I was wrong

Mark began diving into dungeons whenever he could. Every finished raid gave him a lot of experience and also money. He spent long nights writing, upgrading, and perfecting his spells. He tried balancing school, hunting, and socializing a little so he couldn´t really go into more than two or three gates a week.

However, after nearly two months of raiding E and D-rank dungeons, there was not much to improve. The low-rank gates posed no challenge and limited his creative ability. When he was able to clear the gate just with one spell then what was the point?

So after two months, Mark decided to finally move on to C-rank gates.

'Full, full, also full. What is going on with C-rank gates? There is nothing free.'

The jump between D and C-rank was big, because of the natural resources C-rank gates possessed. There could be mana crystals found in the gate or if you are lucky then the boss can drop a runestone.

If you manage to get a runestone you can simply retire. S-rank hunters will fight over those things like mad dogs.

'Oh, here´s a free spot.' Mark finally found what he was looking for. The mana reading was quite high for his liking, though.

'Nine out of ten spots are reserved for the Zeus guild. A hunter in the team probably got sick or something.'

Not wasting a minute Mark reserved his place in the raid.

'It starts tomorrow at 13:00 and the site is 23 miles away. I´ll have to borrow dad´s car this time.'

[Next day]

Mark drove through the streets of New York towards the gate site. Excited he jumped out of the car and walked over to the preparing members.

There were nine of them, wearing clothes made out of monster hides. In their hands were razor-sharp shining weapons.

'It seems like the Zeus guild is doing good.'

A tall ginger woman holding a large halberd noticed Mark looking over the guild members. "Hey, you´re the substitute, right?!" she shouted at him.

"I´m here for the raid, so I guess."

"You don´t have to do much, here. Just some support from the back will be enough. It´s time for our new recruit to shine." the woman told Mark.

He then scouted the group with his eyes.

'Most are C-ranks, 3 B-ranks, and... wait, is that Lucas?'

In between the hunters stood his classmate clad in steel armor and holding a one-handed sword. He wore a proud smile on his face.

'That´s strange. I thought he wanted to join the Viper guild.'

"Hey everyone shut up for a moment!" the woman silenced the chattering hunters. "Everyone´s here so we´ll be starting in ten minutes. Get rid of whatever you don´t need and get your shit together! After ten minutes everyone will be ready and stationed right here, you understand?!"

"Yes!"

"Alright!"

Most of the hunters dispersed to put away everything they don´t need. All unnecessary weight makes a difference when you are fighting.

Only four people remained on the site. There was Lucas who was in his own world, talking with the raid leader and one other support-type hunter.

Mark scanned him with his eyes. Long black hair, an expensive-looking cloak, an ornate staff, and a B-rank magic power. In front of him, Mark looked like a hobo with his hoodie and rucksack.

The healer was feeling uncomfortable under Mark´s gaze so he decided to introduce himself. "I´m Arthur, what's your name?"

"Mark" he answered flatly.

"So Mark is this your first C-rank raid?"

'I should get some equipment or they won´t believe I´m a hunter even If I show them my license.'

"Yeah, actually it is."

"Then don´t worry a bit. Even though Evelyn is a bit rough, she´s pretty strong and a good leader so there probably won´t be any complications."

"I hope so."

"What are you saying about our new recruit? He got a runestone from our vice-guild master."

"He´s pretty good, but why did he get a runestone? He´s only B-rank and those things are quite costly."

"Well, I looked into it and he seems to be the son of Alexander Wright so they probably wanted to win him over. The runestone he got is also extremely good for a fighter. It was called mana blade or something like that. Basically, he can coat his weapons with mana making them sharper."

"Do hunters normally gossip like this?" Mark asked with a smile.

"Hey! What am I supposed to do? It´s boring just waiting around and doing nothing."

"You do you, I guess."

Ten minutes passed by quickly and the hunters gathered around Evelyn, the raid leader.

"The plan is simple! We get in, kick their monstrous asses and then we get out. Give all the essence stones to our porter and be cautious. If any one of you braindead lunatics won´t listen to my orders you´ll get an ass-whopping. Is that clear?!"

"Yes, ma´am!"

"Let´s go!" she said and led the group into the gate.

Mark stepped inside with Arthur right behind him.

He was expecting a dark cave, but this was a completely different world. They found themselves in a beautiful green forest. It was filled with the sounds of birds chirping. They could even hear water gushing in the distance.

As Arthur stepped out of the gate, the swirling vortex of mana seemed to collapse into itself leaving the hunters stranded.

'What is happening?'

After understanding the situation Arthur told Mark. "You know when I said that there probably won´t be any complications? Please don´t be angry, but I think I was wrong."