The dungeon entrance was widely opened , it was located near No-Return Mountain , a mountain populated with powerful monsters everywhere

It was called No-Return because hunters who dared to challenge it , never returned from it; they were either devoured by monsters or killed and left there to rot

The monsters recently showed up 5 years ago; superstitious people marked it as the monsters were guarding a greater monster. Regardless ,that didn't stop the hunters today to investigate the dungeon , why would it ? They were B ranked hunters after all, nothing could topple them down - that's what they all thought

The leader was Krohn , he was a hunter that no body messed with , he was the strongest of all in the B ranked team , per se an Augmenter. He was average in height and width , not much muscles to see

Mages were people who had a certain degree of mastery over mana to the point they can use it to perform "magic" whether basic magic or elemental magic. But mages could only perform spells that were already created.

The second strongest in the team was Vin , he was a fire type mage - he was even nicknamed as the flame conqueror.

Mages were people who had a certain degree of mastery over mana to the point they could use it to perform "magic" whether basic magic or elemental magic. But mages could only perform spells that were already created.

But he didn't have the body of a fighter , he had a body of a nerd - tall and slim. He had a long cape on him too , it was tied by wool strings on his shoulders , the cape was red , just like most of his outfit including the pointy hat which resembled a typical wizard's

At the bottom list , the power scaling was all jumbled up.

But this didn't mean that there weren't any extra B rank hunters accompanying Vin and Krohn , one of them was Barbra.

Barbra was a female , per se a B rank healer

She was the only healer in the entire country to reach rank B, making her unique - she was only there to heal scratches on the Warriors, If they would get any , provided they were B rankers.

She had long light brown hair and perplexing eyes , most men would fall in love with her at first sight ; indeed she was a beautiful woman.

The other one was named Hanks , he specialised in magical armour and weaponry , to put it simple; he had no power of his own , he only relied on various rare-class weaponry and armour.

Rare class equipment was surely a catch as it was rare , this meant that it was also as powerful as it was rare ; the most powerful rare class weapon could destroy 4 blocks of buildings in one swipe ; this is one of the reasons Hanks was a B rank hunter , because he could casually use such dangerous weapons.

Hanks himself had a physical body similar to Krohn , he had short dark brown hair and was average in length.

The second last in the list was Nisha , she was a savage girl - hardly 19 years old , but she had skill , skill that earned her the B rank position.

She had gloves with metal claws attached to each of her fingers , they were extremely sharp too and by adding her mana in them , she could use blade-based techniques.

She was short in height , had a pair of shorties on and boots. The shorties were barely 4 cm long ,therefore revealed her thighs, she had a short top on the upper body , it was worthy of being called a crop top as it stopped right above her stomach. From there on she had a mask on , short hair which were tied by strings on each side , she looked like a bandit , a cute one albeit. Her eyes looked murderous at times , like she would kill you for just for a bronze coin , the lowest coin in value in terms of currency.

The last one was Misha , she was a woman with sass with her long purple hair and equally similar outfit to Misha's

She mainly specialised in gravitation magic.

Misha And Nisha were identical twins but had exact opposite personalities

Misha was more of the naive, loud and unruly type ,while Nisha was more of the quiet , critically thinking type - she was more of an assassin than a hunter.

" God , I wonder what that king's right hand man was thinking when he forced this weakling into joining the mission... "

Misha said , breaking the silence in the dungeon. The only thing else that could be heard was the sound of their footsteps as they walked further into the heart of the dungeon.

The "weakling" Misha was referring to was of course Jain , since he was an E rank hunter - he was the weakest hunter to ever exist , which was why other hunters looked down on him.

But of course nobody opposed or proposed with her complaint , they just continued being silent absorbed into their own thoughts.

" Hmmm... we've been walking for hours already and no monster has appeared , I am beginning to think no monster was here at all....did we perhaps go Into the wrong dungeon? "

Vin said with a face full of annoyance , his words seemed directed at himself than to anyone but regardless.....

" It would have been possible that they are in hiding and waiting for an ambush....but C-rank monsters are usually self unaware and unintelligent so there's no telling where they may be , so for the mean time I advise we keep our ears and eyes sharp and don't let our guards down. "

Krohn said in a leader tone , but of course he was the group leader as he was the strongest in the group , a man named Hindriad was in the group too who was stronger than him ,but he had proudly announced that he wasn't part of the group or neither would participate in their shenanigans , he was only there for one job and that was to protect the weakling called Jain.

Krohn had found it suspicious that an E rank Hunter , also known as the weakest hunter was participating in a C rank mission but he found it even more suspicious that the man "Hindriad" was there as a hired bodyguard.

Hindriad was more of the cocky and teasing type who moved on his own flow , it would be difficult to sway him over to a ridiculously job like this , atleast that's what Krohn believed but he didn't have any energy to complain - but what he truly wanted to know is who hired him? It couldn't be the boy he was body-guarding. He was an E rank Hunter, and E rank hunters didn't have the type of money to hire B+ rankers such as Hindriad, they could only dream of it.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Krohn came out with several speculations to why , these two - Jain and Hindriad were here but only one seemed on-point

𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒐𝒏? 𝑰𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒄𝒓𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒐𝒏, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒗𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒕 !

Krohn thought all of this over, it sounded accurate and the more he thought about it , the more it made sense to him

𝑲𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑯𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒚𝒑𝒆 , 𝑰 𝒃𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒚'𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 , 𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒄𝒓𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 ? 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 , 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 , 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝑬 𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔,𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒄𝒓𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒔.

Krohn then came to a conclusion, both of them were here for the magic crystals accumulated after long periods of dense mana lingering in the air.

the others didn't seem particularly interested to why they were here , Jain was too weak to join C rank missions let alone D rank while Hindriad was too strong to tag along a bunch of B rankers ,the gap between B and B+ wasn't big, but in battle it would truly matter.

Misha was annoyed that a weakling was in the raid , she had some hate for weaklings so she was too absorbed by her emotions to wonder why that "weakling" was here in the first place

Nisha was more of the silent type , she would adapt to any situation instead of being stubborn due to her emotions and personal conflications so she didn't bother with Jain or Hindriad.

Vin was highly ambitious , he was the type of man who would watch a person get eaten alive if it didnt affect his goals anyhow , he figured Jain being here wouldn't change his original plan to slay monsters.

Hanks was more of a battle freak , he truly loved battling and was on the look out to fighting strong opponents, he didn't care that Jain was there , but he had his eye on Hindriad - of course he was planning on challenging him , but not here just immediately the moment they exit the dungeon after they are done with the raid.

Barbra was a kind and soft hearted person which is why she was a healer ,she could lend you a hand if you needed it with a bright smile on her face. She currently was the only one in the group of 8 who wasn't tensed up ,probably because she wouldn't do any of the battling but this didn't mean she was defenceless if approached by a monster.

" Hello there , I believe we haven't talked ever since we got here..my name is Barbra , what's yours ? "

She said towards Jain , they had been walking in groups of two in a row to keep an eye on the surroundings and to minimise damage if there is a sudden attack. Barbra was grouped with Jain 2 hours ago and they had not spoken to each other ever since they got here.

Jain turned , looking at the girl on his left - she had a bright smile he could see despite the dim lit dungeon

something about that smile eased Jain's anxiety and making him feel better.

"uhh....hello Ms. Barbra , I'm Jain... nice to meet ya ! "

her smile looked innocent and kind , or perhaps it was.. Jain didn't know , all he knew was that a cute girl was talking to him - which was something that rarely happened , most times he'd be sent alone on monster raids as he was the only E-rank hunter in the entire country of Voz , but he didn't mind as long as he had a roof under him and food on the table.

" I noticed that you looked troubled earlier on, and I know it's not my place to ask or involve myself but......if i may ask , is something bothering you? "

all of her words were spoken out of pure concern ,and Jain hypothesized that Barbra was a kind and softhearted woman

𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 , 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒏𝒂 𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒓𝒕....𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑫𝑬𝑭𝑰𝑵𝑰𝑻𝑬𝑳𝒀 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔...𝒉𝒆𝒉𝒆, 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 ?

" Uhm , why are you grinning. is everything okay? "

Barbra said , Jain had not noticed before that his lips were curled upwards in a lustful manner due to his lustful thoughts

𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒕. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝑰'𝒎 𝒂 𝒑𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒓𝒅𝒐 , 𝒖𝒉𝒉𝒉.... 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒚 ?!

" heh - everything's okay , don't mind that I'm just excited thats's all... "

Her eyebrows shifted into a frown ,but it wasn't a frown of anger but of pure confusion perhaps even a bit of curiosity

" what are you excited about ? "

𝑨𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉 , 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕.. 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 , 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉...𝒂𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇-𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉

" Excited that a cute girl is talking to me , man it's been hours since we've been here so there isnt much anything else exciting going on around here . "

Her facial expression revived again ,she had that kind smile once more - if anything , she smiled warmer than before

𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒕. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰'𝒎 𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 , 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆.

" Oh ,I see then Mr. Jain . "

" Hey , don't call me Mr , You make me feel really old . "

" earlier on you called me Ms.Barbra , did you not ? "

Jain tilted his head in confusion for a few seconds and then realisation came flying to him.

" Oh , yeah . "

Her eyes were closed half-way , as if she looked pleased or satisfied

" then I'm merely returning the favour. "

And then, a silence filled these two's respective atmospheres mostly because Jain had no words to say back to her. After all , how could he? His parents died while he was at the age of 12 years , from that point on he had to make ends meet giving him no time to have small talk with any girl except his very sister.

It was only up to now when he became a hunter 2 years ago that he met with other people to have small talk with ; that is - his currents friends which were all male.

So to him, trying to maintain the conversation was like trying to play a musical instrument he had never ever seen in his life

The girl next to him cleared her throat , signalling him of an approaching renewed conversation but also simultaneously grabbing his attention

" So Jain , mind me asking - why did you become a hunter ? "

Looking at her , Jain could spot a hint of curiosity in her face and concern in her voice.

Of course this sudden question shocked him.

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 ? 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 ?

her face was full of warmth , the kind of warmth a mother gave to her children after finding them steal sugar - that pressurizing guilt most sinners got when they were about to spill out all of their sins to the pastor on the other side of the curtain.

Yes , that's what that smile relayed and it really did serve its purpose : persuasion.

" Well , It's kinda shabby but I became a hunter because my paren- "

"𝙆𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙚!!!!! "

An ear piercing sound found it's way into the enclosed dungeon ,it shook everybody in it and left each and very hunter in the dungeon in "battle" mode. Of course it wasn't made by any of them , the sound itself sounded inhumane and impossible to reproduce with human physiology. It could have been the sound from a sound magic user who was here before them , or a silly prank one of them was playing on others - but one thing firstly came out of everyone's minds and that was -

" Monster attack ! "

A shout followed after the ear-piercing sound had faded , the shout alarmed everybody while also putting them on edge ; the shout came from nobody other than Krohn , who was infront of the group watching what was ahead.

" Sweet !! I finally got some punching bags to practice my magic on ! "

Misha shouted in excitement , she didn't even seem concerned that a monster was attacking them , why would she of course ? This was a C-rank dungeon and she was a B-rank hunter ; every monster that would show up to challenge her were truly weaklings in her eyes so she had nothing to worry about.

She clenched her fist in ecstasy ; preparing herself of what was to come.

Vin next to her wasn't as easy to read than Misha , his eyes were closed and his lips moved in rhythmic patterns ; he was preparing a spell to use against the monsters foolish enough to show themselves.

Hindriad was the most cool headed one in the group , if anything - he didn't even move a muscle out of reflex when that monster screamed , like a normal hunter would. He had a "I don't care about anything" face.

Hanks had a warrior spirit , his position deployed that and the two sharp rare class swords he held only made his determination stronger.

Everyone except Hindriad and Barbra was on "battle" mode , even Jain took out his platinum sword ,it was a normal sword with no magical properties whatsoever , but that didn't stop him from trying to defend himself of what was to come.