The Seventh Apostle

" Take your positions, The Boss Monster is Coming."

The Leader of the group shouted, it was a group that I had joined to enter this dungeon. There were five people in this group, and my role among them was that of a sharpshooter. Providing support from the back while others fought on the frontlines.

I was hired for this role because I am working as a mercenary on hire. Apart from me, there was a mage, a healer, a swordsman, and the leader who was a tanker. They were people who regularly hunted inside the dungeon, and were known as dungeon explorers.

After spotting the boss monster, I ran towards a hiding position and readied my arrows over my bow. I had expected this to be a fight against something like this, and that is why I had been saving my arrows for the final battle.

Others were not happy with my contribution to the raid so far but no matter what, I knew what I was doing was the right thing. It was not like that I wasn't doing anything, as a support role in this team, I only needed to help when it is needed.

" Moria Cast an illusion spell, Luke use a debuff spell on the monster, Jay and I will fight on the front line, and you_"

"_ Do something or are you just here to freeload?"

The leader spoke, he was not hiding that he was dissatisfied with the way I do things. Everyone followed the orders given by the leader except for me because many times it was stupid.

The mage used an illusion spell and the healer used a debuff spell on the monster running toward us. However, no matter how I look at the situation, it doesn't seem that monster was affected by this at all and the reason was simple.

Because the monster in question was a King rank Troll, an ugly humanoid monster with two horns over his head, a large belly, and fur over his back and neck. The monster looked hideous but it doesn't change the fact that it was dangerous and it was resistant to any kind of magic attack.

' They said they were pro dungeon explorers.'

I started to have second thoughts, it's not like I had any prior info about the client. Since no one was taking the job, I decided to signup for it once they raised the pay.

The monster walked or I should say ran toward us at a slow pace because of its large belly. The earth around its path shook and cracks appeared on the ground.

The Troll was resistant to any magic attack, it was because of its skin. That is why many people paid a good amount for this, they can make armor, weapons, potion, fuel, etc, out of these monsters.

I saw the leader running toward the beast with his shield in front and his greatsword on his back. Following him was the swordsman and from behind, the other two members, Moria and Luke were trying to use whatever they had at their disposal against the monster.

I had my arrow aimed toward the monster and was waiting for an opportunity. Jeremy tackled the beast but it didn't fall instead it stood there like an unshakable mountain. It forced Jeremy to jump back and bring out his sword, he swung the sword with one hand and tried to hit the abdomen area but the attack didn't go too deep and only left a scar.

GHAHA

The monster laughed in a mocking tone as it allowed Jeremy to attack once again, resulting in a similar outcome.

" Damn it, We can't win."

Luke the healer shouted upon seeing this, he was constantly being drained of his mana because of the debuff spell that he cast over the monster. He was the most useless member among these newbies.

' I think, it's time I start doing my thing.'

~Puchik~

Ghaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Something that none of them were expecting happened as my arrow directly pierce through one of his eyes. I loaded one more arrow and quickly aimed toward the monster.

~Puchik~

Ghaaaaaa aargh!

Similarly, another one of my arrows pierced right through its other eye. Moria the mage used earth magic below the feat of the beast, raising the ground and making the Monster fall.

After that Jay bravely jumped over the beast's chest and with all his might thrust his sword inside the heart of the monster. Following his example, Jeremy also used all of his power at once on his greatsword to directly slash over the neck of the beast.

~ Spurt ~

Ghaaa uuurgh!

The Monster died without any struggle, all of the people and the members were surprised that it was all over but I knew better than others that it was not.

As if sensing the death of the boss monster, the other monsters that were its minion came running. I infused my mana into three arrows and quickly fired at the upcoming enemy to allow others enough time to recover.

Arrow after arrow, I kept firing until only one was left, right after that Jeremy and others moved to deal with the monsters. They were newbies, I could tell from their reactions how they dealt with the beast and various situations in the dungeon. However, there was no need to point out these mistakes as I was not a babysitter.

I came out of my hiding spot and quickly met with others.

" I hope you enjoyed your time fighting the boss monster."

*****

" So about the payment, because we are dealing with some issues. Our agent had told us that the payment will get delayed."

This is not unexpected, looks like they are unsatisfied. It happens many times when I am dealing with shitty clients like these.

" I need my payment now, or you will have to answer to the mercenary union. According to the rules I am liable to ask for payment after completing the request and you can't keep me waiting for it."

There was an easy way for me to deal with this.

" I didn't say that I can not pay you, I have another option for you because I am unable to pay you with cash now, I will give you something worth more."

He took a ring out of his pocket, it was an artifact that we found in this dungeon.

" Isn't this malfunctioning?"

I protested, Some artifacts can only be used by a select few people which makes them a malfunctioning artifacts for others.

" Yes, but you are a mercenary so you must have a connection to the people who can pay you a good amount for it."

" It's not my problem that you are not able to sell it."

Jeremy sighed, but from his expression, I knew clearly that he wasn't going to give up.

" You see, I will give you 20% of the payment in cash from my savings plus this artifact. How about it?"

His offer was still not favorable, but still I wanted to leave quickly and It's not like I needed money that badly.

" Fine."

" Great!"

He couldn't hide his joy, I was sure that he was able to pay me as per the agreement made before but chose not to because of his pettiness. These are the type of people, I hate the most in this world.

I snatched the ring and quickly put it in one of my pockets, after receiving the message that I had received the money I quickly left.

*****

My name is Cedric Egon, a 24-year-old mercenary, one of the natural-born awakened humans. There isn't much to speak about me as I live my life without anyone to care about except for myself.

Why? Simply because I chose to live this way.

Being raised by my parents until one day they disappeared leaving only a letter behind. I wasn't abandoned, they promised to return but I have been waiting for too long, it has been ten years since they disappeared.

I tried to search for them, but no one knew about them. Even the police had no idea, surprisingly they even closed the files of this case. I don't know the reason, but there was something wrong with it.

Even though I still haven't given up on the hope that they will come back or I will be able to find them. Slowly, I am losing hope of ever being able to do that. Many times, I even risked my life to find something about them but in the end, I couldn't find anything.

Being powerless and poor is a sin, I realized it a very long time ago but to have no way of overcoming these two issues is pitiful.

Yes, Even I, started to pity myself.

At an age when everyone is looking to find happiness in the world. I'd been walking in the dark without any purpose except for finding them.

I returned to my condo and directly went to take a bath.

~Shiiii

Under the shower my mind was finally calm, I was angry at Jeremy but in the end, I let him be because it was just gonna cause a problem for me.

After cooling my head, I finally sat on the couch. Then I thought about that ring, I was curious as to what type of artifact it was.

I grabbed my coat and unzipped my pocket, took out the ring. A ring made out of some white rock, over which there was a dull blue gem and some markings engraved over it.

" What is this ring anyway? Should I put it on?"

I put the ring on my finger and it perfectly fit on my finger. Suddenly a thought crossed my mind, I could use my unique skill on this ring to activate it.

Some artifacts can only be used by a select few people, that was a fact but I was an exception to this rule. My unique skill of mana infusion allowed me to infuse my mana into mediums and use them however I wished.

For example, I used mana infusion while fighting the monster today and with the help of it I was able to increase the speed at which my arrows traveled in the air.

Most people nowadays don't even use arrows, they simply conjure arrows with their mana. However, for someone like me who has very little mana to utilize, it was difficult for me to conjure more than 10 arrows. That is why I always try to be efficient with my attacks.

By infusing mana in this ring, I could try to break its seal, and then maybe I could use it for myself if it's useful.

I infused my mana into the ring and noticed that the dull blue gem started to shine. Suddenly I felt the ring tighten on my finger.

" Shit, it hurts."

I could feel that it was trying to crush my bones and suddenly it started to heat up. As an awakened human, I was able to resist this much pain but I could feel it increasing as time passed, I tried to stop infusing my mana but I was unable to.

It was sucking everything I had, slowly my head felt dizzy, and everything around me became blurred. The pain starter to shift from my finger to my hand then to my chest and finally, my head started to feel the worst pain I had ever experienced in my life.

" Please stop it–"

Before I could speak anything, my body gave up, it could no longer withstand the pain.

' Damn it, I am not going to die like this. I have yet to find mom...dad.' I thought as tears were already falling from my eyes. I tried to fight back the pain, tried to endure it, and in the end, I broke my finger ripping it off from my hand.

My hands became bloody but it worked, the pain started to subside and I started to regain my vision as well.

[ Not Yet]

Suddenly I heard a voice in my hand and the ring that was on the finger which I ripped off my hand turned into light particles and shot itself directly into my heart. I was weakened and I couldn't avoid it, and this time it directly went inside my heart.

What followed was a painful experience like before, blood came out of my mouth, eyes, and ears. I regretted ever finding this cursed artifact and using it without even thinking about it.

This was the most stupid way of dying.

[ You are weak but you endured it]

[ Prove your worth to me]

[ Become My Seventh Apostle]