A few years after the cataclysm, humanity was on the brink of extinction. The Law was powerless, the whole world was in Anarchy. It was like humanity regressed back to the stone age.

The primal fear of beasts attacking humans were ingrained in humanity once more. The present weapons barely worked against the beast, bullets dealt shallow wounds but it was enough to scare them off. Until, a person somewhere in the world managed to kill a weakened beast.

He placed his hands on the corpse to admire the felled beast. The corpse gave off a warm faint light and disappeared. In the place of its body appeared a simple metallic bracelet with one stripe wrapped around it. The person curiously wore the bracelet and all of a sudden he instinctively knew how to use it.

The bracelet crumbled. The first magic weapon of humanity appeared in the hand of a nameless person. It was a primitive looking spear, the shaft was made of unknown wood and the tip was made of unknown metal that shined a green hue. The weapon looked crude in appearance but it emanated power.

The man who held the spear created a safe haven. A small community formed around him, with him being the protector. He was a man with a good heart he wanted to protect the people around him and give them a safe place to live, but he couldn't do it alone.

He went out to hunt more beasts in hopes of finding more bracelets. He slew tens of beasts and he discovered two more bracelets. One had two stripes wrapped around it and the other had three. He wore them and gained the knowledge on what bracelets they were.

One stripe represented a weapon. Two stripes represented armor and three stripes represented a special ability. The power was too much for one person, so he called upon two of his trusted friends. The first hunting group of humanity was formed at that moment.

The community they had created was happy, they were living in a peaceful life protected from monsters. The three friends couldn't help but feel uneasy, they wanted to know where the monsters originated from. They had hunted down most of the beasts in their area, but somehow every two months the beast population would replenish itself.

The three decided to find the origins of this mystery. On the second month where the beast population would suddenly rise, they would follow where the beasts emerged from. They backtracked where the beasts came from and they stumbled upon a wonder.

A mountain stood tall in front of them. A huge gaping hole was found at the foot of the mountain. It looked like a maw that would devour who ever enters it. Beasts exited the maw of the mountain and the party would recognize most of them.

They made their way back to the now small village they protected. They made plans to enter the mountain and give their people the power to stand for themselves. They felt that the mountain offered them more power. They instinctively knew treasure lies within it.

Other people all around the world also stumbled upon a similar wonder. Each had unique features, but similar hole like entrances. People all around the world called these wonders different names, but as time passed only one remained. These wonders were called Vaults.

-Excerpt from "The Discovery of Power : The First Three Kings and the Mountain of beginnings. Volume 1"

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He needed to absorb the energy of beasts to become stronger. The beasts found in the 50th floor were ineffective in giving him the strength he needed. He wanted to start hunting in the 48th floor where he could get ample amounts of energy.

From the entrance of the 50th floor he started rushing towards the Huge tree in the middle of the forest. Giant rats would occasionally ambush him on the way, but he quickly avoided them and kept running towards the center.

He was in no rush to gain strength, but he wanted to test his current limits. He was currently an Early Minor Class hunter, second to the bottom of the power hiearchy.

He got to the center of the forest where the massive tree stood tall. He looked at the scattered leaves and he was tempted to bring one with him, but he decided against it.

He entered the hole found at the foot of the tree and set foot into the 49th floor. Unlike the nauseous rotting smell that assaulted them when they entered this floor, a fragrant smell covered the entrance. This was the original scent of the 49th floor.

He left the entrance and a beautiful sight mesmerized his eyes. Flowers of vibrant colors could be seen as far as the eye could see. The flowers were as tall as trees, they were swaying unnaturally with the wind as if they were little flowers dancing with the gentle breeze. It was a forest made out of gigantic flowers.

He noticed there were giant bees gathering nectar from the flowers. Unlike most beasts, these beasts were neutral. They won't attack you unless you provoke them.

The bees looked like the typical honey bee, except they were as large as humans. They looked very threatening compared to their small counterpart, but they are as peaceful as them.

Unlike the hive mentality the small bees had, the giant bees were solitary. A queen was non-existent. They occasionally gather in groups to breed. They don't build hives and produce honey.

These bees could be domesticated. Rey wanted to tame one of them. They were mainly used as hunting dogs by hunters, they were famous for being loyal to their owners.

He decided to tame one in the future, there was something he wanted to hunt in the 49th floor before going to the next one. He was searching for the Apex predator of the 49th floor.

He ran around the floor to find his prey. Unlike the previous floor, Rey didn't encounter any ambushes. The bee population dominated most of the floral forest, he would commonly see bees floating around minding their own business.

He found it. In front of him was a flower that stood taller than most of the flora here, beside it was a smaller suspicious looking flower half the size of the average flower found in the floor. Sticky threads were wrapped around the flower to create an intricate design. It was the nest of the horrifying Blood Bellied Spider.

He approached the tree and disturbed the web. Rey was using his dagger to cut some of the threads to immitate an insect struggling after getting caught in its trap.

Under the petals of the flower. Four hairy legs appeared and started feeling the movement of the webs. Rey started shaking the web more vigorously, it enticed the spider to come out of hiding.

The spider instantly ran towards the origin of the vibrations. It was confused, there was nothing stuck to its web. In front of the spider was a human holding two daggers with a smile present on his face.

Rey felt chills as he looked at the spider. The spider was three meters wide, and it stood tall on its eight stick like legs. It had six beady eyes that stared at him. Its fangs were as big as a human's head and venom was dripping off of them. Its abdomen was scarlet in color, it pulsed like it was sensing prey around it.

Rey stood still, he was waiting for something. The spider could clearly see him, but he refused to move. The spider welcomed its free snack and jumped towards Rey.

SWISH~ SHINK!

Suddenly the spider was held by two blade like arms. The creature had a triangular head poised on a long neck. It had two large red compound eyes that could observe every angle. It had an upper body that was akin to a muscular human being. Its legs were filled with dense muscles, it looked like it leaped to ambush its prey. Its blade like arms which were gripping on the spider had menacing barbs. A small blooming flower was present on its back using it as camouflage to hide in plain sight.

'There it is.'

The Apex predator of the 49th floor appeared. It was grabbing the spider in a death grip as the spider tried to struggle to escape. Its claws were slowly crushing it to death with the barbs puncturing its abdomen.

'Ravenous Mantis'

It was the name of the beast in front of him. It had the strength that rivaled the beasts found on the 45th floor, yet it was located in the 49th floor. The title of Apex predator fits it perfectly well.

It was hiding near the spider's nest waiting for the spider to come out. The suspicious looking flower he noticed awhile ago was the Mantis waiting for an ambush opportunity.

He didn't want to approach the mantis first. It was clearly faster than him. It sprung at the spider in the blink of an eye. He imagined himself initiating the fight, he was sure he would die. If he entered its strike zone while it was in its ambush state, the last thing he would see was its claws. He had to use the innocent spider as bait so he could fight it without it having the advantage.

The mantis was munching on the dead spider it just caught. It looked like it was focused on eating, but its compound eyes were looking at Rey.

Rey activated one of the two spell bracelets he had. It was the buff spell he used when they fought with Alex. A light aura coated his entire body. His senses grew sharper and he felt his strength rose. Confidence boiled inside of him.

Huhp!

Rey leaped towards the mantis and brandished his daggers.

KWANG! KWANG! thud...

A metallic sound emanated from the collision. Two daggers collided with the Mantis' claws. The mantis quickly dropped its meal and intercepted the daggers. It focused its attention on Rey.

It was not used to confrontations. It specialized in ambush, the mantis was at a disadvantage.

CLACK. CLACK. CLACK.

The mantis shut and opened both of its claws to threaten Rey, but Rey didn't seem affected. He looked more excited.

Rey jumped towards the Mantis once more. The mantis had no blind spots he could exploit so he had to fight it head on. The mantis quickly swung both of its claws like a scythe towards Rey who was rushing towards it.

Rey quickly jumped and slashed at the joints found on the claws.

Shik! Shik~

They were shallow cuts, but it was enough to threaten the mantis whose main weapons were its claws.

The mantis quickly recovered its claws and swung once more. Rey parried the attacks, but the attacks were too quick and strong.

Rey felt a burning sensation on his left shoulder. There was a shallow cut present. He gritted his teeth and ignored the pain. He quickly counter attacked and released a flurry of slashes on its torso.

His left strikes were weakened due to the injury he had, but it was still enough to damage the mantis.

KrrrKrrrrrKrrrr

The mantis clicked in pain. If it could scream, a horrifying screech would come out of its mouth. Its body was covered in multiple cuts and green blood was oozing out of the wounds.

The mantis swung its claws viciously. It was filled with rage. It was angry that a measly human could damage it this much. Rey had to be careful, Each swing had the power to cut a human cleanly in half.

The claws were too fast for Rey to completely dodge. Small cuts started to appear around his body. Even with his senses sharpened he was still having a hard time dodging the ferocious swing of the mantis.

A smile of excitement was present on his face. The thrill of danger excited him.

'Truly worthy of an Apex predator.'

Rey distanced himself from the mantis. Both of them had countless cuts present on their bodies. It was currently a stalemate. The first one to break the balance gets to live.

Both of them dashed towards each other. They were eager to get the upper hand on the enemy. Rey closed in further, the claws were ineffective in his dagger's range.

More cuts started to appear on their bodies. After a few moments of trading blows, the ground around them was covered in red and green. Their assault on each other halted to a stop.

Splosh.

Both of them collapsed on the ground. They both remained on the floor for a few minutes.

"Urghh.."

A groan of pain came out of Rey's mouth. He slowly stood up and looked at the mantis who was twitching and having a hard time moving. A look of victory was present on his face.

He thrusted his dagger towards the head of the mantis. The twitching stopped and Rey let out a sigh of relief. It was a close battle. It was very stupid of him to fight it head on, luckily he had won. If he didn't have his spell bracelet he would've lost for sure.

He placed his hand on the mantis corpse and chanted.

'Devour.'