Chapter 20: The Wrath of A Grieving Father: Part Two

Hector and Kyle were two guards who were assigned to an E-Rank Dungeon. Hector, who had been guarding the Dungeon for a year now and Kyle who was only recently assigned to it about a week ago, after Hector’s previous partner went on leave. The two never would’ve imagined that they’d even live long enough to be the first people to witness history in the making. That being, getting the opportunity to see a Warrior solo clear a Dungeon that was one Rank above his own. Not only was such a feat unheard of, unthinkable and just downright unbelievable, it was believed to be completely and entirely impossible, in every sense of the word. It was well known around the entire world that in order for a Warrior to solo clear a Dungeon, they’d need to be at least three whole Ranks above said-Dungeon. With SS-Ranks and above being the only exception as they had the ability to solo clear all Dungeons up to S-Rank. With that in mind, then, was the Warrior in question an F-Rank with the power of a B-Rank? If that was the case then it’d make sense, wouldn’t it? No, that was also impossible. In the first place, Ranks existed to convey the strength of a Warrior. If a Warrior of a certain Rank displays the strength of a different Rank then the Warrior was of that Rank to begin with. Then, Rank falsification? Also unheard of. The Warriors Association Rank Measures were the best in the entire world, each made from highly concentrated Mana and at least ten S-Rank Mana Crystals that were fused together by a handful of Mage Class Warriors through Mana manipulation. If they could accurately measure the Ranks of even the Six Emperors then they could accurately measure the Ranks of eveyone else. Plus it was also wide world knowledge that among all the Classes that exist, only the Blacksmith Class was F-Rank. Leaving only one conclusion. An F-Rank really did solo clear an E-Rank Dungeon. Whether one choses to believe it or not, that was the undeniable truth. Which left only one question to be asked. Just how did he do it? A handicap, the Warrior himself, known only as ’Raid’ explained. All the other monsters had been killed. Wiped out by the Zeke Party. The Dungeon Boss had been significantly weakened, which allowed even an F-Rank to be able to kill it. If that was it then it started to seem more and more plausible. He took a risk entering a Dungeon one Rank higher than his own and just so happened to be at the right place at the right time. Fortune really did favour the bold. The two guards were in aw. Not of his strength, rather, of his bravery.

They knew that –

“We have to report this as soon as possible.”

“Tell me about it. Let’s go.”

They headed straight to the Warriors Association, each driving a company car, and did just that.

At the Warriors Association Manager’s Office.

A-Rank Secretary Class Warrior Melissa Rogers gave the report exactly as it was transfered to her. She stood as a table came between her and an old bearded black man in a suit who sat comfortably on his chair. That man was Chadwick Sukala, the Company Manager of the Niger Branch of the Warriors Association.

“-And lastly, in a recently cleared E-Rank Dungeon, there were 4 casualties and one survivor. Casualties include C-Rank Knight Class Zeke Reinhardt, third son of the Reinhardt Family along with all the members of his party, each belonging to a Vassal Family of the Reinhardt Family, namely Doyle of the Vander Family, Harold of the Smith Family and Niel of the Wick Family. A D-Rank Assassin Class, D-Rank Mage Class and E-Rank Archer Class respectively.” She explained.

“Is that so? Ole’ Andy’s gonna throw one hell of a fit when he finds out.” Said Chadwick jesterly.

“He…already has, sir. A messenger was dispatched an hour ago to inform the Family, or… Families.” Said Melissa.

“Oh? I feel sorry for our ’one survivor’ then. If I know Andrew Reinhardt and trust me, I do, then chances are he’ll hold a grudge. He might even accuse the survivor of murder, considering he’d find it hard to believe in the first place that his son, a C-Rank Warrior would ever fall in an E-Rank Dungeon of all places, with a party no less. So who exactly is this survivor of ours?” He asked.

“Uhm…well you see, that’s the thing…” She said hesitantly.

“Go on…”

“It says here…that…he’s an F-Rank.”

“…I didn’t know you could joke like that too, Melly.”

“Well, I’m not exactly as stiff as you seem to believe I am sir but, this…” She said as she handed him the tablet she was holding with the report. “…is not a joke.”

Chadwick then held the tablet, and started reading the contents of the report. As he did, his face turned more pale each passing second.

“Hmm, this is insane. Checking his profile, this was his first Dungeon. He only just got registered today… Oh, and by our little Peyton no less. Raid, huh? No surname….Youth Preservation Orphanage…”

“You know it?” Asked Melissa.

“Yes, more than I’d care to unfortunately. And he’s an F-Rank, the first and only in the entire world. I’d hate to be him, that’s for sure. At first glance, it seems like a pretty plausible situation. The F-Rank got lucky and crossed paths with a weakened Dungeon Boss as an aftermath of its battle with the Zeke Party, a battle which took the lives of said-party, he then miraculously managed to kill the Boss and thus, cleared the Dungeon. But when you take a second look, you realise just how outrageous this story sounds. Would a D-Rank monster really be weakened to the point that an F-Rank could kill it? It’d have to be reduced to the strength of an F-Rank monster for that. It’s more believable that it’d die before that even happens. Then there’s the fact that the Zeke Party died while fighting it. It becomes a bit believable if we theorize that they were caught off guard and ambushed but could all four members of a party be so careless? If that were the case, they’d have died on their first Dungeon exploration. We’re talking about a party that has even explored a number of D-Rank and C-Rank Dungeons. There’s no way they were killed by that Boss, nor any other monster in that Dungeon for that matter.”

“Then…you think the F-Rank did it?” Melissa queried.

“….” Chadwick paused. He couldn’t help it. The mere thought of such a thing. An F-Rank defeating that many Warriors higher Ranked than him. So in somewhat of an effort to avoid that question, he asked a question of his own. “What were the members of the Zeke Party even doing in that Dungeon?”

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