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[Name: Luke Sirius]
[Level: 22]
[Job: None]
[HP: 180/180]
[MP: 125/125]
[Available Status Points: 0]
[Strength: 36]
[Agility: 40]
[Vigor: 36]
[Intelligence: 50]
[Sense: 36]
[Faith: 36]
[Skills]
[Active: Sundering Blow, Ember Step]
[Passive: N/A]
...
[Boots of Stride]
[Rank: C]
[Description: Simple enchanted boots that increase the wearer's movement]
[Effect: Movement speed +10%]
...
[Apple of Knowledge]
[Rank: Unique]
[Description: A magical apple imbued with knowledge over mana.]
[Effect 1: By biting into the apple, you imbue yourself with a flow of mana, filling up half of your maximum MP rounded up.]
[MP restored: 63]
[Recharge 1: 1 hour]
[Effect 2: By biting into the apple, you can amplify the effects of one of your skills at random, temporarily evolving the skill for 5 minutes.]
[Recharge 2: 24 hours]
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"This is a strong apple," Luke noted to himself as he lay on his sofa. In his hands was the 'magic apple' as he tossed it up only to catch it once again.
Despite being a magical item, the apple looked like... well, an apple. Bright red with a small cut stem on its top. In the time it took for him and Matthew to return to his penthouse, Luke had already bitten into the apple, simply using its first effect, before de-summoning the item. When he summoned it again, the apple was uneaten and pristine as if just plucked from its tree.
"Have you tested your horn yet?" Luke asked, turning his head to spot Matthew at the dining table. Luke's laptop was sitting in front of him as he typed away at something Luke couldn't see.
Matthew just shook his head. "Haven't needed to."
Luke lifted his head as the apple he'd tossed burst into smoldering ashes and disappeared. "What are you doing? And why are you on my computer?"
"I'm looking into if anyone has had the experience we had," Matthew responded.
Luke scoffed. "I somehow feel we are a bit of a special case. If people found out about a hunter who could 'level-up' I'm sure it'd be on news headlines for ages."
"It's not for us."
Luke rolled his eyes. "Well, we haven't done anything notable with it. Nor have we even told anyone either."
Matthew glanced up to meet Luke's gaze. "You assume people who are like us would've told others as well. Anyways, I did find one thing."
Luke's eyes widened as he turned and hopped over the back of the couch. "Shit? Are they nearby?" He asked, walking behind Matthew to view the laptop's screen which was open to a post on a social media site that Luke didn't recognize.
"It's someone from Korea, a bit over a year ago," Matthew said, clicking the post to open it.
The post was short and simple, one that someone would simply scroll by if they weren't looking for it.
[Deleted Account]- "A strange screen appeared in front of me, like in a video game. Has anyone else ever experienced this?"- 1 Year Ago
Despite the time since the post was made, it hardly had any likes, shares, or much less anything.
"Why's their account deleted?" Luke asked, leaning against the back of the chair.
Matthew shrugged. "Bunch of reason? Their account was banned, the device they used it on broke or something, or the person just deleted themselves- any of those."
Luke sighed. "Well.... shit. So much for that lead."
"It does tell us one thing though: there are, or at least have been others like us," Matthew explained. "As to how the hell things like this haven't been known to the public, even if it is extremely rare, seems.... strange."
"Maybe it's only happened recently." Luke gestured a hand to the post on the laptop. "For all we know that could be the first instance of any of this happening."
Matthew just sighed and shut the laptop. "Maybe, but staring at a post from a year ago isn't gonna' help us."
Matthew looked up to face Luke looming over him. "You accepted your skill reward yet?"
Luke removed himself from the back of the chair and wandered towards the fridge. "Nah, just got my items and put my points into whatever I feel needed it. So... Intelligence. And a bit into Agility, don't want to get impaled by a magic beast again."
Matthew opened his stat screen to scan its contents.
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[Name: Matthew Adams]
[Level: 22]
[Job: None]
[HP: 180/180]
[MP: 90/90]
[Available Status Points: 0]
[Strength: 39]
[Agility: 50 (+5)]
[Vigor: 36]
[Intelligence: 36]
[Sense: 40]
[Faith: 40]
[Skills]
[Active: Healing Hands]
[Passive: Spear Proficiency]
...
[Skill 'Healing Hands' has increased in power due to your Faith]
[Current Conversion Rate: 1 MP > 4 HP]
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
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"Why'd you level sense of all things?" Luke asked as he pulled a water bottle from the fridge.
"Back in the zombie gate, I felt something from Dorian. Like I could sense his emotions... sorta. Not only that, but when we were fighting that vampire I could still sense it behind me when it was about to tear my head open and I was able to dodge it. I'm not going to be dumping all my stat points into it, but I still think it's worth putting a few points into." Matthew explained.
"Might as well get our skills while we're here," Luke noted, stepping near Matthew.
"Guess so," Matthew said before they spoke in unison. "Accept skill rewards."
A set of screens appeared before them with the ever-familiar ding.
A list of a myriad of skills was displayed before them. Some were nearly useless for either hunter's style of combat, while others were more situational or non-combat-focused.
Then Matthew's eyes fell upon a skull that caught his eye.
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[Phantom Spears]
[Rank: C]
[Type: Active]
[MP Cost: 30]
[Description: Whenever you make an attack you can expend your mana to cause several translucent spears to appear around the target and make an attack of damage equal to yours.]
[Number of Spears Summoned: 3]
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"Y'know... I could use an offensive skill. The MP cost isn't an issue given how little I normally use most of the time... unless I'm healing myself. But due to my increased faith, it doesn't take much to heal someone." Matthew reasoned.
He glanced at Luke for his opinion, however, his eyes were still stuck to his screen as he scrolled through the skill list.
Matthew simply clicked accept on the skill as his screen disappeared, in his gaze turned to the briar-rimmed list of Luke's skills.
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[Escape Artist]
[Rank: C]
[Type: Passive]
[Description: When you are reduced below 50% of your maximum HP your agility increases by 20 points until you reach above 50% of your maximum HP]
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Luke nodded in satisfaction. "Think I'll take this one." He said before pressing the accept button his screen disappeared.
"So you plan on being injured to get used to it?" Matthew asked, raising an eyebrow.
Luke shrugged. "It's insurance to make sure I don't die. Twenty to a stat is a lot for us. If the skill takes effect I'd have even more agility than you, and I haven't even put any points into it." He stated. "I also don't have a fancy coat either." He gestured to the '+5' next to Matthew's agility stat referring to the bonus he receives from his Mercenary's Coat.
"But anyways," Luke continued. "You leave tomorrow morning right?" He asked, facing Matthew, who simply nodded.
Luke clicked his tongue. "Damn," he crossed his arms. A second later he glanced over to the clock on the wall.
Matthew followed his gaze, reading the clock. It was 4:30 in the evening. "Damn." Matthew echoed.
Luke just sighed and started towards the stairs. He was halfway up them when Matthew spoke.
"Have you ever seen a magic beast evolve like that?"
Luke turned to Matthew, an eyebrow raised. "What?"
"The vampire we'd fought. Have you ever seen a magic beast evolve like it did?"
Like leaned against the railing of the stairs and looked up slightly as if searching through the catalog of knowledge in his mind. Ultimately he shrugged. "No, but I've also never faced a vampire before."
"That does lead to my next question: why was it there?" Matthew prompted.
"It was a gate full of undead. Vampires, stereotypically, are undead." Luke said. "How do you not know this, we used to play Dungeons & Dragons all the damn time as kids. Did you forget what vampires are?" Luke said with a light chuckle.
"That gate was filled with nothing but variations of zombies. The vampire wasn't even a boss, or mini-boss... or anything. It felt like it entered the gate... just like we did." Matthew said. "But still, there wasn't a dungeon break in the area, otherwise it would've been sectioned off by the authorities."
Luke sighed. "Dude, you worry too much."
"Maybe," Matthew said as he grabbed the remote on the coffee table and turned on the TV.
He flipped through the channels for a moment as Luke continued upstairs.
Suddenly, he landed on a live video feed of a sectioned off-street. Several other hunters were fending off a myriad of magic beasts. Mostly consisting of large wolves and horridly mutated bats that were nearly humanoid in appearance.
Luke stopped at the top of the stairs and began going down again as he heard the reporter speak.
"A rather sudden dungeon break has occurred just east of Second Avenue at 110 Street." The reporter moved to the side slightly to give a clearer view of the scene. "The rank of the gate seems to have been around D or C-rank. At the moment the local hunters have halted the magic beast's progress and are working to evacuate the unawakened citizens. We urge all unawakened to stay clear of the area until further notice and-" The recording ended when Matthew abruptly turned off the television and shot up from the couch.
"What are you doing?" Luke asked as he saw Matthew pull out his phone while marching towards the door.
"Going to help." He said as he quickly typed the street name into his phone maps.
"The authorities can handle it. They're much more powerful hunters who can help." Luke retorted.
"When has that ever mattered in a dungeon break," Matthew said as he hastily exited the penthouse.
Luke sighed and hung his head, only to raise it again to hop over the railing after his friend.
***
In the heart of a metropolis like New York, dungeon breaks weren't all too uncommon. But normally there was some sort of warning. A way they could interpret a dungeon break before it happens.
That exact thought raced through William's mind as he fended off a large humanoid bat with his heavy steel gauntlet. Before the dungeon break had reached his area, he was happily ordering coffee at his favorite diner when a giant wolf crashed through the window.
He quickly threw on his gauntlets and began to fight the magic beasts shouting at the citizens to evacuate.
His thoughts were shot away when the large bat screeched and swung its lanky arm. Despite its malnourished appearance, the force of the blow was enough to send William tumbling back several feet. He quickly recovered just in time to block another blow from the monstrous bat.
Feeling the blow, his gauntlets cracked open slightly, revealing a magic stone embedded into the back of its hand. As William reared back his fist the stone began to glow. As his knuckle impacted the monster's chest, the stone burst into energy directly into the bat's torso amplifying the force of William's fist.
The bat was sent hurling back only to be stopped as it slammed into an abandoned car on the road, denting its frame inward. Nonetheless, the bat screeched as it tore itself from the wreckage small shards of glass stuck from one of its arms.
The monster charged again with a screech, swinging its arms wildly. William ducked one of the swings but ended up getting hit in the shoulder by a flailing arm.
William was knocked to the ground. He began to scramble to his feet when he felt a pair of claws dig into either of his shoulders. He looked up to see the monstrous bat's clawed feet grab him and begin to flap its wings.
William's eyes went wide as he began to rear back a punch when he suddenly lurched upward as the bat began to shoot up into the air.
William let out a crazed scream as his feet left the ground and began to flail about, uselessly hitting the creature's legs to try and release its hold.
He glanced down to see himself several stories above the ground he had once stood and continuing to rise.
Suddenly, in the distance he heard the sound of a deep horn. A sort of medieval war horn blaring through the street.
The next moment William heard the pained screech of the bat above him along with a stutter in its flight.
He glanced up to see the head of a spear impaled into the shoulder of the monster the next second the spearhead burst into shards of metal, blowing apart the bat's shoulder and causing it to begin hurling towards the ground, William in tow.
William guarded his face as he approached the ground. Due to his awakened ability, while the fall wasn't likely to kill him, it could very well break several of his bones.
However, he suddenly felt his body jerk to the side. He felt arms wrap around him as his fall slowed and eventually stopped as the figure holding him set him on the ground.
William quickly looked to his savior. He expected a battle-worn hunter who had been fighting alongside him or a newly arrived high-ranking hunter. But what he saw he could only describe as an angel.
It was a being made of light contained in a mix of white and golden plate armor. It had wings that resembled a bird's but were made of solid light.
The angel set William down and stepped over him, paying him no more mind, as it cast out one of its hands as a bright silver sword appeared in its hand.
William watched as the angel spread its wings and soared up towards the falling humanoid bat. The angel sped forward and stabbed the bat mid-fall. It kept its moment and slammed the magic beast into the side of the nearby building pinning it to the wall.
The bat screeched and clawed at the being before it, however, it did nothing but scrape the armor of the figure. The angel opened its hand again as yet another blade appeared in its hand.
The bat let out a screech as another blade impaled its torso. The beast flailed and let out another weak screech as its body finally went limp.
Seeing the corpse the angel wordlessly pulled one of the swords from the bat and swooped down towards several vampire thralls as they fought against several other hunters fighting for their lives.
In the middle of the street, Matthew quickly swiped away a 'leveled up' message as he sidestepped the swipe of a thrall and spun his spear, cutting into the thrall's arm and cleaving it off at its elbow. He then quickly backed away from a crazed swipe from the thrall before impaling it through its chest. The thrall flailed against the spear before going limp and falling to the floor.
Matthew quickly glanced behind him to see the two 'Warriors of Faith' slaying several other thralls and wolves.
Suddenly, Matthew saw several bullets fly passed him to strike a wolf that had been charging towards him.
Matthew turned to see Luke firing his revolver at the many magic beasts scouring the streets.
Luke fired twice at the thrall dashing towards him, one bullet leaving a purple streak of mist in its wake.
The thrall began to emit a purple mist as the bullets struck it, however, its undead body wasn't halted. As the thrall lunged towards Luke, the hunter burst into flames only to reappear behind the thrall to seemingly shoot a hole through its head. Luke stole a glance at his MP as he took several more shots at a savage wolf tearing the side mirror off of a car.
[MP: 67/125 > 61/125]
"Good, now we're starting to get to a good amount." He mumbled to himself as he pierced the wolf's skull.
"Luke watch out!" His friend shouted.
Luke quickly looked around just in time to see a totaled car hurling through the air at him.
Luke's eyes went wide as he quickly burst into flames and teleported to the side, away from the flying car, which struck the pavement and continued to grind across the roads for many more feet before finally skidding to a halt.
Luke looked in the direction the car had flown from to see a figure walking through a wreckage of cars.
The figure was humanoid. Its skin was immensely pale, and its eyes were a deep crimson red. Rather than the common clothes of the thralls, the vampire wore armor. Half plate befitting a warrior. The vampire had no weapon however in its palm, it held another flailing hunter by the face. It was raised to its feet but couldn't reach the floor; despite the hunter's desperate flailing the arm of the vampire hardly budged. Then, in a single motion, the vampire tossed the hunter to the side, sending the hunter flying into the side of a car. The hunter struck with such force that the car was sent sliding and rolling across the street before ramming into and through the glass of a nearby store.
Suddenly, a screen appeared before Luke. His eyes widened in fear as he saw its contents.
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[Quest: Crimson Death]
[Rank: B+]
[Objective: Survive the onslaught of the Crimson Vampire until help arrives]
[Time: 5:00]
[Rewards: Random B-rank item]
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