Rank-F Hunter, Noah Osmont.
No matter where he went, this title always followed him around.
Noah's overall strength was almost the same as a regular human being or to be precise a little bit stronger than the regular human beings and also his wounds would heal faster than normal people.
But he was the weakest hunter there is. He can't even afford to buy a single healing potion, as it costs more credits. Because of this he was often ridiculed as poor and weakest hunter of all.
Of course, it was not like he hated being a hunter. To be honest it was his childhood dream to be a strong hunter among all.
The work was dangerous, but the pay was enough to pay for his sister's treatment. She was hospitalized when she was attacked by monsters caused by a dungeon outbreak. That day she was injured by a monster, which caused her legs to be paralyzed. The doctors said that it was impossible for her to walk again, unless she was given high end medical treatment or be healed by at least a B-Rank Healer.
He knew that in his mind both these things are impossible for him right now. He has no money to bear such high medical treatment nor has the connections or ability to invite a Healer to treat his sister's wounds. As an official Hunter with healing abilities would charge even more money than the hospitals and it was not certain that he would be able to get in touch with a Healer. As everyone knew that people with healing abilities are very few and each of them will be treated as the treasure of the Guilds. So he was hopeless at that situation and can only strive to someday earn enough money to help his sister walk again like a normal person. For that he had to venture into dangerous places and had to risk his life many times.
If it weren't for the medical aid paid out by the Hunter Association to the Hunters in their payroll, he'd have trouble paying for his sister's treatment.
Unfortunately, for someone like him, who has just turned eighteen is only a newbie hunter and doesn't have any skill in battles, as he became a hunter for less than three months, so he has low capabilities and such which often led to him being injured many times during his Dungeon dives, prepared by the Association. And he was occasionally bullied by others teammates and ridiculed for not doing things right.
...
Hunters operating within the same area often tended to know each other pretty well. In the events of a new gate opening up, all the hunters in the district would be asked to come to check the danger level of the dungeon.
The dungeons are usually categorized into different threat levels according to the classification made by the Association, from the lowest being the F-Rank and the highest being the SSS-Rank. Even the Green Wood country there was only a single A-Rank dungeon exists and there was no mentioning of any other dungeons higher than that in the Green Wood country. Maybe the outside world has them, but it was none of his concern.
The Hunters who have just arrived at the F-Rank dungeon gathered together and shared cordial greetings with each other.
"Oh, hey Mister Ovens, over here. Here."
"Ah, so it's Mister Krel, What are you doing here? I thought you would be at the E-Rank dungeon, Icy world, hunting some snow wolfs."
"Well, that... I was asked by someone to accompany him to this F-Rank dungeon to hunt some monsters. He had pleaded me a lot and also paid some good money. I had reluctantly accepted his request, when I saw how sincerely he asked, so I came here."
"Hahaha, so that's how it is..."
"Sigh, I heard that lately many new dungeons have appeared around the country. It getting hard to clear dungeons without many expert hunter. And recently in a nearby city there was a dungeon outbreak which caused many people to die."
"Sigh, how horrifying. Lately the people from the association have been taking things too lightly. If only they informed the nearby guilds a little earlier, this would not have happened."
"Tsk, tsk,.. it's not that they have become lazy or they ignored it. It was simply because of the disputes between the two local Guild. I heard that the White Tiger Guild and Dark Shadow Guild have fought among themselves for the rights of a new dungeon. Because of this the dungeon outbreak occurred. Later the Association has sent people to clear the monsters to save the people from that city."
"Hm. That's right. I also heard that the Association was angry with the behaviour of these two guilds and punished them by Blacklisting these two guilds from participating in entering dungeons for a weeks...."
...
When Noah entered the place, he accidentally heard their conversation and looked a little down and frustrated. The incident that occurred in the city was where he and his sister used to live. At that time he was away to buy somethings for dinner. But later when he came back to their home, it was completely destroyed and his sister was seriously injured by the monsters, but luckily a squad of hunters came to save the people. With their help they transported her to the Black Stone city hospital. After the treatment the doctors have said, that she has lost the ability to walk. Hearing this news both of them were devestated when they heard the words of the doctor. He couldn't do anything about it. Although he was angry about the situation he knew that this was caused by the negligence of the two guilds, which caused his sister to be crippled. From that moment, he has already considered these two guilds as not someone good.
As he walked around, he saw many people donned in shining armour and weapons, then he looked at himself. He wore a track suit and a hoodie and a dull looking sword in his hand. It looked worn-out and had many cracks around the edges, that it seem like it could break at any moment.
Among the crowd he stood out like an odd-ball that was not supposed to be here. He can only sigh and stand at the side waiting to be scouted into a team and enter the dungeon.
Many Hunters have special powers that they are born with and can be awakened when they turn 18-years of age. But in his case, although he successfully awakened, his power was nothing great. He has an ability that helps him increase the power of a weapon slightly. It only lasts for a short duration. But at crucial times it saved his life many times. Due to his peculiar ability, some teams have hired him even though his ability was not that useful and it doesn't even increase the power of the weapon that much. Only low level hunters would have an interest in his ability.
As he was thinking, a group walked towards him. Noah, turned in their direction and saw the People from the Warrior Guild are coming here. They stopped when they were infront of Noah and looked at him.
The leader of this group was a handsome middle-aged man with a scar on his left cheek. He was wearing a leather armour and a huge sword was hung on his back.
And at his side there were three males and three females. Two of the men had big shields on their back and the other one has short knives on his waist, as he was donned in black clothing. As for the females, there were two, who wore mage robes. Clearly one was the healer who wore a white robe and held a staff in her hand and the other wore a fiery red robe clearly indicating that she was a fire mage. And the last was a gorgeous women with a big bow and arrows strapped to her back. She was beautiful and had a mesmarising look, but she had a cold and indifferent look on his face, which only added to her beauty.
The others had smiles when they talked with her, especially the Assassin youth who was trying his best to impress her. But he got was a cold look, this instantly dampened his mood.
As he was checking out the group, the leader spoke.
"I'm the leader of this group, the name's Kyle. I'm from the Warriors Guild. I'm here to train these newbies in my team. Our team is still lacking a person for the porter position. I have heard a lot about you, we would like to hire you as our porter. What do you think?"
"I accept!" Noah replied at his question. He always ends up as a porter as he knew that he has very limited use in battle and can only be suited as a handyman to carry their things or to collect the valuable materials from monsters. Basically, he only follows the group and assist them by carrying their things. Even in his previous dungeon dives he basically did the same. He has never even confronted or killed a monster before, much less fight with them.
"Great, then we would go inside right away, after we finish buying some supplies." The leader of the group Kyle replied.
Noah followed them and took their baggage and followed the group to the entrance of the dungeon after they purchased some healing potions and stamina potions. There was a big monolith structure around the entrance of the portal with many equipment attached to it. These devices are used to monitor the portal for any unusual fluctuations in the portal to alert the Association for any unexpected surprise attacks from the monsters.
As they neared the structure, there were many guards standing there with weapons monitoring everything from a distance. After they flashed their hunter ID's they were given a green signal to enter the dungeon.
Even though it was not his first time entering the dungeon, he still felt dazed by the big blue portal that swirled slowly. The group stepped inside and in a second his vision blanked and he appeared in a whole new different place. There's only big trees and rocks everywhere their eyes can see.
As soon as they entered, a green shadow rushed at them with great Speed. The leader of the group Kyle has brandished his sword and swung infront of him. It accurately hit the target upon which the green shadow flew away in the air as it landed a few meters away from the ground, it was a green monster with long ears, yellow eyes and it's short in height and wouldn't even weigh more than 15 kilos. It held a short rusty dagger and made weard noises when it's attempt to sneak attack has failed.
"Be careful it's a goblin. It's clearly calling for it's companions." Kyle has reminded the group as he positioned himself at the forefront of the group followed by ones welding the shields that protected the rear. Noah, the Assassin youth and the girls were at the center of the group.
As soon as they formed into position a dozen goblins appeared from the bushes as they growled at them menacingly.
They suddenly rushed at them brandishing their weapons.
"Hmph, I can deal with these monsters very easily. Watch how I take them down." The Assassin youth rushed ahead like the wind and has stabbed two daggers into the chest of the nearby goblin, as blood gushed out from its chest as it struggled for second and died. Noah didn't even see when he moved but in his eyes he seemed like he teleported from this place to the other. As soon as the first goblin feel, the other monsters became enraged and rushed at the Assassin youth. But before they reach him, he disappeared from the spot and appeared near the group.
"Don't blindly rush at them or you wouldn't even know how you died. They are crafty and organized bunch. So always stay alert for any sudden attacks."
Kyle explained as he stretched out his sword and rushed at the goblins.
Charge!
With his command, all the other moved. One of the tanks stayed near the mage and the healer. The beautiful female Archer skillfully climbed a tall tree and aimed at the goblins with her arrows. Her attacks precisely landed on the target as one after the other fell down.
Seeing this they cried out in unison and even more goblins appeared and rushed to attack them.