Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse c1-705

by Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Game

  He scoffed as he heard this

  "Hah, what most powerful hunter. If I took that title, then what are you supposed to be?"

  I smiled when he mentioned this, and Kazuhiko continued

  "I admire your strength. I only heard very few things about you, but didn't think you were so overpowered to such an extent. Is it your inherent skill, or is there another secret to your strength?"

  He really couldn't hide his aims as he asked this so blatantly, and I replied by telling him it was my inherent skill. His shoulders slumped for a moment before quickly coming up again as he talked to himself

  "That's okay, it just means there is someone stronger than me that I can look forward to surpassing!"

  The katana by his side seemed to vibrate as he said this, and I just listened while I finished healing the last hunter.

  After this, Kazuhiko pulled me aside while boisterously saying that after a hard fought battle, we had to go enjoy ourselves. I was feeling exhausted and hungry after all this time and chose to go along

  The Virulent Abomination had finished chasing down all nearby beasts and ripping them apart, so I unsummoned it far in the distance and watched it explode while releasing noxious gas for the last time. I wondered if I would find any compatible S rank skills in the future to combine and make this beast even stronger

  High ranking hunters and officials took the lead to clear everything around the battlefield as Kazuhiko took me further inland. We bypassed the walled defenses and arrived to a large military compound not too far off from where the fighting was occuring

  Kazuhiko walked in as if he owned the place and said a few things to the soldiers there, and we were soon seated in a dining area with drinks and foods being brought in every minute

  An entire half a day of flying on the back of my poisonous summon and the constant fights these past weeks had exhausted me more than I thought as I enjoyed the ever so increasing feast in front of me

  Foods that I've never tried before made their way into my mouth. There was a platter of something called Yakitori that I couldn't get enough of. Another one that I truly enjoyed was something that Kazuhiko called Sukiyaki, it was an enormous pot that had the softest stew of beef and vegetables

  I enjoyed the food and company to say the least, listening to the boisterous hunter talk about his journey to the peak of rank A. My main focus was the food as I half heartedly listened to the stories

  Kazuhiko seemed like a good guy. From the way he talked, he looked like that friend that always seemed to have a screw loose but was holding it in and staying sane. He always took the initiative to talk and ask me questions, making it his goal to try and understand everything about me

  Talking to him gave me a reminder of just how drastically my life had changed from just a few weeks ago

  When a plate of food called Takoyaki came, my entire attention was stolen away as I found myself devouring the round balls filled with octupus and I don't know what else in a blink and calling out to the soldier delivering the plates to bring out even more of them

  The day passed like this as I enjoyed food I hadn't had before.

  Chapter 62 - Relaxation

  After the many meals came and empty plates left, the food that unceasingly went into my stomach came to a stop.

  I was lying on my back staring at the ceiling as I thought about this peace I could really only achieve after having an amazing meal. Worries of the future faded away. The constant anger cooled down, and it felt like a much needed rest period had come

  It didn't last long as Kazuhiko shattered this peace in an instant by loudly flinging the door open. He had left a couple of minutes back to I don't even know where, and now he came back as noisy as ever

  "We've had the food, now we ought to have some fun!"

  The hunter loudly barged in while bringing more than ten barely dressed women inside the room. I groaned at this sight as I really just wanted to sleep after eating so much today. How did he even get these women in this war zone so quickly anyways?

  I rose up and watched the figures pouring into the room. Well, as much as I wanted to rest, I would be a good guest and follow the lead of the host.

  ---

  Night passed and dawn came. I had woken up and walked out to a small courtyard that had a brightly shining pond with a few fish. I sat down in the courtyard as I enjoyed this environment of calmness.

  Early that morning, I was able to get in contact with the people back in the Blessed Empire. Elizabeth was the point of contact, and for some odd reason I felt guilty when I read the huge text update she had sent.

  Much of the beasts had been taken care of back in the Empire, with many of the people quickly adapting to the new function they saw on their attribute panels

  Kazuhiko had spent an entire hour on this yesterday questioning me if I had anything to do with this, as the change had occurred the moment the dragon fell. I denied everything for the time being and waited to hear again from the mysterious being that was taking its time

  The main takeaway for the new [Skill Combination] function was that it was extremely useful for veteran hunters. Your proficiency had to first reach 100 for any of the skills you wanted to combine, and they had to have compatibility.

  Very few hunters were able to even match the first requirement, not to mention finding two skills compatible with each other. So even after half a day passed since this new function was founded, they still didn't have much information on it

  I thought about the many skills I had that had already reached 100 proficiency as I wanted to start trying for myself, with the lower ranked skills as the first test

  I finished reading the huge bubble of a text, with the major thing I had to take note of being the request of my presence back in the empire to be awarded an influential position and many more things

  I didn't become overly excited at this, as I had undergone way too many things these past few weeks that made me have a different outlook on the world.

  Life was extremely fleeting. I had watched many people die, and saved countless more, but I still felt that something was missing. Even the anger I felt towards enemies I have yet to ascertain or the revenge the mysterious being had promised didn't fill whatever was missing

  Since there was nothing pressing occuring in the Empire, with the dungeons being taken care of by the high ranking hunters and things on the path to being stabilized, I would stay and tour the places in the United Federation for a bit

  I was waiting for the next time I would be back in that blank room with the hexagonal prism, where I would no doubt be getting many answers.

  Before jumping into the new function, I pulled out the golden skill book that the dragon had dropped. It was [Rage of the Thunder Monarch- Area of effect skill. Extremely condensed lightning decimates an area of 15 meters]

  The skill seemed to be even more destructive power than [Volcanic Eruption] because of its lower effect area, but I would still have to test it to be sure. The book turned into particles of light as it flew to my body and the skill appeared in my panel

  I looked through the panel to start assessing possible skills to combine.

  To start testing the [Skill Combination] function, I wanted to begin with the rank F skills, but I realized that I only learnt 2 after all this time. I had grown so rapidly that I jumped from F to mostly rank D and C skills

  This wouldn't be an issue though, as I had been running around taking down many rank of bosses this past week and collected many skill books in my storage rings.

  Even after I gave away a vast majority to the destroyed cities I visited and to the military regiments I came across, I still had many to play with.

  I let out the collections of skill books in my storage rings and learnt many skills of lower ranks for the purpose of testing. I had to learn them now and spend some time using them and having them active for their proficiency to rise to 100 before I could begin combining

  Then for now, the focus would be placed on the rank D and
C skills I already had many of that were at 100 proficiency. None of the rank A skills had reached 100 so far, so I'll leave those for now. To start it off, I opened the [Skill Combination] function and added two obviously non compatible rank D skills

  [Rough Skin + Flames of Torment]

  When the two skills were placed on the two slots, there was a red color shining out. The combination was not successful. So red showed bad compatibility that would not work

  Next up I tried what I thought to be compatible skills, which was [Safeguard + Rough Skin]

  The two slots shined a light green, and the green light expanded as the two skills disappeared, a brand new one appearing on my panel

  [Armored Skin]

  The skill had a brand new color, in contrast to the skills written in white with the blue background of the panel. It had a purple color, with its rank now upgraded to D+ and its proficiency showing

  I activated this new skill in wonder and found that the defense provided by it was more than triple what [Safeguard] and [Rough Skin] provided. It was still a lower ranking skill though, so it didn't drastically change my defenses

  Since combining the two of them changed its rank from D to D+, I wondered if combining two D+ skills would give rise to a brand new rank C skill. I didn't have all that many rank D skills that had already risen to 100 though, so I would have to wait for the new ones I just learnt to reach there

  I was about to continue my testing by moving on to rank C skills when an annoying voice broke the peace established in courtyard

  "Noah! Let's grab some breakfast and then go dungeon diving!"

  The guy had become overly friendly over this past day had come out early morning with energy that I could in no way match.

  It seemed that his excitement stemmed from the fact that he was able to combine two of his rank A skills and produce a powerful rank A+ skill.

  Veteran hunters like him who had been dungeon diving for the past months had collected a multitude of skills that fit their class, so they had many options of compatible skills that had reached the required proficiency for combination

  Well, when I start combining my own, I should have even more to work with. And I was currently the only hunter holding the most powerful rank S skills.

  Kazuhiko had been able to combine two of his skills called [Blade Dance] and [Dominator's Sword Wave] to bring the result of [Dominator's Dance of Death]

  I was curious about this rank A+ skill and wanted to test my newly gained skills too, so a dungeon would be perfect right now.

  Food came first as I was treated to brand new dishes once again today, with us heading out an hour later.

  Chapter 63 - Experimentation

  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.

  Chapter 64 - The mystery behind dungeons

  The explanations began slowly, and soon became huge dumps of information that I had to sift through

  To start it off, the being I have been talking to this entire time called itself the Planetary Core. When I first heard this I blanked out a little, I had been talking to the core of this world this entire time?

  It went further to further clarify that it was a system of laws congregated together to keep this world alive, so I could also call it this world's Planetary System. I cut it down to System for short just to make it easier when I was addressing it