Nico laid in bed on his stomach after feeding the manaplants, he was mentally tired from school. Was there a psychological reasoning for why he could run non-stop for days, but 6 days of school could easily knock him out? Nico looked to his right, Ashe was still reading.

What sort of kid still read on their day off? Nico rotated his head back to face his pillow.

Snowy and Junior jumped on top of his back as though he was a bouncy house.

Oh right, I need to walk them. I haven't explored outside of Launtel City yet.

Nico sprang up, it's hunting time!

Nico geared up in his hunting vest. The blue robe had a protective barrier, but Nico hated the blue robe. He felt like he was wearing a dress and it was too impractical for quick movement. Nico's force barrier should be enough to protect him from thorns and twigs.

Nico wore tight pants and vest he had designed with a local tailor. It wasn't too modern that it would stand out, but just enough to accommodate the little throwing knives and talismans.

Nico headed toward the door with Snowy and Junior following from behind. They wagged their tails in antic.i.p.ation of their first "walk" outside the city. They enjoyed walking in Lindan Peak with Nico the most.

"Where are you going?" Ashe asked curiously.

"Hunting!"

"Ooh, can I come along?" Jack jumped into his trouser and s.h.i.+rt, and waited right before Nico.

"Nah--"

Jack dragged Nico to the Contribution hall without hearing a response.

They looked through some of the available missions.

Missions:

Collect a Ugali Herb, Rewards: 250 AP. Possible location: Arango Forest.

Collect 1 Manabeast carca.s.s. Rewards: 1000 AP-5000 AP. Possible location: Arango Forest.

...

Exchange APs:

Strength Pills: 10,000 AP

Level 1 Cultivation Techniques: 5,000 AP.

....

Kaibera Plant: 5,000 AP

Nico recognized the manaplant needed for the Plus-One Pill.

"Do we have to register?" asked Nico.

The registration clerk shook his head. "You don't have to. You can check any open missions and hand them in if you come across anything. But you do need to register a mission if you plan to loan out weapons."

Nico and Jack continued scanning through the missions.

"Did you hear the rumor?" the students chattered amongst themselves.

"There is supposedly a manabeast terror in Arango Forest."

"No way, why would a terror end up in Arango? Is the academy going to send out the Hunter Team to take care of it?"

"The mission isn't listed yet since it's only a rumor. But they might have a mission out in a few days."

"I heard it's restricted to green robes and above."

Jack looked to Nico. "Should we still go?"

"Yeah, it's only a rumor so far, and it's in the morning, so I doubt there will be any danger." Nico selected a mission to bring back a manabeast carca.s.s.

Nico took a spear and Jack took the bow and arrow.

Once the had gathered enough information, they headed out to Arango Forest.

Arango Forest was a popular hunting spot for many hunters. There was a good mixture of manabeasts that were known to hunt alone.

One of the worst situations a hunter could encounter was a pack of manabeasts.

Nico was not familiar with hunting manabeasts in a party. He had been in one hunting party, but it was for a regular wild hog.

They rented a horse with a simple carriage from the Ranch club.

"Jack, you're heading out?" asked Oakland, a senior in the Ranch club.

"Yep!"

"You both sure are b.a.l.l.sy," Oakland surveyed Nico. "And you're Nico?"

"Yep." Nico wondered if Jack mentioned him to Oakland, the boy can talk a lot.

Oakland charged them a discounted price of 20 silver pieces for the horse.

Jack straddled the horse and Nico climbed into the cart.

"Hey, can you teach me horseback riding?" Nico asked.

Jack gave Nico a thumbs up. "If you teach me some basic combat!"

"Not a problem!"

Jack and Nico rode out of the city. Jack unmounted and gave Nico the reins. Jack taught him different ways to hold the reins along with some basic tips.

"Horseback riding isn't that difficult," Jack began to explain. "There are a few basic tips for beginner. Balance is the key, but most importantly, understanding the nature of the horse. Some horses are slow, but they are st.u.r.dy. The more you aggravate them, the slower they become. Some horses require encouragement, like carrots and horse feed."

"Why is that important for horseback riding?"

"Because horses are living beings with their own thoughts. They can be unpredictable, and even some experience riders are thrown back unexpectedly because they become negligent of the horses' needs."

"Ah, I see."

Jack noticed a flat stretch of road. "Okay, try getting on its back."

Nico was 155cm, but the back of the horse towered him by 40cm.

He stepped on the stirrup and pulled himself onto the horse's back. The horse faltered back once to stabilize its new weight. Nico body toppled side to side.

"Whoa there," Jack calmed the horse with the reins. "Keep yourself balanced. Your center of gravity is different when you're on top of a horse."

Nico re-centered his body, it wasn't difficult, but it felt different.

Jack handed Nico the reins.

"Pull the reins gently to the right slightly for the horse to steer right and pull it gently to the left to steer left. Don't tug or yank on the reins. You want to cue the horse to move, not command it. When you ride a horse, they are your partner.

Gently tap the horse with your legs and seat to cue it to move forward. We're going to walk the horse slowly until you're use to it, and then we will increase the pace."

Jack explained the basic mount parts and the different cues.

Once they arrived to Arango Forest, Jack took the reins and led it inside. There was one advantage of renting horses from the Academy, the manahorses were capable of defending itself and running away in times of danger.

Jack straddled the horse and surveyed the area while Nico questioned Jack about his combat experiences.

"Do you hunt often in your village?" Asked Nico.

"Sometimes, but mostly smaller games like manarabbits and manachickens."

There weren't any manachickens in Lindan Peak. Nico heard there might be some, but they were mainly in the southern forests.

"And you hunt mostly on horseback and with the bow?"

"Yep."

"So you don't have a lot of close combat experience?"

"A few, but usually with my dad and uncles in close watch."

Nico nodded. "What are you learning from Professor Muin?"

"Whirlwind Striking Cultivation Method, it puts emphasis on speed and accuracy."

"But you're worried about strength?"

Jack nodded.

"Throwing knives might be good to learn, but you are already proficient in bow and arrow, so it may not be important. Daggers?"

"I'm used to fighting with a Bowie knife."

"Okay, I can teach you basic military knife style!"

Once they entered deeper into the forest, Nico asked Jack to stop. He recognized the Topen, one of the manaplant from Instructor Irene's presentation.

"What is that?" Jack whispered to Nico.

The one meter tall plant with a boxy flower bud. It had not bloomed yet.

"A Topen."

Topen was an origin manaplant, having long history dating back centuries ago. The plant didn't have a normal variety, and therefore considered an origin manaplant.

Nico clipped part of the stem and leaves and dripped the cut into a diluted lifeless water solution before wrapping it in a cotton cloth. He didn't want to uproot it for several reasons. Letting a plant grow in its natural environment was usually the best option. If he uprooted a plant, there was a possibility that it might die during transport. It was easier to find the manaplant in the future if the clipping failed, and much more difficult to find the same manaplant again elsewhere in the forest.

He had already lost one manaplant because of this. He had little choice but to dry and store it without harvesting the seeds.

They carried on further, remembering to leave markers on the tree.

Junior tapped his paw on Nico's cheek and pointed south.

Nico nodded and followed Junior's paw, there was a manabeast up ahead.