Unable to repay my student loans, I had no choice but to work part-time as a demon hunter.

Chapter 90 Showing Off One's Skills

"Business is discussed on the first floor, but the good stuff is on the second floor." Gray walked upstairs.

The second floor is Gray's Wonderful Hut.

The door slid open, and Gordon stopped in his tracks.

Bird specimens were everywhere: large models on the floor, paintings on the walls, telescopes by the windows, and bookshelves filled with books like "Illustrated Guide to Corvidae," "The Most Beautiful Bird in the World," and "The Habits of Crows."

On the table is a pen made of white raven feathers, and above the fireplace is a porcelain raven.

"You like birds that much?" Gordon walked to the binoculars and put his eyes close to them.

The telescope was pointed at a cemetery a street away, where several crows were circling. With the telescope's magnification, every feather could be seen clearly.

"Is that strange?" Gray said dismissively.

It was three o'clock in the afternoon, and even the clock on the wall seemed to have a mechanical crow appearing, cawing loudly.

"I suspect this is due to your source material contamination."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible." Gray waved his hand dismissively. "It's perfectly normal for a man to like his bird."

"————" Gordon didn't want to delve into this sentence.

"Let's get down to business. I need you to identify these source materials and help me refine them." Gray took out a set of sealed boxes.

Gordon was very familiar with the first one; it was the source material that condensed after Kroger's death.

[A distorted miniature source material—"Death Strike." It returns damage to the perpetrator upon death. Each death brings a new killing intent.]

The law of death and birth is very strange.

Hunters absorb a large amount of source matter throughout their lives, but only one granule will ever condense after they die, and the quality is usually not very high, resulting in a relatively low total amount of source matter in the world.

"You've already determined that it's a good match for me," Gray said.

"That's right, it's a symbol of revenge, so that every crow you summon won't die in vain."

17

Gray opened the second box, which contained his hunting spoils.

[A pulsating miniature source substance—"Pecks at the Claws of the Defeated." It can plunder the power of the dead and also instill an instinctive love for crows in humans. The defeated will become food for the victors.]

Gordon glanced at the source material, then at the room full of crow souvenirs.

"Where did it come from?"

Gordon wasn't sure if, after incorporating this source material, Gray's fondness for crows would cross a dangerous line.

"Enfieldshire. There is a giant crow-man monster."

"Don't you think it's especially cute?"

"A little bit."

"Would you like to keep its feathers?"

"I brought back a few." Gray turned around. On other people's tables were flower arrangements, but on his table was a small vase filled with huge raven feathers.

"Do you often stop along the road to observe ordinary crows and feed them when you see them?"

"This is important. Crows are creatures that remember kindness. If you take care of them once, they will repay you for a lifetime. Gordon, you must feed the crows you see."

"————" Gordon stared at Gray for a moment, then slowly said, "This source material exudes a powerful image of plundering corpses, which may help you obtain energy from your enemies."

"That sounds perfect for me."

"But it will increase your focus on crows. If you start naming every crow you encounter, you'd better let me know immediately."

"I'm getting up now." Gray led Gordon to the window and pointed to the birds on the black roof of the agency lobby across the street. "Albion, Nicola, and little Molly."

"These are three identical birds."

"Impossible! Gordon, are your eyesight really that bad? Look closely. Albion's wings have longer flight feathers, Nikola's center of gravity is on his right side when he's standing, and little Molly is adorable."

Gordon shook his head.

As he turned around, Gray opened the third box, inside which was a tiny, pulsating heart, like an organ removed from a dead body.

[A small, lifeless source substance—"Heart of Mutual Destruction." It brings swift death upon consumption. Mutual destruction is the highest reward.]

Gordon's face darkened, and he pushed the box away a little.

"Where did this come from?"

"Also in Enfieldshire, it was extracted from an old hunter. As he died, he clung to the Arakkoa, allowing me to kill it." Gray looked at it. "—He must have been a brave man. And, of course, another one—who died after working with me."

"Don't tell me you plan to refine it."

"This is the preliminary report." Gray took out a page.

The cover bears the prism emblem of Hastings Authentication, and they dedicate forty-seven pages to demonstrating that this source material matches the abilities of hunter Arthur Grey. It contains a lot of experimental data and character analysis that Gordon finds meaningless.

"————This source material possesses a powerful deathly stillness aspect————It can make the refiner resist death and continue to move even when seriously injured————" Gordon turned to the conclusion page.

"Right? This looks very professional," Gray explained. "I've seen that guy die; he was incredibly brave. After a while, the forensic expert concluded that it could enhance mobility in a near-death state."

"They're wrong." Gordon closed the report.

"Hmm?" Gray's eyes sharpened.

"If you refine this source essence, it won't make you resist death; it will only make you die first."

The room fell silent instantly.

Gray looked at Gordon, clearly incredulous.

"Instant death source matter? Such a terrible thing—"

"Clearly, the old hunter's dying thought was to die with his enemy. His will coalesced into a wish, transformed into primal matter, and death gave birth to it. This is suitable as the most terrifying poison in the world, but not for you, Gray."

Gray frowned.

"—So if I had drunk it according to the report, I would be a corpse now?"

"Dying in your own office is obviously not honorable. Who will inherit your estate?"

No. I live alone.

"Could you write my name? We've been through thick and thin together."

"If I were to leave my inheritance to you, I would live life to the fullest for the next hundred years."

Next, Gray turned his attention back to the reports, the meticulously prepared reports from the appraisal firm, which Gordon had dismissed as entirely wrong after only a few glances. That was far too arrogant.

but----

Gordon didn't seem to be talking nonsense.

Gray looked at the first two source materials, then at the Death and Birth source material, and couldn't help but feel a wave of fear.

"I'll trust you this once. I'll refine these two into a venom, and then turn the last one into venom. Hopefully, it will bring instant death through contamination—" Gray ultimately chose to believe Gordon.

Gordon was very satisfied.

"There must be an alchemy room in the firm where I can really showcase my skills, right?"

"No, not at all." Gray led Gordon downstairs. "I'm going to show you the world."

"I've already been to Mount Junwang."

"Mount Junwang—that's a good place. But I'm going to suggest an even better place. In the countryside, somewhere more suitable for hunters."

"Oh?"

Gordon and Gray went downstairs, mounted their horses, and rode out.

The white-clad hunter and the scarred, black-haired investigator mounted their horses side by side, one silver and one black steed galloping across Wycliff Street, while white crows took flight one after another from the rooftops on either side.

"Stay close to me." Gray squeezed his legs together and leaped forward in triumph.

"No problem. But where to?" Gordon rode his rage alongside him, the black horse's hooves pounding the ground powerfully.

"Have you ever wondered where hunters are trained?"

Gordon thought about what Vera had said.

"Hunter School"

"Yes, a place that shaped me, and also shaped all hunters in the empire. The Hunter School of the Logris Empire is 40 miles from here. Is there a problem?"

"No problem." Gordon nodded.

With horses, the radius of life expanded considerably.

"The Hunter School also has excellent source material refining facilities, and obviously, it also has teachers and security personnel. So, graduating hunters will refine their source material, break through their abilities, and receive additional training there."

"It's well worth a visit."

"It's not just about visiting for you," Gray said, turning to look at him. "It can also make you as amazing as Uncle Gray."

"How so? It's said they teach the way to become a god."

"The method to become a god is just a distant dream, but the training manual there is the real deal and can save you from taking detours."

Gao Deng seemed to be deep in thought.

Vera's descriptions are largely based on personal experience, but the Hunter School possesses a systematic set of answers. Perhaps the Hunter School can offer Martin, the investigator, a glimpse into the mysterious "worlds above the third tier."

"How so? Can you let me get that training manual?"

"Of course. Without me, you wouldn't even get in the door. Your Uncle Gray is an outstanding graduate; my name is on the wall of honor. If your alchemy skills are genuine, I'll give you my library card."