Every human's will has a purpose. Fulfilling it will satisfy them. Supers are also the same; it's just they gain not only mere satisfaction, but overwhelming strength, too. ~The Resonance Codex: A Field Guide to the Awakened.
An hour earlier.
Shooo
A spray of wooden thorns sliced through the air. Standing atop the branch of a tree, Zongyu licked his lips in anticipation.
"Aura Shield!" William roared, slamming the base of his massive shield into the ground. A faint blue light shimmered across its surface.
The thorns, each as long as a dagger, clattered harmlessly against the glowing barrier.
"Too easy," he grunted. "Jenny, now!"
From behind the shield, Jenny burst into motion. Zongyu held his breath, praying the minion rat's barrage wouldn't stop—at least not until Jenny completed her strike.
Today's mission was meant for her advancement. She had been stuck at Level 6 for nearly a year, her progress slowed by the difficulty of triggering her Path skill.
Finding the right prey had been hard enough. So finding a mission to hunt minions of the Witherroot rat was a once-in-a-full-moon kind of luck.
The Witherroot rat minions were twisted fusions of ordinary vermin and dungeon-grown roots.
Their thorn shoots were a weak but relentless attack method, a storm of projectiles that few dared to face without a tank-type hero.
Jenny moved like a blur. Her fists were bound in plain leather tape—an expensive purchase from the inner city that had cost her six months of pay.
Because William stood six and a half feet tall and was completely encased in metal armor, the monster's attention focused completely on him.
The constant rain of thorns gave Jenny the perfect trigger to activate her Path skill.
She wove between the strikes, closing the distance to her prey. The rat was the size of a small dog, its back covered in jagged quills of darkened wood.
Its weak point was the head, which would be fully exposed when it was shooting the thorns.
Jenny did not miss the attack.
Her punch landed with a wet crunch, caving in its skull. Without pausing, she flowed into a spinning kick that sent the corpse flying before the trigger on her skill faded.
"That's it," Zongyu muttered, feeling the pull of his own Path skill take hold.
The moment she kicked the dead rat, the hidden ones in the brush caught sight of its fallen kin. That gaze was all he needed.
Zongyu drew his bowstring, letting his skill guide the motion. He didn't aim; he simply pulled and released, again and again, until the power subsided.
Each arrow struck true, piercing the eyes of the lurking rats and crushing their brains into pieces.
[You have fulfilled your purpose.]
[Congratulations! You have obtained 100 Mana, 10 Evolution Points, and Exp.]
Warmth surged through him as the Mana rushed into his body. The satisfaction of completing his purpose sent a pleasant tremor down his spine.
Even if the experience points weren't enough to push him to the next level, one more mission like this would get him there.
[Mana: 160]
'Not bad,' he thought, flexing his fingers. 'Enough for sixteen more arrows.'
"Heh, congrats on the level up, Jenny!" William's deep voice rumbled through the air.
Zongyu shook his head at the low grunt that followed. William's enthusiasm was boundless, and he often forgot just how massive he was.
Sure enough…
"You armor bastard, I am in my human skin, not trapped inside metal like you!" Jenny kicked William, stepping back a few feet while rubbing her sore shoulder.
The big man awkwardly rubbed his helmet, a sheepish laugh breaking through the eye holes on the helmet.
Jenny once again readied her legs for another kick but held back at the last moment as she registered the pain from the earlier kick.
"Infuriating," she complained, hugging her hands.
"That's it," Zongyu shook his head. "Mission complete. Let's head back and collect those merits."
If anything drew a Super to hunt in the dungeons, other than Mana, it was merits. The only path to citizenship was through earning them.
Becoming a citizen granted many privileges, the most important of which was the right to enter the Star Network in the future.
To enter the Star Network, one had to either graduate from the Supers Academy or become a citizen of the Earth Alliance.
Zongyu knew his chances of entering the Supers Academy were non-existent. His only way to enter the Star Network was through the second method.
Entering the Star Network was the goal of every Super who wanted to advance in their power.
In the Star Network, even the weakest Super would be level fifty. That level was something Supers on Earth couldn't reach by hunting here.
Supers were not rare in this world. To even activate their skills after a trigger, Mana was essential. The only ways to gain Mana were either by fulfilling one's purpose or by absorbing monster cores.
Ordinary monsters, like these minions, granted at most 100 Mana. That was enough for only ten skill uses. Continuous hunting could yield more Mana, but it was almost a dream too ambitious to achieve.
Even if the monsters were weaker, without a skill trigger, hunters would be as helpless as mortals. Every hunt required careful study of the prey, precise strategies, and the perfect team to stand a chance.
Sometimes, a Super wouldn't even get a suitable monster to hunt for months, stagnating their progression. That's also the reason they wished to go to the Star Network. That's where wide varieties of monsters awaited a hunt.
Zongyu's group was a perfect match for an adventure party.
William could trigger his Path skill, Aura Shield, whenever an attack threatened him. Jenny's Speed Burst activated when attacks surged toward her.
Zongyu's skill triggered the moment a target locked eyes with the dead. Together, they had cleared nearly fifty missions.
They were the highest-ranked hunter party in the outer city of TSR.
Zongyu began to turn away when Jenny tugged at his sleeve.
"What?" He felt a bad premonition stir.
"We're at the 90-mile marker. Mission complete. We have the Mana. I've leveled up to Level 6. So what's the harm in pushing a little further? Say… to the 85-mile point?"
He groaned inwardly.
He understood her thrill, the rush that came with a level up.
But venturing deeper meant encountering monsters they had never faced before, a risk that could turn a simple mission into a deadly trap.
"The mission was to clear the minion spawns at the 90-mile region. We did that. Going further is an unnecessary risk."
"But the satellites show only a dozen or so Witherroot minions in this area," Jenny pressed.
"Even if we encounter other monsters, our skills will always trigger, right?"
Zongyu searched for words to refuse, yet deep down, he knew he shared her thought. One more kill and he could level up.
Every level improved a Super's constitution tremendously, bringing them closer to near immortality.
"Yu, don't be a scaredy cat. We tore through those things. A few more won't hurt. Think of the extra EP and EXP. We could probably level up," William said, his booming voice leaving no room for argument.
Zongyu finally gave in. "Fine," he said, retrieving the arrows from the dead minions. "To the 85-mile marker. But the moment we face anything stronger than a minion, we turn back. Understood?"
"Crystal clear," William replied, already marching forward. "Let's go hunt."
They pressed deeper into the forest. The trees grew thicker, their branches twisting together to blot out the sun. Darkness and cold settled around them.
They took down two more minion rats, each fight ending as swiftly as the first. William grew cocky, taking risks and flaunting how easily his shield could deflect the incoming thorn attacks.
It was while finishing off the third rat that they heard it.
A low, deep boom echoed from the distance, shaking the leaves on the trees.
They froze. Far to the north, a thick pillar of black smoke rose into the sky.
"What was that?" Jenny whispered, terror in her voice. The smoke came from the city.
Zongyu's eyes widened as he stared, bow half-drawn. "That… that's near the library. Or is it the library?"
Zongyu's face went pale. "Is that a dungeon break?"
A dungeon break was every Super's nightmare. It meant an onslaught of monsters far stronger and more numerous than anything they had faced.
An explosion this large could only mean one thing: a high-level monster had appeared, or worse, a boss.
"We need to leave," Zongyu said urgently. "Now. Back the way we came."
This time, there was no argument. Even William understood the danger. They turned and ran, crashing through the undergrowth.
They did not get far.
A shadow, impossibly fast, shot past them. A blur of brown and black sliced through the air.
Jenny screamed as something sharp grazed her arm.
"Get back!" William shouted. He shoved Jenny aside, sending her stumbling out of harm's way.
A split second later, a thick, woody root covered in razor-sharp thorns erupted from the ground where she had been running.
They scrambled back, weapons raised, eyes wide.
Before them stood a monster that made the minions look like insects.
It was enormous, easily the size of a bear. Its body was a gnarled mass of dark wood and thorny vines. Its eyes glowed with feral red light.
[Witherroot Rat – Feral] [Level: 10] [HP: 1500/1500]
"A Feral…" William whispered, his face paling. Feral-class monsters were a whole other level. Their stats doubled, their speed unmatched, their strength and cunning terrifying.
"William, hold its attention. Back to spot three, near the dead body of the last minion. Jenny, stay on alert. If the skill triggers, rush to the city. Don't wait for us."
"What about you guys? No, I can—"
"It is not a request, Jenny. It is an order."
Jenny gritted her teeth as the Feral lunged again. William roared and charged, slamming his shield into the ground. "Come on, you ugly rat!"
The impact sent him sliding backward, exactly where Zongyu had directed him, toward the last minion they had killed.
Zongyu settled on a branch, anxiety tightening his chest as he watched the Feral approach the corpse.
'Come on. Look at it, you filthy rat.'
William and Jenny positioned themselves around the dead minion. One more attack from the Feral, and it would pass over the body.
When it locked its gaze on the corpse, his skill would trigger. That would be enough to buy time for Jenny to escape, maybe all of them.
But then, horror gripped Zongyu. One eye of the Witherroot Rat flicked, locking onto him atop the tree.
"Fuck."
The ground beneath him exploded. A dozen thorny roots shot upward, aiming to impale him. There was nowhere to run.
Is this the end?
A sudden gust grazed his back. Soft hands yanked him backward just as a brilliant violet light flashed, blinding him.
His body twisted and contorted as if being pulled through a narrow hole. His stomach lurched violently, threatening to empty itself.
When the light faded, Zongyu opened his eyes and vomited immediately. The world spun around him.
He was no longer in the monster's reach. He was twenty meters away, near the edge of the clearing.
How?
His gaze fell on a girl standing next to him. She was completely naked, without an ounce of shame. Her hair was an unusual dark blue, drinking in the dim forest light.
She stared at the massive Witherroot Rat with quiet curiosity. Then her eyes shifted to him.
Heat flooded his face as she looked at him, the intensity of her gaze like that of a devoted admirer.
Without realizing it, a red flush spread across his cheeks.
Confusion creased her features as she tilted her head. In an awkward, almost hesitant tone, she said, "Hello, human. I am human too."
Embarrassment surged through Zongyu. 'Will she think I'm a pervert? It's not like I don't want to look… Wait, is she a minor? Fuck.'
He stepped back, then sprinted toward William and Jenny.
For reasons he could not understand, the Feral now prostrated itself before the girl, lowering its massive body to the ground. Almost like it was begging for mercy.
"I am not lying. Really."
All three hunters froze, startled by her words. When she repeated herself, they flinched again.
They had no idea why this girl thought they didn't think of her as human. Rather, they were confused by her purpose and embarrassed by her public display of nakedness.
"I think her skill triggers only when she's naked…" Zongyu muttered in a low voice. Jenny nodded her head, while William ogled.
She quickly covered the eye holes in his helmet with her hand.
Then they watched, varying emotions flickering across their faces, as the girl furrowed her brows and began to cry quietly.
For outsiders, it looked like three of them were bullying the girl.