Silence fell over the household. It wasn’t exactly the question everyone expected would eventually arise, but it was close to it. The Jones family knew that since Kailan was a Returnee, he was guaranteed to be a Hunter. And that was already confirmed when he entered a dungeon and rescued his big sister. So it was only natural that he would eventually want to venture into them again.

Still, they had just got him back and it had only been three days since his return. It was far too soon.

“I forbid it. You just got back and you haven’t even been ranked yet by the Bureau. Besides, you should at least take some time to rest. You were gone for 10 years, 10 years!” Maria practically yelled the last “10 years”.

“Son, the dungeons are no joke. I don’t know what all you went through in Asgard but it’s dangerous. And we would rather see you rest for a while. There’s no rush.” Edward also added his opinion.

“Kailan, you should take some time to familiarize yourself with Earth first before even considering becoming an official Hunter. There are a lot of things you’ve missed and there’s plenty of time for that stuff later. Besides, just because you’re a Hunter doesn’t mean you have to make that your life.” Elias also protested.

Everyone went silent again as they all stared at Kailan. He knew that his family might react badly considering the timing, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He needed to win them over in order to start moving forward with his plans. He needed to enter the dungeons to level and train, and he wanted to do it with everyone’s help and blessings.

“If you want to enter a dungeon, I’d advise you to go into a mine that’s around your level first, just to get some experience and better understand how things work. Most low and mid level mines will hire unguilded Hunters to help out because the guilds have a limited number of low to mid level Hunters to begin with, and they prefer to send them into dungeons around their level so that they can level up faster. Since the power and authority of a guild is reliant on the power of it’s Hunters.” Rebecca was the only one who responded supportively to Kailan’s request.

“Becca!” Maria snapped.

“Mom, you're being over protective. He entered that Plebeian ranked level 4 dungeon and killed one of the mini-boss guardians by himself. He’s strong enough to handle lower level dungeons safely. Besides, we all knew he would do this eventually and I think it’s a good idea for him to level up. He’s drawn a lot of attention and will probably only draw more. Better that he gets a head start to avoid having to bend to the guilds.” Rebecca responded seriously as she looked into her mother’s eyes.

“He doesn’t have to worry about the guilds right now, he’s under the protection of the Hunters Bureau because he’s a Returnee. And besides, obtaining greater strength will only make him that much more of a target.” Maria refuted.

“That protection is limited and it has an expiration date. Would you prefer he not be able to handle the guilds once he’s on his own? Elias and I won’t even be able to protect him against our own guilds let alone the others.” Rebecca made a pointed and irrefutable argument.

Kailan wasn’t strong enough to contend against the persuasiveness of the guilds right now. He knew this to be true himself which is one of the reasons he wanted to enter the dungeons in the first place.

“Mom, I understand what you’re saying. But I have my reasons for wanting to do this. Don’t worry, I’m actually really strong. And I only want to enter the mines to train.” Kailan tried to gloss over things to put his mother at ease.

“And how strong is that exactly? What is your talent rank and level?” Maria cut straight to the point.

“Uh… Well…” Kailan wasn’t sure how to answer. It was a complicated matter. Firstly he couldn’t talk about his talent rank yet, and secondly his level had been reset so there was no convincing her with that.

“What’s wrong? Do you think it’s not enough? If you think that then how do you expect us to think otherwise?” Maria continued to poke holes in his defense as she adamantly refused to give in.

“It’s not that I don’t have the confidence. It’s just… It’s complicated. I was asked by the bureau not to leak any information just yet. So it’ll have to wait until I talk to them and have them release my info officially. But I really am very strong, so you don’t need to worry mom.” Kailan once again danced around the subject. He was not very good at pretending or lying and it went contrary to his ideals so that made it even harder for him.

“Why would the bureau put a freeze on your information?” Elias asked curiously.

The Hunters Bureau was required to release a Hunter’s talent rank and level publicly. It was a law to protect other parties from fraud. Afterall, pretending to be stronger can lead to death in a dungeon and pretending to be weaker can have it’s own risks.

That’s why they came up with the Hunter IDs, a special identification card unique to Hunters that lists their basic information including a classification of the Hunter’s abilities. As well as the Hunter’s Database, a massive database with all of the Hunter’s known detailed information, which also helps prevent the IDs from being forged. To avoid such situations.

“Like I said, it’s complicated. How about this, I’ll call Eva after breakfast to find out what I need to do to become an official Hunter. If my talent rank is as high as Elias’ then I can start hunting in dungeons, but if it’s lower then I’ll wait.” Kailan tried to negotiate with his mother.

He thought that if he could compromise and prove his strength to her then she wouldn’t be so opposed to it. Her concern for him was out of the love she had for him, but also the fear of losing him again. If he can prove his strength then that will help to alleviate some of her fears.

“I’m still not convinced. Even if your talent rank is as high as Rebecca’s you can still get into danger, just look at what happened the other night.” Maria continued.

“Yes, but I entered that dungeon and came out without a scratch. Even rescuing Becca and her other guild mates.” Kailan made a very valid counter.

“Because they had already cleared out most of the dungeon monsters. You only had to face one. What happens when you enter a field with 5 or 10? You’d be trapped in a dungeon with a bunch of monsters.” Maria really was putting her all into refuting him.

“And if I told you that I have the power to open the dungeon gate at will, meaning that I can never be trapped in any dungeon?” Kailan played one of his trump cards.

Everyone paused as they were stunned by his retort. They all recalled Kailan commanding Gaia to open the seal on a sealed dungeon gate which should be impossible. If he can repeat the process then that means he can enter and exit any dungeon he wants at any time.

“I was meaning to ask, you said it wasn’t important before, but can you really open any sealed gate?” Elias really wanted to know this. Not because the higher ups in his guild had also asked him this question but simply because he wanted to know the limits of his little brother’s ability to command Gaia.

This was Gaia they were talking about. She didn’t listen to anyone and simply imposed whatever she willed. She was completely emotionless and only responded when it suited her. Although many in his guild and church believe her to be a construct created by God to protect them against the ‘demonic’ invaders, that didn’t mean they liked her just doing whatever she pleased.

“There are rules, but yes. Technically I can open any gate.” Kailan responded after carefully thinking on whether he should answer and how.

“What rules?” Edward was enthralled in this. Even though he was an employee of the Hunters Bureau, he wasn’t high enough on the food chain to be privy to the information discussed in Kailan’s debrief.

Kailan once again thought carefully on his words before responding. “Normally I am not allowed to open a gate, this is a rule not an absolute though. I could technically enter any dungeon at any time I please, but this would violate the rules that I am sworn to. But if it involves the life and death of a direct family member I can make exceptions to the rule. And of course if it involves me and the party I am with, I can open the gate and we can all leave at will. And Gaia is obligated to allow this.”

No one could speak. Their minds were replaying Kailan’s words over and over. This was basically an infinitely usable Saving Grace.

When a dungeon forms there are three special items that form inside it in random locations, that are designed to aid the defending realm. These are the Dungeon Map, which is a small green orb that displays a 3-dimensional map of the dungeon. The Dungeon Compass, which is a small blue orb that merges with the Dungeon Map and displays further information such as the locations of enemies, resources and chests. And finally the Saving Grace, which is a small yellow orb that is a one-time use exit option. It allows a raid party to escape the dungeon at any time, but there is only one per dungeon. Once it’s used all proceeding raid parties will be trapped inside of the dungeon until they either capture, destroy it or are simply wiped out.

In this way dungeons are a lot like a video game only with much higher stakes.

Being able to leave whenever he wanted to, violated the rules that all of humanity knew about the dungeons. And above all Gaia couldn’t refuse him. What exactly did Kailan learn in Asgard? If this is true then Kailan didn’t need to fear being trapped in a dungeon and he could at least guarantee his retreat path.

Maria didn’t have any other words to refute him. She couldn’t think of any other excuses. Kailan had already proven his strength and with his control over the dungeon gates, he could ensure his own safety. But that didn’t stop Maria’s stubbornness. No matter how safe he made it sound she would still be worried. It was a mother’s prerogative to be worried about her children.

But how does she continue to argue? Elias was on her side but Rebecca was on his. And she had to admit, Rebecca made a good point. It would be better if he was prepared and the only way to prepare for a battle of strength was to grow stronger than your opponent. Kailan needed strength to resist the guilds. Rebecca and Elias would only be able to block smaller guilds even after the bureau’s protection period ended. As for the mid and large sized guilds...

Chyou of Twilight Garden was known to be at level 6 and was a Knight rank talent, just like Rebecca. As for Cardinal O’Brian who is the leader of the Indiana Sacred Paladins branch church, he is supposed to be level 7, also possessing a Knight rank talent. Both of them are very powerful among Hunters, they were both ranked within the top five million.

Of the more than 8.9 billion people that existed on Earth before the Merger, 30% died in the following year. After 10 years of recovery only a fraction of that number has been recovered. And of the total number of people presently in the world, only around 3% are Hunters.

To be in the top five million out of nearly two hundred million was truly powerful. Especially considering that Hunters by nature are far more powerful than normal humans. The strongest Hunter in the world is said to be above level 8 presently. He has a King rank talent and is the leader of the number one ranked guild in the world, the Sons of Shiva as it is translated. The top ranking guild in India.

With his present strength he is a little more than 28 times more powerful than an average human. By comparison both Chyou and Cardinal O’Brian barely possess two thirds of his strength.

Depending on Kailan’s talent rank he would naturally level up faster than others, but he is still probably far behind the strongest. His stats would also be dependent on his talent rank. So then it becomes a question of what his talent is and how high his level currently is. If his level was low then it would be a long time before he could challenge the strongest. Even considering Chyou and Cardinal O’Brian, they took nearly 8 and 9 years, respectively, to reach their present power.

The Returnee protection period was currently the only thing holding back the hyenas. Once it’s gone it would be a free for all. The standard protection period for a Returnee was one year. So Kailan had only one year to prepare. And he would have to at least be as powerful as the guild leaders of Twilight Garden and the Sacred Paladins to ensure his freedom.

“Sigh… We’ll talk about this more after you complete your Hunter registration. Use my cell and call Ms. Eva to set it up. We’ll also need to get you your own cell phone.” Maria felt exhausted so she finally decided to give a little. At least this way she left herself an out and it would quell the situation for the time being.

Kailan smiled in triumph. It wasn’t a guarantee but at least it was a crack in the wall his mother had erected. It might take some time, but he would whittle away at this wall and eventually she would give in.

The rest of breakfast was relatively tame as everyone had their own thoughts after Kailan’s revelation. Kailan immediately called Eva as soon as they were done. Eva also cautioned Kailan but he was adamant and she eventually gave in. She set up his Hunters Review, the process to qualify him to become an official Hunter, for 10:30, which worked out perfectly for everyone.

After he informed everyone of the time of his review, they all sat down in the living room to talk. Elias and Rebecca started explaining to Kailan about how their reviews went and Edward also explained a few of the details and processes. It wasn’t all that difficult or complicated really. They would first have Gaia confirm the person’s talent rank and Level as well as their stat distributions. Then they would have you demonstrate any skills you knew and describe your combat style and weapon preferences. If you were new and didn’t know all of this it was fine, the bureau would help out by giving you some pointers on a good way to move forward and train.

Stats are distributed at level up based on one factor, they’re focus. Focus is separated into three ranks Primary, Secondary and Tertiary. Everyone has two Primary and two Secondary stats which receive the most distributions while the Tertiary ranked stats receive the least. With a total of seven different stats gauged by Gaia, three are Tertiary.

This distribution helps to better understand the best path for that Hunter. For instance a Hunter with a Primary focus on their Power and Vitality stats would do extremely well as a defensive style warrior. Whereas, a Hunter with a Primary focus on their Power and Versatility stats would do better as a speed based warrior.

Then by understanding the Hunter’s initial skills along with their stat distributions, the Bureau can classify them into a particular category of Hunter. Those categories are Warrior, Ranger, Rogue, Guardian, Mage, Cleric, Shaman, Miner, Crafter and Enchanter. These categories of course are just how the Hunters Bureaus classify Hunters. Gaia doesn’t support any class systems. But by classifying them, when they go to join a team that team will be able to better understand how to utilize them in their formation. Strategy was an important part of raiding dungeons.

As dungeons only allow a certain number of hunters to act as the raid party and with their being a far larger number of enemy units in a dungeon, forming a balanced party was a must. This was similar to how MMORPGs operate when forming their raid parties.

When Twilight Garden formed their raid party for the dungeon Rebecca was nearly killed in, they arranged for 12 of the 30 slots allotted to be combat hunters. The rest were classified as Miners who specialize in collecting materials from dungeons, not fighting. They were too greedy and didn’t provide enough combat support to handle the dungeon. This was what had truly led to their downfall, not any mistake by the raid party. Thus it was the fault of the higher ups in the guild for underestimating the strength of the invading force.

This was actually a relatively common occurrence and the greatest contributor to the downfall of raid parties. The guilds weren’t really held responsible though as it was hard to judge the strength of dungeons in the first place. Gaia only tells you what rank and minimum level the dungeon has, which only says so much. The guilds were however responsible for submitting a written report to the Hunters Bureau explaining the cause of death and their investigation on the events that led to it. There were also special compensations for the family of the Hunters, not that it could make up for their loss.

As Kailan listened to their detailed explanations, he felt that he wouldn’t have any issues with the review. Just that it would be difficult due to the sensitivity of his information. He would need to work with the Bureau to find a solution to ensure the secrecy of his actual status.

Eventually Elias had to leave. It was around 8:30 and he needed to be at his guild by 9. Everyone got dressed afterwards. Kailan was glad to be out of those hospital clothes and have some regular ones. He put on a pair of bluejeans, a white t-shirt and a black hoodie over it. 10 came by shortly after and everyone piled into the Ford Occult and headed towards the Hunters Bureau building. Kailan was anticipating his review. This was the first step in his plans.