Chapter 13 13 - Speed-Hack

Chapter 13 13 - Speed-Hack

Crack!

Leo was shocked as he looked at the bow in his hand. The bow he'd bought a few days ago had snapped in half right after he shot a rat. Fortunately this didn't interfere with the arrow's trajectory, killing the cat-sized rodent very easily.

'I think unconsciously I started to use more force with each arrow I shot, and this bow couldn't take the force…' Leo was frustrated. This bow was too expensive for him to break in such a short time. 'I'll need to buy a better bow. At least now I have enough money for that.'

Leo looked with a smile at his backpack which was full of Mutant Rats' paws and ears. In the last two hours of hunting before the bow broke, Leo had hunted 43 more rats, giving him a total of 2,150 Exp just from the rats alone, bringing his Exp total to 2,208 since he leveled up his Aim-Bot.

His hunting speed in the first hour was much higher, but over time, with the hunting in high intensity, Leo's body was getting tired and his hunting speed was also decreasing. But considering that in those 3 hours he killed 70 rats, Leo was overjoyed.

Taking into account each set of materials from the rats cost $500, just in those three hours of hunting Leo had gotten $35,000, which added to the $12,000 he already had in his bank account, brought Leo's account up to $47,000!

'With so much money I will finally be able to buy better equipment, and with the experience I have, I will be able to improve my skills as well,' Leo thought excitedly as he used a knife to take the valuable and lightweight parts of the last rat and walked back to the city gate.

Leo didn't even bother to get the broken bow repaired, even though it had cost him $2,000 to purchase. Because it had the wood broken in the middle, it wouldn't be worth it for him to try to fix it, and especially now that he had enough strength to kill Bronze 2 Star monsters very easily, Leo would only need to kill 4 more rats to get the money back that he had spent on that bow.

Upon arriving at the city gate, Leo was a little surprised. Instead of just having the usual two guards guarding the gate, there was also a man with a powerful aura of a Silver Awakened next to the soldiers.

As it was already getting dark, Leo politely said goodnight as he intended to get past the three people and go to the sales station to convert the materials he gathered into cash. But before Leo passed them, one of the soldiers spoke to the superior beside them.

"Corporal Joseph, this is the talented boy we mentioned to you," Private Greg said to the superior beside him.

The man with the Silver ranked aura looked at Leo again and was surprised. With his aura he could feel how many materials were in that backpack that the young man carried on his back, and he could feel the residue of power from those monster remains, and to Joseph's surprise, the backpack was full of Bronze 2 Star monster corpse parts!

Corporal Joseph quickly raised his hand and called out to Leo. "Young man, can you wait a minute?"

Leo was confused by this, but since the man was a Silver Awakened, Leo could at least hear what the man had to say. "Yeah?"

"Have you ever enlisted in the army?" Joseph asked Leo a little doubtfully. He could see that this young man's face, although very handsome, also had a hint of youth, like someone who hadn't even turned 18 yet, but from the strength that this young man demonstrated in killing as many monsters as he was carrying, this was something no high school student could do.

Leo soon understood this man's doubt and responded with a polite smile, "I'm sorry Sir, but I'm actually still only 17 years old. I haven't even graduated from high school yet."

Joseph was shocked to hear Leo say that. Even factoring in luck, seeing someone so young hunt so many monsters of the same Rank all by himself was unbelievable!

Joseph soon broke into a smile and replied, "What a talented young man! At your age I was still scared to go into the forest with a bunch of Awakened from among my friends, but you've already reached Bronze 2 Stars and are hunting 2 Star Bronze monsters all by yourself! Our Blue Sky city sure did give birth to a great genius!"

Leo was a little embarrassed to hear such a big compliment but he knew that Joseph was pretty much right about what he was saying. Maybe the young man Leo's age with the most strength might be Bronze 3 Stars, but no one anywhere near this young man could hunt 2 star monsters with the ease and speed that Leo had demonstrated. If it weren't for Leo avoiding using his Exp to rank up, Leo might already be a Bronze 4 Star Awakened, but he knew that speeding things up would only make his life harder in the future.

Joseph stopped laughing and looked at Leo with a friendly gaze. "Young man, may I know your name?"

Leo smiled politely again and replied, "No need to be so polite, sir. My name is Leonardo Lentz."

Joseph heard Leo mention his name and got a little thoughtful. "Lentz… Lentz… Oh, you're her little brother! Now it all makes sense!" Joseph finally recognized Leo's last name and understood why Leo was so strong at this age, as his sister also had a similar legend in Blue Sky City.

"Since you're her brother, that makes things a lot easier, Leonardo. The university entrance exams will take place in a few weeks, so prepare well for them. I'll tell my superiors about your results; your future prospects are sure to please everyone."

Leo remembered that the entrance exams were close, and while people who didn't become Awakened took written entrance exams to get into some medicine, law, engineering or other such degree like that, students from the Elite classes from the best schools in the country competed to get a spot among the best Universities for Awakened.

There were four main Universities for Awakened, but the University with the most competition and the best staff for teaching and developing Awakened was certainly the Military University. This was also Leo's goal for the future: he intended to get a place on a scholarship to the Military University, something that only the highest scoring students in the country could get.

"Don't worry sir, I'll do my best to fulfill your expectations," Leo said in a slightly formal tone, a bit like the way soldiers used to talk to their superiors.

Leo didn't show respect for people who were not respectful to him, but he understood between the lines what Joseph had said. He would say good things about Leo to his superiors so that they would also see Leo with good eyes and increase his chance to get a scholarship to the Military University. Leo knew that with the System he didn't need something like that, but still, he wouldn't treat someone poorly who was helping him with a smile.

Joseph was clearly pleased with Leo's attitude. This young man was neither shy nor arrogant, just a perfect blend of the two, treating him, a Silver Awakened, with respect, but not acting in a submissive manner. This kind of person would do well in any social circle, and for the army, people like that would be the best addition they could get.

"Very well, Leonardo. Go your way. Thank you for your time." Joseph dismissed Leo and took out his cell phone to set up some meetings.

Leo also said goodbye and went to the trading post to sell all the stuff he was carrying in his backpack. Once again, Greg and his fellow guard were shocked to see this young man converse with a Silver Awakened in such a natural way and still get such a huge favor from Corporal Joseph. They never had the opportunity to enter the Military University, only being able to participate in a second-rate University.

The top four universities in the country had a record that all enrolled students would graduate with a rank of at least 1 Star Silver, while at the Military University graduates were at least Silver 2 Stars! This meant that even the worst student was already leaving the Military University as Army Corporal Rank, and the above average students who became Silver 3 Star Awakened already became Army Sergeants!

For three guards who were just Bronze 5 Star Soldiers, this was an opportunity of a lifetime. Greg and his companion were only 35 years old, so they still had a chance of reaching Silver Rank if they were lucky, but for a young Military University graduate, they could reach 5 Star Silver Rank in the future, maybe even the legendary Gold 1 Star!ρaꪁⅆa ꪁꪫꪚⅇ​ꪶ​

'This boy is very lucky!' was the thought of the two soldiers as they watched Leo calmly walk towards the trading post.

Leo had no idea that he was the focus of envy and respect from the soldiers. Now he was just worried about selling his rat claws and ears and getting the money to buy a good bow. Upon arriving at the sales point, the same pretty clerk who had dealt with Leo the other times came again with a professional smile on her face.

"Good evening, sir. Did your group hunt more monsters today?" she asked curiously. This boy was bringing more and more materials every time he came over, and her commission was getting bigger and bigger every time this young man sold something through her.

Leo gave a polite smile and replied, "Yes, our hunt today was very fruitful. As the group is already more familiar, we managed to hunt more Bronze 2 Star monsters today."

The young attendant was surprised by this answer. Hunting Bronze 2 Stars monsters at Leo's age was already formidable. 'Probably his hunting party is full of veterans,' she thought.

Leo used the excuse that he was part of a hunting party so as not to arouse suspicion as to why he was getting so many monsters on his own the other times he came. Now the lie was becoming very useful, especially when Leo saw the young attendant's shocked expression as she counted a total of 70 sets of rat claws and ears, which totaled $35,000 in profit for Leo!

Following the Awakened group norm that averaged 7 to 10 people, this would give $3,500 to $5,000 for each member of the group. For a single day of hunting this was already a very high amount, but she had no idea that instead of $3,500 to $5,000 for each member of the group, it would actually be $35,000 just for Leo, as he was the only person in the group!

After receiving the money in his bank account, Leo went to the ranged weapons shop and started looking at the bows.

Bronze 1 Star bows were something Leo was no longer interested in, as he saw how low the durability of this type of bow was in the hands of a 2 Star Bronze Awakened like himself, so Leo was just looking at Bronze bows that were 2 Star or above.

Among these bows, the price ranged from Bronze 2 Stars bows costing $5,000 to $10,000, and Bronze 3 Stars bows costing $20,000 to $50,000.

'If I buy a Bronze 3 Stars bow, I could use the bow until I reach Bronze 4 Stars, which is a good investment.' Leo continued to think as he looked at the Bronze 3 Stars bow options, until he saw a bright blue bow made with wood from Mutant Trees from the ice forests. The arch was absolutely beautiful.

"Young customer, are you interested in this bow?" an old man asked Leo with a friendly smile.

"Yes, it's my main weapon," Leo replied as he continued admiring the blue bow, deciding to take the bow after trying it out.

"Very well. Few people have the gift of using bows. Would you like to try it?" the old man asked.

Leo nodded and the old man took the bow from the shelf and handed it to Leo.

Leo pulled the bowstring while aiming at invisible targets to test the strength of the string and other things and the bow surprised him. The string was much stronger than the Bronze 1 Star bow he had, to the point that Leo needed all his strength to pull the string as far as he could to shoot the arrow with the highest attack power. But it also meant that he could shoot arrows even further away with more force, as the bowstring could withstand so much pressure.

"I'll take this one!" Leo said excitedly after testing the bow.

ρꪖꪁⅆꪖ ꪁꪫꪚⅇ​ꪶ​ The old shop owner grinned and said to Leo, "This bow was my masterpiece below Silver Rank. Even using Bronze 3 Stars materials, this bow can hurt Silver 1 Star monsters if used with the arrows made for this bow."

Leo was shocked to hear this information. "How much does this bow cost?" Leo asked worriedly.

"Because of the force this bow can exert, and because I have such fondness for it, the price I've decided on is $80,000," the old man replied with a little regret. From Leo's expression, the old man already understood that the young man didn't have that much money.

Leo was visibly disappointed. He had never used a bow as good as this one before. "That's a shame. I only have $40,000 to buy a bow, and as my old bow broke I can't even hunt tomorrow to top up the money for the bow."

Hearing Leo's explanation, the old man was thoughtful, until he had an idea. "Young man, we can make a deal about this bow. I can give you the bow now, but you'll need to gather for me some rare ingredients that I need in return. Then you can use the bow to hunt the monsters needed for the ingredients, and after you hand it all over to me, the bow will be yours for only $40,000."

Leo heard this and was beaming with happiness, but before he could agree, the old man continued, "But among the ingredients I need, there are several Rank 3 Stars monsters you'll have to take down and even the eye of a 4 Star monster. Do you think your group is capable of handling it?" the old man asked.

Leo thought for a while and asked in reply, "How long will I have to bring these materials?"

"A week at most," the old man replied.

Hearing this, Leo became more comfortable and answered the old man, "It's okay. In a week I'll bring you the materials."

Leo had 2,200 Experience points to spend, and with this new bow, he was confident he could hunt monsters even faster and improve his skills even faster. And what made Leo even more confident was the skill he would unlock today: [Speed ​​Hack].

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