The 5 of us board the elevator, and Tripp taps on the "Floor 2" option shown on the digital screen.
After a few seconds of waiting, we rise to the floor above us. With a ding, the door opens and we enter the banquet hall.
It's a long and wide room with dozens of circular tables and a large stage at the back. There's a live band dressed in all white setting up for a performance. Immediately, we're greeted by a beautiful young woman carrying tall glasses of Champagne.
"Welcome, welcome. Please take a drink and make yourselves comfortable. More guests will be arriving soon."
Politely, we all take a drink each.
I look around the room to see people of all shapes and sizes. It's split about 50/50 between hunters and executives in here. Using inspect, I find the average hunter is between levels 270 and 320. Almost all of them are C-Class applicants that passed the exam.
Most of the staff serving food and drinks are around level 20 to 70. The executives in suits are leveled at random. The bulk of them are between levels 100 and 200, but there are exceptions to this rule. A few level 400+ retired hunters come into my field of vision.
It's pretty clear even without my inspect skill, they wear enchanted rings and very expensive suits. The C-Class executives stand out in the crowd.
Arie is doing the same as me, taking in the view of people around us, but for an entirely different reason. He grins and raises his glass to meet mine.
*clink*
"Cheers Jay. Congrats on ranking up. It's time for me to get busy. My day of networking is about to begin."
He lifts the drink to his lips and gulps down the entire thing in seconds. With a swift turn, Arie places his empty glass on a passing waitress' silver tray while grabbing another from a woman walking in the opposite direction.
He walks straight over to one of the men I scanned at level 439 and begins introducing himself.
I take a sip of my drink and give him a light nod of respect. Maria turns to me as the fizzy drink rolls down my tongue.
"Hey, Jay! Abby and I are going to check out the musicians and find some seats!"
The blond and green-haired girls stare at me with excited looks in their eyes, I chuckle.
"Don't let me hold you two back, go have fun! I'll be taking care of some business too."
They both run off, leaving me alone in the center of the crowded room with Tripp. I hear idle chatter all around. Drinks clang against each other and laughter along with talk of money and contracts fills my ears. I zone out, letting the room fall silent, just alone in my own thoughts.
This old habit of mine…. Daydreaming at the most awkward times imaginable. Reflexively, I gulp down the rest of my drink to get into an even fuzzier head space. It's not that I hate being around people… I just… would rather not be around them at all sometimes. Large groups like this in a closed-off space with no plans of leaving give me a weird feeling.
I gulp, realizing my MP is slowly dropping for some reason…
Snapping out of my moment of peace, I let out a long exhale realizing my [Self Regeneration] skill's passive trait just kicked in: Poison Resistance. I murmur to myself.
"I can't even get drunk…"
With a frown across my face, I continue scanning the room, silently judging everyone that walks by…. This is not going to be a fun ceremony.
I roll my eyes and place my glass on a server's tray that's passing by, letting out another low-pitched "I don't want to be here" sounding groan.
Tripp throws his hand over my shoulder.
"You know, you can leave if you want. This is supposed to be a fun event for new hunters looking to make a name for themselves in the Association. If you don't want any part in it, feel free to go, I can cover for you."
I perk up.
"Really?"
He points to the elevator.
"Yeah, just leave if you want. No one's forcing you to stay. Just make sure to meet up in the lobby tomorrow morning, around 9. I'll be surveying your first dive. The rest of my squad may come along too, I swear the Director is trying to get me killed… The Great Plains are no joke."
Before Tripp finishes his sentence I've already turned and waved goodbye.
With a grin across my face from ear to ear I board the elevator, make my way down to the lobby, and walk straight out the front door. The mid-day sun shines on my face as I walk toward the Dungeon Hub without hesitation.
If it's not mandatory, I'm totally ditching that party.
The only reason I took this Hunter's Exam in the first place was so I could fight more powerful monsters. Maybe it took an unexpected turn, I joined the Association… but now I can get back to business!
It's time to go Dungeon Diving again.
As I approach the Hub, I make my way toward the C-Class gate. A couple of heads turn as I approach the guard in front of the moving stairs. Thinking about all the times I watched higher-class hunters enter this gate makes me feel pretty cool right now.
The guard on duty takes my ID.
"Are you a new C-Class? I haven't seen you enter this gate before."
"I am, ranked up today actually."
He hands my license back to me, raising an eyebrow but showing me a bright smile.
"Oh yeah? Congrats. As a solo hunter, I'd recommend trying out the High Ogre or High Orc dungeons. Even the Yeti Dungeon could be a good fit. They're good for farming mana crystals and combat items. Most of the high-grade dungeons aren't touched much these days, only an occasional B-Class team comes in and clears them on order from the Association to keep breaks to a minimum. Anyways, who am I to tell a C-Class what to do? I'm sure you've got a plan for today."
I nod firmly, walking passed the guard.
"I appreciate it, have a good day!"
I walk down to the C-Class platform. It's completely empty today. My footsteps echo around the underground train station as I walk over to the Dungeon List.
The 3 dungeons that the guard mentioned earlier are on the top of the low-grade list. There are only 7 C-Class dungeons available here in total… 5 of them are low-grades, and 2 are high-grades. There's no in-between, this is a lot less to pick from than the old D-Class platform. There are dozens over there.
I smirk, reading out "The Great Plains" as one of the options on the high-grade list. Immediately, I walk over to the pickup point to wait for a train.
Less than 5 minutes later, my ride comes and I board to make my way over to the dungeon. Still, no other hunters are in sight. I'm all alone in the C-Class raids today, everyone else must be on duty or at the celebration.
After watching the cement walls fly by outside my window, I finally arrive and make my way up the escalator to see the floating portal in the small isolated room.
I reach into my item storage and take out both of my new daggers, this will be the perfect opportunity to test them out. I jump through the spinning mass of energy and enter The Great Plains.
A wave of hot dry air hits my face as I enter the dungeon. It's nowhere near as hot as the final floor of the labyrinth, but still noticeably different than the outside world.
I step forward to hear a light crunch, then look down to see sun-bleached grass and small dried-up shrubs along the arid climate's ground. There are hills that rise and fall in the distance, making it hard to see how far out this dungeon really goes outward. Occasionally, a small tree with very few leaves no more than 5m high disrupts the nearly flat ground stretching off to the horizon.
While gripping both of my bright red daggers tightly, the trek deep into this dungeon begins.
I activate enemy detection and inspect. Sending my feelers out into the dungeon, I try expanding my range with the All-Seeing Eye ability. Seconds after I do, the first oddity of this dungeon begins to sink in.
While usually it just takes a few seconds to feel out 3km or so of dungeon radius, this one is a lot different. It just keeps on going… The first enemies I sense are around 1km away, then more 3-5km out, but it doesn't stop… 10km out, there's more… 20km out… even more, 30km… I hit a mental wall.
I turn off my perception ability to reach into my item storage and plunder the MP from a few mana crystals. This dungeon seems endless, I can't even find the back side of it with a full bar of mana. I smirk and murmur under my breath.
"So, these are The Great Plains."
Shifting my walking direction slightly, I head off toward my first opponent.
[1200m]
[Lv. 311]
The dirt beneath my feet is a light color brown, and there's a nice cool breeze that teases me every few minutes. The gusts of air are almost refreshing, but leave me wanting more as the sun beats down from above.
The walk is pretty peaceful, but I'm ready for some action.
Finally, a monster comes into view. It's already noticed me from a distance and is charging, spinning up a dust cloud in its wake. I use Appraisal to see exactly what I'm dealing with.
_____________________
Active Items:
[Ironclad Armor Set] +1000 Defense
[Rhino's Crushing Horn] +700 Strength
Active Skills:
Berserker
Body Hardening [Special Grade]
_____________________
A large creature, over 6m long and 4m tall comes barreling toward me in shining black armor, glowing red with angry eyes locked on me, radiating intent to kill.
It looks like an oversized rhinoceros, with a huge white horn sticking out of its nose pointing straight ahead. The monster's body is covered in veins and dense muscles that bulge out of its heavy armor set. Grunts and a deep bellowing roar erupt from its mouth as it gets closer.
I begin to glow with a combination of red and golden light while imbuing my daggers with mana and wind magic.
My first fight in The Great Plains is about to begin.