"My head is huuurting. This pain is worse than the last. I don't think I can resist it any longer. My body will break down soon if I don't do something about this curse."
(Note: These lines, like previous ones at the start of some chapters, are not spoken by Mohin.)
Present Time
"It's a good thing Zak didn't explain the rest of the information to you," Zain said, teasingly.
"Wait. There's more?" Mohin said, surprised.
"Of course, there's more. Zak didn't explain the types of monsters or how their Magic Cores form," Zain replied.
"What is this 'Core'?" Mohin asked.
Zak spoke up, "You don't even know about the Core? The Core is like a crystal that forms inside a monster. This crystal is saturated with magical energy because a monster can't distribute its magical energy evenly throughout its body. This causes the energy to concentrate in one spot within the monster's body, forming the crystal. Since it's filled with magical energy, the monster draws power from it."
Mohin inquired, "So why is it called the 'Core'?"
"Because it's the focal point of the monster's energy. If it's destroyed, the monster will die as well, due to the magical energy's connection to the monster's heart. There are some monsters that don't die just by beheading them because the Magic Core uses its remaining energy to move the body instinctively until the energy is depleted."
Mohin exclaimed, "Wow. That's a lot of information for a country boy like me. Is there anything else I need to know before I become a hunter?"
Zain replied, "Of course, there's one last thing."
"Darn it."
"What? You're the one who asked."
"Sorry. Please continue."
"There are three types of hunters. Hunter Hands, the ones you know, considered heroes by the people. Hunter Tears, who are, as you might say, 'evil' hunters. They are hired for assassinations, smuggling, and so on. And the third type: Hunters of the Unknown. They are good people but don't abide by the law. They perform charitable acts outside the law. One of the laws they break is concealing their faces and operating as hunters without a license. They hide their identities, and no one knows what they look like. There are only three hunters of this type. Because anyone who tries to be like them gets caught by the government. Except for these three, due to their overwhelming power; even the government has begged Hunter Sain to help eliminate them. And what do you think happened?"
"They haven't found Sain to this day?" Mohin guessed.
"Correct, and not for lack of trying. They found him at first, but he refused. They tried to tempt him with high positions and a comfortable, risk-free life, and he refused them too. But the government still wants his help, and when they tried to persuade him again, they couldn't find him to this day. Believe it or not, I thought something had happened to Sain, but after you mentioned seeing him, that means he's still carrying out his mission."
"What mission?"
"I don't know."
Mohin asked, "You mentioned the Hunters of the Unknown earlier. What about them?"
"Oh. There are only three Hunters of the Unknown on this continent. As for the continents of Vona and Sonia, I don't know if they have hunters of this type. All we know about these three hunters are their codenames. The first hunter is Ghost of Terez, who exists in the Kingdom of Terez, so he's not our concern. The other two are from our kingdom. They are The Knight Steel and Shadow of Monu. Shadow of Monu is a hunter whose power was officially rated by the government as S-Rank. As for The Knight Steel, his rank hasn't been determined yet."
Mohin spoke excitedly, "Right, you reminded me. How are hunter ranks determined?"
"Rank is determined by the test you're going to take. The ranks are as follows: F > E > D > C > B > A > S > SS. Your rank determines the difficulty of missions you can accept. To clarify, if your rank is B, you are not allowed to take a mission of the same rank unless you have a team. And there must be at least three team members with a B-Rank. If there is only one person with a B-Rank and the rest of the team are C-Rank or lower, they are only allowed to take C-Rank missions. If you are a solo hunter, the only missions you are allowed to take must be two ranks below yours. Meaning a B-Rank can only take D-Rank missions. Of course, missions vary; there are government missions, usually concerning Gates. And there are missions from nobles, commoners, and even villagers. Their missions are mostly investigations or protection from bandits. As for Dungeons, it's a bit different. The government stations a hunter, one rank higher than the Dungeon's rating, at the entrance. He is responsible for who enters and doesn't care about what happens inside. The entry conditions for a Dungeon are the same as the mission conditions I mentioned earlier."
Mohin said, "The world of hunters is bigger than I expected. And what's your rank, Zain?"
Zain paused for a moment, glanced at his friends, then turned his gaze back to Mohin and said with a smile, "I am B-Rank."
"Awesome! What about the other members?" The entire team burst into hysterical laughter, except for Zain, who kept smiling, trying not to laugh. Then Zain introduced his team to Mohin. "Zak is C-Rank; he's our attack mage. The big guy in front of you is called Morten; he's our main defender, also C-Rank. The woman next to him is Benny; she's a mage too, but specialized in healing and enhancement, also C-Rank. And the last person is Brom; he's D-Rank, and he's our Seeker."
"How amazing! You're a fully functional team. I'm even more excited to become a hunter now!"
"Just so you know, Mohin, the hunter profession is very dangerous, not just because of monsters, but also because of humans. At some point, you will see humans worse than monsters. So be cautious."
"I will."