Monster Paradise Chapter 13: I haven't registered...
Lin Huang was naturally unaware all that had transpire at the Stalwart Suites after he left.
As the siblings approached their house, their eyes widened in surprise.
"Brother, we are at the right address right?" Lin Xin asked as she tugged on Lin Huang's sleeve.
Lin Huang was equally as shocked as Lin Xin by the changes to their house. Their original two storey house was replaced by a three storey villa with a rooftop garden filled with a plethora of flowers and plants.
After double checking the house number. Thrice. It was 23. Lin Huang was finally convinced that this villa belonged to them. It just got a bit bigger, by one storey, causing them to question the ownership of the house in front of them.
They walked up to the front door, typed in the password and pushed opened the door, entering the house. Excluding the general structure of the house, their home received a major facelift. Their granite floor was replaced by a posh wooden flooring. Their ceiling lamp was substituted with a chandelier.
The kitchen had a major overhaul as the shelves, counters and even the utensils were completely replaced.
The living room had a carpet flooring made from the hide of an unknown monster. The furniture ,similar to the kitchen, were replaced as well. Even their toilet was replaced.
Still reeling from the shock, the pair walked the stairs to check on the second floor. Their original beds had doubled in size and the balcony had expanded by at least two times.
The third floor non-existent before the renovation. Now there was a large bedroom complete with its own washroom. As for the rooftop garden they spotted on the way to their home, the garden was not only full of plants, the workers had even added a full set of outdoor furniture. A hammock, a set of tables and chairs complete with its own parasol.
Lin Huang was sure the amount spent renovating his house was enough to buy a couple of new houses. It was probably even higher. He finally noticed the strangeness of this situation and called the official who was in charge of the renovation.
The other party promptly picked up his call and with a cordial tone called out to him." Mister Lin, are you satisfied with the changes?"
"This is definitely not the first time our stronghold has been invaded . I've seen the renovations works done on those houses who got damaged during the invasion. They definitely did not include a whole new set of furniture and even a whole new floor. Who are you and what are your motives?" Lin Huang had a gut feeling that there was some conspiracy behind it all.
"You are Young Master Li's friend, it is only natural for us to do our best to please you." The middle-aged man unabashedly admitted to his brown-nosing.
"Young Master Li?" Lin Huang paused for a moment. "Li Lang?"
"That's right, that's Young Master Li. He helped you to apply for the damage compensation. Because of that, the higher-ups treated it as a serious matter and specially instructed me to handle this case. They told me to ensure it was done well." The man explained.
"Are you aware of Li Lang's identity?" Lin Huang couldn't help but ask.
"Didn't you know? His father is the one of the 3 vice-leaders of the 7th District Hunter Association branch, his mother is the Federation's 7th District Representative." The man's answer cleared up that mystery instantly.
The man's bosses thought he was a friend of Li Lang so they wanted to help him in order to brown nose Li Lang's family. What they didn't know was that Lin Huang was merely an acquaintance of Li Lang and not a friend.
However, Lin Huang didn't intend to clarify this point. Those renovation works cost a fortune after all…
He hung up and pretended he never had this conversation. Soon, he started making preparations for Hunter Exam.
As the school holidays just started for Lin Xin, she now had time to have lunch with her brother. After their lunch together, Lin Huang went to the administrative bureau and exchanged the Life Crystal he received from Li Lang, for 100000 credits.
He gave 20000 to Lin Xin and told her " The exam will happen across a span of 10 to 15 days, during this time, you have to take of yourself. Don't be afraid of spending the money, once I've become a reserve hunter, my income will increase."
"You will definitely pass the exam brother!" Lin Xin had absolute confidence in her brother.
Upon reaching the Griffin Station, Lin Huang patted Lin Xin's head before giving her the credits and taking off on his chosen Wind Eagle. Lin Xin stood there watching her brother leave on the Wind Eagle till he was finally out of sight. She finally turned around and left.
As Lin Huang rode the griffin, he marvelled at the wide variety of fantastical monsters in this world.
Griffins possessed the body of a lion and a head of an eagle. Its claws were retractable and boasted an astonishing sprinting and pouncing ability. It's torso rippled with muscles and possessed a monstrous girth. Attached to it was a majestic pair of wings that spanned a maximum of 8m.
This beast not only possessed amazing physical abilities, it had a natural mastery of the wind element, catapulting it to top ranks of the monster world in terms of speed.
The griffin had caused a lot of headaches for mankind hundreds of years ago due to these attributes. They one of the most troublesome low ranked monsters to deal with.
They moved as a flock and because of their frightening explosive power, speed and offensive power, caused substantial damage to the various strongholds. Fortunately, men were nothing if not adaptable. Humans slowly grew accustomed to the griffin's tactics and finally turned the tides. They started taming griffins in large quantities in the recent centuries. By today, the griffin had become the airplane of this world.
The griffin Lin Huang was riding on, while not the largest, was clearly one of the better cared for. Its feathers were sleek and gorgeous. The feathers on its underbelly had a tinge of gold. It was obviously well fed.
Griffins had a cruising speed of 700 km/h and a blistering top speed of 1400. However, it only flew this speed in dire situations.
At those speeds, a human would have difficulty riding the griffin, as special saddles were installed onto the griffins. These saddles were Defense type Equipment which not only secured both the rider and the griffin, but also formed a transparent barrier.
The griffin ride from 7D101 to 7C87 took less than two hours. As he got off the griffin, Lin Huang opened up the map function of his pinkie ring and walked to the Hunter Association's branch.
He soon arrived at the branch. The branch's entrance was packed with people entering and leaving the branch. C Stronghold were medium strongholds. They had a population of at least a million and a Hunter population in the tens of thousands. If you added in visiting hunters from the smaller strongholds and people posting missions, the daily traffic within the Hunter Association's branch office was really high.
As he walked into the branch office, a young lady dressed in an employee's outfit walked up to Lin Huang. " How can I help you, sir?"
"I'm here to participate in the Reserve Hunter Exam." Lin Huang stated his purpose.
"Please follow me." The lady flashed him a thin smile as she led him to one of the meeting rooms. "Please enter."
"Thank you." Lin Huang nodded his head in gratitude and pushed open the doors.
As he entered the room, he was stunned the sheer number of participants. There was over a hundred of them.
There's so many people registering? If that's the case, does that mean there will over a thousand people participating in the exam tomorrow? Lin Huang wondered to himself as he searched for a seat near the back.
Several people entered as he relaxed in his seat. Among them, a fatty sat down near him. He was sitted a seat away on Lin Huang's left side.
The fatty seems to have an outgoing personality as he casually struck up a conversation with Lin Huang with a grin on his face. " Not bad, you passed the preliminary selection without being a BlackIron. Did you rely on your connections?"
"Preliminary selection? You've all finished your registration?" Lin Huang opened his eyes in surprise.
"Of course, how else would we know to gather here before 4 pm, in order to listen to the examiner's explanation." As he said so, a strange look crossed his face. "Brat, don't tell me you came in here without registering?"
"Umm…" However, before Lin Huang could answer this question, The sound of high heels striking the floor echoed from the hallway as it started closing in on the meeting room.
*click clack*
The clicking stopped just in front of the door and a creaking sound, the doors swung open. A lady walked towards the podium. The room instantly quieted down as everyone's gaze was drawn by the lady.
The lady had a mature authoritative air about here. She sported a ponytail and wore a short skirt which showed off her long slender thighs. Strapped to her feet were a pair of stilettos that were close to 20 cm high. Coupled with her natural height of 1.75m, she towered over everyone with her combined height of nearly 2 metres.
However her most grabbing feature wasn't her height but the her tightly wrapped breasts that bounced as she sauntered to the podium. This irresistible sight had many of the men drooling.
Her appearance was nothing short of demonic.
"Demoness Yi Yue Yu sure lives up to her…" the fatty beside Lin Huang commented as drool flowed out of the sides of his mouth. Lin Huang quietly moved to the side to avoid the waterfall.
As the lady stepped onto the podium, her gaze swept over the entire room. While Lin Huang was the only non BlackIron in the room, she didn't single him out but continued with her self-introduction.
"Greeting everyone, my name is Yi Yue Yu, your supervising examiner. There were a total of 133 people who passed the selections. It is now past the appointed time of 4 pm. There are 127 people present and 6 not accounted for. Those 6 are taken to have forfeited the examination."
"I'll now explain the rules of tomorrow's examinations. I'll only say this once, so make sure to pay attention. When I'm talking please keep quiet. If you have any questions, you can ask me after the explanation is over."
"At 8 am tomorrow, everyone will still gather in this meeting room. Latecomers will be disqualified."
"You are not allowed to bring any gear above the rank of BlackIron in your storage spaces. Poisons and other prohibited items aren't allowed. Before the official examination starts, there will be an inspection of your storage spaces. All non-compliant items will be temporarily confiscated. If you have any valuable which you do not wish for us to hold onto, please stash it when you are released later on."
"As for the examination content, it will not be revealed at this time. We will inform you of the contents when we gather tomorrow." Yue Yu gave a concise explanation and scanned the room once more before concluding the briefing. "Does anyone have any questions? Now is the time to ask."
No one dared to speak as everyone started looking around. At the back of the room, a lone hand slowly surfaced among the sea of participants…. That hand belonged to Lin Huang.
"What's your question, Speak Up!" She raised her voice as she lifted Lin Huang's chin.
"Umm… I haven't registered, is it okay if I register now?" Lin Huang meekly replied.
All 127 of the people in the room had a strange look on their face as they heard his reply.