City's Growth (I)

The city of Atlantis was quickly recuperating, becoming its once lively, busy atmosphere. Stronger and stronger Players and Awakened were streaming into the city to participate in the guilds that were becoming large day-by-day. Small dungeons appeared, which was quickly becoming a training ground for the lower level Players and newly awakened.

Mike had personally moved to buy out a large piece of land around the guild building and even tearing down the old to make new things. The moment the construction plans underwent a training facility, monster ranch, blacksmith, storage, and a large three-story Dragon Express store, the price in the surrounding building skyrocket. Even Heavenly guild purchased land nearby to begin their own personal building construction that many suspected their main headquarters.

Rumors were floating around that the Heavenly guild and Gold Phoenix guild had tied hands together, becoming a dominant force in Atlantis.

The reconstruction of the city was developing quickly as the power of Players and Awakened alike had changed history.

Everyone wanted to be part of the radical change. Mostly the newly awakened citizens were excited at the prospect of being part of a hunting force that could slay the monsters. So far, the newly awakened rushed headfirst into dungeons for a chance to strike it rich. Many were slaughtered at an alarming rate as months went by.

The Hunter Association, led by Emily Clairson, quickly took action and squashed the rising number of deaths. Changing the laws for a Hunter to get a license and basic training classes before entering into dangerous territories.

Emily Clairson was a quick-witted lady, understanding the flow of society. She also bought land around the most popular area, creating a large scale building, which the government approved.

It was an age of Hunters and Players.

The wealth was changing because of the dungeons that appeared. Nobody predicted that it would change in less than a year and a half to the point where it became a daily norm.

Another few months swept by as the normalcy of the everyday dungeon diving, fieldwork, trades had started to stabilize. Bringing wealth to the densely populated areas with the most hunters. Small villages, rural areas, and towns were quickly becoming dangerous as the mana energy in the field had increased. This slow but steady change brought monsters into the land, creating havoc to the populace. Hunters were dispatched to counter the growing appearances of monsters nearby.

Snow was deep in her paperwork for both the Gold Phoenix guild and the other materials from the Dragon Express.

Leaning back, she picked up the newspaper on her tablet, scrolling through some news that she was interested in. She saw a few titles that interested her.

Hunter Association Top One hundred World Ranking System

Reaper- Junho (Gillian, Europa)

Crazy Bear- Tommy (Atlantis, U.S.A.A)

Heartland- Simon (Bei, Chiang)

Gold Finger- Vernon (Bei, Chiang)

Red Samurai- Tamaki (Atlantis, U.S.A.A)

Lightning Phoenix- Mike (Atlantis, U.S.A.A)

Flame Lord- Audrey (Atlantis, U.S.A.A)

Black Death- Dairen (Atlantis, U.S.A.A)

Flowerlily- Heather (Kye, Indio)

White Lion- Kenoro (Horu, Africano)

Etc...

Snow wasn't surprised at the ranking system that the newspaper provided. A good quarter of the top one hundred list throughout the world was from Atlantis, which was a significant achievement in itself. The top ten was also dominated by the Players in Atlantis.

Large companies were employing Hunters and Players as they advertised them as Heros. The wealth that they had brought in the dungeon dives tied deeply into the many companies. Snow continued to scroll down through her tablet.

Chi-nag has the highest rising number of dungeons spawns! Is this the rise of powerful guilds, or is this a disaster waiting to happen?

The city of Palma in Europa has acquired a master level blacksmith and is opening negotiations for powerful trades!

Reaper Junho has caused another dungeon to fall! Is this the rise of the number one HERO around the world? Can Red Bear Tommy even contend against the Reaper Junho?

Snow scoffed at this outrageous message. Mostly because she knew that Tommy was a heavily offensive player, while Junho was not, but had strong defensive capabilities. Even if they did have a brawl, she was certain that they would have been in a stalemate.

Large scale city construction is happening now in Africano to attract high-level Hunters and Players! Free citizenship and a high pay!

Snow flipped through a few more until she stopped on something that made her linger on the post.

Atlantis Local News - Unusual earthquakes like tremors have been felt every two weeks. Is this the coming of a massive earthquake?!

The title worried her. She, too, had felt the slight tremors that would shake Atlantis's city at odd intervals. Earthquakes weren't something that happened in Atlantis.

So far, there was nothing that pointed out what was the cause of this strange predicament. Even Dragon Express intel couldn't find anything that could explain the strange occurrences.

Atlantis Local News- The Black Death had personally wiped straightforward a level C rank dungeon with Lightning Phoenix. An incredible two-person team! The Golden age of the Gold Phoenix Guild keeps rising.

Every few weeks, Snow would see Dairen's and Mike's achievement, curling the low-level dungeons that could become dangerous. They even went out to a few states to help the nearby states with their dungeon problem. Their names became popular across the country.

Snow was glad to see how far they have grown and how quickly they have expanded.

It wasn't only them that she would see the news, Audrey, Rodney, Tommy, Tamaki, and even Angie. Each and every one of them were soaring into their own brilliant role.

Snow, on the other hand, was stuck in the office six out of seven days after the training in the past month, making this dreary paperwork tiring.

Even with Heather at the office, they were still low on personnel. She was finally able to get more people to assist her.

Finally, she saw a long list of tabs with the famous Saintess title still cropping up on the websites and news today.

Saintess has donated her lifelong family ring to the orphanage!

Saintess disciples have grown to ten people!

Signature of the Saintess is over a thousand dollars!

Snow breezed over the titles, not really caring to take a sneak peek of the gossip surrounding her.

With a defeated slump of her shoulder, her head flopped onto her chair. Today was the last day for her to be stamping away at the paperwork as Heather was completely taking over the Field Operation management, while Snow was planning on going out more with the guild. Heather had agreed to take her place. She didn't mind as she wasn't the type to go out and get her hands dirty.

A loud knock on the door was heard.

Snow tilted her tired head, she called out, "Come in."

With a creak, Heather stepped in with a smile. "Saintess~."

Snow groaned. She didn't want to see another fan for another signature.

"Saintess~" Heather jokingly came over. She coyly smiled at her and wiggled her eyebrows and butt.

Snow looked up and realized it was her friend.

"What?" Heather giggled. "Your cult has grown wide and vast. They want a signature from you."

Snow rolled her eyes. "Yea and you have been selling them. What was it, you wanted me to sign one hundred papers with a kiss mark on it?"

Heather gave her the most innocent eyes that she could muster. "It was for your benefit." She giggled, "I put most of the profit in your account and kept 20 % for commissions." She winked, making Snow stare at her friend strangely.