"I say we absorb it."

Maki proudly proclaimed. No one was against the idea of absorbing it for strength. They would sell the corpse of the Acid hound, so why would they sell this one? They placed their hands on the beast's corpse and chanted.

'Consume'

In an instant, light started to emanate from the Mutated Rat's body. Since they were in a dark place, the light was much more noticeable. The light then started to form small threads and travelled to each of their bracelets seemingly feeding off of the energy which created the beast. As the light slowly faded, they found a steel gold colored gemstone the size of a thumb on the ground.

"Lucky! an Alpha class Pneuma stone!"

Zen exclaimed. He picked it up and started admiring it from his hand.

"Too bad, its from a rat. The weakest species found in this mountain."

Than said with disappointment present in his tone. The others knew even though it came from the mutated giant rat it could still sell for a decent amount, they didn't know why Than was disappointed about it.

"Were you perhaps hoping for something else to drop?"

Rey queried. Than nodded his head in response and spoke.

"Is it bad to hope for something better?"

Rey opened his mouth and closed it again, he did this a few times before giving up in trying to answer Than's question.

After their encounter with the Alpha class Giant Mutated Rat the rest of the trek was uneventful. They made their way through the dense forest with relative ease. Their destination was the massive tree located in the middle of the forest.

To enter the 49th floor they must go through the passage located inside the tree. The passage contained the stairs that allowed them to enter the next floor.

The party made their way to the center, the sight they've seen multiple times before amazed them once more. The tree which was named "Hyperion Maximus" stood in front of them, observing it up close was different from observing it from afar. Its bark had an orange hue to it and emanated a sweet calming aroma. Evergreen leaves the size of a bus were falling down at a seemingly slow pace, with the wind making them dance around the tree before landing. The roots that surrounded them were as tall as buildings and countless holes that housed creatures were found on them.

"Look! Look!"

Rey shouted as he lifted a leaf with both of his hands. The leaves were incredibly light for its size, it weighed no more than an average teenage human. He was acting like a kid running around with a toy in his hand.

A hole was located at the foot of the tree, the hole lead them to the passage that allows entrance to the next floor. The party entered the tunnel with Rey at the back of the group carrying the leaf he found awhile ago.

"Drop it."

Than looked at Rey like he was telling a child to leave his toy. Rey shook his head in defiance and pleaded to bring it with them so they could use it as a shield, but he was instantly shot down because the leaf was too big and carrying it would be a nuisance.

THUMP!

Rey dropped the leaf he was holding and looked at it with a dejected face. He waved his farewell to the leaf and continued on through the tunnel. After a few minutes of walking they found the stairs that lead to the next floor.

Unlike the gentle wind that greeted them when they entered the 50th floor, a putrid smell assaulted their noses when they entered the 49th floor.

Rey who was at the back of the party was looking at his friends with confusion he didn't know why they were covering their noses. He moved closer towards them and took a deep breath, he instantly regretted his decision and felt his stomach churning.

"Urp..."

Rey stopped himself from throwing up and retreated further back to lessen his exposure to the smell. The rest of the party did the same and gathered towards the stairs where the smell couldn't reach them.

The stairs that bridged each floors together had a unique property to them, beasts disliked entering them so it was considered a safe zone. Influence from the two floors that was on each side of the bridge are also nullified, meaning temperature changes that occur outside the bridge cannot affect things that are inside it. It's like a small pocket dimension free from external forces.

After a few minutes of preparing themselves to go through the smell, they decided to run out of the entrance as fast as they can. They thought of investigating where the smell originated from, but they decided against it, after all curiosity killed the cat.

The smell assaulted their senses as they ran out of the entrance. Their eyes were filled with a burning sensation causing them to tear up and their vision to blur.

"Gwa?!"

THUD! Slosh..

While Zen was running a yelp escaped his mouth as he tripped on something. A blunt sound followed by something wet could be heard as he landed and rolled on the ground.

He inspected the area around him, he was sitting in reddish brown fluid that surrounded him and a corpse that seemed to be a few days old was found a meter away from him.

The corpse was mangled and limbs were strewn all over the place, missing bits of flesh carved the body of the corpse and deep cuts and puncture holes littered its torso. It looked like the hunter was a man as the corpse had short hair and masculine features.

He hurriedly stood up and distanced himself more from the corpse. Rotten blood covered his arms and pants and a foul smell emanated from him.

"Oi! Get over here!"

The other three who were preoccupied in running away came to a halt. They didn't notice Zen tripped and fell a while ago as they were focused on escaping the entrance that assaulted them with a pungent smell.

They approached Zen and saw him staring at the corpse, he seemed to be lost in thought. The scene in front of them was a grim reminder that death was always the companion of a hunter. It was the party's first time seeing a dead human.

Maki and Than were calm and composed they already accepted the fact that they might see a lot corpses before they became hunters be it beasts or human. Rey looked like he was shaken by the sight as he avoided looking at the corpse and looked at Zen instead. Maki and Than inferred that Rey and Zen must be having a hard time accepting the scene in front of them.

Contrary to what they thought, Rey was actually having a hard time thinking of solutions on how to clean Zen's pants because of the bloodstains. Maki and Than looked at him with sympathy present in their faces, he misunderstood this and thought they accepted that Zen's pants could never recover again.

The silence was broken by Zen who was spaced out while looking at the corpse.

"We need to bring back his belongings and surrender it to the guard outside the Beginners hunting ground."

"Its the least we can do, a hunters courtesy to another."

Maki added, he seemed to agree with what Zen proposed. The other two nodded in agreement and started searching the body.

Eight Bracelets including the translucent one and a card made out of expensive metal with the symbol of a bearded man wearing an aristocratic dress holding a rapier on one hand was etched on it. A red diamond symbol was found on two of its corners, it looked like the Jack of diamonds from playing cards.

The party's hunt for the Acid Hound was put on hold and moved to a later date as they went back down the 50th floor and traveled to the exit. Luckily, they weren't leaving empty handed. The Pneuma stone they picked up could be cashed in for a decent amount.

They exited the Beginners hunting ground and the warm bright light of the two suns present in the air temporarily blinded them as they were leaving a dark area. This time with the mountain behind them, a different scenery was in front of them.

A glass like dome spanning tens of kilometres covered the city within it. The light from the sun reflecting on the dome enhanced its glossy appearance, In front of the dome was the huge gate they entered to go to the mountain. The gate looked simple, two doors coated with an unknown metal that gave off a bluish grey color. The gate was one of the two that allowed exit out of the city, this one was convenient as it was facing the mountain.

As they approached the gate, a man approached them. The man was tall and his body was well built. His age was quite evident. Small wrinkles were present on his face. The wear and tear of time was showing. He looked quite handsome, the wrinkles giving him a more mature appeal. He had brown hair and the color of his eyes were also brown.

"Quite early of you guys to come out, ye?"

The man said in a friendly tone. The party was looking at him with respect. He was a guard assigned to patrol outside the dome and protect it from external threats. Than opened his mouth.

"We found a corpse and we've come back to return his belongings."

A frown appeared on the guard's face.

"Did you bring the Identification Bracelet?"

"Yes, sir."

Maki reached down his pockets and showed the bracelets that the corpse owned. The guard took the bracelets and called for the gate to open. He wanted to enter the gate but he was stopped by Than.

"I almost forgot to give this."

Than held out a card and gave it to the guard. The guard inspected the card and found nothing suspicious about it.

"It just looks like an expensive playing card. You guys can keep it."

The guard handed the card back to Than.

"Think of it as a reward for bringing back the person's belongings."

The guard entered the gate and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Rey was looking at the card that was in Than's hand. A sense of familiarity was creeping up every second he stared at it. An ominous feeling loomed over his mind.