Nero, the Legendary Hunter

"I will help!" Choko slammed one gauntlet against the other and felt motivated and was ready to fight.

Nero summoned her short bow and pulled the bow line and a dark arrow materialized with her tug, creating invisible pressure.

"Attack, now!" Nero shouted, and Luna was the first to run towards old Dora.

*Whoosh!*

When Nero released the arrow, the dark arrow-shaped mana sped unimaginably fast when it flew to Old Dora, who was a kilometer away, in seconds.

She was amazed. What she thought was a casual shot from a bow and arrow, in fact, had terrible speed.

Old Dora used everything she had to try to dodge the arrow and when she saw that she would be too late to escape, she used her dagger to defend herself. *Beng!* The metallic sound echoed and Old Dora's hand fell asleep. She didn't even have time to breathe when Luna lunged at her. Old Dora sent a strong horizontal kick towards Luna.

*Bang!*

Luna, who had jumped ten meters forward, was jolted backward for more than twenty meters from the shock, even with her four sets of claws dug into the ground, leaving four deep sets of claw marks on the hard ground.

Unlike Luna, the mutant turtle was slower, however, the attacks were more powerful. When Big Blue threw a jet of water as it approached, Old Dora had to work hard to dodge, and the tree behind her was shot down by the jet of water.

*Bang!*

*Thud!*

Unfortunately for Old Dora, the broken tree fell towards her, she then jumped to the right side dodging, and that was when a dark arrow came into view.

"Damn it!" She swore, and the moment her foot touched the ground, she kicked off to jump into the air.

Choko had already arrived in front of her and also jumped up, she was faster to react than Old Dora and threw a punch in the direction of Old Dora's face, however, Old Dora quickly used her dagger to counter Choko's red gauntlet.

*Beng!*

The shock wave of the two attacks forced Choko to be pushed back 3 meters in the air, while Old Dora only flew back 1 meter. That was the disparity of strength between the two.

Choko gave a spin in the air and regained her balance, falling to the ground with both gauntlets on the ground to serve as support. She looked like a cat thrown in the air and falling on all fours.

In that same position, Choko steadied both feet on the ground, and used that position as an impulse, and ran straight back towards Old Dora.

Before Choko could reach Old Dora, Luna was faster and attacked with her claws, which were reflected by Old Dora's dagger.

From a distance, Nero was shooting dark arrows and Big Blue was shooting jets of water.

Old Dora felt a lot of pressure. There were attacks from all sides, and although Luna and Choko were not so strong when coordinating with Nero and Great Blue, the two had become a large headache for her.

It was then that Old Dora discovered the root of the problem, namely Nero. If she killed Nero, the summoned monsters would disappear and she would be able to bring Choko back. Thinking like that, Old Dora did everything she could to dodge Luna, Choko, and Great Blue and ran at full speed towards Nero.

"Nero, watch out!" Choko screamed in alarm and ran over to Nero to help. Luna and Great Blue also ran.

Nero shot an arrow at Old Dora, who dodged, and an ugly and sinister smile curved the old woman's lips.

Nero looked scared and very afraid. This delighted Old Dora and she "knew" that she was right to attack Nero first.

"No ... stay away!" Nero said with fear in her voice.

"Too late to be sorry, silly girl. Kekekeke," Old Dora scoffed as she laughed ominously, looking like a witch. Because of that, she relaxed a little and blinked her eyes over and over.

Suddenly, Old Dora was stunned. Nero, who was initially in front of her, disappeared.

"Idiot~" Nero appeared behind Old Dora and said before exchanging her Short Bow for the dagger and stuck it in the back of Old Dora's neck, crossing it to the assassin's mouth.

Blood dripped from Old Dora's mouth, and she found herself unable to speak. In her eyes, she showed resentment and hatred, perhaps even regret for underestimating this girl and falling into Nero's trap. But it was too late for her to mourn her mistake; the damage was done, and her eyes began to blur. She couldn't even see Nero's face before she died, but she bet she must be laughing at her for being a silly old woman who was easily deceived.

Of course, it wasn't just because Nero acted well in showing fear, Choko's shout telling Nero to be careful was essential, as it had deceived the assassin into thinking that Nero was "weak" and made Old Dora underestimate Nero.

'Am I, a professional assassin who has lived for 150 years, going to die like this?' Those were Old Dora's last thoughts before she died.

_ _

You defeated the Demi-human - Goblin: [Assassin] Rank F - Level 6 - Peak.

_ _

Before Choko arrived, Nero stored Old Dora's corpse in her inventory. It would be a good fertilizer for Slime...

"Choko, quick, let's get out of here. It shouldn't be long before more people from the Qin Clan show up here," Nero said urgently.

"... Okay, let's go." Choko nodded and thought they were going to fly again.

"Get on the back of the Big Blue. Let's go by land a little until I recover," Nero said. Big Blue didn't seem to have a problem with her Master's orders. After all, for Big Blue, Nero and Choko were easy to carry.

"Okay." Choko was ecstatic. She had never had the luxury of using a level 6 monster as a mount. Even at level 5, it was a privilege that few had had the right to appreciate.

Looking at Luna, Nero noticed that she preferred to walk by herself and did not want to go back to the summons room, so she let her stay outside.

Nero climbed up on the back of Big Blue and pulled Choko up as well. Nero then said, "Set sail!" 

As they traveled, a new holographic screen opened in front of Nero.

_ _

(1) New Mission: [Level Up]

Why haven't you leveled up yet?

Objective: Reach level 3

Reward: [Necklace F] + 6 Strength - rank F

Reward: 45 Essence Coins

~~

(2) New Mission: [Level Up]

Why haven't you leveled up yet?

Objective: Reach level 4

Reward: [Sapphire Bracelet] + 5 Strength, + 4 Dexterity - rank F

Reward: 1150 Essence Coins

~~

(3) New Mission: [Nan Empire]

Many opportunities await you in the Nan Empire. Why stay in a small town?

Objective: Enroll in the Hunter School

Reward: [Short Dagger] + 5 Agility, + 6 Strength - rank F

Reward: 500 Essence Coins

_ _

'Three missions?' Nero was pleasantly surprised.

"Did Nero think of something good?" Seeing that Nero started to smile, Choko couldn't help being curious and inquired from Nero as to what it was.

"Nothing much, I'm just enjoying traveling on the back of Big Blue." Nero said a half truth, since it was indeed pleasant to be on the back of Big Blue while traveling.

"Mm, I also really liked it. We need to do this more often." Choko did not suspect that Nero was lying, and she herself was enjoying it.