A Dragon Among The Stars

Meeting the team

Huang Jie was pleased with Kiel's enthusiasm and couldn't help but smile. He felt that the Yang Chen he was seeing right now was different than the stories he heard and now had a faint resemblance with his father, the Yang Tianmeng he knew since they were young. Huang Shi couldn't help but remember those times and admire how time has passed.

He complimented "Now that's the spirit!" before looking at his son and continued. "Son, I expect this hunt to be more dangerous than the past hunts you took. It won't be just demon beast you'll be taking on but also other hunting teams. A lot of them from all over Yenmen and it's neighboring provinces. Now go prepare and take Yang Chen to the armory and get him properly equipped. "

Huang Shi nodded and said to Kiel. "Come, let's go."

Kiel nodded before taking a bow towards Huang Jie and said "Thank you uncle! I won't forget your advices"

Huang Jie laughed and smilingly said "There's no need for that boy. If you wanna thank me then do your best to improve. Don't worry about other people say, you're not trash as other people say."

Kiel felt warm in his heart and smiled and thank Huang Jie again before leaving with Huang Shi towards the armory. Along the way Kiel had observed that Huang Shi seems to be admired by a lot of people. They would greet Huang Shi warmly and Huang Shi would be the same. Kiel thought to himself 'I guess he's quite friendly and close with all the people here.'

They got into the armory and inside where various people dress in red clothing. Some were checking the stocks of equipment, checking their qualities. Weapons, armors and other types of equipment were going in and out of the armory.

Huang Shi led Kiel to a group. There were men and women, varying from different ages. Each one of them was fully equipped with high quality armors and weapons. Kiel could feel the pressure coming from them. All of them were cultivators of the foundation stage.

One of them was a tan skinned man that seems to be in his mid twenties. He was leisurely sitting and playing with his daggers. He noticed the two as they went inside the armory, he couldn't help but be curious about the boy behind their squad leader but nevertheless, he stood up, the others also followed suit and each greeted Huang Shi.

Huang Shi smilingly nodded and greeted back and introduced Kiel.

"This is Yang Chen, you must be curious why he's with me. I know some of you have already guessed and yes, he'll be part of our team during this time's hunt."

The tan skinned couldn't help but say "Are you sure Cap? He's just a kid in the 10 stage of body refinement. It would be fine it was any other time, but this time is different."

Huang Shi only smiled and explained. "You don't have to worry. This time our team will only be responsible for the demon beast on the sideline. The hall has already sent the higher level teams in advance to cope with the increasing numbers of hunting teams joining the fray."

The tan skinned man only smirked, seemingly dissatisfied, he said "So this time we're nothing but a side dish huh?"

Huang Shi only laughed and nodded his head. Seems like he was already used to this man's attitude. He then introduced each one of his teammates to Kiel.

The tan skinned man was name Jin Lang. He's considered to be the eyes and ears of the team, responsible for reconnaissance and intel gathering. He seems to be someone who's fond of daggers as Kiel could see a lot of daggers equip in different parts of his body, most of them in his belt.

One is a burly man named Man Liangji. A perfect example of strong man. He was big and his body full of muscles. He was heavily equipped with two one handed axe in his back. He's known as the team's juggernaut for the skills he cultivated, namely Iron Bull, which makes his body as strong as iron and his vitality and stamina like that of a demon bull. In Kiel's words, A well done meat shield.

Two of them were women, twins to be precise. Li Ying and Li Feixian. They look exactly the same, from the clothes they wear to the the bearings they have. If it wasn't for their different hair styles, it would be difficult to tell who's who from the two of them. They were once orphans until they were found to be talented in the art of fire and was then taken in by an elder belonging to the hall. Since then they were trained in the art of Scorch tactics. The people often called them Scorch Maidens for the destruction and chaos they bring to the battle.

And the last one is name Cheng Chao. He always had a smile when talking to others. He had the same disposition as Huang Shi. He's a swordsman from the two swords hanging from his waist. What took Kiel's attention the most is the metallic wolf beside him. This wolf is what they call mechanical beast. The wolf's height was tall as the waist of an average human. The hair on its body was so realistic and even its movements was no different from a living wolf.

Some mechanical beast were made for battle while some were used to help people with their work, works like constructions or pulling things like carriages. From his memories, this wolf is considered to be a battle type, and high grade too.

Huang Shi turned to Kiel and said. "You'll be satisfied with quality of our weapons and armors here. Our smiths here are considered to be one of the best across Yenmen. Though it is not up to par with the products produced by the Armament Forge, but its still enough.

Kiel looked around and saw different kinds of weapons to armors. From his knowledge, he could tell that they were all made with high quality.

Kiel was hooked on the craftsmanship of each armament. From his memories, Yang Chen adored the way of the sword just like his father but he was having second thoughts as a spear would be a safer option for him. Since spears have a longer reach and would give him an advantage when fighting against beast.

After all, Kiel was intimidated from the stories he heard. Demon beast were more powerful than any ordinary cultivator. They could rip throats like they were ordinary materials. especially since he was just a someone who's in the body refinement realm.

In the end, he decided to stick with swords since after all, Yang Chen was proficient in the usage of swords. it would be more dangerous to face an enemy with a weapon one barely knew.

having looked around, he found a decent sword. It was more than 100 cm. from its looks and the way how hot it is, Kiel could tell that this is a fire attributed weapon. Its the perfect pair given Kiel's current cultivation technique, the "Way of the Sun God". Sun's Claw was its name from the description it had, it had its name from the materials that used to create it. Claws and fangs that came from a Sun lion. Once it matures it could be a Grade 5 fire attributed beast. It is mostly known for its reddish mane that makes this golden lion that if viewed upfront would resemble a burning sun.

Huang shi approached Kiel, seeing the reddish sword his was holding. He said. "You know this weapon is popular with cultivators who practice fire based techniques. This sword is made from a grade 2 beast. So it's Man grade weapon. Since you like it, you can take it."

Kiel knew that a there different grades when it comes to quality, be it a weapon, armor, mechanicals and even sky-ships. They were mainly Standard, Man, Earth and Sky, and Mythic. Each grade is further divided by Lower, Middle, Higher tiers. The past Yang Chen knew that there higher higher than Mythic grade but he didn't know what it was called.

The grade of the weapon he had in the past was a higher Standard, which was mostly used by body refinement and non cultivators. This Lower grade weapon is more than enough considering his current realm.

"Then I wouldn't mind taking it. Thank you!, Huang Shi" Kiel bowed and and clasped his hands.

Huang Shi waved his hands and said with a smile. "There's no need to be formal. Call us your brother and sisters! "

Kiel was thankful and called out "Thanks brother Huang"

Huang Shi just laughed while patting Kiel's shoulder. "Good! Good! from now on you're part of the family."

Kiel couldn't help but snicker in his mind. ' Sure enough they're father and son! Be careful of the pat! My poor body might not be able to take it!'