Chapter 14: Dungeons (4)

Cale was running downhill from the volcano mountain with Dante on his back and Amaris at his side. Amaris was building walls of ice to block the monster, but it was so strong that it could easily shatter them with one blow.

"What are we going to do now, this damn monster won't leave us alone!" Amaris shouted.

"Just keep running for now! The volcanic mountains are no place to fight it. We'll be at a disadvantage. When we get down there, you and I will make our move!" he said and Amaris nodded.

After running for a while longer, when they came in sight of the vast red lands, Amaris created a three-story wall of ice to buy time for Cale to get Dante to safety. Cale dropped Dante on his back at the foot of a distant rock.

"Stay here for now," he said, and then, without letting Dante say anything, he went to help Amaris, who began to fight the monster.

When he channeled the chaos energy in his body, the dark energy flowing from his feet went towards the monster. The dark energy that reached the monster's feet began to pull it to itself like quicksand.

As the roaring beast tried to break free, Cale used his void steps. Suddenly he was upside down on top of the beast and the thrust from his right hand pushed it into the chaos energy.

As Cale began to fight, the two people watching him were impressed by his strength. Amaris trembled at the destructive power of the dark energy she had been dying to see for days.

Dante thought back to the first time he picked up a sword. When their powers awakened, hunters would choose a weapon to match their strength. Dante had always thought the great sword was the best fit.

When his parents had died, he had pushed himself like mad to avenge their deaths. He had worked hard to get stronger, but what he was watching and feeling now was beyond his imagination. He was impressed by the strength of Cale, who seemed so weak.

So Dante decided that he had healed enough to fight while they fought, so he picked up his great sword and stood up.

The beast was being pulled into the energy of chaos under the influence of two different forces. But things did not go as easily as Cale would have liked. When the beast's tongue wrapped around Cale's hand and swung him around, he tumbled through the air and crashed into a rock.

"Bastard!"

Amaris drew his sword and it turned into a bladed whip. The whip arced through the air and wrapped around the beast's leg. Amaris pulled with all her might and the beast's leg snapped. Roaring in pain, the monster fell to it's knees.

Dante ran quickly with his sword, leaped into the air and cut off the monster's left arm. His movements were so fast and sharp that Amaris didn't even realize he was coming until he cut off it's arm.

When Cale stood up, he brought his two hands close together. A purple energy began to crackle between his hands. Amaris and Dante blocked the attacks from the monster while Cale formed a rather large ball of energy in his hands.

When he stretched out his arms and slammed his hands together, the purple energy quickly traveled towards the monster. Amaris and Dante quickly retreated after seeing him make his attack.

As the energy hit the beast, the area was suddenly illuminated with a dazzling purple energy. As the dust from the rocks shattered in the explosion flew, Cale saw the monster with half its body gone.

"What happened? Did you kill it?" Amaris asked curiously, trying to see the monster in the dust.

"It's dead," Cale's calm voice said, and she looked where he was pointing. Amaris sat down, relieved to see the monster lying on the ground, half of its body gone. Dante sheathed his sword and looked at Cale's back.

"What do we do now?"

Cale lay there thinking about Amaris' question. His goal was to find out if there were any valuables in the boss monster's dungeon, but the dungeon had collapsed while they were escaping, so they couldn't return. Besides, his stay in the dungeon would end in two days. He had lingered too long.

"We have no more business here, let's go back," Cale said, and Amaris nodded and agreed to the plan.

***

After taking the monster's body, they left the dungeon with Dante, who had recovered. After everyone had taken their share, they were now standing outside looking at each other.

"I could have saved myself even without your help, but thank you," Dante said smugly.

"Hey, you'd be dead if we hadn't come! Don't you think you should behave a little better?" Amaris laughed sarcastically and Dante looked at her with a frown.

"I knowingly let the monster take me to his dungeon!"

"I'm sure you did," Amaris looked at him with disdain.

"Yeah, yeah whatever, I hope I never see each other again," Cale said as he turned away, ignoring their displeased faces.

"This bastard, I'm not interested in seeing you either, you arrogant bastard!" Amaris shouted.

"Next time we meet, make sure you don't interfere with my business!" said Dante and went on his way, Amaris was furious at the behavior of the two arrogant bastards.

"These two idiots!" Amaris muttered, clenching her fists. "Do what you want, you bastards!" she said, angry with them, and went on her way.

Cale, happy to finally be rid of the two troublemakers, got in his car and drove to a restaurant to eat. As he ate, he checked the news on his phone.

On November 21, the new semester of the Hoop Academy was due to start and there were about two weeks to go. Cale knew he had to leave Guista City.

The Hoop Academy was one of the best academies in the human land, training hunters for four years and offering them the best resources.

Getting into the Hoop Academy was harder than getting into any other. You had to be at least an E rank hunter to get in. Otherwise your application would be canceled before you were even allowed to take the exam.

"My rank is still F," Cale muttered as he looked at his status window.

-----Status-----

Name: Cale Rayne

Age: 16

Rank: F+

Power: E+

Agility: E-

Resilience: D-

Intelligence: C-

Mana Capacity: G-

Charm: C

Luck: D+

[-Skills-]

---> Unlimited Void (Level???) Lvl 4 [Active Skill]

It is a skill that allows a person to defend and attack without using weapons. As long as one uses this skill, no attack will penetrate, and when attacked, the opponent will suffer absolute defeat.

---> Mirror World (Level SSS --> Rank C) [Active Skill]

The mirror world is a subspace of the universe in which the person exists. There one is in complete control and time moves faster than in the normal world.

---> Monarch Aura (Level SSS --> Grade E+) [Active Skill]

The person makes even those two ranks above him or her fear him or her as if he or she were a ruler, and makes them want to obey his or her orders.

---> Chaos Energy (Level ??? ---> Grade C-) [Active Skill]

Chaos energy is purer and more intense than other forces. When a person purifies this power, they have the ability to use it in any way they want.

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'The only core I could find in those six months was the E-ranked mana core from the monster I killed with those other bastards.'

Cale had taken the mana core he found when he went to check on the beast after killing it while they were resting and kept it. Neither Amaris nor Dante needed it.

Amaris' father was the most powerful hunter in the human land. Her father could have found many mana cores for her if he wanted to, even if it was difficult.

Dante Hatt was deep in thought as Cale thought about him. Cale remembered him. When he read the novel [The Hero Who Saved the World], readers were divided into two groups. 

One was Damien Heart, whom the author supported and insisted on making the hero of that book despite all the antics, and the other was Dante Hatt, who, like Cale, according to the content of the book, came from the commoners and defeated all the rich kids.

Both of them were extremely handsome and the girls flocked around them. But Dante Hatt was more of a hero. He wasn't stupid like Damien. He was hardworking and, although he had a hot temper, he didn't bother people around him unnecessarily.

Damien was a fool who sacrificed thousands to save one man and yet was still called a hero. Cale had suffered for his decisions.

Cale tensed at the thought that in two weeks he would be reading with the characters in the novel. Six months ago, if you counted Hope Duncan, he had met three people before he even got to the academy.

Groaning, he grabbed his head and ruffled his hair in frustration.

'Let's not overthink it. It'll all work out in the end, won't it?'

Cale stopped thinking about the others and thought about the mana core. At first he had sold them because they were useless to him, but then Cale had stopped selling them when he had tried a method he had come up with and it had worked for him.

It was a method in which he infused the mana cores with his own chaos energy. The chaos energy he concentrated inside the mana nucleus would synthesize and identify with the mana inside the mana nucleus. Thus, when the process was completed, Cale was able to achieve the rank he could not achieve due to lack of mana.

He was able to jump from G-rank to F-rank thanks to a G-rank mana core he once used. The better the quality of the synthesis of mana and chaos, the better he could jump from G- to F+ rank. 

His power was also increasing in this way. It was a bit risky because it was energy-intensive, but Cale was willing to take the risk. He was willing to pay the price for his strength.

It was important for the future.