Blake stared down the barrel of his gun at the vampire magic beast before him. It had been injured before he'd gotten there, Luke as well as whoever he was trying to save had put up one hell of a fight.
The bloody stump where the vampire's arm had once been slowly begun to regenerate its muscle and bone, however, the vampire still covered it with his non-blown-off arm.
Suddenly the vampire dashed to the side, darting towards the nearest window. The next second Blake turned the barrel of his gun and fired.
As the vampire ran, a magical shotgun slug blasted through the back of its knee.
The vampire fell and skidded to a half at the base of the window as its leg slowly began to regenerate.
"You acted all high and mighty a moment ago, where'd that all go?" Blake asked as he stepped forward and aimed his gun at the vampire.
The vampire screeched as it quickly waved its hand upward it pulsed with crimson magic, sending several blades of blood toward Black.
Black held up his free arm towards his face to protect it as he braced against the oncoming blades. As they impacted his armored suit the blades quickly parted and faded away.
The blade's hand formed deep cuts into Blake's armor, however, none had gotten deep enough to cut through.
Blake lowers his arm just in time to see the vampire dematerialize into a swarm of bats and begin flooding out the window.
Blake simply sighed as he approached to peer out the window as the swarm of bats began to fly away.
"You guys are good here, right?" Blake called back to Luke as his shotgun began to morph. The plates of the gun shifted and elongated, moving to form a different shape, a gun, with a long barrel and stock, with a thick scope attached to its top. Luke quickly gave Blake a nod as the S-ranked hunter set the sniper onto his shoulder. "Good to hear."
Blake focused his shot to the center of the mass of creatures of the night, before pulling the trigger.
The bullet flew just as Blake had envisioned. While the bullet didn't hit any of the bats, it began to spark and crack with energy as it approached the swarm before exploding, engulfing all of the flying creatures in the radius.
The now injured bats quickly converged and morphed back into the vampire who now began falling from the sky. Almost half of his torso now lacked an outer layer of skin, revealing the dense muscle beneath.
Suddenly Blake leaped from the shattered window as his mechanical boots began to pulse. Suddenly a burst of force thrust from his boots bit by bit, propelling him up with each burst, as if he were running across air itself.
The vampire fell atop the roof of a building with a groan. While a fall even double the height would have hardly phased the undead, it was far weaker than it had been when this whole 'raid' had started. The vampire cursed itself under its breath as it began to rise to its feet, its leg having finally grown back to working condition.
"I always thought vampires were supposed to burn up in sunlight," Blake mumbled as he landed on the roof only a few yards from the injured undead. His sniper began to shift once again as it morphed back into the hunter's sawed-off.
The vampire snarled. "We warriors of blood have no such weaknesses."
Blake raised a brow. He just sighed. "I can never understand these things. It's all just screams and snarls" He mumbled before aiming his weapon.
The vampire quickly dived to the side as a shotgun slug hurled past his head. The vampire quickly turned and thrust his arm upward as a large blade of bloodshot forward.
Blake simply stepped to the side and aimed his gun once more, only to be met with the vampire directly in front of him. Its mouth was agape, baring its two large fangs.
Blake began to step back, but the vampire's teeth suddenly dug into his neck.
Blake felt his neck run cold just before he pulled the trigger on his gun, firing a hole through the vampire's side.
The creature quickly dislodged its teeth and leaped backward.
Blake felt the bleeding wound on his neck. His face wasn't too much in pain as it was simply an annoyance.
Blake glanced at the vampire. Blood was dripping from its grinning face.
The hunter scoffed before loading a slug into his gun and firing again.
The vampire quickly swiped both its arms, forming an X of red blade that shot forward. One of the blades vanished as the slug impacted it, however, Blake was forced to use his boots to shoot himself up above the second blade.
Blake loaded another slug into his gun before aiming downwards and firing.
The vampire leaped backward, letting the magic bullet strike the roof, creating a sizable hole in its ceiling.
The vampire created another set of red blades before firing them towards Blake who quickly avoided them before landing back on the roof.
Blake pursed his lips. "It seems faster." He mumbled. Blake tapped the magic crystal on his chestpiece. The plates of metal surrounding it quickly closed inward as the streaks of magic across his armor began to glow more vibrantly. "Better amp up to 20% just to be safe."
Suddenly, the vampire charged forward, sending out another crimson blade to cover itself.
This time however Blake loaded two slugs into his gun before simply swatting the blade away with his forearm.
Sure enough beyond the shattered blade was the vampire, its mouth agape, ready to bite into Blake's neck.
Calmly, Blake aimed down at the creature's waist and pulled the trigger once, blowing apart its entire bottom half.
Next, before the vampire could fall, Blake grabbed its head with his free hand and slammed it down into the roof.
The bloodied undead was sent crashing through the roof, as well as the floor below to finally be stopped at the base of the building.
The vampire choked up blood before it burst out of its mouth, coating its opened torso.
Still atop the roof, Blake aimed down at the helpless creature. He clicked his tongue. "Maybe 20% was a bit much." He mumbled before firing one last bullet into the vampire's skull.
***
Ultimately, the danger of the dungeon break was washed away not long after Blake had arrived. While he was by no means the only form of reinforcement to the local hunter's dwindling number, many of the thralls and wolves quickly fled once the armored vampire had been slain.
As the sun set, the wounded hunters were quickly omitted from medical services. Including Matthew and Luke.
However, due to the naturally hastened healing from being an awakened human, along with the steady regeneration of Matthew's MP allowing him to heal many of his and Luke's more serious wounds, both hunters were discharged.
Now, Luke, Matthew, and Blake had regrouped at a small diner on the other edges of Boston.
***
"Good to see you two are up and about so quickly," Blake noted as the two hunters took their seats across from them. "Also, Luke, I can see what your reason was for you getting in on the dungeon break." He gestured to Matthew who nodded nervously.
Blake had, expectedly, changed out of his mechanical armor. Instead, wear a simple maroon T-shirt under a brown leather jacket and a pair of wind pants.
"Yeah, I'm Matthew by the way," the hunter said lending out a hand, which Blake promptly shook. "Me and Luke were friends since before either of us awakened. When did you two meet each other?" He gestured between the two other hunters.
Blake stifled a chuckle.
"Remember that dungeon I'd nearly died in that I told you about? The one with the dragon?" Luke asked.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Matthew simply nodded. "Yeah?"
Luke pointed to Blake. "He had been the party leader then."
Matthew's eyes widened slightly. "How many S ranks are in New York?" He asked, glancing back to Blake.
Within America there were currently 9 S-ranked hunters, including the two National-ranked hunters that had their home in the U.S., it made 11. This made North America 3rd in terms of the S ranks it housed. Topped only by Japan's 14 and Britain's staggering 19 including a National rank.
Blake held up two fingers. "Two, including myself. Other is some... bitch names Sabrina." He lackadaisically rolled his eyes.
Matthew raised a brow. "Why's she a bitch?" He asked.
Like chuckled. "Oh boy." He mumbled.
Immediately after Blake flew into a whispered rant. "That piece of shit is always getting on my ass for 'not trying hard enough' when I am actively trying to save a fucking subway tunnel from collapsing. And then she yells at me for not saving some crying kid from a dungeon break when four other hunters are closer. And another time-"
Luke held up a hand as he barely withheld a chuckle. "Alright Blake, I think the man gets it: you hate Sabrina."
Blake sighed. "Yeah, she's a bitch. But anyways," he looked back to Luke. "What was your problem with the bulky vampire? I get you'd lost your gear during that double dungeon incident, but you still shoulda' been able to put some holes in it."
Luke and Matthew glanced at each other. Luke went to reach for his wallet where his new hunter's license lay, but Matthew grasped his wrist to stop him.
"What are you doing?" Matthew whispered.
"Trying to explain to him why we got our asses kicked," Luke whispered back.
"How do you think he'll react when we show him our rank, especially compared to how we are now?"
Blake spoke up. "You guys aren't doing anything by whispering, I'm right here."
In unison, Luke and Matthew looked towards Blake.
Matthew let go of Luke's wrist with a sigh, allowing him to pull out his license.
Luke set the card down on the table, and a moment later, Matthew set his down as well.
Blake stated between the two cards before picking up Luke's and smirking. "Where'd ya buy this thing? A pawn shop?" He asked, glancing at Luke.
However, his smile faded when he noticed Luke's lack of one. Blake knit his brow as he took out his own hunter's license. A golden S was imprinted on its front next to his photo.
Blake held the two cards side by side before holding them upward toward one of the ceiling lights.
He handed Luke back the card as he leaned forward on his elbow. "Well, it's official." He mumbled, glancing up at Luke. "How.... no when did this happen? It's like you went through a reawakening... just... backward.
Matthew and Luke pocketed their licenses.
"In the double dungeon," Matthew explained. "We'd go in together. Before the double dungeon, I was still an E rank. Luke was guiding me through basically the whole thing. But once we killed the boss, there was another door-"
"I understand how a double dungeon works." Blake interrupted.
"But there wasn't a dungeon beyond the door, more or less just a room," Matthew spoke up. "It was the main room of the Saint Patrick's Cathedral. A replica, except for the statue at least."
Blake knit his brow even more. "The gate replicated a real place? Also what statue?"
"That gate did," Luke now spoke. "At the end of the room, where the preacher would stand at the podium- or whatever it was called- there was a massive metal statue of Jesus that came alive." Luke weaved his fingers together as he recalled the memory. "Even with my gear and having been an A-rank, I couldn't make a dent in the thing." He thought for a moment. "Well.... technically I managed to crack part of it, but that was because I used up most of my magic in a single bullet."
Blake's eyes suddenly widened. "You used your nuke shot? You dumbass, I told you not to try that again. Last time you did you broke half the bones in your body."
Luke let out a solemn smirk. "Didn't have too much of a choice. That 'nuke shot' that blew the wing of that dragon, an A-ranked dungeon boss, only managed to leave a crack in the statue." Luke and Blake's eyes locked together. "That statue was far into S-rank at least."
Blake's eyes didn't move from Luke's as he thought for a moment. "How did you guys get out?"
"We didn't," Matthew spoke up, making both Luke and Blake turn their heads. "We died in that dungeon. At the very least we were saved by.... well..." his voice trailed off as his vision shifted to Luke.
"We aren't sure what it is. All we know is that it's helped us survive as long as we have." Luke explained. Luke waved his hand as a briar-rimmed screen showing his stats appeared above the table.
"Can you see this?" Luke asked pointing up towards the screen.
Blake followed Luke's finger, however as he looked up he trailed above the screen to eventually look directly up at the ceiling. Blake raised a brow. "The ceiling light?"
Luke clicked his tongue. "Figured." He mumbled. "It was a screen, one you can't see. No one can except me and him," Luke gestured to the hunter in the seat next to him. "The... 'system'- as we've been calling it- has allowed us to increase our strength by killing monsters. Not only that, but occasionally it gives us quests for extra rewards, like skills or items. Hell, sometimes it gives us points to increase our strength even more."
Blake crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat slightly, looking between the two hunters. "So... you two went into a double dungeon, died... sorta'.... were saved by something that not only reduced you down to an E-rank but also allowed you to grow in strength all thanks to a screen no one can see but yourselves. Did I miss anything?"
Luke and Matthew exchanged glances as a strange silence shrouded over the table.
"Yeah, that's about it." Luke finally replied. "I know it sounds.... fuckin' impossible," he put up both hands. "But honestly, we aren't sure how, or why, all of it happened either."
Blake looked between the two again. "So, if you two can grow in strength, how strong are the two of you now?"
Matthew shrugged. "Low to middle C-rank. Or around there at least. Although with the items we've gained, we are probably around the strength on the high end of C-rank."
Blake nodded in understanding. "How high do you think the ceiling will go? How strong do you think you could get?"
Luke and Matthew exchanged glances. Both of the hunters shrugged.
"I'm not sure," Luke noted. "Although it has noticeably gotten a bit harder to level up lately."
"Level up? What do you mean?" Blake asked.
"How we grow in strength. We 'level up'. Every time we do our stats go up a bit." Matthew explained. "We are level 22 at the moment and it doesn't seem like it's gonna stop any time soon. Although that being said, I'm sure our growth will plateau eventually to the point it'll take us months to level up even once. After all, regardless of what rank we are, there are only so many high-ranked gates."
Blake leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh. "These motherfuckers and living in a video game." He mumbled to himself, getting a laugh out of the table.
Blake leaned forward again with a grin. "Alright alright, I'm sure we can discuss all this stuff at a later date. For now, let's enjoy some well-deserved dinner."
***
Matthew and Luke returned to the penthouse late that night. After they settled in both of the hunters decided to see what rewards awaited them.
"This better be pretty fucking good for nearly dying over," Luke commented as he opened up his quest screen alongside Matthew's.
"Accept rewards." Both answered in unison.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
[Quest 'Crimson Death' completed]
[Experience reward gifted]
[Item reward gifted]
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~
"Experience reward?" Matthew mumbled as several screens appeared before them.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
[Leveled-Up]
[Leveled-Up]
[Leveled-Up]
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~
A second later two items appeared and fell to the ground at the hunters' feet.
Before Matthew was a simply golden-chained necklace with a gold helm pendant hanging from it.
As he picked up the item a small screen appeared.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
[Amulet of Hope]
[Rank: B]
[Description: A golden amulet of those devout believers in hope, spreading it to others around them. While wearing this amulet, you, as well as others of your choice within a 30-foot radius of you gain increased defense]
[Defense Increase: +45]
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Matthew smiled. "Damn, that's useful." He muttered as he put the amulet around his neck.
At Luke's feet was a revolver, much more pristine than the one he currently wielded. The revolver was made of dark grey metal with the engraving of flames along the barrel. Another screen appeared before him as he grasped it.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~
[Helsing's Revolver]
[Rank: B]
[Ammunition Cost: 2 MP]
[Attack: +35]
[Description: The gun wielded by a renowned hunter of the undead, still emblazoned with their latent magical properties]
[Effect: Deals an additional 15 damage to undead creatures]
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~
"Damn, finally," Luke mumbled to himself.
Luke and Matthew looked at each other with smiles on their faces.
"Gotta say, this was worth almost dying over," Luke said as the two hunters began to laugh.
Suddenly, a single screen appeared as all the others shrank out of existence.
Luke and Matthew glanced at the screen in confusion.
The screen was not made of golden light like Matthew's, nor was it made of briars and brimstone like Luke's. Instead, the screen was simple and plain silver with specs of starlight shrouding its edges.
Both hunters watched as writing began to appear on the new screen.
•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*
[Secret Quest 'Ye of Little Faith' Completed]
[Objective: Trust one enough to reveal your deepest secret]
[Allocating Rewards]
•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*
Suddenly, two smaller screens of starlight appeared before the two hunters.
The screen before Matthew made his eyes widen.
•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*
[Genesis]
[Rank: A]
[Type: Active]
[MP Cost: N/A]
[Description: You've harnessed the power to create things that do not exist. When you wish you can merge two skills to form a new skill. The new skill will be at least the same rank as the lowest-ranked skill of the two merged. Some new skills may have a higher rank than either of the former, determined by the synergy of the merging skills. The rank of merging skills cannot exceed this skill rank. This skill cannot be merged with other skills]
•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*
Matthew turned to Luke, who had an equally shocked expression on his face.
Matthew quickly moved to see Luke's reward.
•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*
[Soul of the Deceiver]
[Rank: A]
[Type: Active]
[Cost: 35]
[Description: You fire out a serpent from your arm that tears a small piece of a creature's soul before returning to you, absorbing a random skill from the creature. A skill above the rank of this skill cannot be absorbed. If a creature has no skills to absorb, this skill is dispelled. This skill may fail depending on the difference in strength between you and the targeted creature and your Faith stat]
•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*
"Holy shit." He muttered as a giddy smile spread across his face.
Matthew and Luke exchanged glances.
"Well... what do you think?" Matthew asked, with a similar grin on his face.
Luke just laughed and wrapped an arm around his friend's neck. "I think this is when the real fun shit begins."