Zen arrived at the huge door of the Cheon Bu Guild. He quickly was invited inside and found his way to Seonil.
"Yo Seonil." Zen caught his best friend's attention. "Oh, hey Zen." Seonil quickly got up from a push-up, and gave his friend his attention.
"You seem stronger, much stronger." Seonil could see a dark energy coating Zen's normal one, but it didn't seem invasive, like Zen had it completely under control.
Zen's overall energy seemed so bizzare for Seonil to see, he seemed incredible compared to just a few months earlier.
"I'm a higher level than you now, but I'm not gonna even test my luck." Zen honestly told Seonil, and even observed his friend's stats.
[Name: Seonil]
[Level: 43]
[Job: None]
[Fatigue: 9]
[Title: Cheon Bu Guild Successor]
[HP: 17000]
[MP: 3652]
[Strength: 160]
[Vitality: 110]
[Agility: 140]
[Intelligence: 89]
[Sense: 95]
[Wisdom: 41]
[Luck: 22]
[Remaining Points: 0]
"While your overall level and stats are lower than mine, you have something I don't. Years of experience." Zen confused Seonil.
"Haven't you been a Hunter for a few years now?" Seonil asked, raising his eyebrows.
"I've been a Hunter for a while, but I haven't been in the Abyss for as long." Zen explained, rubbing his face.
"Ah, so you've known about Hunters, but you haven't known about the Abyss for too long." The successor of the Cheon Bu Guild nodded, starting to understand.
"I thought they went hand in hand for a while, but I need you to explain it to me." The Shadow Monarch admitted.
"Okay. So firstly, Hunters are in the limelight because Gates are universally known." Seonil began. "Gates can't be hidden, because there are events that have happened over the last 15 years that are insanely world changing for normal people, that Hunters came from the Abyss and made a great debut one day. Like, Kamish. Kamish was an insane event, even for people in the Abyss. A few Heavenly Thousand were killed against Kamish." Seonil sighed.
"Gates became a normal person's fear, but they were able to be handled, it even helped people realize that people can join together. That is what Hunters represent, that is what general society knows."
"Black Hunters are where things start to mix." Seonil began. "Black Hunters? That sounds... familiar." Zen questioned.
"Black Hunters are people who specifically hunt people, instead of monsters. Of course, there are people who have to choose between dying or killing another Hunter, but those normally just count as normal Hunters, until they specifically go for people." Seonil caught Zen's attention.
"That's the one I fit into. Killing because it's the brutal choice between living or not." Zen sighed, feeling slightly better.
"After Hunters and Black Hunters, people just are in the Abyss. Those are sometimes the scariest kinds. They normally aren't shackled down to basic principles. People are sold, killed, and all sorts of bad things happen in the Abyss." Seonil gritted his teeth at the thought of those things happening to Zen, but realized that his friend was becoming pretty strong.
"So basically, Hunters are in the spotlight, to give people a basic sense of hope. Hunters go into Gates and have Guilds, and when you get to a high enough Rank, your livelihood is set." Zen nodded to himself.
"If you're a Black Hunter, you mainly go after or attack human beings. Mostly those who have rare souls or great mana usage, and that'll allow for an easy life as well." Seonil continued.
"And for those who live in the Abyss, they don't go attacking normal people, because... why?" Zen asked, that not really adding up for him.
"It's basically a universal rule. Most call it Gaia's rule. It's the rule that if someone influences impossibly large amounts of people for their own gain, Gaia will come to strike them down. This theory is deemed as true in the Abyss. Now, if you're a Hunter, you're destroying Gates and helping normal people, so it doesn't really matter if you're like a celebrity." Seonil explained some more.
"Basically, being a Hunter doesn't mean being in the Abyss. Hopefully that clears up some confusion." Seonil explained.
"Like, my family are mostly in the Abyss, but a few seasoned Hunters have come from us. I've actually been thinking about becoming a Hunter, but it wouldn't really help me a whole lot, my family already has a lot of influence elsewhere." Seonil shrugged.
"You're a perfect example or the middle though. You're an active Hunter, that uses the Abyss Auction. You've been attacked because your abilities are very useful, and you're being mixed in between all the different places. We've even heard of offers from the White Tiger Guild, and you haven't taken them?" Seonil asked.
"Nope, I can't imagine them doing too much good for me." Zen answered honestly. "I'm pretty useful at getting around on my own, so I've just been doing that at the moment."
There was a moment of silence, Seonil starting to take in the information.
"But, I came here for a reason besides just asking some questions." Zen pulled the confusing book out of his inventory.
"Actually... I came to ask even more questions." Zen corrected himself with an embarrassed chuckle as he passed Seonil his book.
"This book!" Seonil opened his eyes in shock, something unusual for him to do. "Where'd you get this book?" Seonil asked, calming down a little bit.
"I got it off the Abyss Auction, it was selling for basically nothing so I picked it up." Zen explained to his friend.
"This very roughly translates to 'The Way of the Dragon.'" Seonil began explaining. "The big problem for everyone is..." Seonil opened the book, only for the page he opened to be completely indecipherable.
"No one can read this, just like no one can talk to monsters." Seonil sighed, but suddenly perked up when Zen was staying silent.
"I recently got stuck in a Red Gate." Zen began, but continued for Seonil to calm down as soon as he did. "I lived, and a few others under my protection did, but I learned something huge. I can talk to monsters." Zen continued, causing Seonil to only open his mouth in shock.
"I honestly don't know the limits on this... ability, but with my skill of the Gamer, I can absorb this skill book. I just wanted some prior information before I did so." Zen finished.
Seonil took a moment before he began speaking. "I'll just skip over the Red Gate, because you're still safe in the end. Next, you have to keep that ability to talk to monsters on the down low. That ability can be huge, but it has to be kept secret. And... you can gain a skill that comes from a book like this? You're way too powerful." Seonil sighed, but relaxed knowing that his friend was going to be fine.
"For any knowledge about that book... It came from a dungeon the same day Kamish attacked. Some speculated that it's a myth and not even real, but seeing as you have it now, I suggest you just absorb it. There isn't much information compared to what I just told you, so go ahead."
"Alright. I trust you Seonil."
Zen brought up his Status, and made his stats what they needed to be, gaining some new skills.
[Strength: 215 - 250]
[You have hit 250 strength. You will be rewarded with a few new skills!]
[Goliath's Body] (Lv 1)
A body of a once forgotten race of monsters. Once strong enough, a Goliath could only be killed by destroying every cell in the body at once.
Health regeneration 5% faster.
[Angelic Strength] (Lv 1)
The user strikes with each blow of an angel, the user does 1% more damage to demonic monsters.
3 skills branch off from this skill when leveled up.
[Dragon's Blow] (Lv 1)
When the user attacks, a dragon follows with them. The two attack in synchronization, causing attacks to hurt 10% more.
Links with ?
Zen raised his eyebrow at the last 2 skills, but just continued on.
[Agility: 160 - 200]
[You have hit 200 Agility. You will be rewarded with a new skill.]
[Time Accelerate] (Lv 1)
An extremely difficult skill to master. Only the most seasoned users of mana can attain this skill.
1000 mana upon activation. 500 mana for every minute this skill is kept active.
Zen whistled at that skill, it's various uses coming to his mind.
[Intelligence: 190 - 200]
[You have hit 200 Intelligence. You will gain a new skill.]
[Mana Mastery] (Lv Max)
An incredible user of Mana only becomes better with this skill.
A user's mana becomes even more refined, and the user's mana capacity is increased dramatically.
The mana's regeneration is increased by 10%.
Zen glanced over all his new skills, and decided that he'd organize them later, to help himself out.
"Now... for this part." Zen grabbed the book, and pressed yes.
[Dragonic Clan's Basics] (Lv 1)
In it's basic form, this skill is an energy that envelops the user when used. The book mostly teaches of the energy uses, and speaks of Kamish, treating the infamous Dragon as nothing but a rookie.
"You can become much stronger than Kamish, just follow these teachings." Is what the book firstly teaches. When this skill isn't activated, movement speed is 3% faster.
100 mana upon activation, 100 mana per every minute this skill is kept active.
"Seonil... This book does speak about Kamish... and it treats that Dragon like they're nothing. Nothing but rookie garbage." Zen became nervous, but a genuine excitement began to arise from within him.
