Arcane Innovator

The days leading up to the beast hunter exam were a whirlwind of relentless training and exercise.

Well, it was to be expected as I was trying to cram two months' worth of preparations into a single week. But with my mind made up and not wanting to waste any more time, I diligently soldiered on.

Wolf seemed to share my sentiment as he pushed me harder than ever before, teaching me every combat technique he knew of, determined to ensure that I was truly ready for any possible challenge.

Alongside the combat training, we were also supposed to learn to recognize the local monsters and their weak points.

For that exact purpose, the Guild set up a small study on the upper floor for the more advanced Recruits who were preparing for their exams.

Hearing about this for the first time, I perked up my ears as excitement washed over me. I hurried toward the study at the first opportunity, hoping I could read some books about the local fauna and geography.

But as I eagerly barged into the small, cramped room, my smile froze on my lips.

There were no books. There were not even any scrolls... just a few large crude illustrations of the most common monsters in the area, each adorned with a distinct red cross signifying their weak spot.

Seeing this, I couldn't help but don a bitter smile as, at that moment, I had realized that most Recruits were either orphans or poor farmers and thus illiterate, so in hindsight, it was kind of obvious there wouldn't be any books here.

'Well, whatever...' With a sigh, I made an effort to memorize the names and appearance of the monsters before returning to the training grounds.

Like this, the time flew by, and before I noticed it, the day of the test had arrived.

***

I patiently stood on the Guild's training grounds, where the Recruits taking the test were told to assemble early in the morning.

The sun's golden glow flickered from behind, and the air was filled with countless hushed whispers.

Contrary to my fellow Recruits, who fidgeted about restlessly, I felt no nervousness at all and calmly observed the proceedings.

I knew that I had no reason to worry, for I was confident that if we were told to face something that I myself couldn't handle, there was no chance in hell nobody here could.

Looking around, I noticed the familiar faces of my other party members, all wearing expressions of determination.

Earlier on, I found out that I would be taking the exam together with Ram and Vixen as they both came to the end of their training period. On the other hand, Weasel wasn't too confident of her abilities, so she would spend another month training.

Still, my comrade's presence here didn't matter that much as, contrary to the hunt we went on previously; this test would apparently be a solo mission.

I furrowed my brows, listening to the stout-looking branch leader briefing us on the details of what was expected of us today.

'Huh?' blinking a few times in confusion, I couldn't help but show a dumbfounded expression as what he said next broke all my expectations.

This famous beast hunter exam, which every fellow Recruit was so worried about, turned out to be just a grand name for a normal extermination-type job.

As I later found out, the Guild apparently had no budget or capacity to hold a dedicated exam, so all of us would be simply picking one task out of the regular available jobs.

There was, however, a slight twist to it. Apart from being unable to rely on any outside help, you will draw your task based on a lottery system to make it somewhat fair, as the available jobs weren't all the same.

Thus, we formed a single long line and came one by one toward the branch leader, who would present us with an ordinary wooden box from which we would select our task.

The line moved slowly as everyone took their sweet time drawing, but before long, it was finally my turn.

"Next... Jorn!" The branch leader, an old veteran hunter with a big bushy beard, exclaimed.

"Yes, sir!" I replied as I eagerly came forward.

Without wasting a breath, I stuck my hand inside the box and took out the first card I came across, not particularly caring about which one I picked.

Yet, as I presented my choice to the branch leader, I could see his stoic face visibly pale, and he widened his eyes.

"A Warrhog, eh? Are you sure about this lad? You can always try your luck next time..." He said, eyeing me with a worry etched into his wrinkled face.

I tilted my head to the side, wondering what this was all about. I had never met this "Warrhog" monster, but I saw its illustration in the Guild's study, and it looked just like an overgrown pig with large tusks, so I reckon it couldn't be that hard to hunt.

'Is he worried because I had only one month's worth of training?' I wondered silently. Nevertheless, I smiled brightly at the venerable hunter before me and loudly said. "Yes, sir!"

I could hear the other recruits mumbling something behind me, but I didn't pay it much attention as I threw a passing nod at Ram and then hurried toward the study to take another look at the beast I was supposed to hunt and where I might find it.

***

'Ah! What a pain in the but!' I cursed inwardly, weaving my way through the thick underbrush.

It was close to noon, and I was currently deep in the forest somewhere north of Ostengard frantically trying to locate this Warrhog I was supposed to hunt, yet I had no such luck so far.

I threw a worried look toward the clear summer sky to see how much time I had left, as we were supposed to complete our tasks before nightfall.

Realizing I only had a few more hours left before I would need to turn back, I sighed helplessly and then delved back into the thicket. 'This is proving to be much more challenging than I originally anticipated...'

I knew those pigs must be somewhere around here as this was supposed to be their natural habitat. Apparently, sometimes they could even be seen leaving the forest altogether in search of food.

That is also when they are the most dangerous and why there is an order for their extermination, as they were recently seen attacking the livestock on a nearby farm.

I doubted that this Warrhog would be any tougher than that lizard we faced in the marches last time, so at first, I didn't take this too seriously and took my sweet time strolling out of the Town, but now I realized that finding this stupid pig was an ordeal of its own.

I employed my magic sense at its maximum capacity while trudging through the rugged terrain as fast as possible.

So far, I had located plenty of animals and monsters alike, yet when I got close, none of them resembled my supposed target.

At first, I simply left them alone and walked away, but as I delved deeper into the forest, I began losing my sense of direction, forgetting which signal I had already checked.

Thus, before long, out of frustration, I began indiscriminately slaughtering every monster I came across, leaving a trail of corpses behind.

Like that, I dutifully continued my maiden hunt as a beast hunter while sweating and cursing my fate. 'Just you wait, you stupid pigs...'

Ultimately, it took me another three hours until I finally found them. At first, I got scared, freezing in my tracks as I was afraid I stumbled upon some powerful monster given the strong signal I got.

But as I carefully sneaked closer, I realized it was many weaker signals huddled closely together. Thus, I slowly approached a large clearing next to a tiny lake hidden deep within the forest.

Emerging from between the trees, I quickly crouched behind a nearby rock, and then, while peaking out my head, I finally saw them.

'Wha-? So many!' I widened my eyes. Dozens upon dozens of Warrhogs lazily wallowed in the mud, their long tails swinging in the wind.

I immediately realized that by how they were all snuggled closely together, it would be next to impossible to pick just one of them without the rest jumping in on me, too.

And right in the middle of the clearing, on a small mound, I saw something that made me gulp.

It was the largest Warrhog I had ever seen - not that I had seen many of them, but I could tell this one was quite special.

Their supposed leader was truly a magnificent pig the size of a small elephant, its mighty muscles glistening in the afternoon sun.

Now, I finally understood the worry in the branch leader's eyes. This was not something any mundane human could face alone and live to tell the tale. Heh, not even a small army would be enough to clear this mess.

Still, I was not a mere beast hunter, and right now, I was pretty pissed, having to trudge through the mud all day long.

'So, how should I go about this?' I wondered, donning a smile.