I was able to see the power of the humans of this world first hand as I observed the leading peak rank S captain hold his own against a rank S BOSS. We didn't have to move too far in to come in contact with them
After passing through the large trees that were covered by snow, ferocious looking white beasts began appearing. They had disproportionately large hands and feet with smaller bodies that didn't seem to match. This size was even more exaggerated when it came to the rank S Leader that neared 10 meters
Sharp icicles would form at the wave of these beast's hands as the mercenaries worked together to bring them down. The leading S rank, Captain Ryner, was holding his own while standing against a Leader, his large broadsword roiling with fire elements as each clash left wounds on the beast
I worked with the group I came with as I continued observing everything first, using the rank A [Infernal Purge] every few seconds after watching some of the fire power of the few rank S mercenaries in the group
The blazing flames that came crashing down were extremely deadly to the normal beasts, setting their entire bodies aflame if a single one touched them.
As for the looting of cores, the mercenaries cut open the heads of the beasts they killed to pull out cores much larger than what I had been used to seeing. These were the full cores of beasts that weren't broken down into smaller portions by the system that hunters back in my world worked with
When it came to the monsters I took down myself, I recalled the words of the System. I would be in a different world, but still holding that same power. The only change was that it would only be triggered when I came in contact with the beings that I took down
To make things even more seamless, the extracted essence in the form of skill books, items, or cores would directly be placed in one of my storage rings when I would normally 'harvest cores' like other inhabitants of this world
With this in mind, the extermination groups moved forward while staying close together and taking down the beasts that came rushing out. I was amazed at the strength of the humans here, as even the rank A mercenaries utilized their strength and essence better than the hunters I had always observed
Only after the hunters begin to fully utilize [Skill Combination] do I see them catching up and eventually exceeding this level of strength. The S rank hunters came out with colorfully destructive spells that mowed down the normal rank A beasts and would only be blocked by rank S leaders
One red haired mercenary raised her magic staff forward and a blazing phoenix appeared in the next moment, rushing towards a group of beasts where it exploded and engulfed them in flames in an instant
I observed all of this as I continued to use [Infernal Purge] to take down normal rank A and S beasts, along with a few rank A leaders so that I could increase my collection of rank A skills. Today wasn't the day for me to go all out and massacre everything on sight, I would watch and learn as much as I could, before I find the time to come out here myself and go all out
I was filled with expectations as I thought about running around this huge Nest with all the beasts in it. I would have confirm the highest power of beasts that laid deeper in the nest first though, as I couldn't play around with my life
The power I was showing matched the rank S mercenaries, as even though the damage was somewhat lower than rank S skills, I could put up the act that [Infernal Purge] could be casted more frequently because of its low damage
My role in the task force became handling the large groups of normal rank A and S beasts, while the other rank S mercenaries clashed against the leaders. Low key. I had to start off by being low key for now.
Captain Ryner began looking towards me favorably as I made the work easier by clearing many of the beasts with the area of attack skills.
My attention wasn't all placed onto this one thing though, as during the hunt I had always been checking and combining the active defense and support skills that continued to rise in proficiency.
Through the combinations, I was able to produce a few compatible rank B+ skills that weren't worth a mention as they were right now, but would be useful when I received rank A skills through them. It would take a few more days, but those few days meant more than four rank A skills would come to light from the combination of multiple rank B+ skills
I smiled at this thought, as rising skills this way meant I could continue to build up compatible skills that will be able to combine to rank S with no problems. Defense and support skills that boosted me by a large margin would not be a game of chance anymore
The extermination task force was performing extremely well with the decent leadership from the captain and my addition that made the work all the easier. An entire half a day passed as we moved across the fringes of the Skypeak Nest, never daring to go too far in land. After we cleared many of the disproportionately sized beasts, we came across other varieties as we went further in
After we finished clearing a few more beast groups, the mercenaries came to a halt at the command of Captain Ryner. His hand was in the air as he looked forward with deep concentration. We were in a position that was further inland than any other time as the beasts had begun to thin out in the periphery. His large voice rang out
"We will stop here today. If we move any further in we will intrude in an EPIC ranked beast's territory."
At the mention of this, the mercenaries adopted solemn faces as they began to move back. My heart palpitated as I confirmed the next rank above S. EPIC rank. Many ideas passed in my head before I quickly knocked them down. I wouldn't be so rash as to have a head on collision of something that high of a rank before I collect many defensive rank S skills
I would rather be overly prepared and protected then suddenly lose my life with rash decisions. I breathed out calmly as I followed the rest of the group to move out of the huge land floating in the sky. A voice rang out I was lost in my thoughts
"Rookie, exemplary work out there today, it cut our time by more than an hour. Where has someone like you with a large mana pool been hiding all this time?"
I came out of my head and smiled at the Captain that appeared besides me
"I was honing my skills privately until I was confident enough to take on these beasts."
"Haha, honing your skills until you reach such a high rank? You're too cautious! If you had trained with other mercenaries, that flame skill of yours might have already reached S rank!"
He paused as he looked me up and down before continuing
"Come back with a few of my people so you can get to know the mercenaries you'll be working with from now on, we can't let a talent like you go to waste."
"Haha, sure."
I listened to the large man's words and agreed to go along. I had to become known in this Frozen Kingdom little by little. I wouldn't start off with an explosive show of power that would raise heads, but become known slowly as my power increased in the shadows.