Bear School Astartes

”Is the old house still comfortable?”

Henrik adjusted the collar of the inner lining of his suit jacket within his trench coat as he spoke casually.

”Oh, don’t misunderstand, I’m just concerned it might not be well, which would prevent me from repaying your favor.”

”Anyway, I’m grateful.” Lann nodded at him and said, ”The house is fine, Mark just moved out, how bad could it be?”

After a brief conversation, Henrik turned around, his eyes between the mask and the triangular hat gazing at the increasingly dim and gloomy sunset.

He retrieved his Hunter’s Firearm from beneath his coat and loaded it with mercury bullets while speaking.

”How about you? Become a Hunter?”

The ’click’ of the gun loading naturally carried a cold, hard killing intent.

But neither Lann nor Henrik seemed to mind this sound.

”I am indeed a Hunter of Yan’an now.”

Saying that, Lann also pulled out the documents Maria had given him and flashed them briefly.

Henrik merely glanced at it, but Lann could feel that although his tone habitually remained cold, he had actually relaxed a lot.

”Then why go back at night? To sleep?” Henrik’s muffled voice, pressed by his mask, spoke softly, ”Nighttime is when hunters should work.”

”Unluckily,” the Demon Hunter waved his hand and said, ”I am currently working in the research hall that studies the plague of gray blood.”

Henrik nodded up and down with his dark triangular hat: ”You’re really unlucky... unlucky... unable to let blood spill upon you. Unable to feel the flow of blood from beasts.”

Yet his voice, muffled by the mask, now carried a thick scent of blood.

Lann looked down at him.

No matter Henrik’s character, he was ultimately a Hunter of Yan’an.

And as long as one was a Hunter of Yan’an, none could resist the allure of blood.

At least, the young Henrik couldn’t.

”Becoming a Hunter of Yan’an ensures opportunities will come,” Lann said calmly.

Then, the Demon Hunter seamlessly slid into the topic he had prepared.

”Isn’t the church preparing for a grand hunt soon? Surely they wouldn’t keep hunters back in places like the research hall then?”

Upon hearing this, Henrik lifted his eyes, seemingly surprised at the Demon Hunter, as if he hadn’t expected him to know this news so quickly after becoming a hunter.

But after a brief thought, Henrik shook his head.

”You are mistaken.”

As the sky grew darker, the young hunter retrieved a saw cleaver wrapped with blood-stained bandages for grip from his back waist, twisting his wrist as he held it.

A dull laughter emanated from beneath his mask.

”This isn’t an ordinary hunt, outsider.”

Henrik used the Yan Nan People’s colloquial expression teasingly.

”Only the seasoned hunters, those who have slaughtered beasts for at least ten years, are eligible to join the hunt. Leading them is the church’s esteemed First Hunter, Ludwig!”

Speaking of the church’s First Hunter, even though Henrik’s face was covered by a mask, the rare local hunter of Yan’an exuded a sense of pride that Lann could feel.

”The old hunters are leaving, but can Yan’an spend any night without hunters? The history of beast plague is intertwined with this city.”

”So new recruits must stay, responsible for typical hunting.”

Henrik pointed his Hunter’s Firearm at himself and then used the barrel to nudge Lann’s arm.

”That’s us.”

”That’s a shame. I wanted to see what kind of beast it is that prompts the church to muster such effort and gather so many people to hunt,” Lann said calmly, but his pauses and tonal control were perfectly orchestrated.

It made others inclined to respond.

Even though Henrik’s eyes were just slits, Mentos could analyze plenty of referable emotional data just from the subtle muscle movements around his eyes.

Indeed, Henrik, under rhetorical skill and strong emotional manipulation, was placed at a disadvantage.

”Yes, I’d love to see the blood from that beast... Sss~ even just sniff it?”

Like an addict, Henrik sniffed, speaking in a muffled voice.

This action made Lann wrinkle his eyebrows instinctively, yet he didn’t interrupt Henrik.

Soon after, Henrik added, ”Just wait and see three days later if those old hunters bring back souvenirs stained with the beast’s scent of blood.”

The crucial information was instantly captured by Lann’s ears, then archived by Mentos.

Three days later, they’ll bring back trophies... indicating the grand hunt occurs within the next two days?

Once aware of the precise timing, Lann immediately realized the urgency of his current timeframe.

The prior meeting with Simon, had informed him of this nightmare, and the nightmare deeply hidden within Yan’an, the most dangerous one.

But Simon hadn’t disclosed the exact moments when chaos would erupt.

This isn’t him being a riddler unwilling to talk; it’s that he himself doesn’t know.

He only knows that the Dream Realm should conclude with the iconic event of the night hunt that burned Old Yan’an, but he can’t be certain when this event will occur.

He’s died in this nightmare so many times that he’s forgotten what iteration it is.

This implies that something within this nightmare is constantly changing.

Simply relying on mechanical ’backboard’ won’t suffice to remember everything.

Therefore, he came to find Henrik, hoping to obtain an accurate time in a way that draws the least attention.

With the big hunt causing the Old Hunters to swarm out within two days, the night hunt surely won’t be far off!

After clarifying the timeline, Lann’s eyes narrowed slightly.

”Eh? Leaving so soon?” Henrik looked surprised at the Demon Hunter who quickly walked away after a few words.

But Lann raised his hand without turning back and waved: ”Sorry, I suddenly remembered I have something to do, need to leave first.”

Henrik muttered a couple of sentences but had already grabbed the Hunter’s Firearm and the Meat Saw in his hands.

At this time, in the crevices of the towering Gothic spire buildings of Yan’an, the last rays of sunset cast into sharp lines were already gone.

Darkness once again enveloped Yan’an, as it did on many nights.

The rugged, complex streets had few windows lit, but all the windows were fitted with iron bars and chains locking them.

The Yan Nan People have always lived this way.

At night, only those filthy beasts and ruthless Hunters walk outside.

But tonight, there is one who considers themselves to be neither, moving swiftly.

With a ”whoosh,” Lann’s cape swirled in the wind over his armor.

And the clashing sound of his boots against the stone pavement was firm and resonant.

The hem of the dragon skin skirt sometimes brushed against the tombstones piled alongside the street.

Yan’an’s night was quiet and uninhabited, suitable for covert actions.

Upon identifying the current time boundary, Mentos immediately rearranged the schedule according to Lann’s wishes and the roughly sorted thread.

Meanwhile, the biological intellect guided Lann’s advance through the complex, gloomy city.

And Lann’s destination was clear.

——The alley where he met Simon.

The alley where everyone had died from Gray Blood Disease.

The purpose of going there was unrelated to Simon, but because it’s the latest Gray Blood Disease death area Lann personally saw.

Patients of Gray Blood Disease, unable to be treated in time in the research hall, die outside... will they differ from those undergoing so-called ’treatment’ within the research hall?

On a fast march, the Demon Hunter soon arrived at the entrance of the alley.

”Bang!”

A beastly disease patient with rough, resilient black hair tearing through his clothes flashed past the alley’s entrance.

It was kicked away.

Its body lifted off the ground, directly crashing into another wall outside the alley with a dull thud and a scream.

”Uwaa!”

The mutated voice box produced a voice that was murky and hoarse, repulsive to hear.

Given the beastly patient’s thin yet greatly enhanced resilient body, a huge footprint-shaped depression was visible on its side waist.

That was Smaug’s boot print.

The uncontrollable, wandering beastly disease patient was directly kicked into the wall by Lann.

But before it could rebound off the wall and fall, a glove shimmering bone white in the moonlight, with a sharp metallic sound of friction, pinched the saw blade in its hand.

With a casual lift, the bladed saw was set upon the beastly patient’s neck covered in black hair.

Then with a ripping sound, amidst the noise of tearing flesh and blood splattering, the beastly patient cut off its own head with the saw in its hands.

Everything happened quickly; the beastly patient’s scream abruptly stopped, with only a second’s difference between the detached head and the body hitting the ground.

As for Lann, he casually retracted his hand, not even staining his dragon scale armored gloves with the beast’s foul blood.

Once, when he first came to Yan’an, he had to rely on close-quarters martial skills to engage these beastly disease patients whose illness had advanced to be covered in black fur.

But now, they were merely enemies he could easily crush just passing by.

The beastly patient’s foul blood left splatter marks on the wall, yet Lann had no interest in looking.

His face turned a bit pale, while the veins exposed from his armor collar were slightly black.

This is the Demon Hunter’s body’s reaction to the toxicity after consuming Magic Potion.

[High Cat Eyes], allowing Lann to see more clearly under already excellent moonlight conditions, even sensitively.

Boots clashed in firm footsteps, as he calmly walked into the dark alley.