[author] I was thinking about working on constant update schedule. How would 4chaps/week be coming on alternate days(Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun)? Any thoughts?[/author]

"Wait, sorry?" As soon as Kaguya mentioned her name, Aiden had a casual slip of tongue out of utter surprise alone.

But that heartfelt rebuke turned into a double-edged sword, now that he had become the center of attention.

It was not only Kaguya now, in fact, everyone was staring at him as if waiting for him to say something.

'Seriously, you all can't be clueless about her, can you? She is definitely suspicious from head to toe.'

*Cough*

"I mean, your name has a strange resemblance to someone I know," Bane whispered as he tried to get out of the tricky situation.

But that didn't seem to work as Kaguya gradually came closer to him as she scanned him from head to toe. It wasn't the lecherous gaze that lovers gave to each other. Rather it was a condensing look descending from her judgemental eyes.

Aiden didn't particularly do any favors to himself to stand out from the cloud. Just like his sister, he was taller than most guys but lacked the muscle to back it up. The old bag and the pickaxe sticking out from it seemed to perfectly represent his presence in human society.

"I can't believe Yuna is stuck with a fucker like you," she spoke with a condensing tone.

"Language please?"

The first words that came out of Kaguya's mouth were pretty sharp for Aiden to digest. She couldn't be referring to some different Yuna now, could she?

It was a weird surprise for Aiden to bump into one of Yuna's acquaintances like this and he couldn't say that he particularly liked this person.

*Sniff*

After a while, the girl began sniffing him for some reason. Aiden couldn't help but feel even but squirm in his place, as several gazes were now focused on him.

"Are you an acquaintance of my sister? How do you know her?"

With Aiden's abrupt question, Kaguya took a step back and shook her head in disbelief.

"You don't even know anything about her. Useless. You sicken me."

'Wait, this is nothing to feel sick about!'

Aiden wasn't surprised that he didn't know a damn thing about this Kaguya. Due to his busy schedule, he hardly gets to familiarize himself with any of Yuna's friends.

'Yuna hadn't even brought anyone home before let alone introduce me with anyone. How would I even know who she hangs out with?' Aiden thought.

But deep down he knew that she was probably ashamed to bring them to such a shabby house. After all, he too had been a teenager once.

Aiden turned towards Kaguya who was now walking away. Although there wasn't much material to work with, on closure inspection he realized that she was probably the same age as Yuna and also someone she might hang out with.

But Aiden didn't like her personality and was worried that she might be the one negatively affecting Yuna's life. Yuna's suspicious attitude at home didn't give off good vibes.

Kaguya's sharp tongue and disregard for others' feelings were definitely something Aiden couldn't put up with. Even if his parents died early, but before they did they had drilled enough manner into him.

'I accept that I have not been able to give Yuna what she deserves, but I am trying what I can do, aren't I?'

But Aiden shook his head keeping his complaint within himself.

He was the adult here out of the two. A kid was just messing around with him.

How could he give in to her obvious provocation?

And it wasn't like her saying anything was going to change any aspect of Aiden's life. He had to take care of his own shit, no one is gonna help.

"Enough with the introductions. Let's go, we are already running late." Aiden spoke to everyone, shrugging off the earlier conflict.

Makayla who was staring at him till now also nodded.

'This is why I hate waking up with a nightmare.'

All of them headed towards the greenish gate that seemed to fluctuate now and then.

It was the essence of the dungeon, the lowest one at that, it was its physical manifestation in their world.

All dungeons glow in different colors depending on the concentration of mana present in them.

In general, the higher the concentration the stronger would be mobs and bosses inside making them significantly difficult to clear.

Every awakened naturally acquire a status screen to tell them how strong they are stat-wise and also to tell them what skills they possessed.

But the same rule didn't apply to dungeons. They seemed much more natural than the obviously suspicious status system that awakened possessed.

Apparently, this came at its own price. There was no way to tell the danger level of a dungeon from the outside.

But statistically speaking humans did have some deductions.

It was Dr. Gregor and his team who had first posted their findings. It was a timely help for the community of awakened who were on a decline.

It was a scale from S to E rank assigning danger levels to a dungeon. These ranks were assigned to them based on the corresponding awakened rank that could safely take them on in a minimum team of 10.

Anything Green - E rank.

Blue - D rank

Purple - C rank

Olive - B rank

Orange - A rank

Red - S rank.

This system of grading dungeon wasn't absolute though. It was just a rough estimate of what rank of awakened needed to take on them to prevent too many casualties.

In the end, it was an awakened's experience that allowed them to better judge the level of danger. That's why experienced hunters were preferred.

For example, a green dungeon could be called an E rank. But if it was on the farther edge of the green spectrum on the harder side, then it would be impossible for E ranks to take them on. It would probably need a D rank team.

Fortunately enough, the dungeon that Aiden and crew were targetting now wasn't as dangerous and could be safely looted.

Makayla wouldn't have brought his wife otherwise. Of course, his wife was awakened too, but not strong enough to fight.

But Aiden wasn't anywhere better either.

He might be the most experienced awakened of his crew and he might have a good enough level, but that didn't make his skills get any better. But hunting in a dungeon was still a far better option for him to support Yuna than to hunt for jobs.

A dropout like him wouldn't be hired anywhere.

*Crack* *Crack*

Aiden swung his arm holding onto his pickaxe as he mined for more and more mana crystals.

He had tossed his shirt inside his bag already and was now just with his chain armor. Sweat poured from his entire body due to the sheer force he had to put into every strike but that wasn't enough to make him stop.

Yes, Aiden was more of a miner than a hunter. They had someone like him in every well formed team. Mostly because hunters were supposed to be more focused on fighting monsters than grinding pickaxes so they needed someone to do the work.

Aiden took part in the hunting process too, thanks to him being awakened but his skills were mostly supportive.

Aiden considered himself lucking out on this, as he was definitely getting a much more stable income than others of the same rank and skills as him. He couldn't even imagine what would have happened to him if he wasn't part of the team. That is why Aiden worked extra hard to make sure that he wasn't so easily replaceable, even though it was just never enough.

And this was also the reason why he didn't cause a scene when Kaguya was cursing him for no good reason. Adults have far difficult things to worry about than their temper.

*Crack* *Crack*

Mrs. Porkar was also doing similar work as Aiden. Thankfully, she wasn't as shameless as him to toss away her clothes.

She mostly looked after her children at home while her husband worked but she also came to work from time to time to increase the profits of their household.

"Aiden! We would need a bit of help here." It was Makayla's voice.

"Coming."

Aiden left the pickaxe inside of his bag and rushed to where his team was fighting dire wolves. Aiden wasn't sure but his closest guess was that they had run out of the status boost he had granted to them.

He checked his status screen to make sure if that was the case and he was on point.

"I am here."

"Good prepare that spell of yours."

"Yes!"

Aiden immediately prepared his skill and applied it to Makayla and the others. Speed Boost was a skill that Aiden could use to increase his ally speed to 130%. It was an E rank skill that lasted one hour. Other than several more skills that came under his "White Sherman" title. He could increase attack or even defense albeit to a 120%. But Aiden tends to not think too much about it and gives out whatever the hunter in question asks for. After all, he wasn't doing the fighting and would only be coming off as nagging if he were to state his opinion every time he came to a dungeon.

Many others wanted the boosting skill since all of their boosts lapsed out at around the same time.

"Done"

And with that Aiden's job with the team was done for the next hour and he had to go back to mining.

But before he went back he did turn to peek a glance at Kaguya. She was the only one who didn't come for seconds of Aiden's skill.

She stood at the very front of the attack force defending against the wolf's every attack with her earth shield that rose like a wall sticking from the dungeon floor. No matter how much the E rank wolves tried they couldn't breach her defense even when they worked together.

'Kind of counterintuitive isn't it?'

"Of course. No way she is the same rank as me. I don't know why is everyone overlooking her obvious strength."

But in the end, she was just making the job for them easier and danger free, so Aiden couldn't complain.

[author] I finished stockpiling 7 chapters. ~Hehe. I am hard working aren't I? You can find them on my patreon. [/author]