Waves of Mana erupted from a battle, the rubble flying up into the air. Cyrus' head swung his head to the side, as the shards of his mask flew from his face. The mysterious man watched with glowing yellow eyes and swung a hook into Cyrus' stomach. Blood flew from his mouth, and launched back into the ground. The mysterious man appeared over Cyrus and before he could even blink, pulled his hand back before reaching out at his head. Cyrus flinched, waking up in a hospital bed, "Shit!" He thought, "It wasn't a dream?" Through puffed, bruised eyes, Cyrus looked over to see a Government Official at the door. "What the hell do you want?" He asks through gritted teeth, "I wanted to ask you this myself, who was that man?" They ask, "Are you implying that I attacked a random guy?" He asked, looking at the Government Official. "That thing handed my ass to me and then some! That's no human, dumbass!" Cyrus responded, "It's hard to say, because 'that thing' has some morals," the Government Official replied, presenting a tablet. The same mysterious man stood between two walls of rubble, pushing them out with one hand each. Allowing two other men to escape their prison of debris. "Not a lot of Monsters would risk their life trying to help normal people-" the Government Official began- "Do you think he's still a monster?" Cyrus looked at the Government Official and sighed, "He said that he knew my mother and a man without a grudge would not have beaten me like a toddler if he wanted to reconnect," Cyrus explained, his lips cut and dry. "There's no mistaking it, he wants revenge!" He added, "Very well, once you're recovered come see the board." the Government Official replied, putting his business coat on, "There are some forms you need to fill out because of the property damage, alright?" He asks, "What happened to that guy anyway? Did you see where he went?" Cyrus asked, "He disappeared just shortly after the fight, just as easily as he appeared-" the Government Official responded- "EWR is trying to track him down, but I have my doubts we'll find someone strong enough to defeat you," he turned his back to Cyrus, headed out the door, "Fuck," Cyrus sighed.
"What a humiliating defeat!" He thought, "Don't you ever get in my way of finding my son again-" the mysterious man began in a flashback- "I'm not saying this for my son's sake but for your sake!" He explained standing on his chest, "You will never rest in peace, even in death if you stand in my way one more time!" Cyrus began trembling, "That bastard! How dare he threaten me like that!" He thought, gritting his teeth, "I already know where he's running off to, Klato, but I'll need the right equipment before I run after him-" Cyrus thought- "I need help from a guild, once I acquire some artifacts, I'll have no problem with him!" He thought, "After I recover from these injuries, I'm gonna rip that bastard to shreds!"
Deep within Klato, Winter sat in his office. A mid-sip of his coffee, "The Mythical Auction Market is as expensive as ever!" He thought while scrolling on the computer in front of him, "Online or offline, either way, there are materials and items that can help save lives," Winter continued, searching for something specific. "I'm honestly not surprised that equipment used by High-ranking Mythics often costs millions, but why are the others so expensive?" He sighed, "It seems impossible to purchase good quality equipment with my funds. Even if I thought I saved up plenty by now!" He glanced over at his inventory, and found the 'Orb of Avarice' untouched, "Maybe I could sell that," he spoke. "No it's far too valuable if I get a good mage as my Shadow Soldier, maybe I should buy something from the shot and sell it off instead," Winter added. "I need at least something fire resistant, cause I'm bound to fight some demon with fire magic of sorts!" He sighed, leaning back into his office chair, "Even if I could sell it, I'd have to disclose where I got it!" Winter thought, "When people see an E-rank Mythic listing a powerful artifact that can't be found in lower dungeons, they'll probably start talking," he continued in thought, sighing aloud. "It'll take some time for me to get my S-rank license, let alone a MDA license!" Winter closed the Mythical Auction Market tabs, "If only there was at least one record of me entering an A-rank dungeon-" he added- "I could use that as an excuse to make my listing seem less suspicious!"
"I'm still just an E-rank, so nobody would let me join any high-ranking dungeons!" He thought, snapped back to the present with his personal phone buzzing. "Hm?" He asked, pulling it out to find it was an unfamiliar phone number. Answering the phone, "Hello?" He asked. "Mr. Greats? It's Mr. Sears, I called your phone because I couldn't get through to you on your business phone." Sears explained, "Sorry-" Winter began- "How can I help you, Mr. Sears?" Sears inhaled before responding, "We got a call from the Hunter's Guild, they're needing an additional S-rank for two A-rank dungeons. Could you help out, despite not having a contract with us?" Winter smiled smugly with his white teeth, "Lucky you, I've got some time to spare!" He exclaimed, "Good! Because Macey Mears is going to be the only other S-rank that's in shape for tomorrow, Aaron caught a cold. However he will still be there the first day to provide firepower," Sears explained. "Got it, I'll be there tomorrow. Feel free to text me the location!" Winter replied, "Thanks again, Mr. Greats!" He replied before hanging up. "Sir, here are the files you requested." River placed a file on his desk, "Thanks!" He opened it up to find an old image of Winter on the first page. "Was this photo taken four years ago? He looks much younger," Mr. Sears asked, "Winter was considered the weakest Mythic, even among other E-ranks. These are all of his files from the last four years." River explained, "There's not a lot here, but what he did do must have been like a suicide mission!" He went through the short record list, "Perhaps he was a false ranker-" Mr. Sears thought aloud- "According to the testimonies of the Mythics accompanying him on those raids and missions make it clear he wasn't a false ranker," River replied, "Perhaps he reawakened in between these gaps of time because there's a possibility this wasn't a recent occurrence!" Sears responded, "That is more likely," River thought back to what Winter had said. "He sustained some serious injuries during his training, and yet he still passed," Sears looked down at the file. "That would explain how persistent he is," River thought aloud, "Ahh, yes. A testament to character, a rarity these days-" Sears inhaling deeply- "It says he ran away from home at 15 here and hasn't been tested nor evaluated since." River looked at Sears, "Hm? Do you have something to say?" He asked looking up from the documents, "I believe Winter was in an abusive household, and from what I've dug into, he was in a fight at school before he ran away from Flore up to Klato," he explained, "Ahh, so it would seem," Mr. Sears nods.
The Next Day, Winter stepped out of his car after driving up to the Hunters' Guild dungeon raid camp for the next couple of days. "Excuse me, sir, are you the MDA Agent we were promised?" a middle-aged man with black hair and a neatly trimmed mustache and beard. He unclipped his clipboard from his tool belt and pulled out a pen from his vest under his high-vis jacket, both in easy access for gloves. "I am the MDA Agent, yes," Winter replied, standing in front of the Manager in very casual clothes, "Do you have your badge with you?" He asks, "I'm a new Agent in the MDA, but I assure you that I have experience in raiding dungeons," Winter replies, "What rank are you?" The Manager asks, writing some stuff down, "I'm an S-rank," he explained. "Ahh, alright. Macey Mears and Aaron Whitefield are waiting over there on the other side of the camp with the raid squad," the Manager pointed over at a group of people across the campsite. Winter nodded, and began walking over, "A High-ranking dungeon must be so massive that a single strike squad can't take care of everything-" Winter thought, noticing other groups around the campsite- "That might be why the work is being split up between different teams, right?" Ultima yawned, "Clearly! The strike squad battles the monsters, the mining team mines the crystals, and the hauling team collects the dead monsters, but the Mining team and the Hauling team are sent after all of the monsters, except the boss, have been killed. These Major Guilds don't waste a damn thing when they buy these dungeons!" It explained. "How did you know all of that?" Winter asked in his mind, "It was on the news one time," it replied. Winter scoffed to himself, "What else do you know?" He asked, "Electricity gets difficult to use, the immense amount of magic in the dungeons interferes with it like the sun to a computer, so the mining team has to use their muscles to collect the crystals," Ultima continued. "That must be why even the pickaxes are infused with magic," Winter thought, "Probably to make it easier," it added.
Winter found himself in front of the A-rank dungeon, feeling the powerful mana winds rushing over him. "This is an A-rank Dungeon?" Winter thought, sensing glimpses of powerful monsters, "I wanted to see one with my own eyes, and I'm really glad I did-" He thought, brushing his hair out of the way with his hand- "I'll have to enter one of these sooner or later," he stepped out of the way of the entrance and continued on his way to the strike squad team. "Can you quit smoking around me, besides, shouldn't you not smoke while you're sick? At least do that from a distance!" A curvaceous young woman spoke. She had light brown hair cascading gracefully down her shoulders, resembling a cascading waterfall of rich, chestnut waves. Deep blue eyes, rich chocolate-like skin, and a bust. She wore a red-themed armor, with a white cloth with black outlines running down her upper back and front of her waist. She carries a short sword with a purple grip, a silver blade, and a black hilt. Berating Aaron, "Sorry! It's a habit!" he attempted to escape her wrath, "You know I have a sensitive nose so knock it off!" She yelled as Aaron was leaving the vicinity. Winter scoffed softly, his eyes drifting as he felt a strange familiarity with this woman. Entangled with the sensation of infatuation, "S-rank Macey Mears, Hunter's guild Vice Guild Master!" he thought, watching her hand rest on the grip of her sword.
"I wonder how many women in the world have a presence as impressive as hers? I can already tell she's probably as strong, or stronger than Aaron," Ultima asked as Winter stared at her deep blue aura radiating off her body. "I think she's on my level," he replied to Ultima in thought. Macey flinched, turning her head to find Winter walking over. "Hey, are you the MDA agent, right?" Winter nodded, she quickly put a small cloth up to her mouth and nose, "Are you alright?" He asked, "I'm fine, just sensitive-" She replied quickly- "You don't look like an MDA Agent, why don't you have any armor on?" She asks with a raised eyebrow, "I don't have any at the moment, and the armor at the MDA looks goofy on me-" Winter responded- "Goofy or not, it could save your damn life, I don't want a dumbass in my strike squad get himself killed regardless of his rank!" She replied before Winter could finish his sentence. "Fine, fine-" He sighed awkwardly- "I'll put some on.'' The Knight's Chestplate and boots he had acquired began to appear on his chest and feet, in addition to the gauntlets he had since the beginning. "Wha- How'd you do that?" She asks, stepping up to him. "It's just something I can do, why?" He asked, "Do you have an MDA Agent badge?" Macey asked, "Not yet," he replied, "Do you at least have an MDA Mythic license?" She asks, "Yeah, but it's not up to date," Winter responds, handing his MDA Mythic license. "It says you're an E-rank!" She looked up at Winter, "That's not right-" she thought- "He has a strong presence, it's as if Chairman Sears is right here in front of me!" She flinched, suddenly noticing something far more strange about this man, "Something wrong?" Winter asked, "Hold on! Are you an S-rank?" Macey replied, "I was re-evaluated not too long ago," he replied, watching her leaning in and quickly sniffing his chest.
With a baffled look, Winter only watched Macey spring up with excitement, "There's no stench to him!" She thought, "Is there a problem?" Winter asks, his head tilted to one side, "S-sorry, nothing's the matter-" She backed up and cleared her throat- "I have to get ready for the raid!" Macey quickly ran off into a tent, "That must be her's-" Winter thought- "I think she's interested in you!" Ultima chuckled to herself, "What told you that?" He asked jokingly, and they laughed to themselves as Winter put his MDA Mythic license into his wallet before returning it to his inventory. "Is it because he's so powerful? No, that's not the case for anyone else-" She thought, pacing around the private raid tent- "Why is it only him where he's scentless?" Macey brushed a strain of her hair back over her ear, "No. He has a nice smell-" She froze in place while revisiting the sensation.
~>System<{" The [Player] Has Entered a [Dungeon]!"}>It rang<~
"The Interior of an A-rank dungeon is often enormous-" Ultima began- "A-rank dungeons are measured by the mana waves that are emitted that make it out of the dungeon, including the monsters inside," it explained. "Though, these monsters have a small effect on the rank of the dungeon-" Ultima thought, watching the strike squad preparing to enter the dungeon- "Only its size and mana levels change the rank of the dungeon." It explained, just as Winter began entering the dungeon with the others. "What a powerful gust of wind. No-" Winter thought looking around to see massive cave-like caverns- "This isn't wind, it must be mana emitted by the monsters lurking inside!" He looked over at Aaron, "Quite big, huh?" He asks with a grin, "No kidding!" Winter replied. Aaron coughed, holding a handkerchief up to his mouth, "Excuse me-" He spoke quickly- "This may take longer than expected, but we should be fine if we don't unnecessarily drag this out."
Massive golem-like monsters stepped out from the shadows, stones falling from their fleshy bodies. One of the three bent over, scooping up stones and pressing them onto the holes in their stone armor. "Good, they're coming to us," Aaron watched as some tanks stepped forward, "Shall we begin?" He asks, looking at Winter. He nodded, before leaping up and at the monsters in their path. Within moments, two of the three monsters fell with precise cuts all over their bodies, and just as the third was about to die, Winter brought it down to the ground, slamming it down against the stone floor. "I'm not sure how deep this dungeon goes, but we'll have to keep it going at this pace-" Aaron started to move with the strike squad- "Will you be able to handle that, Mr. Greats?" Winter nodded again, looking over at Macey who was ahead of the strike squad. He rushed over, stopping in time to not overshoot where Macey was going to be. "That was impressive-" She began- "You weren't wrong when you said you were experienced!" He laughed, "When I say something, I'm serious about it!" Winter replied, "If you're so serious, what do you think about me joining in with the fighting?" She asks, leaning forward to see his face. "Go right ahead, this isn't my dungeon," He responded with a smile.