Rebirth: The Shadow Of Greed

... Soli answered, pointing towards the hole in the wall that was hidden behind some rocks.

"hmm, you may be right, there's a danger in exploring the caves too, but the scariest thing out there is the person outside."

In this instant, Z clutched his heart, he knew the serum was taking effect, he still had Odrunn's manifest so he wasn't afraid of the injuries it might bring him.

Z started to regulate his breathing, calming himself down as he started to enjoy the pain that was running through his body. It wasn't that Z was a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t, the feeling of gaining a level was really special and there was really no other feeling like it. As he relished the pain, Soli and Odrunn watched on in worry, their level up was nothing short of excruciating.

After a few moments, Z opened his eyes, he had levelled up, the maximum number of slots that Z could use now was 2, which made him a way more formidable foe.

"Boss, are you okay now?" Odrunn spoke softly as he tried to approach Z.

"Yeah, I'm okay now. Don't worry about me"

Z said as he stood up slowly, taking a nutrition bar out to eat.

Odrunn once again came beside Z's side and asked him,

"Boss, the hunter you fought was at a warship level, right? But why does it seem that there's so much difference in strength between him and Lieutenant Raff?"

Odrunn asked he witnessed the difference between the capabilities of both Lieutenant Raff and the dark hunter.

Soli put her hand on her chin as she started to explain to Odrunn as simple as possible.

"Do you all know about the ranking system?"

Soli asked looking at Z and Odrunn, but the question incited different responses from the two of them. Z nodded, however, Odrunn just had a blank look as he looked straight ahead.

"How could you not? Wasn't it in the notes that they had given us? Never mind, let me explain this to you simply.

You already know we were at the militia level previously, if you can control your manifest from 0 to 10%, you are classified as having a militia level manifest.

After taking the serum we've now reached the Tank level, errr... At least Odrunn and I did. From 11% of control to 30% it is the classification of the tank level.

For Warship level powers, they have control from 31% to 50%, as for why there is a discrepancy between the two levels of power between the hunter and Lieutenant Raff, the hunter seems like he just entered the Warship level and is at maybe 35% control? But from what I see Lieutenant Raff is way more refined, I'd guess 45% or somewhere around that range.

Beyond that... I'm not exactly clear myself, I've only seen high Warship level fighters in my family. If you want to see levels higher than the Warship level you only can head to the holy capital to find the pope guards."

Soli explained, giving the low down to Odrunn and Z, looking towards Z she softened her gaze as if waiting for him to compliment her.

"Soli is right, what lies beyond that is the Fortress level of power, Fortress level powers have oppressive might and even without their manifest they have the power to destroy boulders."

Z added it wasn't like he hadn't encountered Fortress level powers in his past life. The reason why he died was also partially due to the council sending a Fortress level power to make sure he was eliminated. Thinking of his past he clenched his fist hard until his knuckle paled. Z gradually loosened his fist as he turned around to look at Soli and Odrunn.

"I'm ready now, let's go into the caves."

Z beckoned as he led Odrunn and Soli into the caves, as they ventured deeper into the caverns the passageway became tighter and tighter, Z asked Odrunn to head in first, with him being the biggest sized one there if he was stuck at least they could give him a kick or something. The surroundings were pitch black and dark there wasn't a light source at all whatsoever.

Soli reached into her satchel and picked up a tiny orb, holding it in the palm of hand she lit up the passageway as the trio ended up crawling on their hands and knees.

Making their way down, the passageway became steeper and more slippery, the trio started to crawl down deeper with no signs of an exit. Soli who was at the back felt something crawl across her hand, looking down she saw a huge insect, like a modern-day c.o.c.kroach but bigger staring at her.

Immediately, she screamed as she lifted her hands up letting the insect escape whereas she, losing her balance started to slip and slide down the passageway. Knocking into Z who was in front of her, she made Z lose his balance, as well as the duo, slid down the passageway eventually knocking into Odrunn, this way down was much faster actually as they just continued sliding down and eventually coming to the end, Odrunn exited the passageway first landing on the ground in front of them.

Z landed next, landing on Odrunn's body while he extended his arm ready to catch Soli who fell last. Odrunn was groaning in pain from cushioning their falls. Z put Soli down gently as he looked around, instantly thoughts were racing wildly through his brain.

The cave was supposed to be dark, yet he could see even without the light orb.

"The walls, they're glowing with a blue hue. It's really pretty."

Soli said looking amazed at the beautiful sight in front of them, they landed on a platform high above the cavern, the beautiful blue hue shines down upon the water body underneath them casting reflections as beautiful as the original only to be disrupted by beasts drinking on the water front.

"It's really interesting, I haven't seen these kinds of rocks before."

Z replied as he took in the grandeur of the cavern.

"Boss! I know you're amazed, but can you get off me? My body can't heal with me being crushed." Odrunn finally mustered enough strength to speak out.

'Roar!' A loud roar resounded in the caverns beneath them. Z immediately ran to the edge of the cliff to take a look at what's happening.