Lord: Sequence Master

In the Hunter Guild of Blazing Shadow Capital, Rosen meticulously examined the guild's supernatural creature distribution map, filtering his options.

With his spiritual energy having reached its peak, Rosen could advance to Sequence 8 in the Painter Sequence at any moment. However, for his Hunter Sequence, he still lacked a critical material.

The core material for advancing to a Gem Hunter was a gem. For the Sequence 9 potion, a standard gem was required, but for the Sequence 8 potion, it had to be a supernatural gem of Sequence 8 quality.

Altering the core material would undoubtedly cause the potion to fail and lead to spiritual collapse.

When Rosen first took the Sequence 9 hunter potion, he had intended to become a Treasure Hunter, planning to use his most cherished item as the core material. However, the Main God Computer had intervened, and even now, Rosen wasn't entirely sure what type of hunter he had become.

Fortunately, after the Main God Computer absorbed divine essence, its analytical capabilities grew significantly. Upon reviewing his own detailed information, Rosen discovered that he didn't belong to any specific hunter branch. This meant that for his future hunter potions, he could use any core material. For example, at Sequence 8, he could use a supernatural gem and become a Gem Hunter, or he could change the core material at Sequence 7 and become a Criminal Hunter.

At every rank, Rosen had the flexibility to change his core material and pursue different paths.

This gave him a significant advantage: he could acquire the unique supernatural abilities of multiple hunter branches. However, the downside was that without careful planning, he could easily spread himself too thin, becoming a jack of all trades but master of none.

Take the Gem Hunter for example: from Sequence 9 to Sequence 6, the core abilities complement and enhance each other. If Rosen were to only gain one of these abilities, not only would it lack synergy with the others, but it might even hinder his overall progress.

After careful consideration of various sources and reflecting on his current situation, Rosen decided to become a Pet Hunter at Sequence 8.

The core ability of the Pet Hunter allows further enhancement of the bond between the hunter and their pets.

At Sequence 9, the abilities shared between hunter and pet are typically just skills. As a Pet Hunter, however, this would expand to sharing spiritual energy and other resources.

Rosen's Sequence 9 innate skill was Nen. The strength of Nen depended on two aspects: skill level and Nen energy. The skill level advanced with the hunter's rank, representing a qualitative change that Rosen couldn't influence. However, the amount of Nen energy, a quantitative factor, could be significantly increased through the core abilities of the Pet Hunter.

Although the Nightmare Slime was small, its vitality was more than ten times greater than Rosen's.

Naturally, its Nen energy exceeded Rosen's by the same factor.

If Rosen could leverage the Pet Hunter's core ability to share the Nightmare Slime's Nen energy, his own energy reserves would increase tenfold.

At that point, a single shot from his Godslayer Crossbow would deal at least ten times more damage than it currently did.

The Pet Hunter was an unusual hunter branch, requiring two core materials. The first was a living pet, and the second was a supernatural material from the same species as the pet. This meant Rosen needed to hunt a Sequence 8 Slime.

While Sequence 9 slimes were everywhere, Sequence 8 slimes weren't particularly rare either.

However, finding a mutated slime with extraordinary abilities was a different matter.

Rosen wasn't interested in ordinary slimes; he wanted a rare, mutated species. Such a mutation would ensure that the potion produced far greater benefits when consumed.

As Rosen was reviewing the options, a voice interrupted him.

"Are you hunting for a Sequence 8 dark-attribute slime?"

The unexpected question made Rosen put down the supernatural creature map.

"Do you have information? Why not complete the task yourself?" Rosen asked calmly, looking at the half-masked assassin sitting across from him.

"We do have information," the half-masked assassin replied as he sat down, "but there are other valuable things at the location where the slime was found. You only need the slime, while my team and I are after something else. We can split the spoils and give you a discount."

"No need. I'm not in a hurry." Rosen lowered his head and stopped paying attention to the assassin.

For the past few days, while researching in the Hunter Guild, Rosen had discovered a hidden talent of his Nightmare Slime. Constantly feeding on nightmares had given the slime a subtle ability to sense malice—after all, most nightmares are born from people's anxieties and fears during the day.

Rosen could see from a glance that this assassin meant him harm.

As for why this assassin, and likely his entire team, had targeted him, it was probably because of Rosen's display of wealth when hiring several skill mentors.

Seeing that Rosen wasn't taking the bait, the half-masked assassin stood up in disappointment and left, heading to a private booth in the guild's attached restaurant.

"Yunus, hurry up and choose what you want to eat," said one of the three people already seated inside, all of them ordering expensive dishes. Yunus, the half-masked assassin, shook his head and said, "That hunter is very cautious and didn't fall for it."

This immediately caused a tense silence in the room. They couldn't believe Yunus had brought back bad news.

With no extra money to make, who was going to foot the bill for their luxurious meal?

"That guy's clearly a rookie. He didn't seem to have any advanced training before his job change. I could tell his spiritual energy was probably no more than six points. He looked around like a country bumpkin—definitely one of those lucky idiots who stumbled upon some treasure. Caution is normal for people like him. Let's change tactics…"

The team in the private room hadn't given up on hunting Rosen. In fact, they began tweaking their plan.

A few hours later, the Hunter Guild staff approached Rosen to inform him that his bounty had been fulfilled.

Rosen, already suspicious, was now even more wary. He had waited two days without hearing any news, and suddenly, good tidings came his way.

"If it's just a coincidence, then fine. But if it's not…"

Rosen smirked to himself.

He preferred avoiding unnecessary conflict, but it seemed like some people had locked onto him and wouldn't let go.

Coincidence or not, it was time to prepare a few contingencies.

Rosen collected a sealed envelope from the guild staff. Inside was the location of the dark-attribute Sequence 8 slime he had requested, along with an additional map of the area. Everything seemed legitimate, as the Hunter Guild's system, powered by a Sequence 0 projection, would ensure the authenticity of the information.

Every major capital's Hunter Guild was connected to a projection of a Sequence 0 supernatural object. Even though it was only a projection, it still possessed the terrifying power of a Sequence 3 entity.

The guild's task system was reliant on this Sequence 0 projection, so unless a demigod intervened, it was impossible for anyone to tamper with the information. This system was the foundation of the Hunter Guild's integrity.

With the information verified, Rosen left the guild without delay. There was no immediate sign of anyone tailing him, suggesting that those targeting him were being cautious, likely planning an ambush closer to the target location.

The Hunter Guild ensured the accuracy of mission information, but it didn't monitor what happened after a mission was accepted.

Rosen quickly made his way to the west gate of the capital. Compared to other entrances, this gate had much less traffic.

Only a few commoners ever used the city gates; most either took the steam train or didn't leave the city at all. The majority of those passing through the gates were supernatural entities, roaming the surrounding areas in search of supernatural plants and ash-creatures tainted by the Ashen Mist. If they were fortunate, they might even stumble upon a newly-formed spiritual realm.

End of Chapter