"An emergency is reported at Slum Area 3. So why isn't any [Hunter] or [Knight] deployed yet?!" A man screamed at the person sitting on the chair.
"Sorry sir, but we sent this information to all the organisations. We also informed our rank E and D [Knights]. However not everyone is free. Many are in their houses or in dungeons. They don't want to deal with a dungeon outbreak."
"Damn! Couldn't you just find some free [Knight] and assign them?!"
"Sir, I am just a normal KSD officer. How can I order the [Knights]? Also, I can just give them information, I can't assign them. That's a higher up job. And each [Knight] has a choice on which dungeon or which area to go. Unless it's a direct order from above, I can only request them." The male replied politely.
"Those damn…. Just because it's a slum, the higher up don't care at all. If this happened in a city, 100 [Knights] or [Hunters] would have been sent within seconds. They are treating soldiers like they are spare parts. They don't value human life at all!" The man cursed and sighed.
"Contact Lamin. He's from the slum. He will handle it. His team will take this job."
"Sir, they are currently in [Demonic Bunny Haven] dungeon. They aren't free."
"Shit. At this time they have to be there… What about—" Before the man could finish, the KSD officer said:
"Sir, I understand you want me to contact all [Knights] from a slum background. But none are free. All are in the dungeon. As you know, slum background [Knights] spend 70% of their time in dungeons. They aren't available."
"God! I will go then." The man was so angry he nearly banged the table. However he took a breath and decided to take the matter into his own hands.
"Sir, your schedule…. You currently can't leave. Mr. Rabis is looking for you."
"Tell him, I don't give a fuck about his offer. I am leaving right away."
The man left before the KSD officer could say anything.
There was a peculiar sight in Slum Area 3.
A group of [Elephanose] were rushing out of the dungeon. But the area was strangely silent. For a monster outbreak, it was too peaceful.
The man who shouted at the KSD office, now in slick armour, had arrived at Slum Area 3. With a sword on his back, he got there as fast as he could.
However when he reached, he fell into confusion.
Despite the monster outbreak, there wasn't a bit of destruction. Each shack was still intact.
There was a bit of blood on the ground. And even the soldiers were missing.
Most importantly — there wasn't a single monster in the perimeter.
As he reached the dungeon, he finally saw the monsters.
However, all of them were on the ground.
Their state was dire. Each [Elephanose], an F-ranked monster said to be one of the toughest of its rank — a nightmare for rookies due to their impenetrable defense — lay dead with a deep gash on the neck.
But that wasn't the strangest part. Each [Elephanose] was double the size of an elephant, meaning their bodies were huge. But these [Elephanose] on the ground were thin.
They looked thinner than elephants, as if something had eaten them from the inside out.
Trumpeee!! Trumpeeee! Trumpe!
Suddenly he heard loud cries coming from inside the dungeon.
As he went in, he was stunned.
Was it hard for a [Knight] to defeat [Elephanose]?
The answer was a big No. A single E-rank [Knight] can kill ten of them with ease. However despite knowing this, the man couldn't help but exclaim at the sight in front of him.
The appearance of the boy darting around and killing [Elephanose] with ease shocked him.
The boy's movements were fast, but untrained. He was clumsy, his stance and swings unnatural — clear signs he had never wielded a weapon before.
But his speed and strength were impressive. Even a trained E-rank [Awakened] might lose to him.
"How come an [Awakened] is already here? Why was there no news of this?" Confused, he decided to help the boy and ask later.
Anvil was enjoying the moment. As he touched the corpse, all the remaining life force and nutrients from the body flowed into the ring.
Each [Elephanose] contributed ten minutes to the ring's effect time.
And as he killed ten, he had now increased the ring's total negative energy to last a hundred more minutes.
Anvil couldn't wait to gain more. So he hurried deeper into the dungeon. More than twenty [Elephanose] were rushing out.
Anvil stood at the entrance with a smile so creepy he could be mistaken for a serial killer.
"Welcome, guys. It will be my pleasure to suck your life force dry."
In the wide corridor, only the cries of agony from [Elephanose] echoed.
Anvil had reduced their number by more than half in just five minutes.
His speed was too fast for [Elephanose] to react, and a single slash to the head was enough to kill them.
It was easy.
But a guest interrupted his enjoyment and joined in uninvited.
The man with the sword slashed at an [Elephanose].
Anvil marveled at the sight — it was so smooth.
The [Elephanose] was split in two. And the sword hadn't even touched it.
Was it sword aura or just sheer force?
It was impressive.
The man was far faster than him, even with his curse effect active.
His every move was fluid. He cut the [Elephanose] as if they were vegetables.
He dealt with the remaining ones in seconds.
"It's this easy, yet those cowardly [Knights] fear a dungeon outbreak." The man said something Anvil couldn't understand.
"Oh right. Hello, boy. I am Kevin. I am an [Elite Knight]. It's a pleasure to meet you. Which organisation are you from?" Kevin stretched out his hand.
Anvil shook his hand awkwardly. "[Elite Knight]?" he asked, as he didn't know what that was. He hadn't seen it in the documents the KSD officer gave him.
"I am Anvil. I am a new [Awakened]. I haven't joined an organisation yet. I am planning to go to [Awakened Academy] first."
"So you are a new [Awakened]. You must be from the slums then. I am also from the slums. My family died in a dungeon break." Kevin's tone dropped.
"Ah, sorry. Mine too. My family died in a dungeon break as well. Also it's my pleasure to meet you, sir Kevin."
"Just Kevin is fine. Since you are new, let me tell you — not a single organisation is decent. They don't care about the slums or their people. So decide carefully which one to choose. As for my title, it's given to those whose rank exceeds C." He then paused.
"As a fellow slum dweller, let me remind you — the city isn't as great as you think it is. It's a place where humanity has been lost. Ah, sorry. But I have to leave. Some people will come here to clean everything. Since there haven't been casualties or destruction thanks to you, they'll just check and leave. Also, sorry to say, you won't receive any honour or rewards for this. If you can find [Cores] from these corpses, keep them. If not, just leave. Some people may come angrily, scolding you for killing these monsters without their permission and such. Ahh, I don't have too much time to complain. So bye."
After that long complaint without taking a single breath, Kevin left with such speed Anvil couldn't even detect.
"That… was weird." Anvil didn't know what to think.
An [Elite Knight] whose rank was above C had met him, complained, gave advice, and left. It felt almost magical.
And after witnessing the power of a higher rank [Knight], Anvil's desire to hide his power increased.
He shouldn't reveal this ability yet. He didn't know if people would think of him as evil or envy his power. If someone got too jealous, they might kill him and experiment on his body.
Anything could happen. So it was best to keep a low profile and develop his power first.
"First my treats. Then let's go to [Awakened Academy]."
He absorbed all the life force and nutrients from the [Elephanose]. Fats, protein, vitamins — all were absorbed and converted into Negative Energy.
Anvil could now continuously use the ring's curse effect for 300 minutes, or 5 hours.
But he now realised his curse effect wasn't that powerful, so he had to be careful not to offend a big party.
In this apocalyptic world, people's lives — even [Knights'] lives — were considered cheap.
Unless they were strong, they had to bow their heads to someone stronger.
"What an unfair world."