"Here they come, everyone into positions!"
Rufus ordered.
The beasts emerged from the darkness, their jaws dripping with saliva.
Alexander's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw a faint glow appear over the creature's head, displaying a name.
[Steel-Fanged Lycan]
"Wh—?"
His mind trembled.
"Is that a name tag, like in the games back home. Did my life really turn into a game? What about… if I die—do I get a redo?
Questions popped into his mind at random. If he somehow got eaten alive, would he just respawn since he had a game-like system?
The Lycans moved in formation, swift and fearsome. The one at the forefront lunged toward Rufus. It slammed against his shield with a resounding
"Clanggg!"
"Mana Shield!"
Rufus roared as his shield extended with a transparent layer of light. The Lycan clawed and bit at it ferociously, trying to tear through. Eerie growling sounds rumbling from the creature's throat.
But the barrier remained firm.
More Lycans closed in, trying to overwhelm them with sheer numbers. They flowed out of the darkness like ants coming out of the earth.
Normal D–rank hunters would tremble. But this team was far from normal. Equipped with spells and quality weapons they easily tore through the Lycans numbers.
Lana raised her hands gracefully.
"Rainbow Dew!"
As she stretched her palms forward.Flashes of multicolored light streaked through the cave like falling stars, crashing into the Lycans and sending them smashing to the ground with ear-splitting cries and whimpers.
With a single cast of her most powerful spell Lana tore through a significant portion of the wave of Lycans.
More emerged to replace the fallen.
Baxter and Merlin, the two fighter-class hunters, lunged forward with spears in hand.
Their movements were sharp and unpredictable—blurs of motion that cut through the front line before the Lycans could even react.
It was obvious they were using something known as techniques, be it low level ones.
Thick, dark blood sprayed across the stone floor. They were like blades in a fruit blender, slashing Steel-Fanged Lycans into nothing but pieces of meat.
Alexander stood at the back, the weight of the supplies on his back, suddenly forgotten; he watched in awe.
"These are my fellow D-ranked hunters… and yet—they're much stronger.
Just, why am I so weak? Is it because of the lack of resources, the techniques and essence weapons other hunters in guilds jave access too?
Am I really going to feel this insignificant forever?"
Everyone around him was fully focused. The assassin Chris darted in and out like a shadow.
Victor, the healer, stood on standby, muttering quick recovery chants and providing boosts.
Vermin stood further back, calm as ever, hands in his pockets and a massive metal gauntlet resting on his shoulders as if he was searching for the Infinity Stones.
"What the hell is that thing? These guys are really strange…"
Alexander muttered.
"Well, I might as well check my rewards from the system since everyone else is busy.
This system punished me for skipping a single daily quest. So, what do I get for completing one?"
He almost rubbed his palms together in anticipation. With a thought, a glowing blue screen appeared.
[Daily Quest Completed]Rewards:
• Random Loot Box
• Health Elixir
• Five Stat Points (Freely Assignable) ]
Alexander frowned.
"That's it? No 'Congratulations—you're rich!' or anything?" He sighed.
"Figures… Still, what's a health elixir. I think I know what the points are."
Before he could explore the menu further, or assign his stat points, a deep snarl echoed behind him.
A Steel-Fanged Lycan charged straight at him. Alexander froze; panic flooding his chest. He dropped the supplies and turned to run.
"GRAAAHHH!"
the beast roared, saliva flying as it lunged.Alexander's breath caught. The stench of blood, the heat of the creature's body, all of it was just too scary.
"Ahhh…"
This isn't a game!
He screamed in his mind, this the whole thing felt too real and he knew he would be ripped apart if he didn't run fast.
A sudden gust of wind cut through the cave, and before the Lycan could reach him, a figure appeared between them.
Vermin.
He adjusted his glasses calmly, then lightly swung his arm as if shooing a fly. The Lycan's face met his palm with a deafening
"Thud!—crack!"
The creature went flying into the wall like a rag doll.
Causing Alexander's jaw to drop.
"He… he slapped that thing to death."
Vermin sighed, brushing dust off his sleeve before turning toward Chris, his voice ice cold.
"What do you think you're doing, Chris?"
Chris scoffed.
"What? I'm just helping out the crew, boss. I can't protect that guy, he's totally dead weight. He just stands there spacing out, even when a freaking Steel-Fanged Lycan is charging at him!
Didn't you see that?"
Chris the assassin spoke, his tone lowered mid sentence as if mentioning something sinister.
"Why don't we just make him a vessel?"
The words sent a visible tension through the group.
Lana, who rarely spoke, raised her hand.
"I agree with Chris. It's risky, but better to turn him before he slows us down."
A heavy silence followed, you know the awkward one.
Vermin exhaled, his expression softening into a faint, unreadable smile.
"Isn't that already the plan?"
He looked at them one by one.
"But we don't need to hurt him."
His ice cold words seemed to trigger the next rumbling of the cave. As more dust and debris fell from above.
"Anyways, let's move out before this place caves in."
Alexander blinked in confusion. The situation was getting weirder by the second.
"Stop right there, everyone just stop for a second!"
he shouted, his voice echoing through the cavern.
Everyone stopped. Annoyed glances turned toward him.
"You're all talking about me like I'm not even here. Mentioning things you have no intention of explaining.
Turn me into a vessel? Yeah I didn't sign up for that.."
The look on his face turned defiant.
I'm not moving another step until someone explains what the actual hell is going on!"
Vermin looked at him calmly, that same merchant-like smile plastering across his face.
He knew using brute force on this weak hunter to do whatever he asked was easy, as he was just a simple D—ranked hunter.
However for this particular situation, this particular fragment they wanted to extract, it would be better if he cooperated.
"Alexander, we don't have time for games."
He gestured to the trembling ceiling.
"This dungeon is collapsing soon. We need to move, but i promise you. Once we're done with the major stuff, I'll explain everything. Rest assured, no harm will come to you as long as am here."
Alexander gritted his teeth. He didn't trust that smile, but he also didn't want to die buried alive.
Besides he had already come so far, he was in no position to demand answers.
Even as he began to follow the group again, he could have sworn he saw the others snickering.
They knew something he didn't, something that was definitely going to be bad for him.
It was as if he was a lamb being led to slaughter, the shepherd's only concern being not killing him inside the slaughter house.
"Since when do dungeons collapse?"
He muttered under his breath.
The others handed him the essence stones from the Lycans to carry.
His bag was filled with glittering star shaped stones. Chris smirked as he tossed a glowing rune stone into Alexander's hands.
"Ha a fighter-class skill, this is going to fetch a great price on the market."
Chris exclaimed as the two fighter-class hunters nearby looked at him with envy.
"That's a fighter rune skill, take good care of it Alexander… while you still can."
He snickered, seemingly enjoying the suspense Alexander was stuck in.
Alexander sighed but accepted the rune stone.
"Fine. Let them do the fighting. I'll just carry the rocks."
He examined the stones in his arms, the smooth shimmer of essence stones, then the rune stone.
Suddenly, his system interface lit up, scanning them automatically.
[Item Identified: Rune Stone – Skill: Steel Fist]
Would you like to learn this skill? Crush the stone to obtain.]
"Wait—what? That's a fighter skill, I shouldn't be able to absorb that."
His shock made him unconsciously tighten his grip and before he could finish speaking, the rune stone cracked in his palm.
Green light exploded around him, wrapping his body, and sending a surge of information in his mind.
The group walking ahead didn't notice the changes behind them. Alexander eyes widened, he wanted to scream at the top of his lungs from excitement and fear.
Mistakenly destroying the skill of the guy that wanted to make him a vessel—whatever that was. Yeah he was done for...
"What a terrible mistake, I...absorbed the skill! That stone was worth a lot. If Chris finds out... what's he gonna do to me?