The air was cold, as it struck the naked torso of Xior. It made him shiver but he kept walking. He had lost count of the time, his black hair was now longer than before and the roots of his hair had started to turn white for some reason.
His body grew as well but he didn't care about all that and his determination made him continue. He knew he would eventually find a way out or just die trying.
The Abyss was a barren land, it lacked vegetation and water, he had survived on monster blood and meat so far. It was endless expanse of a cold hard ground with a black hole looming over the horizon.
Xior stopped and lay down on a side behind a jagged rock formation. He closed his eyes and dozed off to sleep.
Xior had failed to notice someone following him. It was much smaller than him, which made it difficult for him to notice. A small rat like creature with claws bigger than its body and a grotesque face with a gaping maw full of sharp jagged teeth.
Rodents, they existed everywhere. Be it Earth or inside the tower and even in the Abyss. They were always hard to deal with. But now his senses were sharper, as soon as dozens of the rodents came near him he kicked the rock formation, crushing a dozen rodents.
The rest jumped at him, but he simply kicked them away which turned them into a splatter of flesh and blood on the ground.
"Well, I don't have to worry about food now." He said as he started picking up the rodents. He had to survive so he had no choice. At first he couldn't do it but eventually he got used to it.
The monsters inside the Abyss were much richer in mana than normal monsters, that much he knew. So eating those would increase his mana naturally. But it didn't mean that there was no harm.
The first time he ate monster meat, he was poisoned. Turns out raw monster meat is poisonous to humans. But he had the regeneration skill, the poison which ate his internal organ was neutralized quickly and with time his body adapted to the poison.
Another added benefit was that the poisons were so potent that most poisons would never effect him. His regenerated body always felt stronger than before somehow.
He didn't question it and picked up the runes dropped by the rodents. Agility and speed runes mostly. Those would be useful for later as he could sell those back on Earth.
He stretched his body and continued to walk. More time passed and he kept walking. He grew taller and so did his hair. They were half white and then black from the tips.
The only unchanged thing were his eyes. Completely black irises which showed not a single emotion in them. Even though the Abyss had changed him in ways he couldn't tell.
He killed everything which opposed him in the Abyss. There only the strong survived. And if you didn't kill your opposition you would end up six feet under.
*****
Becca was nervous more than usual. After two years of becoming a hunter, she was scouted by one of the top eight hunter guilds. It was her first day there so she was travelling to the New Federation, a floating city and the capital of the new world order.
She had just boarded the airship which would take her to the North Block of New Federation. She wore a simple blue tracksuit, with a black tank top underneath. She had a sword on her hip and her fiery red mane was tied into a ponytail.
It had been two years, she joined the Starfish guild, another small guild operating in Sector H and had performed very well in her time there. Before leaving that guild she was a squad leader and even among the A-Ranks present in Sector H, only a few could match her strength.
Xior's loss had changed her, she was not the fragile damsel in distress. She was powerful now but what didn't change was her love for the shelter kids. She stayed there even though she had enough money to buy a new house.
As she thought of her past, the airship arrived at the docking station of the North Block. She took in a deep breath and walked out. In the distance she saw a tall tanned woman with long blonde hair, her purple eyes were fierce and she wore a white buttoned up shirt with a grey jacket and skirt.
That was the guild master of the Dragon Guild, ranked 4th among the top eight guilds. Becca walked towards her still nervous.
"Rebecca, welcome to the North Block of the New Federation.
We talked on the phone, I'm Maria Teresa, the guild master of Dragon Guild. I welcome you to our guild." She declared as she shook hands with Becca.
Despite her intimidating appearance, she was sweet. Her nervousness died after hearing her voice.
"Thank you for having me, Madam Maria. I'm grateful for this opportunity." Becca responded with a smile on her face.
"Don't flatter me, your performance was so amazing that not offering you this chance would be you wasting your talent.
We can talk later, let's go now. I have to show you around the building and also your accommodation area."
"Yes, let's go." Becca said as she trailed behind her. Her luggage was pulled by the guards besides Maria.
*****
Xior came face to face with a group of goblins, those same goblin when he had first entered that gate all that time ago. They snarled at him and ran towards him but he was faster. With his bare hands he ripped apart the first goblin.
The rest were shocked by the ruthlessness, some tried to run away but their fate was the same. With a single leap he had closed the distance between him and the others not before punching their heads off with punches.
Even monsters cowered in the presence of a bigger monster. Xior's white hair was now red because of their blood and his black eyes made him look like a demon. The creatures native to the Abyss.
Xior didn't stop, he killed each and every last one of them. Their bodies were unrecognizable, limbs torn apart, heart clawed out and head decapitated. This didn't feel like the work of a human, but of a vile demon who are inherently evil.
Surprisingly he found a skill rune after so long, he had relied on stat runes to increase his stats and saved the elemental runes as he did not understand how to use those.
[Skill Rune]
Type: Passive
[Oppressor's Aura Level 1 - A]
Low level and rank monsters will feel fear from the user and will lose their will to fight.
This was a good skill in the Abyss, he wanted to preserve his time by not fighting the monsters all the time. He gathered the rest of the runes in his inventory. He then collected some meat for him to eat and resumed his journey.
As he walked some more he yawned and decided to take a nap before continuing. As he lay down on the cold hard ground and chewed the raw goblin meat, many things came to his mind.
'Becca...how was she holding up, probably locked herself in her room.
And the shelter kids. I hope all of you are able to live a good life even if I don't make it out
He thought about them and then what those five bastards were doing now. By now they would have climbed up the ladder in the world of hunters.
As he finished the meat, he said, "Status." And a blue screen popped up in front of him.
[Welcome Hunter]
Name: Xior Arden
Age: 17
Height: 5'10
Strength: 80
Speed: 60
Intelligence: 70
Mana: 80
Endurance: 70
Agility: 70
Attribute: Dragon Hatchling
?????
Skills:
Oppressor's Aura Level 1 - A
Low level and rank monsters will feel fear from the user and will lose their will to fight.
Draconic Regeneration Level ??? - EX
High speed regeneration which can heal fatal wounds, cut off limbs, destroyed organs. Uses a lot of the users stamina.
Fire Ball Level 1 - F
The user can create a fire ball and attack others with it.
After reading his stats he closed his eyes and dozed off.