Finniel Morton and her party were slowly making their way towards Dorey City, following their planned route.

For the ordinary residents of Dorey City, however, this period felt no different from usual. The spread of the infectious disease among the warhorses was growing more severe. On top of that, the recent fire at the pharmacy in the City Lord's Mansion, along with the Hurricane Horsewalk, had dealt another blow to the warhorse industry.

In the past, one could see various warhorses coming and going at the four city gates of Dorey City, non-stop. Now, at a single gate, only a dozen or so warhorses would pass in a whole day.

No one seemed to realize how abnormal this situation was. If an unimaginable danger were to suddenly strike Dorey City, the majority of the residents would be unable to leave quickly and escape the peril.

Ed understood everything clearly, but he had no good solutions. He had already inquired with Melissa, but even she had no way to solve the warhorse epidemic.

At this point, even if Melissa spent a great deal of time developing a cure for the warhorse disease, it would be impossible to restore all of Dorey City's warhorses to health in a short amount of time.

Ed stood at the entrance of the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association, holding the reins of his warhorse Lightning as he walked slowly with a downcast expression. As he walked, some Hunters passing by whispered to each other when they saw him:

"Look, isn't that Ed? I wonder if he's feeling any better after the last time when he thought the vice-captain was a monster."

"Why care? The big shots from Holy City are coming to Dorey City soon, and President Arya will be back. We should be careful these days; if we get on the wrong side of President Arya, it'll be a disaster!"

"True. I heard from other members of the Hunter associations in the city that they plan to dispatch a group of powerful Hunters from all the associations for security work. But it seems like Vice-Captain Reve has completely forgotten about it."

"Yeah, it's such a rare opportunity. Who knows, maybe while handling security, they'll catch the eye of the big shots from Holy City?"

"Dream on!"

Ed listened to the murmurs from afar, his face expressionless. He had already made up his mind about his next steps. Everything would truly begin once Finniel Morton arrived at the small town outside Dorey City.

In the meantime, he had the opportunity to seek out Toronto, Ford, and Jade. The three of them were still putting on a performance, trying to keep Reve's guard down as much as possible.

Besides that, it seemed that Jade had made some new progress in his investigation into Reve, and he was likely to find a way to meet with Ed in the evening to report on his findings.

As Ed was thinking about his next steps, he made his way back to his room. Tonight, if he could continue his meditation technique training with the help of moonlight, he would be able to improve his strength and break through from a Silver level low-tier Hunter to a Silver level mid-tier Hunter.

This progress was happening much faster than he had anticipated. The main reason for this was that Melissa had proactively sought him out in the evening. Otherwise, it would have taken him several more days to reach the Silver level mid-tier Hunter rank.

With this thought in mind, Ed couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation. He hoped his luck would be better, that he could not only gain rewards but also be able to use his newfound strength in the upcoming crisis in Dorey City.

At that moment, there was a knock on Ed's room door. He immediately walked over and opened it.

Melissa, her face weary, handed Ed another protective scroll. Weakly, she said, "All the materials for making the protective scrolls are used up. This is the last one."

"Ed, how's your progress? Do you still need me to come find you tonight?"

Ed looked at Melissa, noticing the deep dark circles under her eyes. He shook his head and replied, "No need, you should rest as well."

Upon hearing Ed's answer, Melissa sighed with relief, but her tone held a hint of reproach. "It's all your fault. You always take so long. My leg muscles are sore, and my back hurts too."

Ed scratched the back of his head, oblivious that prolonging their sessions might backfire.

With Melissa's protective scroll, Ed's preparations were even more thorough. He quickly thought of something and asked Melissa, "By the way, you need to make sure your pet can move around, right? There's no problem, is there?"

Melissa waved her hand reassuringly. "Don't worry, everything will be fine."

Soon, Melissa returned to her room, but Ed continued to think about her pet.

He remembered when Melissa had mentioned that Reve had gone to consult other sorcerers, trying to uncover the truth behind the one-eyed death.

Melissa's pet was a blue falcon named Blue, which was extremely intelligent. It could monitor others based on Melissa's orders. Recently, the intelligence and reports passed on by Jade were all relayed to Ed through Blue.

And, when necessary, Melissa could temporarily take over Blue's consciousness and control it.

Blue was an incredibly important part of Ed's plan, and there was absolutely no room for error.

Ed knew all too well that when Finniel Morton and her group arrived at the small town outside Dorey City, Reve's full attention would be focused on him, ensuring that no accidents occurred.

Meeting Finniel Morton, however, would not be an easy task. After all, the Parasitic Serpent Monster, Vil, was likely to be parasitizing Duke Morton, controlling him from within.

Therefore, Ed had to use other methods to ensure that Finniel Morton saw the recording stone, ideally without Vil, Reve, or the enemies hiding in the shadows noticing anything unusual.

This not only would prevent a crisis in Dorey City but also present the opportunity to finally destroy Vil once and for all!

With this thought in mind, Ed took a deep breath and whispered to himself, "Vil, since you dared to target a Gold level Hunter, your strength must have increased significantly, but I will seize any chance to burn you to ashes!"

Time passed quickly as Ed waited in anticipation, and soon, it was night. The moon rose into the sky, casting a cold, silvery light.

Just as Ed was about to begin his training with the Moonlight Meditation Technique, the sound of two cuckoo calls echoed from outside the window.

Then, Melissa's window slowly creaked open, and a blue figure shot into the sky at an incredible speed.

Ed waited silently for a moment, and under the crack of his door, a thin envelope appeared without a sound.

After Blue took the envelope, it was only about ten heartbeats before Melissa's window was shut again.

It was clear that Melissa's pet, Blue, was certainly smarter than the warhorse Lightning. Ed couldn't help but wonder what breed of blue falcon it was. Perhaps, in the future, Ed might also want to have a pet like that for himself.

Opening the letter, Ed quickly scanned its contents, letting out a silent sigh.

No wonder Reve wanted all the people of Dorey City dead. The bastard blamed his tragic fate, as well as his mother's death, entirely on the residents of Dorey City.

If Jade's investigation was correct, Reve was not truly human. He was a hybrid of monster and human, considered an omen of misfortune.

Much like the hybrid warhorse Lightning, most hybrid species never live to adulthood. Only a rare few hybrids manage to grow, and Reve was one of those extremely rare exceptions.

Having never looked like a normal human from the moment he was born, Reve's body was covered in monstrous hair and he had a terrifying appearance.

He was regarded by the residents of Dorey City as an omen of misfortune and disaster, frequently subjected to beatings, insults, and being driven away. Throughout this ordeal, only Anthony's father had offered Reve a helping hand, allowing Reve and his mother to live in an abandoned factory warehouse.

Sadly, just when things seemed to be improving, a group of drunken Dorey City residents set fire to the warehouse one night, attempting to burn Reve alive.

When the fire was finally extinguished, only Reve's mother's body was found, and Reve was nowhere to be seen.

Looking at the intelligence collected by Jade, Ed didn't know what to say.

The drunkards who had set the fire that night had already been killed by Reve. However, the deaths of just a few people were far from enough to satisfy Reve. What he wanted now was for all of Dorey City's residents to die.

Whether they were the ones who had mocked him, beaten him, or driven him away, or those who had nothing to do with his tragedy, he didn't want to spare any of them.

Ed could not understand this at all. If Reve were seeking revenge only against those who had caused his suffering, Ed would not stop him. In fact, he would applaud the notion of justice—he would believe that good and evil would be repaid in kind.

Because, if Ed had faced the same circumstances, he would have done the same.

But to direct his hatred at all of Dorey City's residents was pure madness.

No wonder Reve had said that the monster Vil had helped him.

Taking a deep breath, Ed tried to push thoughts of Reve from his mind. He looked up at the moonlight outside the window, and without hesitation, he began his meditation technique training, using the moonlight to enhance his strength.

If he wanted to prevent the tragedy from happening, the best way—under the condition that he couldn't change the world or the others—was to focus on improving his own abilities.

Only by doing so could he prevent the tragedy from unfolding.

Staring at the information prompt in front of him, Ed slowly closed his eyes.

[Progress towards breaking through to Silver level mid-tier: 97%]

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.