Prologue 2 - Savior

'Alright, I'm home. What's so important.'

'-*First off, how are you so calm about me? I thought you'd be losing your mind here.'

'That's what was so important...?'

'-*Nono, that was just a personal question. The main dish here is the chimera that's going to wreak havoc in less than a year. You have eight months, although that may change due to you changing the timeline.'

'So...? Plenty of chimeras break free of their gates, did you time travel jus-'

'-*I don't think you understand, this chimeras rampage will bring humanity to its knees. Four months before the break, we sent in all of our best, and they all died. I'm here to train you and stop you from dying before the raid on the gate like you did last time.'

'If I died from something that wasn't even this king chimera... that sounds really redundant, if I died from something lesser than the King, assuming he's the strongest chimera, how am I supposed to beat him?'

'-*You entered thirteen gates over the span of 2 months and rose to the peak of A-Rank. Do you understand how absurd that growth-rate is? With my guidance you could be S-Rank in four months tops. I wouldn't have come here if there was a better chance somewhere else, one of the highest rankers died so I could be here, no, they were wiped from all timelines. If you weren't the best and only chance, this wouldn't even have been attempted.'

'Alright, I understand. You can stop with your rambling, why'd they send you specifically, though?'

'-*I'm the only person who can transfer powers. I'm like a rankers supermarket, they can sell and trade powers through me. On top of that, I'm in the top ten of trainers. However, I'm unable to receive or send powers to anyone but you now, so I've brought a skill for you that will help immensely in your training.'

[Skill gained, Informatics]

'-*Now say Gabriel in your head, like how you're talking to me right now'

'Wow, very original. Guess I'll see what's to offer, Gabriel.'

[Gabriel, June 6th 2006, 28]

<STR:5,END:5,STM=30,AGI:40>

{???, Informatics, True Sight}

(Growth-rate=1000,Lvl=0,Pts=0)

'-*Do you understand now. Even a growth-rate of ten would get people calling you a genius. The highest known growth-rate besides yours is ninety-two, and he's treated as a god with enough power to level a city! He became an S-Rank in under three years!'

'So it'll take me three months to get to S-Rank... what will one more S-Rank do though, the greatest rankers will be fighting, and then someone who just hit S-Rank.'

'-*You'll hit S-Rank way before three months. Generally, people go to gates the same rank as them, as well as doing around one gate per day. Leo was no different, but you will be. Your reflexes and coordination is enough to gates far above your current rank.'

'That's cool and all, but I forgot to ask you something with the whole world ending B.S. What exactly is this question-mark ex three skill.'

'-*Like question-mark three times?'

'Yup, just that. It's my skill in the first slot and it's really been bugging me.'

'-*I... honestly don't know. The only skill I thought you had at this point was true sight. You must've gotten two innates which isn't too uncommon, one just failed to be recognized by informatics. I'm sure it'll update when you use the skill, you just have to find out what it is.'

'Guess I'll just wait, can't have been that good if I didn't utilize it enough for you to know about it. So what's this training you have for me?'

'-*I'm glad you asked! For starters, you'll need to enter a C-Rank dungeon alone. Once there, your main goal will be to find a safe place to go back to when tired and to find a stable source of water and food in that order. I recommend starting with shade chimeras since their main advantage is using the dark and their transparency to hide, but your true sight allows you to see in pitch dark, see through objects, have 360 degree vision, and most likely other vision related things you didn't disclose with the Rankers League.'

'When do I start?'

'-*Right now, we're very limited on time, so every hour of every day counts, and also the fact that I'll cease to be in two months restricts my time training you directly.'

'Oh, I'm... sorry. Don't you think that's a bit much, though? It's already ten p.m.'

'-*I'm not overreacting by saying that you need to leave now, once you see the King you'll understand why I'm being so pushy. King is what you were calling him, right? I'll just use that.'

'What type of chimera is he?'

'-*Well... a human-slime hybrid. He's not exactly a typical case.'

'How am I supposed to enter a C-Rank gate right now, anyways? Isn't there a limit based on your rank along with the time needed for your paperwork to go through, so they'll allow passage?'

'-*Before coming here, I studied when and where all the gates we'll need will generate, as well as when we found them. Believe it or not, some gates can take up to a month to be found by the Rankers League!'

'How long did it take to find the King's gate?'

'-*We found it immediately due to its large energy signature, it was also immediately rendered a potential extinction level event.'

'Well, I'll get going now. Where and when is my first gate.'

'-*Go to the Thai place in Downtown Estermille, I'll guide you from. It will generate at eleven o'clock and won't be found for three days.'

I get up, grab my sweatshirt, and go to leave our house.

"Hey, Hannah! I need to leave for a bit, I won't be back for a little while, I love you!", I yelled from across the house.

"Okay! I love you!"

'-*You're not taking the car?'

'Nope, Hannah's gunna need it tomorrow. I'll take the motorcycle, it's fine.'

I get on and start driving towards the Thai place.