Diego walks down the stairs wondering who would come to his home so early in the morning.
It wasn't the crack of dawn per say, but 9am was still too early to be entertaining guests.
He had put on a hoodie to cover his arm, so as to not spook any neighbors.
There are cases where hunters develop unusual traits due to the funny ways magical energy interacts with the body, but people who rarely see these types, suddenly seeing an arm covered in red scales, would most likely cause a panic.
“!?”
The sight of his guest surprises him.
Standing at the door next to his mother is a woman with dark hair tied in a braid wearing a business suit, her porcelain pale skin contrasted her dark clothes.
“Diego Vivar I presume?”
Her sharp dark green eyes pierced Diego to his very core.
The woman flashes Diego her identification card and badge.
“Inspector Rebecca Abraham with The Bureau of Hunters Affairs. I am here to speak with you in regards to a Gate that was reported to have appeared in the area.”
“!!”
A drop of cold sweat runs down the nape of Diego’s neck.
‘Crap…’
[Scan]
Magical energy pours into Rebecca's eyes giving them a luminescent quality.
She looks Diego up and down.
‘He is an E-rank for sure… maybe on the cusp of D-rank. …strange… Why is most of his magical energy circulating around his left arm?’
Diego instinctively pulls back his left side to obscure it.
‘[Scan]…’
The [Scan] skill allows its owner to read the flow of magical energy and provide the user extra data in a comprehensive almost text-like format fed directly into their brain.
An almost standard skill for D-rank Hunters and above due to its relative commonality, usefulness, and price.
It is very popular with Hunters who Dungeon dive for sport as it almost gamafies the experience for them.
Still, even if it is considered a cheap, common skill, for an E-rank like Diego it's a far cry to purchase it.
“How may I help you?”
Rebecca finishes her evaluation of Diego and deactivates her skill.
“The Bureau has been informed of a Gate that had opened in the area, we suspect Dungeon Poachers may have cleared it before the Bureau could evaluate it. We wanted to know if you knew anything about that.”
Diego sweats a bit feeling Rebecca's immense pressure.
While he couldn’t verify himself, the pressure she gave off made her feel as if she was at least C-rank.
“I'm sorry I don't.”
“... I see..”
As Rebecca attempts to enter the home she looks around at Puchi and the furnishings.
“You wouldn't mind if I looked around wouldn't you?”
Diego immediately extends his right arm to stop the inspector from entering his home.
“Listen, I am just an E-rank Hunter. I don't know what you think you will find here, but you gotta understand. I just live here with civilian parents. They wouldn't get involved with poachers.
“That’s right, tell her Mijo.”
Hector wheels himself into the front hall, he had heard what was happening up until that point and decided to step in when he saw the inspector had tried to force herself into the home.
“Ma'am if you suspect my son of wrongdoing, I would request you get a warrant before I let you step into this home. Diego and I are simply E-rank. Neither of us had any business entering any Dungeons unauthorized.”
“...”
The inspector looks over at Hector carefully studying his face. With a nod she retreats from the door.
“Very well. Thank you for your cooperation, we will follow up if we require any further information.”
“Wait Mijo aren't you going to tell her about-”
“Puchi!!”
Hector stops his wife from blurting out anything unnecessarily.
This immediately catches the inspectors attention.
“Nothing, my mother doesn't know much about Dungeons or Gates, she was merely going to ask about an unrelated matter.”
Diego laughs nervously as the inspector narrows her eyes in suspension.
“Very well… Good day Mr. Vivar…”
The inspector walks away as Diego makes sure to watch as she disappears from view.
“Puchi… time and a place.”
“He said he would have his arm looked at in the morning and she said she was with the Bureau.”
“...”
Puchi walks up to Diego with a mischievous grin and elbows his side.
“Ay Mijo, what about her?”
“...”
Diego shakes his head as he walks into the house.
Hector follows his son as they walk towards the back of the home and head into the back yard.
Hector sits at the entryway watching his son set up the training dummies they had in the yard.
There is an awkward tension as Diego starts doing a bit of light exercise preparing for his daily training.
“Diego…”
“I know what you are going to say…”
“Muchacho, this is serious! You could go to jail. Who were you with? Maybe we can finesse a deal or something.”
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“It was a Solo clear.”
“... what?”
Diego smiles as he prepares to show his father what he discovered.
He walks towards one of the training dummies.
While in front of it, he takes a stance to punch it.
At the facility where he trained to be a Hunter, he was taught the very basics of magical energy control.
At his level all he could do was suppress the miniscule amount he had to avoid causing any issues to the general public, but with the new amount he attained from his trist in the goblin den.
He felt he could actually produce something.
Channeling magical energy was something he never practiced, because he never needed to. But, he did learn the theory behind it.
Diego closed his eyes. He envisions energy flowing from his stomach into his arm. He feels his arm swelling with power. A crimson aura coats his fist. Using it he punches the dummy.
BOOM!!
The Dummy is destroyed with explosive force.
Hector is momentarily stunned by the display of power.
“What happened??!!”
Diego’s mother rushed out of the home to see what that sound was. She sees Diego standing with his arm cocked, destroyed training dummy in front of him.
“Nothing Mami, just testing out my new skill.”
“Yeah Puchi, don't worry, I'll make sure he cleans up.”
Puchi walks away still shaken by the blast.
“Ay I have to make sure the neighbors know a bomb didn't go off.”
The two men watch as the matriarch of the house disappears into it.
“So that's the skill you attained? An explosive force of magical energy.”
“That’s not all…”
Diego shows off the jewel embedded in his palm.
“Any monster I kill gets their magical energy absorbed into my arm, increasing its power. I don't think there is an upper limit to how much I can absorb, and it also invigorates me.”
“!!!!!”
“No… that's impossible. I mean I have heard of skills increasing the ranks of Hunters, but…
Are you implying you can infinitely grow stronger?”
“I don't know, I will need to test it out by clearing more Dungeons.”
“Mijo… do you know what this means?”
“Yes…”
Diego thinks about all the potential carnage that could happen if his ability was revealed to the Hunter’s community.
“I thought about going to the Bureau to maybe get some special protections, but… well you saw what happened this morning. They will put 2 and 2 together and who knows what might happen to me.”
“Diego, you have to do something. This is serious.”
“I know… but genie’s out of the bottle Pa, only thing I can do is keep my head down, collect as much money as I can and retire as soon as possible.”
“Diego…”
“I know. Don't tell me I know. Hey… you wanted me to have this skill.”
“Yeah… but, that was before I knew it would paint a target on your back!”
Diego places his hand on his father's shoulder to reassure him.
“Papi, the solution is simple, I just gotta get stronger.”
Diego smiles as he clutches his fist.
“I will figure this out.”
****
The Hunter’s market, a commercial area dedicated to Hunters to cash in their found treasures and purchase the everyday equipment they need to explore the Dungeons.
There are many markets all over the globe, a booming business born from the needs of the new economy.
Just like with any other business, quality of items depends on the location and clientele, but one should never judge a place too harshly.
Diego had come to such a market, the closest one to him was two train stops over and it was sponsored by the local Beasts Guild.
Because the local Dungeons tended to be of C-rank or lower, finding insane treasures to trade was rare, but the items on sale were no less expensive.
Diego wouldn't really come to these shops as a buyer, but due to current circumstances he felt the need to load up on some very important tools to make his new mission easier.
His heart thumped with excitement at the prospects of finally affording actual equipment and like a child in a toy store, he couldn't wait to look around.
The shop is set up near identically to a department store. Valuable items are displayed behind glass and clerks stand behind the counter waiting to tend to customers.
All around Diego are Hunters shopping, looking at items and attempting to negotiate prices.
He heads towards the back of the shop and down the escalator.
On the bottom floor is the exchange corner where Hunters can cash in what they bring for cash or goods.
Diego walks towards the farthest counter to greet the short balding man that runs it.
“Ah Flat-Foot, what are you planning to waste my time with today?”
“Not this time Frank.”
To an outsider, Frank may seem like the stereotypical sleazy shopkeep, but Diego has done enough business with the man to know he is knowledgeable of the trade and a man that will provide the fairest prices.
Diego dumps the contents of his bag onto the counter.
He presents Frank with a few dozen crystals, some weapons, jewels, and the staff he had claimed from the goblin shaman.
“Oho where did you go? Did you actually luck out and find someone to take you under their wing?”
Frank looks at all the treasures, he closely examines the crystals and takes an especially long time with the staff.
“There’s a lot of them this time, but they are still all E-rank cores. I'll give you… $30.00 a piece for them.”
He moves on to the coins.
In total there were 3 gold coins and 5 silver. Each was engraved with symbols of an unknown Kingdom.
“Hmm, a collector might get a kick out of these, but to us they are just metal. At best what I can offer for these is the price of the metal itself so… $6,150.00.
Frank proceeds to pull out a jeweler's loupe, using it he takes a closer look at the rings and pearls Diego plundered from the treasure room.
“These are actually worth something… yes very nice. They don't have any magical energy, so they aren't enchanted items, but they are still fine pieces. I'll give you $5,000.00 for the total.”
He finally moves to the staff. He carefully examines the wood and pays close attention to the magical jewel tied to the top.
“A goblin shaman's staff. Crude, ugly, but absolutely perfect for a D-rank mage.”
Frank laughs at himself as he carefully sets the staff aside.
“A staff's a staff, what matters is the catalyst that the mage channels the magical power out of. But the amateurs focus way too much on looking good over practicality.”
Diego smiles wryly, understanding what Frank means.
He also understood the value of practicality over aesthetics, which is why he wore cheap clothes to Raids.
But, he also yearned for the affordability of nicer equipment to avoid being laughed at.
“This Staff isn't amazing, but it's not nothing either. I will give you $15,000.00 for it. You got anything else?”
Diego was stunned at the total for all his items. In total he had made $30,000.00 just from items, not including his usual wages.
It was more money than he had ever earned from a single raid.
That treasure room and the Gate opening in front of his home were a true blessing.
He contemplated selling the other goblin weapons he had, but refrained from doing so due to needing them for other raids.
Had he cashed out now, he probably wouldn't have to worry about money for a while, but unfortunately he needed to make an investment to help him in the long run.
“Do you have a [Scan] Runestone?”
“Oho?”
Frank raises one of his bushy eyebrows in suspicion.
“Runestone? What business does an E-rank have with that?”
“Hey now… isn't it rude to pry? I'm thinking of changing careers and I need one.”
“...”
Frank raises his hands in resignation.
“Alright… I'm sorry for prying. It's just a rare ask for an E-rank to make that kind of request.”
Frank turns around and shifts through a cabinet, after a few moments of searching, he finds a small black box.
The box was similar in appearance to the one Diego found the Dragon Scale in.
Frank presents the box to Diego.
Opening it, its contents reveal a small smooth stone roughly the size of one's palm resting on a cream colored cushion.
The stone had a rune carved into it that radiated a dim blue light.
“I'm letting you know now, just because it's a generic skill doesn't mean it's cheap. This stone costs $20 grand, are you sure you want to buy this? I won't stop you, but memory serves. This is the first time you have ever sold me anything past $5k.”
“Yes I'm sure. Thanks for the concern Frank, but it's unneeded.”
“.... Ok, I'm not gonna tell you how to spend your money.”
Frank pulls out a small metal card from under his counter. He slides the metal card towards Diego.
“A small bonus. People who attain skills tend to not know what they get until they pop the Runestone and try it out.”
“Yeah…”
Diego scratches his cheek nervously.
He was all too familiar with the concept of not understanding a skill from the get go as he too still didn't even know what his skill was.
“I can't remember what guild came up with this, but the mechanics behind it are pretty straightforward. All you gotta do is channel your magical energy into this metal card and it will imprint what skills you have.”
Diego picks up the card and the Runestone in each hand, he feels the weight of the card and fiddles with the stone.
“It’s quite a sophisticated little device, it even tells you what your skill's ranks are and I hear some get even more in depth. They are really popular with those streamer kids.”
“That so…”
Diego breaks the Runestone.
Unlike with the scale, there was no valitile surge of magical energy that entered his body and attacked his nerves.
Instead it felt like a light breeze and a slight warmth.
After absorbing the Runestone, Diego focused his attention on the metal card.
He channeled his magical energy into it, and to his surprise, text started appearing on it.
[Skill List]
[Scan Rank D]
“!!!”
The other skills that appeared surprised him.
[Spirit Body Manifestation (Dragon) Rank E]
[Lifehunt Rank C]
[Instinct Rank A]
Diego paused, taking a close look at his skills. Instead of one, the dragon scale bestowed him with three.
‘What’s Spirit Body Manifestation? Gotta study up on that when I get home.’
“How’s it look?”
“Yeah it works perfectly.”
“Excellent. Anything else you wanna purchase? Or are you just gonna cash out?”
“Actually, do you have any sealing cloths? Nothing crazy, it's just I realized I probably should have put a seal on this staff before coming here and I plan on bringing many more.”
Diego points to a mannequin wearing a shoulder brace next to the cabinet Frank had rummaged through for the Runestone.
“Also that shoulder brace.”
Frank chuckles.
“Coming right up. Let me check in the back for some of that cloth.”