"Javelins?" Shang asked in confusion as he looked at the hunter beside him.

The hunter nodded. "You might think that Javelins are birds, but they are actually a mixture between birds and land beasts. Imagine a wolf, give it scales, put feathers over the scales, and replace its head with a bird head with a long beak. Their front legs have very noticeable feathers."

"They are very quick on land, but they can also expand the feathers on their front legs to create makeshift wings. They are a bit clumsy in the air, but if they jump beforehand, their small wings give them a terrifying short-term control for their jump."

Shang had a hard time imagining such a beast.

A wolf with a bird's head and expandable wings?

"The Mages think that Javelins have once been birds that transitioned on fighting on land," the hunter explained.

"Why?" Shang asked.

"The Wasteland is full of Earth and Wind Affinity beasts, and nearly all of them have some kind of ranged attack. Flying beasts often have issues with dealing with such attacks. Sure, they are fast and nimble, but one good hit with a rock, and they hit the ground."

Shang nodded a couple of times.

This world sure was interesting.

"So, why do we have to get their beaks? Are they worth a lot?" Shang asked.

"No," the hunter answered. "The beaks of the young are worthless."

"Then why do we have a mission to get them? On top of that, the reward is very high for a beast at the Soldier Stage."

The hunter smirked. "Investment and pest control," he said.

Shang looked with a questioning expression at the hunter.

"Javelins are an average General Stage beast when they reach maturity. They're not very powerful but also not very weak."

"That is if we let them grow naturally."

Shang raised an eyebrow.

"You see, Javelins have a peculiarity."

"They are absolutely helpless without their pointy beak. Their entire offensive capabilities revolve around that beak. Sadly, their beaks don't naturally become powerful enough to penetrate heavy armor. Because of that, normal Javelins only hunt other nimble land beasts in the Wasteland," the hunter explained.

"However, if we break their beaks twice when they are younger, their beak grows back with much more power. By breaking it twice, the Javelin's break will become terrifyingly hard."

"Of course, naturally, that won't ever happen. After all, when their beaks get broken, they are essentially already dead since they can't put up a fight anymore."

The hunter leaned back as he put his own stack of papers to the side.

"That's where we come into play. We break the beak of the young Javelins twice, and they grow up to become quite a formidable opponent."

The hunter smirked again.

"But not for us."

"They become a formidable opponent to Earth Affinity beasts that rely completely on defense."

"You see, armored Earth Affinity beasts are one of the most annoying things in the Wasteland for hunters. These beasts just keep on walking around, attacking everything they see, and hunting them is a gigantic hassle. It's easy to escape from them, but they interfere in the work of basically all hunters."

"And now, put yourself in the shoes of a quick Javelin with a powerful spear as a weapon. What would you rather hunt, some nimble humans or a slow fat piece of meat?" the hunter asked.

A glint of understanding appeared in Shang's eyes.

"So, the Javelins deal with all the annoying Earth Affinity beasts?" Shang asked.

The hunter nodded. "Precisely. In the Wasteland, normal Javelins are a bother, but Javelins with a powerful beak are an asset. Normal Javelins attack us. Powerful Javelins attack armored beasts."

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ "The Hunting Guild isn't directly earning money from these beaks, but indirectly. Every powerful Javelin increases the overall experience for us hunters in the Wasteland. It makes our lives that much easier."

Shang nodded. "That makes sense."

"The young Javelins are only at the southern parts of the forests," the hunter added. "Since there is a high likelihood of encountering General Stage beasts in that area, the mission is in the stack of General Stage beasts."

"Sadly, not many hunters accept these missions. The reward is too low for General Stage hunters, but the mission is also too dangerous for Soldier Stage hunters. The Hunting Guild just recently upped the reward from 200 gold per Javelin to 250 gold."

"That sounds great," Shang said. "I think that's just the right mission for me."

The hunter nodded with a smile. "That's good. You're making life easier for us General Stage hunters. As a little tip, I would suggest for you to go to the southern part of the northwestern forest. There are far more young Javelins there than in the northeastern forest. You can imagine why."

Shang nodded. He knew why.

The Vanishing Snakes.

They really made trouble for everyone. No wonder they were worth so many Contribution Points.

"Anyway, gotta go," the hunter said as he stood up. "My team's waiting for me."

"Thank you again," Shang said.

The hunter winked at Shang before he went to the receptionist to register a couple of missions.

After the hunter left the Hunting Guild, Shang stood up and also walked to the receptionist.

"This one, please," Shang said, pointing at the mission with the Javelins.

The receptionist took away the stacks of papers and quickly wrote a couple of things down.

Then, she put a long, square-like object on the counter.

"If you kill a Javelin, that's a 1,000-gold fine," she said. "Only break the beaks that look green and greenish-blue. If you see one with a blue beak, it means it has already been broken twice. You won't get any reward for those."

"After breaking the beak, stamp the head of the Javelin with the stamp," she said as she pointed at the object on the counter. "Stamping them shouldn't be an issue once their beaks are broken. At that point, they only want to flee and won't fight back anymore."

"Happy hunting," she said with practiced ease before going back to doing her work.

Shang took the stamp with him and left the Hunting Guild.

'It's impressive how much the Hunting Guild is investing into keeping their hunting grounds fertile,' Shang thought as he jogged to the exit of the city.

'They really have everything planned out to the smallest detail. I expected something like that on Earth, but not in this world.'

Shang exited the city.

'I guess, in a way, I'm doing the very thing to the Javelins what they are going to do for me.'

'Upgrade my weapon.'

'I break their beaks to upgrade their weapon, and by doing that, I can upgrade my weapon.'

'Rather ironic, actually.'

The bloodied face hadn't returned in quite a while, but Shang didn't notice.

He was too preoccupied with thinking about this world.

'I've never been in the forests during the day, which is also probably why I haven't seen any Javelins before. I wonder what differences there are between night and day in the forests.'

'Nearly every hunter is hunting during the day, and only very few are hunting during the night. I wonder why that is.'

'I've also never been to the northwestern forest before. If I recall correctly, there's also one more pest I haven't seen before in the northwestern forest. I think they were called Life Scarabs. Wonder if I will find some of them.'

Shang looked at the sky and noticed that it was only noon.

'I got half the day left to break three beaks. Maybe I can get more. Too much money is never an issue.'

Eventually, Shang reached the crossroads again.

Then, he looked at the distant forest towards the northwest.

'Let's see how this one goes.'