It took about a day for Charlie to fulfill all his promises, at least four clients took their respective rewards and left satisfied.
Charlie changed into a tight-fitting leather outfit, wore a gray face cloth, carried three quivers of different sizes, shouldered the Twilight Longbow, and finally bound a hunting dagger to his calf, fully disguising himself as a ranger, all his mage equipment except the ring was stored in the spatial ring.
Charlie went downstairs and blended into the crowded and chaotic crowd in the tavern, disappearing into the night.
In front of the Twilight Town task platform, a collective hunting expedition was being organized, a Twilight Town tradition, with countless teams joining the hunt in a free manner, fighting individually or as a team, only banding together when facing danger.
The spoils are collected individually by each person or team, the only rule being that malicious killing is not allowed, otherwise they will be targeted by everyone. Due to the relatively dense crowds during the collective hunt, this rule still has some effect.
Past experience has told people that rules are just rules, because of interests, or because of hatred, there will always be people willing to take risks, and only team action can guarantee interests, so many people are directly trying to recruit temporary teammates in front of the square, shouts echoing back and forth.
"Crimson Team, two Astral Mages leading, an experienced hunter commanding, currently missing a healer, interested parties come discuss with me." "Moon Demon Team, an old-established team, top-notch strength, currently missing a shield-axe wielder, sincerely recruiting, excellent treatment, friends with ideas please come to my side." ...
As an unprofessional ranger, unfamiliar with the surrounding terrain, and this being his first time participating in a collective hunt, this activity is different from the "Clearing the Wilderness" academy task, it delves deeper into the primeval wilderness, with risks over a dozen times higher, Charlie felt he still needed a team to gain some experience.
Charlie tried to approach several strong teams, but then encountered some issues in the different interviews.
"What tier are you at in trap-making?" "Do you know how to tame beasts? Have you raised hunting dogs?" "Talk briefly about your experience in seeking out magical beasts?"
Faced with questions in the ranger's professional field, Charlie could only shake his head, and those people also shook their heads disdainfully at Charlie, not to mention giving him a chance to demonstrate his archery skills, they didn't even give him a chance for self-introduction.
Looking around, Charlie found he basically had no choice left, the teams he looked up to mostly didn't look up to him, Charlie could only randomly choose a team that was just missing one person.
"What level ranger are you?" The only girl in the team asked, her mouth curling up arrogantly, with a haughty air.
According to the old grading system of the Arcane Circle, the ranger levels from low to high are: Apprentice, Formal, Jungle Hunter, Jungle Master, Gale Hunter, the distinctions between each level are not obvious, a comprehensive assessment by the Arcane Circle's judgment institution can update one's ranger level.
Charlie replied, "I haven't been studying the ranger profession for long, if judged by knowledge, I'm at the apprentice level, but my archery skills are quite good, at least at the formal ranger level."
"What damage capability can an informal ranger have?! Can they be stronger than mages? You don't know hunting skills, so what use are you?!" The girl sneered, turning to the team leader, "Brother, why did you accept a trash like him in? It's obvious he just wants to tag along with us for experience!"
The team leader glanced at Charlie, chuckling awkwardly, "Yulia, the team isn't as good as you think, Twilight Town doesn't lack all kinds of mages, it's just short of combat specialists, even if he's not good, he's still a ranger, with personal advantages that mages can't match."
In fact, this team is as eccentric as Charlie's former team, except that the leader is a shield-sword wielder, the rest are all mages, and not even a single healer.
Yulia turned her head, looking down her nose at Charlie, "I say, apprentice ranger, why don't you demonstrate your strengths, let us see what areas you're stronger than mages in?"
Really don't know whose bad habit of being so picky and choosy she inherited, a team of first-year rookies without even an Astral Mage, with only one golden badge apprentice out of five, using a bunch of misfits to describe them would not be an exaggeration.
Charlie took a few steps forward, quietly opening a quiver, revealing a cluster of gleaming metal arrowheads, a faint golden rune pattern shimmering on the arrowheads, the abundant holy light energy spilling out from the quiver mouth, making the people around turn their heads.
"Don't say an apprentice ranger has no killing power, look, my biggest strength is having money, is this reason enough?"
Yulia glared at him fiercely, "We'll see if you can hit the prey!"
Charlie smiled wryly, "Don't worry, even if I shoot off-target, I won't hit you."
A joke instantly bridged the distance between a group of strangers, the other team members let out some strange laughter, Yulia flushed bright red, rolling her eyes at Charlie.
The team leader glared at Charlie, clearing his throat and saying, "Alright, the team members have been recruited, we'll follow the rhythm of the main group, as usual, there's about three magic clocks left for rest, and before the hunt begins, I need to remind you of a few things.
First, we are a temporarily cobbled-together team, I don't expect you to have performances that surpass friendship in the face of life-and-death crises, but there can be no internal competition, as long as you put in enough effort, even if your performance is not as good as others, you will still get your share of the spoils, I'm a fair and generous person.
If anyone disagrees with my opinion, I hope they bring it up now, either resolve it or leave, otherwise, if you end up abandoned by the team and lost in the primeval jungle, don't blame me for being ruthless.
Second, don't have any mixed ideas, if your performance is too far behind the team, sorry! We don't want this kind of person! You'd better get rid of this idea before the hunt starts, otherwise, refer to the previous punishment.
Third, maintain restraint, especially when facing competition between teams, have a clear understanding of your own strength, there are many strong ones in Twilight Town, and based on the jungle law of Twilight Town, no one will care about the killings in the wilderness, whoever can't control their emotions, please don't blame us for drawing a line with you, you created the trouble, you solve it.
Understand?"
The rest of the team members responded lazily, clearly experienced hands, this is one of the downsides of a temporary team, everyone is selfish, sometimes you have to make things clear before starting, so that no one is unclear about the situation or harbors any illusions.
Staying in the temporary team is just a temporary decision for Charlie, once he is familiar with the surrounding terrain, he can try to start individual hunting.
After that, the team leader said solemnly to Charlie, "Friend, I only have two small requests for you. First, don't randomly use the enchanted arrows, listen to my command; second, as a ranger, I hope you can provide timely warnings, the ability to sense is the most valuable in the wilderness."
In other words, they want to use Charlie as a scout, the dirty work, bitter and tiring, also very dangerous.
Charlie agreed without hesitation, "Okay, my sensing ability is not bad."
The three hours passed quickly, a hunting team of over 100 small teams gathered at the Twilight Town task square, plus the undead creatures summoned by the necromancers, the entire square contained no less than a thousand living beings, with towering and mighty stitched monsters and white bone skeletons carrying rotting flesh everywhere, heads swaying, a pandemonium, all kinds of strange attires leaving Charlie wide-eyed.
Accompanied by a resounding bugle call, the doors of the task square opened, the weekly collective hunting event setting out, the apprentices leaping and rushing out the doors, stepping into the dense forest.