Ch 3

A few months have passed and Areth was a one year old. His time as baby was not wasted simply lazing on his crib, he took his time to gather information around the world and familiarized with the global concerns. Revising what he had compiled so far, he now had a general grasp of the current trends and the common sense of an adult man.

First was about the hunters. They were people who was either born gifted, or obtain powers due to a fortunate encounter and whatnot. The Hunter Association, a government unit responsible for regulating the activity of these superhuman, have classified them based on their abilities.

Fighters, those who have physical capabilities that have broken through the limits of humanity. They have ridiculous strength, high speed regeneration and such.

Spiritual, these were hunters who abilities derive from mysterious entities. They were able to borrow power from these beings, and some are capable of summoning them on Earth. Healers, Necromancers and Summoners belong to this class.

Benders, often the most powers class, capable of bending the rules of nature but to a limited degree.

Special, these are weird abilities that do not belong to the either of the three main class.

Aside from the Hunters Association, there are also privately owned hunter organizations. They are called guilds.

Hunters are also ranked according to their accomplishments and capabilities, E to A are from the lowest to strongest, S rank after A are the cream of the crop, the trump card of humanity.

Areth thought of his father who was a swordsman, he was a B class hunter and was by no means weak according to the standards of the HAS.

He once followed him inside a rift and watch him solo a half dragon with a edgy look and cool sounding skills. It was fortunate that his dad went solo, otherwise he would die from embarrassment.

'Why do they do all hunters act like like that?!'

Areth's soul followed a party of S-rank Hunters to a Rift. This rift was different from the ones he had gone to these few days.

It was always snowing and the land was all white, with mountains of frost sometimes blocking the path.

"It's been a while since I last entered such a dangerous place." A man said. He was holding a sword and wore a light clothing despite the cold air.

A total of 10 people, all of the highest rank. These hunters were from City D, and was deployed to investigate the recent Calamity grade rift that appeared in the suburb.

Skeletons would rise up from the ground without warning and would attack the group from time to time. They would even encounter boss level monsters.

Areth who was in a floating in the air leisurely watched as the Dark Knight, Dark Generals and Arc Lich that appeared on the way were beaten by the overpowered group.

They experienced some difficulty fighting the lich but it was unavoidable.

"Let's rest here for a while." The leader who looked to be a middle aged man said. Areth saw him use magic spells to easily dispose of the monsters. Unlike the generic image of mages in his mind, the man did not wear any gaudy robes or wooden staff and instead opt for a black overcoat and a bracelet embedded with a magic stone as a staff.

At this point in the journey, the group was exhausted fighting monsters nonstop. Some were injured in the process. It was fortunate that they found a competent healer.

From their camping site, they could see the silhouetted a large palace. They that it was their target.

"We came here to investigate and not to storm through." The leader reminded them. "After we circle it, we will return and report our findings."

"Got it."

Suddenly, the air around them turned cold and a sharp sound arrived from the distant.

"Not good, something's coming!"

The healer promptly conjured a barrier from the direction of the sound.

Boom! The snow flew up in an exaggerated manner, hiding everything from view after the explosion.

Cracking sounds could be heard and the sound of something breaking.

"Wind Blast."

The rising snowflakes were pushed aside, clearing everyone's vision.

The leader pointed his hand with the bracelet towards the monster that appeared, not even taking time to recognize its form.

"Flame burst." The temperature rapidly rose up and a pillar of flame appeared around the creature, devouring it before exploding with a loud bang.

"Time to hack!"

The fighters in the team did not idle, they leaped forward to their target. Their coordination was flawless. In one swift motion, they manage to unleash their deadliest skills without hindering each other and landed safely.

The wind became still for a moment. Then like a viper, they lashed out at the monster, becoming blades that would slice up everything in their way and leaving deep marks on the ground.

The Spiritual class in the team delivered the last strike with a golden beam, blasting the monster far away.

"Was it over?"

Areth immediately cursed that bastard who spoke the forbidden line. Since someone said it already, it was obvious that the monster has not yet revealed its final form.

"Wonderful." Said a creepy voice. "Truly wonderful!"

As the mist and smoke cleared out from their various attack, the monster was finally visible in their eyes.

It was a skeleton wearing a robe. It has one skull and three 'faces'. The one on the front was the the skull of a human, growing on its left side was the skull of a goat, and on its right side, the skull of a lion. Flame wisp came alive on each of its eye sockets and moved towards their direction.

The team took in the appearance of the monster and the turned towards the head. There, a crown of gold lays, worn out and half frozen.

"I apologiize for my sudden appearance, it must have scared you correct? I was simply excited since it has been so long that I saw living creatures."

The weird skeleton stood up and dusted up its robes. Not even a gash or burn marks could be seen.

The team was used to encountering strange things. So a talking skeleton was not much of a surprise to them.

"Are you the master of this palace?"

The leader asked.

"Aaah? Of course, who else if not me? No one here exist save for me!" The skeleton said before turning towards them. "But not anymore!"

At this point, the skeleton's voice turned deep and inhuman, like that of a growling beast.

"You shall...accompany me here forever!"

This brought a scare to the team though they have expected something creepy like this to happen.

"Prepare to engage!"