The Crimson Reapers were already inside the dungeon with the A-Ranked Paladins from the Guardians. 15 Hunters who had amazing team work against their current enemies. Diamond Orcs. As the name implies, their skin were like diamonds but diamonds can still break if one strikes it hard enough.
Teamwork of having the Paladin of Faith buff the others up while the Paladin of Fire was unleashing flames that blanketed the diamond orcs, burning through their defenses as the Paladin of Earth began to swing their hammers. Chipping away at the Diamond Orc's defenses. So far things look good.
"They're not bad. Think our weapons can cut through the Diamond Orcs?" One Crimson Reaper asked.
"Bellwitch said it will tear through anything that isn't a God. Their teamwork reminds you of us right?"
"Yeah. So Ace. What's the plan?"
"The usual. The moment shit hits the fan for them. We help them." So far so good, the horde was increasing but they made a slight change. The Paladins of water coated the diamond orcs with their water, while the Paladins of ice turned them into glass. The Paladin of Faith's debuffs were already breaking through the layers of defense that had been piled up. The diamond orcs were losing their power by the second, their durability like diamonds have been reduced to... Nothing more than glass. A glass so fragile that if you poke at it with a pinky. It will shatter into a million pieces.
Though Ace could not help but enjoy the sounds of glass shattering. They were still keeping at it. Though their stamina had already taken a beating from all of the attempts to break through the diamond orcs. They took their break, just taking it easy for a moment. Drinking whatever they had, unlike the Venerators. Hunters cannot keep track of their stamina, it is up to the Hunters to decide if they have what it takes to continue on or not.
This was a lot riskier than it sounded, keeping track of one's stamina allows them to fight for longer periods but attacks, defense and evasive movements would eat stamina. Without a proper stamina bar, it will be up to the Hunters who have to play it by the ear. Hunters have died due to exhausting their stamina.
"This might take a while, we should take a moment to rest up. Our mana pool's slowly fading." The leading Paladin, the Paladin of Lightning said as the others took a break. Making drinks for themselves, their breaks were going longer and longer than ever. It wasn't short like 5 minutes. It was for half an hour to an hour and more. If it was the Venerators. They'd just be drinking potions and continue on. The differences in this world was much clearer.
Ace was keeping a list of mental notes of the differences. In the world where the Hunters roam, they were more prone to a dog eat dog scenario. Killing each other, either for greed and other matters. When comparing to the Venerators that were less prone to do this because of how tight the Unions ran them in regulations. Also because most things that happen in a Spire was recorded, over here? It's only by word of mouth.
The Paladins went deeper and deeper, finding themselves surrounded by thousands of diamond orcs. Seeing a diamond orc chieftain who was towering over the others.5 times the size of an ordinary human, and it could not be debuffed.
"It's going to be a tough fight." One of the Paladin's said, readying themselves as the diamond orcs were in a state of glee.
"I don't think we can handle this. By ourselves. There's too many diamond orcs... Get everyone else, Valerie. I'll hold this line." The Paladin of lightning readied his weapon.
"Robbie that's suicide! Do you really want to die?" The fear was there, the diamond orcs had already outnumbered them and it took too much effort to even break one. No matter how strong a Hunter was, there will come a time when they have to decide to back out of a fight or die.
"Better one of us instead the whole team! The Dungeon may leak out. If we're struggling do you think the Guild Leader w-" Robbie was thrown over to the direction of his allies. Ace dusted his hands. 5 pairs of glowing eyes that looked back at them. Streaking blue that glared back at them. A grenade was thrown at their path, creating a barrier of sorts. One of them tapped the barrier a couple of times. Checking its strength.
"It'll hold."
"You've done enough. We'll take it from here." Ace said as he readied his Reaper Rifle, switching to blade mode. The 5 Crimson Reapers roared back at the diamond orcs that became 'Staggered'.
'Skill Reaper's Radiance : Activated' the 5 Crimson Reapers took to the stage, the cave which these diamond orcs had dwelled were about to get a rude awakening. They charged at the 5 Crimson Reapers, the 5 stood tall. The diamond orc chieftan swung its axe at Ace, only to be stopped by Ace's hand.
"They've got good defense, but that's it!" Ace punched the diamond orc chieftain's stomach, where it coughed out blood. A kick to send the diamond orc flying.
"Let's get this done, this'll be a bore." Ace said as the 5 Crimson Reapers went to do what they do best. Reaping the lives of the diamond orcs. The Paladins took a moment to observe, watching the slaughter. A completely one sided slaughter, the ferocity like an animal yet moves like a human. Within minutes, the slaughter was over. The barrier was removed as the 5 Crimson Reapers shouldered their weapons as they headed out.
"Who are you?" Valerie was the first to break the silence.
"Our job was to make sure that your dungeon mission went smoothly." Ace spoke for his teammates as they headed out to the portal.
"Which guild are you from!?" Valerie began to pester them with questions but the 5 Crimson Reapers left the portal.
"This is Ace. You were right, it seemed that the Dungeons in this world are rigged. Some will survive, some will die. The diamond orcs are tough with a team of 15. They should have brought two teams of 15. It would have made it easier."
"This is 91. We're done here, Lord."
"13 reporting in. Situation averted. What's the next plan, Lord?" They were reporting in to Silas who was having lunch at the cafeteria. His messy hair seemed to be an attraction of sorts as people were staring at him. There was some warmth on his head, where Silas combed his hair and looked at an extremely fluffy spider. It didn't look like the usual spiders that Silas had known, it was... Adorable? Or was it cute? Silas just looked at it as it kept turning on his palm. Footsteps from the right.
"I'm sorry! That's my familiar!" A person shouted, Silas turned to see a girl wearing a witch's robe.
"Come back here Fluffy." The spider made a chirping sound, Silas was trying to process this. A spider made a chirping sound. It sounded like a bird. This was confusing but Silas was not going to question everything, the spider leaped back to the girl.
"Fluffy likes to roam a lot. I keep telling him to stay still but he just can't. I'm sorry if he's bothering your lunch."
"Don't worry about it." She left with the spider resting by her shoulder, Silas combed his hair with his fingers. Making sure that there's no webs in his hair.
"Sorry about that. I was distracted by a chirping spider." Silas used telepathy with his Familiars as he ate his lunch that had a bit of webs in it. Then seeing the sides being nibbled. So the spider ate some of his food while he was using telepathy, it can't be helped as Silas headed back to the training grounds.
"What's your assessment on them?" Silas was observing the A-Ranks and B-Ranks that were teaching the newly inducted Hunters. For some reason, Silas was excluded from this. Did his demonstration reveal too much? Or was there a reason why he was not given much training?
"The Guardians are a good team. The A-Ranks we observed understood each other's roles carefully. Prioritizing their entire team's lives instead of staying objective. It isn't a bad thing but they exhaust their mana."
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"The Jesters were different. Three rangers, the others were either melee Hunters or magic Hunters. No buffing or debuffing, just raw power and skill but if we were to compare with the Venerators.. IT seems their stamina is much errant. The other Void Dancers are of agreement, they could do better with buffs but it seems that Jesters prefer power over anything else. Mainly going for Crowd Control and Damage attacks."
"I was joining the Demoniacs. They fight like Demoniacs. We did join them for a bit. Holding off the horde of lizardmen that was bothering their fight with a Naga. They got power and the durability but their mana pool is lowest. They compensate with raw powers and passives that grant them bonus damage." Silas was taking note of the three guilds. Jotting things down in his journal, observing the Demoniac A-Rank Hunter who was training the students who were based on strength, focusing on synergizing abilities to create a powerful strike.
"My guild's philosophy is the first strike is a good opening in fights. If your first strike is enough, you can work to make the fight go in your favor."
Just hearing that kind of philosophy from the Demoniac made sense, from what Silas had understood. They were demon like, with their leader Beniya who preferred power, but not just basic strength. The equipment that the A-Rank had was mainly Mythic rarity, it seems that loot in this world is far more important than he had originally understood.
Silas checked his phone to see more details. Seeing the Hunters Trading group where people were trading gear in an auction based work. The Hunter's Association takes a 5% cut of the sale, and with hundreds of items being sold at least for 50 thousand? That was a sure cut way to get equipment, but the price would be a few dungeon's worth of work for F-Ranks. Silas was looking around for items that haven't been appraised. Looking at a weapon known as 'Silent Thorn' it was being sold for 10 thousand.
According to the Hunter that posted it. An A-Rank Hunter from Jesters, Langley. The weapon was based on a classic 1911 pistol but its been deemed to be tricky to use. It also has a condition for the user to be deemed worthy for it to use. Being sold with a unique holster, inspecting the weapon's design. Classic silver, the grips were made from white oak which granted the effect of 'Anti-Slip' which meant that the weapon would not slip out of the user's hand unless a strong force had attacked the user.
The floral engraving with the word 'Silent Thorn' by the slide, along with its unique suppressor that was bulky for its size. Uses 14 round 1911 magazines. Most of the details were not known, Silas may need to buy it to see what's so special about this particular firearm. The word Thorn was enough to garner his attention. Was it another weapon that belonged to the Lord of Thorns or was it just a weapon dropped from the Dungeons?
Silas does not exactly have a paycheck at the moment, so he'll have to register for a dungeon.Perhaps this time, he'll want to level up the pistol that was based on the Preaching Magnum.
Gates Magnum
ATK: 80.5 (Base 70 + Magnum bonus)
9 shot magazine.
STATUS
Piercing : 50% chance to pierce enemy armor.
Magnum :+15% damage increase
Heavy caliber : +50% critical damage.
Elemental Shot : Bullets can be infused with elements.
Chrome Lined Barrel : Allows for use with special ammunition.
It was a magnum pistol so it makes sense for the damage to be high. Silas's current stats leave a bit more to be desired.
"Silas. Are you free? We're going to be bringing them to the dungeon. Need you to take the role of a second ranger. You will be paid of course. Same goes for the students." The woman who stopped him earlier had asked.
"Name's Julie. I'm a C-Rank from Jesters. Margen had to pull my partner out for a dungeon job and he recommended you as a substitute. You got a long range weapon?" Julie asked as he had a few rifles beside her.
"I have one." Silas showed her the Gates Magnum, which she marveled at the design. On the side of the gun it had the words 'For Joshua Gates'
"It's a heavy gun, but it'll do the job."
"Joshua Gates? Who's that?" Silas was thinking of an answer, but the best he could come up with was..
"A friend. One that I hope I'll be able to see again someday." Silas said. Despite the calmness of his face, the monotone answer. His eyes were a dead give away. Anyone could see that Silas's eyes were showing grief. Something only a certain number of Hunters who've experienced it understand.
"I hope you'll see him someday. Anyway, the dungeon we're heading into is an F-Ranked Dungeon. It'll be a good experience for them to see how dangerous a Dungeon can be. I'll gather up the other Hunters." Silas then looked at his inventory, seeing the equipped weapons. Depending on the size and length he can equip the weapons accordingly. So the system behaves differently between his Lord of Thorns equipment and his regular equipment.
5 weapon slots, can be added more when equipping armor or clothing that grants more slots. Silas placed the Gates Magnum to the back of his hip. Then picking up a pair of daggers that had been supplied for F-Ranks to use. The daggers had a handguard to prevent it from slipping away from the user's hands, and the leather grip was easy to use. The damage would only be at 7 at best, but speed is what makes daggers lethal. 10 strikes would be enough to take care of a low leveled enemy.
The dungeon was going to be joined in with 30 F-Rank Hunters, coincidentally Caroline Lee and that one witch from earlier noticed him.
"Alright. We'll be heading into the Dungeon. You'll be accompanied by two C-Ranks from Jesters and one F-Rank who has already had some experience in a dungeon.
"Tch. When did he get so popular?"
"Wasn't he just a loner all this time? Why is he over there and not with us?" Julie was about to snap at them only to be stopped by Silas.
"You sure about this? Hunter's run their mouth all the time. You don't quash it. Then they'll keep spitting that out." Julie had a point but her aggression was something that has Silas puzzled.Why was she so pissed or even ready to snap at a bunch of new Hunters?
"Not worth you getting angry at brats right?" Julie let out a sigh, then nodding to Silas.
"Margen told me to keep an eye out on you. He said that anyone that can fight like you fight is a good ally to keep around." Julie said as they entered the dungeon. It was the Ruined Temple. Julie gave the commands to a select number of students and divided them into groups. Silas was going to be with Caroline and the witch's group as a member. In a part y of 6. Led by a budding berserker named Hardin who was busy hitting on Caroline and the witch. Same goes for the other guys who were trying to earn some points with the girls.
Some cheesy lines were being thrown around. 'Don't worry I'll protect you.' 'I'll be your shield.' or the occasional 'I'm going to keep everyone safe.' Those words felt something straight out of a romantic flick or a movie. Something Silas remembered because Joshua spent some time watching those because he had run out of things to watch in Mulligan.
"Hi. My name's Nora. I'm really sorry about what my Familiar did during lunch."
"It's fine." Hardin had everyone else at the front with him with exception of Caroline and Nora. The enemies that were coming into view were skeleton soldiers that were wielding damaged swords and cracked shields. Their HP was at 200.
"Monsters! Alright! We're going to fight!" A swing from Hardin's battle axe missed, where the skeleton soldier swung the blade down. Grazing his arm, Silas could see the chaos start to begin. They must have misunderstood the difficulty that dungeons possessed. Silas fired at the skeleton, sending it flying through the pillar.
Immediately pulling out a glow stick that was making beeping noises. Cracking it with one hand as Silas moved ahead, whereby the skeletons turned their attention to him. Firing the remaining shots to thin out the skeleton soldiers first, a quick reload as he put the Gates Magnum to the back of his hip. Drawing out the daggers, going straight for the joints as the skeleton horde began their attacks. Silas was dodging their attacks by mere inches. Blades were everywhere, he took a few hits but his hoodie took the damage. Causing his health to drop by 3HP per graze. There's roughly 40 of them. He needed to thin it out. Hearing a rifle firing at the skeletons behind, clearly that was Julie.
"Hey Songstress! You need to sing! He's going to need heals and buffs! Pick a song! Get a grip! He's given you time to regroup! Rangers, Archers! Start your support. Aim at the ones behind him! Don't aim in front of him! Front line! Get ready to attack on my signal! Witch, we need some spells!" Julie took command, Silas kept using the daggers. The durability of 200 was chipping away with every strike. He was down to the last 10 strikes. The attacks to the joint broke off the limbs as the skeletons were attempting to bash Silas with the shields and even using the bones of other skeletons to attack him.
A downward strike to the skeleton's head, the daggers broke in an instant. Caroline was singing but her voice was shaking at the sight of Silas being cut repeatedly. His hoodie was going to be in tatters soon but that did not stop him. Nora was using her spells to slow down the movements of the skeletons but it wasn't good enough. Silas took a step back as an arrow passed his face. Drawing out Gates Magnum, firing off a few shots then swinging it like a bat to push them back. A bullet grazed Silas's cheek.
"Silas! Get back here!" Silas heard Julie who threw a grenade at his direction. Silas covered his head, shielding himself with the elbows as he broke through the skeleton soldiers. Diving in front of Hardin's boots, firing off a few shots at the skeletons. The grenade exploded which caused the skeletons to be in disarray.
"Alright! Go get your kills!" Silas got back on his feet. Silas's hoodie was torn badly, sword scars over his body and back.
"Sheesh. You're reckless. Daggers broke, do you have a melee weapon?" Silas showed his bat, where Julie called the other Hunters back.
"I know you're all excited. But you need to think before you strike. You just went through one day's worth of training and this is as much as you can do. Melee Hunters! The fact that you froze up in middle of combat instead of trying to counter means you're resolve is weak! Songstress! Your voice was shaking. If your voice shakes when you sing, your buffs will not be as strong and your heals may not work properly! Rangers, Archers! You're attacks are missing and I told you not to aim in front of him! Silas, the one who shot you. Mortimer Lewis! Stand in front of me right now!" Mortimer stepped out, shaking in his boots as he looked at Silas.
"The Hunter's rule is that when there's a friendly fire, the person who's been shot is given a decision. Punish them. Silas?"
"It's fine. I didn't take too much damage anyway." Silas said as he put a bandage over his cheek.
"This'll be a long day." Julie groaned at the thought of training them. The new experience will be a guiding one for them. Hopefully if things go right.
Hopefully.