After purchasing a mug of beer, Novan finally obtained the information he sought. To find beasts with bounties, he needed to visit the city hall and speak with the appropriate official.
"Not knowing even this? You truly are from the wilderness, brother!" the serving girl laughed when he asked what city hall was. She explained it was the central administrative building where the city lord's employees managed public affairs.
Since night had fallen, Novan would need to wait until morning to make his inquiry.
"Why seek beasts? Are you another beast hunter?" she asked curiously.
"Beast hunter?"
"People who believe hunting beasts will transform them into magic-users."
Apparently, a widespread belief held that ordinary humans could gain magical abilities by hunting beasts. Though most dismissed this as lunacy, many risked their lives pursuing this path to elevated status.
As Novan listened, someone clapped his shoulder.
"Lena, becoming a magic-user by hunting beasts isn't superstition—it's truth. I've witnessed it myself."
The speaker was a disheveled man in his thirties with an unkempt beard but surprisingly clear eyes.
"Uncle Midan! You survived!" the serving girl exclaimed.
"Did you expect otherwise? I told you—I won't perish until I become a magic-user."
Three large, muscular men carrying spears, bows, and massive hammers approached behind Midan.
Novan gently removed the hand from his shoulder, causing the man to flinch.
"Pardon me. But could you elaborate on what you mentioned?"
"Ah, interested in that, are you?" Midan grinned. "Magic-users grow stronger by killing beasts and absorbing their power. By the same principle, ordinary people can become magic-users through the same process."
"We've already captured three!" one of his companions boasted.
"Not much longer now," another added confidently.
Novan was astonished they had managed to capture three beasts. The only one he had encountered possessed enough strength to effortlessly kill dozens of ordinary humans.
"Three? Has one of you become a magic-user then?"
Everyone in the inn erupted with laughter.
"Impossible! This city has only four magic-users—the lord and three guardians serving him."
"If just one became a magic-user, helping the others would be simple."
"We nearly died capturing those three."
Only four magic-users in a city of over a thousand residents? Novan could better understand Keorn's lament about their scarcity.
Midan glanced at Novan's meager belongings. "You hunt beasts too? Your equipment seems inadequate—no weapons?"
Novan produced his sheepskin sling, expecting ridicule compared to their metal armaments.
Surprisingly, the hunters showed genuine interest.
"You throw stones with this?"
"It's well-worn from use."
"What size stones do you use?"
"About egg-sized ones."
"Sufficient for cracking skulls of transformed rabbits or foxes."
Evidently, they targeted lesser beasts—those from herbivores or smaller animals that humans could defeat barehanded in their normal state. Even such creatures could prove lethal depending on their abilities.
"Would you join our hunt? We need another ranged fighter."
"No, thank you," Novan declined immediately.
He had no intention of revealing his magical nature, and his targets exceeded their level of prey.
Fortunately, Midan accepted his refusal without persistence. "A pity. Let us know if you reconsider."
After more conversation, Novan received his room key and retired upstairs. Lying on his bed, he could hear the hunters talking through the floorboards.
"Why recruit that youngster, Brother Midan? He'd be useless."
"He looked so frail, one hit would make him crumble."
These men who had behaved so amicably earlier now spoke with mockery. Having experienced such duplicity from villagers throughout his life, Novan remained unaffected.
Then Midan replied: "Seeing him reminded me of my youth. Wandering alone with just that simple weapon—you'd need several lives to survive."
"Big brother is too soft-hearted."
"Who denies that?"
Listening quietly, Novan closed his eyes. Indeed, the world contained both kindness and cruelty.
The following morning, after a breakfast of dark bread and soup, Novan visited city hall. The impressive four-story structure in the city center bustled with citizens handling various matters.
After navigating past an elderly couple arguing about property issues, he found the bounty official.
"What do you want?" the middle-aged administrator asked brusquely.
When Novan explained his interest in beasts with bounties, the official regarded him as though he were a worthless fool.
The man would likely prostrate himself if Novan revealed his magical abilities, but he chose not to. Pretending to be a mediocre guardian might attract unwanted recruitment attempts, while revealing himself as highborn-class would waste time with excessive hospitality.
Better to quickly hunt whatever beasts lurked nearby and depart.
"View and return it—no removal," the official instructed, handing over a document.
The paper detailed beast appearances, sizes, characteristics, sighting locations, and bounty amounts. Weaker, harmless beasts required live capture, while aggressive ones could be killed and their bodies presented for payment.
This policy existed because lesser-mutated beasts were indistinguishable from normal animals when dead, tempting many to claim bounties for ordinary creatures.
"Remember—even if you accidentally kill a beast, bring it to the city. Without proper mana dispersal by guardians, it becomes dangerous undead. Abandoning beast corpses carries the death penalty under city law."
"Understood." Having experienced the horrors of abandoned beast corpses firsthand, Novan took this warning seriously.
"Some of these seem too dangerous for ordinary people—don't guardians hunt these?" he asked.
The official looked at him incredulously. "Do they appear that idle? Guardians maintain city security and prevent enemy incursions. Beast hunting is for wanderers like you."
Novan examined the document more carefully.
Blade Crow: A crow with partially hardened feathers sharp as blades, capable of deflecting arrows and attacking by dropping feathers from above. Known for carrying off dogs and children from the outskirts to consume them, then scattering remains...
If magic-users truly protected humanity, such creatures would be immediate priorities. Evidently, few found pride in safeguarding common people.
With mixed feelings, Novan left city hall and headed toward the outskirts. As buildings thinned and gave way to wilderness, he prepared to begin his hunt.
After ensuring no witnesses, Novan attempted to locate the Blade Crow—a child-eating beast he'd read about.
"Crow search," he murmured.
Immediately, hundreds of distinct sounds bombarded his senses—feathers rustling, wings flapping, beaks pecking.
"Too much," he winced, canceling the spell.
The excessive number of crows around the city overwhelmed his search magic's discrimination abilities.
'This approach won't work.'
He tried searching for "crow with mana," but the spell wouldn't activate—mana possession couldn't serve as a search parameter.
Next, he attempted "crow that eats humans," but too many targets registered, likely including those that had scavenged corpses.
"Challenging," he muttered.
Such difficulties rarely arose on Windcrest Hill with its sparse animal population. Finding lost sheep or wolf packs had been straightforward with few potential targets.
After consideration, Novan had an insight and reformulated his magic.
'Crow larger than a child.'
Since beasts typically exceeded normal animals in size, and the target needed sufficient mass to carry children, this parameter might work.
Successfully, he detected feather movements from a single crow, accompanied by the faint scent of human blood.
"Located."
Though obstacles obscured visual confirmation, once detected, tracking became certain. A distance requiring at least ten minutes for an ordinary runner took Novan only four minutes at full speed.
As the forest came into view, Novan cast basic invisibility magic rather than his complete concealment ability. The latter consumed excessive mana, and experience suggested birds had limited hearing capabilities.
Reaching the massive tree housing the crow beast—a trunk requiring three people with outstretched arms to encircle—Novan levitated upward.
'Enormous,' he thought.
The beast measured over a meter tall even while perched. Its folded wings gleamed with blade-like edges, and fresh blood stained its sharp beak. Scattered across its nest lay various animal bones and occasional human remains.
The creature preened its feathers, completely unaware of Novan's presence.
'How to approach this capture?'
The simplest method would be instantly destroying its head with his sling, but Novan wanted to test broader magical applications. Over-reliance on stone-slinging would leave him vulnerable against opponents immune to physical projectiles.
Keorn had emphasized developing versatile response methods whenever possible.
Noticing abundant clouds overhead, Novan recognized perfect conditions for a technique he'd only learned theoretically.
He raised his finger skyward, recalling a rare storm on Windcrest Hill years ago—a massive light pillar connecting heaven and earth amid world-shaking thunder.
'Descend,' he willed.
His internal mana rapidly depleted as low thunder rumbled between the clouds.
The crow beast glanced upward, sensing danger, but escape came too late.
Lightning faster than sound struck the nest directly.
The beast shrieked and attempted flight, but its prized blade feathers had burned away, leaving only charred metal-like fragments. Unable to remain airborne, it plummeted helplessly to the ground, thrashed briefly, then lay motionless.
After observing cautiously for a full minute to confirm it wouldn't revive, Novan descended and absorbed its mana.