Novels2Search

Into the Gate

"Wait." Sanri said almost immediately as he raised up a hand.

He continued once everyone's attention was on him. Sanri pointed across the table at Matthew. "I thought we were going to talk about him?"

Suddenly everyone's eyes shifted to Matthew.

"What? Is he finally out of the squad?" Cereiana asked with a smirk.

"Cere." Audri scorned.

Cereiana just threw up a hand. "I'm joking." She turned back to Matthew. "But seriously, what does he mean."

"Him and Sanri had spared earlier on the mats and-" Berret began.

"He kicked my ass." Sanri said with much more joy would when saying such a thing.

"What?!" Audri shouted as her head shot towards Matthew.

"I wouldn't say that. The fight was pretty even." Matthew began.

"Is that how you got that wound on your shoulder?" Valine asked Sanri.

"Pfft, how much did he pay you for that, Sanny?" Tyler asked Sanri, mispronouncing his name. Matthew never knew if Tyler did it intentionally, or if it was mere force of habit.

"Guys, let Mat speak." Berret ordered, his voice echoing through the small room ending everyone's banter.

Matthew felt his face grow hot as everyone's head shifted to him once again.

"I'm... uh... about as strong as a C-rank now." Matthew stated quietly, almost surprised the hunters on the other side of the room could hear him.

The room fell silent for a moment until the tension broke by a laugh from Tyler.

He soon stopped when he noticed the lack of amusement on everyone's face. "Wait you aren't joking?"

Matthew shook his head. "It's like Sanri said. We fought earlier on the mats. Although it was much closer then he says." Matthew shot a glance towards Sanri who lightly rolled his eyes.

"Wait wait, so how exactly? Did you reawaken? If that's the case we need to get you reevaluated, ASAP." Valine said, standing up from her chair and setting her hands on the table.

"I... well I already did that." Matthew said with a light sigh as he produced his new hunting license from his wallet and set it on the table.

In unison the other hunters leaned forward to investigate the license.

"It still says you're E-rank. But why is the letter golden?" Audri asked, looking over to Matthew, who'd stayed seated.

"Because... I was still an E-rank when I went in for my reevaluation. As for the whole gold thing, it sorta' just turned out that way." Matthew explained.

"So," Ceriana began. "Your an E-rank whose as strong as a C-rank? How does that work? Do you just have a really low mana storage or something?"

"Um... not really. My mana is fine... I think." Matthew rubbed the back of his head. "How do I explain this-" he mumbled.

"Oh, tell them about that spear skill you have now." Sanri stated.

"You have a new skill too?" Audri turned to Matthew again as he stood up and set a hand at the center of the table.

"I have a few." Matthew mumbled as he dumped a single point of mana onto the surface of the table, making a small golden blot on it.

Matthew removed his hand. A second later a spear made of gold jutted up from the surface of the table. Although notably, it wasn't just the spearhead, but an entire spear whose tip nearly touched touched ceiling.

A burst of awes whirled around the room from the rest of squad 12 as the spear shattered into fragments of lights and faded away.

"What else can you do?" Tyler asked, now fully lifting his head from the table.

"Guys!" Berret shouted forcefully, silencing the room. "We need to get this briefing done. We can bombard him with questions on the way to the gate. Trust me we'll all have more then enough time to do so." He said, clicking a button on the projector's remote as it turned on.

Suddenly a slide show appeared on the far wall across from the door showing the city's layout. One that the entirety of squad 12 had long engraved into their minds.

There was a small blue dot on the southern side of the city, only half a dozen blocks from the guild hall.

"A gate appeared 2 days ago outside a Highschool. The school has already been suspended until the issue is resolved. So there's no need to worry about that." Berret clicked the remote as the slide changed to a chart with a variety of statistics on it.

"The gate in question is C-ranked. It's biome is a tropical jungle. Expect it to be filled with beast type creatures including giant lizards, snakes, and amphibians creatures. Tyler," Berret gestured to the assassin. "You're up for scouting for the boss room. Notify us it's location and what it looks like. If the boss is a roamer then don't try to engage and get back to us."

Tyler nodded. "Like usual."

"Me and Sanri will be up front," Berret continued. "Valine, you're in the middle of the group. Everyone, be sure to speak up if you get hurt, can't have you hiding an injuring only for it to come up once we see the boss." Everyone nodded, letting Berret continue. "Matthew, you're guarding the back line. Audri and Ceriana, you two will be in the back with firing support."

"Alright everyone," Berret clapped his hands together. "Break." He shouted.

***

The inside of the gate was just as Berret had described. It was full of lush green foliage and tropical trees.

A warm mist matted the air, making Matthew almost immediately break into a sweat.

"You could have told us how humid it would be." Ceriana noted as she flapped the neck of her robe in an attempt to cool herself.

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"We'll be fine. You've all dealt with worse heat." Berret said. He then gestured to Tyler.

The assassin nodded. "I'm off. I'll be sure to radio in anything I see." He noted as his body began to pulse with a faint white glow that drifted down to his feet.

He then faced one of the nearby trees and near-effortlessly scaled it and disappearing into its canopy.

Even with Matthew's heightened sense stat, Tyler was nearly completely silent except for the scraping of his palms on the bark of the tree, and even those sounds were so faint they were near inaudible.

"All right guys, let's head deeper in. And keep an ear out for when Tyler calls up on the radio." Berret said as the group began their trek into the forest.

***

It only took around an hour for Berret's radio to spark to life.

"No magic beasts for about a mile onward. Really I don't see much of anything but trees and foliage." Tyler called through the device.

"Nothing? No vines or something tried to lash out at you? The scouts could've been wrong; the magic beasts could be plant-based." Berret noted.

"Still nothing. It's all just trees and grass. Except for one thing,"

Berret and the rest of the present squad exchanged glances.

Tyler continued. "There's this massive lake where I'm at. More of a whole ocean really." He noted. "It seems this is where the boundary of the dungeon is; it's water as far as I can see."

"Could this be a survival gate?" Sanri called as he stepped towards Berret to speak into the radio.

"Maybe," Tyler's voice rang out. "But even those have some magic beasts in them."

"Regardless, we're heading to you, tell us if you see anything." Berret ordered.

"Roger Roger." Tyler said in a near robotic voice before the radio fell silent.

A few moments of silence passed before Matthew felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Have you ever seen something like this: a gate with no magic beasts?" Audri spoke nearly inaudibly next to Matthew.

Matthew cracked a light smirk. "You've been a hunter longer than I have, I should be asking you that." His smile faded slightly. "But no, I haven't. The closest would've been-". He stopped himself. 'The closest would've been the zombie gate where the vampire had killed a great handful of the monsters within it.' But Audri didn't know of any vampire nor what I could do. In fact, she didn't even know he went into a gate during his 'vacation'.

Audri's face darkened a little. "I have a bad feeling about all this." She muttered.

Matthew set a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we're all strong hunters. I bet you this isn't the worst thing we've handled." He said with a reassuring smile.

The smile returned to Audri's face. "Yeah.... we may even get a free payday out of this."

"That's the spirit." Matthew patted his teammate on the shoulder as they continued walking.

As Audri turned away, Matthew's face dropped.

The feeling he'd had since entering the gate hadn't gone away. He still felt the hairs in the back of his neck stand on end. He still felt like something was watching them. It just didn't sit right.

***

Squad 12 continued forward in relative silence until Berret suddenly stopped as the trees began to open.

A light collective 'awe' came from the squad as before them stood a large glistening lake.

Its water glistened in the bright sun hanging overhead. The water was clear, untainted by whatever pollution settled in the oceans of earth. At its perimeter was a beach of fine sand that was nearly as white as snow.

"You get used to it after looking at it for an hour." A voice called from above them.

Above them, standing upon a branch, was Tyler. He had his arms crossed, leaning against the central trunk of the tree.

"So.... what now? Do we just... stay here for a few extra hours?" Valine asked fanning herself lightly with her hand.

"We could leave and wait for the dungeon break if it ever happens. We could still block off the area, but just wait for the magic beasts to come to us." Ceriana stated, stepping forward and taking a seat in the sandy shoreline.

"We can't do that," Valine said, also stepping forward to lay down fully on the sand. "We aren't even sure what magic beasts are here yet." He pointed a thump towards Berret. "Plus I don't think he'd like that plan very much."

"So what do we do?" Tyler said as he hopped down from the tree to join his squad.

"I don't know about you guys," Sanri stated as he walked into the sand and began taking of his scabbards to both his blades before setting them in the sand. "But I think we should enjoy this gate." He continued as he took off his boots followed by his leather shoulder pads.

Valine chuckled. "I think I agree with Sanri for once." She said, taking off her robes and boots.

Tyler shrugged and walked towards the clear waters followed shortly by Audri.

Matthew looked to Berret for a moment before the spearman glanced to the ocean.

The tanker rolled his eyes and gestured to the rest of his squad as they began to settle into the beach. "Go ahead, I'll keep watch. We need to unwind now and again."

***

"Cannon ball!" Sanri shouted as he took a running leap into the waves, using Blitz to propel himself a bit further, before curling into a ball and landing into the water.

Ceriana covered her head as water crashed down upon her from the splash. "Could you have done that deeper into the ocean?" Ceriana, who stood on the shoreline stood barefoot, letting the tide collide with her legs.

Sanri rose from the water with a smile on his face. He'd stripped nearly completely except for his leather pants, which had turned a dark brown from the water soaking into them. "Then don't stand too close to the water if you don't want to get wet." He replied with a smug face.

"He's got a point Ceri." Tyler said as he walked passed the summoner, also devoid of the majority of his equipment. "Go brood with Berret if you don't wanna enjoy the waves." He said as he stepped into the waves, stooped a hand down into the water and made a splash in Ceriana's direction.

Ceriana let out a squeal as water splashed in her face. "Tyler! Alright come here." She shouted, hardly containing a menacing smile on her face.

Tyler held down as laugh as he began to turn away and do his best to trudge through the waves. "Sanri run, she's after- ahh." He screamed as Ceriana suddenly tackled him into the water.

Sanri, in fact, did not run. He laughed as Tyler and Ceriana struggled against eachother.

Onto the sandy beach, Valine lay on the beach, doffed of most of her clothes, with just enough on as to not expose herself. Her eyes were closed, Matthew had tried to check a few times that she hadn't fallen asleep.

Audri had taken a seat near the waves, now watching as Tyler, Sanri, and Ceriana tackled eachother in and out of the water.

"Enjoying the time off?" A voice said from behind her. Matthew stood before her, still clad in his new white and gold armor.

"Yeah, it's nice." She noted. "It's good having you back." She said after a moment of silence.

"Learned any new tricks since last we saw eachother?" Matthew asked.

"I should be asking you that." She chuckled. "But no. How have you got accustomed to your new skills?"

Matthew shrugged. "Well." He sighed lightly. "It'll take some getting used to. How are you liking your 'day off'?" Matthew gestured to the ocean.

Audri smiled. "I like it. I really wish more gates were like this. Maybe then work would be more enjoyable."

Matthew nudged Audri with an elbow. "You don't find this job enjoyable? I'm hurt."

"That's not what I meant." Audri laughed, a light blush crossing her cheeks. "I just meant..." she trailed off for a moment as she looked into the waves crashing onto the sands. "Do you think these gates will ever stop appearing?"

Matthew shrugged. "Not anytime soon, that's for sure. From what I've heard the gate density nearly everywhere has doubled since the start of them appearing."

"It's strange that we are the only generation who has had gates throughout their entire lives." Audri noted.

"Eh, my dad was pretty young when gates started popping up." Matthew said. "Didn't stop him from throwing himself head first into gates when he awakened, like a maniac."

Audri chuckled. "Reminds me of someone."

Matthew faked a gasp of surprise. "Me? I may fly into gates headfirst, but I'm no maniac." He chuckled.

After a laugh, Matthew looked into the waves as the rest of his squadron wrestled eachother into the water.

"I'm gonna go chat with Berret, I'll be back soon." The spearman said as he stood up. "Feel free to dip your toes in the water. I'm sure it feels fine."

***

Berret stood at the edge of the sands; looking off into the forest. His large shield was dug a sew inches deep into the shore, making it stable enough for him to lean against comfortably.

"There's nothing out there." Matthew noted as he walked to stand alongside Berret.

The squad leader didn't take his eyes off of the forest as he spoke. "There might be."

Matthew hung his head and sighed. "If you want someone to keep watch, I can. You go have fun." He suggested as he stepped towards the forest.

Berret raised a brow. "Where are you going?"

Matthew pointed forward. "I'm gonna search around a bit. Because apparently you can't believe there aren't any magic beasts here. If I find any I'll notify you, don't worry. Just go have fun." He said as he walked into the dense foliage of the forest, leaving his squad behind to take their long awaited vacation.