Finding the First Portal (1)

Hearing Toki's suggestion, I quickly raised my hand.

"I'm included in that [we], right?"

"Of course! You're the crafter, so we need you with us too, like if we need some minor adjustments or such," Lily quickly replied.

Great!

I haven't been able to hunt for a few days already, after all. Although the scare of the insect-monster invasion was still not over, the hunting grounds around the city were opened to the public. After all, without regular culling of monsters, their number would quickly climb to an untouchable degree, possibly causing a stampede.

"Then I'll go change my clothes first!" I quickly replied before running out of the workshop alone.

Although the girls seemed like they were ready to head out at any moment, I was technically wearing something that was not fit for battle. As I was already used to the path to our temporary home, I reached the penthouse floor in under five minutes. As soon as I got out of the elevator, however, a figure ahead of me made me stop in my steps.

"Ugh... Kaede..." My mouth opened almost reflexively.

The person in question, as if hearing my soft whisper, quickly turned in my direction with a wide smile. "HIROOOOO!"

She ran quickly, jumping into my embrace, but I dodged to the side. As soon as she entered the elevator, I pressed the close button and let her go down to the ground floor. I gained a few minutes of peace with this.

Without wasting the chance, I quickly went to my room, checked the walk-in closet for any clothes that seemed easy to move in, and found my favorite pair of jogging pants and jacket. Before the rascal came back, I quickly changed clothes and headed out of the door.

"...!"

A presence approached my back as soon as I left the door, holding me in a chokehold. "That wasn't nice of you, Mahiro. Sister felt hurt, you know~?"

"Ugu!"

Her chokehold was perfect; I couldn't even raise my voice in protest. Furthermore, it's not aiming for my air supply but rather cutting off the oxygen supply to my brain. In this state, I could only last for a few seconds at most.

Without warning, her hold suddenly lightened, and I could hear her sniffing the back of my neck. "*sniff* *sniff* Hmmm? You... Why is there the smell of multiple women on you?"

Are you a f*cking dog?! Anyway, taking advantage of her loosened grip, I quickly tried to break free. Fortunately, she wasn't using her body-strengthening skill yet, so I was able to escape easily after prying her arm off with brute force.

"I'm going too."

".... Huh?"

Her sudden announcement made me blank out. Going? Where? With us?

"It's fine, right? Mother?" Kaede turned her gaze a little to my right, behind me, her face turning serious.

I quickly followed her gaze, turning around, and there was Mother standing a few meters away with a worried expression. "You're going hunting again? But the danger alert for the monster invasion hasn't been lifted yet."

"Mother, there's five of us gathering to hunt, so even if we do meet those monsters, we'll be able to dispatch them easily," I quickly explained, trying to lift her unease. "And even if those bizarre insects do come, I alone am enough to kill them."

"What are your levels?"

"Everyone is at or above beginner class."

After hearing our approximate levels, Mother turned to face the window to her left, as if in deep thought. A few seconds later, she sighed before turning to Kaede behind me.

"Kaede, please accompany them, just in case. Make sure that they're all safe no matter what happens."

"Of course!" Kaede replied, throwing her arms around my neck once more, but only in a light hug instead of a choke hold like earlier.

I turned to face Mother, gauging her expression, but it seemed like her decision was already final. With her like this, there's no point arguing that we don't need a chaperone. Having no choice, I dragged Kaede with me to the dismantling facility's entrance, where the others were already waiting.

As soon as we arrived, Toki tilted her head in wonder. "Are you coming with us too, Sister Kaede?"

"Don't call me sister! And yes, I'll be coming with you all just in case."

"Sorry about this, everyone. I'll make sure Kaede doesn't interfere with our hunting."

"It's fine, it's fine. But isn't she powerful? I can feel a familiar aura around her... Intermediate class?" Lily commented, her eyes wide open in awe.

Right after Lily's assertion, Hailey became more excited-looking, hugging the lance tight against her body.

"Ah, really? With an intermediate class accompanying us, we can hunt with peace of mind!"

"She's your sister, so I don't mind it too," Mina muttered in a flat tone.

Toki looked at everyone before nodding her head lightly. "Looks like nobody's against her coming with us. Then, let's depart! Our destination, the City Ruins, Outer Perimeter, Gate A!"

"... Gate A?"

Wasn't that an area with a minimum level requirement of intermediate stage level 1? And for us, our average is around beginner class level 5! "I'm cool with taking opponents of higher level, but is everyone ok with that?"

"I'm the lowest level, but I'm just a healer anyway. With our current lineup, I wouldn't probably have a chance of going up front." Lily smiled, having not a bit of dissatisfaction with the choice of location.

Of course, Hailey and Mina, who were both higher-level, had absolutely no problem. I was slightly worried, but with Kaede coming along, a 2nd-class level 9, we should be safe even if an accident occurs.

As nobody else had any problems, we started walking toward the gate. I guess the greatest reason why Toki chose that place is because of its proximity. After walking for about thirty minutes, we reached Gate A.

Unlike usual, where two guards were protecting it, there's only one there right now. I guess with how the threat of the monsters was still active, even the military was short of hands to man all stations.

After a brief check of our levels, we were quickly allowed inside. Mina and Kaede were both in their second class, after all, so the guard didn't even bother to worry about us and just opened the gates with a sleepy look on his face.

After passing through the gate, the atmosphere quickly changed. Even though we couldn't see anything around us, the air was heavy, almost feeling like sticky goo, clinging to our skin. It was unsettling, but I guess I can get used to it after a while.

"The monsters here are... trolls, bats, and leeches, was it?" I muttered while trying to recall the monsters in this area.

The bats and leeches were simply mutated from their original animal counterparts, turning larger. However, trolls are a bit different. They are formed from large bipedal animals like monkeys and bears undergoing extreme mutation. So although they are collectively called "trolls" due to their similar characteristics of rapid regeneration, they were still different species gathered under a single "category".

Of course, if we went further out into the violated lands, we would be able to see more varieties of monsters. But the danger of doing so was beyond the benefits we could gain from venturing too deep.

*GUFU* *GUFU*

Just as I was lost in thought, a large figure, about three meters tall, approached us rapidly. It was a typical troll, looking like a silverback gorilla but with limbs longer than normal.

However, unlike the normal gorilla, it had red fur, like it was bleeding from all over. Its similarly red eyes were staring at us greedily, as if saying that it was happy to have us as its prey. This very appearance is what constitutes a monster as a troll.

Of course, everyone already noticed the approaching monster from the sound it released alone. Mina took a step forward, raising her two revolvers before whispering. "Not even worth our time."

*BANG!* *BANG!*

Two loud gunshots rang.

At the same time, a large hole appeared on the troll's forehead and chest. In a single instant, Mina was able to take out its brain and heart, completely killing it off without giving it a chance to regenerate.

Without even realizing how it died, the troll fell face-first to the ground.

"Amazing..." That was all that I could mutter after watching Mina's display of skill.

Yes, her weapon was special and was adding more than half of the power to each of her shots, but before that, her accuracy and technique were perfect! If I were to fire two pistols simultaneously, I would likely miss both shots.

"But killing it before it approached us is putting the cart before the horse."

We're here to test out the armor and the new lance, after all. If the enemy doesn't even come close, then there's no way we can accomplish our primary goal.

We changed our formation immediately, with me at the front with Hailey and the rest behind us. Kaede was trailing behind us, a fair distance away. I thought she would stick to me like always, but I guess she's still sensible enough to not bother me while fighting.

With two frontline fighters, two backline attackers, and one support, our party was basically as solid as rock. There's no way we can fall against simple monsters like trolls!

After we set up the new formation, we started to march onward in search of our next prey. However, at that time, we still didn't guess the tragedy that was approaching quietly.