Valerian stopped and shook his head before he told Shiba, "Thank you for your offer."

Then he pushed open the door and walked out. Viney asked, "What does that mean? He is not trusting us."

Shiba shook her head and said, "He trusts us, that is why he told us his story, but he does not believe that we will not harm him. It is good. Trusting someone you’ve just met is an act of nativity."

Viney nodded, and Captain went back to the kitchen.

...

Valerian found an inn to spend the night. In the morning, he went back to the Guild office. As soon as he entered the building, he sensed a few people gazing at him. He looked around for a few seconds and approached the mission board. He was going to select another mission.

A large hand patted his shoulder when he was about to take off a flyer. Turning around, Valerian found Taurus. He nodded, returned to the board, and took off a flyer. He asked, "Did you get the material needed?"

Tauras nodded and replied, "Yes, fifty kilos. I have arranged a forging room for you in advance. You can start anytime you wish to."

Valerian acknowledged with a nasal hum and approached the manager’s desk. He handed her the page, and the lady nodded. She was about to give him the information he needed, and Valerian said, "Ma’am, would it be alright if I come back later?"

Prim nodded, and Valerian went to the forging room inside the building. He asked Taurus to stand guard inside the room. The latter was confused, but then he saw what Valerian was doing. The young man did not waste any time and began to put the material inside the furnace in small portions. The material was smelted and then hit over and over.

Taurus was watching the procedure for the first time. He found it boring, but his gaze fell on the metal under the hammer. He could not believe his eyes. The metal block seemed to be rippling as if it was made of water. Valerian did not bother with that and said, "Place all this metal in a bucket and put the bucket inside the forge."

Taurus did not understand, but he followed the instructions. The metal was placed inside a bucket and soon melted like liquid. Valerian would hit his block a few times before dipping in the bucket.

This created layers over layers, but it was not that simple. Every layer was being fused into each other, and the metals blended nicely. The young man was surprised but did not expect such a technique to exist. Valerian did not stop as if his body had infinite energy.

The morning turned into noon, and the noon turned into night. When Taurus was getting worried, he heard a weak voice, "Done."

Then Valerian stepped back, leaving the ax blade on the anvil. He said, "Do not touch it yet. Let it cool down on its own."

Taurus asked, "Umm, shouldn’t you be quenching it?"

Valerian glared at him, and he left the forging room shakily while mumbling, "If the layers decide to come apart by rapid cooling, then you can get the fuck out of my sight."

He did not wait for this guy to react before he came to the Guild cafeteria and began to chow down all that he could find. He ate food worth one gold coin. The waiter was surprised, but they did not stop him. He cleared the bill from within the restaurant. The guild locker was accessible from all over the billing counters in the guild building.

Valerian sighed after he satiated his hunger and went to meet with Prim. At this late hour, hardly anyone was present in the guild building, so he came to the table smoothly and asked, "Miss Prim, the task details."

Prim nodded and replied to him. After a few minutes, when she finished stating everything to him, Valerian asked, "Madam, may I ask how long you work?"

Prim glanced at him and said, "Why do you ask?"

Valerian replied, "Well, nothing, just curious. Sister Zen back in the village is just like you. Workaholic."

Prim nodded and said, "I take a break every once in a while."

The young man nodded and then walked out of the guild building. He walked toward the dungeon slowly. His speed was well paced, and he found the meat bun vendor after a few minutes. The young man stopped and asked, "Can you give me fifty buns?"

The old man nodded and said, "Yes, I have enough for you. Do you intend to take them for dinner?"

Valerian shook his head and said, "I will take it in the dungeon."

The old man was shocked and asked, "Are you serious?"

Valerian nodded, and the person shivered. The young man sighed and said, "Can you please do it quickly?"

The old man nodded hurriedly and packed the buns in a paper bag. Valerian was not going to eat them, but he was going to use them for something else. When he reached the dungeon entrance, the guard was from the morning, and he was stunned. The young man did not bother with him and easily entered the dungeon.

...

The news of Valerian’s entrance spread around the city like a fire. The people who saw him entering the dungeon with a packet in his hand were surprised; thus, they could not help but tell everyone about it. His first visit to the dungeon, when he killed five wolves alone, was surprising, and now he pulled off something similar again.

The news reached Shiba and the others, and they decided to move to the dungeon and tag along with Valerian. Captain asked, "I hope he does not take offense from this."

Viney clicked her tongue, "Shiba, why do we have to go and help that arrogant prick."

Shiba glared at her and said, "If he is capable, then in a few years, he will be able to take us all to the level we have never been. Although none of us dreams of ending up on the lowest level, we still have to strive harder. Valerian could be of great help in accomplishing this."

Captain nodded, and Shiba added, "He will go only to the first level. He has only performed one mission to date."

After gearing up, the team nodded and left the villa to head to the dungeon building. Thinking of something, Captain said, "Do you think we should ask Miss Prim at the guild?"

Shiba nodded and said, "Yes, she could tell us where to locate Valerian. After all, he is the first to pull off something like hunting five royal wolves alone in the past few hundred years."

...

Valerian was walking crisply through the dungeon with a meat bun in his hand. It was as if he had come out on a picnic. After walking up to a certain corner, he placed the pack of meat buns down on the ground and hid in the dark. He seemed to have become one with the darkness of the dungeon.

The young man was calm, and his eyes were closed. He could not see what he was looking for in the dim illumination. It was better for him to sense them by relying on his other senses.

He was calm and patient, with shallow breathing as if on the brink of death. Suddenly, he sensed something, and his knife gleamed. The young man flickered from his position and appeared close to the meat bun package. He stabbed the target before him, but his knife only grazed through the wind.

He quickly reacted and turned around to slash at the enemy attacking him from the back. Valerian was not surprised that the enemy he faced turned out to be so quick that it avoided his attacks twice. The beast he was out to hunt was a shadow tiger.

It was called a tiger, but it was just a big cat. However, it had a formidable speed. Valerian wanted to extract its claws. They were a material used in brawling gloves. Although the young man had to kill just one of these beasts, he had attracted at least three. Valerian knew these things loved the scent of cooked meat, but he did not expect it to be so high that these beasts would group up against him.

Valerian took out his second knife as well to fight these big cats. His senses were all over the place because these cats were crazy fast. Suddenly, Valerian thought of something and slowed down his speed. A few people had been able to hunt them unscathed—however, many of the people who came after these cats also suffered from serious injuries.

The young man fended off the attacks using his knives. However, one in five attacks almost came close to landing a severe blow that could attack him. The young man decided to step up the game. The noise from his clash might attract other beasts too.