<h4>Chapter 2 - Hunter License</h4>


    As soon as I was back in my apartment, I took deep breaths and analyzed everything that had happened so far.


    No numbers were showing for my [Focus], something I have never heard about before. Yet, I could still cast skills that require focus. I did not feel any exhaustion while casting F ranked skill over 500 times.


    My goodness. Taking another deep breath, I continued thinking


    The most important question now is, Do I just have an abnormal amount of Focus that surpasses most people, or something else? This was the biggest thing on my mind, as even the strongest B ranked Awakened individuals cannot cast skills that many times without exhausting themselves


    Alright...with that in mind, I need to test just how many times I can continue to cast skills before I can’t anymore. Which also means I need to get my hands on higher-ranked skills that consume more energy


    With that in mind, a smile bloomed on my face


    Just the fact that I could cast an F ranked skill more than 500 times meant amazing things. As long as I am not braindead, I can easily clear an F and E ranked dungeons, even if I’m alone


    D ranked dungeons might be a stretch, as the strength of monsters increase and I would need higher ranked skills besides fireball to take them down


    But there’s no problem taking things slow. I pull out my phone and look at the remaining bnce in my bank ount


    $5,867


    Enough money for rent and food for a few months, and the remainder of my savings. I convinced myself to buy the F ranked skill book, [Fireball], for $20,000. After this, most of my inheritance money was now gone


    A year ago, when the apocalypse began, my parents were not so lucky to survive. I was stuck in the bas.e.m.e.nt of my old house asleep and escaped the onught of monsters that were taken care of by the government and newly awakened people after a few days


    As time passed, more information was released to the public. Monsters had appeared. Most of them congregated in Dungeons. If they were left alone, they would increase and something called dungeon break would ur. This caused monsters to leave the dungeon and indiscriminately attack everything on site


    But never fear, Awakened people are here. Able to use powerful skills and great strength to protect everyone else...


    And now, I was among those people too


    The first order of business? Obtain an Awakened License that will allow me to enter dungeons. Without a license, you cannot bypass the security that allows the Awakened to clear dungeons


    You can get a license fairly easily, as you just have to be examined and exhibit skills. I was itching to get started as soon as possible, so I grabbed my backpack and rushed downtown.


    With the advent of monsters and heroes, many of the poptions were condensed onto a few protected cities. Almost everything was close to each other, so the Awaken Center was not too far away


    A few minutes and I was already there. On the way, I saw the usual people with sullen faces and asional awakened individuals rushing about.


    The Awakened Center was vibrating with life, as long lines of people visiting shops could be seen, with even more carefully selling monster [Cores] to the authorities


    Many people chose to first consume the [Cores] and get stronger themselves, but many more also sold them to the government and other markets as they went for high prices


    [Vitality Core]s and [Strength Core]s went for around a $1000, while [Focus] cores were almost double that price because of their demand


    I moved my eyes to another section of the Center, which was dealing in the selling of Skill Books ranging from F to C. Obtaining a C ranked skill book was a dream for many people, as they were extremely rare and went for more than half a million dors


    Looking at the skill books that I greatly desired, I shook my head and moved towards the Registration Hall.


    The receptionist was very weing, asking for my name, date of birth, address, and bank ount information


    As soon as she had everything down, I was told to head toward a certain door where my ability would be observed.


    There were 3 people standing behind thick ss and an open area with testing dummies. After hearing the directions, I stood a few meters from the dummies and cast [Fireball] consecutively 8 times, making sure to look like I was struggling to get thest few out


    "Wow.." (Judge 1)


    "A peak F rank huh..." (Judge 2)


    Drawing a few surprises from the observers behind the thick ss, everything waspleted sessfully and I received my license. It was a golden card simr to a credit card with my name, age, and rank. The surprise from the observers was most likely due to the fact that high ranked awakened are extremely rare, with there being only one B ranked awakened in this city that is known publicly


    There a few tens of C ranked awakened, a few hundred D ranks, and thousands of E and F ranks. Most of the hunters were F ranked, so being at the peak of this rank at the starting point was a good thing by itself


    One can slowly raise their rank by absorbing [Core]s, but unless you were in the army where they were provided for you by the government or in a rich household that could buy them in mass, you would rise very slowly


    There were some slight changes to the panel on the corner of my eyes as I walked out of the Awakened Center and received my license.


    [Noah] [upation: Hunter]


    [Vitality: 10]


    [Focus: - ]


    [Strength: 10]


    [Skill(s): (Fireball-8)]


    A new upation had appeared, marking me as an official awakened Hunter, and...Oh?


    I was surprised because I didn’t see it before, but the proficiency of the [Fireball] skill had quickly risen to 8. The was an extremely fast process when it took people weeks to raise their proficiency with their skill


    I guess it is understandable as I was able to cast the skill more than 500 times, and most people have to use their skills over a period of weeks to reach that number


    My next course of action after getting my license was the nearest beginner dungeon in this city, [Ape’s Paradise]


    Boasting 10 floors, each floor held 10-20 monsters, with thest floor housing a huge ck Ape 3 meters in size. This dungeon was regrly cleared by parties of F and E ranked Hunters, who could take on the monsters and the boss without fear of casualties if everyone was doing their jobs


    Parties consisting of 2 Knights who put their focus on their [Vitality], 2 berserkers with their focus on [Strength], and 2 mages with their focus on [Focus] were the mostmon for this dungeon


    The Knights act as tanks to ward offing monsters, Berserkers use their high strength to strike down and protect the mages that are the brunt of the firepower to kill everything on site


    Equipment from dungeons was extremely rare, so most people had to make do with newly designed machetes or metal pipes and iron shields as their first equipment. Only the boss of the dungeon had a chance to drop [Skill Book]s and [Items].


    Any item dropped from a dungeon was highly sought after, with their prices not being too different from the [Skill Book]s


    My goal today was to enter [Ape’s Paradise]... and alone at that. My heart was pounding at this crazy idea. When the thought was forming in my head, I had to ask myself multiple times if I had gone insane


    But it will not be that dangerous. Seeing how I can cast my Skills so many times without feeling any fatigue, the rank of my [Focus], even though I cant f.u.c.k.i.n.g see it for some reason, should be nearing B if not A


    And any rank B hunter can easily clear Rank F and E dungeons, though they don’t care to, and put their focus on higher-ranked dungeons


    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.


    Now, with me being the only F ranked Hunter entering and clearing this dungeon...My heart was pounding from the possible rewards


    Usually, rewards are split between the many members of the Party, But I would keep all the [Core]s and possible [Skill Book]s and [Item]s that drop. Just the thought of it made my heart excited


    I steeled my resolve and heading towards [Ape’s Paradise]