Chapter 10: time
D-SCAN
Host Takuya Kanbara
Hunter Rank: C
Primary Spirit Fire
Elemental sync: 41%
Data 454,8 MB
Evolution
• Baby I – Mokumon
(Transformation Unavailable — Incompatible Host Body)
• Baby II – DemiMeramon
(Transformation Unavailable — Incompatible Host Body)
• Rookie / Child – Flamon
(Hybrid special/high rockie) (Partial Transformation — Incompatible Host Body)
Abilities Unlocked
• Smoke • Noble hearth • baby salamander • Fire tail • Flame toss
Side Evolutions Available Rookie/child.
• Candmon (Insufficient Data)
• Ghostmon (Insufficient Data)
• Vorvomon (Insufficient Data)
Requirement: 100 MB of Data
Next Evolution (Locked) Adult / Champion • ???? • ???? • ???? Requirement: 500 MB of Data
Inventory 61/99
It had been five months.
Once again, Takuya stood before the entrance of another Gate.
This time, however, it wasn’t a D-Rank Gate.
It was a C-Rank Gate.
For the past fourth months, he had limited himself to D-Rank dungeons, working alongside Jinwoo and Joohee whenever their schedules matched. More than once, experienced Hunters had suggested he move up to C-Rank Gates, assuring him they weren’t nearly as dangerous as people imagined.
After all, C-Rank raids were usually carried out by full parties of ten Hunters.
As long as everyone did their job, they said, the success rate was quite high.
Still...
He hadn’t dared.
The truth was simple.
He possessed the instincts of a fighter.
The moment combat started, his body knew exactly how to move, where to strike, and how to react.
But...
He lacked the instinct to actually want to fight.
It was a strange contradiction.
One he couldn’t quite explain.
His body adapted naturally to battle, yet his mind constantly searched for reasons to avoid it.
Even after four months...
That feeling hadn’t disappeared.
However, he also knew he couldn’t keep delaying it forever.
Time wasn’t going to wait for him.
He needed Agnimon before everything truly began.
And even then...
Agnimon alone wouldn’t be enough.
That realization was what finally pushed him to take the next step.
So, when he entered his first C-Rank Gate...
Everything changed.
The monsters were noticeably stronger.
Faster.
More durable.
Every battle demanded far more concentration than the D-Rank dungeons ever had.
But there was another difference.
The amount of Data they yielded was significantly greater.
The rewards made the increased danger worthwhile.
During those months, Takuya had also finally understood what Element Sync actually meant.
At first, he had assumed it simply increased the power of his fire techniques.
That wasn’t true.
It didn’t strengthen his flames.
It strengthened his control over them.
For example, he could activate Noble Heart and engulf his fists in fire before rushing into close combat.
Originally, however, the flames would quickly become unstable, gradually dispersing until they vanished completely.
Now...
He could maintain them for much longer.
The same applied to his other techniques.
Element Sync wasn’t an increase in destructive output.
It was affinity.
Mastery.
Precision.
The fire obeyed him more naturally than before.
That alone made a tremendous difference.
Now...
He stood before yet another C-Rank Gate.
Hopefully...
The last one for a while.
If everything went according to plan—if the dungeon was large enough, if he collected enough Data from the monsters, and especially from the boss...
It might finally be enough.
Enough to evolve.
At last.
Without another thought, Takuya stepped through the Gate alongside the rest of the party.
He was already transformed.
His crimson hair swayed gently behind him, while his tail flicked back and forth with quiet anticipation.
He was ready.
The moment the Hunters crossed the dimensional barrier, the scenery changed completely.
A swamp.
Endless mud.
Shallow pools of stagnant water stretched as far as the eye could see.
The damp air clung unpleasantly to the skin, while the smell...
It smelled like death.
Rotting vegetation mixed with stagnant water created an odor that made Takuya wrinkle his nose immediately.
"Iugh... why are they always like this?" Takuya muttered with visible disgust.
Honestly...
Most Gates seemed determined to be as unpleasant as possible.
Unfortunately, this one presented another problem.
Water.
Lots of it.
Being surrounded by moisture wasn’t exactly the ideal battlefield for him.
His fire techniques would become noticeably weaker.
Not in raw power...
But in efficiency and control.
Takuya clicked his tongue.
"I’m going to rely more on close combat and quick finishes," he muttered as he followed the group deeper into the swamp.
Several Hunters who had raided with him before simply nodded.
They had long grown accustomed to Takuya thinking out loud during missions.
At this point...
It was practically part of his routine.
They moved slowly across the swamp. Walking through it was annoying. At their current level of strength, the shallow water didn’t slow them down much, but it reduced both their visibility and their footing.
Suddenly, they detected movement.
A lot of movement.
From the surrounding marsh, dozens of bipedal lizards emerged.
There were at least thirty of them.
Against ten hunters.
Three enemies per person.
The hunters immediately tightened their formation, protecting the mages and the two healers in the center.
The mages began casting simultaneously.
Takuya, however, acted first.
He always preferred taking advantage of the surprise factor whenever possible.
"Baby Salamander."
Two streams of flame shot from his fists, catching two of the lizard monsters off guard.
Only one of them took the full force of both attacks directly to the head.
Before it could recover, Takuya launched a Fire Toss.
The blazing fireball slammed into its chest.
The remaining lizards scattered to avoid the attack, while the injured one stumbled toward the swamp, trying to throw itself into the water.
Too late.
"Baby Salamander."
Another burst of flames struck its head, and the creature collapsed into the murky water.
One down.
At the same time, the other mages unleashed a barrage of spells, dropping several more lizards before they could reach the front line.
At least two from each mage.
Seeing the distance rapidly disappear, the remaining lizards charged.
The melee hunters braced themselves.
Fortunately, there weren’t nearly as many enemies left now.
Takuya’s forearms ignited as Noble Heart coated them in flames.
The first lizard lunged at him.
He answered with a rapid barrage of fiery punches, never taking his eyes off the battlefield. Every strike was delivered while he kept scanning his surroundings, making sure no monster slipped past him toward the backline—or worse, that one of his teammates accidentally got caught in the crossfire. He trusted his own attacks far more than he trusted the battlefield itself.
Once he was sure the second lizard had gone down, he noticed two more pinning down a nearby swordsman.
Without hesitation, he fired a Baby Salamander toward them while launching a Fire Toss to his right.
Then—
From behind.
A third lizard leaped out of the swamp, aiming straight for his back.
Takuya reacted instinctively.
"Flame Tail."
His burning tail whipped across the creature’s body, sending it flying toward the mages.
A mistake.
He immediately jumped backward, creating distance.
The moment the lizard emerged from the water again—
"Baby Salamander."
The flames struck its head directly, engulfing it in fire.
The first wave came to an end.
As the others gathered the mana crystals, Takuya did something he had discovered some time ago.
He could absorb the Data from anything.
At least, that was his current hypothesis.
When monsters died, they seemed to release some form of energy. The D-Scan automatically converted—or perhaps encoded—that energy into Data.
Maybe that was the same principle behind the experience points Jinwoo would eventually gain through the System.
"Maybe they explained it somewhere," Takuya muttered.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t remember. And honestly, it wasn’t worth dwelling on. Knowing the explanation wouldn’t change anything.
The raid continued.
Wave after wave.
Room after room.
His Data count kept increasing.
Sometimes only one megabyte after clearing a group of weaker monsters.
Sometimes ten if they managed to defeat stronger ones.
Since no one expected to clear a C-rank gate in a single day, every hunter had brought food, water, and camping supplies.
This dungeon was no exception.
After nearly seven hours of fighting, the party decided they had done enough for the day and set up camp.
Leaving the gate wasn’t an option.
Not because it was sealed, but because monsters had a tendency to regroup whenever hunters abandoned a dungeon before clearing it.
On top of that, this gate had already existed for five days.
It had to be cleared by tomorrow at the latest.
After spending the night inside the dungeon, the group resumed their advance.
Just as expected, the monsters had regrouped.
There were more of them now, and they fought more aggressively than before.
Several times, Takuya found himself breathing heavily after clearing a room.
Even so...
It was worth it.
By the end of the second day, his Data counter had reached 486 MB.
Which meant that after defeating the boss, he would almost certainly have enough to evolve into Agnimon.
And even if he somehow fell short...
The next raid would definitely push him over the requirement.
Finally.
He was about to leave the Rookie stage behind.
"Maybe... I’ll reach B-rank," he thought.
The boss chamber was enormous.
Unlike the flooded tunnels they had crossed so far, this area was relatively dry.
Waiting at the top of a small rocky mound rested a gigantic lizard.
It was larger than an elephant.
Its appearance resembled a strange mixture of an iguana and a crocodile, complete with thick horns growing from its head.
It was an intimidating sight.
Definitely not a dragon.
Just...
A very, very large lizard.
Although, depending on who you asked, dragons were simply oversized lizards anyway.
The giant lizard slowly rose to its feet before unleashing a deafening roar.
The hunters immediately spread out, surrounding the monster as the battle began.
Takuya took his place on the front line.
Alongside the mages, he launched attack after attack from a distance.
The beast glanced at him briefly before shifting its attention to the spellcasters.
They were dealing far more damage.
Fine by him.
Takuya continued firing, deliberately aiming for the creature’s face.
Its eyes.
Its nostrils.
His plan was simple.
Blind it if possible.
If not, burn its eye sockets and damage its sense of smell. Even limiting its senses would give the hunters a huge advantage.
As it turned out, he wasn’t the only one with that idea.
The mages concentrated their spells on the monster’s head as well.
Unfortunately, despite the constant barrage, it wasn’t enough to blind the beast outright.
Still...
The fight revealed one important weakness.
Although the monster possessed tremendous strength with its claws and tail, its lower body was surprisingly sluggish.
Takuya made his decision instantly.
He sprinted forward before leaping onto the creature’s back.
Using its thick scales as footholds, he climbed toward its head.
The moment the lizard realized someone was on top of it, it flew into a frenzy.
Its massive tail whipped wildly through the air, trying to throw Takuya off.
But that distraction created the perfect opening.
The other hunters surged forward.
The swordsmen slashed at its legs.
The axe warrior buried his weapon into its side.
The tanks held its attention while the mages continued bombarding it from afar.
The battle dragged on for nearly thirty minutes.
In the end, Takuya accomplished what he had set out to do.
Repeated Baby Salamanders at point-blank range eventually burned one of the creature’s eyes beyond recovery.
Once its vision was compromised, the fight became significantly easier.
The hunters steadily overwhelmed the wounded boss until, with one final cry, the gigantic lizard collapsed.
Dead.
As Takuya absorbed the remaining Data, the number on his panel finally changed.
502 MB.
He had done it.
He finally had enough Data to evolve into Agnimon.
After waiting for so long...
After countless battles...
It was finally within reach.
His excitement, however, made him careless.
The moment he selected Agnimon, a confirmation window appeared.
Without thinking...
He pressed Yes.
The system responded immediately.
Trial of the Human Spirit of Fire initiated.
"...What?"
Before he could react, a new gate materialized beneath his feet.
The ground disappeared.
Takuya fell straight into the darkness.
A/N: if we make this going to the rank all above the top 50, I release another Chapter.