some general ways to use Awakening Power, such as simple remote attacks or defense. Although the efficiency was not high, there was already a qualitative difference from non-awakened individuals. The servant had just used Awakening Power to form a shield to defend against Fleeting Blossom's Awakening Power attack.
However, at this moment, it wasn't just Fleeting Blossom who was taking action! Just as the servant was preparing for a second attack, Dagger's blade had already pierced his heart!
"Almost there..." The servant instantly judged that the distance was still a bit short and was about to burst into speed for a second time to break free from the opponent, but suddenly his face turned pale as an indescribable sense of pain came from his heart!
He looked down and saw that the previously short military dagger had suddenly extended, piercing through his heart! "Ability... Metal Enhancement..." The servant muttered a sentence and then slumped, completely lifeless.