### Chapter 6: Mind Hunter
Each Profession awakened included a complete set of abilities along with a specific name. The combination of abilities determined its name, hence it was naturally called a Profession. Similar professions usually had unique characteristics, and unless you had the exact same profession as someone else, there was no way you would have the exact same power set.
For instance, the Sun Fire Mage profession included a set of fire-based abilities allowing the user to create miniature suns, consume natural flames, and even generate heavy gravity. Similarly, the Mind Hunter profession would contain a set of abilities allowing the user to maximize their potential.
Eager to understand what Mind Hunter entailed, Talon checked the details of the profession. In most cases, people hardly revealed the name of their profession, and even among those he had heard about, he had never heard of Mind Hunter before.
The screen changed its display to reveal the details about Mind Hunter:
[Mind Hunter]
Category: MentalCore Abilities: - Perception Manipulation - Mental Cues - Mental Fortress - Mind Reading - Psychic Infiltration - Emotional Manipulation - Sensory Deprivation - Echo of the Mind (Unique)Of all the abilities, only the first four were active; the rest were dulled out as if inaccessible. When he tried to click on them, the system notified him that he needed to awaken the Mind Hunter profession again to activate the full set of abilities.
‘This is probably why Eren is so strong. Awakening the same profession twice allows you to gain all the possible applications of the ability,’ he thought.
Some professions had an ability unique only to them, appearing in only about 1 in every 10 professions. Such professions were definitely not common.
“What is the rarity of this profession?” Talon asked.
— It only appears once in a couple of centuries. The rarity isn’t low, but it isn’t high either.
‘Huh?’ Talon almost felt like the system was joking with him. Once every couple of centuries? That was very rare! ‘A couple of centuries could even be up to a thousand years. Or is it because the Admin doesn’t see time the same way we mortals do?’
‘Wait, doesn’t this mean I might even be the only living Mind Hunter in the world?’ Talon burst out laughing.
“Yes! Vaila, your older brother isn’t so useless anymore!” he shouted, laughing.
— You have received the rewards for your mission and retrieved the Summoning Talisman of the Abyss Cult. Are you willing to put it up for sale?
Hearing this, Talon paused and cleared his throat awkwardly. If the Admin had emotions, he would have been even more embarrassed.
He brought out the talisman and asked, “What does it cost?”
— The talisman is worth 10 karma. As a new user, you are eligible for sale bonuses, gaining an extra 10 percent of every karma from sales.
“What is karma used for?”
— Your level increases with the more karma you accumulate. To reach the next level, you need to complete 4 more missions and accumulate 100 karma.
“Pfft. So much? Does the talisman have any other use?”
— It is used only to create a portal between reality and Egermont’s domain.
‘So it is useless to me, except if I want to create dungeons or cause a world extinction…’
“I want to sell it.”
— Place the talisman on the podium.
Talon placed the talisman on the podium, and it vanished. At the same time, he saw his karma points increase to 32 karma.
‘Great, 79 to go,’ he thought.
“What do I get at higher Hero levels?”
— Each hero level grants better treatment, access to specific functions and advantages. You can also lead missions with other heroes if you are at a higher level than them. Each team leader in such a group gains a higher reward after the mission is completed.
‘Wow, that’s actually pretty good,’ Talon thought.
“What about my System Coins?”
— They can be used to trade at the Bazaar Shop, Marketplace, renovate your personal space, and buy tickets at the Gambling House.
Hearing that he could renovate his personal space, he couldn’t help but ask, “How do I renovate my personal space?”
— With enough System Coins, you can increase the size of your personal space and add geographical features.
‘A world? I could create a world here if I had enough money? Is this too much of a cheat?!’ Talon felt excited just thinking about it. Looking at his 100 System Coins, he couldn’t help but ask, “What can I get with my current balance?”
— You will need to check the Marketplace and Bazaar Shop to find out.
‘In other words, I’m not your damn servant. Got it.’ He opened the Marketplace, and a festive page appeared, featuring many categories ranging from weapons, armors, artifacts, books, and more. Each category had subcategories. Every user of the Interdimensional Bazaar could place almost anything on sale here, and any other user could buy it. The system facilitated trades between the involved parties.
‘What do I need right now?’ he muttered, clicking into books. His main issue was a lack of knowledge. He knew too little about the Interdimensional Bazaar, his own profession, and other worlds. As an adventurer, he knew ignorance was as lethal as a dagger to the heart. Many adventurers had lost their lives because of blind spots in their mission information. He himself had died because of this same thing! If he had known the Verdant Brothers were planning to rob the Duke of Ironflower, he would never have joined their team to carry their loads.
‘Knowledge is power,’ he thought.
The Books category had a few subcategories, but only one drew his attention: Runes.
He had not heard anything about this before. Most of his life had been spent in Eryndor, a remote, uneventful town. He had stayed in an orphanage and, even though he became an adventurer at the guild branch there, there were no dungeons or monster tides close to Eryndor, making it quite safe. Apart from the occasional bandits, goblins, and dire wolf packs, he hadn’t faced many Awakened. When he saw the subcategory, he realized he knew absolutely nothing about it. He had never even heard of it.
He checked the subcategory and saw many books. One drew his attention: ‘Introduction to Runes and Quintessence’ — 30 System Coins. Posted by Frenzy Wild Wolf.
The name tag of the person had silver wings, which looked magnificent compared to the Bronze Laurels under Talon’s name tag. There was even a counter under the book showing the number of times people had bought it: 102,003,011 purchases.
‘Holy Sh*t! 102 million purchases?’ He quickly did a mental calculation of the System Coins the person had gained and almost collapsed from shock. “Over 3 billion System Coins… that’s insane,” he muttered in disbelief.
Sensing his mental turmoil, the system’s voice appeared again.
— All sales in the Marketplace experience a 20% tax charge.
“That is still over 2 billion!” Talon almost retorted back at the system.
Talon bought the book without second thoughts. As soon as he did, a hardcover book appeared on top of the stone podium. He scrolled through the listings again and saw another book titled, ‘Things a Hero Must Know About the Infinite Realities’ for 20 System Coins. The book was posted by Round Red Doe, and the short description indicated it contained the experience and knowledge of the writer. Given the glowing name tag that Round Red Doe had, Talon knew this person must have a high status, similar to Frenzy Wild Wolf. He decided to buy that and another book called ‘Details About the Hero System’ for 20 System Coins, posted by Western Dominator. The Silver Scales on both sides of the person’s name suggested that this was also a high-ranking hero.Seeing that he had almost exhausted his System Coins, he quickly checked another page to see if he could get anything else useful.‘Let’s check weapons,’ he thought.The weapons page was filled with all sorts of weapons, most of which had abil
Talon didn’t reach Eryndor until the next day. Even with the Ring of Vitality keeping his stamina up, he still had to rest a couple of times. Thankfully, he didn’t encounter any threats during the journey. There was a good chance that Eren’s massive attacks had chased away all the predators within a kilometer radius, but he couldn't be sure.Eryndor was a large town protected by five-meter-tall stone walls. Guards patrolled the walls, and a few ballistas were mounted for defense. The town gate, made of oak wood, was only shut during bandit raids and at night. Since Talon arrived just before noon, the gates were still open. Outside the town, open fields stretched out, with farmers busy planting crops. Talon stood just behind the tree line, watching the farmers go about their business. After what happened to him, it would be foolish to appear openly in town. If anyone recognized him, the Verdant Brothers would soon hear about it, even if they weren’t currently in town.‘Risky, too risk
Talon had been an orphan for as long as he could remember. His parents were unknown, and he was found on the doorstep of the Holy Mother Church’s orphanage when he was a baby. Growing up in the harsh nvironment of the orphanage, Talon was maltreated by the caretakers and often abused by the older children. This forced him to become self-reliant and strong-willed.During his time at the orphanage, Talon met Vaila, a young albino girl who quickly became a target for bullies as soon as she arrived. He remembered how weak and frail she had looked back then. Vaila was six years younger than Talon, and he soon took on the role of her guardian, beating up other kids who tried to bully her and giving her his share of food when there wasn’t enough.Later, Talon discovered that Vaila was afflicted with a strange disease that not only rendered her physically weak but also meant she wouldn’t live past sixteen years of age. He had heard stories and legends of magical elixirs and artifacts that cou
Talon popped his head into the room through the small crack of the door, only to see a dozen eyes staring at him in fear. But when they realized it was Talon, he could almost hear them exhale the breath they had been holding. They all knew Talon; he was once an orphan here too. They just never expected to see him in the middle of the night. Since the orphans never left the orphanage, none of them knew about the news circulating around town that Talon had died during a mission. When Vaila saw that it was her sworn brother, she smiled and ran towards him. He opened the door and accepted her hug.“Where have you been?” she murmured, her voice shaking.Talon smiled and patted her head. He was glad she hadn’t heard about his apparent death yet. It would have been heartbreaking for her. After all, she was only thirteen and could barely take care of herself if he died.He broke off the hug and stared into her bright red eyes. “We can finally leave.”His words shocked her as she didn’t unders
Talon’s shout was quickly followed by a roar from the trees. Small green men with elongated ears, half-dressed in leather, came running out of the forest with swords, spears, and clubs.“Goblin attack!” the leader of the escorts shouted while drawing his sword. The other adventurers sprung into action immediately.The convoy descended into chaos. Even Vaila woke up from her sleep, but since it was nighttime, she could hardly notice the true nature of their attackers; she could only make out their frames.“Talon, what’s happening?”“Stay in the cart,” he said, throwing a bundle of clothes over her.A familiar synthetic voice rang in Talon’s head, accompanied by a sky-blue translucent screen appearing in front of him again.---[Mission:— Kill at least 30 goblins. (0/30)— Kill the Goblin leader. (optional)Rewards:— 100 Coins per normal kill. 400 Coins per Awakened kill. 1000 Coins for the Goblin leader.— 1x Fortune Ticket.— 5 Karma]---A goblin jumped towards Talon with its short
Goblins are among the most rampant monsters on the continent, well-known for their impressive breeding capabilities, though truly exceptional goblins were uncommon. However, some goblins manage to outshine the rest, becoming leaders to whom other goblins bow. For monsters, especially goblins, bowing to greater power isn't easy, indicating that every single goblin leader is Awakened.Talon had heard of Awakened monsters before, but he had never encountered them since the regions around Eryndor were too peaceful, and most monster-hunting quests he had joined didn't involve Awakened monsters. This was his first time seeing a group of monsters with not just one, but multiple Awakened among them. The leader was a monster that had attained a perfect awakening of its profession, making it very awe-inspiring.Talon rushed through the chaos, swinging his sword and shooting out mental pierce attacks simultaneously. Goblins fell left and right around him.The fight between Master Eobard and the
“Argh!” The Wind Mage goblin screamed as one of its five enemies landed a strike on its back. It could feel the blood gushing out of the wound, feeling more tired after each injury. Waving its spear around haphazardly, it tried to retreat, but the five Talons didn’t give it a break. They rained down more and more attacks, leaving deep gashes and injuries on the goblin.The goblin kept retreating until it finally became too tired. Even the spear in its grasp felt as heavy as lead. It could barely lift it to fight, let alone swing it. Its raspy breath could be heard from behind its helmet.“Cowards!” it roared in goblin tongue, but the Talons only looked at it with amusement. This enraged the goblin. If it were to die, it would rather die in a glorious manner.“For the King!” the goblin roared as it rushed towards the Talons. It spent every ounce of energy left within it to swing the spear, but after being blocked a couple of times, one of the images caught the spear and thrust its swor
The Aerindel family had ruled the Bluefeather Duchy for over 500 years. Duke Aerindel, a man of immense power and influence, stood as one of the most formidable figures on the continent. The duchy itself was renowned for its abundant gemstones, a high population of awakened wildlife, rich silver mines, and expertise in animal taming. It was a place steeped in history and adventure, one that Talon had heard many tales about, especially since Master Eobard's bloodline traced back to this region.As their caravan approached the outskirts of Bluefeather Duchy, a multitude of other caravans came into view, drawing the attention of Vaila. Her bright red eyes sparkled with curiosity as she watched the bustling activity around them.Every now and then, she peppered Talon with questions, which he answered with a patient smile.After fending off a goblin raid, the remainder of their journey had been remarkably peaceful. The caravan had managed to preserve their numbers, and apart from a few inj