PlagueDaddy Hello dear readers. Sorry for the unintended hiatus. Real life came up and sucker punched me in the jaw. I can't guarantee a regular schedule anymore with both college and ADHD kicking me in the shins but I will try my hardest to at least post a new chapter once a month. I hope you will continue to enjoy the story and if you notice any errors be sure to let me know. And if you have any questions about the lore of this world let me know so I can add it to the ends of chapters if it isn't planned to be already covered. May the stars watch over you and guide you on your path.

*Third Person POV*

Orstelia and Orphidias stood near the center of the training grounds evaluating each other while Fulger sat on the audience benches. Each one thinking something different about the upcoming fight. Fulger was worried that either her friend or Orstelia would get hurt, Orphidias was thinking about how much of a pain it was to do this, and Orstelia was concerned about what she got when she tried to use [Inspect].

'Even the demon that thrashed me [Inspect] could get something out of it. Just what in the hells is she!?' Orstelia thought to herself.

Orphidias seemed to notice her anxiousness but did little to calm it as she just smirked and gestured for Orstelia to attack her. This stalemate would not go anywhere like this so Orstelia took the provocation.

Orstelia rushed forward and started the bout with a horizontal slash aimed at her opponent's neck. Orphidias immediately showed the moves of a veteran as she sprung into a defensive posture, blocked the slash with her prosthetic arm, and then quickly knocked the wooden blade away, but she remained in a defensive posture. After all, this was supposed to be a test, not a one-sided beatdown.

Orstelia didn't let the deflection stop her as she continued the onslaught. She repeatedly struck at different angles and body parts, slowly getting used to the weapon. But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get a solid hit in. Her frustration built until she felt an unfamiliar energy in her along with a system message.

Orstelia felt that energy spread throughout her entire body, and her assault continued with newfound fervor. The rate of her improvement was visible to the two watching, one was horrified at the apparent prodigy she was watching while the other was trying to suppress their excitement. The clash between Orstelia and Orphidias continued to build in intensity for almost a minute both fully absorbed in the fight until it was obvious that Orstelia was tiring. They both knew that this was ending so Orstelia wound up for one last mighty horizontal slash.

"[Great Gambit]" she said aloud as her weapon glew in pale green energy, a sign that she was using what most people considered a {Combat Art}. Orphidias immediately went into a defensive pose while activating a {Combat Art} of her own.

"[Full Counter]" she mumbled quietly as her hands glowed in a blackish-green energy. Orstelia swung the wooden guandao with every ounce of her remaining strength, it moving faster than the untrained eye could track. Yet Orphidias not only saw the attack coming but vertically hit the wooden blade so hard it splintered with bone-chilling *CRACK*

Orstelia, now completely drained of all her energy, collapsed to her knees while weakly holding herself up with the remains of the training polearm. Orphidias took a deep breath in and out, calming her body which had just acted on the instincts she had pounded into her over her time as a Hunter. Once she was calmed down she reached a hand out for Orstelia to grasp but she just fell on her back in utter exhaustion. Orphidias chuckled at her display of exhaustion and sat down to rest as well. Fulger came down from where she was sitting and joined the two. Seeing that they probably wouldn't be moving for a while Orphidias reached into the small bag she had hidden under her vest and pulled out three ceramic cups and a {Canteen of Endless Drinks} and then proceeded to fill the cups with cold water.

"Where were you storing those?" Orstelia asked as she lifted her back off the sand and grabbed a proffered cup.

"A small Spatial Bag I keep on me at all times. It's full of useful things like rope, daggers, explosives, just about anything I might need in the day-to-day." Orphidias replied as she emptied her cup in one swig. Silence ruled over them for minutes as they sat around drinking water contemplating their thoughts. Fulger was trying her hardest to not fuss over Orstelia like how a mother dragon would over their wyrmlings. Orphidias was thinking about how long it had been since she had been out in the field as she used to be able to handle things like what happened without using a {Combat Art}. And Orstelia was looking over the four system messages that had popped up.

One was about the curse, which happened in the fight but she didn't notice it at the time. The others were things that showed up when she collapsed on her back earlier.

It is simple to understand as the previous message said that the curse may worsen. It was not a comforting thought but she at least knew what was happening. The next message just confused her though.

'Hey system what is an Astral Truth?' Orstelia asked the mysterious helper mentally.

'Well, that explains nothing. The last message is better though.' she thought to herself.

'I have no idea what that means but I do feel like I can feel the presence of something around me. Maybe I should spend tonight investigating it.' she thought to herself but her attention was pulled away from her thoughts as Orphidias stood up.

"We've had a long enough break. Let's test your marksmanship. [Authority: Shooting Range]" Orphidias called.

The training ground they were sitting in began to morph and twist like an abstract painting and sculpture blended with reality. Soon the abstractness solidified into recognizable features and what was once an arena was now a vast stone corridor that stretched on for what seemed an eternity and was lit with magical torchlight. Circular multicolored disks were placed evenly at various distances and the faint whispers of wind could be heard if one concentrated on the sounds around them. A rack of various bows stood to the side while quivers of arrows hung on the wall above them. There was a yellow line on the stone floor and the first target was a few meters behind it. With a little thought, it was obvious what this place was, and Orphidias' command earlier wiped away all doubts. A place to test one's shooting ability.

"Grab a bow and let's see how well you can use it. A maximum of five arrows per target, we'll go until you miss at least three." Orphidias said with seemingly disinterest. That what she was about to see was not worth her time. She found a nearby bench to sit on and continued to browse the paperwork she had set aside earlier.

Fulger was a bundle of energy as she practically bounced between the racks of bows and arrows even though she was not being tested. Orstelia was a lot slower in her selection than she was with the guandao earlier. From what she could remember bows were a different beast to most melee weapons as an ordinary-looking bow can only be drawn if you had the strength of a seasoned knight, or the exact opposite and a child could easily draw it. So she was extremely careful choosing a bow. She didn't know how long she was searching but she eventually found a bow she liked, an ordinary composite longbow that took a lot of her strength to draw properly.

"Let's begin the test Orphidias." Orstelia proclaimed after preparing herself. Orphidias just lazily nodded for Orphidias to continue.

The first ten targets were so easy that Orstelia barely had to try. After that, she had to steady her breathing to shoot distances that ordinary humans would find to be impossible. The twenty-second target is where she failed as it took long enough to reach the target that she could nock another arrow and fire before the first arrow would hit. A distance that even Orphidias found impressive.

'There's no way this is [Average Marksmanship]. There must be something else affecting my archery.' Orstelia thought to herself. 'The bow is ordinary besides its draw strength so that's what I think is affecting it. I will have to test this eventually.'

"That concludes the practical test for now. I will need you to come with me Orstelia. Fulger you can go do whatever else you want to." Orphidias said while leisurely walking toward the exit. "Oh yeah almost forgot. [Authority: Arena]."

With those words the shooting range began to morph back into the arena it was when they first entered. The bow Orstelia held disappeared into motes of light, along with the arrows. Come to think of it she never found the guandao she was using earlier. It probably shared a similar fate to the bow.

Orstelia and Fulger followed Orphidias back to the main lobby before parting. Fulger said she was going to go back and retrieve Orstelia's gear and to meet back at her house when she was done here. They both gave their farewells and then parted ways.

Orstelia was taken to a quite luxurious office with multiple full bookshelves, various hunting trophies and weapons used as decorations, and a terrarium with various plants inside. Near a great window sat a massive desk of wood and dark metal with various documents neatly stacked to one side and writing implements on the other. It seemed that Orphidias was quite a busy person.

Orphidias sat behind the desk, letting out a sigh of both relief and tiredness as she sank into the plush high-backed chair. Orstelia sat across from her and barely had time to enjoy the soft chair before Orphidias spoke.

"We have some paperwork you need to read over and sign but before that, I have some things to tell you before you finish the registration process. For newbies like yourself, you are placed into groups of similarly ranked newcomers, typically in groups of four. So for a while you will not be working with Fulger as she is one of the top-ranked Hunters in this guild. You can still interact with her but you will just not be working together for the time being. After you have reached a certain rank you will be able to take on requests solo if you desire but typically hunts are done in groups of four. Does that make sense to you?"

"Yeah, no complaints here. You have a system that works so I don't expect to be an exception in anything."

"Good. Now read over and sign these documents and we can finish your registration."