Code Collector

Chapter 16: The Guard

Allen was back in Haven after he settled his deal with Jake Summers. They agreed that Jake would meet Allen in the part of the wood where they first met where Allen would give the seven Basic grade codes, and three Rare grade codes.

In Jake's end, the deal seemed great. For a regular Hunter, it will take approximately half a month to farm that much Codes. He wanted to give Allen half the month so the boy would have a time to farm for his own Codes.

Little did he know, Allen had finished the task within four days. His movement, his damage, and all his stats were exponentially increased. Adding the fact that he has a one third chance to get a Code from a beast, Allen was unstoppable.

[ Lime Slime Body ]

[ Eye of the Owl ]

[ Swift Crack ]

Allen watched all the Codes in his interface. After reaching level 10, he received extra slots for his Codes. After reserving the slots for Jake, there were still room for more.

It was almost sundown and Allen was back in the cliff where he moved his camp to. He wanted the view of the cliff because he could see the vast forest. It was at the top of the mountain, so he wasn't worried too much about beasts coming from above him.

After the lion incident, he hasn't seen any more lost Grand grade beasts. Maybe him seeing that lion was once in a lifetime experience. It evolved, but hasn't ascended yet. This was something a newbie Hunter wouldn't know, and when they encounters one, they wouldn't get to know because then they would have died.

He also completed the quest for the Crafting Table. It gave him five extra inventory slots, making him store even more of the raw materials and make weapons from them.

The weapons made from the Crafting Table aren't Codes. The result would become something like the artificial weapons the Hunters make and register in the Skill Altar. They couldn't be stored in the Codes list, and they didn't have the "Type" tag.

Thinking of the Skill Altar made Allen wonder how he would increase his stats there. He could now afford to raise his stats, but since there were guards outside the camp, he could not go in.

He then remembered that Jake gave him a fake identity. The man told him that he wasn't scared that Allen would escape since he was tracking him through the nano-GPS he implanted on Allen. He also said that he wanted his pawn to work hard for him, allowing him access to Earth and not the Otherworlds.

Allen smirked and opened his Inventory. He took out the Cloak of Nobody and placed it over his shoulders. It was a black cloak made from wool and sewn by the threads from the spiders. On its hood's rim was the lion's mane and was painted with a dark gray dye.

How the interface made the item automatically and how it altered the colors was something Allen didn't want to know. For him, as long as it made his item, it works. He didn't question it.

The other Primordial Beast Bearers must have this feature too. It would make sense why they got to where they are now that quick. And for Allen to catch up to them, he must exploit his privileges as much as he can.

With this thought in mind, he headed to the camp. Rickon City, Lancaster. Camp number 3173.

He was in Rickon City's portal, in their country Lancaster, and was the 3173rd portal to be discovered. The camp was like any other camp in the world. It was composed of a tall circular metal wall surrounding the inside where a small city lies.

The rooms were located on the side of the wall from the inside. Four floors of units trailing around the wall. A smaller circle was formed by two-storey buildings. These were the shops, restaurants, and other establishments were.

And in the center, where another thick wall of metal was built on was the Skill Altar and the portal was. It was the main reason why a camp was built, and it must be protected..

The Skill Altar is always fifty meters away from the portal in any place in the world. This made some camps built on mountains, underground, or even in the middle of oceans. The portal and Skill altar were very important to all Hunters.

"Identification," the guard spoke to Allen when he reached the gate of the camp. He handed the ID card Jake gave him to the guard. The man scanned the card with his decide that resembles a thermal gun before he looked at the information and let Allen inside.

This man was Philip Little. He worked as a Hunter and ascended to Paradise. But for some reason, he came back to Haven and worked as a guard. Some said that it was because his partner in life was killed in Paradise, some said that he was sent back by the government, but nobody really knows the reason why.

Allen looked at Philip, waiting for him to say something. When Philip didn't do anything, he cleared throat and went inside. He forgot that he was a different man now, literally. When he was in his old body, the guard would comment something like "You're still alive? What dumb luck." But this time, the guard seemed to be down.

"Are you okay?" Allen asked, walking back to where Philip was.

"I'm good," the man said. Allen formed an O with his lips and was about to turn when Philip added, "Actually, no."

Allen quirked his eyebrow, "Why is that?"

"There was this kid who had miraculously survived all these years even when he was a wimp," Philip said. He couldn't help but let the slight curving of his lips to form a smile. "He was small, but brave. He was weak, but the strongest boy I saw in my life."

Allen gulped in shock. All this time, Philip had been looking at him like this. He shook his head and thought that it was too petty for him to think that he was the one Philip was referring to. There were a lot of small young men like him who were strong in their camp after all.

"What happened to him?" Allen asked.

"I heard from his group that he died," Philip sighed. "They said that a Rare grade beast overpowered them and Allen stayed behind so they could escape. I couldn't believe when I heard that."

"Me too," Allen said in his mind. He was both pissed and amused at the same time. His group even made a story for him about his bravery after they left him to die in the woods.

He didn't want to think any negative thoughts, but a hint of revenge had entered his mind. He wanted them to pay, but at the same time he wanted to thank them. After all, if they didn't leave him behind, he wouldn't have gotten to kill the Snake and become who he is now.

"And where is this group now?" Allen asked, pretending to be concerned and sad.

"After the boy's death, they all split apart," Philip replied. "For some reason, their group was disbanded. Maybe Allen had held their group together all this time."

And he was right. He was the boy Philip was referring to. Now the question was, why would Philip act like Allen was a piece of trash whenever they'd meet?

"But why are you this down?" Allen asked. "A Hunter die almost every day. Why would this particular death affect you like this?"

"Because all this time, I was trying to help him get strong in his own way," Philip replied. "The remarks I say to him were words of encouragement. So that he would strive to get stronger. To channel that anger and use it as a fire to light his path."

"That's some good encouragement right there," Allen whispered to himself, voice filled with sarcasm. "But it's too late now. You're too late."

Philip frowned and nodded. "I guess, I am. I was only waiting for him to come back, but I guess it's all in vain now."

"You know what," Allen suddenly had an idea inside his mind. It was time he put his title to good use. "My grandmother used her ability in front of me every day. She even told me I had the gift similar to hers."

Philip crossed his arms and and narrowed his eyes, "And this gift would be?"

"She was a medium," Allen said. "She can connect us form the departed. I want you to connect with this boy you are referring to."

"I don't believe in mediums," Philip scoffed. "You're all fake. So scram before I rip your arm off."

"His name was Allen Vermillion," Allen spoke, making Philip's eyes widen in shock. "You mentioned his name, but who would've guessed that I know exactly who he is. You're always saying that how was it possible that he was alive, and all that crap. He's standing right in front of me hand signaling me those words because he's mute, right?"

"R-Right!" Philip yelled and bowed. "Please, let me talk to Allen. I would pay anything!"

Allen's lips formed a smirk. He cleared his throat and spoke, "I assume you stayed in Paradise for a long time, yeah?"

"Yes," Philip said while still bowing. "I was there for two years."

"Then, I assume you have a Grand grade Code," Allen said. "I want that as payment."