Kai looked at Asher, who crouched to touch the body of the B- Rank hunter.
"Absorb," Asher muttered as red mana came out of him and took over the hunter's body.
Kai looked at Asher's weird ability, but he did not know what it was, nor did he intend to know about it.
[ Host has gained +30 Agility Stats ]
As the red energy entered Asher, he felt an overwhelming burden on his mana meridians and core. Asher endured it, but the overflowing power was much harder to maintain.
Asher was sure he could handle a B-Rank hunter's higher stats than the C+ Rank Boss Monster. But it turned out to be a very hard task.
"What happened?!" Tom asked, still in the process of regaining access to the cameras.
Asher listened to Tom's voice as he swung his sword around.
"Nothing. Do you have full access?" He asked.
Before moving out of this area of the First level, they needed Tom's confirmation.
"Yeah... Wait, I messed up," Tom stuttered.
"What happened?" Asher asked.
"I think they are particularly using different systems for the fourth level," Tom said.
The last time he had checked, this was not the case. It was an unexpected situation for Tom. Not only had Asher given him all the time to study this facility, but also enough resources.
"I am sorry, Boss, but I still have access to the fifth floor," Tom said.
It was the last floor where the artifacts were stored.
Asher frowned at Tom's reply. He was sure that Tom was not a person who would make such mistakes.
'Why the change?' Asher thought.
"But I can take over it in 10-15 minutes," Tom reassured.
"We will move as we planned," Asher spoke, looking at Kai.
"Take out the artifacts you have," Asher instructed Kai, who nodded back at him.
Asher had given Dane and Kai enough artifacts of all A Rank or above.
Kai got the ones that most S Rank mages used in Abyss Guilds. The major flaw of Kai's ability was the mana drain he had to go through, but the current artifacts Kai had fixed that flaw somewhat.
"We will move towards the Second Level entrance," Asher said.
Before moving forward, Asher walked towards one of the paralyzed A Rank Hunters.
The A Rank Hunter could see a masked man approaching him, but apart from his legs, he couldn't see anything when Asher came closer.
Asher coated his sword with Aura and swung it immediately, slashing the A Rank Hunter's head off his body.
He saw the head roll over the floor, but he got no notification from the System about him gaining any experience from that kill.
'So only those I paralyze myself will give me experience,' Asher thought.
He got his reasoning from the fact that the semi-poisoned B Rank hunter still gave him the experience. Asher had made the drug inside the flask, but the poison inside the syringe was something he got someone else to do.
He wanted to test it because he needed the experience to level up from here on. It was one of the goals that was the reason for Asher coming to this mission himself.
As Asher was thinking, Dane and Kai watched Asher's action with wide eyes.
'It seems my worries were in vain,' Dane grinned.
Even Kai had similar thoughts. Seeing that Asher had no qualms about killing people would help him a lot going forward with this mission.
A moment of hesitation is all that mattered in a fight between A Rank hunters to end someone's life.
"Let's go," Asher turned.
Kai stopped as he looked at the Security room.
Most people in the Security Room were relieved that they were safe as Asher didn't kill them.
"I will clean this place for you," Kai said, looking at Dane.
"Thanks," Dane replied with a carefree voice as he pushed the person sitting on the chair.
Dane looked at Kai, who was raising his right hand in the air.
"I will make it less painful for you guys," Dane said excitedly.
He took out his silver-colored sword,
"What a nice sword," Dane said, moving his hands in a particular pattern.
"Chain Cut," Dane said as a figure disappeared from his spot momentarily and then returned to it.
"You can go," Dane signaled Kai as he sat on a seat.
Everyone in the room was dead with a single move from Dane.
Kai looked at the room, now full of blood. He squinted his eyes as Dane had made his task harder due to all the bloodstains.
"Flame Storm," Kai muttered the spell as fire engulfed the whole room.
Dane looked at Kai's control over his spell.
The flames spared most of the equipment and Dane alone as they burned the corpses of everyone in the security room, including the ones that Asher had killed himself.
Kai turned immediately and followed after Asher, leaving Dane alone in the room.
"So, what should I do now?" Dane asked Tom.
<Just sit there and ensure nobody enters the security room>Tom reminded him again.
Outside the security room, Asher walked towards the next part of the underground floor.
"How many people are present if we choose to go, right?" Asher asked Tom as he found himself in a hallway.
<Currently, I can see 4 guys, and according to the database, all of them are A Rank hunters>
"We should avoid them for now," Kai said, as taking on 4 A Rank hunters would be difficult for him.
Asher looked at the map. If they chose the path from the left, it would delay their arrival by at least 5 minutes, assuming they went at Asher's full speed the whole way.
"You have access to the First Level, right?" Asher asked.
<Yes>"Trap them at the junction ahead and isolate them in pairs," Asher said.
"Use your ability," he ordered Kai.
After a while, Kai and Asher were invisible as they took the path on the right.
The underground facility was huge, and without taking particular paths, it was impossible to reach the entrance to the lower level.
Ahead of Asher and Kai, four A Rank hunters were moving towards their positions.
"Did you guys get the permission to go to the fourth level?" a guy asked.
"Do you think that bastard would allow us to go near there?" another guy asked.
"Well, our team leader does know how to take advantage of an opportunity," another one said.
"Bootlicking others? Hahaha," the fourth one laughed.
"Oh, come on, you're laughing like we would be any different," they laughed together.
There were 20 A Rank Hunters in this facility, and most were on the Second and Third level.
As the two of them continued walking, they suddenly heard a voice.
<Initiating Barrier>Before they could move, a mana barrier formed between them, separating the four of them into pairs.
"What?" a guy said.
"What are those guys in the security room doing?" one of them spoke.
But before they could do anything, a metal door closed in front of them, denying them the vision of either side.
"Can you guys go check the security room?" they heard the voice of their colleagues.
"Yeah," one of them replied.
They turned and started to move toward the security room.
Kai looked towards Asher, and they saw two A Rank Hunters coming in their direction.
Asher signaled Kai to take out the one on the left.
'Should I trust him?' Kai doubted, but he still followed Asher's orders.
Kai dashed towards the hunter on the left.
"What-" the hunter on the left shouted as he felt someone grab his head.
"Blast," Kai whispered as fire emerged from his hands, blowing off the head of the A- Rank Hunter.
Another A Rank hunter, who had gathered his thoughts, was about to swing his fist in Kai's direction, but before his fist neared Kai's vicinity, Asher arrived behind him.
"Swift Strike," Asher performed one of his sword techniques.
His black blade was coated in his Aura as it moved through the neck of the A- Rank Hunter.
[ Host has gained 20,000 EXP ]
[ Host has leveled up ]
He ignored the notifications as he looked at the two lifeless bodies before him.
'As expected,' Asher thought to himself.
He knew this was the best way to gather experience to level up. Unlike monsters that had extremely hard skin that was hard to pierce, humans were an easier target. Although it took a lot of his Aura to cut through the body of A Rank hunter, it was still easier than a monster.
An unaware human was a far easier target than a monster, and it was something Asher knew well.
