The next gate sat within an abandoned building next to the dock; some sort of small office building. Luke assumed this was where the management of the docks did their work.
Within the middle of the abandoned lobby, a swirling blue gate exuded mana into the air. A few loose papers fluttered about the air by the faint fluctuations in the wind.
"So what's the plan for this one?" Nino asked. His arms were crossed as he leaned against a chair.
"Simple: stay together. Me and Luke will stick together. You, Janette, and Freddy will stay a behind and watch each others flanks. If- or when- a mini-boss shows up whichever group is closer will handle it." He glanced to Luke. "And once the boss room comes up, we'll repeat the same process as last time."
With the group in agreement, they stepped into the gate.
Luke squinted as sunlight struck his eyes. He put a hand on his forehead for shade as he looked at the new environment the group found themselves in.
Tall dry grass surrounded them, coming up roughly to the group's waist. In fact, that was what most of the area looked like. Far in the distance, three structures stood.
To their left, was the entrance to a cave; its mouth much larger than the caverns they had ventured through previously.
To their right was a single stone tower. Had the top not been crumbled, Luke could see it as a mage's tower.
Straight ahead, with all but one of its walls still standing, was a stone fort. Atop its central tower was a tattered flag.
"Interesting." Janette muttered as she looked at each of the structures in the distance.
"Is it giving us a choice? Do we just go to one of them?" Nino asked.
Havik shook his head. "That'd take too long. We'll split for now. We'll keep the same groups as discussed. You three," he pointed to Janette, Freddy, and Nico. "You will go to the cave. Me and Luke will go to that tower. Regardless of what we've found, in one hour start heading back here. We'll form up again and go toward's the fort."
***
About ten minutes of thick silence passed as Luke and Havik walked silently through the grass.
Havik had insisted that Luke lead the way; that he would cover the ranger. But Luke didn't need his sense stat to feel the mage's eyes burning a hole in the back of his head.
"Ok, what's your issue?" Luke asked, spinning around to walk backwards in the grass while facing Havik.
The mages just raised a brow. "I'm sorry?"
"You're staring into the back of my head." Luke noted.
The ranger noticed Havik's eyes sharpen ever-so-slightly. "I was looking at the tower in front of you." He replied.
A tinge of emotion came from Havik, quite literally. Luke could feel a faint whisper of malice in the mage's eyes. If he concentrated hard enough, he swore he could see faint wisps of mana trailing across his body.
"Cut the bullshit." Luke said, his hand dropping to the grip of his gun.
"How is it, that you, an E-rank, could kill an E-ranked boss? Even if it was one of the weaker ones, and you had good gear, you would still nearly die to a boss of your own rank." Havik explained.
Before Luke could retort, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. On instinct he spun around and caught something that was aimed for his back. He glanced down at the object to see a small arrow. It was shabby; its shaft was hardly straight, the head was made of sharpened bone that looked as if it would crumble and second, and the fletching wasn't even.
That's when Luke glanced to the tower.
A dozen extra arrows had followed the first. However now that Luke had focused on them, they weren't a threat. While they were relatively fast, with his agility and sense stat being close to an average C-rank he just raised his gun and shot a few out of the air before they hit him.
[MP: 160/160 > 154/160]
The others, however, weren't aimed for him, but Havik. He too hardly had trouble, summoning a shield made of ice and blocking several of the arrows, while others just missed entirely.
The volley ended with, not an arrow, but a ball of fire from the top of the crumbling tower.
This came at the two hunters much faster than any of the arrows. Luke prepared to [Ember Step] away, but a large pane of ice appeared between him and the orb of flames.
The spell collided with the ice before exploding, sending streams of fire across the icy surface, forming a crack along it. But nonetheless, the pane of ice held firm.
Once the flames had finally subsided, the ice shattered.
"We can talk about this later." Luke said, turning back to Havik. "Let's just handle whatever-the-hell is in there."
As the two hunters approached, more arrows and balls of fire rained. None were successful in harming them, however.
Once they got within 100-or-so feet of the tower, the culprits of the attacks became clear.
Scattered throughout the small gaps in the stone wall of the structure were small green humanoids, most no taller than a child. They were skinny and wore little in terms of actual clothing. Anything they did wear was scrapped together with bits of rusty metal and dried foliage.
"Goblins." Luke muttered, firing his gun at the first two that dared reveal their forms.
[MP: 154/160 > 150/160]
A third revealed its head, only to get a shard of ice lodged into his skull.
They approached the wooden door, only for it to be flung open by a goblin a few inches taller than the rest. It had a dented pot for a helm, and several other random bits of kitchen-ware across its body. The only thing it had as a weapon was a rather nice- comparatively to the rest of him- spear.
The goblin only took a step forward before Luke cast a hand out as a hook and chain shot into the goblin's chest.
[MP: 150/160 > 100/160]
However when he pulled it back, the hook bared nothing but air as a message appeared before him.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~
[Skill 'Hook of Hades' has failed due to no skill being present]
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~
Luke cursed before planting a fist into the magic beast's face before it could even react. The goblin was sent flying backwards, slamming into the back wall with a splat.
The interior of the tower looked no nicer than the exterior. Wooden furniture had been smashed and toppled over. On one of the walls, several tables and chairs had been stacked up to act as scaffolding for one of the goblins to peak out of the holes in the wall.
On the edge of the room was a staircase that ran along the wall to another floor.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
The second floor was slightly more interesting. Rather than an armored goblin, which Havik quickly dispatched, there was another wrinkled goblin within the second floor. It had the beginning of a grey beard forming from its chin. In its person was a set of rather tattered mage's robes.
Havik raised a hand to fire a shard of ice at the goblin, but Luke raised his hand to stop him. "I'll handle it."
Luke stepped forward, holstering his gun. The goblin took a step back and cast its hands out towards the approaching hunter as a bout of flame spewed from its fingertips.
The attack lasted for only half a second before a hook and chain shot from within the flames and shot into the goblin's chest. No wound was made as it was pulled back, a stone clutched in its crook.
[HP: 195/195 > 185/195]
[MP: 100/160 > 50/160]
As the stone was pulled from the goblin, flames ceased from its hands. A moment later, Luke kicked the goblin into the wall, making a splatter of blood across the stone.
"What did you just do?" Havik asked, raising a brow.
"Killed the goblin." He shrugged, turning to the mage as he crushed the stone in his hand without looking.
"I mean the chain. What was that?" Havik repeated, more aggressive this time. "I've never seen a skill like that."
Once again, Luke felt the strange sensation of being revealed. The sensation that someone was seeing things they shouldn't have.
The next instant, Havik's eyes widened before he quickly fired a spear of ice toward Luke.
"The hell man?!" Luke shouted before he drew his gun and fired at Havik, each bullet infused with a small wisp of flame.
[MP: 50/160 > 42/160]
A shield of ice manifested on Havik's arm as he raised to block both of the bullets. He then dashed forward, shield reared back.
Before the mage could slam his shield forward into Luke's head, the ranger vanished in a burst of fire, appearing behind the mage with his gun aimed at the other's back.
[MP: 42/160 > 32/160]
Before he could pull the trigger, Havik spun around and knocked the gun aside before kicking Luke in the chest, sending him into the stone wall behind him.
[HP: 185/195 > 170/195]
"You aren't E-rank. You're a false ranker." As Havik spoke the necklace around his neck began to glow as he put a hand around it. In an instant a brilliant blue blade made of condensed ice formed in the mage's hand. "On top of that, you keep gaining skills. How the hell are you doing that? And what rank are you really?"
Luke groaned as he stretched his arms and back, double checking he wasn't hurt too badly. "That's why you're trying to kill me? Seriously? Well first-fucking-off, I'm not a false ranker. When I got my license I was E-rank."
Havik just tilted his head to the side.
Luke's face dropped. "And two, I have a skill that lets me take creature's skills. I'm sure you've seen the chain." He held out a hand before realizing his mana level. "I would show you, but I'm a bit dry in the mana department after you decided I was worth murdering." He moved his arm to instead point to Havik. "Now why the hell are you attacking me? Just cause you thought I was a false ranker? Even then, how does that mean I'm just going to murder you?"
Havik paused for a second, his malicious gaze faltering for a moment. Just as quickly however, it steadied. "Had a bad experience in the past. But... how are you so much stronger than an E-ranker without being a false ranker?"
Luke sighed inwardly and tapped the side of his head. "Take a guess, what's the only other possibility?"
Havik's expression changed as his eyes widened. "You reawakened?"
Luke holstered his gun. "Exactly, now can we call the fuck down and continue our little dungeon crawl?" He offered.
While it was a blatant lie, it was really Luke's only alternative to not get attacked again. That, and he had no qualms with lying if it meant not having to go through the trouble of, ultimately, killing a whole squad of hunters.
Havik hesitated for a moment, before his shield shattered into icy dust and his blade was sent back into his necklace. "Let's just get through this dungeon and the next. But I have my eyes on you."
Luke rolled his eyes. "Not like you didn't before." He mumbled.
Walking back to the gate they'd entered from, Luke finally had time to check the skill he'd stole from the goblin mage.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~
[Fire Manipulation (Minor)]
[Rank: D-]
[Type: Active]
[Cost: Various]
[Description: You can manipulate the mana within your body to combust into flames and manipulate it as you see fit. Depending on the amount of flames manifested and the complexity of their manipulation, the MP cost of this skill varies]
[Additional Effect: A minor variant of the Fire Manipulation skill. As such, the cost of this skill is higher than its basic variants]
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~
Suddenly the magic of the goblin made more sense. Elemental manipulation, even minor variants like the one he'd just gained, were rare among hunters. They were often sought after simply due to their sheer versatility, only being held back by the user's creativity and mana pool. And Luke was sure he at least had one of those.
As they walked, Luke held a hand out in front of him, allowing a small flame- no bigger then a candle- to hover over his palm.
Several seconds passed before his MP even drains a single point. Once it does however, he closes his hand, extinguishing the small flame.
"Quick question," Luke spun to turn to Havik. "How'd you know what skills I have?"
"I have two skills," the mage held up two fingers. "The first is Ice Manipulation, which is my only combat skill." He put a finger down. "And the other one is Inspect. It's not too useful, but it lets me see the skills that other hunters or magic beasts have. I have to be pretty close to activate it though."
Luke nodded. "I see... can I have it?"
Havik raised a brow. "What? Hell no."
Luke just laughed at the reaction. "I'm joking. But it would be a useful skill for me. Just cause I can steal others' skills doesn't mean I know what they have. And, to my knowledge, if a creature has more than one skill, it just takes one at random." He explained.
Havik just nodded along as he explained. "How did you get this skill again?"
Luke paused for a second before remembering his lie from earlier. "After my reawakening. Back then I only had that skill, but since I've delved into a few dungeons and harvested some skills."
"That skill is so bullshit." He mumbled. "Had I not seen you use it, I'd assume you're lying."
Luke chuckled. "If someone told me they had that sort of skill, I doubt I'd believe them either."
Havik shrugged. "Some hunters have some unique skills, but some of the time that's reserved for high ranked hunters. Pretty sure there's some S-rank in... Korea I think, that can transform into a magic beast."
Luke eyes widened. "Baek Yoonho? He runs a guild there doesn't he? I met him one as-" Luke caught his words as he spoke. His only saving grace that he didn't continue speaking was Havik's voice.
"You met him? When?" The mage asked.
Luke was silent before a moment as he thought up a lie.
In reality, he'd met the hunter once in passing when he'd intruded on a meeting in the F.B.H. He'd initially went to claim a high ranked mana crystal from one of the Directors after helping with an A-ranked dungeon- the same one he'd fought the dragon in. However he was quickly ushered from the room by the glare of three S-ranked hunters who attended the meeting.
One of them was Blake. He was amused more than actually annoyed.
Another was Hwang Dongsoo, an S-rank who was technically in America, but was born in Korea. Apparently he had some family in Korea that passed away somewhat recently. It had turned him into even more of an asshole.
And the third was Baek Yoonho himself. From what Luke heard after, he funded part of the A-ranked gate expedition, even providing a few hunters from his guild in the event.
Luke never ended up getting his crystal.
"Me and some family went to Korea on vacation once. He went to some sort of speech or something. I had no idea what he said though." Luke explained.
Not long after, the party converged once again at the gate. Janette, Nino, and Freddy were mostly uninjured, but the Fighter had some blood on his axes.
After a short talk, there wasn't anything very important within the cave except a few goblins- some armored- and a large magic beast that looked like a mix between a wolf and a mole.
Ultimately, the group started towards the fort in the distance.
Arrows were shot by over a dozen goblins atop the walls as they approached, most either missed or were blocked by a wall or ice from Havik; however one managed to get through, hitting Freddy in the shoulder. Luckily, Nino had enough spare mana to heal the wound.
Luke fired his gun at two goblins as they peaked their heads from the stone walls. Each fell with a single shot.
He followed up by vanishing in a wave of flames, reappearing atop the wall next to a goblin, who he promptly kicked off the wall before turning his gun and firing another bullet through another goblin's chest.
[MP: 160/160 > 144/160]
Down at the entrance gate, the arrows had stopped falling. Janette, Freddy, and Nino watched in amazement as Luke fought off every goblin that came at him.
"Makes a lot more sense how he could handle that mushroom boss." Nino muttered. "He's definitely no E-ranker, is he?"
Havik set a hand on the large wooden gate as ice began to creep across its surface. "Believe it or not, technically he isn't lying. He registered as one, so he says at least."
"And you believe him?" Janette asked.
Havik shrugged, taking his hand from the door as its front was now completely covered in a layer of ice. "Not really, but if shit hits the fan, we can always fight him all at once."
"Would that even work?" Nino asked as he watched Luke catch an arrow before firing his gun at the goblin who had shot it.
[MP: 144/160 > 142/160]
The mage put a hand to his necklace and summoned his sword made of super-dense ice. "Probably." Was the only confirmation Havik gave before he swung the sword. As the blade made contact with the layer of ice, the material exploded outward, bursting cleanly through the wood of the gate. The shards of ice and wood came forth like shrapnel to impale nearly a dozen goblins that lay in wait on the other side.
Back atop the walls, Luke knocked aside the blade of a goblin before bringing his fist down like a hammer on its head.
He looked down at the inner courtyard of the fort as the four other hunters entered. A dagger was thrown into the forehead of an oncoming goblin by Janette. Another was cleaved in two by one of Freddy's axes. A third was frozen solid by a wave of icy mist from Havik.
The mage and ranger's eyes met as Havik gestured towards another set of double doors leading into the center most part of the fort. The boss room.
Luke lept off the wall and rolled onto the ground in front of the gate. He looked behind him at the hunters as they killed the last few goblins within the fort.
Havik and Luke's eyes met. The mage gestured once again to the door. "Have your fun, we'll wait outside."