Advancing to Hunter

The quiet secret chamber.

Was now filled with the low growls of a young man.

After Berg drank the Eagle Eye potion, the first thing he felt was a searing pain as the liquid slid down his throat, followed by a hot current rushing through all four limbs and every bone in his body.

"Ah—!"

Sharp pain surged through his entire body, especially his eyes. It felt as though flames were burning inside his eyeballs, and his vision began to distort and reform.

The unprecedented pain forced him to his knees on the cold floor, clutching his eyes as he rolled back and forth.

No. My lord is watching me. How could I disgrace myself like this?

With that thought, Berg endured the agony. Through his blurred vision, he dropped to one knee before Xian, lowered his head deeply, and clenched his teeth without making another sound.

"You have worked hard, Chu Berg."

In that world of darkness, he only felt his lord gently press a hand upon his shoulder as a warm, soothing voice reached his ears.

Who knew how much time had passed before Berg's consciousness gradually cleared, the pain faded, and his vision returned.

But unlike before, he could now clearly see the tiny specks of dust in the air, every minute crack in the walls of the secret chamber, and the greatness of his lord before him. "Congratulations. You have successfully digested the Eagle Eye potion."

Xian looked at the young man before him with satisfaction, especially at his eyes.

They were unforgettable eyes.

His pupils were amber-colored, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen beneath the light. They possessed an overwhelming sense of penetration, making anyone under their gaze feel as though they had been locked onto by a bird of prey.

Yet after noticing Xian's gaze, the cold light in those eyes gradually faded, replaced by obedience and respect.

"My lord, it was your glory that protected me," Berg said frankly.

This was not a lie, but his true belief. It had been that voice in the darkness that awakened his consciousness.

"Still, you did not advance directly to Hunter?"

Xian looked at the white "Hunter" above the young man's head, a trace of regret flashing across his face.

"No, my lord. I feel that I have already reached my limit. What I lack now is merely a great deed," Berg explained, shaking his head.

After drinking the potion, he had clearly felt the strength within his body expand two or threefold. A mysterious energy was also gathering within him, but it was restrained by some kind of shackle and could not be released.

A great deed... Xian fell into thought.

When he had advanced to True Magician, casting a spell with three overlapping magic runes had counted as accomplishing a great deed. Then the great deed for a Hunter should be—a thrilling hunt!

The next day.

Wolf Howl Forest.

Gentle sunlight passed through layers upon layers of branches and leaves, converging into golden shafts of light that softly fell upon the moss-covered earth.

"The sunlight really is blinding!"

Feeling the scorching heat against the skin of his face, Xian pulled the brim of his top hat lower.

"My lord, why not rest beneath the shade here? Once I have accomplished my great deed, I will come find you." Fully armed with a quiver and bow on his back and an iron sword at his waist, Berg offered his suggestion.

"No need. I wish to witness your great deed as well," Xian said calmly.

After learning what great deed was required to advance to Hunter, the two of them had returned here to hunt after a long absence.

They had even refused Viscount Hughes's insistent request to accompany them. After all, this was merely an ordinary hunt and did not require a Morning Star Stage powerhouse to take action.

Besides, Xian also wanted to get some fresh air. Though he had lived quite comfortably in Black Wolf Castle, everyone there was so respectful that it made him somewhat uneasy.

Awooo! "My lord, we have already reached the center of Wolf Howl Forest. There is no need to go any farther."

Hearing the intermittent wolf howls echoing from afar, Berg stopped walking.

"Please stay in the tree for now and witness my great deed," he said respectfully.

Xian did not refuse. He condensed Blank Magic at his fingertips and drew a "Wind" magic rune and an "Impact" magic rune upon the ground beneath his feet, then overlapped the two runes.

Whoosh! Accompanied by an explosive boom, a violent sphere of wind slammed fiercely into the ground.

Using the resulting recoil, Xian leaped into the air, grabbed a thick branch overhead, and with a nimble flip, landed atop the tree.

After advancing to the Transcendent Rank as a True Magician, his physical abilities had improved considerably. At the very least, he could beat up three to five college students with his bare fists.

Only after seeing that Xian was safely positioned did Berg take a black lump of solid material from the pouch at his waist and light it with a match.

Once ignited, the black solid gave off waves of foul, fishy stench so pungent that even Xian in the tree could not help covering his nose.

Wolf-Attracting Incense—a type of incense specially made to lure wild wolves, gifted to Berg by Sauron Knight, who had sparred with him for a long time.

Awooo! Awooo! Awooo! Not long after the Wolf-Attracting Incense was lit, mournful wolf howls rose and fell in the depths of the forest, accompanied by the faint sounds of branches being smashed aside.

Berg's gaze sharpened, his amber eyes becoming as keen as an eagle's.

His gaze pierced through layer upon layer of bushes and leaves, clearly catching the trembling eyelashes of the gray wolves charging toward them from hundreds of meters away.

Without the slightest hesitation, he swiftly drew a cold iron arrow from the quiver on his back, nocked it, and pulled the bowstring. The pinewood bowstring gave off a crisp hum as it trembled.

Whoosh! With a piercing whistle, the arrow crossed hundreds of meters in an instant, violently piercing the eye socket of a distant gray wolf and passing through its head before pinning it straight to a tree.

Awooo! A beast's miserable wail rang out in the distance.

This was only the beginning. Berg repeated his previous movements again and again, his fingers moving so nimbly that they were almost no more than afterimages.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! One iron arrow after another shot toward the distance like the reaper, each one drawing a miserable cry moments later.

"Impressive. That rivals Shooting a Halberd at Yuan Gate!"

Standing in the tree, Xian watched the scene in amazement.

With his eyesight, even from the tree, he could only barely make out black dots in the distance and could not yet tell whether they were wild wolves.

Yet from such an enormous distance, Berg could already draw his bow and accurately shoot the wolves dead.

Perhaps sensing that Xian's eyesight could not reach that far, Berg set down his bow despite still having seven or eight arrows left in his quiver and instead drew the iron sword at his waist.

A moment later, accompanied by wolf howls, nine sturdy gray wolves surrounded Berg, glaring at him with wolfish eyes filled with hatred.

The lead wolf was even larger, standing a little over one meter at the shoulder and nearly three meters long.

It was clearly a wolf, yet its size was already comparable to a male lion on Blue Star, radiating an extremely dangerous and terrifying presence.

"Sun, Fire, Impact."

Seeing this, Xian silently began drawing magic runes. The instant Berg showed any sign of faltering, he would cast a spell without hesitation.