Two men in standard-issue hunter gear were running through the empty streets of the Omafo district. They were both E-4 rank hunters dispatched from the nearest association branch.
"Hurry up, Pola! At this rate, all the good mana stones will be taken by scavengers!"
"Marco, calm down. The perimeter isn't even fully established. No one is getting in or out. Besides, it's just an E-Rank gate. The payout will be minimal anyway."
"An E-Rank gate doesn't get a city-wide emergency broadcast! Something is different this time. I can feel it. This is our chance to score big and get that promotion to E-5!"
Pola did not reply to that. Marco was always like this, overly optimistic about every minor mission.
They turned the corner onto the main street where the gate was reported to have appeared, and they both stopped moving.
The street was not chaotic. It was silent. It was covered in the corpses of monsters. There were dozens of them. Mostly goblins, but there were larger hobgoblins and even a few bulky orcs mixed in. The bodies were not neatly killed, they were completely mangled. Some were smashed flat, others were torn in half.
"What… what the hell happened here?"
Marco's previous excitement was gone.
'This isn't an E-Rank subjugation. The number of monsters, the presence of orcs… this is at least High end E-Rank difficulty. Did another party get here first? But there was no report.'
Then they saw him.
At the far end of the street, right before the shimmering purple tear in space that was the gate, a man was sitting on top of the corpse of a particularly large orc. He was covered in so much green blood that it was impossible to tell what color his clothes were. A very long and heavy industrial chain was resting on his shoulder.
He did not seem to have noticed them. He was calmly eating a protein bar.
"Marco pointed with a finger that was not steady.
"That guy… did he do all of this by himself?"
Pola's mind was working quickly. 'The quantity of monsters is incorrect for a normal E-Rank gate, and there are orcs present. This should have been a High E-Rank incident, maybe even a low D-Rank. For one person to subjugate this… who could he be?'
"He must be an incredibly high-ranking hunter," Marco said, his voice a strange mix of fear and admiration. "Maybe he is an E-8 ranker who was passing by? It could even be higher than that."
"Wait for a moment."
Pola focused his vision on the man. He activated his innate skill.
'[Mana Detection].'
For a single second, a faint blue light appeared in Pola's eyes, but it immediately disappeared.
"What is it? What is his rank?"
"There is… nothing," Pola said. "I am not sensing any mana from that person. The reading is a complete zero."
"Zero? What are you talking about, zero? Do you mean he is a normal civilian? Your skill must be malfunctioning! It is impossible for a normal person to do something like this!" Marco's voice became loud.
"My skill is not malfunctioning. That is the fact. He does not possess a mana circle."
"But… that cannot be! Then why do my legs feel like they will collapse just from looking at him? My survival instincts are ringing all the alarms!"
'Marco is correct. This pressure I am feeling is not from mana. It is something more basic. He feels more threatening than the D-Rank commander of our branch. What in the world is that man?'
At that time, the man at the end of the street finished with his protein bar. He put the wrapper into his pocket, then he finally turned his head to look at them.
He stood up from the orc corpse, and lifted the heavy industrial chain as if it was nothing, resting it on his shoulder. He also picked up a large, bulging sack from the ground, which made a clinking sound as if it was full of many small stones.
He began to walk toward them. His speed was constant, not fast and not slow, and his path was a straight line. Marco and Pola became stiff, their hands went to the weapons on their belts.
The man did not stop when he arrived at their position. He just walked straight through the space between them, like they were not even there.
As he passed them, he spoke without turning his head.
"Ah, the monsters that came outside have been handled. I am tired now, so I am returning home."
He walked a few more paces, then he added more information.
"There are still more inside the gate, and the boss is probably there too. You people can handle that part. I will be wishing you good luck."
After saying this, the man did not wait for a response, he just kept walking down the street until he turned a corner and was gone from their sight.
Marco and Pola were left standing by themselves on the street that was covered in monster bodies. In front of them, the purple gate continued to shimmer.
"Huh?" Marco said out loud.
Pola stared at the corner where the man had disappeared.
"What… what the hell was that? Did he just give us an order? Who does he think he is?"
Pola did not answer immediately. He was replaying the encounter in his head.
'No mana signature. An industrial chain as a weapon. Overwhelming physical strength. And a sack full of monster cores. He is not a registered hunter, that is for sure. If he was, he would not need to collect the cores himself, the Association would do it for him. He is an irregular.'
"Pola! Are you listening to me?! That guy just dumped the cleanup on us and left!"
"Yes, Marco. That is exactly what happened."
"So what should we do? Should we report him? We should definitely report him! An unregistered person conducting a subjugation is a serious violation!"
"And what would we report?" Pola turned to face Marco. "That a man with no mana killed hundreds of monsters with a chain and then told us to finish the job? Do you think anyone at the branch office would believe such a story? They would think we are making excuses for our late arrival."
Marco opened his mouth, but no words came out. Pola was correct. The story was completely unbelievable.
"So… what now?"
Pola looked at the shimmering purple gate.
"Now, we do our job. That man cleared the outside for us. We will go inside, kill what is left, and subjugate the boss. Then we will file our report."
"Sigh, this sucks."
The two E-4 hunters drew their weapons and cautiously approached the entrance to the gate.
---
Luthra walked back to his small apartment. He did not use the main streets, instead he cut through the back alleys that he knew very well.
He entered his building and walked up the stairs, the heavy chain on his arm making no sound at all.
He opened the door to his room and stepped inside. The first thing he did was unwrap the chain from his arm and let it fall to the floor with a heavy thud. Then, he took the large sack and emptied its contents onto the wooden floorboards.
A pile of small, dimly glowing stones spilled out with a loud clatter. Most were a dirty green color, the size of marbles. These were the mana stones from the goblins. There were fewer, slightly larger stones with a murky brown glow, the hobgoblin cores. And on top of the pile, a few stones the size of his fist glowed with a stronger, blood-red light. Those were from the orcs.
'Let's see. Approximately 150 goblin cores. Maybe 30 hobgoblin cores. And 7 orc cores, including the big one.'
He already knew the market prices from his research. A goblin core was almost worthless, maybe enough to buy a loaf of bread. A hobgoblin core was better, maybe worth a day's wages at a construction site. But an orc core, that was different. A single one was worth a full week of hard labor.
'In total, this should be enough to pay my rent and food expenses for at least three months. This is much more efficient than working part-time jobs.'
He felt the deep ache in his muscles. The five years of training had made his body incredibly durable, but this was the first time he had used his full strength in a real combat situation for an extended period. The fatigue was significant.
'The result is satisfactory. My strength is usable in a real fight. But the stamina consumption was too high. I need to become stronger so I can fight for longer.'
He gathered up the cores and put them back in the sack, hiding it under his thin mattress. He then walked to a small, old refrigerator in the corner and took out a carton of eggs. He was hungry again.
He cracked several eggs into a pan on his portable stove. As he watched them cook, a wave of dizziness washed over him. His vision blurred, the world tilted sharply, and then everything went black as he collapsed to the floor.
When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in his apartment.
It was a completely white space with no walls or ceiling. A simple wooden table and two chairs sat in the middle of the endless white. An old man with a long white beard was sitting in one of the chairs, calmly sipping from a teacup.
The old man looked at him and smiled.
"Luthra. You are finally here. Please, have a seat."
Luthra remained on the floor, pushing himself up to a crouch. He did not stand. His body was tense.
'Who is this geezer? How does he know my name? Is this an illusion? A monster's skill? But I was in my apartment.'
He looked around the white void, then back at the old man. The man didn't seem threatening, but the situation was completely abnormal.
"Who are you? Where is this place?"
The old man just chuckled. "So many questions. All in due time. First, the tea is getting cold. And it is rude to refuse an offer from your elder, is it not?"
'well, he didn't do anything bad so far' he slowly stood up, but he did not move toward the table.
"I will ask again. Who are you?"
The old man sighed and put his cup down. "Very well. I suppose a direct approach is better for someone like you. I am God."