Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse c1-705

by Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Game

  He was also looking favorably at the hunter in front of him as another candidate, as his power had skyrocketed just in the past week, maybe there were still more surprises from him

  Chapter 29 - The Coliseum

  The book held a list of many more skills than I expected, making me spend some time deciding my first rank B offensive skill. A disastrous skill caught my eye with its high damage potential and the fact that it would match extremely well with the [Mangrove Swamp]'s huge cl.u.s.ters of alligators that would swarm towards me once I went in alone

  I let the Vice Admiral know of my selection and spent a few minutes talking while the assistant went out, coming back ten minutes later with a suitcase that held a thick book

  I received the suitcase and absorbed the skill [Miniature Tornado: For 10 seconds, unleash a rotating column of sharp winds that follow your commands]

  The skill appeared in my panel without an issue, and I was looking forward to spamming as much of it as I could when hundreds of alligators swarmed me from all sides

  I gave my thanks to the Vice Admiral and stepped out of the office. The short tank, Lana Stone, had already sent an address on my phone of where I should be joining them. I'll indulge myself in this bit of socializing before going back to my lone ways of decimating dungeons

  I got out of the military sector and got a ride towards the location. The streets of Star City were packed with energy and people, making you rethink whether half the land had really been turned into a desolate wasteland and people were still fighting for their lives

  This being one of the core defense cities of the Empire, there were very few incidents of monsters causing deaths and destruction once things stabilized. The unawakened people thus looked up to the hunters that were diving into dungeons to protect them every day and aspired to be like them

  The car neared a grand structure that could be seen from anywhere in the city. It took my breath away as I remembered seeing videos of structures like these that were in multiple inner cities across the Empire. The excited faces of people rushing in through the huge double doors and the shouts and screams could already be heard from here. This was the place where hunters fought and competed for fun. This, was The Coliseum.

  I shot a text to Lana that I was here, and someone approached me a few minutes after to lead me past the lines of people. Booming sounds of boos and cheers were already resounding throughout the huge building as we went in and neared spaces with fewer people. The Coliseum was built similar to those in ancient cultures, a huge oval amphitheater with thousands of seats

  The Hunting Squad had a huge space all to themselves close to the arena floor in the middle where there were already hunters fighting. I joined them and watched the ongoing match which seemed to be between two rank C hunters

  The fights were brutal, as the bloodier they were the more cheers the crowd gave. Drinks and food were already brought in and we began talking when the short tank turned to me and screamed in my ears over the loud cheering

  "We might be lucky enough to see an amazing show in a few minutes, apparently Lightning Hand is bored enough once again and is announcing a competition soon!"

  I listened to her words as I recalled who Lightning Hand was. This was one of the few known rank A hunters of the Empire, I didn't realize he was in Star City. What was someone strong like him about to do?

  The fight between the two rank C hunters was gradually coming to a close as the mage ran out of mana and was now being beaten to a pulp by the berserker. The crowd was screaming like they were possessed as a ringing sound was heard and the fight was finished

  The cheers reached an even higher pitch when the match was done and a burly man with his body crackling with lightning appeared on the four huge screens in the middle of the coliseum

  He was standing in a section close to us surrounded by pretty women when he grabbed a mic and his booming voice could be heard throughout

  "HELLO CITIZENS OF STAR CITY!"

  The strong voice rang out like a clap of lightning and the cheers from the spectators reached a fevered pitch

  "We're in for a great show today, as I will be putting forth a prize that no hunter can say no to..."

  Lightning Hand rose his hand in the air as a thick book appeared between his fingers. "This, my dear citizens, is the rank A skill book, [Flight]!"

  The crowd went silent for a second before even louder cheers resounded. My mind received a shock as I looked up at the man on the screen and the glistening skill book he was holding

  The hunting squad members got up from their seats as serious expressions rose on their faces

  The man whose body had tendrils of lightning dancing on it continued "For today only, in the next 30 minutes, the winner of a Free for All fight will get to take this bad boy home!!!"

  The loud screams continued to increase as hunters from all over the stadiums rose up with greedy faces. This was a rank A skill, something that rarely dropped in rank B dungeons, and only ever came out from the dungeons that very few hunters could delve in. This was the dream of many hunters

  Even I was expectant to get my hands on something like this. [Flight], something that literally allowed you to...well, fly

  "Now, for all the hunters that want to participate, jump into the ring!"

  The moment his words finished, multiple hunters began jumping from their seats onto the huge circular arena at the center of the coliseum. Hunters were greedy for skills but were smart enough not to lose their lives. Most of the ones that jumped in were rank C hunters and a few rank Bs

  The members of the hunting squad look at each other before the short tank said "Haha, lets put our restrictions aside and see which person is lucky enough to get this pie falling from the sky"

  The rest of them nodded at this and also jumped down to join the hunters on the ground. I looked at the outpouring of hunters that were filling the arena and rose up myself

  It was already half-filled with dense numbers of hunters that were putting their lives on the line. I looked at this and jumped down myself with a sigh. I really couldn't sit out on something like this

  Rank A skills were so rare that getting another skill like this would be near impossible unless you farmed the high ranking dungeon tens or hundreds of times. Even now I was questioning why this Rank A hunter was giving it away on a whim

  He continued talking as the hunters continued to fill into the arena "The rules for the Free for All are simple, the last man standing...WINS"

  The crowd had gone crazy as the build-up to the fight continued, with people standing up hysterically shouting as if they were the ones getting the prize

  A few minutes passed by with no other hunters jumping into the ring. Lightning Hand looked around the densely packed arena and raised his arm. Quietness ensued in the huge coliseum before he brought it down and shouted "START!"

  Chapter 30 - Free for All

  The arena was filled with screams as soon as the fight started, with explosions of skills bouncing from all around. The rank C hunters were taking each other out without a question, their eyes filled with greed.

  The lower-ranked hunters here were those whose greed had surpassed their common sense, as the sane ones stayed on their seats to keep on watching the moment they realized the people competing for this would mostly be rank B

  I watched the scene of chaos unfolding in front of me as I smiled and activated both [Stealth] and [Camouflage]. I disappeared from the sights of all the hunters and watched the scene while fully protected with multiple defensive skills that brushed off any spell that accidentally came my way

  The audience was screaming in a frenzy as they watched the bloody fight below, calling for more blood anytime someone fell. Rank B hunters gradually began to move in full force, devastating skills beginning to fly out

  The squad I had dived into [Mangrove Swamp] with were all far apart fighting their own battles, but one of the mages was already knocked out cold. At the center of attention was a hunter holding two ro
und shields with his body bathed in golden light. This Knight pushed back all attacks and hunters that neared him with explosive blasts of white light the moment they neared

  Multiple hunters were falling just from him alone. Opposite on the other side was a woman holding a bow that was shooting flaming arrows and heavily wounding the hunters that were struck

  I watched all of this while evading any hunters rushing about and absorbing the stray attacks without the notice from any hunters. The bloody fight continued until most of the rank C hunters were knocked out, leaving 9 rank B hunters on the floor of the arena intently staring at each other

  AAAHH!!!

  One of them couldn't hold on any longer and let out a battle cry while rushing to another hunter nearest to him. Another brawl ensued, with the hunter holding the two round shields continuing to push away any skills and attack with explosive blasts of white light

  From the hunting squad I knew, only the berserker with the flaming sword continued, his entire body wreathed in flames once more as he took on two other hunters by himself. The rest of the team members were knocked out cold or sitting out injured

  I found a relatively far place in the arena away from the fight that had a ton of rank C hunters either knocked out or struggling painfully and sat down while continuing to observe the fight. My aim was to do very little work and defeat the last hunter standing that should be exhausted to obtain this rank A skill easily

  The hard fight continued as it came down to two hunters facing off in the Arena, the hunter bathed in a golden light that was holding two shields and the hunter with a bow that shot scalding hot flames. Their standoff was building up the anticipation among the audience as the cheers continued

  I was looking forward to doing very little work and win when I felt the air change. Instead of heading towards each other, two hunters turned towards my location at the same time.

  Well shit

  I stood up and got ready for the fight early as it seemed the hunters saw through my [Stealth] and [Camouflage]. Did they have a skill that helped in detection or something else?

  Oh well, it doesn't matter anyway. A bright smile bloomed on my face as I watched the woman draw her bow and shoot multiple flaming arrows towards me and the shining Knight rushed forward

  I would at least get a chance to test the destructive force of the newly gained skill against two rank B hunters that seem to be standing at the peak of this rank. [Miniature Tornado] was cast for the first time

  A swirling mass of sharp winds appeared in front of me that dispersed the flame arrows that were rushing towards me and pushed back the glowing Knight. I felt the winds move my dark hair around as I commanded the skill to go towards the nearest hunter

  The body of the glowing Knight...expanded? Wow, his body actually expanded as the blinding light shooting out of him increased, withstanding the heavy and sharp winds until the skill faded a few seconds after as it had a 10-second duration

  His body came back to normal size while he was roughly breathing, seeming proud of being able to withstand the attack. I gave a light laugh as I shook my head and cast another [Miniature Tornado]

  The Knight's face turned ashen as he saw another coming right at him and used the two shields to try and withstand the rotating winds to no avail, being blown away with cuts all over his body a second after

  The remaining hunter on the field that was shooting arrows had moved a further distance away from me while continuing to shoot. I wouldn't let her have her way as I used [Whirlwind] to close the distance and cast another [Miniature Tornado] at her position. The rapidly rotating winds swiped the hunter off her feet, inflicting heavy damage on the armor and skin beneath it, the force ultimately blasting her onto the walls of the arena

  Silence followed after as I stood in a field of hunters that were either knocked out or crying painfully, with a few missing some limbs

  "WAAAA!!!"

  The crowd's cries reached another decibel higher as they saw the end of the fight, and the booming voice of the rank A Hunter could be heard

  "Haha, good, good, good!"

  The man repeated the same words three times before he leaped up from the area he was in and fell down towards the arena like a strike of lightning. He looked me up and down and laughed once more before pulling out a glistening book from his storage ring

  "Calm yet careful, smart, and also powerful. Haha, this skill book isn't wasted on you. It was supposed to go to the rank B hunter with the highest achievements in the city, but I'm impulsive and I believe in opportunity and luck. This, is your fortune!"

  The skill book was carried by a thin layer of sparkling electricity and drifted towards me. I was marveling at the skills of a rank A hunter while looking at this monster of a man in front of me. His body seemed like a volcano ready to erupt and smash anything standing on its way

  I knew I wasn't ready to face someone like this yet. My attributes had only just broke through to rank B because of some support skills, and I needed to put in a lot more work if I wanted to catch up to people at this stage before everything crumbled

  "Thank you for the opportunity" I grabbed the skill book, absorbing it right then and there without wasting a single second as I thanked the man surrounded by lightning.

  "Use it wisely and try to reach for higher places" He nodded as his body lifted off the ground effortlessly, leaving behind a few words before shooting up to skies and being gone in a flash of light

  I could barely follow the speed of that lightning as it went away, making me even more excited to go back to my lone ways of dungeon diving and quickly gain that level of strength.

  Chapter 31 - Gradually moving forward

  I watched the flash of lightning disappear on the horizon and went around the arena to look for the hunting squad members. Some were knocked out cold but they all had only minor injuries. With the strength of a rank B hunter, wounds like that would heal after a long night sleep or a few healing spells

  The crowd was calming down as the defeated hunters got up and left the arena. I said my goodbyes to the hunters that were already up and moving and left, all my attention on getting stronger by farming dungeons until the strength of rank A wasn't far away from me

  I passed by the overcrowded exit with people rushing about and walked out of the coliseum, making my way back to the military complex. After passing through all the checkpoints, I didn't go back to the living quarters and went straight toward the [Mangrove Swamp]

  Strength was respected in this city, I didn't plan on hiding in the shadows for too long. I'll show them a glimpse of what I can do while still hiding a major part of my strength to account for any unknowns. Because of the incoming threats of beasts though, there would be no use hiding my strength as it would gradually be shown in time

  I thought about turning on [Stealth] and disappearing from everyone's eyes when I first entered the dungeon alone, but decided otherwise. Unless a peak rank B hunters similar to the ones I found in the coliseum coincidentally happened to pass by when I activated the skill, I should be able to control the information of how frequently I enter this dungeon by choosing when to turn [Stealth] on and off to be purposefully seen

  I will go in the first time without hiding, and turn on [Stealth] when I inevitably beat the dungeon in record time. I'll keep myself hidden during these times so that my impossible clear time will be kept under wraps

  I showed my ID to the confused guards patrolling around the dungeon as they watched me with increasingly shocked expressions go towards the dungeon and disappear from their sight

  ---

  "What?! He went in by himself?"

  Magnar abruptly stood up while listening to the report that just came in. The gears in his mind were turning as he asked himself if he had struck gold with this hunter while seeing this show of confidence, or if he had miscalculated entirely and wasted some resources. His impassive look came back to his face as he thought, "Only time will tell"

  ---

  At anothe
r location in one of the luxurious hotels in Star City.

  A man was fuming from a phone call he just received. He was a veteran rank B hunter that was halfway through becoming rank A. He was already holding two rank A skills, and needed just one more to fully be considered a legitimate A ranker that could dive into the highest dungeons known

  A book that had dropped recently and was in the possession of Lightning Hand was supposed to go to the next rank B hunter on a list. His name was at the top of that list. Yet Lightning Hand had played around with the book and gifted it to some random rank B by making up a competition in the middle of the day

  He couldn't even look at the direction of the rank A hunter that recklessly gave the skill away, but he could definitely go after that rank B hunter who received it. He thought of this as he pulled out his phone to dial another number.

  In the unfortunate event that the hunter dies...He will still get his hands on that rank A skill

  ---

  I appeared on that same patch of land surrounded by murky green waters all around me. The rushing of alligators could already be felt the moment I entered. This time around, there would not be any games of keeping one alive to rest or relax.

  I let out a cheeky smile as I prepared to get started. This will be a constant and relentless fight all the way through without a second wasted.

  The first order of business...was checking out [Flight]

  My body slowly began lifting off the ground when the skill was activated, following my thoughts while slowly rising. If I thought about moving up, I moved up. Any direction I wanted and I could do it in a heartbeat.

  I hovered a few meters in the air and enjoyed the feeling when the alligators reached the small patch of land and jumped up with their wide jaws open