"So this is Lake Town." Looking from the car's window, Kang was able to see the city structure in the distance. As far as he could guess, the city was either built on a massive lake, or the city itself was filled with many lakes, which forced the government to build a lot of bridges to connect the lands. It was quite impressive to Kang.
"Are any of Paradise's major guilds mainly stationed here?" Curious about the competition they could face, Kang didn't hesitate to ask. As far as he knew, Frost Claw was one of the most popular guilds worldwide and one of the three major guilds within Paradise, but he didn't know where its headquarters was.
"No, the three guilds mainly operate in Central Paradise, but they have smaller branches scattered around. Iron Crest has a branch in this city, and the rest are smaller guilds compared to the others."
"I see. I think I've got a perfect test for you as the vice guild leader then. Gather some brief information about the guilds in this city and note which would most likely cause us trouble."
"Try to find some hunters who were treated badly by these guilds, then send me their information as well. We will need to know who will suit us and who won't before recruiting them. Naturally, this will only be temporary until we find someone to handle the paperwork."
"Yes, Sir. We're nearly at the hunter bureau. Will you need to register a local identity or just a global hunter identity?"
"Everything I need will have to be global since we will expand sooner or later, so go to the hunter bureau right away." Following Kang's order, Yuna drove toward the hunter bureau before parking nearby. A little later, she was guiding him once again, and soon enough, Kang began his hunter exam.
"I will skip this test; you can continue to the physical test right away." With the first test being a mana measure, Kang chose to skip it since he had no mana to begin with. Unexpectedly, the tester didn't believe that Kang was an S-rank at all and instead insisted that he must test his mana capacity if he wanted to proceed. This pissed him off to a certain degree, causing him to come up with a simple plan instantly.
"That's totally fine by me, dear!" Stepping forward, Kang patted the man slightly on his shoulder while activating his poison strike. Although it was a simple pat visually, Kang mobilized his precision, leaving a tiny unnoticeable hole on his target's shoulder.
Knowing his target was an A-rank, Kang didn't hesitate to use the ability at its original rank. Either way, the man would survive long enough for him to finish his exam.
[Poisonous Strike Activated! Target poisoned successfully!]
"Don't blame me if anything goes wrong, hon. And remember that I chose to skip it on my own, but you kept insisting, so any fault is completely on you." Placing his hand on the transparent orb, Kang mobilized his bomb, causing a small ball to slowly expand inside the orb.
Soon enough, Kang lifted his hand slightly, causing the bright bomb to collide with the orb's shell before exploding and sending the shattered glass all around them.
"Again? It seems like I'm still unable to control my mana, but what is your measurement regardless?" Looking at the test conductor, who was under the effect of the poison, Kang acted as if it was not the first time such a thing had happened. Soon enough, the conductor responded respectfully.
"I will fully handle the aftermath, Sir. Apologies for the disrespect. You may proceed to the next test, but I won't be able to accompany you since I'm not feeling quite well."
"You're alright, mistakes can be made, and it's very understandable. Either way, I hope you get better soon." Patting the man, Kang repeated his previous actions, once again causing the poison to accelerate.
[Poisonous Strike Activated! Target poisoned successfully!]
"We will hopefully see you around later. Peace!" Gesturing for Yuna to lead into the next room, where the physical test was conducted, Kang spoke before following her. Soon enough, both reached their destination.
"How does this work? Do I just hit it and wait for the result?" Looking at the punching machine with a screen in front of him, Kang guessed the answer right away.
"Yes, that's for the strength test. Punch it as hard as you can, sir, and the strength ranking will show above." Hearing Kang's words, the conductor standing by the machine answered right away.
"Sure, but I have a concern. What if I break it like the previous test?" Showing his concerns, Kang asked once again.
"This machine can handle up to two million KG, which is the maximum record in Paradise. 1.2 million and above is considered S-rank, and if you break it, it will still be S-rank. However, your record itself will distinguish you from other hunters."
"Hmm, I see. That was faster than intended. Just a little more experience and it would be perfect." Looking at the system message accompanied by the familiar noise, Kang answered before dismissing it.
[Ding!]
[You've successfully killed a Human (A) and gained 500,000 Exp.]
"Huh, what are you talking about, Sir?" Hearing Kang's strange words, the conductor asked in confusion.
"Oh, nothing at all. Just my inner monologue going out of control once again. Is ability usage allowed, by the way?"
"Yes, sir, feel free to do so if you wish."
"That's good, let's get this over with then." Making his intentions clear, Kang allowed some time for the conductor to step aside before activating his Crimson Armor at half its capacity and punching the ball with all his might.
"Oh goodness!" Watching the number flying high through the ranks, the conductor shouted in excitement. Once the number crossed the million threshold, the numbers were no longer updated as frequently as before. Soon enough, the number settled at one and a half million, indicating that Kang was indeed an S-ranked hunter.
"What else do we need to test?" Curious about the next step, Kang asked casually as if he had expected this test's result a while ago.