Nero, The Legendary Hunter

"Stop looking at me like that," Choko said, red.

"Like what?" Nero smiled.

"Geeh, like, with your eyes shining like you're looking at the person who…" She didn't finish what she was going to say.

But Nero added, "Who I love? Yes, I love you." Nero smiled.

"..."

"I love you too..." Choko's voice was as low as a mosquito's voice.

Embarrassed, she lowers her head and continues to chew her bread.

"Are we going to the dungeon again?" Nero asked.

"I think Jana, Jair, and Breno are arriving today. We should wait for them," Choko said.

"Oh, they were quick. By the way, how do you know?" Nero asked.

"I forgot to tell you yesterday, but I received a carrier pigeon and the note said 'we're arriving, signed: Jana,'" Choko said.

"Only that?" Nero asked.

"Yes, she likes to be dramatic sometimes. Anyway, I'm glad they're coming." Choko smiled.

"Same. They will be surprised to see what level you are currently at," Nero laughed.

"Truth." Choko laughed along with her.

Leaving the inn, Nero and Choko wore their armor, since one never knows.

When they arrived in front of the city gate, Jana, Jair, and Breno still hadn't shown up.

"Let's buy a drink and wait," Nero said.

"Yeah." Choko nodded.

There were some stalls selling food, and the two girls each bought a cup of sugarcane juice for two coins apiece. With ice and lemon, it was delicious in this hot weather.

"If I say it's a thousand [Essence Coin] a day, it's a thousand [Essence Coin] a day. But if this pretty girl wants to accompany me for a day, I can make a discount and let it go for 100 [Essence Coin] a day." A man holding a spear hit the ground with his weapon, brandishing a wicked smile.

"Son of a bitch, I'll kill you if you go too far!" It was a boy's youthful voice.

"Isn't that Jair's voice?" Nero had very good hearing, and she listened attentively now, as did Choko. Going to the city gate, they saw Jana, Jair, and Breno being stopped by the guards.

"Idiots, what do you think you're going to do to my friends?" Nero stored the rest of her sugarcane juice as she spoke.

"Who is it?" The two guards turned and shuddered, mainly the man holding the spear.

"Hey, can you answer me? Are you trying to screw with us again, and this time wanting to extort my friends? Huh? Tell me, I swear I won't hit you." Nero smiled with a flowery expression. As beautiful as she was, at that moment, they saw instead the image of a demon, and it made the men back off.

It wasn't just because of what happened the first time she was in town, but because in the dungeon mural, those who manage to clear the third floor of the dungeon had their name automatically written there. And Nero's and Choko's names were there. There guards might not have known that these girls were the same ones listed there, except from the armor of Choko and Nero, they knew they were the real deal.

"I, I, I was kidding... Hahaha... Of course, it's only 50 [Essence Coin] a day, the other 50 we'll pay ourselves, won't we?" The spear guard looked at the other guard, who nodded quickly.

Jana, Jair, and Breno were amazed. And something that didn't go unnoticed from Choko's eyes was that initially, Jana and Breno were holding hands. 'Is something finally going on between these two?' Choko guessed.

"What's going on, degozaru?" Jingu appeared.

"Nero, you're in trouble? Well in this little town there shouldn't be someone who can cause Nero trouble, so is it the other side that's in trouble?" Honda laughed.

"It's the other two girls that are marked who cleaned the third floor of the dungeon…" The guards started whispering when they saw all four of them together.

Nero's group was the sensation of the moment. It had been a while since any Hunters had last cleared the third floor. After all, although in the Nan Empire this is only one of the smaller cities, almost no strong Hunters were in this city. And the reason the guards recognized these other girls was that they'd been in trouble before and knew them, mainly Jingu, who had quarreled with that one local gang.

Jair, Jana, and Breno were very surprised. Not only did Nero and Choko have new armor, but they were surprised by the way the others feared them, especially Nero. Had the guard who held the spear been protecting his ass with his hand? Very strange...

Paying for the 16 days left before the Hunter School registration, the three entered.

"Jana!" Choko didn't hold back anymore and jumped into her arms. The two hugged and cried. Nero also hugged Jana, but not quite as dramatically as Choko.

"Well, since everyone's here, are we going to the dungeon?" Nero asked.

"Nero, do you only think about fighting? But I agree, let's go to the dungeon!" Honda laughed and said.

"They just arrived, they must be tired. Let's go to the inn first and give them a potion to regain strength before we go to the dungeon," Choko said.

"..."

Initially, Jana, Jair, and Breno thought that Choko was on their side, and was going to let them rest for a day, but what business was this about having a drink a potion to regain their vigor and head to the dungeon just after they had arrived in town? Who had turned Choko into this fighting maniac?

"By the way, I'm already at Rank E-. I'm level 9 now~" Choko puffed out her breasts and said proudly. Now, even Honda and Jingu were surprised.

"You're already at level 9 so fast, degozaru?" Jingu almost had a heart attack. She was happy to be able to reach level 7 and wanted to tell everyone the good news, and suddenly Choko dropped a bomb like that.

"How could it be so fast? Tell me, did you take some miracle potion?" Jana shook Choko over and over.

"Haha! I can't say, it's a secret," Choko laughed and said.

"You all, come to my room and Choko's. I'll tell you how she got it, but you guys have to keep it a secret," Nero said.

"You'll trust us that easily, Nero? I'm a trustworthy person, but how would you know if I'm really trustworthy, degozaru?" Jingu asked.

"Simple, if you talk, I'll hunt you down to the ends of the earth and kill you, hahaha." Nero let out a sinister chuckle. Jingu and Honda shivered.

"I'm kidding! Relax, it's not as serious as you guys think. It's something only I can do and no one can steal or replicate it. Anyway, you'll understand when you get to the inn," Nero said.

She had spent a few days with all of them, but she already has some degree of confidence. And what she was going to say was not really the truth, but a harmless lie. It was so she'd be able to help them. After all, she liked their personalities, and as they were also going to enroll in the Hunter School, it would be good if they were a little stronger to continue making groups with her.

Arriving at the inn, Nero took out a talisman she had bought before isolating the sound and said, "I am a girl who has been abandoned. Along with me was a Hunter Card."

She already spoke to the system yesterday, and it managed to replicate a Class A Hunter Card. It was very real, but it cost a few coins.

"This Hunter Card is Grade A. You know, you can't use someone else's Hunter Card, but my case is special. It seems my mother was a Grade A Hunter and gave me the rights to her Hunter Card. Because of that, I can use it. And here comes the big question, unlike the other Hunter Cards of lower ranks, the Monster Cores that I <Plunder> come with almost no impurity, so it makes it easier to get mana for us from Monster Cores."

Nero observed well, especially Honda and Jingu. If she felt a single ounce of greed, she would kill them; it didn't matter if they were already partners. She didn't want traitors on the team, and luckily, other than surprise and amazement, she didn't see greed in them, and she trusted her instincts. Since she was at level 12, it would be hard for a lower level to fool her.

"Wow! That's a good mother. She did everything for you she could and gave her greatest treasure. I bet she had a good reason to abandon you, *degozaru*." Jingu cried. "Uwaaa, waaaa..."

"Nero, I know this isn't enough, but I swear on my mom that I won't tell anyone this!" Honda said. Crying, Jingu also took the same oath, followed by Choko, Jair, Jana, and Breno.

Of course, they thought there was something wrong with this story, but they still decided to believe for now that it was true. And if Nero told them all this because she wanted to help them, even though she was hiding the true truth, they wouldn't ask.

"Oh yeah, I saved most of the monsters we hunted before, degozaru," Jingu said, "Can I give them to you now?"

"Yes, of course. I will <Plunder> them and return their spoils to you right away," Nero nodded. The same was done with Honda.

Jair, Breno, and Jana already knew they needed to keep the monsters intact, as warned in the letter; now they knew why. They also passed the monsters they had defeated while traveling here on to Nero.

After using <Plunder> for all of them, Nero saw them create pentagrams on the inn floor and begin to meditate. It looked like they were impatient to increase their strength. Mainly Jair and Breno were the most impatient, since it was their dream to be powerful Hunters.

Jana wanted to always follow Breno, so she knew she had to be strong, so she also didn't waste time and meditated diligently.

In the end, everyone was training.

Suddenly, Nero got to thinking, "Weren't we going to go to the dungeon!?"

Helplessly, she sat in a corner with Choko and waited for them.. There was nothing to be done, as they had all decided to strengthen themselves all together.