The Mech Touch

What struck Ves and his children was not just the ostentatious ivy-covered buildings that proudly displayed a large variety of large exobeast skulls.

It was also the colonists and visitors that traversed the dirt roads that compromised the streets of this settlement.

It was easy enough to distinguish the long-time residents of Ocanon VI from its foreign tourists.

The latter were dressed in a similar fashion to the Larkinsons. They all wore fairly modern smart clothing, and even if they adopted the style of more traditional adventurers, their outfits still looked way too pristine to earn the recognition of genuine hunters.

Of course, that did not mean that these casual tourists and hunters received open looks of disapproval.

Hunting was an expensive activity. The bigger the prey, the less affordable it became!

Ocanon Vi's economy heavily relied on tourism to maintain a positive balance of payments. The local hunters simply wouldn't be able to indulge in their passion so frequently if not for all of the money flowing from the outside.

The Ocanon System did not have any other industries worth mentioning. The only other businesses that could generate a large amount of money were the various research institutions that thoroughly studied the alien flora and fauna in the hopes of researching new medicines and valuable organic materials.

Nonetheless, tourists were almost completely ignored even if they were slightly more famous and accompanied by an entourage.

This was because the locals only respected hunters, particularly those who completed valid hunts on Ocanon VI.

Unless people went into one of the local hunting grounds and returned with a hunting trophy as well as a certificate, they would not be able to climb the planet's quirky social ladder.

It was a rather refreshing change from society. The local environment promoted a distorted meritocracy where only the strongest and most competent hunters had all of the say on this planet.

Ves took another glance at President Oscar Tarich. The man was over a century old and certainly started to show his age, but he wouldn't have been able to occupy such a high position if he was just an ordinary bureaucrat.

"You must have completed quite a few hunts yourself, right?" Ves directly asked.

"I do." The older man smiled as he reminisced about his past hunts. "I have 316 registered hunting kills to my name. That is not as much as other hunters of my generation, but I have made sure that each of my prey were strong enough to pose a threat to me. Every hunt should be a battle between predator and prey. If the latter does not have a chance to reverse the roles and punish me for making a mistake, there is not enough thrill to make the hunt meaningful enough. The Hunting Association that I am a part of holds the same stance, so I am proud to represent its interests on this hunting planet."

The man could talk all day about his past hunts, but there was not much point in sharing these stories.

Tourists came here not to admire the hunting deeds of other people, but to head into the hunting grounds and collect their own trophies!

That caused Ves to think about another subject.

"Can I ask how many visitors come here to go on valid hunts as opposed to ones that are not registered by the Hunting Association?"

"That is not a simple question to answer, professor. Before the Great Severing changed our society forever, most of our guests came to enjoy an experience. They had little interest in becoming a serious member of the Galactic Hunting Club and were content to go on guided hunts where they are always accompanied by professional guides and hunters."

"What changed?"

The older man pointed at the sky. There was a small golden glow in that direction that was barely distinguishable in the bright skies, but Ves knew exactly what it meant.

"Messier 87's exotic radiation has begun to mutate the environment." Ves observed.

"Correct. While this is happening on every planet of the Red Ocean, the ones with much richer and more diverse ecosystems tend to undergo more extreme changes. This is because there are always species of exoplants and exobeasts that happen to be much more sensitive to mutations induced by E energy radiation. In the past few months, our hunting grounds have undergone serious upheaval. Entire population groups have gone extinct. Heavily mutated plants and animals have suddenly jumped to the top of the food chain. If headquarters hadn't anticipated all of these extreme changes in advance and transferred additional support to manage the hunting grounds that are in upheaval, I would not have been able to clear my schedule to accompany you on your trip."

President Tarich deliberately spoke about these issues to Ves. His message served as both a warning and perhaps a solicitation for further business.

Ves did not come to Ocanon VI without knowing anything. He had conducted at least a bit of research, though he did not delve too deeply in order to preserve the novelty of visiting this destination.

"How frequently do accidents occur on this planet?"

"They are becoming more frequent and severe every week." The branch president honestly replied. "There are too many exobeasts for us to track. We have increased our reliance on technological monitoring solutions, but we do not want to flood every hunting ground with conspicuous-looking bots. There are certain exobeasts that have developed rare mutations that enable them to circumvent long-ranged scans. They are the chief culprits responsible for causing hunt teams to be ambushed by predators that are too strong for their hunting grounds."

The Hunting Association carefully monitored and controlled all of the prey in all of the hunting grounds.

Each of them were ranked according to difficulty and maximum threat level to ensure that every hunter did not bite more than they could chew.

Hunting had become a lot more dangerous ever since the prey had a much higher chance of turning the tables against their hunters!

"Have hunters died?"

"Most definitely. Fatalities cannot be completely avoided. Before the Great Severing occurred, the Chasseur Continent had already claimed at least a hundred lives every year. This is to be expected as our Hunting Association has done the best to preserve its natural environment. This content hosts our most dangerous hunting grounds as huge beasts share the same spaces as much weaker and smaller prey. However, once the alien wildlife started to mutate after getting exposed to E energy radiation, both the greatest of exobeasts and the smallest of vermin have become much stronger than before. The continent has already claimed over 500 brave hunters this year!"

That was a lot! The Chasseur Continent was where the truly dedicated hunters challenged themselves. They were all seasoned and professional hunters who always made thorough preparations before they embarked on their hunting trips.

These people had learned to be extremely cautious and account for many different scenarios. The probability that they would suffer a fatal accident should be low, but even then the Chasseur Contient still managed to claim their lives.

It was just that the rate of deaths had reached an 'acceptable' level in the past.

Those hardcore hunters did not get deterred by these deaths. They became excited by it! Any hunting ground that swallowed human lives and spit out their bones became a lot more prestigious in their community.

The bragging rights for completing a hunt in these dangerous grounds were much greater!

However, a five-fold increase in the annual death rate was anything but normal. Hunters may be looking for a thrill, but they were not suicidal!

President Tarich did not look concerned, though.

"While it is true that many hunters have ceased their trips to the most dangerous hunting grounds, their popularity has not dropped at all. As soon as the news broke out, more and more strong hunters have made the decision to come here and challenge themselves against the formidable prey we have to offer. This trend has recently accelerated even further after the release of the Hunter's Code. It is actually our easier hunting grounds that are suffering a drop in popularity. There is a greater variance in threat level of the prey in those areas. Around So hunters have died during hunting trips in the Shamon Continent. This landmass hosts more regulated hunting grounds that are meant to provide targeted hunting experiences. Well-prepared hunters shouldn't die here, but that has changed as of late."

"What about the Melrose Continent where we are on? Have the easiest hunting grounds on this planet produced any fatal accidents as well?" Ves asked.

According to his plan, he intended to take his kids on a hunting trip in one of these beginner grounds.

He did not really care about earning hunting certificates from the Hunting Association, so he had no objections to entering the grounds with a lot of additional protection.

It would still be prudent to learn what sort of dangers have appeared.

"Around 15 fatalities have occurred in the hunting grounds of this planet." President Tarich honestly answered. "They have occurred almost exclusively on valid hunting trips. The deceased hunters have also made numerous mistakes due to a combination of inexperience and an inability to follow our advice. They disrespected our hunting tradition and suffered the consequences of their bad decisions."

"That is harsh." Aurelia said.

"Hunting is not a bloodless sport, little lady. Our race may have developed past the point where we need to hunt in order to feed our hungry bellies, but that is no reason to treat it with so little care and respect. There is no need for you to be concerned. No children have died so far. Our Hunting Association has allocated a disproportionate amount of resources to ensure that our most kid-friendly hunting grounds are free of any threat. I highly recommend you to experience a real hunt at least once while these areas are still under control."

The president basically wanted to encourage Ves to go on an authentic hunting trip as opposed to a fake one where he could count on an excess of protective measures to protect him from his own mistakes.

Of course, there was no way that Ves would agree to such a decision.

"I may have gone on a thrilling hunt in the past, but I was a lot younger and more impulsive back then." Ves replied in a measured tone. "I did not have any children either back then. I am a father now. I am mostly interested in bonding with the family that I have brought along. I have no other intentions at this time."

The president did not look disappointed. He already expected this response.

"I understand. I am a happy grandfather myself. If you ever change your mind, we would be happy to accommodate you, professor."

They talked a bit more and explored a few more sights.

However, Ves suddenly stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of one of the largest and most highly frequented stores in Tixe City.

He recognized its company logo in an instant.

"The planetary branch store of your Living Mech Corporation is doing excellent business since it has been established in our city. While the diversity of mechs on offer is not as large as its competitors, your store has proven to be one of the most popular ones of its kind. The amount of sales concluded here has actually increased in the last few months. This is quite a surprise to us all as none of the staples sold from here have yet to be updated with hyper technology."

"Development is still ongoing." Ves faintly said as he stared at the large and prominent skull of a reptilian exobeast. "What is that?"

"That... is one of the most impressive trophies displayed in our city. The skull belongs to a Barrugan Acid Spitter. It is one of the top 10 apex predators of the Chasseur Continent. Any of our large structures would be proud to put such a skull on top of their entrance!"