D rank Dungeon

***

A group of officials dressed in black suits could be seen surrounding a rather deserted alley. What's more, this area was located on the outskirts of the city. Certainly a rare sight to be seen.

When they were informed that 4 Hunters had been involved in an incident through the phone call by the victim, they had no choice but to investigate the cause.

Unfortunately, when they reached the scene, all they saw were the 4 Hunters and the victim, a teenage girl. Obviously, the girl wasn't the one who caused these Hunters to be reduced to such a state. She was just a regular civilian. The 'assailant' had long since left the scene of crime. Even worse, one of the 'victims' was the son of a rather prominent company in Japan. However, that 'victim' had also suffered the worse fate out of the group.

Apart from his face being completely unrecognizable, his vocal chords had been crushed as well. The worst thing was, his lower half was completely splattered into pieces. By the time the association reached the scene, his fate had already been sealed. He had long succumbed to his injuries due to massive blood loss.

***

"My name is Hideyoshi. If possible, can you describe the assailant for us?" One of the male wearing a black suit introduced himself to the victim. Yes, this person was the same one who visited Arata in the hospital in order to determine if he had undergone a reawakening.

They had already sent the surviving three Hunters to the hospital but they still needed to get to the bottom of this incident.

"Umm, sorry but it was too dark for me. I couldn't take a good look at his face. All I know is that he is a male. And, I don't think it is right to call him an assailant when he was the one who saved me. Those people are clearly the assailants. The ones you should be arresting is those people, not the guy who saved me." The girl was slightly furious that they had interpreted her savior as the one who caused this incident in the first place.

"I understand Miss, but we still have to figure out his identity. A D rank Hunter was killed. We need to know which Hunter actually did it. Please try and cooperate with us." Hideyoshi tried to coax more information out of the girl but she vehemently stood her ground.

"I told you already. It was too dark for me to see anything. All I know is he is a male. That's everything I can provide about my savior."

Hah... Hideyoshi sighed.

With that information provided, she might as well didn't say anything.

Hideyoshi turned his head and his eyes landed on a female who was walking in their direction.

"Ah, you are finally here, Akari-san."

A young woman with light brown hair in a double-bun hairstyle, wearing a pink hoodie and white undershirt. In her mouth was a lollipop.

This woman was one of Japan's strongest S-Rank Hunters and a member of the second most powerful guild in Asia, the Draw Sword Guild.

Akari Shimizu.

"For what reason did you call me here? You should be lucky that I wasn't that far from this area."

"Sorry for calling you out so suddenly but there is something we need your help with." Hideyoshi bowed his head as Akari waved her hand.

As soon as her gaze landed on the sight of the 'victim', her eyes shifted away slightly.

"Umm, please tell me that guy used to have a lower half."

Akari Shimizu is a healer class Hunter specializing in healing magic. There are huge gaps between the ranks of healers, with A-Rank Healers being able to completely heal lost limbs and internal organs like flesh tissue, blood, and bone. There was even a minority who could bring back Hunters from the brink of death.

"His family had requested that we bring his body back in one piece asap. Since you were the nearest high rank healer in the vicinity, we requested for your assistance."

Akari sighed as she glanced at the girl, the victim of a near-assault case. Frankly, she was also disgusted with such Hunters.

"Who did this?"

"That's what we are trying to find out as well. It must be a C rank Hunter at least."

"Hmm...he must have been disgusted with this pig considering the part he aimed for. I am really curious as well. If you have any further leads, please notify me."

"I didn't expect you of all people to show much interest in another person."

Akari shrugged her shoulders as she removed the lollipop from her mouth.

"I am just curious what kind of guy actually did this."

***

Flush.

Arata stepped out of the toilet just as he heard the telephone ringing from the living room.

Riiing, riiiing….

'Could it be about that incident? I didn't think they would figure out my identity so quickly.'

Arata picked up the receiver.

"You finally picked up the phone."

Thankfully, it wasn't the association.

The voice coming from the speaker was a familiar one. Ever since he left his house and rented an apartment, he had been hearing this voice quite often.

"Why is it so difficult to get in touch with you lately?"

"I'm really sorry about that. I was admitted to the hospital because of an incident a few days ago."

"Tsk, so that's what happened. I should've known. Just to let you know, the rent for this month hadn't come in yet."

"I'll send the money in a bit later."

Although the rent was quite low, considering the fact that the apartment building was located on the remote outskirts of the city, as well as it being old and decrepit, but he hadn't accumulated much savings since he became a Hunter.

"I gotta make some money first."

Not only that, he wanted to try out his new powers in a Dungeon.

***

How did Hunters make money?

The best way was to kill monsters.

Hunters ranked S or A could get sponsorships, shoot commercials, make appearances in TV shows and the like to hoover up a lot of money, as much as some owners of big corporations, but their number was exceedingly few.

Indeed, there were too few of them.

Excluding those too few ones at the top, the majority of the Hunters had to go to a dungeon in order to make money.

The higher the rank…

The greater the experience….

The earnings would be decided by each individual's own capabilities.

For someone like Arata, who was ranked E, worked for the association and occasionally and rarely as a freelancer, such a condition was an incredibly tough one to overcome.

He took a look at the job postings on the Hunter websites' bulletin boards and called a few numbers, but all of them turned out to be a waste of time. No one wanted to work with a Hunter ranked E.

Those Hunters seeking outside help via job postings were freelancers almost all of the time, which meant that they were responsible for preserving their own necks, so understandably, they paid close attention when forming a raid team or letting someone into theirs.

These people didn't possess enough abilities to enter big Guilds, but their ranks were too high to work for the Association.

They were all kind of stuck in-between a rock and a hard place, but unable to go either way.

Even then, these Hunters still earned more than a million yen per month.

It was the case of 'High Risk, High Reward'.

Since they put their lives on the line, the profit they earned was just as big at the end of the day. It wasn't for nothing that Hunters were the targets of envy from the general populace.

However, he couldn't take the rank reassignment test as well.

A Hunter ranked E suddenly became a high-ranked one...

Whether that was A or B, or maybe even C, it didn't matter.

The Re-Awakening would always become a hot topic of conversation.

The masses loved nothing more than a good gossip, and Hunters just so happened to be a good subject to chew on.

However, that didn't mean he could go out and get a part-time job, either.

By raiding a dungeon, he'd get to earn both money and experience, so how could he blow that important chance just to scrounge up a few bucks by working in a local store?

Finally, his eyes spotted something in the bulletin board that caught his attention.

D rank Dungeon raid. Searching for a single Hunter, regardless of the rank! Needs to come right away!

A D rank Dungeon. The profits he could earn was minimal but it was worth a shot.

The meeting place wasn't that far away as well. Arata called the number on the posting and confirmed his placement.

***

Normally, a person stepping outside the house in the early hours of dawn would inevitably be cautious in their movements. Well, they might end up accidentally waking up their family members, after all.

However, Arata didn't have to worry about that at all.

This was his first Dungeon in a while, although it was simply a low rank one.

As soon as Arata stepped out of the house--

"Access Magus Mode."

***

After grabbing a taxi, Arata headed off to the meeting point..

9 people were already there, waiting for his arrival.

The man who looked like the leader of the group waved his hand at Arata.

"Heyyy! Over here."

A rather young looking man, maybe in the late twenties to early thirties.

He smiled softly and walked closer while speaking to Arata.

"Are you Hunter Arata?"

"That's correct."

The man briefly introduced the members of his team.

5 of them including himself were regular teammates that worked together all the time, while the rest were freelancers as well.

Arata studied their countenance carefully. Thanks to his enhanced Perception, he was able to more or less sense everyone's capabilities.

'4 C rank Hunters and the rest are D rank. Well, clearing a D rank Dungeon with such numbers wouldn't be hard.'

Since it was just a D rank Dungeon and not a C rank, there didn't serve a need to have more than half the Hunters be C rank. However, they still needed to meet the minimum requirement so even an E rank Hunter was fine.

"Let me briefly explain the important points to remember."

The young man, who introduced himself as Haruhiko and their party leader, began describing the situations one had to keep an eye out for in the middle of a raid while Arata listened on, getting slightly bored.

"Ah, before we enter, please take a look at these." The leader Haruhiko started pushing forward a page of document to Arata and the other freelancers who were not part of his teammates.

"Write your names on the bottom and sign it, and we're good to go."

It turned out to be a simple contract.

The contents were pretty simple. They would only get the Magic Cores of the monsters they manage to kill. Which means if you couldn't kill any monster, you wouldn't get any Magic Core. In the case of Mana crystals, whatever could be carried and brought out would be split evenly. If in the event that any of them were to perish in the Dungeon, no one will be held responsible and claim any sort of compensation.

Pretty fair and straightforward.

Unlike the raids organised by the Association, one would not be able to claim for compensation if something happened during a raid organised by the freelancers. One of the reasons why Hunters couldn't get a life insurance, either.

One had to look after one's own neck, in other words.

In the past, he would have normally considered these contracts carefully but Arata casually signed the document as he handed it back, not because he didn't read or understand the terms, but because he knew very well that he could protect himself now.

"Here it is."

"I'm done, too!"

"Okay!! Let's get going, everyone!"

***

The party headed straight to the location of the Gate.

It was in the middle of an abandoned playground.

To other Hunters, raids might come across as a legitimate source of income, but to Arata, each and every one he participated so far in the past had been a desperate, bitter struggle to make ends meet.

However, now that he was standing in front of one again, he was surprisingly calm.

A hole in the air, floating like a black hole. People took to calling it a Gate.

Its rank was assigned according to the waves of magical energy emission coming from inside. Folks from the Association would stop by first to assign a rank to each one.

After that, individuals or Guilds wanting to clear the Gate could follow the procedure and apply for a permit.

Gates ranked A or B were, most of the time, left to the big Guilds. Well, they were too difficult for freelancers to clear, after all.

So, assault parties formed by freelancers took care of the Gates ranked lower than that.

"Do your best to keep up, everyone."

***

The interior of the dungeon was eerily quiet.

"….."

However, since there were luminous stones found here and there, there was at least some light to illuminate the way

Arata stayed at the end of the group. For awhile, they didn't encounter any monsters.

"Where are the monsters? Are there no monsters in the dungeon." One of the party members asked. Arata focused his hearing.

He could hear lots of footsteps coming from the distance.

'It's not that there aren't any, they just haven't arrived yet.'

The footsteps became louder and more distinct and the other group members finally heard it as well.

From the other side of the passage, three groups of wolves with ash grey fur were steadily advancing towards them. These D rank wolves were much smaller compared to Dungeon Jackals and were pretty much at the bottom of the food chain as well. However, they always acted in groups and tend to pick off lone prey with their teamwork.

As the wolves key to survival was their cooperation, the members of a pack all shared a peculiar link with each other. It wasn't as straightforward as telepathy, but they were basically able to tell what the rest of their pack was doing and where they were.

"Everyone, get ready! Tankers, at the front! Protect the mages!"

Orders were issued out as everyone got into their respective positions.

The wolves wandered forward, darting and slipping between the boulders as they licked their lips in anticipation, as though imagining the flesh it would soon feast on.

All at once, they pounced.

More then thirty wolves rushed straight at their party of ten.

"Fire!! Fire and bring them down!!"

The two tankers at the front bore the brunt of the assault as the mages behind started firing their magic. Their shields managed to defend against the onslaught without fail. The strong jaws and claws couldn't tear the shield in half. The corridor was suddenly illuminated much brighter. Arata could clearly see the many open gaps within the ranks of the monsters. And he also spotted the Hunters missing those gaps and continue to commit simple errors. Several wolves managed to break and slip through the Hunter's formation as they headed towards the back, right where Arata was. That result was most probably them thinking that Arata was the weakest and an easy prey since he stayed at the far end of the group. Which was probably one of their worst mistakes as well.

Thankfully, for him, most of the party were busy dealing with what was in front of them to notice what was happening at the back.

Although Arata was in Magus Mode, he did not cast [Conception.]

Since he had already stored magic as characters in his body through [Mantra Enchant], even without casting [Conception], his inherent overall physical strength was already boosted several times over, toughening his body and even increasing his defense. [Conception] was a spell to activate the characters in order to bring out the destructive power of [Mantra Enchant] but Arata didn't see the need to reveal or use his magic on such monsters.

Lemegeton had also mentioned that [Mantra Enchant] possess healing capabilities, although a significant amount of energy had to be used in order to heal any major injuries. Minor injuries will be healed within seconds, which essentially meant Arata didn't need a healer to heal him unless he ran out of energy.

At the same time, one of the wolves pounced at Arata. However, Arata nonchalantly grabbed the wolf with his arm and lifted it into the air as if it were no heavier than a kitten.

The wolf started trashing wildly, trying to break free from his grip as it bend and struggled.

Arata put even more strength into his grip. There was a loud crunching noise. The wolf fizzled into view, it's head mercilessly crush.

Arata didn't even spare the dead monster a glance as another two grey ash wolves tried to strike at him from his blind spot. Arata spun around and using that momentum, he dropped one of the wolves with an axe kick from above, slamming into it like a guillotine. All this while, part of his attention was geared towards the front as well, in order to make sure that the party was focusing on other enemies to notice him. Arata instantly bent down to the ground with superhuman speed as the other wolf flew inches above him, slamming itself into a nearby boulder. Before the wolf could get to it's feet, Arata had already placed his foot over its head. A sickening sound escaped as the wolf let out it's final breath.

A second later, another wolf reappeared behind Arata as it's jaw was aimed directly at his neck.

'I've got him!' That was probably the expression of the wolf but then another second later it felt something hard hit him in the stomach. The air was driven out of it's lungs as it flew backward.

'Hmm, better collect the drops before the others finish their own battle.'

After collecting the dropped Magic Cores from the wolves, Arata looked to the front.

The boss of the Dungeon, a twin-headed wolf twice the size of a normal one had appeared midway through this battle.

Alas, in the face of 4 C rank Hunters, it didn't stand a chance.

As expected, this Dungeon raid didn't pose any significant difficulty.

Although Arata wanted to fight against the Dungeon boss as well, he knew he couldn't do it without revealing his powers in front of them.

Just as Arata was heading to join up with the rest of the party, a screen like projection suddenly appeared in front of him.

?!

Arata hadn't expected the system to suddenly pop out a new message.

***

[A Quest has been generated.]