People had long adapted to the current lifestyle. No one remembered the Shadow Clan anymore, everyone believed they had gone extinct. The remaining four realms had merged and now lived as one, working together to conquer portals, although they still had different kings for each realm and everyone kept to their boundaries.
These portals appeared randomly, on any day, at any time, and in any location. They were gateways to the Beast Realm. Ever since the seal was broken by the five-element weilder, these portals started appearing, allowing beasts to enter the world freely and destroy humanity.
Once a portal appeared, it remained sealed for three days and could only be accessed from the outside. During those three days, the beasts couldn’t come through. But on the third day, the portal would fully open, and the beasts could easily come out, which made it extremely dangerous.
So, special people were trained to go into those portals and kill the beasts before they could step out. These people were called Hunters.
Being a Hunter had no specific qualifications. One just had to be strong enough to kill a low-level beast.
It was one of the most prestigious jobs someone could get. The profits were huge because of the gems and treasures one could retrieve from the Beast Realm. Beasts had core treasures buried in them, which were very valuable, and the realm itself had many more treasures. Because of that, most people applied to become Hunters.
No one below eighteen was allowed to apply, so most parents trained their kids from an early age so they could apply as soon as they came of age.
Although born without magic, Kaizen was no exception. He had no magic, so he trained the hardest. His father was a retired Hunter who wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. But he was disappointed when he found out Kaizen was born without any magic.
Even with that, Kaizen still wanted to make his father proud. So he didn’t stop training. He worked on his strength, agility, and speed, making sure he was capable of killing a beast without using magic.
Kaizen applied to become a Hunter two months ago. At first, he was almost turned down because the mana stone used to test the level of magic a person emitted couldn’t even read anything from him.
So they rejected him. But his father used his status as an ex-Hunter to vouch for him and asked them to let Kaizen take the physical test. And to everyone’s shock, he passed. He was graded as an E-rank Hunter, one level higher than the weakest F rank Hunters.
Kaizen had just stepped out of the house, his dagger strapped to his side, his boots clicking as he made his way to the portal he could sense to the north of the city where he was sure his other team were already waiting.
Since childhood, even without owning any bit of magic, Kaizen had noticed he could sense beasts and portals no matter how far they were. Not only could he sense then, he could also sense the amount of mana they emitted which helped him tell the ranks. And with that ability, he knew what portals to avoid.
"Wait, you haven’t had breakfast yet." His mother’s voice called from inside... Kaizen paused midstep, turning his head towards the house...
"I promise I’ll be back on time. It’s north this time, D rank portal.... shouldn’t take much time." He answered quickly, and without waiting for her to say anything else...he ran off. He was more agile without any food in his stomach, and his mother didn’t seem to understand that and always insisted he ate before leaving.
Kaizen finally arrived at the portal he sensed 20 minutes later. It took him 20 minutes by foot, while others who were rich enough to afford horses had long arrived.
The last horse his father owned had long died and being that he was already retired and no longer earned money, they had no other way to buy a new horse. His father had retired 6 years back after he lost a leg in a B rank portal raid.
"Alright squad, get ready...the portal opens in five minutes." The captain announced.
Kaizen hurried and stood behind the rest, he arrived just in time.
"Wait, that guy’s part of this raid?"
"He doesn’t even have an aura signature..."
Kaizen ignored them and tightened the strap on his right boot. He was used to having people question his presence whenever he tried to join a raid mission.
But one voice didn’t stop at whispers.
A bulky guy with a fiery red undercut stepped forward. Fire Realm user, definitely. You could smell the ego coming off him.
"Hey, you—Kaizen, right?"
Kaizen glanced over. "Yeah." Everyone already knew him, the only human born without a single ounce of magic in the whole realms.
The guy scoffed, crossing his arms. "How the hell did you even get on this list? We’re not babysitting some powerless wanna be hunter."
Kaizen didn’t answer right away. He finished adjusting his boot before standing fully upright.
"I passed the clearance. Same as you."
The guy raised a brow, clearly baiting him. "Come on, don’t act is equal. The only reason someone like you gets to join is because they need fodder in case something jumps out unexpectedly."
Kaizen’s brow twitched, but he forced a smile. "You talk a lot for someone who hasn’t even drawn his weapon yet." He knew provoking this dude was a reckless move, but ignoring definitely wouldn’t have solved anything.
The guy’s smirk faltered slightly, but he stepped closer, puffing out his chest. "What did you say?"
Kaizen tilted his head. "I said your mouth moves faster than your blade."
The guy’s hand flew toward Kaizen’s shoulder, clearly intending to shove him.
Kaizen caught the wrist. Quick and controlled, he didn’t flinch even a bit, then he twisted.
In one fluid motion, he spun the guy’s arm behind his back and dropped him to one knee with a firm push to the shoulder.
No magic. Just clean technique.
Gasps erupted. No one saw him move that fast.
"Careful," Kaizen said, his voice steady. "You might trip and embarrass yourself in front of your team."
The guy grunted and tried to rise, but Kaizen released him before anyone could claim it was excessive.
The squad leader, Draen.... who’s code name was hawk, a B-Rank hunter in charge of overseeing the team walked over. "Enough."
The red-haired guy glared at Kaizen, brushing himself off. "Tch. Whatever. Just wait till we get inside."
The squad leader narrowed his eyes but let it go. "Everyone ready? Form your units. Five seconds."