Chpater two - The Rift

"I mean, living without being a hunter is worse than death here..." So I chose to stay. Suddenly, a piece of debris slammed into the floor. It grew foggy. Now the energy of the rift was running rampage. The day turned to night, and purple clouds overshadowed the foggy premise.

"Oh no. A tier three dungeon." I looked, gripping the ball. There it was. Lightnings formed out of the portal, energy crashing into the buildings, this one as well. The screams of civilians were clearly visible. Then the energy contracted. This was the sign.

"Monster wave one! Unit three, get ready!"

As ogres and trolls with red scales, ugly black eyes, and huge batons emerged, the hunters of the association shot magic spells, drew blades, and began to defend the area.

"Yup. This is how it is, every time."

At this point, I had seen many rifts open and close. Every time, hunters would come and wrap up the situation. Sometimes you could even—

A gigantic beam of flames shot up and burned the orcs within seconds. Then a crowd began to cheer.

"Flame Empress!"

As I was about to say, "You could even see top ranks. And right now, you saw rank 7, the Flame Empress. One of the strongest hunters here."

I clung to my ball as the awakening hadn't finished completely. But through the hole, I saw how the window shattered and even more ogres emerged. The hunters kept them engaged, killing them like flies, with the Flame Empress taking on half of them on her own.

"What a remarkable woman." I really always liked her.

As I looked at the hunters, somehow my eyes wandered back to the portal. It seemed as if it got lighter, as if even more dangerous energy came out.

"Oh, no."

This was a boss gate, and any second a boss would come out, based on the appeared monsters—an ogre king. This would be tough even for the 7th ranked hunter.

"Come on, finish up." I really wanted to hide; in no world was I safe here.

Then everything flashed, huge masses of energy flashed into each direction.

It got bigger, and the energy grew. Crack—Crumple— I looked at the building, crumbling, and the ball. It had begun to absorb the monster energy, and I was connected to it.

"Oh no, what is happening?"

I looked around and tried to retract my hand, but somehow I was frozen in place.

"What is happening?!"

Only now did I realize what the ball was doing.

"This is not normal."

The gate suddenly turned red, and the energy wouldn't stop flowing. My head grew dizzy. As I was about to faint, I saw a foot.

I was right, an ogre king had been summoned.

I was falling. The walls crumpled under the pressure. This was when I realized how stupid I had been to risk my life. Because now, with the building falling, my doom was as good as sealed.

"Oh no."

With this, I blacked out, my hand letting go of the device.