"What is it?"
"There are many inconsistencies about him that we are unsure of, and have not yet grasped exactly how high his level of power is. My apprehension increased today as he was able to escape under the watch of many of our people. Might I suggest that we approach him in a different manner?" He carefully spoke out every word, making sure his words would not be the cause of anger
There was silence on the other end of the phone before Cohen spoke. "Do you doubt me?"
The butler quickly frowned and hung his head even lower before he replied "I would never. I am only speaking from an abundance of caution of this man who has suddenly awakened to a power nearing rank B in just a few days"
A pause followed thereafter, before a reply came with the call being ended a moment later. "I'll keep that in mind."
The butler wiped off the perspiration and looked out of the mansion. He did not succeed, his master had still become angry.
---
My second run of [Goblin King's Abode] was fruitful, as the BOSS had been kind enough to drop the sought after armor [King's Valor]
The 6 meter goblin had horrible burns all over its body, as I took my time with it to get more practice facing something that much bigger than me. This was all in preparation to go against much bigger BOSSes that fully earned the title of TITANS from rank C and above
One of the things I learned was that if you didn't have a strong enough defensive skill, it didn't matter how knowledgeable you were about its moves, as a single punch would be able to stain your body all over the wall
I equipped [King's Valor] and felt a new layer of clothes wrap around me. The armor had a light blue metal sheen to it with a slight protrusion at the chest, covering a majority of my body besides my extremities and head. The greatest thing about this armor was the fact it did not feel awkward to move around in, as if the metallic attribute was malleable. I could move and stretch my body even better than normal with no issues
The third run of the dungeon gave me more than enough cores that my backpack was almost overflowing now, along with the rank D skill [Triple Shot] that was commonly used by ranged Berserkers that used bows
I had taken more than half of the day diving into this dungeon, and it was already night outside. Tightening my overflowing bag on my back, I left [Goblin King's Abode] encampment and went towards the downtown, with my [Camouflage] active as usual.
Once I was in the middle of the city, I turned the skill off and called for a ride that dropped me off the central Awakened Center 20 minutes after. It was rush hour around this time with many people running about downtown. Many drowning their troubles and fear with alcohol and many more going towards the unsavory places deep in the city
I went inside the Awakened Center and had to be taken to a private room because of the volume of things I was trying to sell. A fat looking middle aged man replaced the gorgeous woman that was talking to me and quickly handled the transaction, taking all my remaining cores and skills from [Goblin King's Abode] and offering to deposit $1.6 million into my account
I looked at these numbers as if they were imaginary, and they might as well be as they would be gone a few minutes from now when I purchase the rank C skills. I became a high profile client in the man's eyes as he asked me if there was anything else I needed before completing the transaction, and I told him the names of the skills I wanted
A few minutes later, 3 rank C skill books were situated at the table next to us, and only $100 k was deposited in my bank account.
Chapter 12 - Just the beginning
The new Rank C skills I had bought were [Explosive Rune- Upon physical contact with your enemy, brand them with a chaotic rune that will explode on your command], [Aura of Haste- An aura that increases movement speed, attack speed and cast speed envelops you], and [Life Essence- Gain increased vitality(+30) and regeneration at a great cost]
These skills correctly fit with the direction I was going towards. Multiple skills that can remain active for me at all times along with my first offensive rank C skill. [Explosive Rune] was a BOSS killer that mages wanted in their arsenal because of its significant damage. The only problem is that it drained the entirety of a rank C's energy, and they had to come in contact with the boss to initiate it.
The Mage hunters had to make sure that they had full energy before the BOSS fight and that there was a competent enough Knight distracting the BOSS, otherwise the moment they get near themselves they'll get squashed
Once the rune was placed on the BOSS, half of the fight was done, as it dealt such a significant amount of damage that it could even outright kill a rank D BOSS if the rune was placed in a critical location or maim a rank C BOSS. The problem was, no mage ever dared get near a rank C BOSS unless they were wishing for death
With my overlapping defensive skills and the ever so increasing active skills, I should have no problem using [Explosive Rune] to its full potential.
After the sale was finished, the joyful man's face jiggled as he said "Here is my card. Give me a call or text whenever you're coming down and I'll be sure to receive you to the best of my abilities!"
I nodded to the man that had a full smile on his face and left the awakened center. As soon as I was out I blended into the rushing people and activated [Camouflage] once more
The nearest Hunter Lodging was not too far away from the Awakened Center, and I got there in under 10 minutes. I quickly received the keys to one of their luxurious rooms and found myself in a room similar to the one I stayed in before
I placed my bag down on the bed and eagerly began looking at my new skills. [Explosive Rune] would have to wait to be tested later, but as soon as I activated [Aura of Haste] and [Life Essence], a red and green color began appearing on my body. The colors would come and fade a moment later, being fairly transparent and only visible if you were to really focus
I felt my body become visibly lighter and saw a +30 appear on my [Vitality] attribute
Haha! As long as I found skills like these and layered them on my body, would I have anything to worry about?
I shook myself out of my reverie and ordered room service, this time getting 2 plates of a very huge lobster. I went over my day and thought about what I would be doing tomorrow while enjoying the supple texture of the crustaceans. This was a habit I was planning on developing regularly, to think back to what I did today along with any mistakes I made, and how to improve in the future. I went to sleep soon after as I was dead tired.
---
Anderson was holding a drink as he overlooked the city atop his mansion. The thing on his mind was the newly awakened hunter he couldn't seem to keep a track of. He knew all of the hunters that were C rank or near it in the city, and he made sure to introduce himself whenever new ones appeared
They were quickly reigned in and called upon whenever his team lost a member while diving in [Solael's Castle]. None of them could deny his words. So why was it that this new one pissed him off so much? Anderson thought back to that pathetic apartment and realized it was his eyes. Eyes that seemed unyielding, that seemed to say he wasn't afraid
Hah! How could he not be afraid? Whatever [Inherent Skill] he awakened, does he really think he could look at me with an expression like that? I held the paramount skill [Giant's Strength], which allowed me to stand toe to toe against a C rank TITAN. Who are you compared to a BOSS I killed every week?
The one person he usually listened to in this city had also told him to be cautious because of the many unknowns, but it only furthered his distaste towards the hunter. No matter. I will see exactly what gave someone like you the confidence to look at me with such a gaze
[Cohen Anderson][Occupation: Hunter]
[Vitality: 188]
[Focus: 163]
[Strength: 195]
[Skill(s): (F-Lightning Strike-41)(F-Shield-33)(E-Strengthening-41)(D-Minor Regeneration-43)(D-Quick Speed-42)(D-Harden-38)(D-Blade Edge-45)(D-Danger Sense-31)(C-Aura Blade-49)(C-Regeneration-23)(C-Heal-33)(C-Life Essence- 25)(C-
Blast-19)(C-Blade of Lightning-55)(B-Giant's Strength){INHERENT-WRATHFUL}]
[Equipment(s): (C-Igneous Sword)(C-Igneous Armor)(C-Ring of Storage)(C-Fiery Boots)
---
Early morning the next day, I was already up and heading towards [Goblin King's Abode]. Tomorrow would be the day when I would head down to [Solael's Castle] with some of the highest rankers in the city, so I had to use my time as efficiently as possible today.
The first task was to rush through the dungeon in under an hour and a half as I was aiming to dive in at least 5 times. With this in mind, I bought a specialized hunter bag that was woven with materials meant to stretch. The bag had straps that tightly hugged your body so that a strong hunter could move without any issues.
This was a poor hunter's item, as the truly rich ones had purchased equipment that allowed them to store whatever they wanted in a large space. I put this item off for now as it would have taken a majority of my funds, and my goal was obtaining more skills currently
I repeated the same process as yesterday and arrived at the monolith at 7 am. It was a fairly cloudy morning and still early, so there were significantly fewer hunters around. Some had already set up shop with their skill books and cores, others meeting up and forming parties while getting to know one another
Still activating [Camouflage], I entered the dungeon and appeared on the clearing filled with trees once more. This time though, besides the skills I originally had, I had added [Aura of Haste] and [Life Essence]. I ran towards the first group of goblins that I could see and rushed up to them while I was still hidden
They were alerted the moment I came near them, but that didn't stop me from reaching my hand out and placing it on each of them while they were still disorganized. With my increased speed from [Aura of Haste], I could do this much without an issue. I then pulled back a few feet away and watched as black tattooish circles spread to cover ⅓ of their bodies
I observed them as they turned my way, none the wise about the runes that had sprouted on their bodies. I gave the command and the rank C skill [Explosive Rune] was fully utilized
BANG!
The portion of the goblins' body that was covered in the runes exploded with a huge force, throwing chunks of flesh and bones everywhere as 5 goblins were soon lying in their own pool of blood.
The damage was just as expected for a rank C skill, powerful! I speedily cleared the floors like this. With all the defensive and support skills kept active, I pressed down the floors with [Camouflage] hiding me and giving me enough time to come in contact with the monsters that exploded a second after. Some floors I still used [Flames and Torment] and kept on experimenting with it as it's proficiency continued to rise. More than an hour quickly passed and I was through all 29 floors and headed to the BOSS once more
The 6-meter tall Goblin King looked as ruthless as always, and noticed me as soon as I came down even though I was hidden. I walked towards it slowly until I stood a meter away, where it stared me down. This one was one of the peculiar traits of this BOSS that interested me. When the fight began it was always so calm as if it was measuring me up. During the fight though, it would go completely berserk
It was still a monster though and threw a fist down at me a second later. I raised my small hand to match this fist as my palm was opened to receive it
PAH!
A sound like that of the loudest slap resounded as [Arcanist's Sphere of Protection] absorbed all the damage and the ground beneath me cracked. The arm of the Goblin King rapidly had a runic tattoo spreading on it, and the boss quickly felt something wrong as it grabbed its skin and tried to rip it off
BOOM!
A deafening explosion rang out as it's entire arm blew apart and it let out a thundering howl. The enraged king reacted fast, throwing another fist with its remaining arm...only for the same thing to repeat
I was standing at the same location, the ground around me full of cracks as if an earthquake occurred. I had sunk a few inches into the ground as I calmly looked up at the Goblin King that was missing both of its arms
RAAAA!
It let out an angry shout as if it would not give up and kicked its right leg downwards.
PAH! BOOM!
The same scene repeated and now its right leg was gone. The large beast could not support its weight as it fell backwards with a loud thunk. Loud breathing could be heard as it's entire face was twisted in pain. I climbed out of the small hole I had been repeatedly kicked in and jumped up on top of the body of the beast, landing on its square abdominal muscles and traveling forward to its face
I looked down at it as it could not move or do much of anything else.
Besides the heavy breathing and a pained look, I could see another expression on the Goblin King's face after more than half of its body was blown away. It was extremely distinct while I looked at its huge eyes. I had seen this expression before. I had felt it before. It was fear. I reached my hand out and let my palm touch it's forehead, leaving it there as I commanded [Explosive Rune] to combust
BOOM!
Another deafening explosion rang out in the clearing before silence ensued. [Arcanist's Sphere of Protection] and [Arctic Armor] didn't allow even a single stone or meat to land on my body, negating the force of the explosion as if it was nothing.
Chapter 13 - Preparations done
The feeling of dominating such a huge being from the beginning to the end was exhilarating, to say the least, and a testament of just how far and fast I can grow.
The first run of [Goblin King's Abode] gave out an abundant amount of [Core]s and an [Item] called [Goblin's Sword]. I did not need the sword, so this would be one of the items that I would be selling later. I continued on and dived into the dungeon once more
The second run gave me even more cores, along with the skill book called [Flame Bolt] The third, fourth and fifth run collectively gave me one item and two more skill books: [D-Bow of the Veteran], [D-Swipe], and [D- Restrain]
All of them were rank D materials that I would not be needing and would also be getting sold. Throughout the dungeon runs, I made sure to use [Flames of torment] along with my main skill of [Explosive Runes] that beautifully took down the monsters.
This process took me an entire day and I was able to bring a few of my skills to the proficiency of 100. The skills that reached a milestone of 100 jumped up explosively in power. [Fireball], which was a rank F skill, now had power greater than a skill 1 rank above it. The balls of fire summoned now had a high propelling force that made them rush out even faster. [Arctic Armor] even more comfortably hugged my body when it reached 100, an extra layer of ice appearing that further increased my defense, and also making me look like some knight you would find roaming the coldest arctic wastelands
This marked the end of my dive for the day as I had been diving for the past 10 hours and it was already in the evening. I left the dungeon, [Camouflaged] as usual, and went downtown where I once again called for a ride and went all the way down to the Awakened Center.
In the awakened center. I had given a text to the fat salesman beforehand and he was able to meet me and bring me to the private room the minute that I arrived.
I entered the room and emptied my huge bag that held many cores, skill books, and items. After counting everything the total came out to 2.8 million. I once again gave a list of the things that I was looking for and they were quickly brought to me, reducing the money I would have taken all the way down to $ 500 K.
I would have loved to spend the rest of it, but I couldn't find anymore applicable defensive or support skills that fit the criteria I set for myself in the Awakened Center. I would soon have to branch out to find more fitting skills
I had bought three more skills and one item, all of them being rank C. The first was a movement type skill that I had been looking forward to called [Whirlwind]. The second was another support type skill that was called [Increased penetration]. The third skill was a life-preserving skill called [Regeneration]
The
item that I bought last was a simple [Ring of Storage] which many high ranking hunters found themselves buying. It took away the hassle of caring around the skill books and items and cores that were collected over the course of the day.
As soon as I finished my business. I gave my thanks to the salesman and left the awakened center, blending in and using [Camouflage] as soon as I was out and headed towards the Hunter Lounge.
The process was quick as usual, and I grabbed the room fairly quickly.
I was finally able to relax and absorb the [Core]s that I kept behind. The plan was to reach the maximum that I could while using rank D cores.
I then learned the skills and placed the storage ring on my hands, using my energy to feel the wide space inside of it. It was a large enough space for two people to be squeezed in
The [Increased Penetration] skill allowed me to deal more damage and further ignore the defenses from my enemies when I had it active. It was a much-used skill by Mages and Berserkers to deal finishing blows on BOSSes
And the [Regeneration] skill was as simple as that. If I ever somehow took a large amount of damage then I could easily cast the regeneration skill to begin healing without losing too much of my health
The movement type skill that was called [Whirlwind] would allow me to dash forward and close the distance to my enemies at a very fast speed. This would be good for surprise attacks or evading very dangerous shots.
[Regeneration and [Whirlwind] could not be activated and tested at this time. But I quickly activated [Increased Penetration] along with the rest of the defensive and support type skills that were in my arsenal to keep their proficiency rising
I ordered room service as usual, and this time around I grabbed 3 platters of shrimp. My appetite seemed to gradually be getting larger and larger as time passed.
I enjoyed the food when it came and took some time to think once or more over what happened today. I went over my run in the dungeon, the skills are used, and how to better use them or further improve
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