Rean did in fact feel defeated. He had just about no options.

His mana skin came undone.

His mana reserves were now nonexistent.

No way he was surviving with just his blade.

’I... I’m so stupid.’

’I could have used more efficient techniques earlier on, but I was so busy relying on skills that would keep me invisible.’

’I don’t have my priorities well set.’

’Is this really going to be the end?’

The goblin wasn’t done. While Rean chose to partake in a mid-raid crisis, all the hunters were being sent to their maker.

’I have so many new skills I didn’t get to test out.’

The goblin was now face to face with Rean.

It activated its technique one more time.

Rean was somehow unharmed.

’What? Am ok...’

"Sorry for keeping you waiting."

’Is that Ridlus’?’

"Yes, it is."

"How did he counter the goblin? What happened to its brutality technique?"

"That’s true. I’ve never gotten to see the sub-captain go at it."

"I think you’ve done enough," Ridlus said.

"I can take it from here. Make your way to the lower levels and get out of here."

"Do what you have to do, but don’t be in such a haste to get back in the game."

Ridlus gave him an affirming look before Rean left.

’He’s right, I have no place here. At least not right now.’

Rean struggled, but he somehow made his way out.

"Ok, interesting."

"This thing is way too strong to be of this floor."

Ridlus looked around. He was saddened by the sight of dead comrades.

He looked up.

"I get it now."

"Hey, you monster. I know you probably can’t answer this, but that bastard brought you from way up there."

’Wow, he made his way to this thing. That’s incredible,’ Ridlus thought.

’These young ones are doing way better than we did at their age.’

Rean made it out.

He rested by a smooth rock.

He summoned his system interface.

’Let’s get to work.’

10 minutes passed.

’Wow. I didn’t know I had that many rewards.’

Rean stretched.

’I’m back at full strength.’

’It’s incredible.’

’My mana. My muscles.’

’I’m pulsating with more strength than I’ve ever imagined possible.’

’Time to make up for the time I spent idly.’

Rean got back in.

’I’ll speed through things and make my way back to that floor, and it’s only up from there.’

The tower rumbled.

"What’s going on? Is someone fighting some mega powerful monster? Cause why the shake?" Rean questioned.

The tower was evaporating.

Its walls turned into raw mana constructs and phased out as mana itself.

"This isn’t possible."

"Get out, get out! The tower is phasing!" a hunter from a higher floor shouted.

He wasn’t alone.

A bunch of other hunters followed, each encouraging those on the lower floors to get out.

The results were known, but possibly catastrophic. No one had ever been in a tower till it was fully, well, gone.

Rean just stood there, in shock.

"Hey dude, come on. Let’s get out of here already," a hunter called out.

Rean wouldn’t budge.

"Ok dude, whatever, you do you. I respect that."

He said and left Rean for dead.

Whoosh.

Swept off his feet, he found himself outside.

’How did I get...’

’What’s going on?’ Rean thought.

In an instant, the tower was gone.

In its absence was mana saturating the air.

"Hey, what was the big idea just staying back there?" a familiar voice called out.

"He probably learnt it from you, Shom."

It was Tylan.

"Hey, bro. I didn’t know he got dispatched as well."

Rean’s emotions warped. He was kinda overwhelmed. Seeing his brother was different this time.

He jumped in for a hug and immediately fell back, realizing they were in public.

"Don’t blame me for this one’s indecisiveness," Shom called out.

He grabbed Rean’s shoulder from behind and told him he was proud Rean could make it.

The surviving hunters were made to wait back for a headcount, award processing, and a merit speech from one of the S-ranks.

Merit speeches are big deals. We’ll get to those later.

"Wait, but I don’t get how the tower came undone. And that easily, no less?"

"Don’t get me wrong, am glad we can put that all behind us, but why though?"

"I knew of the floors up to the seventieth being handled."

"I got out to recoup for 10 minutes and bam. No more levels to clear. What gives?" Rean questioned.

"Well, when I got sent in, I started from the top."

"The barrier in this one was pretty weak."

"I went in hot and pretty much soloed a couple of floors before reinforcement got sent my way," Shom boasted plainly.

"This was good."

"I needed this. I was getting way too tired of just doing B-ranks all the time. No offense."

"None taken," Rean said.

’Oh wow, so that’s how it is. Offense taken,’ he thought, contrary to what he said. ’I know.’

"I got in and Shom teleported me straight up top. I came in at the 95th, and we descended together. There were a couple others, but Shom got tired and I did the heavy lifting onwards."

"No."

"No."

"Don’t lie."

"That’s not how that went."

"You joined at the ninetieth floor. Don’t go giving yourself credit."

"I was at the top of my game throughout. Tired, me?" Shom retorted.

"Oh, what of..." Tylan attempted to get back—

Those two and their back and forths.

"I guess some things don’t change," Ridlus came in.

Karl Karl gave the speech.

He was an S-rank hunter from James Rebirth guild. He recently placed fourth in the awards ceremony.

"This speech is so good. I guess I have to take notes for when I’ll be doing them as an S-rank in the future," Tylan teased.

Shom wasn’t buying it. He wasn’t really present.

’How did Rean make it that far? His progress, it’s.....’

’He was also the only one to think of jumping straight to the top, just like me.’

’I talk about his decision-making a lot. I rag on it even, but that was pretty elite timing. He’s good.’

’I didn’t give this new initiative much thought, but if the others can perform on nearly Rean’s level this early on in their careers, then the world should welcome a revolution.’

’Standards, precedent be damned. These guys will make new numbers,’ Shom thought.

"Of course am not letting them get ahead of me," he said out loud.

"What was that?" Tylan asked.

"Oh, nothing."

**********

In an A rank dungeon

**********

The frost giant’s presence swallowed the chamber.

It stood at the center of the frozen wasteland like a living glacier, easily over thirty meters tall, its body formed from layers of dense ice reinforced by absurd amounts of mana. Every movement caused the air to groan under pressure, cold mist rolling endlessly from its frame.

The ground beneath the giant constantly froze and refroze from overflow alone, jagged spikes erupting across the battlefield at random while entire storms formed around its body naturally. Hunters would have struggled to even approach it without being frozen alive.

Xander walked toward it casually.

The giant noticed immediately.

Its massive arm rose, mana condensing instantly—

Then a wave of frozen destruction exploded outward.

Ice pillars erupted across the battlefield in rapid succession, each one large enough to impale buildings, all aimed directly at Xander.

He didn’t dodge.

"Tank."

The class shift happened instantly.

His body thickened with dense mana reinforcement, layers of force wrapping around him like invisible armor plating. Tank Class specialized in defense through overwhelming durability, converting mana into direct impact resistance rather than mobility or attack output.

The pillars hit.

And shattered.

Ice exploded around Xander as he walked straight through the barrage without slowing, fragments crashing harmlessly off the reinforced mana surrounding him.

The storm intensified.

A massive beam of condensed frost mana fired downward, the pressure behind it enough to freeze the entire chamber solid.

Xander finally stopped walking.

"...Mage."

The defensive mana around him dissolved immediately, replaced by something sharper. Lighter. Volatile.

Mage Class.

A pure output-oriented class designed to maximize elemental conversion and spell amplification.

Xander raised one hand.

"Fireball."

The spell formed instantly—not a simple flame, but a compressed sphere of violently rotating fire mana dense enough to distort the air around it. Heat exploded outward from the orb before Xander casually threw it upward.

The collision shook the dungeon.

Fire and frost detonated against each other violently, steam erupting across the battlefield as the fireball burned directly through the giant’s attack before slamming into its chest.

BOOM.

The frost giant staggered for the first time.

Molten cracks spread across sections of its torso where the fire mana ate through the ice coating.

Xander grinned slightly.

"Oh, you can take hits."

The giant answered with another barrage.

Thousands of ice shards formed behind it like floating spears before firing simultaneously.

"Mage."

Xander snapped his fingers.

"Wind Slashes."

Compressed blades of wind erupted outward around him in massive arcs, invisible edges tearing through the incoming projectiles faster than the eye could properly follow. The battlefield became a storm of shredded ice as every spear was cut apart before reaching him.

Then Xander added another spell immediately after.

"Ice."

The air behind him condensed into dozens of sharpened frozen lances that fired back toward the giant at extreme speed. Unlike the giant’s attacks, Xander’s ice carried condensed rotational mana, drilling through defenses instead of relying on raw force.

The spears punched clean through the giant’s shoulders and chest.

The frost giant roared louder now, mana surging violently as it regenerated the damage almost instantly.

Xander’s eyes lit up.

"Alright..."

"Not my brightest move fighting ice with ice"

He cracked his neck once.

"...let’s make something new."

Mana shifted around him unpredictably.

Two class structures overlapped.

Merged.

"Hybrid Class—Ravager."

The atmosphere changed instantly.

Ravager was born on the spot—a fusion class combining Tank’s absolute damage resistance with Berserker-type physical amplification. For ten seconds, the class nullified all incoming damage and attacks entirely while multiplying physical output to monstrous levels.

The frost giant attacked immediately.

A point-blank storm of freezing mana crashed into Xander hard enough to annihilate the battlefield around him.

It did nothing.

Xander walked through it smiling.

The giant swung downward with enough force to flatten the entire floor—

Xander caught the arm.

One hand.

The impact exploded outward violently, but Ravager ignored it completely.

Then Xander pulled.

Hard.

The giant lost balance instantly.

And Xander punched.

The arm shattered.

Not cracked.

Shattered completely at the elbow as fragments of ice and mana exploded outward. Before regeneration could begin, Xander was already moving again.

A second punch destroyed the giant’s knee.

A third tore through its ribs.

The frost giant roared desperately, trying to freeze him point-blank, but every attack dispersed uselessly against Ravager’s nullification effect.

Xander grabbed its face.

Then drove it through three massive ice pillars before slamming it into the ground hard enough to split the battlefield open.

The timer ticked down.

Seven seconds.

Six.

Five.

Xander kept going.

Every strike destroyed limbs faster than they could regenerate. Arms exploded apart under punches. Legs collapsed under kicks. Entire sections of the giant’s torso were reduced to debris from raw physical force alone.

By the time Ravager ended—

The frost giant was barely standing.

Half its body regenerated unevenly while massive amounts of mana leaked uncontrollably from damaged areas.

Xander stepped back.

The giant gathered everything it had left.

Mana flooded the chamber violently, freezing the air solid as one final attack prepared overhead—a catastrophic blast of concentrated frost large enough to erase the entire dungeon floor.

Xander sighed.

"Fine."

Mana shifted one last time.

"Hybrid Class—Marksman."

Metallic structures formed instantly around his arms and shoulders, mana assembling itself into an enormous high-output machine gun covered in rotating mana chambers and elemental barrels.

Marksman specialized in ranged annihilation through accelerated mana ammunition output.

Xander aimed upward casually.

Then fired.

A torrent of condensed mana rounds erupted from the weapon like a storm, each shot carrying enough force to pierce fortress-grade defenses. The barrage completely overwhelmed the frost giant’s final attack before tearing directly through its body.

Rounds punched through its chest.

Its neck.

Its skull.

Its core.

The giant’s regeneration failed instantly under the sheer volume of destruction. Entire sections of its body vanished under the endless barrage as the machine gun continued firing relentlessly.

The frost giant tried to roar—

Half its head disappeared.

Another burst tore through the remaining torso.

Then the core shattered.

The massive body froze mid-motion.

Before collapsing apart into pieces.

Following this the dungeon itself came undone.

Xander walked out the gate alone. No squad.

"It seems this A rank solo thing is getting to easy.

When something’s no longer challenging for you. You cease to improve or how does the phrase go?

I’ll take it up a notch.

S next"