After breakfast, Kael led them to the training area where he told them to sit in their essence harvesting pose. Azaroth unfastened his sword and put it in front of himself.

Kael stood before them. "Some Major skills might even be one or two. It all depends on your capacity, it’s useless to learn many skills you won’t master. Everything you choose to learn must complement your technique." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"An example is that of three brothers known as the Scorpion Brothers," Kael said.

Stallus hissed as she heard that name and Kael turned to face her. "You’ve heard about them before?"

Stallus fixed him with a glare and shrugged. "They once came to our outpost.... long before you. I thought they would do major damage to the outpost."

The way she said the last sentence with a mixture of hope and fear made Azaroth think that she wanted the Scorpion brothers to cause damage in her outpost.

Why though? Azaroth studied her.

"What happened?" Kael asked.

"They were looking for a wanted man. A bounty." Stallus said.

Kael nodded. "They are bounty hunters."

"Well, whoever they were looking for wasn’t in our outpost and they wanted to search but....the outpost....my parent would not allow it." Stallus chewed her lips and glanced down, she shuddered. "I can’t forget the sickly green aura that surrounded them before they finally decided to look elsewhere."

"Yes. Their essential color is green. Do you know why I singled them out?" Kael answered his own question. "They are weak. In the sense that their skills are minor at best and yet they were feared by most average Awakeners. Do you know why?"

They all shook their head.

"The skills they mastered. The technique. It’s called the Green Toad technique, it’s a poison technique that is known for its difficulty in learning. Almost everyone that learned it died before gaining mastery in one skill of the technique." Kael said.

The four of them were all listening intently now.

"But the Scorpion brothers are smart, they each choose one skill to learn and perfect. The skills are minor but when combined they complemented each other and it became a strong skill." Kael said.

"And even though they are currently in the Catalyst level they can hunt ranks higher than them. They also use the three-man formation to take down enemies." Kael explained.

Azaroth frowned, that’s impressive, using your lifetime to learn a single skill. Azaroth could respect that but at the same time, it was weak. They were still depending on each other, in his view, Azaroth considered this weakness.

"That’s still a weakness. They leech off each other. They cannot hope to win against very powerful individuals." Azaroth said.

Kael shrugged. "People have different ideas for power. In their weakness, the Scorpion brothers are still one of the leading in bounty hunting. Not the best by far but still up there."

Azaroth shrugged. "Your power is the only power."

Kael turned to him sharply. "Accepted but you must learn to use others’ power. Especially here in the Hound. Most times we hunt as a pack."

Isn’t it using others? A thing Azaroth could work with that.

"But to reach the top...here in the Hound and everywhere else you will be judged and known by your strength," Kael said.

That was expected, Azaroth thought.

"What is a bounty hunter?" Alex asked.

"Who are bounty hunters? Awakeners like us of course! It is the only neutral organization on the whole of Doomhaven continent and they span the whole continent." Kael said in excitement.

"Span the whole continent?" Alex asked.

"Neutral as how?" Stallus asked.

They asked it at the same time and Stallus shot Alex a glare.

"Let me answer Alex first. The Bounty Hunters, most people just called them Hunters. They have offices in all major outposts in the continent and if you are a member you can apply to any bounty through them."

"As to their neutrality. Once you join you must swear not to interfere with any political happening in the continent. Neither side nor opposing with any great powers. You just do your job."

"Which job? Bounty hunting?" Catena asked.

"Yes, but that’s just narrowing it down. It could be assassination, stealing, revenge, hunting monsters, even attacking outposts." Kael said.

Azaroth raised his brows. That’s.... something.

Everyone had the same reaction of shock.

Kael continued. "It’s not that simple of course. The Hunters are not good or bad people. It all depends on your view, though it is more or less a little different now since they have a new number Zero. They mostly take monsters hunting bounty or capturing criminals and there’s no shortage of both."

Azaroth narrowed his eyes. "Zero?"

Kael nodded. "The Hunters Association is a very competitive place because they have lots of members. To be a successful hunter you must be powerful enough to get numbered."

They all turned questioning eyes on Kael.

"Getting numbered means you enter the Hunters ranking which starts from the number one thousand. It’s the number of the powerful in decreasing oder. The really powerful starting from the top fifty. The most powerful are the top ten and having the number Zero means you are the most powerful Hunter alive."

Azaroth’s eyes gleamed. "How do you move through the rank?"

"You defeat those above you, simple as that," Kael said.

Catena laughed, his deep voice rumbling, his eyes wide and his teeth flashing. "Just what I wanted! A place to truly know the powerful."

Azaroth couldn’t agree more. It was the ideal place for fighting your opponent, dominating them, and getting their territory.

"How do you join?" Stallus asked his blue eyes like dry ice.

"Very easy. You’ll take a short test of course then you join. Joining the numbered is a different matter though. it also means you’ll always have to look behind you at all times. Most people simply don’t like to always have to challenge and be challenged."

"That’s exactly why it is good!" Catena said.