Taking light steps, he walked at an average pace through the hallway towards the large door. The closer he got, the more heated up it became which he believed was caused by the anger the person within was feeling.
'Does she already know I'm here.' He thought as his palms got sweaty.
After two minutes of walking, he finally arrived in front of the door, which he stared at, like the gates of hell.
He signed before stretching out his hand to open the door, but before it could make contact, the doors slid open.
'Shit,' he cursed internally as the room came into full view.
This room was meant for the leader of the base, but seeing the interior of the room it could be mistaken for that of a teenage girl.
"Welcome."
A feminine voice, from a large chair that backed the entrance, reverberated across the room.
"Yeah, it's good to be back. I used my leave to the fullest," he said with a nervous smile.
"I can see that. Not only did you use it to the fullest, you also outdid yourself. I'm very–glad."
Ray already knew what she was implying. "I can explain. I actua····."
"I don't need your explanation. I received the report of what happened, and that abyssal won't have lasted 5 seconds if you were serious. In other words, you took this as a joke, which means you took me as a joke."
"No! it isn't like that. I didn't have my weapon with me, and the abyssal wasn't as weak as you think. It could even fly." He tried to convince her, but she was being as stubborn as usual.
The chair slowly spun around, revealing a young woman, no more than 20. With long fiery hair which was packed in a ponytail, ruby red eyes, and blood red lips.
She was clad in a long pink gown that stretched all the way to her ankles. But the gown was sleeveless, so her beautiful perfect ruddy skin was on display.
Her beauty reached abnormal heights, and any man would drool over her.
Her body proportions were perfect for her 5.6 feet height. Not being too large, but definitely above average.
She stared at him with a fiery look in her eyes, as the temperature around them kept rising.
It was quite confusing how such a young lady would achieve such a high position. People would most likely think that she got to this position due to the help or benefits from others. But it was purely from her strengths and achievements.
She was the youngest among the ten base leaders and the fourth most talented Sentry ever recorded.
But of course, this didn't mean that she was among the top ten most powerful.
The most powerful and most talented Sentries were ranked differently and it was regularly updated.
The names of the top 200 out of the about 2000 Sentries, were the ones in this ranking, but for some reason, their actual ranks weren't public.
It was only told to the occupants of the position privately.
They were put in groups as follows:
1—10
11—30
31—50
51—70
71—100
101—120
121—150
151—170
171—200
Ray was currently at rank 183 which was a great achievement, as he had only entered the top 200 about three weeks ago.
"You never take your job seriously, you never take me seriously and you never take your partner seriously. What the hell is your problem? You····." She continuously scolded, as Ray completely took his attention off her, paying more attention to the heat which kept rising.
'Damn. If this keeps up, I'll end up getting cooked.' He had an urge to activate his ability but the last time he did that, she felt he was challenging her, and it didn't end well for him.
It was quite amusing that someone who was feared this much would act like this to someone who was probably about a year older than him.
After ranting on and on, she finally said something that brought his attention back to her.
"Maybe I'll cancel your participation in the next raid."
"Huh? Come on, you can't do that," he retorted.
"Oh! We're about to find out how much I can do," she said with an evil grin.
With such an expression the heart of almost every would be ignited with danger and lust.
She was a very beautiful young woman who exuded danger around her and even great men would think twice before approaching her despite her beauty.
Ray didn't have any of these expressions, rather he had a frown on his face.
Ever since he joined the Sentry he had always wanted to go on a raid.
A Raid is when a group of Sentries, ventured into the abyssal's territories for three major reasons.
Firstly, to gather resources, including the slaisten metal which could kill abyssals.
Secondly, to gather information on the state of things around them and also about the abyssals, the meteorite, and the hole which was created after the crash now called the Dark Abyss. In hopes of finding a permanent solution.
Lastly, to randomly kill abyssals to reduce their population.
Ray joined the Sentry with his only goal being to survive and somehow find a way back to his family without anyone or anything being able to stop him.
Although he enjoyed watching movies and reading books about heroes, not in a million years was he planning to become one himself.
Going around risking your life for people who you didn't even know if they would do the same for you. No thanks, he'd rather pass.
This didn't mean he would ignore someone who needed help as he had displayed earlier. As long as it doesn't affect him negatively, pose a threat to his life or he had something to gain he would help out if he felt like it.
His mindset later changed and instead of running away, he decided to put an end to this creatures.
He didn't know if the walls built up to seal them would collapse someday releasing them into the world or worse, something similar occurs and ends up affecting his family and loved ones.
He couldn't let that happen, especially after what he had faced.
So rather than staying within Euthopia and protecting its citizens, he needed to join the raid party into the abyssal's territories.
Besides he believed that even though his life would be put in danger, it would be more fun than staying here.
During the last raid which happened about two months ago, he had asked to be taken along, but he was told that he was too weak.
This annoyed him causing him to push himself harder, which resulted in the explosive growth of his strength.
The him right now couldn't be compared to the him two months ago.
He increased in both the power ranking which was the top 200 ranking and the talent ranking at an incredible pace.
After all this, she was threatening him with this. Even though it was a joke, he couldn't find it funny.
She didn't like seeing him angry or sad, so she sighed in defeat before walking back to her chair.
The rage and annoyance which was previously in her eyes were completely gone and were now replaced with concern.
"I'm sorry. The truth is you won't make it to the raid once more."
She knew how sad he got when he was told not to participate in the previous raid, and how much he trained for this one.
"Why?" Ray asked calmly. By her expression, it seemed like it was something out of her hands, and her next words proved him correct.
"The qualifications to go on a raid have increased," she sighed.
"Why is that?" He was a little confused.
"Well for two major reasons. Firstly, the number of lives lost in the last raid wasn't something to scoff at, so they need stronger people to reduce the chances of death.
This brings us to our second reason. This raid would be like no other as we would be reaching places we never had before, and by this, I mean the Dark Abyss which was created by the meteor crash.
So only people with the strength level of the top 120 are allowed. That isn't something you can just cover up in two months."
She knew Ray had great talent, being able to climb all the way from 200+ to 183 within 3 weeks. But climbing up further becomes more difficult and for him to participate, he would have to climb about 60 ranks ahead within two months.
It would need someone like her to do such a thing.
"So if I'm among the top 120, within two months, I'll be able to participate, right?"
She knew what he was like, so she wasn't surprised by the determined expression on his face.
"Yes, but····."
"Then that's exactly what I'm going to do."
She knew trying to talk him out was useless, so she just sighed. She could only hope that he won't take his heartbreak so seriously.
"If that's so, then fine. I'd like to introduce you to someone. Your new partner."
**********
A/N: I decided to make a correction. I'm putting it here for new readers and I'll inform older readers in an older chapter. The top 200 ranking which is being talked about is only for the south region. All regions have their own ranking. And by that I mean the three major regions which are the northern, southern, and middle(consisting of the central, western, and eastern). Thanks for reading.