It was a chance encounter. C-Rank Knight Class Warrior Zeke Reinhardt, third son of the great and powerful Reinhardt family, aged 23 years old hated the idea of not being in charge more than anything else. As a result, despite his fame and the admiration and respect he received from other Warriors of the same Rank and below, he didn't allow anyone in his party unless they were at least one Rank below him, thereby eliminating the chances of anyone in his party ever opposing him. Hence the criteria to join his party only stretched thinner and thinner. So far, he managed to procure a D-Rank Assassin Class Warrior and Mage Class Warrior and an E-Rank Archer Class Warrior in his party, and they were well known in District-2 despite being considerably new, as the reputable Zeke Party of the Helios Guild. So Zeke wanted nothing more at the time than to complete his party with the recruitment of a fifth member. He had found the perfect candidate by chance when he went to the Warriors Association to sell Mana Crystals he had accumulated after recently coming out of a Dungeon. Overhearing the conversation between a receptionist and a newbie Warrior who was undergoing registration, he found out that said-Warrior was the first and only F-Rank in the world, one who had chosen the infamous Blacksmith Class, and therefore the weakest Warrior known to man. The perfect person for him to enact his dominance on. There was just one problem...
"Oh no, that's okay, I don't plan on going to any high Rank Dungeons anytime soon anyway, but thanks for the offer though, I appreciate it"
Instant straight up rejection. He was baffled. It didn't make sense. Not from his point of view anyway.
The result...
"Audacious. Just who does this bastard think he is!!?"
Pissed. He was pissed. Like, really, really pissed. Amidst the facade of a smile, a bulging vein quite visibly showed itself on his forehead.
And before he could even say anything, the F-Rank Warrior quickly entered his car and drove off. His offer was rejected in, one might say, one of the most polite ways possible considering the numerous uncivilized aspects of the exchange in the first place, one of them being the manner in which he approached the Warrior despite them being total strangers, still however, he felt that something was a little off. Despite the words themselves that the Warrior used, he felt no respect or politeness from them at all, rather, he felt he was being looked down upon.
"That brat, does he not know who I am?"
He wondered...
"But if that's the case then..."
If that was the case then that made matters worse, it gave him even more reason to direct his animosity towards the Warrior. How could the "brat" not know who he was?
"You're kidd-"
"Brother, forget about that loser. He's just a naive newbie who probably thinks he might be able to make it big if he works hard or something"
"That's right, he's too weak to join us anyways. He'd only hold us back. He doesn't know anything about the real world out there."
"Besides, there's a lot of other Warriors at least ten times stronger than that brat who are dying to join your party. We could have them compete against one another then pick the winner among them to be our fifth party member. Just leave that brat be, he doesn't know any better..."
His party members, the Mage, the Archer and the Assassin all added in that order.
He thought about what they said for a few seconds.
"Yeah, you're right. He doesn't know any better. And of course, if that's the case then isn't it our job as his superiors to teach him a lesson or two?"
An evil grin formed on his face. It didn't take a second for his party members to figure out what he meant by that. Resultantly, they also started smiling all sinister like.
Their plan was simple. They had deduced that the Warrior was going to a Dungeon so all they had to do was follow him. Enter the Dungeon a little while after he himself had entered then conduct their..."lesson".
Whether it was breaking a limb or two or plundering what ever Mana Crystals the Warrior managed to accumulate after exploring the Dungeon, they were confident that there would be no negative outcomes. Afterall, this world, the world of Warriors, operates on the principle that; what happens in a Dungeon stays in a Dungeon. It was survival of the fittest. And even if they were to be found out, Zeke himself was confident that the name of his family could cover just about anything up. He was an incredibly spoiled child in that aspect. An entitled persona and unwavering belief in his skills. He was determined to teach the "brat" that dared to look down on him a lesson.
Which is why he didn't understand.
"I-I...I don't get it. How is this...just why, why is this happening? How is this happening!? This is impossible. Isn't he just an F-Rank? He's the weakest Warrior in the world so how the hell did he do all of this!!?"
As he was lost in fear-struck thought, a certain figure was calmly and slowly approaching him. The figure wore a grey short sleeved shirt, a black and white tracksuit jacket and trousers set, and uniquely designed sneakers. Bearing spikey black hair, a cold glare and a very sinister smirk, this figure was none other than the weakest Warrior, the world's only F-Rank, the Blacksmith, Raid.
About twenty or twenty-five or so minutes ago. After he had followed Raid in the E-Rank Dungeon, accompanied by his fellow party members, they then came across Raid as he was exiting a cave of sorts. Zeke never would've imagined that things would turn out this way. That they would go off the rails so much.
"If I could go back in time at least twenty minutes, then I...I would've done things a little differently."
***
Yeah. Surprises are the worst. And the one before me right now isn't any different.
"Why are you here?"
I asked the Warrior I met previously outside the Warriors Association. Unlike before, he was wearing armour this time and had a longsword hanging at his waist, all which confirmed he was a knight. It wasn't like I couldn't *totally* guess why they followed me here though. It was more or less obvious that I had made an enemy out of him by rejecting his offer to join his party so he must've followed me along with his buddies to try and gang up on me after I hurt his pride. Probably must've not heard 'no' before in his life, otherwise who the hell would go through this much trouble just to make a point?
Can't believe how childish he is considering how much older he looks than me.
"Why am I here, you ask? Well that's simple, you see I always get what I want. No one, and I mean no one has ever said 'no' to me before."
Called it.
"That is, until you came along..." He added.
"Is that so? I guess that makes me pretty special doesn't it?" I poked.
"Haha, I guess so. So special in fact that I, Zeke Reinhardt, third son of the Reinhardt family went out of my way to give you...your very own "special" lesson."
"And what kind of lesson is that?"
"Curious, aren't you? I'll have my friend Doyle here show you a little example. Doyle?"
As he said that, the Assassin stepped forward.
"Yes, brother." Almost immediately afterwards, a slight tilt of my head to the right, I felt a slight pain on my left cheek. As I felt it with my right hand, it was met with a wet sensation, it wasn't sweat. I looked at my hand and there was blood, my blood. I chuckled in response.
The Assassin, Doyle. He threw a dagger.
"You're quick to react." He said.
"Not quick enough it seems." I replied.
He seemed a bit surprised, probably thought that would instantly take me out. Afterall, what else is an Assassin good for if their insta-kill skills are lacking?
Our eyes were locked on one another intently. I wouldn't say I was relaxed but my guard wasn't necessary that up.
It was weird, I didn't feel threatened at all, not that he was weak mind you, just that I felt that I was strong enough to take him on. As a matter of fact, I would've guessed he was incredibly skilled, maybe one or two Ranks above me but I felt no fear, no sense of danger. It was as if every fibre of my being was screaming; "I can beat this guy". He then put out his hand and the dagger he previously threw flew back to him coated with green coloured Mana as he then caught it.
"So he's a D-Rank. That or whatever Skill he just used to bring back his dagger is D-Rank."
I then unsheathed my blade, he responded by charging straight at me at an alarming speed so I did the same. He then started to throw daggers at me mid-charge. There were three of them coming at me one after the other, I dodged the first by turning sideways then the second by bending over backwards then went on to do a sideflip to avoid the last dagger which resulted in the dagger stabbing my sheath away from my waist. Wielding two daggers, one in each hand, he attacked from above after jumping so he could launch a cross slash. I blocked the attack with my blade and was pushed back about a metre and a half. I couldn't help but look back afterwards and saw my sheath with a dagger stuck to it start to decay. All the daggers I had previously dodged flew back to their user.
"Poisonous Mana." He said afterwards.
"A really nasty Skill of mine, can even melt your bo-"
"Should you really be telling your opponent that kind of info?"
"What does it matter when said "opponent" is weaker than me. I mean, not having a handicap or two really takes the fun outta this, y'know?"
"'Weaker' he says. That's rich. Considering how your Class shouldn't have allowed this fight to last this long, I'd say I'm doing pretty well."
"What are you talking a-"
"Your Class stupid. You're an Assassin right? Then isn't your whole deal about making sure you take out your opponent in one move. An insta-kill. Considering how you haven't managed to do that regardless of your claim that I'm "weaker" than you then, aren't you a failure of an Assassin?" An annoyance inducing smirk formed on my face as I said that. And it really did make him annoyed, like a lot.
"You'll regret saying that, you bastard. Alright then, you want me to go all out, is that it?"
"Oh please do."
"Fine, I'll show what I'm really made of. Hold on to your ass."
"Ew....? What in there?"
He disappeared. It came at a slight surprise at first but I quickly reorganized myself and activated my Treasure Hunt Skill.
"My Treasure Hunt Skill is now B-Rank so I doubt whatever Skill this guy just used to hide himself can bypass it, it'd have to be A-Rank or higher for that. There we go, found him."
"Wait, are you for real? An attack from behind? That's so cliche I'm starting to think I didn't even need to activate Treasure Hunt to catch you."
I launched a horizontal slash as I said that. Landed right on the money. A large horizontal blade mark formed across his chest as it bled.
"H-How did you-"
"Doyle! What the hell is taking you so long!? Don't tell me this nobody is giving you a hard time." That bastard who couldn't read a room even if you gave him glasses, Zeke Reinhardt was it? Started spouting nonsense.
"I'm sorry brother, this guy. He's a lot more troublesome than we thought. If I stop holding back completely, I might end up killing him."
"Oh? So he initially didn't wanna kill me. A show of strength to coerce me to to bow my head then. What a bunch of tryhards they are." I thought.
"And? You're an Assassin aren't you? Then maybe you should start acting like one." Zeke said with a cold glare.
"Wuh-oh, now it's a party." I thought as I listened to their back and forth attentively.
"But brother! Won't we get in trouble!?"
"Look around Doyle, we're in a Dungeon right now. Lots of things happen in a Dungeon. Multiple Warriors have gone in only to never return, what would make this any different?"
"Heh heh, I understand brother. Hey F-Rank, what's your name?"
"Raid. So, you were still holding back, huh?" I asked.
"Yeah, but don't worry. Raid. That ends for real now. You're the one who chose to resist us, this is simply the price you should pay for being so daring against a Reinhardt of all people."
"I pay with my life for not wanting to join his dumb brother's party? What a kiss-ass."
"Dang, you're one hell of a boot licker huh? Is the Archer and Mage the sa-"
~Clank!~
The sound achoed through the surroundings as my blade and his daggers clashed. He wasn't kidding when he said he'd stop holding back, the speed and force in his attacks increased significantly but I also had decided to start taking things serious so I wasn't necessarily lagging behind. He did a sideflip to jump over me then throw a dagger mid-air, coated with his Poisonous Mana Skill, I parried it away with my blade and it flew back, only for me to be met by another dagger thrown horizontally, aimed for my stomach. I positioned my blade vertically in front of my stomach and the dagger bounced off of it then flew back also. I then charged straight at him top speed seeing as he was about to throw another dagger I guessed. I activated my Bladework Skill which increased my Speed Stat by 500 and my Strength Stat by 400 putting them on 1550 and 1335 respectively. My overwhelming speed surprised the heck out of Doyle and he couldn't react in time. A downward slash took away his left arm.
"Arrgghh!" He squealed as blood poured out and he fell on his knees. He looked up at me, I looked down on him. He then tried to attack me with his right hand, dagger in tow. I showed no mercy then sliced off his right arm also.
"Argh!!!"
Yikes. Not gonna lie. That looked painful.
"You really like these daggers of yours don't you?"
He had about a dozen pockets inside his black jacket and ten had daggers in them.
"Wow, that's a lot."
I took all of them including the ones stuck in his sliced-off arms.
"Since it seems you won't be needing these anymore, I'll make sure to put them to good use."
"Urk, n-no please don't, heuk..."
~Cough~
"Hey now, why do you care? Whether I leave you to bleed out or finish you off myself, you're gonna die anyway, right? Give or take a few minutes. Now then, I wonder if I can put these in my Item Space, carrying twelve daggers by hand seems too much of a chore."
~Whoosh~
~Slash~
As I was lost in thought, I saw a beeming light from the corner of my left eye approach me, I didn't look to see what it was, instead I just launched a downward slash as slight sparks of flames washed over me for a bit and decipated as if in response.
I didn't need to look to see what that was as my Treasure Hunt Skill was still active. A fireball spell. An attack by the Mage.
"Do you mind? I'm busy over here."
"You bastard, what did you do to our party member?" He said pointing his magic staff at me.
"What did I do? As you can see, I cut his arms off. No wait, was that a rhetorical question? Sorry it just sounded so stupid, so I thought it was genuine since it kinda suits you, y'know?"
"Erk...jerkward. You must think you're real smart don't you?"
"Yeah nah I don't think, I know I'm a genius. See that's the difference between me and you."
The Archer then chimed in.
"Harold, we shouldn't underestimate this guy. He took down Doyle, so I think I should back you up and help you take him down for good. Let's avenge Doyle together."
"Okay, then I'll be counting on you. He's a close-range fighter so our long-range attacks will keep him at a distance so we can finish him off easily."
"Right, then brother, don't trouble yourself with this fella, We'll deal with him. He'll pay for looking down on us." The Archer said looking at Zeke.
"Good, Harold, Niel, show that bastard what the Zeke Party is made of! What the Reinhardt family is made of!" Zeke shouted. It was beyond me why but whatever.
I then put the daggers in my Item Space and they went in without a hitch. I felt stupid afterwards since I realised that if the daggers can go in the Item Space then that meant that First Dawn can also go in, meaning I didn't need a sheath. What a waste of time, honestly, and that sheath looked pretty cool too. But there was no time to lament on my past dumb choices. Harold and Niel were attacking. Three fireballs significantly bigger and more powerful than the one before flew at me, I launched a horizontal slash decipating them all, but that revealed a numerous number of arrows flying straight at me faster than even bullets. I dodge most of them performing varous different acrobatic displays while parrying and slicing the rest in half with my blade. I then noticed gusts of wind form around me, as my body was starting to be lifted upward. The Mage Harold had created a small scale hurricane with a limited radius that focused only on me, in response, Niel The Archer then launched three arrows simultaneously at a time, all were coated with grey coloured Mana. My guess was that it was for the purpose of increasing their force and speed so they don't get swept away by winds surrounding me.
"So this is what fighting against Warriors feels like. I'll admit, it's a lot more challenging than fighting monsters."
I parried each arrow while floating mid-air due to the hurricane, Niel was baffled, he must've expected me to have trouble navigating my body mid-air but my Bladework Skill showed him otherwise. He thus started running around the hurricane area while sending arrows at me.
"Good, keep it up Niel! Now Hurricane Wind Blade!" Harold uttered and slashes made of wind started forming around me and attacking me, toppled with the superpowered arrows coming from every direction.
"Yeah, a lot more challenging than monsters for sure. And yet...I still don't feel threatened."
A silence like no other filled the area as I said that. The hurricane and arrows were still going but they made no sound.
A whisper followed but with how quiet it was, everyone heard it. I could feel how on alert they were and the fear that sinked in to all three of them bit by bit.
"Sunset Slash."
My Special Attack, nature's dominator. As I launched the single vertical strike, the hurricane surrounding me was absorbed in it and every arrow that was launched from every direction was cut in half. I directed the attack to Harold, he responded by shouting out...
"Sh-shield!" And multiple layers of magic barriers appeared infront of him but it was all in vain as all of them were broken and cut in half simultaneously as if each was hit with its own slash and his entire body was also split in half, head to toe. I could've cut down both him and Niel simultaneously regardless of where they both were but I left Niel out on purpose. Thought it was about time I showed them what real coercion looks like. As Harold's body fell down and his right and left side went their separate ways, gravity started to do its thing and my body fell down since there was no more hurricane. So I wasn't about to miss that chance and did a superhero landing.
~Bam!~
"Dang, I'm good."
"M...m-m-monster! W-what are you!? Are you even really an F-Rank!? Are you even h-h-human!!? Impossible! This is impossible! Brother! Brother Zeke!! Run!!! You're strong, stronger than all of us but I'm sorry, even you can't beat this guy."
See? Now that's what real coercion looks like. Yeah the trick is to make sure they're scared shitless, like, constipation level shitless.
"Th-this guy, no this...this demon! He even looked back me and smiled as he was launching that final attack! He could've easily taken me out as he did Harold but he didn't! He's toying with us! Please! Run brother Zeke!! This guy, he's not norm-kargh!"
"Man, don't you ever shut uup!? Jeez."
I had quickly appeared in front of him before he even notice then had my blade make its way through his stomach. If I'm being honest, this was starting to get boring.
"H-how did y-"
"Simple, I'm just that fast."
"You....demon..." He said as he clenched his fist on my jacket.
~Thump~
He fell, I didn't see anything special about his arrows and bow so I left them alone. I then approached the corpse of the Mage Harold, his staff had three gemstones attached to it and they exuded some magical energy. The staff itself was made of seemingly special wood so I put the whole thing in my Item Space.
Still though, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was forgetting something, I looked around and there it was. Erh...uh...I-I mean uh...th-there he was. Yeah that's what I meant, I-I'm not some inconsiderate bastard who thinks of people as insignificant objects, please believe me.
Anyway...
"What was your name again? Zeke Reinhardt? Okay loo-"
"S-stay away from me!" He fell flat on his ass and started crawling backward while reaching out his hand signalling me to stop approaching him, but I wasn't about to listen.
"Yeah, I don't think I'll do that. You saw it all didn't you? You're the strongest in you party, right?. So you should be able to understand that regardless of how strong you are, you wouldn't have been able to do what I just did. You tried to make me your prey. To your surprise, your prey turns predator and now you wanna run on back home with your tail tucked between your legs like the cowardly dog you are. You think I'll let off that easily?"
"N-n-no please, please don't kill me! I-I'll do anything!"
"Anything? Alright then gimme that armour and sword."
"O-okay! Here, take it. Take it all. It's all yours."
He took off his sword along with all his armour and threw it all down leaving him with the clothes he had underneath. I then teleported it all in my Item Space. He looked a little intrigued as to how I could make things disappear in the form of blue pixels like that but I guessed he was a bit too occupied with his desire to survive to pry any further.
"G-good. Now will you let me go?" He asked.
"Let you go? I never said anything about letting you go."
"W-what!? No, no but we had a deal!"
"Erh...no we didn't, you just said you'd do anything. Beyond me for what but I just saw an opportunity and went like 'Well fuck it, since he's so cooperative, I might as well have his armour and what not', feel me? You're the one who fooled yourself into believing whatever bull you made up in your mind."
"You...you trickster! Do you know who I am!? Do you know who my father is!? The Head of the Reinhardt family, Guildmaster of the Helios Guild!"
"Ooh, scary"
"I'm serious! If you kill me, he won't stop until he has your head delivered to him on a silver platter, not just you even, all you friends and family too!"
"Then I guess I'll have to take down your whole family and guild too, right?"
"You, what did you just?.... Bastard. Bastard! How dare you look down on my guild, on my family! I'll kill you!"
He jumped at me in an attempt to punch me. I responded by decapitating him.
"How annoying. Now then. I initially just wanted to come here for mining, but I gotta say, I'm feeling amped right now. Let's see, shall I...try and actually clear this Dungeon? Heh."
[Report. Advancements in the Subject's overall Warrior info have been detected as a result of recent actions.]
"Result of recent actions? I would've expected it to say something about a Hidden Quest but it seems the System doesn't acknowledge fights among Warriors as a Quest of any kind, rather it seems it acknowledges them as something akin to training, makes sense, I don't think the System would straight up appluad fights among Warriors since we're all supposed to work together to deal with the Dungeons but it wouldn't necessarily ban them either since it seems like it wants to establish freedom."
[Now calculating advancements...]
"Alright, let's see what we have...!"
[Item Space Skill has advanced from C-Rank to B-Rank. Weapon Fanatic's Sub-Skill Bladework's effects on the Subject's Stats have increased. Effect on Strength has increased by 300. Effect on Speed has increased by 400. Effect on Health has increased by 200 and effect on Intelligence has increased by 200. Now redesigning the effects of the A-Rank Bladework Sub-Skill on the Subject...]
A-Rank Bladework Sub-Skill: Effects When Active
• Strength +700
• Speed +900
• Health +500
• Intelligence +500
[Furthermore, Mana Capacity has increased by 300. Strength has increased by 100. Speed has increased by 150. Health has increased by 120 and Intelligence has increased by 110.]
[Now redesigning overall Warrior info...]
Name: Raid
Surname: ???
Affiliation: Awakened Warrior
Class: Blacksmith
Skills:
• Craft D-Rank : Can craft high level equipment, weapons and amour from scratch as long as the necessary products to do so are present.
• Repair D-Rank: Can fix broken equipment, weapons and amour.
• Weapon Fanatic C-Rank: Possesses an expert level of understanding of how various weapons operate, including how to use them in battle.
•• Bladework A-Rank: Possesses an apex level of mastery with blades.
••• Sunset Slash: A very powerful slash with the power to bend nature to its will.
• Treasure Hunt B-Rank: Can expertly locate mines with products and minerals for crafting within a 1200 kilometre radius. Tip: Mines found in dungeons have the best products.
• Mine D-Rank: Can masterfully mine products and minerals for crafting.
• Item Space B-Rank: Massive space to store equipment, weapons, armoury, products, minerals, etc...
Rank: F
Level: Locked
Mana Capacity: 3801
Strength: 1035
Speed: 1200
Health: 1092
Intelligence: 1139
"....wow."