-Vol 6: Dusk Of An Era-

-Renewing The Contract(3)-

As soon as the alarm rang, all the hunters who were boarding the boat came outside with their respective weapons blazing. Some held swords like Kenshin, katanas like Hack. A few held wands or crossbows. There were even a few who held unusual weapons like a huge pair of scissors, or Spikes, or even weapons that vaguely resembled fictional characters of various games or comics.

Not concerning with them, he focussed on eliminating whatever came to his field of vision. While doing so, he had also equipped his title “Bane of Specters,” which increased his ATK by 1% of base attack with every kill. But since he was using a skill to kill these fishes, the effect didn’t come into effect. Besides, he was one-shotting these creatures just fine without any buffs.

[You have killed a Death Fish Variant. Gained 245,000 EXP]

The EXP was also not that bad, well considering the ease at which he was killing them, the experience was more than enough. He had already lain waste to more than 50 fishes while only using Starfall Dominion. Among the skills that had undergone a form of evolution with his awakening, this Starfall Dominion was one.

While there was no change in its damage property or unique effect, there was an additional 2% if penetration damage every time it was used on an enemy or a group of enemies. The weird point of this skill was that it can be both used as a single target attack or a group attack. He can cause 3000 damage to a single target or 1 damage to 3000 targets… the skill was currently level 3, and that was the limit of damage.

Due to this unique property, it had opened endless possibilities for Kenshin and particularly effective while dealing against mobs. Dealing 10 targets 300 damage each, using the skill thrice was enough to kill them all. But, unlike this, other skills like Flame Manipulation or exploding Domain or Destructive Energy Manipulation would have done the same, but they would have blocked, dodged or evaded by the enemy.

But Kenshin had found a way around that, he could use these skills in tow with Starfall Dominion, which somehow doubled the damage dealt with the enemies and also somehow threw them into a stunned state. This combination of skills he had discovered while dealing with that kid from sylph race. For some reason, while using this way, the skills’ effect stacks, causing overwhelming damages.

But, these fishes, one-star beam, was enough to kill them.

“Kill! Kill!” shouts like that came from the background, but Kenshin paid them no attention. His eyes were solely on the front, looking for his next prey. He was also sneaking a glance towards Hack, whose strikes were so fast that it creates afterimages in the air.

Several minutes later, the school of undead fishes slaughtered by the hunters, leaving nothing behind. But none of the gathered hunters returned back to the boat, Kurogiri, the island they were heading for had arrived already. The boatman drove very carefully, fearing his boat would be attacked by some beasts while he wasn’t careful.

A few impatient hunters didn’t wait for the boat to safely anchor. They already jumped into the water, and using magic or Item effect they leaped over water to the shore. As soon as their feets touched the wooden shore, they vanished into the island.

“These guys are really impatient for their deaths…” Hack muttered as he stared at the spectacle with nothing but a sneer on his face. Humans never learn from their mistakes, despite knowing the danger that awaits them on this island, they still preferred to work alone and eventually die a corpse less death.

“Leaving aside those who are here for official business, the rest are here to try their luck. How can they let others have a headstart?” Kenshin spoke calmly, there was not a ripple could be seen in his eyes. He had seen too much, especially the events of Yonezawa, to be shocked by this.

“I wonder what treasures they are looking for in this island that literally a part of hell… and where the hell is that old man?” Hack asked, looking around in confusion.

“Wasn’t he here a few minutes ago?” Kenshin too looked around for Satoru. But in the mass of hunters, he couldn’t be seen. Shaking his head, “Meh, he is a hunter too, he will be alright, I guess.”

“Maybe… or we might find him as an undead before we left for home. Hahaha!!”

While Kenshin and Hack laughed at their morbid joke, a woman who stood behind them listened to everything they talked about and sweatdropped. She hadn’t expected to see someone with this kind of dark humor. Shaking her head, she adjusted her cape and hood, to carefully conceal her face and body, getting ready for the mission she had accepted on behalf of her father.

As for the one about whom these two guys were joking about, due to lack of attention, he was pushed to way back of the boat with a group of grumpy delinquent-ish hunters in his front. Since he couldn’t go forward, he had to wait patiently until everyone here un-boards the boat.

“Owa!! What a nasty smell!” Hack muttered as he rubbed his nose, Kenshin too doing the same as his higher stats had made his sense so sharp… these kinds of smells were like a curse to him. This smell was actually the smell of the rotting fleshes of Zombies they would face the moment their feets landed on the shore.

Kenshin, who had his sword strapped to his back this whole time, pulled it out and held it with his left hand and while supporting it with his shoulders.

“That’s a huge sword! Are you perhaps compensating for something else?” Hack joked once again, showing his shiny tooth while at it.

“Haha! No, on the contrary, I felt like it would be an insult to hold anything smaller since mine so big…” Not one to back away, Kenshin game a witty response.

The girl who stood behind them understood their innuendos and sighed at their brazenness. Even so, she did nothing to stop them.

Kenshin closed his eyes and opened the map of his system. It had already updated itself with the new location he found himself in, so the geography of the whole island was now in front of him. In them, the danger zones were marked red, the dungeons marked purple, poisonous areas marked green, and so on. There was no marking on monsters that had to be expected as he had yet to approach the island and the monsters within them.

As soon as the boat touched the shore, the hunters started to jump one after another. Hack also did the same, leaving behind a “See ya” for Kenshin, who was still standing with his eyes closed. After making sure of all the possible places that he should visit, Kenshin opened his eyes…

“Huh! They have all left! Since when?” shaking his head, he also jumped out of the boat and went towards the nearest dungeon.

Less than 6 days left for him to renew his contract, or else he would forever lose some of the very powerful skills at his disposal.