>Jack Kingswell
>5,555,555,555,555 Red Orbs
Jack Kingswell.
Everyone knows him, one of the strongest hunters with an SSS rank.
It's said that Jack Kingswell pioneered the Hunter movement when the world was attacked by monsters, though Jack never claimed it.
From what I saw, Jack was indeed old with white hair, but his body was still strong and muscular.
He was even the Hunter with the most Red Orbs in the world.
It seemed like if I snatched 1,000,000 Red Orbs from Jack Kingswell, he wouldn't notice because he already had that many.
But if I snatched orbs from Jack Kingswell, the risk was too high.
I knew he wasn't someone to be fooled, and I had to admit I wasn't yet capable of competing on his level.
His aura of extraordinary power combined with his authority truly made us, the still-weak hunters, look up to Jack Kingswell in awe.
Comparing Jack Kingswell to his grandson, Jason Kingswell, is like comparing the highest heaven to the worst place on earth.
Well, today's class has been enough for me to see Jack Kingswell from afar.
Now I'm going to bed because I'm still very sleepy after training with the Force to Learn Book and the Weight Ball.
I don't care if Estel is still busy teaching my class.
I'd only just closed my eyes for a few minutes when I suddenly heard a sharp, cutting sound of wind aimed at me.
WHOOSH…!
I hadn't even opened my eyes yet, but I'd already dodged the sharp marker Estel had just thrown.
If I'd been a second late, the marker would have landed hard on my forehead.
"You're pretty fast, Theon…" Estel seemed to be preparing another marker to throw at me.
"Should I just leave the classroom? I'm already very sleepy. I want to sleep," I said.
"How dare you leave the classroom while Lord Jack Kingswell is observing? I think I'll have to recommend a fool like you for expulsion from this academy."
"Lord Jack Kingswell is just observing, no need to be so serious."
"You say that as if you already understand all the basic Hunter material. In fact, you've been missing for the past seven days! There's been no report at all to the academy! How many Red Orbs have you collected, huh?!"
"Well… 10,000 Red Orbs in total."
Estel immediately laughed contemptuously, along with Jasson Kingswell and his lackeys.
"This idiot is so proud of being able to collect 10,000 Red Orbs in just seven days! That's the amount I can collect in a single day!" Jasson exclaimed proudly.
Tch, I know Jasson is just boasting without any proof.
Jasson easily gets support from Orbs, Hunter Gear, Hunter Tools, whatever, because he's Jack Kingswell's grandfather.
"…and you still have to collect 950,000 Red Orbs in another month and a half. If I were you, Theon, I'd better resign from this academy right now before I die of shame," Estel sneered.
"There's no need to rush, Mr. Estel. I'm definitely leaving this academy, but as a C-Rank Hunter. I hope I can make sure you leave this hunter academy!"
KNOCK! KNOCK
Feeling irritated, Estel tapped the table with his hand.
He seemed provoked by my rather sharp and scathing words.
"Okay, 'genius,' if you can really graduate from this academy quickly through your own path, try solving this...!"
Estel pointed to a large hologram screen in the classroom.
The screen displayed an image of a C-Rank Elephant Hunter Monster called an Oliphaunt.
If I'm not mistaken, I've read about an Oliphaunt in a Force-to-Learn book, an elephant monster nearly 50 meters tall and weighing almost 70 tons.
With a monster that large, it should be quite a challenge for a Hunter to defeat.
"Give me your best answer, Theon. How did you defeat the Oliphaunt?!" Estel challenged.
I was silent for a moment as I tried to think of a proper answer.
But suddenly, Jasson raised his hand.
"Yes, Jasson Kingswell. Would you like to help me answer? Perhaps your foolish friend needs some help…" Estel said.
"Thank you, Mr. Estel. He seems frozen, afraid his stupidity will be obvious to all of us. If I were the leader of the Raid Hunter team, I would only need one Tanker to distract the Oliphaunt. Then, four long-range invaders would attack each of the Oliphaunt's legs because those legs are the source of its balance. It might take a few days to take it down, but once the Oliphaunt's balance is gone and it falls, I will mobilize my entire Raid team to finish it off!"
Everyone listening seemed impressed by Jasson's explanation.
Estel smiled with satisfaction, as Jasson was one of his favorite students.
"Good job, Jasson! Brilliant answer! Did you see that, Theon? This is what a Hunter who will become a leader looks like. A leader always thought far ahead on a major problem and identified critical points that needed to be addressed to resolve it! And you? You're still thinking too much without a solution! You're making the problem even bigger!" Estel said contemptuously.
Both Estel and Jason wanted to embarrass me in this class, in front of the students, especially in front of Lord Jack Kingswell.
Aveline suddenly raised her hand, which Estel immediately gave her the opportunity to express her opinion.
"Mr. Estel, it seems unfair to force Theon to explain about the Oliphaunt. I'm sure he learned it on his own. If you don't believe me, you can see that Ashwick Village was successfully cleared after he and I hunt down the E-Rank and D-Rank monsters there."
Aveline defended me, showing me the projection screen displayed on her Watch Hunter.
Everyone was shocked; they didn't seem to expect me to be among the top contributing hunters in the Ashwick Village mission.
Estel cleared his throat for a moment, "Ah… of course we should appreciate his efforts. But if Aveline's saying it, it seems like the biggest hunter contributor is Aveline, not Theon. Theon's probably just using the name to appear famous."
Damn it, this jerk still doesn't believe it.
"Mr. Estel is right. Anyone can complete a village mission full of E-Rank Wolf-type Monsters like that," Jasson said dismissively.
"Theon finished it alone in the first six days. You think you can do it alone without all your minions and expensive hunter gear, Jasson?" Cassie challenged sharply.
"Cassie…! W-what the hell are you doing…?! Why are you defending that bastard Theon?!" Jasson couldn't stand it.
"Okay, enough everyone," I quickly ended the argument before it escalated.
I stood up and pointed at the screen displaying the Oliphant.
"If I were facing that Oliphant, I could finish it myself."
Everyone was shocked, their attention immediately focused on me.
"Impossible! Only an ignorant fool could make such a claim! You need a Raid Team!" Jason exclaimed, finding my words absurd.
"You seem to have forgotten that Oliphant can't see up clearly in short range. Besides, it's clear from the screen that they're in an area where quicksand is present," I said, pointing to the projector Estel was projecting.
Estel and Jason looked shocked.
I knew they'd missed a crucial point.
"Quicksand in this monster-filled world is even more vicious than usual. I only need one Hunter's Dagger to slash an Oliphant's eye, causing it to go berserk and wreak havoc on the crowd. Last time I saw it, a Hunter Raid Team was nearly trampled to death by a rampaging Oliphant among the crowd. Once they're rampaging, they won't be aware of the quicksand around them. We just have to wait for them to fall into it, and then the Orbs will be ours."
The hunters were immediately stunned into silence by my explanation.
They couldn't refute it because my explanations were in line with the basic monster knowledge I'd been reading all day in the Force-to-Learn Book.
"N-No way...! Y-Your solution is too grandiose, Theon! I-"
CLAP! CLAP!
Suddenly, there was applause from behind, and it was Jack Kingswell entering the classroom himself.
He smiled broadly as he looked at me with satisfaction.
"What a creative answer, kid. You don't waste a lot of Hunter's Tools, you need a lot of Hunters, you just have to wait and be patient, and the Oliphant will be wiped out by themselves. I like that kind of strategy," Jack praised.
"G-Grandpa...! Why are you praising him?! His method doesn't make sense! It's not feasible!" Jason remained adamant.
"Your method is too standard, Jason. Deploying Hunters within the team, then moving around wastes a lot of energy and time. It's possible, but that method takes too long," Jack retorted.
"Um, Lord Jack Kingswell, maybe what Theon said sounds creative, but as Jason said, a creative method isn't necessarily feasible and—"
"Feasible, I think. Besides, Theon's method increases our awareness of survival, because often we focus too much on hunting one type of monster, like an Oliphant, but forget that other monsters are present in the same area. If we can minimize our energy and attention to defeating one monster, then we can focus on the others that might be lurking and ready to attack."
"B-but, um, that method—"
"Estel! How long have you been teaching at this academy? If you continue to teach these new hunters with your rigid and uncreative methods, then you will be responsible for the deaths of young hunters because they can't implement what they've learned over the past two years."
Estel fell silent after being reprimanded quite harshly by Jack.
What an annoying class and teacher.
Luckily, Jack Kingswell came to my rescue.
Maybe I can continue to my sleep, because damn I'm so sleepy right now.