Chapter 22: Hunting Assignment

Chapter 22: Hunting Assignment

Ember was the last one to get out of the carriage. After the relative coolness and comfort of the enchanted carriage, the scorching heat of the sun struck him in a fuming wave. He held up a palm over his brows, eyeing the town of Desir ahead of him.

It had been three years since he had last come here with his father and Rain, and in that time, the town seemed to have developed considerably. There were more multi-storeyed establishments cluttered on both sides of the path, and twice as many people stampeding about their work.

But it was not only the town that had grown. Ember, too, had grown considerably in the last two years, the most prominent change being his height, now reaching well over four feet. Regrettably, he came from the house of knights, and his stature was merely above average among his peers.

His status, however, was at the very forefront. With a swift and conscious thought, Ember summoned it to indulge in his accomplishment.

At eight and a half years old, Ember was at the very precipice of Tier 4. Just one or two skill level-ups more, and he would be among the elites. Not only that, he would get there well before his ninth birthday. Rain had been well over eleven when she achieved the feat.

Although she was not the fastest in the clan, she had been among the top few. Perhaps Ember, too, would have taken as long, if not longer, considering his birth potential. But simply having an Iron skill made all the difference.

Out of all the evolution points in the progress tab, a thousand of them came from Mana Shaping alone, while the rest were contributed mostly by his other copper skills, especially Meditative Muse, Breathing Art, and Sprint Burst.

Sadly, save for Keen Mind, which he got by upgrading Active Recall, his other copper skills had become too time-consuming to progress further. Otherwise, Ember would have liked to reach Tier 4 before coming to this hunting assignment. Now, he believed the required 9 evolution points would likely come from Archery or Keen Mind. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.

A part of Ember had wanted to save the slots for Swordsmanship in place of Keen Mind, but he had been too impatient. For the last slot he got out of Knight Squire, he had taken Archery, thinking he could master it faster.

Ember’s primary focus had remained on his mana foundation. He had received more of those mana elixirs from the clan, though he had not taken any yet. Still, his mana grew faster than anyone else’s. It was all thanks to the Iron-ranked Mana Shaping skill. But that did not mean he did not have to put in the hours.

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