Chapter 10: Recovery

I run towards the sound since it sounds like someone is fighting the whatever let out that roar. After a bit of running, I slow down to make sure I'm not running the wrong direction. Another roar and this time it was closer. I run towards the sound until I find a glade with a large red and white bear fighting a human. At a closer look, I realize that the human is Dan.

The bear swipes at Dan but he manages to dodge the attack and get on his feet again. Dan swings his great sword at the bear's leg and hits, but the bear trade blows by jamming his claws into Dan's side. He goes flying and hits a rock not far away. Dan tries to get on his feet but loses strength in his legs. His body is failing him.

I start running towards the bear to try and distract it away from Dan. I throw away my bag on my back to get as much speed I can.

"Hey, fuck ass!"

I get my sword out my sheath. "Menu." I invest all my points into 'Agility'. The bear is slow but strong. This means that as long as I am fast, I wont get hit.

"Congratul-"

I close down the panels instantly.

"Haste."

The bear turns around to me but before then, I launch my sword into the bears other leg. The bear lets out a deafening roar that makes my entire body shake. I quickly recover my balance and focus to then dodge the bear's swipe attack that was aiming for my face. What I didn't see was the second attack that came right after which hit me in my left arm. I get thrown a few feet but quickly recover.

The bear is quick to follow up on his attack and tries to smash me down on the ground with both his claws. I roll to the side and pierce a part of the bear's hand with my sword. I stand up again to face the now very pissed bear which starts charging at me in blind rage. I dodge out of the way, only getting hit by the side of the bear and sustaining a small injury. I run up behind the bear to thrust my sword in to his back. I manage to land my swing and cut out a bit of skin.

Lots of roaring could be heard. Not as loud like before but definitely something that could be heard from far away. After landing on the ground I rush in between the bears paws and cut into it's stomach. The bear threw another attack I was not prepared for which struck me in the back. I decide to take make this into an opportunity by running in against the bear's head and using all the power I could to pierce it's skull. I hit it's eye and then get pummeled to the right. I try to regain control of my body in the air but end up landing on a stone which slowly knocks me out.

I can see how the bear walks up to Dan before collapsing.

𝐻𝒶𝓇𝓋𝑒𝓈𝓉

...

"While the injuries look very bad, he should be fine since they're not that deep."

I regain consciousness in a hospital bed with a doctor next to me talking. I try to move my body but I can only slightly tilt my head. I can see both of my parents talking with the doctor.

"Oh Ian!"

My mother noticed that I am now awake.

"Hey mom."

"Ian, you are currently hospitalized and will be so until your injuries fully heal. How are you feeling right now?"

I try to feel all of my limbs and so on and from what I can gather, it seems fine.

"I feel fine. But what about Dan, what happened to him? How is he feeling?"

"The information in my papers says that he had sent a help signal and when the reinforcements arrived at the scene, he had already slain the creature and was tending to you."

It is good that they believe Dan killed the bear. Someone like me should not be able to kill that bear. The fact that I am able to kill a few goblins alone is something an F ranker should not be capable of.

"Dan was released from the hospital yesterday. Right, he told me I'd contact him the second you woke up. I'll call him later, but for now, are you sure everything alright?"

"Well I can't really move my body but except for that, everything seems fine."

"Okay. Rest for now and if something were to happen, just press the button that is next to you, it tells us if you need help with anything."

"Right."

The doctor left the room. My mother who has been standing and waiting restlessly is finally able to talk to me.

"Hi mom."

"Hey sweetie. I hate when you do these kinds of things, you know that right?"

"Yes. But don't worry, this was just an unfortunate accident where I happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Son."

My dad walked up beside the hospital bed.

"Don't push yourself too hard. We are happy as long as we are together."

I wanted to tell my father that it was the reason why I got hurt. If I don't get stronger now, my family will have a hard time to survive in two years when the disaster happened. Thousands of people died in every city and village.

My mother and father stayed and talked with me for about an hour before heading out. I made sure that they would send Lia a message from me. She was still living with me and my family in my apartment. Since we do not have enough rooms for everyone, Lia shares both room and bed with me. Not that I complained. Lia sleep like a log. She does not move at all during the night.

...

'Menu'

Name: Ian Leitch

Level: 2

Health: 75/75 Stamina: 175/175

Souls: 0 Mana: 25/25

Soul Tokens: 1

_____--:Stats:--_____

Strength: 10 Vitality: 5

Mana: 5 Agility: 25

Corruption: 5

My stats look better than what I am used to. The 25 'Agility' had upgraded my 'Haste' talent and changed the cost from one mana every two, to one mana every three seconds. This means that I can use the 'Haste' talent for a very long time. I feel it is time for me to start focusing on other stats, such as 'Vitality' or 'Strength'.

I look over the stats again, planning my future move and notice that I have a new currency called 'Soul Token'. I click on it with my mental finger and a new panel pops up.

"Soul Token Shop"

"Eyes of Venom: 1 Token."

"Inventory: 1 Token."

"Extra inventory: 2 Tokens."

"Unlock Random Talent: 3 Tokens."

"Unlock Random Ability: 3 Tokens."

The shop has a lot of different options which look appealing.

*Knock*

Dan steps into the room.

"Hey Ian!"

"Hi Dan. How are you?"

"I'm doing a lot better thanks to you."

Dan closes the door behind him and sits down on one of the chairs next to me.

"Hey Ian. I have something serious to speak about with you."

"I know what you're thinking about. Let me ex-"

"I know you're a fake ranker, but why!"

"..."

That guess was not a bad one. There is only one reason why someone would be able to defeat the bear as an F rank, and that is if they were faking their rank from the beginning. Dan was sitting with his legs together and with his head down. Not sure what he was trying to do.

"Dan, I'm not a fake ranker. I can explain why I was able to kill the bear."

Dan looked at me.

"Ian, please don't lie to-"

"Dan! Just listen to me for one minute."

Dan stopped talking.

"I trust you which is why I'm going to tell you this. I am able to get stronger as a hunter."

Dan moved in his chair. This must sound like total bullshit to him.

"I think it has something to do with my ability corruption. Since I'm the only one with it so far."

Dan nods.

"I'll believe you since you saved my life and the way you moved when you fought that bear was the same as when you killed goblins. You better not be lying to me right now."

"I'm not, but you have to promise to not tell anyone this. I don't know what would happen if this information got out."

"I won't. I promise."

Dan and I spoke for about an hour before he left. I opened the shop menu again and looked over the different options. The only ones I was able to afford was.

"Eyes of Venom: 1 Token."

"Inventory: 1 Token."

Since I haven't had any use for any kind of inventory yet, I decided to go with Eyes of Venom.

"Purchase."

I felt a weird feeling in my eyes and then a sharp pain, like something poked me in my eyes. I closed my eyes out of reflection but when I opened them again, nothing had changed. After some time had past and nothing was happening, I decided that I might as well sleep so I closed my eyes and drifted off.

...

When I woke up, I once again had a visitor. It was Lia which I had to calm down. She apparently thought that I wouldn't be able to walk again because of the bandages but that wasn't true. The doctor told that I will fully recover if I just rest enough since most of my injuries are just scratches from the bear. Nothing destroyed.

Something else that I found weird. I was able to see a green light inside her chest. I figured it had to do something with the Eyes of Venom. We talked for a bit and she then later left after calming down. She had told me that since her father, she will have to close down the store and sell it since she is not able to keep it running.

After a few days of resting, I was able to move without my wounds hurting or stopping me. It was time to start moving again. I can not sit still and do nothing now that time is limited. On my way out of the hospital, I call Dan.

"Hey It's Dan?"

"Hi Dan, it's me, Ian. I was wondering if you'd like to help me in something."

"Oh hi, what's up?"

"I want to go back to the guide portal."

"What? But you just got discharged!"

"I'm fine."

"Sorry man. They closed the portal for outsiders since the large bear attack. The paperwork has been the worst, I can barely find any free time."

That bear must have been the reason for all of the scouting Dan have been doing.

"Hmm. What about a random group then? I can sign up as a off-field support."

"Sure but you wont do any killing. You will just have to sit back and watch how the others do everything."

My plan is to get lost in whatever terrain we are in and go on a solo killing spree. It may not be the safest option but it is the only one I have at the moment. If I do not want to spend lots of money buying a portal, but then I would have to take out shares out of Deal Reds which I do not since they are still growing financially.

"True, but it's better than doing nothing. You know what, I'll go with you. It will be safer that way. Wait until tonight and we can figure out the details. They will surely not decline a C rank."

"They probably won't. Okay, then call me when you're ready to apply to groups. See you then."

"Bye."

I took a taxi back home and spent the rest of the day with my family. I decided to not tell them that I was going portal diving again since that can provoke unnecessary consequences. Dan later called and we chose a few groups to apply to, in the end we found a group that accepted us. When I called them, they told me that they only needed me for the numbers and that they could have use of a C rank melee hunter.

The date the dungeon dive was tomorrow so I headed to bed to sleep but just when I was to fall asleep, Lia woke me up with a kiss on the cheek. I smiled to her with a hidden feeling of frustration. I love Lia with all my heart but I was so close to falling asleep. It did not take long after until both me and Lia was asleep.

...

I step off the bus with a large backpack with provisions that I had been given at the hunter's center. It was the off-field supports responsibility to bring food to everyone. This was mostly because of tradition. Since the supports only followed the stronger hunters around and got paid, they got the job to buy food and potions with a part of their pay which they get after the actual portal dive.

"Good morning Dan!"

"Hey Ian!"

"You ready?"

"Ready as one can be."

The portal that we are diving into is located in an old building that is pretty run down. The actual portal difficulty is E which means that it should be for a group with two C rankers, two D rankers and one E ranker. The healer, who gets paid the most, is an E rank which they compensate with a tank that is C rank. The group seems to be very balanced now that Dan who is a damage dealer, joins the group.

I