Chapter 3: Growth
(3 weeks later)
"Why… a-are you doing this?" With bloodshot eyes, an S-ranked Hunter painfully said while struggling to even breathe.
"Hmm? You're alive. Man... you were a strong opponent. As to why I'm doing this? I don't know either, I just felt like there's no need for someone to be stronger than me."
But the Hunter couldn't hear the boy words any longer. He was dead.
*Thud*
With a hole in his chest, Solus, the monster's name, was now laying on the ground panting hard. He was in an appalling condition, with rotting flesh infesting numerous parts of the body. At the same time, it was also healing, but the rate of the regeneration could barely keep up with how fast his body was decaying. He had underestimated the Hunters' prowess and was now nearly on death's door. But rather than despairing, he had a bright smile on his face.
Countless corpses of Hunters surrounded him, with all their heads missing. He had won the battle, but nearly lost his life in return.
He didn't expect the guild he was targeting has invited a rather famous S-ranked Hunter, who was known for their ice magic and curses, to be in the same raid as he was. He only thought the guy was just a stronger Mage than normal, after all, he had never met an S-ranked before.
He had never lost a battle in his life... not even now. But he nearly died here, and that was the price he paid for being overconfident.
Truthfully though, he enjoyed it. Enjoyed it more than ever. The exhilaration... It was his first battle to the death, and he had won even up against an S-ranked!
'Hmm... I can only get up to peak A-ranked with this body... Interesting. It seemed like I am missing something.'
Yes. The boy fought against a team of more than 40 Hunters, with 5 being A-ranked, and the rest composed of mostly B-ranked, all while being only A-ranked.
He had won the battle all by himself. No wits, no nothing. Just with his strength alone.
He was getting stronger at an unimaginable pace, but as of yesterday, he had hit a limit. That was why he wanted to push himself further, to the point of near-death. But the strength he gained from today's battle was almost dismissible.
It wasn't enough. Something was evidently missing.
Still laying on the ground, the boy began to think with all the knowledge available to him. Not once did he winced from the excruciating pain from his wounds.
'Let's analyze... Hunters were an anomaly that had appeared about 9 years ago, following the sudden appearance of the Gates. Before that, the world was just a world without any mana. Statistically, Hunters usually awaken at the late stage of puberty up to 40 years old. Why?'
The boy was contemplating in silence for the next hour while killing any monsters that came close by.
'Souls? That's a possible explanation. From age 17-40, that's when a human is in its strongest state, and if the soul follows the same pattern, that's when a hunter awakens. So... The limit of a soul determines the strength of a person? That's probably true but there are some flaws in that logic. My soul is definitely strong. Even though I can't see it, I can sense a lingering aura on dead bodies. I also have that same aura, but mine isn't weaker, it's much stronger. At least I think so... But that doesn't answer my question. Why are Hunters able to get so strong if it's not the soul?'
Suddenly the boy realized that he had forgotten something. He only knew that people can be awakened, but he didn't know how or why they do.
Why is that?
He pondered on that question for two hours, before changing his perspective to something more unnatural.
'A higher being... God? Either way, it's possible that someone is lending Hunters, who have strong souls, their powers. The same being that is creating the Gate to another world. The same being that is planting magic cores into monsters. The same being that created Rune Stones. For some reason... they're doing all of this. That would explain why Hunters are so flawed. They don't got any other skills besides the one they received. Hmm... Do I need to seek the help of one too?'
But that wasn't what he wanted. With a face of slight displeasure, he reprimanded himself for even think of such a solution.
'No. That's a disgrace. I'm only my own power... Any others are full of flaws. I aim to be perfect. Only I am perfect.'
And just as his conviction strengthened, something inside his soul changed. If it was before, his soul then may seem overwhelming, but in truth, it was nearly empty. It lacked something that everyone has—a reason for its existence. Ambition. Now, he was no longer just following his instinct to become perfect, he was following own his goal.
Had the boy lived in a cultivation world, he would have known that this is what they called the Dao, or the way. Everyone in the world has them, whether they realized it or not. But he didn't... until now.
At the same time he was having this realization, his mana went through a small qualitative change in correspond to the change to his spirit.
Feeling the minuscule change in his body, Solus' face brightened up. He felt the block of the way to S-ranked was lessening.
With a smirk, he stood up and walk to the corpse of the S-ranked Mage. It was the only corpse that was still intact, as the boy wanted to save the best for last.
'With mana of this quality... I should be able to evolve with more versatility than before. A total of 479 flaws should be eliminated.'
*Chomp* *Gulp*
Savoring the mana-rich flesh, the boy began to crave for more. As he devours the entire corpse, his body slowly morph into all kind of different shapes and sizes. One minute it might be as big as an Orc, but the next second he might be smaller than even a Goblin.
He wasn't the same anymore.
Finishing his meal, he settled down on the form he thought was most tuned for combat.
First was his eyes. It was no longer belonged to that of a reptilian anymore, but rather a combination of many. Of the white part of the eyes, or the sclera, it now transformed into something similar to white compound eyes; eyes that can detect speed 10 times beyond the human's limitation. Though it still looked like normal sclera, that was only a disguise to fool the enemies.
On the other hand, the pupil and the iris of both eyes were different. On the right eye, it was just a simple black dot in the middle, with nothing else. This was the eye of an eagle, known as the strongest eyes within the animal kingdom. It is capable of seeing things as far as 4 miles away, but in the boy's case, 10 miles wouldn't even be a problem.
But besides the addition of the compound eye, there were only a few changes to the left eye. It remained that of a reptile... or more specifically, a dragon. An upgrade if you will. Along with thermal detection, his mana sensitivity was now way beyond of any Hunters out there, not to mention machines.
As for his outer appearance? He is now clad in silver armor or what seemed to be armor, except they're dragon scales.
He had claws for fingers, and talons for feet, both possessing extreme penetration power that can even tear diamond apart.
'Oh, there's someone coming in?' Sensing someone had just entered the Gate, the boy stop analyzing his new body and decided that this will be his next prey.
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"Isn't this only an A-ranked Dungeon? Why are they taking so long. Tsk, if our guest thinks our guild is incompetent, that will put us in a disadvantage." With a fierce look, a man in his late 20's cursed at his guild members, who he didn't know was all dead.
"Guild Master... what if there's something wrong?" Out of concern, one of the 15 members, excluding the Guild Master, asked. Their guild was quite small, but luckily, they were under the protection of an S-ranked Guild Master. But sometimes, they still needed to maintain a good relationship with others, which is why they invited an S-ranked Hunter from the Draw Sword Guild to participate in this raid.
"Shh! Don't you dare say that! Hunter Kei is extremely strong. Nothing should go wrong with him there. If he heard you say that, you might just lose your life then." The Guild Master reprimanded, but even he couldn't help but worry about something.
It had been more than 5 hours since the previous raid team had entered the A-ranked Gate. That was way too long, considering that there was an S-ranked Hunter with them.
Shaking his shoulder to wipe away the sense of urgency, he put on a determined look to find out what was holding the team back. But before he could think any further, the Gate that he had just entered through suddenly... disappear.
"What!?"
"Could this be a Red Gate?"
"What's going on?"
Panic spread like wildfire among these veteran Hunters. No one could have accounted for this unprecedented incident. Normally, a Red Gate would appear right after someone enters, but it did not turn red even though the last team had entered already.
"Stay calm!" The Guild Master yelled, he couldn't afford for the team's morale to drop down any further, or consequences might be too severe. "We're going to meet up with the previous raid team and clear the Dungeon! Is that clear?"
"YE—" But just as the others were about reply back... 3 large chunks of ice suddenly fell out of nowhere from the sky, crushing 13 Hunters to death.
There were 3 survivors left including the Guild Master.
For a brief moment, their faces were blank, unable to form any coherent thought. Everything happened way too fast that their brain haven't even register what had happened.
Recovered, the Guild Master's face morphed into one of anger. He knew whose those chunks of ice belonged all too well, and came to a conclusion that he was betrayed.
"Hunter Kei!!! Face me!!" Out of desperation, he tried taunting Kei to get his location. He was a fighter, and Fighters were helpless sheep against Mages at long range.. He could only hope he could get closer and knock him out before any more of his guild members were dying.
Without hiding any further, the culprit finally showed himself.
"Kei? He's dead." A voice sounded out from the sky. It was Solus, who was fluttering in the air with the support of enormous black wings that was beating silently, yet strong enough to keep him in the air.
Despite feeling a sense of urgency from the monster, he desperately cried out, "You monster! What are you! Did you all of this?"
The boy was still in the air, but you could tell he was annoyed by something. In his head, he was wonder why human always ask him the same question, like every single time they meet.
Not even bothering to answer, he just straight up get to the point.
"1v1 me. Close combat. If you win, you and the survivors can live."
"Huh?" The Guild Master was flabbergasted. Did a monster just ask him to fight solo? In close combat? Him, who was an S-ranked Fighter?
That was one of the most laughable thing he had ever heard. A monster, especially one that was capable of using such powerful magic, was definitely not good at close combat. After all, no monster was capable of being proficient in both art. That should still be the case for this monster.
It was then that his face froze.
He was so into the fantasy that he had already won, that he had forgotten something important.
The monster had spoken to him... in Japanese.
A monster that was able to speak.
"Wait what are you! How are you able to speak Japanese!" He was slightly nervous now. Human-type monsters aren't to be underestimated, as they're ranked top 5 in term of danger.
But he didn't get an answer.
"Stop barking." As Solus said that, he began to descend down from his flight by retracting his wings.
*Boom*
The landing left behind a small crater, suggesting the weight behind that small body.
But as if he was undeterred by his shock earlier, the Guild Master took the preemptive strike.
He was a veteran, there was no way he could miss this opportunity. Any question can be waited as it wasn't worth his life risking over something that might be impossible.
Using his abilities, he boosted his body with buffs. His agility rised almost three times his normal speed, breaking the sound barrier and reaching Mach 1.4. And by the time he got 3 meters within the clouds of dust, he activated his magical weapon, increasing temperature of his fist to 4000 degrees Celsius.
Sensing the monster's location, he prepared to strike with all he got. But the monster didn't move from its spot nor did it bother to put up any defensive moves.
In the Guild Master's mind, he had already won. And just as he expected, the moment his punch made contact with the monster's head, it exploded into red mist.
"Arghhh!!!!!!" The Hunter screamed a cry of victory. He couldn't believe that the monsters that wiped out his team was such an easy prey.
Still feeling high from all the adrenaline, he didn't want the battle to end just yet.
Walking to the still standing corpse, he pulled his right arm all the way back before thrusting it forward with everything he got. He wasn't going to let the monster go in peace even after its death.
But the blast delivered by his punch never arrived.
"Huh?" The Guild Master was stupefied. Where was his punch?
Wait...
Why is his arm on the monster's claws?
"Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!" Now it wasn't a cry of victory anymore, it was the cry of the unimaginable pain of having an arm tore off.
Then out of nowhere the head that was blasted into bits, came back to life,
'Relinquishing of the brain and fungi implementation. Success. Somatosensory function improved by 2.8 times. Success. Receiving a punch of 10.2 tons of force without breaking. It seemed like I can take 4 times more before breaking. I will consider that a success.' The monster murmured something with his newly grown head.
"Ahhh!!! *Heavy Panting* W-why! Why are you not dead!" Seeing the monster completely unscratched, the Guild Master had an incredulous look on his face.
He clearly saw that he had destroyed the monster's head, then why is it alive?
"Are you giving up?" Solus asked with a nonchalant voice. Either way, he had already gotten everything from this Dungeon, and it was time to leave. There was no need to bother himself with these human any longer. They had already done their jobs.
The Guild Master wasn't answering, he was wincing from the pain of losing his arm and the poison in his bloodstream.
"... ok then. Goodbye." Without further hesitation, Solus disappeared into a distance.
*Thud*
Shortly after, the body of the Guild Master fell down and hitting the hard ground. His head? Gone.
*Chomp*
While chewing on the brain of the Guild Master, Solus was making his way toward the last two survivors: a male and a female.
He had leave these two alive for a reason... to further understand human's psychology.
"P-please kill me and let her go!" With restless eyes, the man pleaded the monster.
He and her were husbands and wives, married on the battlefield and had been together for more than 3 years already.
They loved each other beyond death.
"No! Please let him go! I can die in his stead!"
"Dear... let me. Let me protect you one last time. Our child... still needs you."
"No! No!!! I'm not leaving you behind Kira!"
"Hana... no..."
Amused at the scene, Solus didn't intervene. He knew why they were doing this. It was a phenomenon called love. But he didn't understand why love can be stronger than the will to survive.
Why is there such a flaw? Isn't the point of all organism is to survive and reproduce? Then why are they willing to give up their lives to protect the one they loved, especially if they had only known each other for 3 years?
Are those 3 years of affection worth more than the rest of their lives?
Solus didn't know the answer. Every time he got closer to what he thinks is an an answer, the bigger the question he received.
He had thought it was just a simple flaw, but evidently it was not so.
So he decided to conduct an experiment.
"You two fight. The survivor can go."
It may sounded cruel, but Solus thought that was the best solution and the most mercy he can give them. At least this way, they can choose who to die and die at the hand of their loved one. That should be better than both being dead at the hand of a monster.
The couple choked when they heard this absurd proposal. Telling them to kill each other? How can he be so cruel...
"B*tch... I'm tired of your living with your bullsh*t already. You should die then for my sake."
"Kira?" The woman was confused. Why was her husband acting like this? "D-Didn't you say you would prote—"
But cutting off the woman's words, Kira shoved her 3 meters away. With a harsh voice he spoke, "That's only because I thought we would both die! Now that I can live!, you should die!"
Not waiting for any reply, the man dashed quickly toward his wife, as if he genuinely wanted to kill her.
The woman's face was blank at the unexpected betrayal. She couldn't think at all.
But... midway to his destination, he suddenly turned back and rushed toward Solus.
"Die!!!!!!!"
But the monster didn't die.
With 3 scorpion-like tails, Kira was now impaled by an amused monster, who was dead without even knowing why.
The woman, who had just realized her husband sacrificed himself to save her life, broke down in tear. She regretted everything. She regretted not killing herself when she had gotten the chance. She regretted for not knowing why her husband acted that way. And instead of the monster, she blamed herself for his death.
*Thud*
The corpse of Kira was violently thrown toward her. His body was a bloody mess, and even his head wasn't spared as the monster was now chewing on it.
"So you want to live?" Solus was now really engrossed into learning human's psychology. It was a terribly designed flaw, and yet humanity had managed to propagated into the top of the food chain.
But the woman didn't listen. She plopped herself down to the ground and gently caressed the remain of Kira, while silently repeating a whisper.
"I'm sorry Kira... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
"Well then, since your husband is dead, I guess the deal should be off. But since you showed me good data, I will let you live... of course, you wouldn't remember a thing."
Resonating his mana with the outside world, he created a Gate back to the real world. He had learned this trick a couple days ago, but he was unaware that this is only a technique that the Ruler and the Monarch can use.
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"...Please have a moment of silent for the death of all the Hunters that have been killed within the A-ranked Dungeon. Japan will never forget all the contributions that these people have made."
And for 1 minute, Japan was in total silent. The death of more than 55 high-ranked Hunters have been devastating enough, not to mention 2 of them were ranked S.
"Only a survivor was left at the scene after the Gate was reopened. The Hunter had her memories altered as she claimed she could not recall anything that happened within the dungeon. Experts have hypothesized that the anomaly of the Dungeon may suggest that this could possibly be a new species of Dungeon. Further investigations will be conducted soon in the future. For any future updates, please tuned in—"
The TV was suddenly turned off, this time, it was just one person watching.
"Hmm... it seemed like I will have to hunt less from now on. Things are getting noisy. Let's see... Africa or America. Where should I go next..."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
AverageWannaBe
AverageWannaBe Imma take a small break as I got my hw and other novel to write
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Ty for reading
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