Mark drank the last drops of the health potion, the bitter taste lingering on his tongue.
Then he got up and looked at chain tags he had gathered.
There were nine people on this raid.
Four low ranked ones found dead impaled on sharp crystals when they were hurled out of rift.
Mark had heard the screams of two earlier, most likely killed by Crystalis.
And he just found Robert transformed into crystals by the monster in the sky.
That left only him and Leo.
Ironically, they both were the only (B)-rank awakener in whole party.
After searching for a while, Mark came across the Leo's [Silver Scorpian whip] near the water lake.
He put the compass back in subspace.
'There is no need to look anymore.'
He picked the whip up and put it inside the subspace too. Then he hurriedly left the lake area.
Leo was more fierce warrior than Mark.
Even against an A-rank monster, he would have fought to his last breath. Yet here, there was no trace of a furious fight.
No trace of being dragged, no trace of any slash this whole place was quiet, almost too quiet.
There were only some footprint going toward the lake.
There was only one possibility that came to Mark's mind.
'Mental hex.'
But for Leo to fell for a mental attack.
It was definitely nothing less then (S) rank [Mind] category monster.
He walked as far as possible from the lake.
_kreeee!
Soon came the cry of the bird, he quickly found a sloped rock, activated the [stealth], and hide under it.
Soon the glow of crystals slowly faded signaling that the danger had passed.
But Mark remained lying beneath the rock.
'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it.'
All of his comrades were dead.
And even though he was a (B)-rank expert, in the dead zone that housed the monsters no weaker than (A)-rank he was nothing more than a sitting duck, waiting to be slaughtered.
He thought if he managed to regroup with other, Leo can attempt to breakthrough to (A)-rank and that might increase their chances of escape.
Now that even the Leo is dead, all the hopes were lost.
Mark gritted his teeth, life had never been a smooth sail for him.
He had been abandoned in the slums at birth, and an old man, moved by pity, took him in and raised him.
His whole childhood was spent begging and running errands for 'big guns' of slums.
But he had always dreamed of becoming a hunter.
So, after the old man's death, he took what little money he had and set out on an adventure, like a hero from a fairytale.
And like always reality wasn't kind. On his first hunt, he nearly lost his life, and most of the money he had went toward his treatment.
But he didn't give up.
He started the hunt again but this time with preparation, he learnt monster's weaknesses, their behaviour and how to set better traps.
And he finally did it, he still remember how happy he was when he hunted his first (E)-rank monster.
That was the happiest day of his life.
After that, his life settled into a simple rhythm, learn, hunt and fail, learn again, hunt again and fail better.
And one day succeed.
Because of his (B)-rank potential he was recruited by the Ashford mercenary group. There everyone was kind to him, he felt like he finally found a place for himself.
It wasn't a very big group but apparantly, it was big enough to be consider a theart to other mercenary groups.
Two to three rival mercenary groups allied and ambused the Ashfords.
Then there was a massacre, Ashfords fought furiously and managed to prevail but almost more than eighty percent of members died including their leader, Roan Ashford.
The group was disbanded and Mark lost his second home.
After that he returned to monster hunting again.
Until one day Robert dropped by and asked him to joined this raid.
It was a (B)-rank ruins and the reward was promising,
So Marked agreed, only to end up in this fucked up situation.
That was all of the Mark's life, He was a hunter.
Nothing big, just a humble (B)-rank hunter,
It was a simple life, but he took pride in living his dream.
'Yes I am a hunter.'
It was something that would never change.
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Trait: [Hunter's pride]
Description: A trait born by the willpower of a true hunter, forged through countless hunts and the relentless pursuit of prey.
"A true hunter knows three things, where the prey is, where the exit is, and how to complain about both."_true hunter
It sharpens focus and aura, hones instincts, and fuels perseverance, allowing the hunter to push beyond limits and hunt monsters stronger than him.
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Mark stood up, his expression full of cold fury and resolution.
"Guess it's time for a hunt again."