LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 11: Chapter 11
I don't own solo leveling or Naruto
…
Sasuke looked down from his vantage on top of the monster's belly and before he knew it, he had entered a staredown with the mysterious agent.
"... Who might you be?" he asked cautiously, his onyx eyes peering down at Tae Shik's grinning form.
"I could ask you the same thing, kid," Tae Shik retorted, that wicked grin never leaving his mouth. "You caused all this damage? You're definitely not normal," Tae Shik whistled, impressed. He walked around inspecting the damage caused by the Uchiha's battle. All the while, Sasuke, not taking his eyes off of the black suited individual once.
"You still haven't answered my question yet," Sasuke pointed out. Tae Shik kicked back the giant dismembered limb of the dead monster, "Eh? Oh, yeah that's right I didn't."
He turned serious and looked the young teenager right in the eyes, "The name's Gang Tae Shik and you are?"
Sasuke was equal to his piercing purple eyed gaze and calmly responded,"Sasuke Uchiha."
'That name…?'
His eyes widened a fraction at the name before quickly retaining his composure and smiling.
'After a month of snooping around, I just happened upon my target by chance. Funny how things work out, huh?' he wondered wistfully. It was very difficult to make any ground on finding out who Sasuke Uchiha was for many reasons.
The first being that there are simply no records of him anywhere in the country other than that one hospital discharge form, but even that was restricted from them by the Hunters guild in due time. Secondly, the fact that the boy was affiliated with an S-rank hunter made the whole process of finding him even harder, because S-rank hunters are never really the type to really be brought in for questioning unless they had no ground to stand on. And even then it was still a slim chance. Thirdly, he had no idea what the kid looked like tying into the fact that there are absolutely no records of the kid anywhere. So, he really had nothing to go on except a name.
'Choi Jong-In really went through such extreme steps to keep him out of our sight and I can see why. The kid is impressive' he internally complimented the boy's ability to take down such an enormous foe in a confined space such as this.
"Well looks like the party is over, kid. Why don't you come down so that I can escort you out of the dungeon," he requested of the young teenager.
However, he watched the Uchiha stand up and jump off the other side of the dead monster, aiming to plough further down the tunnel. Tae Shik was surprised by these actions and immediately flashed to the top of the lifeless creature's belly.
"Oi, the exit is back that way, kid!" he yelled, jabbing his thumb behind, but he was easily ignored by the young teenager. His eye twitched at this behaviour and he once again used his speed to flash out of existence to appear right in front of the Uchiha.
"Get out of my way," he demanded, glaring daggers up at the taller man.
"Don't you think you're in way over your head? This isn't a place for children," the agent's tone was matter of fact.
"I'm no child. So get out of my way or I'll crush you, that's all," he said flatly, he was in no mood to play around with this adult.
Tae Shik just wagged a finger to his face, "Can't do that. In any other case I would have obliged your request to see what you're all about, but there's someone out there that cares for you and could get me into real trouble if I don't fulfil my duties as an agent," he explained. Despite his rather lax demeanour he did enjoy his role as a monitoring agent.
He was just met with a blank stare from the young teen in response before he saw his onyx eyes shift into a ruby red. A scarlet gaze that had him frozen for a few moments, it was as if the boy was peering into his soul with those eyes and it was why he wasn't able to sense the danger from behind him when he normally would.
'What are those eyes?'
He was suddenly shoved to the ground by the teen in a show of force that surprised him and watched as a streak of spikes flew past them both.
'Ah, I didn't even sense that coming! How was the kid able to sense it before me?' he wondered perplexed.
Quickly rising to his feet he unsheathed one of his daggers. It was a long thin razor sharp blade with black bandages around the handle and a pointy hilt. He watched as another mole rat peered out from the darkness of the tunnel into the light.
"This one is smaller and has a tail with spikes on it similar to a porcupine," Sasuke easily pointed out, his body coiled like a viper ready to strike at a moment's notice.
"Impressive deduction from a single glance. I imagine those eyes of yours are how you were able to perceive its first attack, then?" He deducted once he composed himself. The young Uchiha's expression didn't change one bit at the compliment and instead of explaining himself, he shot forward in a showcase of amazing speed and agility. He bobbed and weaved past all the monster's attacks before somersaulting up into the air and landing a devastating heel kick right on its head.
A sharp crack sound resounded throughout the cave, as the beast crumpled to the floor, hitting the ground so hard the tunnel started vibrating.
Sasuke landed on top of the mole's head with a confident smirk on his face at the ease in which he dealt with the monster. Tae Shik was impressed once again, this time bearing witness to Sasuke's unnatural, dominant strength.
"Like I said, if you get in my way I'll crush that's all," Sasuke fixed his intense gaze right onto the agent, daring him to make a move.
"Woah, you think you can take me down, Sasuke Uchiha?" Tae Shik smiled in response, finding the idea of fighting him amusing to say the least.
However, Sasuke didn't get a chance to retort when long strands of fur suddenly started expanding and ensnared him in their grasp as he was jumping away.
"Urgh, what!" he exclaimed in shock, struggling against the fur bindings that easily wrapped around his body. However, before he could get the chance to save himself he was quickly sliced out and rescued by Tae Shik's blinding speed.
"I don't need you to save me. I would have figured my own way out," he said, as they both moved to avoid the monster's furry restraints looking to bind them.
"I don't want to take that chance. Like I said my job security depends on your safety," he answered easily, once the fur bindings stopped extending to catch the two.
'Looks like that's its limit,' they both concluded, mentally.
The mole monster whipped out its spiky tail and began to launch a near endless barrage of spikes at the two, which were parried and blocked by Tae Shik with his dagger and swiftly dodged by Sasuke.
"Quick question!" Tae Shik yelled out as he continued to avoid being wounded by the spikes.
"What is it?"
"You don't mind me taking this thing down, do you?" he questioned.
"Why are you asking me that? I don't care what you do so long as you don't get in my way," he replied easily, as he had weaved the signs necessary to launch his favoured fire style ninjutsu.
[Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu]
The giant ball of flames managed to overpower the barrage of spikes and severely harm the monster. With it momentarily stunned from the attack Tae Shik accelerated to close the distance between them and cleanly sliced through the extending fur bindings that shot forward as means to protect it. He cleaved its head off in one fell swoop, ending the fight.
'He's fast,' Sasuke noted internally, if he didn't have the sharingan visual prowess nearly all the agent's moves would have been nothing but a blur in his eyes.
"So, now can we get out of here, Sasuke?" Tae Shik questioned, making his way back to Sasuke's side.
.
.
————————————————
.
.
You might be the assistant of some hotshot S-rank hunter, but when it comes down to it. You really can't do anything, can you?
Those words relentlessly flashed through her mind the more time she spent glaring at the gate, because that obnoxious man was right. She really couldn't do anything with her level of power.
What good would come from her running in a dungeon she knew nothing about just to get killed off like some random cannon fodder. She knew her place in the hunter totem pole and that wasn't fighting, but rather to heal and assist. This was something she figured out a long time ago, so why was she so angry at that man's words?
'I'm not… I'm not useless!' she thought determinedly.
"Hehe, this gate is kinda small."
"Yeah, I don't know what got the Association so uppity."
"Is this really supposed to be a C-rank Gate?"
Nari turned around when she heard the voices. Several men and women had entered through the campus gates and made their way towards the dungeon. They wore their own unique armour, carried an assortment of weapons and bags filled with mining equipment.
'Those guys must be the hunters that the Association sent to deal with the dungeon,' She thought.
It was too bad that she couldn't get the gate reserved for the Hunters guild to raid but there was a more important asset in there that needed to come back unscathed and she would be damned if the task entrusted to her by Choi Jong-In failed. Despite her lack of powerful might she was trusted by an S-rank hunter for a reason.
So, she put on a brave face and whipped herself around to address the approaching hunters. Quickly informing the group of hunters about the situation and what they needed to do as well as requesting to join them on the raid.
"So, an asset of the Hunters guild is trapped inside this dungeon? If we're going to become some kind of rescuers for a big guild like that then I hope you compensate us well," the self imposed leader of the group said with the others making noises of agreement at the suggestion.
"I can't promise you that, but I'm sure no one will challenge you for the spoils within the dungeon," she replied, knowing that she couldn't use guild funds so recklessly without consulting Master Choi, who was still out of reach.
"However, I do request to join you inside the dungeon,"she said.
"Why would we agree to that?" The leader questioned, his piercing silver gaze eyed her up and down almost as if evaluating the worth that she would bring to the attack force.
"I'm a healer, C-rank at that and you mentioned that this was a C-rank Gate. meaning that the Association higher ups that ordered you all here wouldn't risk the life of a healer type hunter when there are so few to begin with. So, let me join to provide your raid team with the best possible chance of success," she explained.
"You speak a lotta sense, little lady," the leader nodded, his large frame moving past her towards the gate, "We don't just stand around all of you! We've got a job to do!" He motioned the rest inside with Kill Nari following them.
'You are getting an earful when I catch you, Sasuke!' she screams internally.
.
.
————————————————
.
.
The group passed through the portal and into the next dimension. Their eyes were greeted with an evenly lit tunnel that ran for what looked like kilometres.
Traversing straight ahead they did not encounter much in the way of monsters, just a few dungeon jackals that were prowling around the tunnel. And were forcefully taken down by members of the attack force.
The group was very disjointed, which was to be expected because they were a mishmash of hunters that the Association called upon and they happened to be on standby. However, despite this they converged on a target like a pack of wolves and would split up into pairs whenever there were multiple targets. With all of them anonymously agreeing that she, Kil Nari, would be at the back of the group and away from immediate danger.
As they breezed through the tunnel the group eventually stumbled upon a fork in the road, two diverging paths. Both paths being significantly darker than the lighting level that they had grown used to.
"Darn, this is tough ain't it, little lady? Which do you think your asset could have run off to, huh?" the leader, whose name she learned to be Bak Kimura, spoke, addressing her directly.
"I can't really say, but the scorch marks on the wall might have something to with it," she answered, drawing everyone's attention to the straight black craving on the wall to the right.
"I'm a light magician so scorching should be my specialty!" a young hooded woman announced very enthusiastically, skipping her way to examine the scorch mark.
"It's definitely not something no ordinary fire magic could produce, more closer to lightning than anything else," the young woman said with certainty.
"Did you say lightning magic?" Nari asked, knowing that Sasuke had that elemental affinity in his repertoire.
"Yeah and that's a very rare affinity to have for both monsters and humans," she answered back. "Little lady, where do you think this scorch mark is telling us to go?" Kimura cut in with a pointed question.
"The scorch mark is on the right side so it could mean the asset went right, but wanted to mark the path so as not to get lost," she replied.
"That's plausible enough, and even if we're wrong we could always just head back. Little Hana, fire up your light torch," he ordered with Hana immediately doing as instructed as light projected from her hands. It floated above her head like a halo and shone the path ahead for about 15 metres.
"It's not a light torch… My technique is called halo shine," she pouted unhappily.
And so, the group moved down the right path with the light guiding them, inching ever closer to the Hunters Guild's prized asset.
————————————————
.
.
Notes:
The timeline since Sasuke left the hospital.
Sasuke leaves the hospital.
*2 weeks later*
Woo Jin Chul discovers something about Choi and puts Tae Shik on the task
*1 Month later*
Choi asks Sasuke to go to high school as part of a deal they made.
*That afternoon*
Sasuke gains his hunter licence and the daily report is sent through to the Association higher ups at the end of the day.
*The next day*
Lee tells Sasuke he knows he's a hunter and the gate appears
Thank you for the support, I really appreciate it!