A Trash Novel's Only Reader-Chapter 11: A little Workout

Shu walked down the street with the bat on his shoulder, eyes moving from window to window without thinking about it anymore.

’Nari should be fine,’ he thought, stepping over a pile of debris. ’I told her not to open the door, and the Domain will block anything unauthorized.’

He pulled up the mission screen while walking, ’ I was drained last night so I didn’t get to read the mission properly.’

[Mission: Hunter Registration]

[Objective 1: Register as a Hunter.]

[Objective 2: Hunt 50 Monsters.]

[Reward: Skill Upgrade Token x1]

[Reward: 10,000 Credits]

[Reward: Domain Expansion Scroll x1]

’A skill Upgrade Token and a Domain Expansion Scroll?’ he thought, reading the last two lines again. ’That is actually cracked.’

The credits were nice, but those two items were what he really needed. A skill upgrade could push one of his abilities higher, and the scroll would let him expand his territory.

He dismissed the screen and kept walking, ’that girl from last night really refused to give me directions,’ he thought, taking a turn, ’well, it doesn’t matter, I got everything I need from the sword guy, just wanted to verify the info.’

A sound caught his ear before he made it to the next corner, low growling from somewhere close. He slowed down and looked to the side, spotting three dog monsters crouched near a wrecked car, their eyes locked on him.

’Stray mutts,’ he thought, pulling the bat off his shoulder. ’Should be easy enough.’

The first one lunged, and he let it get close enough to smell its breath before he dropped low and swung the bat upward into its chest.

The hit launched it straight up, ’each time I fight, my body feels lighter and stronger than before,’ he thought, watching the monster falling back down, catching it mid-fall with a second swing that spiked it into the ground headfirst. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

’Though, it’s clear my fighting skills are very amateurish, all I do is swing, no technique at all,’ he turned toward the remaining two before looking at his bat, ’maybe I should start training, and what better way to learn than use this mutts.’

The second one came from the right, low and fast, jaws snapping for his arm. He kicked a chunk of loose concrete off the ground and caught it mid-bounce, then hurled it straight into the thing’s face.

It staggered, shaking its head before trying to bark but Shu drove his bat through its mouth, sending it flying into a near by building.

He swung the blood of the bad and smiled, ’that was a solid him, I wonder how much force I can really release.’

The third one bolted, which actually surprised him, "Huh, hey, come back here you stupid mutt!"

He scooped up another chunk of concrete and whipped it sidearm like a pitcher throwing a curveball. The rock caught the dog in the spine with a loud crack, its back legs going dead instantly, making it crash onto its chest, skidding across the ground.

It tried to drag itself forward with its front legs, but he was already looming over it before it could get far.

"Hah, you thought you could get away huh?" He asked, testing the bat like a batter, "so man, I gotta test this out on something," he activated his skill and swung with full force, completely obliterating the dog’s head and the ground a few feet ahead.

He stared at the crater in the ground, then at his bat, then back at the crater.

’Woah, that is way stronger than I thought,’ he thought, flexing his fingers around the grip. ’With Slaughterer active, I can probably one-shot most things at this level.’

The system screen popped up beside him.

[Kill Registered: Stray Hound x3]

[EXP: +90]

[Credits: +180]

He dismissed it and kept walking, ’three dogs are barely worth the effort,’ he thought, rolling his shoulder. ’Fifty monsters for the mission is going to take forever at this rate. I need to find a dungeon or something with actual numbers.’

The guild registration would help with that. Dungeons were locked behind hunter clearance, and the bigger ones had way more monsters packed inside. If he could get his card and find a decent dungeon, the mission would be done in no time.

’Plus the loot is better inside dungeons,’ he thought, turning down another street. ’Cores, materials, credits, all of it scales with difficulty.’

He continued walking, completely unaware of the figure moving across the rooftops above him.

The girl from last night crouched on a ledge and watching, "seems that barrier skill is not the only thing he has," she said, looking back at the damage he cause, "he lacks skill but he for sure has power, should I recruit him?"

She leaped onto the next building, landing gracefully, "the headmaster will probably like that too, but I should tell her before I try anything."

She paused on the rooftop, watching him turn another corner without hesitating, "now that I think about it, why did he ask me for directions?" she muttered, tilting her head. "He is walking way too confidently for someone who does not know the way."

That had been bothering her since she started following him. He asked her where the hunter guild was last night, but right now he was moving through the streets like he had walked this route a hundred times before.

"Did he already know? Then why ask?" she narrowed her eyes, "was he testing me or something?"

She shook her head and kept moving, "whatever, that is not important right now," she said, jumping to the next building. "What is important is that barrier."

She had tried to get closer to his house after he left this morning. Walked right up to where the barrier started and pushed against it, even tried going around to different angles but nothing worked.

"It stayed active even after he left," she said, landing on another ledge. "I have never seen anything like that before."

She crouched down and watched him disappear around another corner, "is it always on? Does it run on something? Can it be broken?" she tapped her chin, "if I hit it hard enough, would it crack?"

The warning from last night flashed in her mind, the threat of a defensive shock if she tried again. She had not tested it yet, mostly because she did not want to deal with the headache if it actually worked.

"Maybe I should find out," she muttered, a small grin forming. "But later, right now, I want to see where that confident walk of yours leads, mystery man."