Raid organization

[Congratulations! You have acquired the C-Rank skill: {Dragon's Nemesis}.]

{Dragon's Nemesis (C-Rank)

Description: As a human who has ingested a drop of dragon's blood, you are now destined to fight against them.

Effect: Any dragon encountering you will be enraged, +10% to all stats while facing a dragon, +30% boost to all stats when facing dragonoids]

[Your body is now filled with mana.]

As for the surplus mana he couldn't absorb, Hans used it to practice the new tome he had acquired, {Ice Armor}.

And with no concerns about mana consumption, it took him only four hours to reach

intermediate proficiency, even if not completely mastering it.

{Ice Armor (Tier-3)(uncompleted tier-4)

Description: Envelops your entire body in a resilient magical armor and decreases the damage received from sharp weapons.

Since it's made purely out of mana, it will be a heavy drain on your reserves but won't impose any additional weight on your body.

Effect: Provides +40 endurance to covered body part, mana consumption varies depending on the covered surface and part.}

With all that done, Hans slept for eight hours to ensure that he'd be in his best condition for the upcoming raid.

The next morning, Hans had a coffee to wake himself up, showered, and headed out. Strangely enough, between the high cold mana affinity he had gained, and the hot-blooded trait from his ring, he didn't feel cold at all and headed out while simply being dressed in a t-shirt, facing off against the freezing temperatures of Chicago.

_____

In the heart of the city, a crowd had gathered around a massive gate that was ten meters in height and length and radiated a pure red color that reflected on the surrounding building's windows.

Other than the light being emitted from the gate and the people gathered around it, the city was dark and desolate.

Many awakened were making preparations, some sharpening their blades, while some talking with their teammates.

Amongst them, five individuals stood apart as they talked between themselves, three women and two men, discussing their role in the upcoming raid.

The one who acted like the leader among them declared, "I'll be saying this for the last time, even though we were assigned a new team leader yesterday, we will still be the members of the fifth raid team, and give our best to clear the gate."

The squad consisted of five members just as the guy said, sitting atop a crate was a woman, probably around thirty, average height, and pitch black hair.

The woman commented, "Tch, why would they even let that guy become a team leader? I checked yesterday and he's only an E-Rank."

The one who had spoken before had a well-built body and brown hair, stood on his feet, and replied, unsure of what to say, "C-come on, they must have put him in charge for some reason."

The young woman seconded him with light brown hair and green eyes who commented, "Y-yes that's right! They must've put him because he deserved it."

"My ass," spat the clearly recognizable archer of the team, who then continued to specify, "He has been appointed by someone high up because he probably paid his way through to steal some experience points."

The last woman, dressed in leather gear with a sword on her waist, a beautiful face, and blonde hair just nodded, but even if she didn't open her mouth to voice her thoughts, her gaze was full of anger and disgust said everything.

Among all the members, one stood out the most, a hulking man, standing at a height of two meters and ten (6"9), dwarfing his colleagues.

The man was wearing heavy knight armor that only allowed him to show his face, surrounding it was a strap of white fur. He hadn't shaved and the thick beard connected with his beastly brown hairs surrounded his rough but not ugly face.

While the team was talking, a certain whisper erupted among the crowd as an individual closed in; he was a young man and was dressed in a plain black shirt and a thin white jacket on top of it.

"Isn't he cold?!"

"Damn, I'm freezing even with this thicka$$ jacket of mine but people are still going around in t-shirts?"

"Hey, are you kidding dude? The temperature is barely above 0."

But attracting even more attention to the individual was a pin painted in gold with the number five on it, which signified that he was the captain of team five.

Hans had arrived.

The first person to approach him was Emily, who after greeting him and showing around the camp had to depart to continue with her work.

Before leaving, however, she managed to introduce him to the rest of the members of his team.

Using {Piercing Gaze}, Hans quickly assessed his new team.

[Name: David Wilson

Class: Light Knight (COMMON)

Title: None

Level: 102

Strength: 72

Dexterity: 131

Endurance: 119

Wisdom: 37

Skills:

{Sword Mastery} (D-Rank)

{Shoulder Charge} (E-Rank)

{Wind Sword Art} (C-Rank)

Description: A knight with high endurance and speed, trained through countless battles and fights.

Evaluation: Barely passable as a C-Rank knight]

These were the stats of the strongest in their group, though it wasn't bad, it wasn't the best either.

The stats of the other members were as follows.

[Name: Brian Anderson

Class: Archer (COMMON)

Title: None

Level: 82

Strength: 51

Dexterity: 130

Endurance: 36

Wisdom: 21

Skills:

{Heavy Shot} (D-Rank)

{Tracking Mark} (D-Rank}

Description: A young man with the potential to become a strong adventurer.

Evaluation: Intermediate Rank-D.]

[Name: Ava Turner

Class: Priest (COMMON)

Title: None

Level: 74

Strength:

Dexterity: 14

Endurance: 7

Wisdom: 32

Divine power: 147

Skills:

{Minor Heal}

{Greater Heal}

{Strengthen}

{Dispel}

{Haste}

Description: A priest with vast potential, if she grows fast enough, might have the power to be on par with an A-class priest.

Evaluation: High Rank-D.]

The other two women were less likely to make any progress, as it was clearly stated in their description which indicated that they had little room for advancement. The one with pitch-black hair was an alchemist specializing in poison, standing at the peak of Rank-D.

Meanwhile, the blond woman was just at low Rank D, and since the system stated that she couldn't fight, Hans concluded that she could have progressed only by being carried during gates because of her appearance.

"Hello, my name is Hans and I'll be the leader of Team 5 for today," Hans said, introducing himself to the group.

However, the group didn't show any positive response and just listened before quietly retreating when dismissed.

A speaker echoed through the bustling street, summoning all the team members, "All the team leaders are requested to gather at the main tent within the next five minutes, there will be a brief meeting before the start of the expedition."

Hans slowly started walking towards the main tent, feeling the weight of unpleasant gazes from all around.

When he entered inside, there was a table with five seats numbered accordingly from 1 to 5.

He sat down in his place and noticed a disrespectful attitude from a young man with the "THIRD" golden pin on his shoulder.

The young man had fiery red hair and stood at one meter sixty-five (5"4).

On the fourth seat was an average middle-aged man with dark hair and a slightly unkempt beard, while on the second seat was a beautiful woman with blonde hair and a pleasant figure. 

Hans quickly analyzed the three of them.

The woman was a low-rank-B swordswoman, the middle-aged man was a high-rank-C assassin, and the young man was an intermediate-rank-C mage.

Understanding the dynamics, Hans realized why the boy was so full of himself, finding a mage was rare, and when hiring them, the cost could be up to three times that of a knight of the same rank, so they probably paid him a significant compensation for this position, and it seemed to annoy the young man that someone like Hans, with a low rank, was allowed to stand at the same level as him.

All the tension in the air was cut off the moment a towering man entered– Brick Garrison, an A-Rank hunter.

They all stood up as a sign of respect but Brick simply smiled and waved it off saying, "Come on, there is no need for that, all of us are team leaders."

He walked near the whiteboard and then started outlining the raid plan.

The raid would be organized like this if no problems arose during the initial phase; the five teams would split up and go their separate ways, hunting as many monsters as possible in a day's time.

After 24 hours from the start of the mission, the teams would regroup in the center of the gate, and if someone encountered an elite mob, they would lead the way for the others and all the teams would join forces to raid it together.

After finishing the elite mob, they would wait to recuperate for half a day before slaying the boss and would then transport all the retrieved materials outside.

And in case no elite mob was found, they would directly attack the boss.

"Do you understand?!" Brick demanded.

"Yes!" the five team leaders replied in unison. 

"Well then, let's get down to business," Brick nodded and the meeting came to an end.

The speaker once again spread the message, "The gate raid will now commence, all hunters are invited to regroup and enter the gate under the guidance of their team leaders."

And so they did, after all the others had already gone inside, only Hans and his team remained.

"Let's go," Hans said as they made their way into the gate as well.

[You have entered the C-Rank gate: Mountain Chain.]