Ascending Endlessly: I Copy Skills

With twelve mana batteries, I felt quite confident in dipping my toes into a C-Rank dungeon. Of course, there was a reason why D-Rank hunters would rarely be found anywhere outside of a D-Rank dungeon- the increase in risk was absolutely staggering. This is how it was between all levels. However, I didn't just possess a few D-Rank skills. I had access to abundant mana and even a B-Rank defensive skill.

These factors made me feel pretty assured that I could at least survive and collect a few C-Rank skills. Of course, I would only be growing stronger the longer I stayed, so I would be able to ride the curve pretty decently until I got strong enough skills to feel excessively powerful within the dungeon.

However, it wouldn't be the same as my experience in the D-Rank dungeon. Even C-Rank hunters had difficulty hunting C-Rank monsters, unlike those in the level below them. The ranks of monsters had an even more exponential increase in power than humans. At the S-Rank level, it would take quite a few S-Rank hunters to have a shot at killing a single monster at the same rank.

Fortunately, the most monsters were in the C to B-Rank range, with a sharp decrease in numbers starting at A-Rank. In fact, C-Rank had the largest monster population, as opposed to humans who were largely D-Rank. 

Due to this, hunters from A-Rank and up would frequently hunt in dungeons a level below them. C-Rank and B-Rank hunters weren't allowed to follow this trend, barring special circumstances, given the fact that it was both necessary to maintain a control of the monster population within the dungeons of their respective rank as well as the fact that the Polarium collected from D-Rank monsters was far lower than that of C-Rank. It was a necessary resource for the survival of humanity, so it made sense.

Polarium was, after all, used in far more than simply the production of weapons. It was the lifeblood of what human civilization had become, being used to power entire cities with mana during a time when natural gases were hard to come by and electric infrastructure was excessively difficult to maintain or even construct given the limited space humanity possessed within the Sanctuaries.

Anyway, most hunters at C-Rank and above would ostensibly be forced to hunt in groups. D-Rank hunters did this as well, but there was far less of a necessity for parties. For me, who didn't have any kind of team, a C-Rank dungeon would become quite problematic even with a full suite of C-Rank skills. Fortunately, I had more advantages in that respect than most hunters, considering my mana batteries and large capacity for skills, so hunting solo wasn't completely out of the question like it was for others.

Still, I would need a weapon. I didn't have much money left from my previous expedition, but it would be relatively simple for me to get enough to buy a decent weapon, like my previous knife, with a few more days of dungeon-clearing. Ha… it felt good to be able to make money so easily. It was a unique position. D-Rank hunters struggled with collecting tiny gloam crystals and being worn out quickly, while C-Rank hunters and above had to struggle against larger numbers of far more deadly enemies. All in all, their salaries typically didn't differ too greatly.

Even with healing skills, hunters still had to worry about damage to their gates. While I could pull a small amount of mana from mine for days on end, casting skills, for most people, would take a toll on their gate. It was a surge of mana that would swirl and twist erratically, unlike drawing pure mana out directly and as skillfully as I could to mitigate any stress to the gate. So, if a C-Rank party got injured, they couldn't rely on healers to keep them moving forever. Eventually they would have to rest.

I did not have such a problem. So long as I had enough healing skills locked into my Jokers, I could cast skills far more than probably almost any human being alive. I could last for a long, long time in a dungeon. A weapon was, however, still important. A Polarium sword or knife would allow me to make much better use of my mana than just forming it into a sharp edge around my hand. 

So, I decided to do some grinding. Unfortunately, I was immediately met with a problem.

"Dungeon's closed, kid. Order's doing a checkup, you know the drill,"

A station guard was speaking in front of me. Behind him, a group of members of The Order were scribbling notes into little notebooks. This was pretty standard- every once in a while, the local branch of The Order would shut down the dungeons and do a checkup. They were supposedly ensuring that all of the barriers left in place by the Human God were stable and functioning properly, but I had my own theories about their true intentions.

By my observations, these 'checkups' would only occur once the monster population dropped low enough. I figured they were just waiting for the gloam trapped within to recover and produce more monsters so the dungeon wouldn't be destroyed.

It wasn't too egregious. They destroyed a number of high-ranked dungeons, after all. However, it was hard to deny the fact that maintaining a steady flow of Polarium was in the best interest of The Order. I also couldn't deny that, in many ways, it was in the best interest of humanity, but actions like this were signs of greed more than compassion in my eyes.

I knew the true nature of their leader, after all. 

I sighed.

"Any idea when it'll open back up?"

The guards usually couldn't provide a solid answer, but sometimes they would have a projection if things were going smoothly.

"Apparently it should only be a couple more days. Sorry, but you'll have to take a little vacation, it seems,"

He chuckled to himself. I felt my wallet in my pocket and considered using my card to get my way inside the dungeon, but it would be meaningless. I'd come here to avoid scrutiny from The Order, and that would act entirely against my interests. Besides, even if I got in, there wasn't any certainty that they'd even let me hunt.

I sighed once again, heavier this time, as I pressed two fingers into the bridge of my nose. This card was useful, sure, but in the times I really needed it, it couldn't do much. Still, it was the last remnant of my past working among the strongest humans alive. As much as I hated the person who issued it to me, I couldn't throw it away so easily.

I abandoned the idea of farming for cash and decided to look around for a decent blacksmith for the next two days, until I could get back to making money. It would have to get done either way, so it wasn't too bad to get it out of the way.

It was important to find a decent weapons maker, though. We weren't living during humanity's most industrious time anymore. When it came to making weapons with Polarium, it was unreasonable to have any sort of mass-production.

Not only would the equipment required fill an entire Sanctuary, but the product probably wouldn't even turn out as good as the hand-made stuff. Nowadays, blacksmiths with skills specified in the manipulation of materials and crafting weapons monopolized the military industrial complex.

I didn't even consider going to the embassy's in-house smithy. They were reliable enough, but I hated doing any more business with the bastards in The Order than I had to, as stupid and spiteful as it was. 

Hunters with creative skills were relatively scarce, though, so it wouldn't take me too long to parse through whatever blacksmiths existed in this city. After requesting information regarding this at the town hall, I was given a list of seven smiths.

Well, this should at least give me something to keep me busy.

The first blacksmith was, expectedly, a bust. I figured most of the smithy's in the city would probably be similar. The weapons weren't of exceptionally poor quality, but they weren't good enough for me. I decided to measure quality compared to the previous daggers I'd bought, most of them the cheapest I could find.

If they were that level of quality or below, it was a no, unless I couldn't find anything better. What I was looking for was pretty specific. There was a certain subset of crafting skills that allowed the creator to increase the density of the metals used during the creation of a weapon.

I was looking for a weapon that was well crafted and incredibly dense to allow for a deep and strong flow of mana to run through it. My hopes weren't as high as my expectations, but hey, a guy can dream. 

The second smithy wasn't all too great either. The third was the worst of all. Ugh. I had walked around the city all day and had absolutely nothing to show for it. I would just have to keep trying in the morning.