Chapter 4: Progress Of The Weak: Part One

[Report. Hidden Quest: Warrior’s First Venture has been completed. Now calculating rewards…]

[Treasure Hunt Skill has advanced from E-Rank to D-Rank. Mana Capacity has increased by 9. Strength has increased by 7. Speed has increased by 8. Health has increased by 10 and Intelligence has increased by 11. Now redesigning overall Warrior info…]

Name: Raid

Surname: ???

Affiliation: Awakened Warrior

Class: Blacksmith

Skills:

• Craft D-Rank : Can craft high level equipment, weapons and amour from scratch as long as the necessary products to do so are present.

• Repair D-Rank: Can fix broken equipment, weapons and amour.

• Weapon Fanatic D-Rank: Possesses a high level of understanding of how various weapons operate, including how to use them in battle.

•• Bladework C-Rank: Possesses a certain level of mastery with blades.

• Treasure Hunt D-Rank: Can expertly locate mines with products and minerals for crafting within a 300 kilometre radius. Tip: Mines found in dungeons have the best products.

• Mine E-Rank: Can expertly mine products and minerals for crafting.

• Item Space D-Rank: Limited space to store equipment, weapons, armoury, products, minerals, etc…

Rank: F

Level: Locked

Mana Capacity: 3431

Strength: 846

Speed: 956

Health: 878

Intelligence: 941

“Oh wow, well hello there rare stroke of luck of mine. All I did was enter a Dungeon and yet I gained so much… I mean sure it doesn’t look like anything that can happen again but still.”

I shifted my attention away from the message as it disappeared then directed it to the spectacle that laid before me. It was my very first time seeing the inside of a Dungeon, I wondered if one could really get used to seeing something like this or if the hype was something that’d always exist regardless of how many times you do it.

“It really is a whole other world, even the air feels entirely different from Earth…”

I then quickly reorganized myself from looking like a little naive boy in awe and wonder. What laid before me was a barren wasteland, a desert of sorts. No monsters in sight…for now. If I had to break down what I needed to do into three things, it would be; mine, mine and mine. For that to happen, though, I had to first find a mine, so I activated my Treasure Hunt Skill. It was in full effect, a full on, straight up three hundred kilometre scouting range. It manifested in the form of a sphere-like radar with its glowing green waves permeating along the surface and through the atmosphere. Everything the waves touched, I could vividly see with my eyes as they emitted a feint glow of green light.

“Hold up, doesn’t this mean I’ve got 360 degree vision? Isn’t the Treasure Hunt Skill supposed to just be able to find mines and nothing else?…”

It really didn’t make any sense to me, so I checked the contents of my Treasure Hunt Skill to investigate.

[Showing the contents of the D-Rank Skill Treasure Hunt.]

• Treasure Hunt D-Rank: Can expertly locate mines with products and minerals for crafting within a 300 kilometre radius. Tip: Mines found in dungeons have the best products.

“It says that it has the ability to locate mines but it doesn’t say that it isn’t conscious of anything else. I see now, so this is just an automatic bonus of the Skill, awesome!!! This means that as long as the Skill is active, no D-Rank Warrior and below will be able to sneak up on me! Even if their Class is say, that of a Thief, Ninja or Assassin etc…pretty much anything with those little sneaky annoying covert-type Skills”

I really don’t like surprises of any kind so the thought of someone being able to sneak up on me and launch a surprise attack made my skin crawl. That self-induced paranoia made me appreciate my Treasure Hunt Skill all the more. Shit I basically fell in love with it right then and there even.

“Now, I’m thinking I should keep this magnificent Skill active, even after I find a mine. Wouldn’t wanna be ambushed by some unknown monster, no siree, I would not.”

I kept walking around the desert, my trusty Skill in full gear, climbing a few big rocks every now and then to widen my scope of view. I was still yet to find a mine or even another freaking lifeform…outside of the nearly countless various incects beneath the surface of course.

“Damn it’s hot. Well I guess that’s what you’ll get with two suns, weird….hah, rats, don’t tell me I’m lost in a deserted Dungeon! That’d really suck for a protagonist’s first adventure…hm? Pause.”

I finally found something, about 170 kilometres away, there were multiple lifeforms other than those damned bugs I felt like I’ve known for eternity.

“Man, about damn time. Wait what the…?”

What awaited me there were…

“Dogs? No, wait, wild dogs. Nah, they look more like hyenas, five times bigger than normal though, not to mention their spines are sticking out of their skin from the back of their necks all the way down to the end of their tails. So yeah, probably not your typical average hyenas.”

I patted myself on the back in admiration of my genius for being able to figure out that those were definitely not normal hyenas.

“Dang, I’m good”

There were other noteworthy things aside from the pack of definitely-not-normal-hyenas. For instance, the big…un-alive creature that strikingly resembled a buffalo, only larger, which laid there acting as the hyenas’ lunch as they were eating it like there was no tomorrow. Then secondly, the numerous caves surrounding the area the hyenas were located. I decided to take a closer look and noticed the caves may have lead to some sort of underground area. Each of the caves had underground pathways that eventually merge with one another and become one pathway that then leads to a large area underground. I wondered what it could’ve been…

“Probably a mine. Nah, scratch that it’s definitely a mine.”

Okay maybe ’wonder’ was a bit of a strong word, it was fairly to easy figure out. Anyway, I decided to hurry up and get close to the caves. With my speed, 170 kilometres is way of an easy distance to cover within a shot amount of time. Normal human peak speed (along with the other Stats) could be measured around 50 to 70, average Warrior speed (along with the other Stats) was 700+.

“At least in this aspect, I’m a little above average. All that strenuous physical training paid off in its own ’’charming’’ way”

Using the surrounding large rocks around as coverage to hide from the hyenas, I made my way towards the caves.

[Report. Subject has entered the Werehyenas’ territory. Subject will now recieve an Immediate Quest…]

“Werehyenas, huh? So that’s what they’re called. Wait what’s this about an Immediate Quest!?…”

[Immediate Quest contents]

Immediate Quest: Subject must exterminate the Werehyenas surrounding the caves within the given time duration.

Duration: 1hour

Upon Success: Subject will receive entry into the caves with no disturbance.

Upon Failure: Subject will die.

Rewards will be calculated after the Quest is completed based the Subject’s efficiency.

“Well fuck…”

A chill ran down my spine as I was standing behind a large rock spying on the Werehyenas through the Treasure Hunt Skill, believing my self to be expertly hidden. By the time I noticed that the Werehyenas were starting to act strange, it was too late.

“Shit they’ve spotted me. Must’ve picked up on my scent.”

With speed rivaling that of an average Warrior, they cornered me. There were 28 of them in total, slowly closing in on me, they didn’t bark or growl. Rather they were more like laughing, guess that’s hyenas for you.

“Damn it all to hell” I cursed.

“Can I really take ’em on alone, these are E-Rank monsters afterall. That’s an entire Rank above me. I don’t think they’re stronger of faster than me individually but they’ve got the advantage numbers wise.”

Almost immediately as I said that, one jumped straight to me, its razor sharp claws pointed directly at me, almost as if they had a mind of their own, they knew their target. I couldn’t move. I wanted to but my body wasn’t about to listen to me. I was scared. Fool, scratch that, I was petrified, I let my instincts carry me, my eyes closed against my will. The Treasure Hunt Skill then deactivated. A sharp sound then pierced my ears, followed by one that imitated a splash of what I’d say was maybe water.

“What’s going on?”

I thought to myself.

“I thought I had already resigned myself to my fate so how is it that I still feel very much alive right now?”

Open your eyes stupid.

Felt like my subconscious was telling me that. Makes sense. Can’t exactly figure out what’s going on with my eyes closed now can I?

Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.

“Okay, you can stop now, jeez”

So I opened my eyes, after reorganizing my psychological stability of course. What I saw next defied my understanding of logic. I really didn’t like surprises but what I saw before me had the potential to make me reconsider that perspective.

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