The country we were in was called King's Harbor. After moving away from the military sector and heading inwards, I was able to see groups of people and hunters celebrating their newly found freedom from the threat of beasts that were heading here previously
Kazuhiko was walking besides me while talking about the power structure of countries in the United Federation and their dungeon diving system here.
I recalled a news show I had watched back in Outer Bank X weeks ago that mentioned a similar topic about how hunters were restricted in the United Federation and had to turn half of their loot over to the government
It turns out that this system was placed to raise many peak hunters who were obligated to work for the government and defend the lower ranking hunters that contributed their loot
This was why hunters in the United Federation had much less mortality rates, as a stronger hunter who used up more of the resources was assigned to each of the teams diving in the dungeon.
This built up a system where many strong hunters dived into dungeons with weaker ones. Kazuhiko routinely had to dive into rank B dungeons with rank B hunters while occasionally clearing rank A dungeons with a government created fully rank A team
It was a good system that I applauded, as it produced many strong hunters and a level of responsibility that caused there to be less deaths in the United Federation when Apocalypse 2.0 occurred a week ago. There were many strong hunters spread out all over the countries unlike the cramming of powerful hunters into a few specific cities back in the Empire
Right now, we were heading to a rank A dungeon called [Babadook's Layer], which was a dungeon filled with strange dark furred monsters that had powerful offensive skills
Kazuhiko was very confident in my strength after he watched me take down the Black Dragon, so we dived into the dungeon by ourselves
The first floor was an expansive dark space that contained many of those dark furred monsters, and Kazuhiko moved first, trying his [Dominator's Dance of Death] for the first time
His figure flickered in and out on the surroundings, his sword releasing a multitude of dark sword waves that smashed into the dark furred figures and tore through their defenses
There were more than 30 rank A monsters in front of us, but they all received the powerful attacks from this one rank A+ skill and tumbled down like dominoes
Kazuhiko was smiling like a child as he sheathed his sword and watched the destruction he had caused.
On the next floor after that, I tried out the rank S skill, [Rage of the Thunder Monarch] on the next group of the dark furred beasts.
BOOM!
On top of their heads, a wide expanse of purple lightning roiled out and then struck down. They seemed like thick pillars of snakes that caused destruction everywhere they touched.
The rank A beasts didn't stand a chance as their bodies were literally blown apart. Kazuhiko didn't want to be outdone and went to the lower floor with even more vigor.
I used [Summon Virulent Abomination] as we moved further in, summoning the grotesque but lovable beast that tore through the rank A enemies as if they were nothing. I realized that rank A dungeons would not pose a single threat to me as I watched the beast tear through the defenses of monsters
I let the summon and Kazuhiko do all the work going forwards as I focused on possible skill combinations with the skills that currently met the requirements and were compatible
I was able to combine the rank C skills [Whirlwind] and [Aura of Haste] to produce [C+ Fevered Rush]
When activated, my speed sharply rose for an instant as I traveled forward and almost smacked into a wall. The speed still couldn't beat rank A [Flight] though
Further experimentation allowed me to combine the rank B skills, [Shadow Veil] and [Stealth] to bring out [B+ Dark Assassin]
This new skill most definitely matched rank A skills, if not surpassing some of them, as my body disappeared and melded into the surroundings as I wished.
I could keep it active at all times to still cover up the colorful skill effects of the many other active skills I had on all the time, while choosing when to become fully hidden that even the powerful rank A peak hunter Kazuhiko had trouble finding me
My experimentations came to an end as we reached the BOSS room, and I watched the hunter and summon shred apart the rank A TITAN as if it was nothing, leaving it as a poisoned mess of bones and flesh after
The hunter was looking indignantly at the summoned creature he didn't seem to be able to fully match yet, and I laughed at this sight.
Since we finished this rank A dungeon so quickly, in less than half an hour at that, we dived back in right after. I had the goal of obtaining more rank A skills to play around with [Skill Combination] even more
The process would take time though, as I had to learn the skills and bring them all the way to 100 proficiency before I could combine them
We dived into the rank A dungeon more than 10 times after that, only coming out some time in the afternoon. I was able to pocket five rank A skills for myself, leaving all the cores, three items, and 2 skill books that matched Kazuhiko behind
I had already reached the peak that rank A cores could bring me long ago, and was now absorbing the rank S cores from the three powerful beasts I defeated
I also recalled some time back before I took down the rank S turtle and humanoid mosquito, I had gained a rank A skill book called [Void Slash] that I just tossed in my storage ring and forgot about. I looked at Kazuhiko and his katana, pulling out the skill right after and handing it to him
He looked at the skill description and turned all serious, giving me a heartfelt thanks for the gift.
I shook off the gratitude and turned my attention to the horrendous looking Virulent Abomination to the side, as it had made the dungeon runs as effortless as they could be, and I could almost feel myself sinking into laziness as I watched the beast do all the work
We were heading in further into King's Harbor at the behest of Kazuhiko, it seemed the allied countries of the United Federation were planning an event to honor the great hunter that brought down the dragon
I wasn't into festivities though, and planned to not attend when something occured that gave me the perfect reason not to. The mysterious voice had returned yet again.
Kazuhiko saw my serious expression and stopped, and I told him that something came up, disappearing from his sight with [Dark Assassin] and flying into the skies
I floated high in the air as I felt my vision sinking and I found myself in that same blank room once more. Three figures were still visible in smaller rooms surrounding this one, with the hexagonal prism slowly rotating in this main room
The voice rang out once more as I closely listened. It was time for answers.