Ascension II

Ian walked with Hunter with a bright smile on his face, Hunter's nervousness welling up within him. As they approached the desk, the receptionist noticed Ian and immediately smiled at him.

"Mr Brown, you're here today," she said as she leaned closer to her desk.

"Yeah. I'm tryna take my friend's buddy here on an actual dungeon dive," replied Ian.

"I recognise your friend. You're Hunter, right?" inquired the receptionist as she smiled at Hunter.

"Uh, yeah..." he replied as he looked at her.

"Oh wow. I never noticed how brown your eyes are..." said the receptionist as her eyes were completely fixated on Hunter's hazel peepers.

Irritated, Ian tapped the receptionist's desk, gaining her attention once again. He smiled sheepishly and said, "Could we get a tier 4 dungeon mission?"

"Tier 4?" replied the receptionist.

She looked at Ian then looked back at Hunter, noticing his anxious and uncomfortable expression. She knew that he was a lower tier and putting him in a tier 4 puts him at risk.

"I'm sorry, but I can't-"

"Let me be real with you," said Ian as he brought his face closer to the receptionist, forcing her to slightly back up. "You wouldn't want a hunter with a name as powerful as mine to ruin your life, would you?"

Realising the situation she was in, the receptionist searched her computer and immediately directed Ian and his company to a dungeon. As they walked away, she exchanged glances with Hunter and could feel his emotions just from the look he had on his face.

She averteed her gaze, refusing to do the right thing. She had a family to take care of and playing the hero won't put food on the table. As much as she knew what Ian was doing was wrong, she had to think about those who aren't old enough to provide for themselves and those who are too old to do the same.

Hunter smiled faintly, succumbing to his condition and stood in front of the dungeon door. Ian placed his hand on the door, a magic circle appearing on his palms, causing it to fling open and release cold air.

Hunter rubbed his arms and felt the chill of the dungeon. Amongst those who were around him, he was the only one without a jersey or a hoodie. And, because of how high of a tier the dungeon was, the weather conditions were no joke either.

[To put it simply, the lower the tier, the less harsh the weather conditions are likely to be]

"Go on. Don't be shy!" said Ian as he shoved Hunter into the dungeon, causing him to stumble on the staircase and to fall on his face.

Ian and his company snickered and followed behind Hunter, the dungeon door closing behind them. Ian conjured up a flame on his hand and provided light for the group while Hunter picked himself up and dusted off the dirt on his shirt.

"Uh..." said Hunter as he turned his head to look at Ian.

"You know, Hunter Quinn, I really love Catherine," interrupted Ian as he brushed his hand, telling Hunter to keep walking.

Slightly jumpy and anxious, Hunter began walking, his line of sight barely visible as the light source was behind him. He turned his head to reply to Ian's statement, only for him to cut him off once more.

"I really really love her. I protected her when we were kids, her family adores me and I made sure to never miss a single birthday," Ian continued.

Then, he clenched his fist, a vein popping on the side of his head as he did. "It was going well, until you showed up...!"

Hunter, sensing the tension rise the further they went into the dungeon, began breathing heavily due to the cold air. At that moment, Hunter decided to stop walking. His survival instincts had kicked in.

"Who the hell told you to stop?!" exclaimed Ian as he kicked Hunter, causing him to hit his face on the stone wall.

Ian's goons laughed hysterically.

"Hey, Ian. I don't think the rat can hear you. How about we increase our volume a little?!" exclaimed Paul as he approached Hunter and grabbed him by his hair.

Seconds after, he pulled Hunter back and smashed his face into the stone wall, causing him to bleed and gasp for air. The goons laughed once again while Paul continued to beat Hunter.

"Hunter Quinn, I'll tell you this right here, right now," said Ian as he crouched before Hunter, who was now lying on the floor, covered in bruises. "If you let me have Catherine, I'll let you go and I won't bother you ever again."

"..."

"I'll even go as far as paying you as much as you want. What'll it be? Enough to get you out of your current place, right? How about 20,000?" smirked Ian.

"... You can't..." whispered Hunter.

"What?" Ian raised an eyebrow and leaned in closer.

"You can't... put a price on love..." replied Hunter.

Livid, Ian grabbed Hunter's neck and began punching him, over and over until his face became numb. In that moment, Ian felt like he was on top of the world. At long last, he would finally get rid of the one anomaly that stood between him and his true love.

"Hunter!"

As Ian was about to deliver the final blow, he heard a familiar voice coming from behind them. His eyes dilated as he turned his head. There she was. Catherine, a worried expression on her face, saw Ian choking Hunter and immediately drew her sword.

Paul charged in for her and tried grabbing her. Unfortunately for him, Catherine swiftly evaded and delivered a nasty knee attack to Paul's stomach, making him gag and fall on his face.

Before the rest of the goons could join in, Ian raised his hand, preventing them from moving further. He stood up from Hunter's body and wiped his hands. Smiling gently, he approached Catherine and chuckled.

"Cathy, what are you doing here? I thought you were on another mission," said Ian.

"Yeah, I was. Until I heard that you guys brought my boyfriend down to a tier 4 dungeon!" exclaimed Catherine.

"Pfft. That receptionist is so fired," whispered Ian.

"Ian, what the hell is your deal?! Why won't you just leave Hunter alone?!"

Ian's eyes widened. "Come on, Cathy. We both know he doesn't mean shit to you!"

"Of course he means a lot to me! He's my Hunter!" exclaimed Catherine as she pointed her sword at Ian.

Slightly angry, Ian shouted, "Well, what the hell does this weak piece of shit have that I don't?!"

"A heart!" retorted Catherine.

Silence enveloped the entire room. He didn't need to look back, but Ian could feel his goons slightly averting their gaze after they heard Catherine's statement. She lowered her sword and slowly approached Ian.

"Just let him go. Please? For me?"

Ian kept quiet and faced the ground. "So, even if he died, you wouldn't choose me?"

"... I'm sorry..." replied Catherine.

Ian smiled gently and raised his head. "I see. That's all I needed to hear."

STAB!

GAG...

Blood flowed out of her mouth as her eyes widened in shock. Her eyes moved from Ian's and made their way directly towards her stomach, where a dagger had pierced her. She looked back at Ian, tears forming in her eyes.

"Don't give me that look...! You knew that this would happen!" exclaimed Ian.

"Catherine...?" Hunter said in a soft voice after he had managed to sit up straight.

That's when Ian came to a harsh reality. All this time, while he was speaking with Catherine, her eyes were solely fixated on Hunter. Even after she was stabbed, the only person she would look at was Hunter. Ian wasn't too pleased about that.

Pulling his dagger from her body, Ian pushed Catherine back, forcing her to fall on her back, her eyes wide open, blood flowing from her lower region. Ian shook his dagger and pointed it at Hunter.

"It's your fault... It's your freaking fault...!" he said as he stepped closer to Hunter.

With tears in his eyes, Hunter tried picking himself up but could not. Not even adrenaline would help him in his current condition. Ian choked Hunter and raised his dagger, stabbing him 7 times:

Once on each shoulder, once on each of his hands and thrice on his chest, causing Hunter to gag and choke in his blood.

SPLURT...

As the blood flowed out of his mouth, he gagged and choked in some of it. Clawing towards Ian, who smirked before him, to no avail, he could only wish for one thing; to save the Catherine.

He looked to his right and noticed her lifeless body being touched by Ian's goons, anger rising and boiling his blood. But, in his condition, what could he do?

After being beaten mercilessly and stabbed 7 times, there was no energy left in him. All he could do was watch the beautiful brunette die right in front of his eyes. That's when he heard the voice of a woman...