[CH399+ Continued] Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power

Chapter 444

"I've been meaning to tell you this for a long time, but never found the opportunity to do so."

There's a silence between us, but I reply in a friendly tone.

"You can tell me anything, my lips are sealed and my ears are open. We have plenty of time."

He smiles.

"Well, as you already know, I was trained at a very young age to become a strong archer. Others in the village were made to focus on their specialized abilities too. Some were tanks with shields, others were rogues with swords and daggers, some specialized with medicine, and others worked on their perception skills day and night."

He lets out a sigh staring into the Abyss with the white glow from his buff still surrounding his eyes and charging up his bow to make another arrow.

"There were 20 of us, orphans. And of course the leader of the village who took us in to train. Every day he would consume white pills and tell us to sit on slabs of black rock while we eat our meals, and even while we slept. The day any of us turned 18 was the day he'd bring us to a low-level dungeon and watch us awaken. Everyone came each time, and the old man always told us that we would awaken special unique skills if we followed his training regime."

I nod, letting Arie go on, curious about this unknown history he's hinted about but never shared with anyone on the team before.

"Most members would awaken normal skills. Body hardening, swordsmanship, speed or strength buffs... So we just assumed the old man was crazy, or just kind; Keeping our hopes up and making our lives fun despite being misfits thrown away by our families in the Dark Continent. However, this all changed when my 18th birthday came around."

Arie pauses, smiling to himself, and releasing another arrow far into the Abyss. As it pierces through two Demonic wolves that were approaching at the sound of its fallen fellow monster's call, he continues to talk.

"I was the first to awaken a unique skill. I was overjoyed, but the old man seemed to be the most happy of all, screaming out that his hypothesis was right and I was the first success. After that day, he'd bring me to the dungeons in Solara to train every weekend, buying as much mana potions and gear as I needed to buff up my mana control at a young age and level up quickly."

Arie powers down his buff and the bow disappears from his hands.

"A few years passed as I trained up my skills with the other kids there, and one other girl in the village awakened a unique talent too. Her name was Luna. It wasn't a powerful combat skill or anything, just a very unique perception skill that only works at night."

Arie lets out a sigh.

"The old man told us he would awaken us fully if we ever made it to level 500, but we all thought that was just to push us further in the future. However, there were no dungeons strong enough for the public to farm in once we got to a certain point. As each of us hit level 250, we were each given special access from the Solaran government to enter the Hunter's exams with temporary citizenship granted by the Hunters Association. It takes a few years to get approved, but the process is not complicated. Long story short, I left my village right after one of the first big surges, entering the C-Class exams, and meeting all of you..."

He pauses and we stare off into the Abyss in silence for a few seconds, and I connect all the pieces together in my mind even before he speaks up again.

"Ever since we first set foot in Solara, I dreaded nearing the Abyss because the fact that it was that close to the city could only mean one thing. It had already enveloped the place I used to call home. I'm sure our leader got out of there with the students he had left, but I still wanted the closure of seeing it one more time. Once I finished up my power leveling with Chester in Solara last week, I went to venture out into that pit of darkness to find what remained of my village but couldn't make it far enough in... I kept running into some damn giant worm and was never able to make it past."

Despite the long heartfelt story, memories of running away from that giant Demonic worm come back to my mind as well, and I can't help but to crack a smile.

"You almost got eaten by one of those things too?"

He sees me chuckle and shifts his serious tone back to one more lighthearted and smiles back.

"Yeah, three times actually. One time, two of them even attacked at once, they're no joke. No matter what direction I came at, they wouldn't leave me alone. My arrows still aren't strong enough, I never even managed to leave a scratch."

Memories of my time in the abyss flash through my mind, then I compare it to all of the training I've done recently. It's not too outlandish to believe I could make it past those worms now if I really tried.

So, I nod to myself and respond to Arie with a proposition.

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Author's Note:

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