Chapter 51: Hunter of the Wilderness #1

Chapter 51: Hunter of the Wilderness #1

Nitro Birds are famous for two unique characteristics.

First, they are foolish birds that cannot fly despite having wings.

The Nitro Bird’s large wings are solely used to maintain balance when running.

It might seem strange that they haven’t gone extinct already, having lost their greatest weapon, flight…

God is fair.

Instead of flight, Nitro Birds were gifted another ability to survive in nature.

That is their second characteristic.

They are the fastest birds on the ground.

The speed of a Nitro Bird is faster than any other animal that runs on land.

In fact, there’s a saying among hunters.

Nitro Birds are faster than flying arrows.

There are even unbelievable firsthand accounts of hunters accurately aiming and shooting an arrow at a Nitro Bird, only for the bird to scoff and dodge it by the time the arrow reached its eyes.

‘That Jack guy, he pretends to be dignified, but he’s quite malicious.’

The difficulty of the exam was quite high.

A large portion of the adventurers participating in the exam would likely fail this first task.

“Don’t ever show your faces to me again, you stupid birdbrains.”

Maria gritted her teeth and released the leashes of five Nitro Birds.

Thud- thud-

The moment they were freed from their restraints, the birds scattered in all directions.

Their speed was explosive, as if they had rocket engines attached to their tails.

A sandstorm raged, and the Nitro Birds were already far in the distance.

“What the heck, how are they that fast?”

“We have to catch them…?”

The adventurers’ mouths hung open.

“Aish, fuck it. We still have to try!”

One adventurer gritted their teeth and began running after the Nitro Birds.

Impatience is easily contagious. Starting with that adventurer, everyone soon began running recklessly.

“If you miss them once, it’s over. Chase them with all your might!”

“You don’t necessarily have to catch them. Just follow them and pick up a feather they drop.”

The procession of people stretched on, one after another, like the starting line of a marathon.

“See you later, kid! You guys better pass too!”

Mitchell leaped and waved her hand amidst the crowd.

Being an elf with naturally high speed, Mitchell quickly advanced to the front.

“Good luck. Then, I’ll be going.”

Wagner carefully studied his map and then began walking in a different direction from the other adventurers.

“Aren’t you guys going?”

Examiner Maria approached me.

Her tone was full of intent to pick a fight, as she shot out.

“We’ll handle it ourselves, so mind your own business.”

“Ugh, you frustrating people. Do you even want to do this or not? If your skills are lacking, you should at least be diligent. Do you have time to be so leisurely?”

She’s really enjoying herself.

This is less like an examiner and more like an annoying backseat driver.

“The exam just started anyway. There are still two weeks left. It’s not a first-come, first-served basis, so there’s no need to rush.”

“Always running your mouth.”

Maria pouted.

She probably wanted to watch us run around frantically like the other adventurers.

However, such shallow tactics won’t work on me.

‘At this point, no one can catch a Nitro Bird anyway.’

They’re hard to catch even normally, and even more so now that the Nitro Birds have just been released and are at full stamina.

Even Jack or Maria would struggle to catch one themselves.

Unless you’re a monster like Michael, it’s impossible.

At least, no one here can do it.

“Senior, let’s go. We’ll go at our own pace.”

“Yes!”

I ignored Maria, who was still grumbling behind me, and started walking.

***

“Estel, will the birds come to a place like this?”

Flora tilted her head.

This is a place reached by crossing the rocky plateau for about two hours from the Garden main gate.

It’s called the ‘Red Sand Dunes.’

“No.”

I stated it without leaving any room for doubt.

“Huh? Then why are we here…”

Flora trailed off.

Although she didn’t show it outwardly, Flora seemed to be feeling anxious.

The goal of the exam is to obtain a Nitro Bird feather, yet we are wandering in a completely unrelated place.

“Don’t worry, Senior. I have a plan.”

“A plan?”

“Yes. Chasing the Nitro Birds right now would just be a waste of effort. Did you see how many people were running earlier?”

“There were so many.”

The biggest factor that distinguishes me from other adventurers in 「Nine Stars」.

It’s the fact that I know the strategy for this world.

So, I wasn’t surprised even after hearing the details of this exam.

‘It’s the most difficult of the seven exam subjects, but it’s okay. I can definitely pass it.’

I wasn’t worried about how to pass the exam.

What I was interested in was how to use this two-week period.

“Look, Senior. There’s no one here.”

“Well, it’s during the adventurer exam. Everyone is tracking the Nitro Birds, so they wouldn’t come all the way here, right?”

“That’s why we came here.”

Flora blinked her large eyes a couple of times.

Oh. Is she surprisingly quick-witted?

She seems to have grasped my intention for coming here.

“It’s usually a hunting ground where many adventurer parties gather, creating a lot of competition, but now there’s no one here!”

“Right, right.”

“And it’s likely to remain this way for the remaining two weeks.”

“Exactly.”

“I get it now, Estel. You planned to give up on the exam and instead hunt monsters to gain profits!”

Well, I’ll be.

She was doing so well, but messed up at the end.

I thought it was too smooth for Flora.

“No, Senior. I’m not giving up on the exam. I’m just waiting for the right time. Until then, we plan to hunt here.”

I looked down at the rocky plateau from the top of the hill.

Shall we get started then?

I took out the skulls I had brought from the Ring of Preservation.

‘Please take care of me.’

Clatter, clatter.

As I infused them with mana, the scattered skulls began to stir and move.

“Necromancy,” which briefly bestows life upon corpses that have long since died.

The bone fragments assembled themselves, forming the shapes of three agile dog-like creatures.

“Estel, what is this-“

“It’s an application of telekinesis.”

“Ah.”

Flora accepted that and showed no suspicion.

It’s fortunate that she’s a bit slow-witted in these matters.

“Now, I will give you orders. Doggy No. 1, you will circle north and gather monsters. Doggy No. 2, west, and Doggy No. 3, east. Move out!”

As I stomped my foot, the skeleton dogs shot forward like bullets.

A moment later, Doggy No. 2 returned first.

-Whine!

Behind Doggy No. 2, who was running breathlessly, monsters were following in a swarm.

Wild Boars, Rock Scorpions, Man-eating Cacti.

These are some of the strongest monsters in the Garden Wilderness.

And, consequently, monsters that offer good rewards.

“Start, Senior!”

At my shout, Flora unleashed a barrage of magic arrows.

Fzzt, fzzt-

There’s no need to aim individually.

Just aim roughly at the cluster of monsters and unleash them.

Flora extended both hands forward and fired a volley of arrows like a machine gun.

‘This should be enough.’

I focused telekinesis on the pile of rocks on the hill.

Rumble-

The rocks trembled slightly and then slowly rolled towards the edge of the cliff.

CRASH!

The rocks, rolling down the slope of the hill, accelerated and swept away the monsters.

The powerful monsters were crushed like flattened fish without being able to resist.

Meanwhile, from our position on the high hill, they couldn’t even approach us.

A one-sided hunt with no damage taken.

‘This is it.’

After rolling a few more rocks and with Flora finishing off the remaining monsters, the first mass hunt concluded.

“Wow- it’s great, but I feel like this might be cheating.”

Flora wiped the sweat from her forehead while drinking herbal tea that restored mana.

“It’s normally difficult to do this. If there were other adventurer parties, herding monsters like this would be a huge nuisance.”

There are unwritten rules among adventurers themselves.

One of them is that you shouldn’t artificially create a cluster of monsters like we just did.

Getting caught in such a large monster horde formed this way can easily lead to the instant death of even experienced adventurers.

‘Let’s make the most of it while we can.’

While everyone else is chasing after the Nitro Birds.

I’m taking advantage of this gap to monopolize the hunting grounds.

The plan was proceeding smoothly.

“Senior, there’s no time to relax. The next wave is coming.”

A cloud of dust rose in the distance.

Watching Doggy No. 3 being chased by monsters, I got up from my seat.

***

“Maria, don’t cause trouble. Don’t forget you’re an examiner-“

“Ah, I got it. Are you my dad? Stop nagging.”

Maria shuddered and quickly mounted the Nitro Bird.

Fearing that Jack’s nagging would never end if she lingered, she hurried out into the wilderness.

“Still, it’s better now that it’s cooler.”

The wilderness under the moonlight had a certain charm.

Maria quickly became addicted to the thrill of racing through the wilderness on the swift Nitro Bird.

Occasionally, adventurers recognized Maria and greeted her.

“Yo- keep up the good work.”

Maria replied perfunctorily and looked around.

“Everyone’s living so miserably.”

Maria suppressed a laugh inwardly.

It was as she had expected.

Even though she had told them beforehand that they would have to spend two weeks in the wilderness, most adventurers were poorly prepared.

They couldn’t even set up tents properly and merely buried themselves in sleeping bags.

Their meals were also pathetic.

Watching them gnaw on hardened preserved food with their teeth, Maria was reminded of rats.

“It’s quiet on the first day. How boring.”

Perhaps it’s because no one has obtained a Nitro Bird feather yet.

There was no bloodshed between adventurers, which the Adventurer’s Guild was wary of, and which Maria secretly hoped for.

“I think I’ve scouted everyone.”

Maria unfolded her map.

Thanks to the magic badges distributed to the participants beforehand, everyone’s location was displayed on the map.

“Ah, damn it. What are these guys doing crawling all the way to that corner by themselves?”

Maria grumbled, looking at two dots on the map.

She couldn’t understand what they were thinking. At a time when they should be chasing Nitro Birds, what were they doing holed up in a remote place?

Let’s take a look at who they are.

Suddenly, Maria smiled.

She thought she knew who they were.

“It’s those arrogant guys, right? That’s right. I haven’t seen them until now.”

She recalled the face of the small girl who had impudently talked back.

Maria increased the Nitro Bird’s speed.

It’s a good thing.

She had a chance to laugh heartily at their suffering.

Surely, they must also be suffering from the cold night air, living miserably like the other adventurers.

“Is it here?”

Maria dismounted the Nitro Bird.

It seemed they had set up a dwelling somewhere in the rocky plateau area, perhaps in a cave.

If they hide in a cave like rats, they can avoid the wind. Still, they seem to have thought it through a bit.

“It’s all the same wherever you go.”

Maria scoffed and approached the rocky cave.

“Huh?”

Sniff, sniff.

Maria’s nostrils flared.

A fragrant scent was wafting from inside the cave.

Warmth. The shadow of a flickering campfire.

Occasionally, the sound of soft laughter could be heard from within.

Gurgle.

Maria swallowed hard.

For some reason, she felt hungry.