Spike struck a match off his guitar and lit the cigarette in his mouth. Within three taps on his guitar he began to play a song. It was upbeat and fast, it was just Spike’s style.

You have received the buff Rabbit Run from the song Joker And The Thief.

All Comedians receive +5 Charisma

All Thieves receive +3 Agility and +2 Strength.

This buff has received an additional effect from the title Bard of the Black Sea.

Anyone affected by the song will receive +50% increase to all stats received.

This buff has received a bonus from a Bard-type class.

+2 Agility.

Sol’s leg’s bulged like supermans, he felt the buff wash over him.

“You’re really pulling everything out,” Sol said to Spike.

The Bard of the Black Sea exhaled a puff of smoke and nodded down to the horde, “You got 15 minutes,”

Sol cracked his neck and skidded down to the horde. It was going to be hard since the mine had varying levels and monsters littered everywhere but he was determined.

Elora readied the camera on her chest just as the music started blasting, Sol started his run soon after. The monsters were a mix of human and ogres ranging from levels 30-45, many of them far too slow to even catch him.

“Going good Sol, careful with that tunnel Sharp warned about,” Tower said through his ear piece.

“Do you want me to run past it?” Sol asked through a heavy breath.

Tower didn’t respond for a minute as he thought, he then said, “At the end, you don’t want a mini boss chasing you right now.”

“Spike has been working on his class, this buff is amazing,” Sol said.

“Concentrate on the task Sol,” he said, then lowered his voice, “Only you can hear me now. I got a second report from base, they think this guy is no ordinary necromancer.” He whispered.

“Oh yeah?” Sol said.

“Yeah, he was a higher up. The Dark Mage’s College didn’t want to cause a giant fuss so that’s why they asked the Unwanted to deal with it. They had been testing different summoning methods for demons, they would then kill them and the target would then raise them. He also stole a high valued item, it’s called a Void Crystal. Ever heard of it?” Tower asked.

“No clue, but the void is not something anyone wants to mess with. Even we learned about that. If you ever encounter a void mage-”

“You retreat and call for backup immediately,” Tower finished, “Base said they were using the crystal to gather information before summoning, trying to get the best of the best. Then one day the target went crazy on everyone. The report was right about him inhaling too much red miasma but they think it was planned.”

“Shit, this isn’t going to be as we thought. Fuck, I hate missions like these.” Sol said as he side stepped a giant ogre.

“Agreed, it’s not about pay anymore. I think they might give us our first rankup, into Raptor.” Tower explained, “That’s why I was so adamant about continuing, it will be big for all of us.”

There were 5 ranks among Unwanted, Fodder was the first one which Tower and his team were in. Fodder stood exactly for what it meant; expendable, throw them at problems and hope they go away. Next was Raptor rank, not as strong as the biggest dinosaur but can pack a punch. The third highest rank was Calamity, this was where the strongest among the field agents were. After that was the Elder rank which could only be achieved by doing more admin work than killing monsters but still required a huge leap from of power. And the final is the Overseer rank, one person every year is offered their rank.

Each rank had certain requirements to enter, the first three were purely mission based. If you do well on a mission then your merit goes up, abandon one and it goes down. Refusing a mission from the Unwanted was bad faith and you were often put on a list if you did it enough. To achieve Elder and Overseer rank you had to go beyond, your whole life was the Unwanted, you only did things that would benefit them.

Elder and Overseers could do the toughest missions within a blink of an eye, they could kill 100 Fodder ranks within seconds if they wanted to. They were also all higher than level 100, something which is unheard of to the average person.

Scarface, who Sol had rudely met at the start of his recruitment, was Raptor rank. He had been stuck there for over 6 years. Mercy had been given the Elder rank when Sol received his immortality. Sol never thought Mercy looked like the fighting type however but he soon learned that Mercy was one powerful mage.

“We’re years away from that, surely?” Sol asked as he hopped from rotten head to rotten head.

Tower tutted, “We have the best track record among all Fodder, we have completed 119 missions perfectly, 2 we had to abandon and 1 where we refused. The one we refused wouldn’t be added onto our record anyway since it was Mute who wouldn’t go.”

“I think you’re right,” Sol said.

It was true they had gotten a name for themselves among the Unwanted and even whispers among the general population. His alias being the Immortal garnered lots of attention.

“But still, I think we can do this. I know I can be blinded by the mission sometimes, it's happened before-” Tower said.

“Tower, we know you can be a stickler for the rules and need to impress the higher ups but we all agreed to do those missions with you. We will say if you’re being irrational. And I think you should tell the group about the second report. If this goes wrong and Elora dies then it will be our heads the Evergrand family wants,” Sol reminded

“Thanks Sol, did you hear what she said earlier? She’s not doing this for money.” Tower asked.

Sol looked up at Tower who was standing on the ledge, he was 10 metres away from the group. His eyes shifted upwards to Elora and the camera across her chest. “Fame pays more than missions,” he said, “And besides, it gives the Unwanted a good name that will benefit us. People still think we don’t exist.”

“I suppose you’re right, but I’m not the one that likes fame,”

Sol laughed to himself, “That’s obvious, you live on a fucking farm,” he chuckled.

“I regret telling you that now... Easy now Sol, talk’s over, you’re approaching the tunnel,” Tower said as he switched back to his commanding tone.

A clicking sound from the earpieces told Sol he was now talking to the group. “Sharp, you got anything?” He asked.

“Nothing, but my instincts are telling me it’s a boss of sorts. Maintain the same distance of the radius around the epicenter of the tunnel. Spawning of these entities depends on a multitude of factors,” Sharp explained.

“In the common tongue?” Sol questioned.

“Keep a safe distance,” Tower simplified..

“I’m down to a third of my stamina,” Sol said, “if you want me to trigger it you need to tell me soon.”

“Sharp, I'm going off what you say,” Tower said.

“Do it Sol, trigger it. If Miss Evergrand is going to use a big spell then we should get as much use from it.”

“Copy,” Sol said.

Sol rebounded off a sloped wall and ran past the tunnel, he waited a few seconds for it to spawn but it didn’t.

“Nothing happened.” Sol said as he looked up to his teammates, it was getting extremely loud with the horde groaning in a symphony.

He heard Sharp chuckle worrying only on the other end, “Look again.”

Sol glanced behind him to see a giant hand against the wall of the tunnel, “Holy-”

“Ogre,” Sharp said, “That’s the giant variant.”

UNIQUE Level 58 Hansaul, Undead Giant Ogre, MINI-BOSS, Kin of the First Monsters, Man Eater, Titan Strength… (See More)

“Shit! It’s named?!” Sol remarked.

“That’s the least of your worries,” Sharp said, “Kin of the First Monsters is possibly the strongest title any monster could receive.”

“Sol,” Elora said, “I need you to group them all under the boss.” She ordered.

Sol looked back again to the boss who was now exiting the cave, it was three times the size of the other ogres and held an enormous club. It’s body was not mutated like the others and it looked like it ate steroids for every meal of the day, eight days a week. It only wore a thin cloth that covered it’s genitals.

“I think he puts you to shame.” Sol said as he rounded the horde again, the boss had crushed a few under it’s feet already but it was nearing the center.

“Me?” Tower asked, “It’s three times the size of me. It’s going t0 have bigger muscles.”

Sol didn’t respond to Tower, “Elora, how much time do you need for the spell?” He asked.

“20 seconds, I’ll start now,” she said.

Elora planted her feet into the ground, she closed her eyes and waved her hands past each other. Small blue runes appeared in her hand and they began to rotate. They got so fast that they turned into a blur.

Magic literally radiated off her and she was enveloped in a light blue aura. Even Spike had his attention taken away for a split second.

Suddenly, a huge rune formed above the boss's head, it was far more complicated than the ones in her hand. It seemed to lock onto the boss and moved when it did. Blue fire began to lick around the edges of it as more runes appeared and interlocked with each other.

“I wasn’t talking about it’s muscles.” Sol said as he jumped onto the giant ogre’s ballsack. He clutched onto one tightly. He thought he timed it perfectly but apparently not.

“I regret this decision!” Sol shouted over the ear pieces with pure fear. It’s ballsack was greasy and the hair was like thick rope. He stuck his dagger into the skin and held on for dear life.

The boss reached down and plucked the hanging Sol. The Immortal tried to squirm away but it’s grip was too tight and he could feel his own ribs breaking. One of them pierced his lung and he coughed up blood. The ogre held him up to it’s face, it’s teeth were all black and it stunk like rotten fish.

Clicks of interlocking magic sounded above and then complete silence. The ogre moved Sol closer to its mouth. Sol suddenly felt an enormous force like no other. Gravity seemed to triple as blue flames erupted from the rune above. It was like a blue flame from a bunsen burner, except the size of house and there were hundreds of them.

All the lesser mobs were burnt to a fine dust, Sol’s body became completely black and crumbled into dust. The blue flames then exploded into curls and sent a shockwave through the whole mountain.

Elora fell to her knees from the sudden mana loss, Sharp caught her and laid her down on her back.

The only thing still standing was the ogre but it was blackened completely over. It looked like a statue. The whole dungeon came to a dead silence.

From the dust of Sol’s body, a heart began to form and then the rest of his body grew out in mere seconds. He stood up completely naked.

“Fuck mem” Sol said casually.

“Is she ok?” Tower asked.

“I’m fine,” Elora said, trying to get up, “I’ve only used that spell twice and it really takes it out of me.”

“No shit, my lady,” Spike said.

Of all people, Sharp burst into laughter, then it became contagious. Even Mute had a small smirk on her face.

Sharp helped Elora up and she looked out over the devastation, including the naked Sol. He gave her a friendly wave.

“You really are immortal!” She shouted down while examining him.

“It’s not some cheap gimmick,” Sol said, “I’ve never seen magic like that before!”

Elora blushed and looked down.

“Clothes!” Tower shouted as he chucked Sol’s storage pouch to him.

Sol caught it and put on a basic cotton shirt and trousers, they were both of dark colour. He climbed back up to the group, just in time as Tower explained the second report he had gotten.

Once he had finished and the group decided to carry on, that was until they heard a loud crack from the ogre statue.