Finding the Hunter’s Guild was easy. It was the largest building in the southern side of the town. It actually was the size of an entire block and there was this massive wooden statue of a hooded woman with a bow ready to shoot an arrow as well.

  ‘I need to make the most out of this mess, so I can’t waste time hesitating.’

  I got inside the guild and the place looked like an archery stand with several slots for people to practice. I couldn’t see any target at the ends of the stand, though. When I looked to the side, I saw what seemed to be a corridor that could lead to another part of the guild, so I headed there. It had a wooden door there too, but it soon opened before I could get too close.

  The person that showed up looked like the wooden statue outside. A woman, who was also a hooded huntress that emitted an aura of precision and deadly grace. She wore a deep forest-green cloak, its hood drawn low over her face, casting shadows that obscure all but the glint of her sharp, watchful eyes. Beneath the cloak, she was clad in fitted leather armor, reinforced with darkened steel plates at vital points, crafted for both protection and flexibility. The armor was dyed in muted earth tones, allowing her to blend seamlessly into the wilderness.

  Her quiver, strapped diagonally across her back, had an array of carefully created arrows, each tipped with obsidian. A recurve bow, wrapped in worn leather for a firm grip, was at her side, its string taut and ready. A curved hunting knife was sheathed at her belt, alongside a small pouch.

  Her boots were silent against the floor, their soles worn smooth from years of movement unseen. Beneath the hood, strands of raven-black hair slip free, tousled by the wind. She was pretty, but she also had that expression that said that only fools would approach her to say that to her.

  “Are you one of the newcomers? What is your name?”

  “Yes… it is Sean.”

  “The name is Matilda, the head huntress of the guild. It is Master Matilda to you. Do you understand? Respond with an: yes, master.”

  “... Yes, Master.”

  I hesitated for a moment, wondering if this was truly necessary. At least that made me realize that I was a bit rebellious toward those who wanted to order me around for no apparent reason. Maybe I wasn’t a bit rebellious, and that was just the normal response in that kind of situation. Regardless, that showed a bit of what kind of person I was before.

  “You look in shape. Usually, only lazy bums who don’t want to move their bodies that much would come here. Still, soon they come to understand that this place isn’t as easy as they assume. To become a hunter, you need to move fast as the wind and stay still like the trees in a forest to become one with nature.”

  I felt like scratching my cheek as Matilda crossed her arms and then started her speech. That was probably something that she said a bunch of times, but she still looked passionate about it.

  “Go to that room over there and then grab one set of the gear that you find there. You have five minutes.”

  I turned around and then I found another door there and went without asking anything. I had to be patient and learn as much as possible, so I couldn’t sigh or roll my eyes whenever I felt annoyed at people around me. Inside the room that seemed like a warehouse, I found a bunch of sets of gear. While different from Matilda’s, everything there was in the same style, but much simpler. A hunting knife, the bow, and wooden arrows. The leather clothes, the hood, gloves and boots. There were two versions for men and women, so I picked the male version without hesitation and in a hurry, since I wasn’t sure I could wear all that in five minutes.

  For some odd reason, there was a mirror there and I could see my new appearance. I wasn't sure it fit me with my dark hair and blue eyes. For some reason, I felt a bit annoyed while looking at my face, even though there was nothing wrong with it, it didn't seem ugly either.

  “You are late. Every second wasted is an arrow not shot that could save your life. You need to engrave that to your small brain if you want to have any chance of surviving in this world. Do you understand?”

  “Yes… Master.”

  “What was that pause for? Anyway, go over there and pull the fifth rope on the wall.”

  On the side of the door that Matilda came from, there were five ropes connected to the other side of the wall. I headed there and then did exactly what she told me. Before long, I heard the sound of contraptions around the guild, and soon some targets began to appear at the end of the shooting stand. They were all straw dolls in the shape of humans with targets on some parts of their bodies. Some of them had on their heads, others on their heart, others on their legs, or arms.

  As if that wasn’t enough, they moved up and down from one side to the other. Sometimes, they would move in a straight line and speed up all of a sudden. Their movements were unpredictable, but since it was some sort of mechanism, there must be a pattern set there. Despite that, Matilda fired her arrows and hit her targets… all of them, all of her twenty-one arrows were shot, and all the twenty-one targets were hit as well.

  “If you want to take my place, you need to do at least this much, rookie.”

  “Why would I want that?”

  “Hah?”

  “... Why would I want that, master?”

  “At least you can think fast… unless you want to spend your days fighting for others and risking your neck against hordes of crazy bastards, you would need a stable job. The head of the hunter’s guild can earn money by teaching others skills of classes that are related to it. The first week is for free, and you will learn the basics, but everything else you need to pay to learn.”

  “How can I earn money, master?”

  “That stupid woman still doesn’t tell the rookies enough, huh? You should at least know about the crystal, am I right? What class did you pick, and what were your options?”

  “Archer… the options were: Archer, Thief, Fighter, Alchemist, Spearman, Bard, Squire, Priest, Warrior, and Mage.”

  “Hm. Not bad. Perhaps you won’t die too soon… Regardless, by killing monsters and other enemies, you earn rewards like experience and money. The crystal will calculate that every time you approach it. You can earn more if you accomplish other things like causing a lot of damage to the enemy’s bases or capturing them. So, make sure to return here often to receive your rewards and get stronger.”

  I wanted to ask how exactly the crystal can produce money, but I assumed that Matilda didn’t know that either since she didn’t mention it. It must be something that makes sense here. Still, I felt that money wasn’t made like where I came from.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “I will teach one basic skill for archery and another for using a one handed weapon. After that, you are supposed to learn how to use them effectively. You should try your hardest to learn them, all in order to survive and bring me more money to learn skills. Try to copy me and hit the targets.”

  Matilda went to the side and then pulled the first rope. The first target emerged from a random spot below the stand and then stood still there. I was pretty certain that I didn’t have all the time in the world, so I tried to be fast, but not nock and shoot the arrow in a hurry. At the last moment, I recalled the position of the shoulders and the legs that Matilda showed me and then I copied them before pulling the string and firing the arrow… the target was thirty meters away, but the arrow passed above it. Three seconds later, the straw doll vanished, and another emerged.

  “You have the arm strength to use the full pull of the bow. Try to adjust your aim considering your previous shot. Visualize the trajectory of the arrow and unleash it. Don’t think that you will miss even for a moment. If you do that, then you will miss it.”

  For a moment, I regretted choosing this class… Swinging a melee weapon would be easier, I was sure of it. I was going to eventually learn how to use one eventually, but the knife wasn’t very impressive. Regardless, I put those thoughts aside and then followed the instructions before unleashing the arrow. It flew five centimeters above the straw doll.

  “Considering your posture and back muscles, it seems that you have some experience with bows. The fact that you are missing by such a small margin confirms that… you just need to get used to your current bow.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Hah?”

  “Is that so, master?”

  “Of course, my eyeballs aren’t just decorations. I wouldn’t be the head huntress of the guild if my eyes weren’t the best eyes of this area.”

  I wasn’t sure of that, but they sure were pretty. Emerald green eyes weren’t that easy to see. Regardless, there was no point in telling that since Matilda will probably think that I was just trying to offer some lip-service. I fired the third arrow and then hit the torso of the straw doll… but the target was on the right leg. Well, I hit the target, and that was what mattered. Considering how deep it pierced, any target hit by that didn’t have armor would probably suffer a lot of damage and, at the very least, it would get slower.

  I kept practicing the shots and I couldn’t help but notice that the bow felt really comfortable in my hands. The aim was steady, and I was at least hitting the straw dolls around eighty percent of the time. Still, I couldn’t get carried away since I rarely hit the target and each one of the dolls stayed still for ten seconds. Eventually, I was out of arrows.

  “Go and recover the arrows.”

  I nodded and did exactly that, as I worked like that. I wondered how many of those people would come here. I wanted to have a good idea of how common it was for a person to choose or be compatible with archery. After thinking about it, there was no real reason to learn that… aside from how many rivals I would have.

  “Master, can I ask you a few things?”

  “Only if you keep firing the arrows and showing progress. Actually, let’s do something better instead. I will answer your questions when you hit the target. In the bull’s eye, one question was answered.”

  That was a bit harsh… hitting the bull’s eye with my current level of skill was asking for too much. Still, I already knew the location of the targets and I also had experience in how to consider the shots while considering everything around me. In the end, I nodded at her words. However, on the second round of arrows, I didn’t hit the bull’s eyes even once. At the end of the third round, I finally managed to pull it off.

  “All right then, ask it before you go to grab the arrows.”

  “How many guilds are here?”

  “In this town, there are six guilds. The warrior’s guild, the hunter’s guild, the priest’s guild, the mage’s guild, the crafters’ guild, and the special guild. You can tell what each one of them can teach, right?”

  “More or less, aside from the special guild.”

  “Hit another bull’s eye to hear the answer that you want. It looks like a few archers will come this time around as well, so we have time.”

  Matilda looked like that, proud and high-handed, but she sounded more like a proper teacher the more we talked. At the same time, considering her words, it also sounded like she wanted more people to teach, which didn’t make much sense considering her usual choice of words. Regardless, in the fourth round, I hit the bull’s eyes two times.

  “The special guild teaches miscellaneous skills, survival skills, like techniques for living off the land, building shelter, finding food, creating fire, or navigating wild terrain. These are essential for those exploring dangerous environments or embarking on long journeys. They also teach animal handling, like training, taming, or riding animals. It also included communication with certain types of creatures or understanding their behavior to form bonds or exploit specific traits. They also teach cartography and mapping things and other things that you don’t need for combat, but it can help in your daily life. If you are skilled enough, you can be hired to work for the people in the town. Then your days of risking your neck will be pretty much over.”

  “Isn’t that dangerous? If this place is truly dangerous, isn’t it better to keep getting stronger?”

  “The crystal also rewards those who work for human society outside of battle. They can also get stronger like that. Even if they aren’t specialized in combat, they can become strong enough to run for their lives if they have to.”

  “I see… That redhead told us that we didn’t have to worry too much about picking a class. Why did she say that?”

  “Hit another bull’s eye. I already answered two questions.”

  I clicked my tongue in annoyance… she liked to talk, but not enough to get carried away in my pace. Regardless, I changed my mood to focus on the training and then soon broke my record and hit the bull’s eye three times.

  “If you pay enough, you can learn skills from other guilds, but you need to build some level of trust with the people and the leaders of the guilds. That is why that stupid moron said that. Also, you have to pay two times more than if you were a real member of the guild. At the same time, you can see in your status that you can choose four primary classes, right? You can obtain the classes of those guilds and learn them with more ease, but you can’t join them per se.”

  “How does that system work?”

  “Hah?”

  “How does that system work, master?”

  “Go grab your arrows and I will explain it as you do it. Remember…”

  “Every second wasted is an arrow not shot that could save your life. You need to engrave that to your small brain if you want to have any chance of surviving in this world. Do you understand?”

  “The real important part is just the first sentence. Are you picking a fight with me?”

  “I am sorry, master.”

  I actually was just trying to relieve some of the stress that she caused thanks to her odd behavior. Still, naturally, she wasn’t stupid enough to fall for that.

  In any case, she explained that primary classes could reach up to level twenty-five and the higher the level of those classes, the higher would be my own. I asked for more details, but she told me to level up after hunting some monsters and then I would understand things better. What she could say was that once a primary class reached level 25, I could obtain a new one by using the crystal. The same process would repeat until I had four of them.

  “Once you obtain four of those, you will be able to obtain secondary classes. Choose them well because your basic classes will determine your future. Your actions will also determine them, since the options that the crystal will offer might change.”

  “Why can the crystal do that kind of thing?”

  “Because it does. Do you want to ask why it rains and snows as well?”

  That was another type of question, but it looked like from her perspective, it was essentially the same thing. It seemed that not even people of the land knew that much about the crystal. It just existed like everything in nature. Still, at least Matilda told me that people like me would come once every month… but throughout the day, no one showed up aside from me to join the hunter’s guild. It was a good thing that Matilda could focus on making me stronger, but I felt that this could bring trouble in the future. I just didn’t know how yet.