"So you guys fared pretty well. They seem amazed at least." Shom said.

"So what happens to Rean, he didn’t get evaluated, does he get his own assessment separately or something?"

"I don’t know, that’s left to the board to decide," Shom said to Porter.

"If you all are done with your upgrades, then let’s head on back to base. We’ll debrief and reorganize."

They all got into the bus. Michael and Shom stayed back a bit. Shom told Michael something before signaling him to go on ahead.

Both of them joined the others in the bus.

Less than five minutes in, Shom got a phone call.

"Ok ok," he said. "I’ll ask them. Do you guys think you can take one more? Don’t worry, this one will probably be less strenuous."

"Bring it, I think that’s what we all have in mind."

Zeta had been awake for a while now. She got up as well and concurred. "Let’s do it."

Charles agreed.

"I’m in," Michael said.

"Sure, I didn’t get to do anything back then, I might as well use my super skills now," Miles followed up.

Lin and Rose looked at each other and then simultaneously nodded in agreement.

Shom briefed them briefly.

"Ok, to avoid mistakes repeating, you guys want to always have your eyes monitoring your stats bar. Once your mana reserves drop, then call for help or at least momentarily retreat.

Reinforce your extensions with mana when fighting stronger foes to do better.

Use spells in conjunction with other spells. I didn’t really see anyone do this but Michael.

Miles, Lin, and Rose, maybe before you’re capable of soloing mid-tier monsters, try to do more with assist combination attacks.

I’m sure as you all upgraded your stats, you’re on a considerably better playing level than you were just moments ago."

"Now about the mission," Shom said.

"We’ll be entering a power gate."

They all exclaimed.

’So this is it. Power gates that made the most difference between most guilds’ rankings,’ Porter thought to himself, pondering his possibilities of further improving.

"Some of you may already know this, but power gates do not come with a single power rank. The rank is attained on entry.

The association has sent someone ahead to determine the polarity, whether it’s positive, negative, or inverting.

After getting the polarity, we select our primera from the team.

The primera is the person who’ll enter the gate first.

This person is who the polarity uses for the gate’s rank calculation.

If the polarity is positive, the gate will be either the same as the primera’s rank or a rank higher. So a C-rank hunter—the gate may be C or B rank.

If the polarity is negative, then it’ll be a rank lower than that of the primera. So if we use the same hunter, then it’ll be a D-rank gate.

When inverting is where things can get tricky.

It uses grade pairings: (S, E), (A, D), (B, C).

So if an E-rank enters, it gets inverted to an S-rank gate. D-rank then it gets inverted to an A-rank. C-rank then D-rank. The reverse is also the case.

The association has already sent a research team ahead to calculate the polarity, so we should have no problem.

Our team is pretty diverse, so it’s not like we don’t have options."

The others seemed pretty hyped up.

Michael was the only one who wasn’t. ’I guess it was probably something Shom told him,’ Porter thought. He could see it, but couldn’t quite tell.

Ring, ring, ring!!!

It was Shom’s phone again.

"Ok, ok. I’ll send the coordinates."

"Is someone joining us?" Michael asked.

Shom gave no answer.

The cityscapes were beautiful, but no one had time to appreciate it. This was the first time they were reaching this area. It was government-reserved, hence the urgency.

"Isn’t this area like GRA," Zeta struggled to say.

"Well, it is," Shom replied.

"Then by urgency metrics, why request the Black Cranes? Were their options really that limited?"

"Well, actually yes. The top three guilds have their top squads scaling a tower."

All the hunters were in shock—even the driver instinctively pushed the brakes.

"I apologize, sorry, I’ll continue on with the wheels," he said.

"A tower? When? How come we didn’t hear about it?" Michael asked. He had already started losing his composure.

"Chill, they can handle it. I just elevated about an hour ago—apparently while we were still in the previous raid."

Description - a tower is a structure that descends from the sky or ascends from the ground. It’s home to all kinds of monsters. It’s different from gates because immediately it’s erected, all monsters can break loose and run amok. It’s treated with the utmost seriousness.

Note: When hunters enter a tower, they are only as strong as a rank below. There’s something about the surroundings that siphons mana off the hunters.

"There’s been no tower erected in years now, that’s why you didn’t hear of it during the award ceremony. It’s actually one of the best places to rank up because of the near infinite amount of monsters."

"Well, it seems we’re here."

Another call came in.

This time, Shom’s expression changed.

"I have personally been requested by the association to make my way to the tower. The hunters sent are being thinned. Sorry, guys."

"Michael and Zeta, you two are in charge," Shom said as he conjured a healing spell, completely revitalizing Zeta. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Charles, Porter, and the others, do your best to cooperate with them.

It goes without saying that applies to you too," he said as he turned back, revealing Rean had also arrived.

Porter smiled at it. Charles welcomed him.

Zeta and Michael gave no comment.

"Good to have you here finally," Miles said.

"Well, let’s head in," Rose added.

"Ok, I’ll head out only after you guys go in."

"Hey, research guys, what’s the polarity?"

"It’s a positive read," the scientist said.

"Ok, so do you guys want to take another A-rank, or will it be a B-rank gate?" Shom asked.

"I think we can take an A-rank again," Charles and Porter said simultaneously.

Rean said he was fine either way.

Zeta was in support of the A-rank gate.

"I’d actually prefer B-rank, that way I’d actually be able to contribute to the raid," Lin said, and Rose supported.

"Nonsense, we got this," Miles countered.

"Leader, what do you say?" Shom asked Michael.

"Fine."

"Ok, just fine," Shom smiled.

"That means the primera should be Zeta. She’s A-rank but awfully still weak as one. It shouldn’t be able to increase to an S-rank."

"Ok, let’s head in."

Zeta took a deep breath and powered through it. She was now in.

"Come on, you guys follow suit, you don’t want Zeta to have slain all the monsters by the time you go on in, right?" Shom encouraged them to head in just as fast.

"So what’s the reading, Mr. scientist guy?"

"It’s in fact A-rank. It’s an ice forest dungeon."

"Ok, good."

’I hope they do better than they did last time,’ Shom thought as he teleported away, leaving nothing but an afterimage, which the wind immediately swept across.