Fisher straightens his posture and casts an unfriendly gaze my way, scanning me from head to toe with a disapproving smirk.

"You're Jay... Ha! You're Jay??"

Confused by his question, I respond with a one-word reply.

"Yeah..."

The dark blue-haired hunter lifts his condescending gaze to meet my eyes, then pauses for a moment. He looks up at the ceiling, deep in thought, then replies.

"You're pretty quick, aren't you? I was sent here by the director yesterday. At my full speed, you still managed to get here just a few hours after me...."

His distasteful glare turns into a somewhat curious grin. He points to the door, leading to the open dungeon.

"Come on, let's go outside. I was told you have a pretty strong aptitude for fire, I'd like to see it for myself."

He walks toward the door through the tables full of hunters motioning for me to follow.

I turn to Rylan and the Inn Keeper. The redhead nods eagerly pushing me to follow him, Mr. Conway speaks up as we begin to follow.

"He may seem tough on the outside, but Fisher is a kind kid. He just puts on that act ever since he became one of the youngest C-Class Elites in the Vice Region."

With a nod and a smile, I thank the short man and follow Fisher as he steps through the wooden door on the other side of the room.

The air outside is still cool and crisp as both Rylan and I follow the Elite around the backside of the Inn. The view of the tall mountains is pretty beautiful from here. I'm always impressed by the artificial landscape created by dungeons.

Fisher stops right in the middle of a wide open field waving at us to follow.

Squinting as we walk further and further from the Inn, I see the shadowy outline of a winged creature flying at us from a distance.

The screech of wild Griffin fills my ears, and the realization that we're under attack from a monster finally hits me. I pull out my sword and ignite it into flames. Charging up less than 300MP worth of mana-imbued fire magic, I let out a fast, concise shot of dark, dense flames.

Seconds later, over 50m away, the diving Griffin loses its head and falls to the dungeon floor with a loud thud.

I let out a sigh of relief, then hear a slow clapping noise. The blue-haired hunter grins while walking toward me.

"Not bad, I was expecting much worse. When I heard a new C-Class recruit was coming to train in the labyrinth for the first time, I didn't expect to meet another young advanced magic user like myself."

He reaches into a small item box on his waist to pull out a large sword. Its base looks black, but it glimmers dark blue in the sunlight. I use appraisal the second its unique hue hits my eyes.

____________________

TideBreaker: Enchanted Blade of the Hydra [Water Aspect] [+127% Strength][+81% Mental Strength]

____________________

A thin smile crosses my face as the flames flicker out on my sword. It seems like I've found another element stone-imbued weapon user, this is a first.

"I assume you're a Water Magic user? Is that right?"

He nods slowly, pointing his sword at me.

"Brutus really chose your team to be the next set of Elites... So, it's my job to prepare you."

I raise my sword, pointing it right back at him.

"What do you mean by that? The next set of Elites? What are you talking about? The Director never told me anything about you... I thought I was diving in this labyrinth solo..."

Fisher smirks, letting out a sigh.

"You'll get used to the Director in time. He's always a few steps ahead. You'll never be able to outthink that man, if he wants you to do something, you're already doing it."

I gulp as the water wielder continues.

"Apparently, he gave two of your teammates upgrade crystals. That's why I'm certain your squad is his next choice for Elites."

I step forward.

"What's all this talk about Elites? Explain. What's an Elite? What's going on!?"

"Elites. That's the name the Association chose to give to C-Class hunters that actually have a chance of hitting B-Class. It's like a hidden rank between C and B. I'm sure you spotted the difference between a hunter like me and the hunters in there."

He points his long black and blue glistening sword to the backside of the Inn.

I remember the feeling I got while walking through the tables earlier.

"Yeah... you're right. What are upgrade crystals, and what are you even going to teach me? All I have to do to pass the Director's test is defeat the 20th-floor boss. He underestimates me!"

The blue-haired swordsman lets out a laugh.

"You really are a lost one, aren't you? It makes so much more sense why he let you think you're going into this place alone. You'd rather get yourself killed than admit there's an opponent you can't beat!"

"Hey! Don't talk like you know me! You have no idea how powerful I am... Plus... you still haven't answered all my questions, what's an upgrade crystal?"

He lets out another condescending sigh, then rolls his eyes.

"They're one of the Association's most valuable resources. Brutus gave me one a few months back, along with a few of my squad members allowing all of us to rank up to the Elite level. It upgrades your skills. Any combat magic becomes an advanced form, and any normal skills become [Special Grade] or even [Legendary Grade] sometimes. I got lucky with both."

I nod slowly, remembering the white crystals both Maria and Abby were carrying on their way back from their meetings yesterday.

If my guess is correct, it must be the "forced upgrade" method I've heard rumors about. By the way Fisher is describing it, these upgrade crystals must automatically use all the proficiency points on a users skills.

He must have been over level 400, giving him the necessary 400PP to upgrade both of his skills. He didn't get lucky... Someone timed his upgrade carefully.

If all of this is true, the Director really does have his eye on us. I guess taking advantage of this situation is the best thing to do right now. Even so, this guy is starting to piss me off...

"Alright. Then why am I teamed up with you anyways? I can climb this Labyrinth myself. I admit, you're stronger than the hunters inside, I can tell... but I hunt solo, I don't need your help!"

He grins, and his sword begins to glow with a light blue light.

"Oh yeah? Well it's a direct order I bring you to the 20th floor, watch you beat the boss, then bring you back alive. I haven't failed an assignment yet, but this one seems near impossible. We have a lot of work to do."

I grit my teeth and ignite my own sword into a flickering ball of flames.

"We? Since when are we a team? I don't really care what your assignment is, I was told I could farm this labyrinth by myself. I don't want to be chaperoned by an overconfident blue-haired Association lackey."

Again, Fisher lets out a laugh.

"Fire users are always the hot heads, I'm going to have to teach you a lesson kid. You may be the newest star of the C-Class exams, but there are many hunters much stronger than you out in the world. Don't start swinging your sword at fights you can't handle."

I take out my second blade, lighting my dagger up with the white hue of wind magic.

"What makes you think I can't handle you..."

The water-wielding swordsman begins to glow with a bright blue light, covering his body in a half-a-meter-thick veil of water. Letting out a laugh, he yells at me.

"One scratch! Land one single scratch on my skin and I'll let you climb these floors in peace. If you can't do that, you'll start listening to me. Got it?"

Activating my stat-boosting skills, glowing with a gold and crimson aura, I yell out to him.

"Fine! You asked for it!"

Clenching my jaw, and tightening my muscles, I begin charging up an attack. One scratch is all it'll take, so I'll make sure to get it over with in one blow.

I joined the Association to hunt stronger monsters, not to be pampered like a little kid. I want the freedom to do what I want, when I want, and where I want.

Whatever happens now isn't my fault, he asked for it, and I'll give it to him. I open my item storage to let a few mana crystals fall out, they touch my skin, and I plunder their MP.

I don't want to kill the guy, but I'll teach him a lesson for trying to step on my feet. I charge upon my ultimate attack for about 10 seconds, stirring around 3500MP into each of my blades. This is about 7000MP in total.

With a powerful thrust, I bring both weapons across my body to let out an attack that could cut through a Titan's Domain like butter.

The black and white crescents of energy hurdle toward the glowing blue-haired man. He raises his sword and braces for impact.

I stand steady watching in anticipation.

He's really going to take my attack head on...

On impact, the wind and fire expand releasing a devastating amount of energy. The rocky ground explodes to bits throwing dirt and stone everywhere for over 20m in all directions. A shockwave blows rubble in my direction and the red-haired hunter that came to watch runs in fear.

I grin as the dust cloud settles, expecting the arrogant hunter to be begging on his knees for mercy.

To my surprise, he stands unscathed in a small patch of untouched grass. The earth is chopped up and burned to ash everywhere but the spot he stands.

I gulp, gripping my blades firmly.

He laughs, powering down his blue glow, and letting his summoned water magic fall to the torn-up landscape below with a splash.

"Not bad, not bad at all... You aren't as weak as I thought you'd be. Still, you have a lot to learn."