According to the document Kael read earlier in his sister's husband's office, there were hunters who had been given special gifts. One of them had the gift to control and read minds.
This, right here, was the ability to control the minds of the monsters living inside the dungeon.
Kael's expression turned serious as he watched the beasts attack each other. They tore at each other's flesh and devoured the innards of the other monsters until they finally died at one another's hands.
It was a grotesque and horrifying sight.
The worst part involved the boss monster. The other A grade monsters turned toward it and attacked simultaneously. They bit into large chunks of the boss monster's flesh. At first, the boss managed to withstand the assault and heavily injure the beasts that tried to attack it.
But even then, the A grade monsters continued to move as if they felt no pain. Their mouths were covered in the boss monster's blood, yet they kept attacking relentlessly even when they had lost a leg or suffered massive wounds in their stomachs.
In the end, the boss monster could no longer fight and became a feast for the A grade monsters. Once it died, the remaining beasts turned on each other and continued attacking until none of them were left alive.
When every monster on the surface had died, the ground suddenly began to shake. Ezekiel was then attacked by a raging burst of fire that came from an unknown source.
Ezekiel reacted quickly. He pulled the dagger from the ground and used it to split the incoming fire in half.
Kael now understood why he had felt an intense heat pass over his shoulder earlier. Ezekiel must have noticed him shivering behind him and immediately took out a potion and poured it on him.
That must have been where the cool sensation came from.
The second boss monster resurfaced. It immediately dodged Ezekiel, who was about to use his ability to control, and then dove back underground.
This must be the limitation of Ezekiel's gift. If he cannot see the living being in front of him, he cannot control its mind. That explains why he used his dagger to summon all the monsters first so he could see them before issuing the command for them to kill each other.
The first boss monster that appeared later was not part of the beasts he had controlled. So he must have used the A grade monsters to kill it instead.
Based on these events, Kael was able to infer two things about Ezekiel's gift. First, he must see the target he wants to control before his ability takes effect. Second, the target must hear his command before he can take control of their mind.
The first option was clearly proven during the fight with the second boss. However, there was still too little evidence to fully support the second option.
Kael wondered if Ezekiel's gift would work on him.
He did not want to test it, but if it failed to affect him, that would also become a disadvantage.
Because Ezekiel would immediately realize that he was also a gifted hunter.
And the possibility of Ezekiel realizing he is Kael becomes high.
And if his older brother finds out…
Kael forced himself to stop thinking about that possibility.
He immediately ended the rewound space and everything returned to normal.
When he opened his messages, he saw that the Guild Master had sent him another assignment.
This time it was another restoration job that he needed to complete the day after tomorrow.
"Do not come to the guild base for the next few days. That S class hunter might show up here and try to kidnap you. By the way, for this week we only have three requests coming in for you. The first one is this. Please go to this location the day after tomorrow."
"The owner requested that his demolished building be restored. He reported that the empty lot used to be a warehouse. He had not been using it and had left it empty for the past few months. But last week he visited the warehouse with his employees to see if they could use the area to build a small factory for their company."
"However, when they arrived, they were shocked to see that the interior had been destroyed beyond repair. The building itself was falling apart and nothing inside remained intact. Instead of spending money on construction materials and workers, the owner thought it would be better to hire a hunter who could restore the place to its original condition. So he contacted us."
"I want you to take it easy, which is why I accepted this job."
Kael let out a light laugh.
What was this guy doing? Since when did he start considering Kael's situation?
Before this, whenever a restoration request came in, the Guild Master accepted it immediately without even asking whether Kael could still handle more work.
Each day Kael will cater five to six restoration job requests. But now there are only three? And it was only for this week? Kael did not hesitate to call this bald guy and demand an explanation.
"Hey Guild Master, what is going on? Why are there so few requests coming in?"
Kael did not even bother greeting him. He asked his question directly.
"Oh, Clyde. It is because the Hunter Association released a public statement saying that Hunter Clyde will be taking things easy after his one week rest."
Kael frowned in confusion.
"Huh? What does that have to do with us?"
Luther sighed on the other end of the line.
"The Hunter Association sent us an official letter ordering us to follow this arrangement strictly. In the first week, you are only allowed to take three simple restoration jobs. In the second week, it will increase to five. Then you will return to your normal workload in the third week."
"And by the way, you can expect fewer restoration requests caused by dungeon explosions in the coming weeks."