"Good afternoon, aspiring young Hunters, it's nice to meet you. My name is Lector Nock, I'll be serving as escort and supervisor, and bodyguard if necessary," The Hunter introduced himself with a smile.
Let's run a quick Appraisal on this guy...hm, not bad, he's pretty strong:
Personal Details:
Name: Lector Nock
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 88 KG
Hunter Details:
Type: Combatant
Class: Ranger
Attribute: Lightning
Spells: N/A
Skills: Long-Range Scope, Lightning Arrow, Double Lightning Arrow, Triple Lightning Arrow, Quadruple Lightning Arrow, Mid Elemental Resistance, High Status Effect Resistance, High Marksmanship Affinity
Stats:
HP: 340
MP: 240
Strength: 352
Agility: 440
Vitality: 328
Perception: 430
Power Level: 355,000
Potential: 402,000
A K-Ranked Ranger with the Lightning Attribute, huh?
His Strength and Vitality are about average for his rank, but his Agility and Perception are pretty high. His overall Power Level is lower than Glenn's, but he's realized close to ninety percent of his Potential.
He had long dark brown hair tied in a low ponytail, maroon eyes, a fair complexion, he had a short, neatly trimmed chin beard, and a diagonal scar across his right cheek.
He had a large, folded bow strapped to his back, and two quivers full of arrows, one on either side of his waist, and he was wearing pretty light armor.
Today's the day, the 18th of March, 2168, my first Dungeon raid is minutes away from getting started.
It's around 11 AM right now, and we'd just arrived at the Dungeon. It had appeared about thirty-five kilometers to the west of Sanctuary Theta, we were driven here in an armored van.
The sights along the way were pretty fascinating, to see the remnants of what was left over from my old era. Devastated, ruined buildings, rusty old vehicles, rotting signposts, overgrown plants, and so on.
There weren't many animals though, most species had long-since gone extinct, there wasn't much life around outside of the Sanctuaries, besides a few species of insects, birds and, of course, plants.
And I'd imagine that most species that live underground are probably still around too.
Within the Sanctuaries, there were livestock like cows, sheep, pigs and goats that were raised in farms, there were plenty of pet and domesticated animals like cats and dogs too, including strays, and birds like crows and pigeons.
There are also zoos and reserves where a number of animals that are now critically endangered are taken care of, with the long-term goal of repopulating their species in the wild someday.
Guess I'm getting off-topic, I should get back on track.
We'd arrived at the Dungeon a couple of minutes ago, the hovering van was parked off to the side, the driver was to wait for us out here until we clear the Dungeon and return.
The Hunter who had been assigned to oversee our raid, Lector Nock, was already here, he'd been sent ahead of us to scout out the Dungeon before we arrived, to make sure we could handle it.
"Which of you will be leading this team?" He asked us, as he looked around at each of us.
"That would be me. Trey Scown, I'm a Water Mage, K-Ranked Potential," Responded Trey, stepping forward.
"Alright, then. If you have anything to discuss or clarify with your party, now's the time to do it. There's no need to rush in, you can take some time to prepare yourselves mentally before you head in," Lector advised us prudently.
Yeah, sounds sensible, we-...
"There's no need for that, let's just get started already. All you lot need to do is stay out of my way," Stated Trey, before starting to head for the entrance of the Dungeon.
I exchanged some exasperated glances with my other teammates, before we followed after him. His baseless overconfidence is seriously concerning, not that it's anything new.
Yeah, I estimated that too.
As we approached the entrance of the Dungeon, a shimmering, portal-like doorway, I briefly forgot my frustration as a sense of anticipation came over me.
This is it, my first Dungeon raid.
What was nothing more than fantasy in my previous life, lies just beyond this doorway.
Trey went in first, followed by the Lancer. I paused for a moment as I got within inches of the entrance, before stepping through, finding myself in a large, cavernous space.
The area was bathed in a pale, bright blue light, with several glowing blue crystals lined across the ceiling of the cavern.
The Healer and Detector entered after me, followed by Lector, as I looked around at my surroundings in fascination.
"Alright, let's get into formation, as discussed, and then head forward," Instructed Trey, taking his place at the front of the group, alongside the Lancer.
I reluctantly stepped up a few meters behind them, while the two Support Mages hung back a few meters behind me.
"Hm? This is a bit of an unusual formation, it's quite uncommon for a Mage to stand at the front line like this," Remarked Lector in surprise.
"Oh, we agree. Unfortunately, our leader doesn't," Sighed the Healer in exasperation.
"I see...," Muttered Lector, before making a note on his I-Watch.
"Come on, let's get going!" Called out Trey impatiently, before marching ahead, the Lancer jogging over to catch up.
I let out a sigh before following suit, matching the front line's pace to keep the formation intact...I may not agree with it, but it's out of my control, so I have no choice but to cooperate.
It'll probably reflect poorly on me if I don't, so I'll just have to suck it up. In the fairly likely event that things go wrong though, I'll take matters into my own hands and do what I need to in order to survive.
No way in hell I'm letting this idiot get me killed.
"Hey, I'm sensing something up ahead, five presences about thirty-five meters away," Called out the Detector, a wary look on her face.
"Okay, let's slow our pace down a bit and continue heading forward, keep an eye out and stay on alert," Responded Trey, before glancing back at Lector.
Well, that was surprisingly sensible of him...at least, that's what I thought before he looked back. I think that was his half-assed attempt at scoring some brownie points for his leadership skills.
I shook my head, clearing my mind and focusing up as the path ahead began to curve, the Detector announcing the distance from the presences she was sensing in ten meter intervals.
"Above us!" She suddenly called out as we closed in on the spot she was sensing the presences from.
All of us quickly turned our gazes up in response, right as several figures came swooping down from the ceiling of the cavern...