CHAPTER 361: ANNOUNCEMENT FOR ASPIRING HUNTERS

"What are you looking at?" Lukas blinked, staring back at Coco who has been staring at him ever since she went out of the building.

"Someone who’s about to cause a ruckus." Coco stated bluntly, her eyes glued to the so-called sacred beast.

Lala tapped Coco’s forehead, silently telling herself to not say too much or she would end up revealing things that shouldn’t be revealed.

"That’s.. Not true." Lukas said, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "I’m just standing here."

Coco didn’t say anything and kept her gaze at him.

That is, until someone spoke up from the middle of the training ground, voice booming and alerting everyone in the vicinity.

"Announcement for the aspiring hunters!" The tone of voice was commanding, demanding attention from everyone around them and everyone did turn their eyes to the person who spoke up.

Coco looked over the crowd, having to step on the top of one of the chairs in the training ground to see, and saw that the person who spoke up was the guild master.

"I’m sure that everyone here knows what is about to transpire for the third examination." He started with a smile. "Usually, we would send out a team of five aspiring hunters out of the city to kill monsters."

Usually.. So he’s about to change something. Coco thought, her eyebrows creasing in anticipation.

"However, this month’s examination.. Had shown promising results, both in the first and second stages." The guild master said, accompanied with a small smile and a chuckle that doesn’t sound too good.

Coco frowned, feeling like whatever he was planning for the third stage wouldn’t be good.

"That’s why, instead of a team of five hunters, we will be releasing three aspiring hunters that formed a team out in the forest with another team, and both teams will be clearing a particular area." The guild master said, eliciting a worried murmurs from the hunters.

"Oh, and a gold rank hunter will be accompanying those two groups so think of them as your instructors." He quickly added, motioning for someone— or people to walk over to him.

Five people walked over to the guild master, each of them looking unique standing next to each other.

"These are people who will be the instructors." The guild master introduced and pointed to the five hunters with a grin. "They will choose the teams they will be leading so do your best to get the instructor you want for your team."

Sounds easy enough. Coco thought to herself, her eyes shifting away from the guild master and onto the man who was told to be the sacred beast.

Wait— where is he?! Coco asked herself, eyes widening in surprise when she didn’t see Lukas somewhere nearby.

"With that in mind, scatter and look for a team! You have approximately fifty minutes!" The guild master screamed, his voice booming across the training ground.

As soon as he said those words, each pair of eyes in the training ground zeroed on Coco, their gazes dripping with desperation and need— their faces hardening as they eyed the others around them.

I need that beast to be on my team! Coco screeched mentally, already on the look out for the blonde haired man, unaware of the predatory eyes that looked over her form.

"There, Coco!" Lala exclaimed, alarming the human as she pointed a blob of blonde hair among the crowd.

"Hey, Lukas!" Coco quickly called out, her voice ringing to the people who were near her and turned their attention to the mentioned man, their eyes zeroing on him like a hawk.

Lukas’ eyes went wide, his shoulders tensing under their unexpectedly heavy gazes.

Lukas immediately turned around to make a run for it, but he was stopped by none other than a light blue haired woman who held onto him with strangely strong grips.

"No! Let go of me!" The man screamed, thrashing against the woman’s grip.

Coco stomped her way towards the so-called sacred beast, the crowd before her parting and making way for her, too scared to actually approach her, but was in awe upon seeing her this close in person.

Once she reached Lukas, her hand shot out and grabbed him by the collar, easily dragging him down to her height and making him bend his knees.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" The man whined, the corner of his lips curling down into a frown as Coco’s grip on his collar tightened.

"You’ll be on my team." Coco announced, her lips quirking in a triumphant smile, relieved and satisfied at the fact that she may be able to finish one of the side quests earlier than expected.

"Okay, okay! I get it so please let go of me!" Lukas exclaimed, covering his head like Coco was about to hit him.

Coco blinked, not expecting such a gesture from a large, muscled man, which prompted her to let go of his collar with a hint of reluctance. "Okay.. No need to act like I’ll beat you or something."

Lukas let out a scoff at that. "You marched towards me like I did something to insult you! Who wouldn’t be scared?!"

"Hey! Coco is not that kind of person!" The woman who stopped him exclaimed and smacked Lukas on the shoulder, then turned to Coco with hopeful eyes. "Right, Coco?"

"Oh, it’s that woman again." Lala commented, blinking.

Yura shot Coco a hopeful look, eyebrows pinched together in anticipation for her answer.

"Lukas is actually right." Coco stated and placed her hand on the handle of the hoe on her hip. "But I don’t go around hitting people unless they mess with me first."

"Oh.." Yura mumbled, taken aback from Coco’s honesty.

"Anyway, I have a promise to keep." Coco changed the topic and smiled at Yura, a much more natural smile compared to the smile she sent her way earlier. "I’ll have you and Lukas as my team members."

"What?!"

"Really?"

Yura and Lukas gasped at the same time, pleased and terrified at the members of their team.