She was a young girl not more than eighteen, a small frame, pale skin and black hair with white streaks. One of her eyes was silver and the other was black. She was dressed in a simple black top with breastplate and shoulder plates, leather pants and boots.
Rion struggled to his feet; he looked at her while blood dripped from his forehead. He saw how young she was, and the fact that she was already skilled meant that she was brought here at a very young age.
She looked at Rion, then asked, "You've been trying to run; why not defend yourself with your ability?" she asked.
"Because I don't know how to," Rion replied. She frowned after hearing that; she flexed her arms and the chain appeared again. She spun it and attacked. Rion leaped out of the way as the chain stabbed right into the wall behind him, exploding it into bits.
"You really can't use it, huh?" she muttered, then retracted her chain, making it vanish.
"There's no point in fighting someone who can't defend themselves," she said, and then walked a small distance, sitting down on a large piece of rubble. She looked at Rion, who was getting up from the ground.
"So since you came here, you haven't used their ability? Have you not completed your awakening?" she asked.
She doesn't want to kill me anymore? Is she toying with me? Trying to make me drop my guard? No, no, she doesn't need that; she could kill me in a heartbeat.
I should play it safe, speak to her while finding a way to get out of here. Since she doesn't want to kill me right now, I can use her to gather some information, Rion thought.
"I did use my ability once, or I think I did; it came from my mark, enabled me to fight a giant lizard creature," he said, cutting out the part about those humans and many other things; he wanted to probe and see her reaction.
"You killed a what?" she asked, her eyes wide.
"A giant lizard-like creature," he replied.
"Did it have a horn?" she asked to confirm.
"Yes, it did."
Her shock increased; she looked at him with pure disbelief. "You mean to tell me that you, a new hunter, killed a rank-one awakened monster?" she stated. She got to her feet and got close.
"The monster you claim to have killed is called the Black Lizard, and you only ever see the adult ones. They are extremely protective of their offspring, so only the adults ever go out. You only go out when you have become an adult, and by that time, the monster has probably evolved into a rank-one awakened monster," she explained. But the more she spoke, the more confused Rion got, and she could see it on his face.
"Sigh, I forgot you were new here," she said. She walked back to the rubble and sat down, crossing her legs and raising her hand. "There are five commonly known rankings of monsters for hunters. More exist, but someone like me does not bother with beings like that.
"The first group of monsters are the Basic monsters, the weakest monsters you could ever see in the Domain; their bodies can't harness mana yet. The Basic is also split into rank one, two, and three, with each more progressively stronger.
"The average Basic monster would rip right through a fully jacked human," she added.
"Then there is the Awakened, the one you faced. They have unlocked their bloodline, evolved, and have a solid connection to mana; their entire bodies undergo great changes that turn them into a being of disaster.
"They have the same three rankings as the Basic. After the Awakened come Knight-level monsters, and they have six ranks within them. In the Knight ranks, they have started becoming intelligent, and their strength is graded based on intelligence and how they use it; six grades exist for them," she explained.
"Wait, you mean to tell me that the monsters get smarter? They already have the strength to shatter a small town; how can they still get more intelligent? Where is the balance?" Rion asked.
"Balance? Hahahaha, ignorance is really bliss. I wish I could go back to when I was like you, the first time I entered this Domain. There is no balance; there is only one thing: kill or be killed. The only way for you to get stronger is to kill and take, monster after monster after monster, until you become a monster yourself.
"Now, don't interrupt me. Since I have decided to not kill you, let me at least help you. After the Knight was the King monster, and it went back to the same three-rank system as the first two. Then there was the Lord monster; there was only one rank in this. Those are the four most important ranks of Domain monsters you should know.
"The fifth is one that can rip through cities, and its presence is considered a massive issue: a Sacred Monster. They never come unless there is a reason. They are nearly impossible to kill.
"Sigh, well that's all you need to know," she said, then rose to her feet. "If your desire to live ever wavers for even a moment, you will die here," she added before walking towards the door.
"Wait, please, it mentioned something about the awakening trial. I saw a message like that," he decided to take the risk of asking.
She paused, then looked back. "The trial is the realization of your power, and you only complete the first trial when a patron being acknowledges you.
"The patron beings are beings more powerful than you. Most people get hunters that have been here for hundreds of years as their patrons; some get branded beings, and some even get gods, I believe. Those people are considered special and have better luck in most things, but they also attract chaos, and their abilities, though overpowered, have great drawbacks."