Kael rode his motorcycle down the cracked main road toward City 23.
From City 1 to City 15, life still carescaped families walking the streets, shops open, children laughing. Hunters kept those places safe, and people lived in a fragile sort of peace. But beyond City 16… things changed. From there to City 30, the world looked abandoned, swallowed by time and despair.
The ones still living outside weren't here by choice. They were the people who couldn't afford housing in the safe zones those left to fend for themselves in the wilderness. Many of them had been thrown out decades ago, back when the Hunter Association and government demanded fifty percent tax from citizens to fund their ranks.
Those who couldn't pay were exiled. Some had refused out of pride or defiance; others simply didn't have the means. The government back then was already rotting from within, and after the apocalypse, the decay only spread deeper.
Even when the outcasts later begged to return, offering to comply, the answer was the same silence. They were forgotten.
It was a miracle they'd survived at all.
The government's priorities were clear: protect upper Luzon. The rest the lower regions, the Visayas, Mindanao were abandoned. A calculated sacrifice for "the greater chance of survival."
Kael's eyes swept over the malnourished people scattered along the roadside. Even the children looked like skin stretched over bone. The people glanced at him warily but didn't approach, didn't beg, didn't attack. Most just turned away, as if pretending he wasn't there.
Two men were hacking apart goblins for meat. Kael's stomach churned. In the safe zones, people ate animal-type monsters monstrous boars, wolves, even giant fish. They were considered healthy enough to eat, according to research. But humanoid monsters… that was different.
Not only did they taste foul, but they offered almost no real nutrition for humans. Eating them was taboo in the safe zones. Out here, though, it was all they had.
Kael's hands clenched on the handlebars. His struggles inside the safe zone suddenly felt small almost shameful in comparison.
This isn't right, he thought. No one should be left to live like this.
"I'll change it," he muttered to himself, the words low but sharp. "I'll tear down this rotten government from the top, all the way to the very bottom."
Kael drove further, passing the borders of City 21.
The moment he crossed over, it was like stepping into another world.
A ghost town.
No humans.
No monsters.
Just… silence.
The streets were lined with ruins, the skeletons of what used to be a bustling city now reduced to lifeless stone and steel. Crumbling buildings leaned dangerously, their glass windows shattered long ago. Abandoned cars sat rusting on the roadside, some stacked together from old collisions. Trash was piled up in corners like no one had bothered to touch it for years.
And then there were the skeletons.
Human remains mixed with monstrous ones, bleached white by the sun, scattered in heaps as if this place had been the stage for one last, desperate battle.
Kael tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
How many people died here…?
The thought made his stomach twist.
He pushed forward, the silence pressing down on him, until finally he reached his destination.
City 23.
Once known as San Pascual, Batangas, it had been a beautiful place. Kael had seen pictures of it before the Fall sunlit streets, colorful houses, the kind of town that felt warm and alive. Now? Wilderness had swallowed it whole. Trees pushed up through cracked roads, vines crawled over rooftops, and the air carried the faint growls of distant monsters.
The government had long since abandoned this city. It was too far from Capital City 1, and manpower was stretched thin. There just weren't enough soldiers or hunters to protect every settlement.
And City 23 had another problem it spawned far too many dungeons. Mostly low to mid-tier ones, from F-rank to C-rank.
In theory, those should've been easy to handle. But in reality, dungeons under C-rank weren't worth the trouble. Too little profit, too much risk. Clearing them cost more than the loot they dropped.
So the big guilds didn't bother. The investors didn't care.
And City 23… was left to rot.
Kael killed the engine, took off his helmet, and tossed it into his subspace.
That's when it happened
Fwip!
An arrow whistled past his ear.
His eyes snapped toward the source. A goblin no taller than 8 year old kid, it was glaring at him from the bushes, bow in hand. Kael knew goblins were only F-rank monsters, but that didn't mean they were harmless. If anything, their cunning made them dangerous.
And then he saw them.
A few more figures emerged from behind the ruined walls.
Five… no eight goblins in total.
His throat went dry. The hostility radiating from them made his skin prickle. This was it his first real fight against monsters. No sparring, no practice dummies. This was life or death.
The goblins charged, their weapons as crude as they were terrifying. Rusty kitchen knives scavenged from somewhere, wooden clubs splintered at the ends anything sharp or heavy enough to kill.
Kael forced himself to raise his hand.
Fireball. Now.
[Fireball – C Rank]
Mana Cost: 200
Cooldown: 1 second
Effect: Shoots a strong fireball up to 200 meters. Inflicts continuous burn damage for 3 seconds.
Bang!
The sound was sharp, almost like a gunshot. His first fireball slammed into the leading goblin, the explosion tearing through its chest. Flesh and bone burned away in an instant, blood spraying as the body crumpled, still smoking.
Kael didn't have time to think. He backed up, raising his finger like the barrel of a handgun, and fired again.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Fireballs roared from his fingertips in rapid succession, each shot lighting up the air with heat and smoke. The goblins screamed, flailed, and then fell one after another until all eight lay sprawled across the ground, charred and lifeless.
Kael lowered his hand slowly. His heart was pounding in his ears.
He'd done it.
A shaky grin spread across his face. "I… actually killed them…"
The rush of adrenaline made him feel strangely proud, like this was proof he wasn't completely useless in a fight.
He opened his subspace, and his eyes widened.
Eight faintly glowing F-rank mana crystals sat inside.
Kael continued walking through the dense undergrowth, keeping his senses sharp. A flicker of movement caught his eye another group of goblins, this time heading deeper into the forest.
He followed quietly, crouching low, until the trees parted just enough for him to see it.
A goblin settlement.
His eyes narrowed. Crude wooden huts were scattered in a clearing, smoke rising from small campfires. Filthy green bodies moved about at least a thousand of them.
So this is their nest, Kael thought, lips curling into a faint smirk.
He raised his hand, focusing mana into his fingertip. A small, flickering flame danced at the tip as he whispered the incantation in his mind, compressing it as much as possible.
Far ahead, a lone goblin was pissing against a tree, completely unaware of the death about to come.
Perfect test subject.
He released the spell.
Phssst!
The fireball shot forward, no louder than a silenced gun.
Bang!
The goblin's head burst into flames, its scream cut short as it collapsed into a smoking heap.
[Skill Proficiency Level Up]
Fireball – C → B Rank
Cost: 300 Mana
Cooldown: 0.5 sec
Effect: Shoots a strong fireball up to 250 meters, deals continuous burn damage for 5 seconds. Size and speed can be controlled.
A slow grin spread across Kael's face.
Oh… this is going to be fun.
He turned his sights to a smaller hunting party nearby, watching them butcher a horned rabbit.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Four goblins dropped in rapid succession, their bodies crumpling to the dirt.
One of them spotted him and let out a shrill cry.
"skreeeeek -- shittt! ," Kael muttered.
The goblin charged, but Kael was faster. Mana surged through his legs as he activated Speed Boost, his body blurring forward. He swung his fist, already ignited with Fire Fist, and slammed it into the goblin's abdomen. His hand tore straight through flesh and bone.
For a split second, Kael blinked in surprise. Oh right… I have the Hand-to-Hand Combat passive.
No time to dwell on it he kept moving, trimming down their numbers one by one.
His eyes darted toward the settlement's crude wooden gate. Two sentries stood guard in the distance. He took the shot… and missed.
The fireball slammed into the wall, exploding harmlessly.
The guards shrieked an alarm.
"Ahhh, shit… missed," Kael muttered, clicking his tongue. "Well… no need to hide anymore."
He planted his feet, gathering mana in his palm. The flicker of fire grew, merging as he forced multiple fireballs into one searing mass. The air rippled with heat.
It swelled to the size of a basketball.
Let's see you survive this.
With a sharp thrust of his arm, he sent it flying.
The fireball streaked through the air like a comet before smashing into the gate.
BANGGGGGG!!!
The explosion roared like thunder, a wave of heat washing over the clearing. The wooden gate shattered into splinters, the shockwave flattening the huts closest to it. Dozens of goblins were thrown into the air, their bodies engulfed in flames. Smoke and ash billowed upward, blotting out the sun for a heartbeat.
When the fire cleared, goblins screamed in chaos, running in all directions.
Kael stepped forward slowly, his boots crunching over charred bodies. One goblin nearby tried to crawl away, whimpering pitifully.
Kael didn't hesitate. He placed his boot on its chest, pinning it down, and pointed his finger at its head.
Bang!
The fireball burned through its skull, leaving only the smell of scorched flesh.
The hobgoblin warriors roared in fury, their guttural cries shaking the air.
They were D-rank creatures each one as tall as a grown man, about five foot six, with corded muscles and weapons that glinted in the dim light. Their eyes burned with hatred as they charged straight for Kael.
Speed Boost - activated.
Strength Boost - activated.
Kael's muscles tightened, his senses sharpening as mana surged through his body. Without hesitation, he raised his hand.
"Fireball."
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Explosions ripped through the air, faster than before, engulfing the front line of hobgoblins in flames.
He stopped firing, mana coiling in his fist instead.
Time to go in close.
Kael dashed forward, meeting the charging goblins head-on.
He activated his firefist skill, and punch as strong as he can and it landed on a muscular Hob goblin warriors body wielding a sword.
BANG!
The hobgobling was lifted off its feet and hurled several meters away, crashing into the dirt with a sickening thud.
The others hesitated, fear flickering in their eyes. But instead of running, they roared and pressed the attack.
"Fine," Kael muttered under his breath, a grin tugging at the corner of his lips he's enjoying the fight, he's getting accustomed to it like he was born to kill this monsters. "Let's make this fun."
With enhanced agility and strength, his movements became a blur. He slipped past their strikes with assassin-like grace, his counterattacks brutally precise. A goblin swung at his head, he counter it with another blow with a fire fist skill, The creature's forearm shattered instantly, bone fragments crunching under the heat.
He fired multiple shots to it's body Consecutively.
Bang. Bang... Bang....
Kael fired off more fireballs, but the goblins were learning they twisted, ducked, and rolled out of the way.
Persistent little pests, he thought. Alright then… let's see how you handle this.
The ground shook as the largest hobgoblin emerged from the back. It was enormous easily seven feet tall.
"It was the goblin chief"
towering over Kael, with muscles thick enough to rival an orc's. Its breath steamed in the cold air, and its grip on its club tightened.
It swung but kael dodges.
It swung multiple times but kael dodges easily.
Kael didn't back down. He stepped forward, fire gathering in his hand, and drove his fist into the goblin chief chest.
Nothing. Just a faint bruise.
"What the—?" His eyes widened.
It wung at him, but Kael leapt ten meters into the air feeling the wind whip against his face. He twisted his body mid-flight.
"Let's see you block this."
He came down like a meteor, heel smashing into the hobgoblin's skull. The impact drove the creature's head low, nearly buckling its knees.
Kael landed on its shoulders and unleashed a relentless barrage of punches. Each blow carried the force of his boosted strength, blood splattered with every strike. The air filled with the sound of cracking bone.
Finally, he charged his Fire Fist and used all his strength to punch it's head, the giant goblin collapsed.
Silence.
Around him, the bodies of fifteen hobgoblins lay scattered across the battlefield, smoke rising from their burns. Kael straightened, chest heaving, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Not bad," he murmured to himself.
Kael thought it was over.
The settlement's boss the hulking tribal chief lay dead at his feet.
His lungs burned, hes exhausted, but he'd won. Finally.
Or so he thought.
Before he could even catch his breath, something slammed into his abdomen like a sledgehammer.
The impact sent him flying dozens of meters away , his body twisting in mid-air before he crashed into a tree with a bone-rattling crack.
" Ghh!" His vision blurred.
Pain exploded across his chest, sharp and suffocating. His ribs… broken. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't speak. Could barely move.
Through the haze of agony, he forced his eyes upward and froze.
It wasn't a goblin boss standing there. No. This thing was bigger. Much bigger.
A green-skinned giant, towering at least ten feet tall, muscles bulging like coiled steel cables.
A C-rank monster.
An Orc Warrior a boss type monster.
What… the hell is a C-rank orc doing in a goblin den?!
Even back when he worked as a corpse cleaner, Kael had seen the aftermath of battles with these monsters. Entire teams of C-rank hunters ten or more barely bringing one down.
This one was different. Stronger. Deadlier.
His gaze drifted to the crude wooden throne behind it.
Don't tell me… this isn't just a boss. It's their king.
The goblin chief he'd killed was nothing more than a servant.
The orc stood proud, covered in tribal tattoos that coiled across its massive frame. Its hair was braided like some ancient Viking warlord, and in its hand was a colossal greatsword clearly looted from an unfortunate hunter.
It's… mutated, Kael realized. It must have been feeding on mana crystals… the goblins must have been offering them.
His passive regeneration ticked away in the background, but it wasn't enough. Every shallow breath was a stab of agony.
He fumbled in his inventory, pulling out a healing potion and forcing it down. The warm, bitter liquid slid down his throat, and he felt the bones in his chest knitting together slowly, painfully.
For a moment, he truly thought he was done for.
But the orc didn't move to finish him. It just… watched. Its eyes burned with intelligence, as if weighing the worth of killing him.
Then, it turned its back.
A silent dismissal.
The surrounding goblins hissed and snarled, but none stepped forward.
Kael didn't wait for them to change their minds.
Every step hurt, but he forced himself to move, stumbling toward the exit.
When he finally made it outside, the cold air hit his face and he sucked in a trembling breath.
He almost died.
If that orc had swung instead of letting him go, his body would be cooling on the dirt floor right now.
Why did it spare me…?
The thought followed him long after he'd escaped.