Episode 6: Duo Dungeon (4)

Bang!

Through the dark caverns, countless bullets resounded through the area as two men could be seen battling against a horde of spiders crawling towards them.

"Argh... Are these guys ever-increasing or something?!" Landon cried out. "Their numbers seem to never end!"

"It's an insect dungeon. What did you expect?" Jace sighed, swaying to the side as he swiftly dodged the incoming attack from a spider. "If only we brought in a Magician. Then this entire dungeon would've been made so much easier..."

"Eh... I mean, it's doable with just us!" The blonde-haired man stated, sliding over towards the horde, soon beginning to shoot out a barrage of bullets around him. "All we gotta do is shoot out a bunch of bullets at them!"

[ Marksman Skill - Fire Volley. ]

With every bullet released from Landon's muzzle, it split off into small fractures that grazed past the spiders surrounding him. Then, following up with his attacks, Jace accurately shot down the remaining enemies that Landon's bullets had missed.

"Don't stop," Jace stated, repositioning himself to another side of the battlefield.

"Alrighty!" Nodding his head, Landon's dual pistols began spinning around in a circle once more, randomly shooting out a constant stream of attacks at his enemies. After a while, the wave of spiders finally came to an end.

[ You have levelled up to level 8! ]

[ 10 Hunter Points have been obtained. ]

"Phew... That's over with!" Landon sighed with relief, scanning around the once-crowded cavern, now filled with green ooze and goo-covered stones. "I think I used quite a lot of MP in that battle..."

"Ugh... These guys sure did leave behind a mess..." Jace frowned at the sight before him. "But whatever... We're almost at the end, so go on and drink some MP Potions."

"Oh? We're almost at the end already?" Landon's eyes sparkled with excitement as he began chugging down a blue-coloured liquid in a bottle. "Do you want some? I have a lot remaining!"

"No thanks. I still have a good amount of MP left," he rejected. "In any case... After this dungeon, I'll call it a day."

After going through wave after wave of spiders, the two men were now nearly at the end of the dungeon.

"Eh? Seriously?? After only two dungeons?!" Landon shouted out.

"...yes." Jace turned to look at Landon with a helpless expression.

"Mm. What about tomorrow? You wanna continue going out to dungeons then?"

"..." The young man remained quiet, skillfully avoiding the puddle of green ooze in the area.

"...or maybe the day after?"

"What are you, a dungeon addict?" Jace helplessly sighed.

"Hey, we gotta do some grinding to get stronger, no?" Landon grinned. "Besides' I need to make a name for myself if I wanna grow my guild, y'know? Ah. Speaking of which, have you reconsidered my offer about joining..."

"Nope."

"Seriously?!"

"...let's just focus on the boss, shall we?"

"Sigh. Fine, fine!" Landon pouted. "I'll hold off on that invitation!"

"...hah." Jace shook his head helplessly.

"Oh...! And one more thing!"

"Huh? You're not done yet?" he blinked at Landon.

"This isn't anything guild related, alright?" Landon coughed. "I wanted to ask you about this title system thingamajig."

"The title progression system?" Upon hearing the words from the blonde-haired man, Jace stopped at his footsteps. "What about it?"

Although a title was basically something tailor-made for a hunter based on their experience, skill and personality, the function of a title didn't end there. Rather, titles also served as the main growth system for an awakener.

This system was known as the "Title Progression System" or in other words, a skill tree.

"Yeah! I wanted to ask how you've been spending your points?" Landon thought to himself. "For me, I'm basically lost as to what to prioritize... There's so much to unlock yet so little hunter points!"

"Ah... Well, at this stage, I just prioritize increasing my MP. That's about it, really," Jace shrugged. "There really isn't anything else I can unlock to benefit me."

"Really? Just MP? No new skills or something?" Landon blinked.

"Nothing worth it," Jace stated. "The title that I have doesn't really have much right now."

"Oh, huh..." Landon closed his eyes, seemingly falling into deep thought after listening to Jace. "Hmm... To go with stats or to unlock this shiny new skill... Argh... I can't decide!"

"..." As Landon began pondering to himself, Jace's attention was elsewhere. "Speaking of titles... I haven't checked that Synergist one I got..." Muttering to himself, the young man began swiping his finger upwards, soon pulling up his status window in the next moment.

[ Hunter Profile ]

Name: Jace Young

Age: 29

Level: 8

Class: Synergist

[ Titles ]

Current Hunter Points: 66

<Indolent Sharpshooter (S)>

<Challenger of the Soul Oracle (S)>

[ Status ]

HP: 554/554 | MP: 965/965

[ Stats ]

STR: 16 | INT: 47

AGI: 47 | MND: 30

END: 10 | LUCK: 20

[ Abilities ]

...

"The last time I saw the Synergist title, the trait was locked behind a condition. Though by now it should've been fulfilled..." Soon after opening up his status window, Jace tapped on the title—[ Challenger of the Soul Oracle ]. "Let's see what it does."

[ Challenger of the Soul Oracle ]

The souls of the chosen beckon the blessed.

Stats: None.

Special Trait: If you obtain Hunter Points after a battle and your contribution in battle is equal to or higher than a linked ally, you gain +2 more points. If however your contribution in battle is lower than a linked ally, you gain +1 more points.

Branch (Initial):

-MND +4 [6 Points]

-INT +6 [8 Points]

-Max HP +40 [6 Points]

-Max MP +17 [8 Points]

-[ Locked ] - [ Requires further investment into this title. ]

...

"...huh? What's this?" Upon clicking on his Synergist title, Jace was greeted by the title's interface. There, the young man stared at its contents with a confused expression. "...a growth trait?"

At the sight of the trait's description, Jace was taken aback. He had expected the trait to be related to the 'Soul' theme that his kit had going for. However, this was completely outside of that.

"If my contribution in battle is higher than linked allies... Then I get two more hunter points? And if I rank lower than them... I get only one instead?" Reading through each line thoroughly, Jace raised his brow in suspicion. "...there's seriously no downsides to this?"

Jace was shocked at the revelation. After all, a growth skill was a rarity among hunters. Even more so when it came to a title's trait. This was because growth skills would typically give hunters an edge over others when it came to their progression.

As such, most if not all growth skills require the hunter to fulfil a specific condition before they can enjoy the full benefits of the skill. However, in the case of Jace, even if he underperformed in battle, he would still gain a bonus so long as he would obtain hunter points.

"Hmm... This trait sure is something..." Jace thought to himself. "The increase isn't that big, but it does cut down half the effort needed in the long run if I ever wanted to return to my previous state..."

Other than obtaining hunter points through levelling up, there were other ways for awakeners to gain hunter points. Such as defeating bosses or having a high contribution in battle. At times, certain items can also give hunter points.

"The only thing bad about this trait is that it's only useful for fights. Not so much for when I level up," he muttered to himself. "But whatever. I'll just consider this as a bonus. For now... I should focus on my stats."

Turning his attention from the trait's description, his focus was now on the title progression system.

"Let's see... I've used around 10 points on my Marksman title. As for this one... Hmm... Nothing too interesting. I guess I'll just focus on MP again." Although Jace was currently in possession of 66 hunter points, it wasn't wise to spend them all. After all, the current skill tree was only a fracture of the overall title. There was more to come in the future.

Thus, without any further thoughts, the young man began using up his points, spending a total of 22 hunter points in order to gain 4 MND, 6 INT and 17 flat MP.

"Alright. That should do it," Jace nodded his head, finally closing his status window.

"Hey, Lazy Eyes!" Right at that moment, Landon could be heard calling out to the black-haired man. "We're here! We've arrived at the boss room!"