If one were to look at the horizon of the Wild Zone past the fogs that separated the C from the B-zone, one can see the purple lines going up to the dark clouds of the sky. Those were called different names - officially called 'Nether pillars' - but people just called them 'Hell's rope', and they're like the spawning pools of the Nether Creatures, and function as a point in which the Gates open in.
The Central Government theorised that perhaps getting rid of those pillars are how humanity can take back the land, but theory is nothing if there is no practicality to it.
"What do you mean practicality?" Mikel asked Victoria as they were both walking towards one of the pillars, crossing into the B-zone. Some of the C-grade monsters kept attacking, and without a single flinch Victoria would just get rid of them like flies. She wanted Mikel to save energy for the B-grade monsters, so she took it upon herself to go through the trouble of dropping these monsters in their way.
"There are around…three reasons why it's hard for humanity to take back the Wild Zones." Victoria declared, nonchalant.
"One is the quantity. There are so many pillars that we have to retake in order to close an area, and it only gets harder if we want to retake an area where the spawns overlap."
"Two, the pillars - or Hell's ropes whatever you wanna call them - are greatly protected - like the dungeons you see in video games - each with their own bosses, and synergising with point number one, it makes each raid to destroy the Nether Pillars and close the gate to be quite a hassle. People barely survive."
There was a sudden silence at a time when Mikel thought Victoria was going to mention the third point. Mikel looked at Victoria, who still had a straight, deadpan face, her hands waving away every monster that attacked them, making them each explode without a single trace.
"What's point number three?" Mikel asked.
"Three." Victoria sighed, "Humanity doesn't necessarily want to close the gates to retake the lands."
"...What do you mean?"
"Conflict of interests."
Victoria simply said that, and then closed her mouth. Mikel understood right away what that meant.
Some hunters benefit from having the gates opened. They can just farm their credits as much as they need, and ironically, more competent a hunter is, less incentive they have to destroy the pillars as they can just farm more credits than others and in the end get to live their lavish lives with loosened laws applying to them. Some individuals in the Central Government also argue against dedicating time to actually closing the gates too, as it has become far easier to control the masses with the alien threats.
Most of the time, the types of people who want the pillars to be destroyed either don't have the power to, or if they do; most lose their lives trying, leading the vicious cycle that keeps the gates opened and the Nether Pillars standing.
"Let's go." Mikel urged on, his voice more serious than ever. Victoria was a little surprised, by in the end finally started to understand what makes this man tick.
"Sure. Let's go." She responded.
***
B-zone had floors covered with aged cement, plants growing to cover its cracks. The buildings around were at various sizes but none went far above Mikel's height, and most didn't have roof tops.
Withered metals, damp smell and the dead landscape was there.
The air was thicker than that of the C-zone, due to having more concentrated Nether particles in the atmosphere.
"There was once people there."
"You just figured that out?"
"I knew beforehand, I just…"
Mikel was grasping at words to describe his sorrow, and Victoria, as she was never quite the sentimental type, shrugged.
"Things happen. None of our business that strangers died here."
"Quite a crude thing to say, don't you think?"
"Well, unfortunately, my gift isn't necromancy. So it's only logical to not get caught up in things."
Mikel had a feeling that in some ways, Victoria was indeed correct. Deaths happen, especially in this Nether age, and getting caught up on losses that aren't even his was inefficient.
Yet, Mikel had no choice.
Each life that was taken was his bestfriend's. There were tens of thousands of Flints that lost their life, and also equivalent, if not more, amount of Mikel's that suffered the aftermath, some that weren't lucky to have a gift, nor the luxury of having the strongest human on Earth train them.
"Whatever." Mikel ended the conversation there, and the air froze up between them.
Victoria didn't understand it. She honestly thought it was foolish, but decided not to indulge further, as her instincts told her that it would just be burdensome.
"Well, at least keep yourself alert right now." Victoria advised. "Quietness in Wildzones are never a good sign."
Mikel, briefly shaked his head and gently slapped his cheeks with his two hands to snap himself back to the situation.
In silence, Victoria stood dead still, while Mikel was breathing heavily, 'humidity' of the zone getting to him a little along with some nervousness.
Clap.
A sudden sound made Mikel jump, and before he could figure something out, both him and Victoria were inside a landscape of pure red, as if someone had painted over the world in blood.
"W-what is this?" Mikel panicked a little.
"Looks like we're being hunted!" Victoria smiled, both her hands inside her pockets. "Well, see ya."
Poof.
With a sudden farewell, Victoria disappeared, and she was nowhere to be seen.
Mikel's brain froze, as the sudden change in the situation needed time to process.
"That.." he muttered after a while.
"That…witch!"
He was thrown into the wolves, without any help, and was the prey for a Nether creature that trapped him there.
He suddenly sensed danger from his right and quickly shifted his body weight left to dodge, and sure enough, a monster that pounced to take a bite narrowly missed him.
The Nether creatures in front of him - which looked to be in dozens - were in all black and had the body of the lizard, but they did not have a single eye, but instead had a big mouth with white teeth that looked eerily like a human being's.
On their back they had little hands - the same size as a human baby's - that would occasionally clap.
Clap.
One of the creatures was gone.
Clap.
The creature appeared in front of Mikel's eyes, opening its mouth to try and take a bite.
There were multiple tongues inside, all in purple-black, saliva dripping off its mouth.
Mikel ducked, and tried to gain distance.
Every time he did so however, a clap would be heard, and another creature would be near trying to bounce.
'Analyse…analyse.'
Mikel quickly fell back on the Nether Witch's teachings and flowed some mana on his eyes.
The speed of the pounce was not the only problem, but also the nauseating switcheroo that the creature imposed upon him.
[Clapper(s) appeared, you're in danger!]
'Thanks, I didn't know that.' Mikel thought sarcastically. 'What useful information.'
Everytime Mikel wanted to summon his chains, a clapper - as the system said - pounced, and the chain dissipated as he had to move the manaflow to focus on evasion.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Splat!
A bit of flesh was grazed from Mikel's shoulders and he felt a shooting pain.
"You stupid-!"
Not a moment was wasted from the creatures, and with every clap and every pounce, Mikel started to get more tired.
'Think Mikel, think.' He thought to himself, 'how do I win?'
He thought he solved the issue of summoning speed of his weapons via chains, but what if the creature was faster than that? What if their whole ideal was speedblitzing?What if they were in big numbers?
There was simply no time, and the more he delved deeper into his win condition, the more it felt like he was at a dead end.
He clenched his teeth, stood still, and a clap sound was heard.
In an instant, when the clapper appeared in front of him for the neck, he punched with all his might to match, breaking its teeth and shooting the body in miles, leaving a dented trail in the land with bits of black goo.
'If it's a deadend, then I have no choice.' Mikel convinced himself.
"I'll start punching my way through."
[Weapon Summon - Spike Knuckles]
The clappers were fast, but it was clear that they lacked power. Mikel deduced that normally they attack in groups, overwhelming their prey with sheer speed to make up for their lack of lethality.
[Basic physical enhancement]
This was all that was needed. It was one of the easiest, and efficient spells that even a normal C-grade hunter can learn, and in this moment, along with the Weapon Summon and Manaflow he trained, Mikel felt that he had a fair chance.
Clap!
A foot to the right, dodge and punch.
Clap!
Bob and weave, big step forward, pivoting on his left and shooting his right.
Clap!
Big step back, bob and an uppercut.
One by one, he was dealing with the Clappers, the spike knuckles adding to the damage.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Each clap was followed by a brutal punch, a splat, and with heavy breathing Mikel was working his way through these disgusting creatures.
"Heh."
Mikel let out a chuckle, his feet standing shoulder width, him looking down on the remaining Clappers after cracking his neck.
"It looks like I'm due for a promotion after all."
He lunged forward, a smile in his face, against the clappers who decided to jump all at once.
He suddenly liked the odds.
[Secret Mission: Acquire Nether essence.]
It was at that moment, he suddenly got the notification.