Urgent quest

The two coldest months of the year had passed.

The wind was still bitter, but the sunlight already felt warm against the skin.

The snow, more than half a meter deep, slowly melted, soaking into the soil and flowing into rivers, replenishing the dormant earth with the water it needed to spring back to life.

Gordon carefully opened the cabin door and shoveled away the snow at the entrance, which had turned into fine grains of ice.

Like all the other villagers, Gordon stepped outside after being cooped up at home for dozens of days, basked in the long-absent sunlight, and stretched luxuriously.

Compared with the boy who had struggled to hunt a Bullfango King half a year earlier, Gordon had visibly grown another size larger.

Running between hunting grounds in full gear and swinging a vicious steel blade weighing dozens of kilograms was, in itself, an extraordinarily intense workout.

And as a hunter, he certainly never lacked meat, so his muscles and bones had grown as though someone were pumping air into them.

He now stood nearly a hundred and ninety centimeters tall, with broad shoulders, a wide chest, and bulging muscles. Standing there, he looked like a wall. If not for his still slightly youthful face, who would have guessed that he had several months left before reaching adulthood?

It was not just him. Even Porkchop had grown considerably sturdier.

Of course, he was nowhere near Gordon's monstrous level of muscle, but he no longer hunched his shoulders and hung his head as he had when he first arrived in Kokoto Village.

Gordon casually tossed a solid iron rod leaning beside the door to Porkchop, then lifted his own enormous stone block from the ground. His eyes crinkled with good humor.

"Porkchop, you swung the iron rod five hundred times yesterday. Now that we've finally seen the sun again, we ought to take another step forward, right? Any problem with aiming for six hundred?"

"...Meow, meow, meow?"

Porkchop scrambled to catch the iron rod, unable to understand what seeing the sun had to do with improving his fitness.

Still, if it was only another hundred swings, that should be manageable, right?

"Okay, meow! Six hundred today, meow!"

As people in the nearby villages emerged from their homes after enduring the winter and resumed their work, the Schrade Hills gradually began to stir back to life as well.

Snakes and insects emerged from underground. Wild boars left their warm tree hollows and began roaming the woods, hoping to find some delicious mushrooms coaxed into growth by the snowmelt to ease their winter-long hunger.

In a Blue Velociprey nest deep in the forest, newly hatched young chirped with slippery egg white still clinging to their scales, urging their parents to hunt meat to fill their bellies.

A swift gray silhouette swept high above the hills.

It was a brownish-gray peregrine falcon.

This specially trained bird of prey precisely located the tiny village called Kokoto amid the land still blanketed in snow.

After circling several times with piercing cries, it landed on the windowsill of the village chief's house.

The aged village chief opened the window. The peregrine falcon tilted its head to look at him, then hopped into the room.

"A peregrine falcon, a peregrine falcon."

Mumbling, the village chief closed the window. The Peregrine Falcon raised one foot in an almost human gesture, revealing the small metal tube tied to it.

A small emblem was engraved on the metal tube-the mark of the Hunter's Guild.

The village chief's movements paused.

Beneath his long white eyebrows, his perpetually narrowed eyes opened a fraction, revealing clear pupils that hardly seemed to belong to an old man.

"An urgent dispatch from the Hunter's Guild?"

His long eyebrows twitched twice. Not a trace remained of his usual senile confusion.

"Chirp!"

The peregrine falcon cried impatiently and raised the foot bearing the metal tube again, seemingly urging him to hurry up and take the letter.

It had flown day and night to deliver the message, without even stopping to eat. All it wanted now was to finish its delivery, hunt a field mouse or rabbit nearby, and enjoy a proper meal.

"Sorry, sorry."

The village chief deftly removed the metal tube from the Peregrine Falcon's leg, unscrewed the cap, and pulled out a small roll of parchment.

"Hmm? I see. That is a little troublesome." He unrolled the parchment and quickly scanned it, murmuring, "Still, it might be a good opportunity for him. Yes, I'll leave it to him."

The peregrine falcon kept watching him with its head tilted.

"All right. Thanks for your hard work, little fellow."

The village chief tied the empty metal tube back onto the Peregrine Falcon's leg and fed it two strips of dried meat. "Off you go. Take care on the way back."

"Chirp!" As though it understood him, the Peregrine Falcon gave a cheerful, drawn-out cry, spread its wings, and soared into the sky. In a blink, it disappeared into the slightly overcast heavens.

"Five hundred and fifty...nine, five hundred and sixty! Meow!"

"Come on, Porkchop! Only forty more! Keep going! You're almost there!"

"Five hundred and sixty...one, meow!!!"

In the open space of the small yard outside their door, Gordon and Porkchop were sweating buckets when a familiar booming voice rang out from beyond the yard.

"Gordon! Porkchop! Hey, you're looking lively!"

Gordon lowered the stone block with some effort and looked toward the newcomer, greeting him with a smile. "Morning, Instructor!"

"Morning, morning. All right, enough pleasantries. I've got something urgent for you. What shape are you and Porkchop in right now? Can you leave immediately for a hunt?"

The Instructor waved a hand, his tone suddenly turning serious.

"A hunt? Now?" Gordon paused. "Didn't we only just have the first full moon of the year? Isn't it still nearly half a month before hunting opens again?"

"It's an urgent quest!" The Instructor waved the parchment in his hand. "Two-star rating, and the target is a Blue Velociprey King. Are you confident? If not, don't force yourself. Just leave it to me and-"

"A two-star urgent quest?!"

Gordon excitedly cut him off, asking for confirmation. "The target is a Blue Velociprey King? I'm confident! Of course I am! Thank you, Instructor. You can leave it to me without a worry!"

Of course he was excited.

Under ordinary circumstances, hunters had two ways to raise their rank.

The first was to complete quests step by step until they had built up enough experience, then apply to the Hunter's Guild for a hunting quest one star above their own rank. Completing it successfully would earn them a promotion.

The second was to accept an urgent quest. Because the situation was pressing, the Hunter's Guild would lower the acceptance requirements somewhat. Successfully completing one could likewise earn a hunter a promotion.

Following the normal process, at his previous pace of completing quests, he would have needed another six months or more before he could apply for a two-star quest.

Now, this urgent quest would save him all that time! As long as he completed it successfully, he could advance straight to two-star hunter!

In terms of strength, Gordon believed he had long since reached the level needed to hunt a Blue Velociprey King without trouble-in other words, the level of a two-star hunter.

All he lacked was an opportunity.

Unlike large towns and cities where resources were concentrated, Kokoto Village did not even have a Gathering Hub office. Waiting for a suitable urgent quest here was simply too difficult.

Now that an opportunity had finally appeared, how could he let it slip away?

The Instructor suddenly smiled.

Of course he knew what Gordon would choose, and he knew his strength as well. A mere Blue Velociprey King was not enough to pose a threat.

In terms of danger, a Blue Velociprey King was about on par with a Bullfango King, and this fellow had hunted a Bullfango King wearing hunter armor and wielding a Hunter's Knife.

Now that he had a Buster Sword and the Blue Velociprey Armor Set, what was there to worry about from the Blue Velociprey King?

"Then it's yours."

Instructor Ernest handed the urgent quest notice to Gordon.

"Time is short. Set out as soon as possible!"

Hunting quest (urgent quest): Bandit chief threatening the trade route (★★)

Objective: Hunt a Blue Velociprey King

Reward: 4000z

Location: Schrade Hills

Time limit: 5 days

An Observation Bureau hot-air balloon has reported that a pack of Blue Velociprey has migrated to the southwestern Schrade Hills. Its territory overlaps with the trade route between Minegarde City and Melchita City, posing a serious threat to caravans and travelers along the route. Its leader, the Blue Velociprey King, must be hunted as soon as possible to cause the pack to disperse.