5.Underground Hunt (1)

Swoosh!

A panel showed in front of everybody, startling some people to fall, but nobody looked towards them; all were focused on what the fairy was saying.

"In this town, numerous hunting grounds have been created to help you all level up; each time you kill a monster, you obtain a core; this core can be absorbed with you, and it would increase your strength; the more you ingest the core, the stronger you become," said the fairy.

"The hunting grounds here are limited, so the faster you find them and start hunting ahead, the faster you become strong. Work hard, my children." She vanished after saying that.

People started asking questions and talking among themselves on how to find them, making groups, eventually, people tried to go to groups with strong people.

"I want to join you guys," said a man but was only shoved away by the bulky man, "I want weaklings like you to get lost!" A group of strong individuals was already forming; Ethan did not pay attention to them; he was busy.

"What is he doing?" Asked Dimitri; Damian was also looking towards Ethan; everybody who was with Ethan was shocked when they saw him alive standing.

"How is he alive? I remember him going out and the sound that followed; I thought he was killed," said the girl by their side; she was another classmate, Laura.

"Ethan?" Katnese called out; she walked towards Ethan. Ethan looked at her with a blank expression before resuming what he was doing. Katnese slowed down at his cold gaze.

"What are you doing?" She cautiously asked; Ethan, not looking at her, answered, "Getting ready. " He answered that his emotions had adjusted throughout his last night's fight, and his horn skills gradually came back, same with his former personality.

Katniss and the rest saw Ethan skinning the rabbit skin and taking them; he stood up and nodded, "I need to stitch it," he casually said.

He walked away from the crowd, not caring; seeing his actions, Katnese called out, "Ethan, wait!" Ethan turns and looks, "What's wrong?" He asked.

"Can I come with you?" She asked.

"... You can follow, but I would not look after you; you would have to fight for yourself," He said; Katnese gulped and nodded, and Ethan smiled before walking somewhere.

"Let's follow him" Damian's short word startled Dimitri, who looked at him confused.

"What, why?" He looked towards the strong group on the other side, he didn't like to be under someone, but this situation was an emergency.

"Don't ask, just follow me," Said Damian, walking forward; Dimitri grunted but obeyed, and the girls tagged along with them followed them.

Seeing their actions, the leader of the strong group wasn't pleased and lifted his hand, his men immediately understood.

"Heh, stop right there!" They called out; Damian and the rest frowned at the call, "Tss, not good." He grunted; he wasn't the only one; Ethan was also not happy about the situation.

In just one day, he gathered a group, is he a candidate to the authority or a potential owner?

Those were Ethan's thoughts at that moment, he stopped to see what this man would say to him.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" A man showed up, with a tattoo on his shoulder; he looked at the bunch of kids and smirked.

"Your parents didn't teach you, it wasn't good to go wandering around alone, it's dangerous, stay with the adults," said the man, Damian wasn't pleased by his manners.

"We are good, thanks for worrying," Said Damian; the man smiled and shook his head.

"You might be, but I am worried for the others; they girls might encounter some dangerous situations." He smirked; Ethan immediately lost interest and walked away; the man turned towards his direction, but this did not sit well with his pride; he waved his hand.

"You see, there seem to be no law nor enforcement around, so accidents may occur, " Said the man.

Damian frowned even more; the people by his side immediately understood that it was a threat: stay and be a slave or go and get ready to die.

"I shall show the example." The man pointed toward Ethan; two men immediately rushed and blocked Ethan's way. Ethan looked up at them.

"Young boy, it seems that your night wasn't peaceful, I am sure the group you were with have all been killed and you hid amidst their corps to survive," said the man, people around started murmuring in disgust at what was said as the eyed Ethan, but not all were of the same creation, but they did not open to defend, it was useless.

"Enough Lazar!" Shouted a man, Lazar was displeased as he looked at the man who showed up.

"Captain Alex," Lazar, the gang leader, called out; if this man was alone, he would have tortured and killed him, but he had several people under him.

"Shut up, leave the kids alone, if the wish to be on their own, led them to be" Said Alex, Lazar was angry but had no choice, now wasn't the time to fight, he still needed to consolidate his power and gain the famous core, his men had found a hunting ground within a subway.

'wait, when I become strong enough, I will rip away that expression from your face'

Lazar had those final thoughts as he and his men walked away with those who were choosing to follow him.

Alex looked at Ethan disappearing into a building with the kids who ran after him before organizing his own group.

Ethan walked inside the building hall. It was clean and sparkling, but he wasn't interested; he walked towards the exit door, and the rest followed behind him. He pushed the door, and the sight stunned everybody behind him.

"What the hell!" Shouted Dimitri; everybody nodded, and they looked into the door; the darkness subsided, and a vast cave could be seen, grass and broken walls all around, as if nature and civilization fused to form one.

"The Draken pit, one of the numerous hunting grounds labeled, and my first step to become strong and start Athena's mission" Thought Ethan, he looked at the rising vapor within the cave

'I need to hunt the child of the calamity'

{Volcanic Cliff Drake}

*

Inside this dark abyss of heat and fire, with the hotness of the cave, a scale lizard with sharp scarlet claws opened its white eyes and glared forward; an enemy showed up.