"Mr. Akira, is this also your Nen beast?!"
Looking at the large dog beside him, whose every breath seemed to release a wave of scorching heat, Satotz eyelids couldn't help but twitch uncontrollably.
This Nen beast exuded an inexplicable sense of authority. Even just standing next to it made Satotz feel a bit intimidated. Even his running posture became slightly uncoordinated for a moment.
What Satotz didn't know was that this was one of Arcanine inherent traits.
Intimidatate!
Even without deliberately activating it, Arcanine every movement naturally radiated an intimidating aura!
But at this moment, Satotz was more concerned about something else...
Wasn't the Nen beast displayed at the Moros Ruins already the full extent of his abilities?!
This raised a terrifying question—just how many Nen beasts does he have?!
Satotz felt that Akira was like an endless treasure chest, constantly revealing things that left him in shock.
His strength was unfathomable, as if no one could ever force Mr. Akira to fully display his power...
In Satotz perception, this fluffy, sprinting dog's aura was far stronger than his own!
"Yes, it's called Arcanine. It's my mount. Isn't it adorable?" As he spoke, Akira placed both hands on the fluffy head of the Arcanine and vigorously rubbed it.
The texture was absolutely top-notch!
"Woof, woof!" Feeling its master touch, the Arcanine barked happily, with faint sparks escaping from its mouth. Its fluffy and majestic tail wagged like a drum.
Satotz felt that being around Akira made shock a regular occurrence. By now, he was almost numb to it... Compared to the surprise brought by the Arcanine, Satotz no longer found it shocking that Akira wasn't a hunter.
That's right.
Earlier, Satotz had been surprised in front of everyone because of this very fact—he hadn't expected that Akira wasn't even a hunter yet! Just like Menchi before him, Satotz had assumed that someone as powerful as Akira must already be a hunter.
That's why he was so shocked to encounter Akira during the Hunter Exam.
"By the way, Mr. Akira, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
"Hmm?"
It turned out that after Pyon and Satotz jointly reported Akira deeds, the Hunter Association had drafted a recognition of Akira achievements. Akira accomplishments up to now included.
Eliminating the Postmortem Nen at the Harimu Ruins, known as the "Land of Death"!
Eradicating the Postmortem Nen within the Moros Ruins!
Eliminating two members of the S-class criminal organization "Seven Deadly Sins"—Envy and Wrath!
These achievements are undeniably remarkable!
As a result, the Hunter Association has formulated rewards for Akira based on these accomplishments!
Especially his contribution in removing the lingering Nen from the Harimu Ruins, which stands out as the most significant among the three feats!
For the field of ruins, this is undoubtedly an extremely major contribution! How significant is it? So significant that the Association directly broke protocol to promote Akira to a Two-Star Ruins Hunter!
Normally, for an ordinary hunter to become a One-Star Hunter, they must make a significant contribution in a specific field. If you are already a One-Star Hunter, you must then mentor and train another hunter to become a One-Star Hunter before you can be promoted to a Two-Star Hunter. But there are always exceptions!
Akira contributions were substantial enough for the Association to bypass the usual rules and directly elevate him to the prestigious rank of Two-Star Ruins Hunter!
In the original story, Morel, for instance, was promoted directly from a One-Star Hunter to a Three-Star Hunter due to his outstanding performance in the Chimera Ant extermination mission!
It's worth noting that "Ging," one of the world's top five Nen users, is also a Two-Star Ruins Hunter. However, according to Akira estimation, Ging contributions should be sufficient to qualify him as a Three-Star Hunter.
It's just that he doesn't care about such titles and hasn't reported his achievements. These titles don't really mean much, true strength is what matters!
Akira promotion to Two-Star Ruins Hunter might also have been influenced by the Association desire to win him over.
A Nen Exorcist of his caliber, unparalleled in history, is someone they must befriend!
In the world of Nen users, Nen Exorcists are incredibly important. A Nen Exorcist who can effortlessly remove lingering Nen from a ruin is infinitely more valuable!
With the Two-Star Ruins Hunter title already secured, the remaining reward seems a bit less impressive. Yet, it's still an honor that countless hunters strive for their entire lives—the title of One-Star Bounty Hunter! This was the reward for eliminating Wrath and Envy!
This outcome was somewhat unexpected for Akira, but after a moment of thought, it made sense. Eliminating one-third of the members of an S-class criminal organization is indeed a significant contribution in the field of bounty hunting.
Criminals of this caliber are at least A-class, and very few can take them down.
There's also a hidden threat. The remaining members of the organization won't just let this slide, retaliation is inevitable!
Killing one or two isn't particularly difficult, but facing the entire organization's revenge is another matter! In the original story, Silva Zoldyck, the head of the Zoldyck family, accepted a contract to kill a member of the Phantom Troupe.
This led to retaliation from the Troupe, and while it wasn't a major issue given his strength, it's safe to say that the job ended up being a loss.
The Zoldyck family has a peculiar principle, they believe everyone has a price, and as long as you can pay it, they'll take the job. If the target's strength exceeds their own, they'll deliberately quote an exorbitant price, effectively rejecting the contract.
To them, killing is purposeful, and every mission is goal-oriented—they kill only the target. If it's not necessary, they won't kill anyone else. In their view, you've only paid for the target; killing others would be a loss.
The employer only paid for the assassination of one member of the Phantom Troupe, but in the end, Silva faced retaliation from the entire group, which naturally resulted in a loss.
Since that incident, the entire Zoldyck family has significantly increased the price for missions involving the Phantom Troupe.
In a way, this is the benefit of "favoritism"—others will think twice before taking action.
So, Akira, the one-star bounty hunter, truly earned his title without any exaggeration!