Strongest Duo Part 1

Chapter 19- The Dungeon Expedition (1)

"Would you look at that? The leader of The Six Hunters has finally arrived." Mr. Reed joked. The man greeted me inside the underground bunker. He motioned for Paul to guard the entrance as usual, and the door shut with a metallic creak.

"I still haven't gotten used to that title..." I sighed.

Mr. Reed chuckled and motioned at the empty chairs. "Heh, it'll grow on you. Come in and take a seat."

The place hasn't changed at all. When looking at the long table in the middle, Darion was the only person sitting. I took my seat across from him.

I glanced around the underground bunker. "Is it just us? Where are the others?"

"Don't worry about them, Joel. You and Darion should be enough for this Dungeon. It was founded by a group of hikers. Right as they were about to start their trek, a portal spontaneously formed near them. They notified the authorities, and here we are."

"It formed at the base of a mountain... It would've taken a while for humans to locate this dungeon. If it was left alone..."

Mr. Reed leaned back in his chair and nodded. "Yes, an outbreak would've occurred. We got lucky this time. Anyways, my team inspected the mana readings of the gate, and we can accurately estimate it to be around D-Rank since the color of the gate was orange."

"You called me over for a measly D-rank dungeon?" Darion gritted his teeth. The boy was visibly annoyed as he crossed his arms and glared at Mr. Reed.

Mr. Reed sighed, unfazed by Darion's hostility. "Darion... you do know that we are severely understaffed at the moment. I would send the weaker Dungeon Conquerors, but you know most of them are... afraid of monsters. After what they experienced, I'm not surprised. I can only count on you guys until we get more awakened on deck. Why do you think I wanted you guys to create guilds? To nurture and support the newbies."

Darion blinked slowly at Mr. Reed and averted his gaze. "...Fine." While Darion reluctantly agreed, I can tell this is the last time he would enter a D-Rank Dungeon, let alone F-Rank.

I figured it was time to spill the beans of what I discovered. "Speaking of guilds... I found a hidden gem among a group of high school students I was speaking for."

Mr. Reed and Darion both locked eyes with me.

"Hidden gem you say?"

"What did you say, old man?"

When you stare at me this hard... it's kind of embarrassing.

"When her hand touched the Appraisal Orb, there was an influx of mana within it. After that, one letter that I wasn't anticipating appeared..." I paused for a moment to build up the suspense.

"...Spit it out, will you?" Mr. Reed demanded.

"Her potential was estimated to be at least B-Rank."

"WHAT?!" They both let out a collective gasp. This is the reaction I was expecting. It's not far off from mine.

"I was as shocked as you guys! Like, a B-Rank that young? And with no formal training to boot!"

"Joel... do you know what this means? If what you said is true... and I believe you... we could have an A-Rank other than Sam in America!" Mr. Reed said giddily. He was practically hopping up from his seat. Having two A-ranks would bolster our military might. To give you an idea of why this is a good thing, only five countries in the whole world have at least one A-rank awakened: India, Japan, the United States of America, China, and Russia. There may be more of them and it's highly likely. It's just that we have a sneaking suspicion some countries are hiding the ranks of their strongest superhumans. This is only a superstition with the information we have gathered. There have been no reports that an S-Rank has appeared; not yet at least.