They were going to hunt some monsters the next day, so the captain told everyone to sleep early and then return to his camp.
Everyone was sitting around the campfire when the captain left, and Freide started whispering.
"Why doesn't he have a mark? Is he even strong? Or is he some kind of mastermind?"
Everyone's eyes lit up, as if they all wanted to answer the question, but it was Kel who spoke first, while the others listened eagerly, especially Edric, Sola, and Freide.
"There are rumors that the gods didn't give him power because he didn't need any more strength."
After a brief pause, Lola added:
"They also say he refused the gods' blessings because he thought they were for the weak—those who needed someone else's help."
Gruin smiled cheerfully with a huge cup of wine in his hand and started talking.
"We haven't seen his full strength, but the fact that he became a Bounder without a mark is impressive."
That night, while talking with the cohort members, they learned something new—there were seven classes that every human and monster could achieve: Mundane, Ashen, Dreadsworn, Bounder, Exalted, Celestial, and Angel.
The corresponding ranks for monsters were: Mundane, Morbid, Dreadfiend, Abyssborn, Tyrant, Cursed, Eclipsed.
Ranking up only occurs when you reach Tier V and your soul is ready for transformation, which takes time. It's possible to rank up even if your soul isn't ready, but you'd have to kill a monster far above your rank—and even then, it's not guaranteed. The chance depends on the rank of the monster you defeat: the higher the rank, the higher the chance.
The next day, the three of them were assigned to Lona and Gruin for a small hunt in the forest.
There were plenty of monsters in the forest, but they avoided them with the help of Lona's scouting abilities.
After wandering through the forest and listening to Gruin's stories, they finally found a monster to take on: a large troll, about seven meters tall with a huge head.
The plan was simple: Lona and Gruin would hide while the three attempted to kill the snake. If things went wrong, they would interfere to ensure none of them got injured too badly.
Three of them planned to ambush the monster.
After a moment, Sola stood in front of it with an axe in his hand. The creature looked him dead in the eyes, and it only took a second before it lunged at him.
Sola dashed sideways and began backing toward the spot where Edric and Freide were waiting to ambush. The monster was snapping its jaws at him, revealing rows of huge, sharp teeth.
It was too big for Sola to do anything—he was fast, but not fast enough to injure it and get away unscathed. The only thing he could do was evade its attacks, and after a few seconds, two figures dropped onto the monster from above.
Edric had a short sword in his hand, while Freide wielded a long double-edged one and carried a shield in the other.
Upon landing on it, both of them aimed to kill the monster with a single blow to the head, but their swords failed to cut through its rough skin and thick skull.
The monster started shaking violently, throwing them off balance. They fell, and their plan failed.
Now the three of them stood in front of it in a fighting stance, while the monster prepared to attack.
Next to them, in the bushes, Gruin looked nervous and started walking toward them, but he was stopped by Lona. They were fighting without their help for a reason; if they intervened now, none of them would have a chance to awaken their marks, so they had to wait.
They fought the monster and managed to land a few cuts, but its skin was too tough for them to inflict a deep wound. Freide's shield broke, and Edric, battered, was leaning on his sword.
The monster swung its gargantuan hand toward Freide, and it would likely have killed her on the spot if she hadn't dodged. But before it reached her, the monster was struck by a huge sonic boom from Edric's direction.
The monster staggered and fell. Looking to his right, Sola saw Edric, There was a faint light coming from his chest, where his mark was.
In front of him, Freide was already running toward the abomination, her mark activated. She threw her sword just as the monster managed to get up, closing the distance until she was right in front of it.
The sword flew with terrifying speed before striking its eye. Blood exploded on impact, and the sword became lodged inside.
Monster started screaming and swaying around, blood was still flowing from his eye.
When the monster regained its senses, it saw a young man leaping from a tall rock. He had an axe in his hands, and as he fell, he aimed it at the creature's other eye. But just before he could get close enough to swing, the monster opened its jaws.
Sola was just eaten right before their eyes.
Everyone froze for a second, a second later Lona came out of the bushes and aimed her staff at the monster.
Meanwhile, Sola was at the back of the creature's mouth. His crazy plan to kill the monster from the inside out was working. With the axe stuck in the monster's flesh, he clung to it with all his strength, and when he heard the voice, he needed it most now.
[Your mark has awakened]
He felt the familiar power strengthening his body and flooding his mind with a terrible wrath.
This time, the power was much greater than what he had received during the fight with Freide and Jean.
He grabbed the axe with his teeth, as he didn't have a second hand, and struck his hand into the flesh, tearing through it. Pulling his hand out, he struck the same spot again and again without stopping, gritting his teeth and holding the axe with them, growling like a furious beast.
That's when the creature opened its mouth and screamed. Lona saw Sola hanging on the back of its mouth and stopped the red, shiny ball atop her staff, which was about to be thrown at the abomination.
A second later, Gruin was standing in front of the monster.
"Hold on, boy! I will tear this shit in half"
But he was late.