"What's the urgent mission? Is it very dangerous?" Dudian couldn't help but ask.
The young instructor said, "I heard that there's a rare named monster that has appeared. There is some danger, but the team you'll be in is led by Glary, one of the two strongest Hunters of the consortium. You'll just be responsible for tracking the scent. They'll protect you well as long as you don't fall behind."
"A rare named monster?" Dudian thought that the consortium had also evaluated the "Fear of Contamination" he had hunted in the same way. Could it be a monster of the same level as it? He immediately asked, "Can I go to the residential area first?"
"Of course not!" The young instructor replied without thinking, "The time for the urgent summons is very pressing. You should come with me to the hall of the Hunter's ancient castle right away. The others should already be there." With that said, he grabbed Dudian's hand without giving him a chance to argue and started running.
Dudian was worried. It was really too hasty. He didn't even have time to prepare black powder for self-defense. With just his bare hands and the newly learned archery skills, he couldn't help but feel a bit anxious.
Soon, led by the young instructor, the two of them crossed the small river and came to an ancient castle beside the mountain on the other side of this territory. The whole ancient castle was pitch-black, like a crouching black beast, exuding an eerie atmosphere.
The young instructor took Dudian to the front of the ancient castle and said, "Go in quickly. They're all waiting for you inside. I'll go and prepare some dry food for you."
Dudian was grateful in his heart. After the young instructor left, he turned around, took a deep breath, and entered the ancient castle.
The guards at the door didn't stop him and opened the huge door for him.
The front hall of the ancient castle was dimly lit. There were six figures standing there, four men and two women, who were talking about something. When they heard the sound of the door opening, they immediately turned their heads and looked over.
"Is this the little guy?" One of them asked.
Another young man said, "I heard he's a lucky newbie scavenger. Most likely, it's him."
At this moment, a slender figure stepped out from among them. It was a woman in her early twenties, with fair skin and beautiful features. Her black Hunter's armor was a form-fitting style, fully revealing her graceful and curvy figure. She glanced at Dudian and ordered, "Go and put on your armor immediately and get ready to set out."
Dudian suddenly felt that this woman looked familiar. He suddenly remembered that when he had just become a scavenger and was invited to a noble banquet, he had seen two Hunters, and this woman was one of them. Presumably, she and that young man were the two strongest Hunters of the consortium. No wonder the nobles would take the initiative to greet them and be extremely friendly, including the people from the Mel family.
"Yes." After agreeing, Dudian glanced around and immediately saw a stack of black armor on the chair beside him. He immediately trotted over and unfolded it. The size matched his height, and it should have been prepared for him.
In addition to the armor, there was also a black bow.
After being fully armed, Dudian put on the black bow and quiver and said to the woman, "I'm ready."
"Okay." Seeing Dudian's efficiency, the woman nodded slightly and said to the others, "This time, since the 'Black Weaver' has appeared, we must do our best to capture it and not let it slip away again. When we get outside the Wall, all of you, stay focused. Got it?"
"Yes!" The other five people stood at attention and replied loudly.
Glary nodded slightly, waved her hand, and said, "Let's go!"
She took the lead in pushing open the door of the front hall and came to the stable beside the ancient castle. There were more than a dozen large black horses kept here, wearing simple helmets to prevent them from being bitten by the monsters in the radiation area when passing through it.
Although the monsters in the radiation area couldn't compare with those outside the Wall, they were still extremely dangerous. However, this wasn't the concern of Dudian and the other Hunters of the consortium. It was dealt with by the army and the Holy Knights of the Holy Church of Light.
Everyone mounted their horses.
Since the young instructor hadn't brought the dry food yet, Dudian had no choice but to give up. He climbed onto a large horse. With a shout of "Giddyap" from Glary, who was in the lead, the seven-person team, including Dudian, immediately rode along the path of the territory.
After leaving the territory, everyone headed straight for the wasteland of the radiation area.
On the way, they occasionally encountered some beasts from the radiation area, such as pythons coiled by the roadside and small groups of three or five wolves scattered around. These monsters, under the penetration of the radiation area, had undergone slight mutations in their bodies. Some parts were ulcerated, and some parts had grown strange-looking horny layers.
When these hungry beasts saw Dudian and the others, they were just about to pounce. Glary, the team leader, just snorted coldly and didn't do anything. The hungry beasts quickly retreated in fear, as if they had encountered something extremely ferocious.
Dudian wasn't surprised. He knew it was her Marks of the Demon at work. Otherwise, it would be difficult to scare away the beasts just by human intimidation alone, especially hungry beasts. The Marks of the Demon were different. They carried the scent of the monsters outside the Wall. To these beasts, they, the Hunters, were like monsters wearing human skins. It was already good enough that they wouldn't hunt them. How dare they take the initiative to come up and offer themselves as food?
Soon, everyone arrived outside the Great Wall.
"You're here. The passage has been opened for you." A middle-aged man wearing the uniform of the Mellon Consortium stood in front of the Great Wall.
Glary nodded slightly to him, dismounted her horse, and took the lead in entering the passage.
When they entered the dark underground passage, halfway through, Glary and the other five people stopped simultaneously. They put their hands together and prayed to the Hunting Goddess depicted on the wall of the passage. However, due to the urgency of the situation, the prayer was just a symbolic gesture, and then they quickly walked along the passage.
Dudian just took a look and then followed behind.
Once again, they were outside the Wall.
Dudian found that the entrance of this passage was different from the previous one. It should be another entrance controlled by the consortium. Outside the entrance of this passage, it wasn't a plain but a forest of giant trees more than twenty meters high. Each tree was like a solitary pen shaft, with few branches and leaves.
Glary entered the forest of giant trees. She was very familiar with the way and quickly went in one direction.
The others followed closely behind, protecting Dudian in the middle of the team.
Dudian immediately felt the gap between himself and the other Hunters. They could easily keep up with Glary's pace, while he needed to use seven or eight-tenths of his strength to keep up, otherwise, he would fall behind.
"It seems that even among junior Hunters, there are differences in physical constitution." Dudian thought to himself, "However, I haven't taken the Blessing of the Gods issued by the consortium that I've accumulated in two months, and I still have two hundred and ten cold crystals collected in Area 9."
After walking out of the forest of giant trees, a broken highway covered with moss stretched across the edge of the forest.
"Get on the bridge." Glary said and quickly jumped onto the highway.
Dudian twitched the corner of his mouth and followed behind.
"Ahead is Area 1." Glary then turned her head and looked at Dudian, saying, "When we get to Area 1 later, you just need to protect yourself. It's better not to be careless. This is the strongest area among the more than twenty areas belonging to our Mellon Consortium, except for the Forbidden Land. All the monsters inside are of hunting level ten or above. The one we're going to capture this time is a mature 'Black Weaver' of hunting level twenty-six."