Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 214 (Patreon)

Chapter 214: Sky Lightning, Earth Fire

The Happy Mushrooms are a famed product of the Talmah Mountains. After a thunderstorm, they sprout incessantly like bamboo shoots, growing on the many rock faces of the Talmah Mountains.

It's worth mentioning that, alongside the Happy Mushrooms, the Doom Toads of the Talmah Mountains only appear during thunderstorms. These toads, usually tucked away in the rocky mountains, have incredibly sharp claws that can easily dig through hard stone. They only emerge to mate during thunderstorms, creating a rare spectacle known as "sky lightning, earth fire."

Both the mushrooms and the toads are symbols of the Talmah Mountains, both toxic in nature.

No one has been able to fully understand how Happy Mushrooms continuously grow, nor has any poison hunter been able to fully research their details, including the Doom Toads.

Each year, thousands of people use Happy Mushrooms to commit suicide because eating them allows one to taste happiness just before death.

Ironically, those who seek a happy death find a renewed hope to live due to the mushroom's induced happiness. However, the toxin of the Happy Mushrooms is incurable, and any hope to live further only deepens into despair.

Thus, the Talmah Mountains are also known as "the place where souls return."

The world is full of toxic substances, many of which are undiscovered or incurable. Poison hunters exist for this very reason, and most are skilled pharmacists.

Happy Mushrooms and Doom Toads are among the many challenges that poison hunters wish to solve.

At the foot of the mountain, there are many simple stalls with baskets full of fist-sized mushrooms—the Happy Mushrooms.

Those wishing to commit suicide can directly purchase Happy Mushrooms from these vendors, sold in groups of four, with a limit of four per person.

There is no set price for Happy Mushrooms; they are sold at a "compassion price."

The vendors ask for all of a suicidal person's belongings, even if all they have left is a single coin. The vendors also offer processing services and a courtesy corpse collection service.

This creates a chain of despair-driven commerce, but both buyers and sellers find satisfaction.

At the bustling market at the foot of the mountain, one can see many Happy Mushrooms and many despondent people, but hardly any living or dead Doom Toads.

A slim woman with long black hair, thin lips, and sharp eyes arrives.

The stallholders glance at her and immediately dismiss her as a seeker of death. They've seen too many suicidal people; a single look is enough to discern their intentions, even from those without any expression.

They believe they can see the aura of death emanating from those who seek it.

This sharp-eyed, dark-skinned woman, obviously not there to seek death, stands out conspicuously among the crowd.

Her name is Ge'er.

She is a professional hunter with three occupations: poison expert, coroner, and pharmacist.

Being a poison expert is her main profession; thus, she is a poison hunter and one of the newly appointed members of the Zodiacs of the Hunter Association.

Some people at this place are like her, poison hunters, whether amateur or professional. They mainly come here to find bargains.

The Doom Toad, known to be immune to the toxin of Happy Mushrooms, is rare and appears only during thunderstorms, making it hard to capture even if one tries specifically.

However, the indigenous people living at the foot of the Talmah Mountains never miss a chance during thunderstorms. They possess unique hunting skills and occasionally manage to capture a Doom Toad, which they then sell at auctions.

For poison hunters, Happy Mushrooms are easy to come by, but catching a Doom Toad depends on luck. After every thunderstorm, they come to try their luck at the foot of the mountain.

Among the poison hunters, there's a middle-aged man in a beast-skin jacket who would recognize Luo if he were here.

This man, saved by Luo in the Amarlo Forest during the last Hunter Exam, had once asked Luo if the antidote to the deadly spider venom could be made public. This middle-aged man, an amateur poison hunter who had failed the last Hunter Exam, plans to try again this year.

Ignoring the stares from around, Ge'er wanders the market, leaves straightforwardly without finding any Doom Toads.

Her visit to the Talmah Mountains this time was specifically for the Happy Mushrooms and Doom Toads. Solving these issues would significantly enhance her accomplishments, important for her as a new member of the Zodiacs.

In a valley, muffled thuds are heard occasionally.

"Still too slow!"

Bisky yells as she delivers a spinning kick, sending Luo flying towards the rock wall.

Suddenly, Luo stops mid-air, avoiding further injury.

"Too slow? Your standards are too high! I blocked it."

Luo lands, examining his right arm, which is unscathed.

During the close combat, Luo had

 raised his right arm in time to block Bisky's side-spinning kick.

If the attack and defense value were rated at 100 points, Bisky's kick would have gathered about 70 points of damage, while Luo's hurried defense gathered nearly 70 points of defense on his arm.

He successfully blocked Bisky's kick.

"Do you think a spinning kick was the most appropriate choice just now?" Bisky glares at him.

Luo frowns, recalling their exchange.

Indeed, at that moment, Bisky had a great opportunity to attack. Instead of a spinning kick, which required turning and thus wasted time, a backhand elbow strike would have done less damage but had a higher hit rate due to its speed.

"Did you notice?" Bisky says lightly.

Luo nods seriously, replying, "If it were a backhand elbow, my 'Flow' wouldn't have been quick enough to defend."

"So, were you prepared for that at the time?" Bisky asks.

No...

At that moment, there was no defense prepared, or rather, only offense. But now, thinking back, it was only possible to defend and then look for a chance to counterattack.

Realizing this, Luo shakes his head and says, "No."

Bisky, hands on her hips, adds, "Moreover, you did withstand the damage, but you didn't completely block it. The fact that you were sent flying is proof. The moment you were sent flying was my chance for another attack."

"However, your Nen could negate my chance, improving your error tolerance."

Luo purses his lips, assumes a starting position, and declares solemnly, "Again!"

There's no extra time to reflect during a fight; one must quickly come to the most accurate conclusion. A single misstep can cost one dearly.

This is the importance of instant burst in thinking!

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