- 2 years later -

It has been two years since I managed to close the first dungeon. Since then, the Hunter’s Association, in cooperation with myself, created a system for teams of people who specialize in closing dungeons to do so. Well, before that, I found out that I can allow others access into the dungeons. This system was necessary, because dungeons appear faster than a single team can close them. Besides, one team can only operate in a small region of the vast world.

Although I cooperated with the association to form the squads, I didn’t want to join, myself. They offered several times, but I don’t want to join a team. I don’t want to see a repeat of what happened to Marlon’s party. I don't feel ready to face that again.

Each squad tackles dungeons in their area. Every leader is given the ability to open dungeons for their team. This allows groups to have a certain amount of autonomy. And Arcadia Young is the newest squad leader for Squad 1.

“I grant you permission to open dungeons.”

[You have granted special permissions.]

[Arcadia Lysander Young may now open dungeons.]

“Thank you.” She says.

“No problem, Arcadia.”

“Call me Lys. I prefer it.”

“Okay. Lys.” I smile.

Looking at Lys, I think about what I know of her. She has blue eyes, light brown hair that reaches to just below her neck, and a relatively small frame. I'm about 1.85 meters tall, so without measuring, I can tell she's about 1.65. She came from the City of the Southern Wall, traveling all the way here to the Northern City to join our team. When we asked her why she wanted to join us, she simply stated, “Peace and freedom. That's it.”

Thinking about it, she seemed to be firm in her desire for peace and freedom. The look in her pale blue eyes seemed to say that to me. Also, how well she performed in her skills test. She’s very strong, even more so than anybody in Squad 1, which is overall the strongest squad in existence. Only somebody who levels up as much as they can could get to where she is now. And that would require a firm will.

She is also a skilled manasmith. She makes things with mana cores. Her weapon is very unique, a weapon that functions like a gun, but uses mana instead of bullets. Its effectiveness is similar to my Mana Blade. It’s devastating.

“So what now?” She asks.

“Now we wait until a dungeon appears in our region. Until then, you train as hard as you can.”

“Sounds good, when do we start?”

“You can head out with your team as soon as they are ready.”

“… I want to train with you.” She looks me in the eyes. Is her face a little redder?

“And why would you want to do that? If you don’t practice cooperation with your team, then you won’t be as good of a leader.” I look back into her eyes as I say this.

I can see that her eyes drop a little, avoiding mine.

“I can train with them later. For now, I want to train with someone strong. To prepare for the future, I need to be better than I am now, and training with you would bring about a greater increase in strength in a shorter amount of time.”

“… Fine. Just don’t neglect training with your Squad later on.” I remind her.

…………………………………………………………………

The hoverbike speeds across the plain. The wind whips by my face. Lys holds onto me across my abdomen to keep herself on the bike. She’s a bit closer than she needs to be, I guess she doesn’t trust the bike to not crash. I can see that she’s looking forward, across my shoulder. We are on the lookout for any monsters that are dangerously close to the city.

Myself and many others do this regularly to keep the city safe. If any monsters got past the weak guards that take care of the entrances, the people inside would be at risk of losing their life or being severely injured. It’s also a good way to gain experience, as well as hone the skills you already have. Two birds with one stone, and all that.

“There’s a Giant Ant over there.” She speaks loudly over the turbulent air, and points to a small mound of dirt with no grass on top.

Giant Ants have the tendency to make a hole in the ground and cover themselves up, waiting for prey to come by before jumping out and attacking.

In response to what Lys said, I turn the vehicle towards it. It takes only a few seconds to be near it. Once there, Lys comes off the bike first. I follow close behind.

“Here’s the plan. I’ll get close and stab it with my knife. If it jumps out before I can kill it, you’ll shoot. Okay?”

“Alright.” She pulls out a mana-powered pistol from a holster on her right side. “I’m ready.”

I stalk my way closer to the mound. When I’m within a meter’s distance, I slowly pull out my own weapon. I step lightly once. Twice. A thir-

“SQREE!” The gigantic ant leaps out of the mound and toward my neck.

Bang!

Insect guts fly to my right side. Entry wound on the left of its head, exit wound on the right. A clean shot by the number one marksman in the city.

“Hey, good shot.”

“Thank you.” She smiles innocently.

“But you got ant brain on my arm.” It’s true. My arm is now doused in a healthy layer of grey matter.

She grimaces. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” I sigh.

We walk back to the bike and she grabs a bottle of water from the cargo space in the back of the bike. She sprays my arm down with it, getting rid of most of the junk that used to be inside an ant. Not enough is left to really care about it anymore, so I lean against the bike, waiting for the core to materialize.

Lys joins me, also leaning on the bike, after putting back the water.

“Just curious, what were you going to do if it got to your neck? The plan seemed kind of stupid. I just went along with it because I trusted you.”

“My constitution is really high, so I would have been fine…” I hesitate for a moment. “But in the future, if you ever have concerns about a plan, make sure your voice is heard. If you’re going to be a squad leader, you need to make sure to do that.”

“… Yeah. I will.” She looks embarrassed as her cheeks flush and she turns away.

I look at the dissipating ant. It won’t be long until it turns into a core.

…………………………………………………………………

[ALERT: Memory loss. Full Status cannot be displayed.]

Name:

Age: 20

Race: Human

Title: Old One

Title Effect: Grants Skill Set – Mind Over Matter

Level: 64

Experience: 0.73%

Condition: Damaged (Missing Arm [L]), Memory Loss (Severe).

Condition Effects: None.

HP: 1584/1584

MP: 63/63

Strength: 116

Intelligence: 63

Wisdom: 68

Dexterity: 116 (+28% Move Speed)

Constitution: 198 (58+140)

Unassigned Stat Points: 0

Skills

Swiftness (Passive) [F] – Lv. 28

Increases movement speed.

Sturdy (Passive) [E] – Lv. 14

Increases constitution.

Dismantling (Active) [E] – Lv. 5

Dismantles the target corpse. Higher levels increase chance for bonus materials.

Regeneration (Active) [D] – Lv. 9

Regenerate HP at the cost of MP.

Appraisal (Active) [A] – Lv. 3

Appraises the target.

Mana Blade (Active) [A] – Lv. 4

Create a blade of pure mana. Increases damage and cutting ability.

Cartography (Passive) [A]

Maps the area which can be sensed.

Mental Influence Immunity (Passive) [S]

Grants complete immunity to mental influences from external sources.

Instant Movement (Passive) [S] – Lv. 21

Reduces inertia, allowing you to alter your movements much quicker.

Inventory [Special] – Lv. 5

Grants an extra-dimensional space for the storage of allowed items.

Mind Over Matter [Special]

Matter Control (Active):

Control physical matter that you can sense with Mind Sense and physical matter you can see.

Skill Strength: 174 kg of force

Adept Proficiency (99.98%)

Mind Sense (Passive):

Allows you to sense your surroundings at all times. Focus on an area to sense in greater detail.

Skill Range: 6.8 meters

Expert Proficiency (10.17%)

Unassigned Skill Points: 53

…………………………………………………………………

The gate, homes, stores, it all goes past as we ride through the city. Our excursion today was very lucrative, netting a decent amount of mana cores. I stop the bike in the alley beside the Hunter’s Association, my unofficial official spot to park it.

Lys stays where she is, grabbing onto me like the bike is still in motion, for a moment that seems a little too long, so I turn and ask, “Are you alright?”

She instantly dislodges herself from my backside and says quickly, “Oh! I was just thinking about-” She smiles whie saying this, but she cuts herself off, before losing the smile and exploding with red again while she gets off the bike a little too quickly, and succeeds in faceplanting on the asphalt.

“...Ow.” She groans.

“… Be careful, you don’t want to mess up your wonderful face.” I joke with a smile on my face.

I can see from where I sit on the hoverbike that her face is still a deep red. She gets up quickly and faces away from me.

“Thank you for today.” She says, calmer than would be expected.

“You’re welcome. Now about the man-” I cut myself off this time, as she speeds off to who knows where, without taking her share of the day’s loot. “Nevermind, I can give them to you later…” I mutter under my breath.

…………………………………………………………………

- Lys’ Perspective -

Why did he say that? Why in the world did he say that? Did he say that? That my face is wonderful? Even if he did, what kind of compliment was that? My face is wonderful?!

I can feel my face get warmer as I get up quickly before saying as calmly as I can, “Thank you for today,” before running as quickly as I can away from that situation.

I know I was attracted to him the moment I first saw him, but why did I act like that? First of all, I told him to call me Lys. Nobody but my family calls me Lys! Everybody else that I know just calls me by my first name, Arcadia. So why did I tell him to call me Lys?!

I walk quickly down the street, still drowning in my thoughts.

Why do I blush when he says certain things? It’s not like it’s anything special, what he says… Right?

Also! Why in the world did I sit so close to him?! And… he didn’t even say anything about it? Why didn’t he say anything? If it were anybody else, they would have said something about my being so close. They would have felt uncomfortable! But… he didn’t…

He didn’t mind… Does that mean I actually have a chance with him?

Actually, now that I think about it, I’ve never been in a relationship. Or been attracted to someone for that matter!

I sigh.

I think I like him. He’s handsome, strong… And I think he also likes me.

… Should I… ask him on a date?

That’s what people who like people do. So, I guess, I should ask him. Even if he turns me down, at least I’ll know what he thinks.

But… we've already went our separate ways for the day. It’ll have to be tomorrow.

“Tomorrow…” I giggle at the thought of what may lie in the future.

…………………………………………………………………

Lys ran off without her share, but there’s nothing wrong with me selling my portion of the cores.

I walk up to the Hunter’s Association’s door, and push. For the past two years, this has pretty much been my second home.

I greet the person manning the counter. “Hey, I’ve got some cores to sell.”

“Great!” He gives me what I’ve come to call ‘the business smile’. “I’ll quote you a price, and if you decide to sell, I’ll bring you your payment, sir!”

“You’re new, aren’t you?”

He shows a more human-like expression when he asks, “How could you tell?”

“You don’t know me. And I don’t know you. It was simple to figure out. My name is Hunter.”

“Ha! Your name is Hunter, and you are a hunter? That’s ironic! My name is Stephen.” He smiles.

“Yeah. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Right back at’cha!” His smile drops a little, and I can tell he’s back to business. “Now, about those mana cores.”

I drop the light blue crystals onto the counter. A dozen crystals cover the countertop. Ranging from the size of a fingertip to the size of a child’s fist.

He pulls out a calculator and looks over the cores. He taps in a few numbers.

“Total comes out to 2 Small Gold and 5 Large Silver.”

“Good. I’ll sell now.”

He smiles. He uses his arm to sweep the crystals into a small basket and brings it into the back. He returns a few minutes later with a pouch containing the money.

“Please confirm that it’s the right amount.”

I use Mind Sense to check the coins. Ever since I got to the Expert level proficiency, I’ve been able to make out more than just basic shapes. I can sense what the detailed shape is, and I can clearly sense every ridge on each of the coin. Even the tiniest imperfections do not pass my attention if I want.

While I can sense such detail, I am not able to continuously sense such great detail at all times. If I were, my mind would feel worn out after just an hour. However, I can easily keep track of movement and basic shape at all times of the day.

Instead of telling Stephen all that, I just say, “No need. Thank you.”

“No problem, sir.”

I walk out of the association’s lobby to see an orange sky. The sun is setting. I guess I’ll head home. Several months back, I started renting a fairly large sized house in the outskirts of the city, on the edge of the wall. It was actually cheaper because of its proximity to the wall. I suppose people don't feel safe being so close to something that contains the strongest, free-roaming monsters in the world. But since I know I can handle what’s on the other side, I feel as safe there as I would anywhere else.

I walk past the threshold of the door, observe the open floor plan that I enjoy so much, go past the living room, and into the kitchen. I pull out a frozen pizza, and slide it onto a pan. I start the oven, and once it’s warmed up, I place the pizza inside.

Once it’s done cooking, I chow down and then head to bed after thoroughly brushing my teeth.

As the softness of the bed envelopes me, I think about Lys. She was acting a little odd today. Not that I know how she normally acts, of course. Maybe I’ll ask her about it tomorrow?