"What!?"
The moment Brown recognized the face, his eyes widened so much it seemed like they might pop out.
At that instant, shock, confusion, anger, and fear—countless complex emotions collided in Brown's mind, making him feel dizzy!
"It's you, Ed!"
Brown's voice was completely drowned out by the roar of the countless spectators below.
"My God, the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association lost?"
"Are you telling me that Brown lost to this unknown young man? Can someone tell me who he is?"
Neither the high-ranking officials nor the Hunters could have ever anticipated this outcome.
Meanwhile, on the center stage, Brown, who had already collapsed on the ground, was being completely ignored.
He stared intently at Ed, still struggling to suppress his shock.
Ed, on the other hand, was looking at his old classmate, whose face bore a scar.
In a deep voice, he said, "If you go back, remember to pass on a message to the others, especially Arya."
"I'm back."
With that, Ed turned to leave the stage.
The host stopped him, his face filled with excitement. "Hold on, Mr. Hunter, may I ask your name?"
Undoubtedly, someone so young who had defeated Brown would make a huge impact on the audience!
"Ed." Ed said calmly.
The crowd below was stunned.
"Ed!"
Everyone repeated the name, committing it to memory, while Ed had already left the stage.
The host quickly asked Ed to leave an address, assuring him that the organizers would send his reward to him. Ed provided the address of his hotel.
After that, he turned to leave, but just as he reached the door, someone called out to him.
"Hey, young man!"
Ed heard the voice, turned around, and was surprised to find it was Henry.
Henry's face was bruised and battered, but he was smiling. He stopped Ed not for anything else, but to offer a compliment:
"I didn't expect you to be so impressive. You're amazing!"
"By the looks of it, you probably don't have an association yet, right? How about considering joining ours?"
With that, Henry handed Ed a piece of paper with an address on it.
Ed thought for a moment before accepting it without rejecting the offer.
Soon, it was getting late. After all, daylight only lasted five hours!
So by the time the match ended, the sun was nearly set!
Ed noticed that the bustling streets were starting to quiet down. The number of pedestrians was visibly decreasing at that moment.
"Damn, it's getting dark! The poisonous moon is about to rise!"
"Quick, get home and hide!"
The pedestrians were rushing in panic, those who had already reached home looked relieved, while those still far from home had anxious expressions.
However, Ed noticed that not everyone was in a hurry. Some other high-ranking officials who had just exited the banquet seemed completely unfazed.
As soon as they exited the banquet, the servants immediately handed over the Nightcloaks. Ed had seen one of these back in the village, but this one was much finer!
After putting on the Nightcloak, the dignitaries calmly made their way to the luxurious carriages that shielded them from the moonlight.
They excitedly discussed the thrilling match they had just witnessed.
"It seems that once you're in the city, things become a lot more complicated," Ed muttered to himself, but didn't have time to observe much.
With nightfall upon him, he had to hurry back to meditate and train.
"Today is the first time I've taken revenge against this group of classmates."
"In the end, I will make that team leader, Arya, pay the price!"
"Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association, huh? I'll remember that!"
With these thoughts in mind, Ed felt a sense of urgency.
First of all, he still didn't know just how powerful the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association, especially its leader, really was.
Secondly, now that he had taken the first step, he needed to quickly improve his strength!
Ed returned to Uncle Du's inn.
"Mr. Ed, you're back! Come have dinner!"
Uncle Du was sitting at a table with Viktor, enjoying his meal, and greeted Ed enthusiastically as soon as he saw him.
But Ed waved his hand. "Thanks, Uncle Du, but I've already eaten."
Ed smiled slightly, then entered his room. In twenty minutes, the moon would rise.
He let out a deep breath, calmed his mind, and prepared for meditation.
One minute later, the door to his room opened.
It was Viktor, holding a newspaper and grinning excitedly.
"Hunter! Hunter! I was walking around the city today and got tons of key information!"
Ed wasn't in a rush and was prepared to listen.
But Viktor, who was visiting the city for the first time, rambled on endlessly about his sightseeing experiences, most of which were completely useless.
Ed furrowed his brows. "Can you say something useful? Do you have any actual key information?"
"Oh, right, right, right." Viktor finally stopped his endless chatter and then said.
"I heard today that a Hunter competition was held in the center of Dorey City! The participants were all elite Hunters from various associations!"
"And the champion was none other than Brown from the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association! I've heard that this association is extremely powerful, though I don't know much about it yet, but anyway, it's really strong!"
"But guess what? Such a powerful association was actually defeated today by a young challenger! I don't even know which association the challenger is from!"
Viktor was speaking with great excitement, his words pouring out rapidly!
All of this was incredibly thrilling to him, especially the mysterious young challenger, which made him even more excited and full of wonder!
"Especially that mysterious young man! So many prestigious associations were defeated, yet he stunned the entire crowd!"
"I heard that he's even younger than me. It seems that becoming a Hunter doesn't necessarily require years of hard training. I might have a chance!"
Ed watched as Viktor was about to start daydreaming, unable to resist interrupting:
"You mean the challenge match at the banquet? How do you know about all of this?"
"Did you go too?" Ed asked, his brow furrowing.
Then, Viktor pulled a newspaper from behind him.
"No, I found out from the newspaper. I was actually planning to go, but those damn guards stopped me!"
"Had no choice but to leave."
Hearing this, Ed chuckled and said casually:
"Is that so? Next time, just give my name when you go."
"Tell them you're my friend, and they'll definitely let you in!"
Viktor laughed. "Is that so? Hunter, alright, I'll give it a try next time."
Viktor said this without really taking it seriously because he thought Ed was just joking.
Before coming to the city, the only Hunter Viktor had interacted with was Ed, so naturally, he held Ed in the highest regard, thinking of him as someone untouchably powerful.
But now, after entering the city and hearing so many stories about Hunters, his perception of Ed's status began to change.
He no longer thought of Ed as so extraordinary.
"Alright, I'm going to sleep. You should leave now."
Ed could see that the moon was about to rise, so he waved for Viktor to leave.
"Next time, if you manage to gather any information about the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association, let me know." Ed added.
"Got it!" Viktor exited quickly and closed the door behind him.
Once outside, Viktor's mood immediately darkened.
The long night felt unbearable. He didn't like how the nights seemed so long. He could hardly wait for the daylight to break so he could head out again!
But for now, he had to stay at home for nearly twenty hours.
...
Inside the room, Ed was sitting cross-legged on the bed, already deep into his meditation.
For most people, the long night would be torturous, but for him, it was a delight!
The energy from the moonlight pouring through the window was constantly being absorbed into his body.
[Progress to Black Iron Level Breakthrough: 50%]
[Moonstone Runes: 18]
Ed looked at the silver runes on his right middle finger. There were now a total of eighteen silver runes.
Since there were so many runes, they had already started spreading toward the palm of his hand and even other fingers.
"Not bad, I can feel so much power building up inside me, it's surging!"
Ed felt a surge of excitement and also curiosity. Could it be that the number of Moonstone runes could accumulate infinitely?
If that's the case, he really wanted to see just how strong the power would become as it accumulated over time!
Finally, after a long night, eighteen hours of meditation passed.
Ed's progress increased to 52%.
And four more runes appeared.
Morning had arrived!
"It's time to go out." Ed got up and walked out of his room.