Chapter 21: Chapter 20: Joining a Party

The Hunting Association at the frontier town of Hearthridge was used to serving all types of people, especially during the Winter season, when farmhands suddenly found themselves in need of a different way of putting food on the table.

Hunting was necessary for all kinds of people, from the lowest peasant up to the greatest of nobles, it just differed in the size of the monsters they were hunting. But regardless what type of monster you hunt, hunting was dangerous, which was why even those who hunted small game formed parties in order to have safety in numbers, in case the unexpected happens. 

Some noble children sometimes made a stink or caused trouble, or some thieves would try to get some easy prey by infiltrating parties, but these problems were always immediately dealt with, and most people who made use of their services were just humble folk who easily passed through the minds of the management. 

Though some still had a way of sticking with you.

“Excuse me. We’re here to sign up with the Hunting Association.” A woman with bright red hair said as she walked up to the hybrid front desk and bar counter with a small child who was clearly either her younger sister or her daughter.

The pair of them were wearing that odd mixture of dress and armor that was sort of popular among noblewomen, pure white cloth with plates that were a mixture of black and white, having a sort of weave like pattern to them. It was probably that light weight thread armor stuff that popped up a few years ago. Very expensive. And if those red earrings the woman had won't be some sort of magic item, then the bar keep would eat his cleaning rag.

Even the pairs Bonds were wearing designer clothes in order to keep them warm. The cat-sized spider was dressed in a fluffy white sweater-like article that covered its entire body. It was clearly enchanted in order to keep the cold-blooded Bond warm out in the cold weather.

“Sure thing. Everyone is welcome to sign up.” David said, pulling out the paperwork and the [Divination Magic] orb that the Association used. “We’re going to have to ask for a little bit of blood for [Divination Magic]. All of it is for safety purposes. When you are about to hunt in a party, you will be required to inform the Association of your party, where you are going to go and the approximate time of return. If you are more than two days late in checking in, we will send a rescue party to retrieve you at your own expense. So don’t be late.” 

“Yes. We understand. My daughter will be registering for the first time, but I will be reregistering after a 10 year absence.” The woman said.

“Mama has gone hunter before?” The child said, looking up at her mother.

“Of course! After I turned 10, I hunted quite a bit with your grandfather to help me get a few levels up! I would have continued if it wasn’t for… that man.” The woman said cheerfully, though ending on a sour note.

“Alright, I’ll need to grab the extra paperwork dealing with the return disclaimers. While I do, could you help the girl with giving blood?” David said, pushing the job of taking blood from the child onto the parent, putting the needle on the table as he went into the filing cabinet.

The mother nodded and lifted up her child to the table, letting her draw blood and let it drip onto the orb.

The child was really good about it… unusually good. She jammed that needle in without even wincing, and pushed it further than she probably needed to.

David didn’t pay much attention as he was digging through the cabinet, so he didn’t notice the girl casting a short healing spell on her finger in order to stop the bleeding.

A few seconds later, he had the papers he needed as was back at the counter. “Sorry about that. I’ll start registering the young Ms. right away, so if you could fill out these forms about any changes in your health or criminal record over the past few years, that would be great. Oh, and these forms are for the party system. Just write down what skill and specialities you bring to the table.”

“Sure thing.” The woman replied, grabbing the forms and a few quills and an ink bottle. Her daughter had taken some of the forms herself and the pair started debating what to write in the 'relevant skills' page.

The man glanced back at the [Divination Magic] orb in order to get the information he needed to register the child and was surprised to see her name.

Scarlet Tailor. Not a noble name, but a laborer family name.

Then his eyes went down to the other information and he absolutely choked.

Age 5? Level 32? Total General Skill level of 3913? Bond level of 44?

What was with these absolutely ridiculous numbers? Were they even achievable at such a young age? In order to grow this many General Skill levels, she would have had to average 2 General Skill levels a day since the day she was born. 

And she hadn’t gone hunting yet, so she had managed to reach a Bond level of 44 without hunting at the age of 5? What kind of absurd mana regeneration did she have? Was she even human? The [Identification Magic] said she was but...

David shook his head, knowing that if he made a scene and released their information he’d be fired and could even face criminal charges for the misuse of [Divination Magic].

“Name: Scarlet Tailor. Age: 5. Level: 32. Total General Skill level: 3913. Does all that sound right?” David asked, hoping she would say no.

“Yeah. That should be right.” The child replied with a nod.

“3913. You really have been working hard, haven’t you?” The mother said, patting her daughter on the head as she smiled down at the girl, whose chest was puffing up with pride. “But, mama won’t lose yet.”

Name: Maria Tailor. Age: 22. Level: 46. Total General Skill level: 11253. Bond level: 48. Class: Spirit Weaver (Tier 4). Class level: 75.

Most of the things there were only above average, but a total General Skill level of 11253 was just absurd. It was one of the highest that he had ever seen before, especially among her age group. She had a Tier 4 laborer-type Class as well, which was also extremely rare.

While it didn’t give as high of stat boosts as an equivalent level warrior-type class, she was still stronger than any Tier 2 and most Tier 3 warrior Classes, even without her massive stat boosts from her numerous General Skill levels and her above average level.

3913 at the age of 5 and 11253 at the age of 22… Did these people never sleep?

“Mama is amazing!” Scarlet said, her green eyes appearing to sparkle in admiration… Actually, they were really sparkling. Was she channeling mana into them?

“Fufufu. I wasn’t slacking off while you were practicing magic, you know? A mother has her pride.” The woman said, puffing out her ample chest with hands on hips.

David continued to process the pair's information in disbelief, looking at the specializations they put down for their party roles. 

The mother claimed skills in the Trapper, Crowd Control, Light Attacker and Poison Debuf roles. Easily understandable considering her spider Bond. And the daughter had identified Healing, Buff Support, Illusion Debuf, Scouting, and Range Attack as her roles.

...The pair were nearly an entire balanced party by themselves. They only lacked the Tank and Burst Damage roles.

“Alright. Everything is done. Here are your IDs. You can use them to register with your party before going out on an expedition.” David said, handing the girls the small paper IDs. “There should be a notice board over there with listings of the different areas around the mount, along with suggested hunting grounds for people of different levels. People looking for extra party members often place requests there.”

“Thank you very much.” Maria said, taking the cards before hurrying with her daughter to check out the listings.

“...I hope those two don’t get into trouble.”

---

It took them a little while before they could reach the notice board.

People kept stopping them in order to ask if they would like to join their parties, but most of these people were hunting for food and wanted parties merely for safety in numbers. They would snag two or three catches from the lower end of the pool and call it a day, maybe earning 40 EXP or getting just normal animals not getting any EXP at all. 

So Scarlet and her mother would politely decline, explaining that they were hunting for levels, which the men would understand and then let them go on their way with looks of disappointment. Though their disappointment had less to do with not having a powerful escort, and more with not having more of a chance to talk up a beautiful woman like Scarlet’s mama.

Scarlet herself was thinking more about the test results from before than what the men were saying.

She’d known that her mother was practicing hard, but she hadn’t realized just how hard she was training. She should have known, considering that she grew all the way from level 42 to level 46 on the back of General Skill EXP alone.

Turning all forms of weapon training and weapon and armor crafting into manipulating cloth had been a godsend for the woman, as it meant her ridiculous EXP bonuses would be applied to such skills.

Class based growth bonuses granted +100% growth in the related skills with an addition +100% for every Tier. Inherited bonuses were half that of the Class bonus, and both Maria’s parents were Tier 2 Expert Weavers.

So while Scarlet gained +200% to her growth in cloth related fields, Maria was getting +700%, meaning an 8x multiplier. Plus her 4 Talent Points giving her an additional +400% boost, which multiplied her Class bonuses, so she grew 40x faster than a person without any buffs. The effort they would need to grow from level 1 to level 2 could grow her from level 61 to level 62. Which was why Scarlet tended not to bother with anything that she couldn’t get to work in her vague field of expertise unless it was along the way. Without bonuses, leveling was hard work. 

That was along with all the effort she had put in. 

All the time Scarlet used researching and practicing magic, Maria focused on her new crafting skills and weapon training. Making Scarlet wonder if getting a thread based Class of her own was the right way to go.

Her mother had reached level 120 in over a dozen different weapon categories due to the cloth equipment and training restraints exploits. With her Skill level stats and her boost from her high Tier Class, her total Strength was over 3000, making her a powerhouse for her level. 

Scarlet couldn’t wait until she was able to get her own Class and could level up just as quickly.

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“Looks like the closer you get to the mountain, the more monsters you are likely to run into.” Maria said, looking over the charts on the wall. 

“Footing won’t be easier there, but our Spirit Merges should make that not a problem.” Scarlet said, scratching her chin. “Sector J5 has a suggested party composition of at least 8 people with a total level of 300. If we find a good party, we could probably tackle it.”

“...Scarlet, I know you are strong for your age, but you still don’t have a Class. I think we should aim a little lower for starters.” Maria cautioned.

“...Right. We would test the waters a little further down.” Scarlet nodded in agreement. There were several areas with suggested total levels of 250 with 8 people, so they could try for one of those.

But there was a problem. 

“Doesn’t look like any parties are recruiting for those areas.” Maria said after looking over the notices.

Most who aimed for that area were those trying to train up young nobles, who would have trained escorts or older relatives in order to babysit the next generation. There were a few commoner parties, but those had 50 people in them for safety’s sack, making the divided EXP too small.

Scarlet was pretty sure they could handle an area like that by themselves, but she didn’t know if she could convince her mother to take the risk right off the bat, and they probably wouldn’t have been able to convince the Hunting Association either. 

The Association was set up for the hunters’ safety and to monitor people who were leveling up, in case they became bandits. Entering monster infested lands without following the Association’s guidelines was a crime. Not a felony kind of crime that threatens prison or slavery. Just one with a hefty fine and being banned from entering the hunting grounds for a season, but that was still punishment enough.

The Hunting Association didn't tolerate the gung-ho solo rookie adventurers like in the stories. Everything was red tap placed down for people's safety. Though considering most of those stories had a really high mortality rate among adventurers, it was probably for the best.

...How come the government only even seemed to be doing their job properly when their job was obstructing Scarlet's progress?

Still, they needed to find a party who would go with them, or else pick a lower threat level area, which would give less EXP.

“Hm?” Scarlet raised her head as she sensed a familiar mana coming closer.

“Leon, where are you going?” Charles’ voice came from outside as the lion pushed the door to the Hunting Association with his head, looking about with his nose up in the air before finding Scarlet in an instant, his three tails wagging behind him.

People moved out of the way as the World Lion came barreling towards the girl in order to say hello, giving her a friendly lick on the face that displaced an annoyed Branwen.

“It’s good to see you too, Leon.” Scarlet laughed, pushing the lion’s head away with both hands, and using a silent water spell to remove the drool from her face.

“Scarlet is that you?” Charles said, following in the wake created by his large familiar.

“Hey Charles, you got here just in time.” Scarlet said with a wide smile. “Mother and I are looking for a party. Do you have any openings?”

---

 

“I see, you two wish to join us in the mountains?” Mehal said with a smile as they all sat down around a table to eat. Not only was Charles there, but his Teacher and friends too, save for Nico. “Well, I don’t see why not. The children could use a helping hand.”

“That’s good.” Caesia said with a sigh of relief. “Uncle Mehal won’t help us unless we get into serious trouble. And since Nico isn’t here with us, I was worried that we wouldn’t be able to handle it anymore.”

“We are stronger than we were last year.” Charles said defiantly, Leon giving a bellow of agreement. 

“Except that Nico was the oldest and strongest of us, and Teacher still insists that we move to a higher area.” Sidney mumbled. “I’ll just be happy to have a proper healer with us. No offense, Caesia.”

“None taken.” The girl replied with a shrug. Using [Conjuration Magic] to get life mana was really expensive, and her [Healing Magic] level was pretty low.

“You children too realize it is our young Lord who insists on moving to a higher training area, not me.” Mehal said casually.

“Charles!” Sidney shouted in frustration. 

“What? We need to get stronger.” Charles said unapologetically. 

“None of us have Classes you know! Even level 10 monsters are really hard to fight!” Sidney complained. 

“...I want us to grow levels as quickly as possible.” Charles said, his hand tightening into a fist. “If we can get to the next threshold before the end of the hunting season, it will all be worth it.”

The training equipment Scarlet had made for him had boosted his progress immensely, but he wanted to go even further. He had to become as strong as possible before he turned 10. He needed to be the strongest, regardless of his disadvantages.

“If that is how you feel, are you sure that you want Scarlet and her mother to be a part of your party? They are higher levels than you, you know.” Mehal said, testing Charles.

It was true, they were higher levels, and with the way experience was divided among the party, a difference in levels could cause a problem.

In order to determine how much experience each person got, their individual levels were all cubed and then summed up. The percentage of your cubed level in that total was the percentage of the EXP you got.

Charles and his friends were about level 25, while Mehal was level 140. If he participated in a fight, he would immediately decrease the EXP the children gained by nearly 95%. And he might invalidate their participation all together if he did too much damage.

While the gap between them and Scarlet and her mother wasn’t so great, they were still looking at 60~65% of the EXP going elsewhere.

Charles didn’t care. He owed Scarlet a debt. Not just a debt of gratitude, but the debt of a Lord who had failed in his duties. He could not turn down her request, no matter how unreasonable of one she made.

Compared to his debt, this was nothing.

“Don’t worry! We can more than make up for the EXP you lose!” Scarlet said quickly. “Branwen and I have an ability called [True Sight], which we can easily use to scout out every monster for miles around, and mother and I can help you win fights a lot faster too.”

“[True Sight] you say? How does that work exactly?” Mehal asked, curious.

“Branwen and I can use mana in order to give us a third person view of our surroundings and see any magic signature within the scope of that view.” Scarlet explained. “It has a hefty cost that increases the farther the point we are viewing is from ourselves, but for about 1000 units of mana, I can get a good grasp of where all the magic signatures within twenty miles of us are from a bird’s eye view of the world. After that, I can check the locations to find out what those signatures are long before approaching them.”

“Oh. That is useful.” Mehal said, quite pleased.

It wasn’t merely a sensory based Bond Skill, but a [Divination Magic] based one. Its cost was extremely expensive and its range wasn’t that high when compared to the radar based skills that he had seen in the past, but its effect was a lot more precise and wouldn’t be hampered by trees or wildlife. It would speed up their hunting considerably.

Mehal wondered if the girl was even aware of how much such a skill was worth.

“So, can we come?” Scarlet asked.

“I’ve already said I would allow it. It is only up to the young Lord to decide if he would enjoy your company.” Mehal said, pushing things onto Charles.

“Of course you can come. We would be happy to have you.” Charles instantly agreed.

“Thank you very much. When will we be leaving?” Scarlet asked.

“Our group was about to report that we would be leaving, but we can hold off if…”

“No, we’re ready!” Scarlet said quickly. “The sooner we get going the better!”

It was time for her hunting to begin.

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