"Can we sell the body parts?" Victor asked, wiping the blood from his curved sword. His sharp gaze flickered toward the two third-class hunters, waiting for a response.
The young man hesitated, shifting his eyes between Victor and me, clearly still processing what had just happened. "Ahh… yeah, but… you killed it." His voice wavered slightly.
"A Reaver-Class monster…" the girl muttered under her breath, still staring at the lifeless beast.
Reaver-Class? How much new information was I expected to take in every single day? Was this another ranking system for monsters? It seemed that way. Still… who the hell names a class 'Reaver'? It sounded unnecessarily dramatic.
Victor, on the other hand, didn't seem phased. He took a step forward, his tone flat. "Do you understand now why we wanted the full gold?"
The two third-class hunters remained silent, their expressions stiff.
Victor exhaled and moved on. "What parts of the body can we salvage?"
The young man rubbed the back of his neck. "The meat. Black Orchid meat is highly sought after, but…" He trailed off, casting an uneasy glance at the massive corpse.
Victor's eyes narrowed. "But what?"
The girl answered this time. "We're heading to the goblin den. Carrying that much meat would attract every goblin in the area."
Victor clicked his tongue in irritation. "So it's useless."
The young man gave a reluctant nod. "However, the egg might be valuable. But…" He gestured toward the large, jet-black egg nestled near the corpse. "It's heavy. And delicate. I'm not sure you'll be able to carry it around while heading to the den."
I stared at the egg, then back at the group. Just how much was this thing worth?
"How valuable are we talking?" I asked, already thinking about whether it was worth the trouble.
The girl crossed her arms, her expression indifferent. "Not sure. You'd need the right connections to sell it."
So that was useless too. Looked like we gained nothing from this fight—except for my level-up.
"Hey! Did you level up?" Milio's voice rang out as he jogged up beside me, his bow slung over his arm. "I hit level four!" He grinned.
Level four? Already? That was huge. Meanwhile, I had barely managed to reach level three. He gained 3 levels from one fight?
I glanced at Victor. "What about you? What's your level?"
Victor, still cleaning the blood off his sword. "Two."
That made me pause. The gap between our levels was growing, and a theory started forming in my mind.
Could this be related to the difference in our gods' ranks?
It made sense. The higher-ranked gods might grant more powerful abilities, but at the cost of slower growth. Meanwhile, lower-ranked gods, though weaker, seemed to allow faster level-ups.
I also noted that all three of us had received the level-up notification, which meant experience was shared rather than based on the final hit. That was good to know—it meant we wouldn't have to fight over kills.
But then another thought crept in. Was the experience split equally, or did those who contributed more get a larger share?
Milio had only fired a single arrow, yet he gained three levels from this fight. Meanwhile, Victor, who had landed the killing blow, only leveled up once. That didn't add up.
The more I thought about it, the more questions piled up. How did this system even work? It didn't seem like the gods were in control of it. No, it felt like something… bigger. Something higher up the chain.
I wanted to ask Victor about it, see if he had noticed the same pattern, but now wasn't the time. There were more pressing matters to handle.
"No wonder you beat Dunstan," the young man muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "You guys are gifted… both of you must have B-rank gods, right?"
I wasn't about to give away any information about my abilities or my god's rank, so I simply nodded, letting him believe what he wanted.
"Wow… This is my first time meeting someone with a B-rank god," he admitted, genuine awe in his voice. "We're gifted too, but our gods are only D-rank."
Wait… these guys were gifted?
And they were useless?
They stood there and watched while we fought for our lives. They could have done something—anything—but instead, they just froze.
I kept my expression neutral, but deep down, I couldn't help but feel irritated.
"Why didn't you help? We could have used the extra hands," I asked, my tone sharper than I intended.
The young man hesitated before replying, "Well… my ability isn't that great. I don't think we could've made much of a difference."
As if to prove his point, he unsheathed his sword. At first, it looked completely ordinary—until, suddenly, the blade extended, its reach increasing before my eyes.
"This is my ability," he explained. "I can extend any object I'm holding."
The girl beside him finally spoke up. "And I can see a few seconds into the future."
I blinked.
Those abilities were actually pretty useful.
Sure, they weren't overwhelmingly powerful, but in a fight, they could have made a difference. They could have helped.
Still, there was no point in dwelling on it. What was done was done.
We killed the creature.
Now, we need to move forward.
Victor was still staring at the egg, deep in thought. I could tell he was weighing the pros and cons, trying to decide whether it was worth taking.
Carrying it would definitely slow us down in the goblin den. It might be valuable, but we had a job to focus on.
I decided to speak up. "We should leave it. It could be useful, sure—but if we help these guys, we'll get one gold anyway."
Victor finally looked at me, his expression unreadable.
"I don't think… so," he muttered.
"What?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.
Victor shook his head. "Never mind," he said, his expression unreadable as he turned away.
Instead, he faced the two third-class hunters. "Let's get moving."
As we walked, the two third-class hunters seemed much more eager to talk now that the danger had passed. They wouldn't stop going on about how killing a Black Orchid was a massive achievement—how, if we told people, most wouldn't even believe us.
I figured this was a good opportunity to ask more about the ranking system and how rare it was to be Gifted in this world.
From what they explained, being Gifted itself wasn't particularly rare. Many people possessed Gifts, but most had little to no combat application. For example, some had abilities that enhanced weapon-making, improved cooking, or even aided in craftsmanship. These types of Gifts were far more common, but because their users couldn't level them up through combat, they often remained stagnant. As a result, many kept their abilities to themselves, seeing no reason to make them known.
Additionally, encountering someone with a god-ranked above D was incredibly rare. Most people lived their entire lives without ever meeting one, which explained their shock at Victor and me. Of course, we weren't actually B-rank, but I wasn't about to tell them that.
They went on to explain that A-rank gods typically choose their hosts from the great 8 families, .
Another mention of that family.
Curious, I asked where exactly this family resided. It turned out that three of the four major kingdoms were heavily influenced—if not outright controlled—by them. The kingdom we were in, however, was an exception, standing between the influence of two lesser noble families: Veishart and Caltrich.
That caught my attention.
I remembered Jacquinn being a part of the Caltrich family. If I had to guess, the other vice commander was likely from Veishart.
He also mentioned that the person I had beaten—Viole—was from the Veishart family. Apparently, he had left his family behind , choosing to carve out his own name rather than rely on his noble lineage.
I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
For a moment, I had hoped he was part of Jacquinn's family. I hated that guy. So much so that, deep down, I was waiting for the day I'd be strong enough to challenge him—to pay him back for what he did to me.
I wasn't going to forget.
And I hoped he knew that.
"I'm part of the Caltrich family," he said while suddenly chuckling . ", did I not mention that? The name's Kai Caltrich."
We all froze—except for Milio, who seemed completely unfazed. He probably hadn't been paying attention and was likely expecting me to explain everything to him later.
Victor, on the other hand, immediately jumped in with questions. "Why become a hunter?"
Kai let out a small sigh. "Living in that family was suffocating. If you didn't have a strong gift, they treated you like an insect," he admitted, his voice laced with bitterness. "And, well… I didn't have a good gift. So I left. I wanted freedom—wanted to live on my own terms. Though… I do have one regret." His expression softened slightly. "I miss my mother sometimes."
I wasn't going to judge him just because he was from that family. But what did frustrate me was how, just like in my old world, power was dictated by birth.
The A-rank gods only ever chose their hosts from the Eight Great Families, ensuring that the strongest gifts never fell into the hands of outsiders.
It didn't matter how talented you were, how hard you worked—if you weren't born into the right bloodline, you would never have the best abilities.
Kai then explained how he met the blonde girl—Sarah. She had already been a third-class hunter before they crossed paths at the guild. They decided to form a party, and since then, they had been working together. Unlike him, she wasn't from any noble lineage; she was just a common girl trying to make a living as a hunter.
Curious about the ranking system for monsters, I asked him to elaborate.
Kai explained that there were six known ranks of monsters:
Feral Class – This included creatures like goblins and even humans. Individually, they were weak, but their strength lay in numbers. A lone goblin wasn't much of a threat, but an entire tribe? That was a different story.
Warden Class – A step above Feral-class creatures, these monsters typically lived in smaller groups but were much stronger. Third-class hunters were expected to be able to handle them. Wolves, for example, were considered Warden-class threats.
Reaver Class – The rank of the creature we had just killed. Unlike the previous ranks, Reaver-class monsters were incredibly dangerous, often requiring multiple well-trained hunters to take down. Most people were warned to run when they encountered one. So, the fact that we had done the opposite—and actually killed a Black Orchid—was nothing short of shocking.
Colossus Class – A step beyond Reaver-class. Unlike weaker monsters that relied on numbers, Colossus-class creatures were powerful enough to live alone—and still be a threat to entire kingdoms.
Titan Class – Kai hesitated before mentioning this one. He said Titan-class creatures were so rare that most information about them was just speculation. The few recorded sightings described them as walking calamities.
Abyss Class – The final rank, and the one shrouded in the most mystery. Kai admitted that almost nothing was known about Abyss-class beings, only that they were said to exist. No one who had ever encountered one had lived to tell the tale.
"…But we don't need to worry about those last two," Kai added, shaking his head. "Even though Titan and Abyss-class creatures are part of the ranking system, there hasn't been a single confirmed sighting of one in the last hundred years."
I wasn't sure why, but with my luck, I had a nagging feeling that I'd end up encountering one of those Titan or Abyss-class creatures sooner rather than later.
Still, my curiosity about my gift hadn't faded. I wanted to learn more—anything extra that I hadn't yet figured out on my own. As I mentally ran through everything I knew so far, a few key points stood out.
You had to kill to level up, and experience was shared among those involved in the battle. However, Kai mentioned there was evidence that the system favored those who contributed the most to a kill, rewarding them with a larger portion of the experience.
He also explained that leveling up gradually enhanced a person's base physical abilities, though the rate of improvement varied from person to person. The biggest factor seemed to be the rank of their god and whether their deity was more combat-focused. Those with gods specialized in battle saw a more significant boost in their physical stats compared to others.
That explanation made sense, but what caught my attention next was what Kai said afterward—apparently, the maximum level for an Ascended was level 15.
which seemed absurdly low.
Kai shook his head at my reaction. "There have been cases of people surpassing the level 15 cap," he admitted. "But not everyone manages to do it. From the information I've gathered, the vast majority of Gifted individuals hit a wall at level 15 and never progress beyond it. It applies to every rank of Gifted, too. Even those blessed by high-ranked gods get stuck at that limit."
Kai went on to explain that while the majority of Gifted individuals remained stuck at level 15, a select few managed to break past the barrier—but only by meeting a specific requirement. However, such cases were exceptionally rare.
So there was a requirement to surpass level 15. Some kind of condition that needed to be fulfilled.
Kai, however, had no idea what that requirement was. He only knew that it was different for each person.
One thing he did confirm, though, was that Jacquinn was among the few who had broken past the level 15 cap. That alone was enough to prove that it was possible—but frustratingly, there wasn't any solid information about how he did it.
Kai then went on to explain something else.
Those who weren't born with a Gift—ordinary humans—were called Earthbound.
People like us, the ones who received a Gift from the gods, were called Ascended.
And those who surpassed level 15?
They were called Demi-Gods.
What? That was a lot of information to take in.
Still, I had a nagging suspicion about something. If there really was a requirement to surpass level 15, then what would mine be?
Would it have something to do with her plans for me?
The thought made me uneasy. I still didn't fully understand what Nyvara wanted, but if reaching Demi-God status was part of her design, then I was willing to do whatever it took to get there.
As we walked, we finally arrived at our destination—a gloomy, gaping cave entrance that loomed before us. The air grew damp, carrying the faint scent of earth and something rotten. The atmosphere felt heavier now, as if the cave itself was swallowing the surrounding light.
We all stood at the entrance, taking a moment to prepare ourselves.
Kai stepped forward, his expression serious. "This is a relatively new goblin den," he explained. "There should be around fifty goblins inside—nothing we can't handle with our numbers."
Fifty goblins? That was still a lot. But we had come this far, and backing out now wasn't an option.
Beside him, Sarah struck a match, igniting the torch in her hands. The flame flickered to life, casting eerie shadows along the rough walls of the cave.
I took position at the front, gripping my daggers tightly, bracing myself for whatever awaited us inside. Victor and Kai flanked me on either side, both holding torches to cast light ahead while keeping their weapons ready for close combat. Sarah stood in the middle, her torch held high to further illuminate our path. At the rear, Milio kept his bow drawn, his sharp eyes scanning the darkness for any signs of an ambush.
With our formation set, we took our first cautious steps into the darkness, descending into the unknown.