Extra's Descent

"Haaa…."

After changing out of her military uniform into lighter clothing, Amelia slouched down on the couch.

A lot of things had changed. And after a year, she had climbed up the military ranks at an astonishing pace.

A speed that was never seen before.

She was now a General at 19 years-old.

The youngest in the Imperial Army's history.

After the calamity, she could solemnly swear that she had some kind of boost in strength.

At first, it started with a light migraine. But progressively, in the next set of months, she could feel like her mana core had increased exponentially.

And that was when something peculiar popped up in her peripheral view.

With just that thought…

——[Sovereign Fragment]——

[Name: Amelia Constantine]

[Mana Core: Tier 5]

[Status: A+]

[Innate]

∟ Gate — Level 10

∟ Experience — 2%

——[Status]——

∟ STR: A- —[3%]

∟ MP: A+ —[2%]

∟ DEF: A+ —[67%]

∟ AGI: A- —[0%]

∟ INT: B+ —[0%]

∟ CHA: SS —[0%]

[AVG: A]

———————————

An interface popped up.

This was something relevantly new to her. But after seeing it for over nine months, it wasn't as shocking anymore.

[Gate]

Apparently, that was what her ability was called.

She had the [Armament] affinity, and it seems like it was connected to her innate skill.

Gently raising her palms, a sword materialized in her peripheral vision.

Raising another palm, another weapon materialized.

It was a knife.

Ever since awakening her affinity at a young age, she could only materialize small weapons like knives.

And it seemed like weapons were the only thing she could conjure.

Though, she did know it was the same as her father's ability.

But the difference was that her father could only materialize five weapons at once.

For her…

Her capacity increased progressively.

And now she could do ten, the same as her Gate's level.

And though her father could only materialize melee weapons, for Amelia….

Dematerializing the melee weapons, she extended one of her hands forward.

A gun materialized and she clenched it tightly.

Standing up, she pulled the trigger.

Bang! Bang!

A normal gun would need bullets. But supplying the gun with mana, the gun would consume her mana in exchange for bullets.

Dematerializing the gun, she slumped back down on the couch.

"Huu…"

Scruffing her collar, she had come to realize how hot the room was.

Ever since the calamity, the weather had been quite unstable.

And though it was night, she could well agree that it was quite hot, despite the air cooler present.

With such thoughts, she took off her shirt, unveiling her usual sports bra.

"Much better…"

Raising her head to look at the ceiling, she began to ponder.

In the past few months, things had significantly changed.

The Special Force was absorbed by the Imperial Army, and are now working under their orders.

The hierarchy went; Imperial Army, Special Force, Guild, Police Department.

While the Imperial Army served as their main defense, and the main organization that heads all these departments, the Special Force acted as a sub-group.

Police department on the other hand worked to solve issues within the Human Domain.

And the most interesting one out of all these departments were the Guilds.

Guilds had significantly changed throughout the past months.

To be allowed to leave the human domain, you need to be a certified ranker, or at least have two rankers with you.

There were oppositions from the citizens at first. After all, they needed to pay to hire rankers to accompany them.

But it quickly died down as they realized there was no point in leaving the human domain.

Everything they needed was in the human domain. They were able to cover more land, and continued to do so.

As for the creatures, the classifications were made public, as well as their difficulty.

The hierarchy went;

Goblins — F Rank.

Kobolds — F+ Rank.

Direwolves — D Rank.

Mana Beasts — C Rank.

Lizardmen — C+ Rank.

Golems — C+ Rank.

Manticores — B Rank.

Orcs — B+ Rank.

Ogres — A+ Rank.

Wyverns — S- Rank.

There were more races, but they were unable to assess the difficulty, due to the mystery that shrouded them.

Sightings of different creatures were being reported everyday. But so far, these were the only ones that rankers were able to assess.

But from what they could tell, the most mysterious races were the Elves.

They knew they resided in the forest, yet their sightings were low.

People had begun to doubt whether these leaf pointed eared humanoid creatures actually existed.

But still, the amount of claims that swore they saw them descending on the day of the calamity said otherwise.

Also, all of the sightings' stories aligned.

Silver hair, and leaf pointed ears. Once they were sighted, they mysteriously vanished.

And rankers who had explored that forest could swear that the mana density was thick.

As if a significant amount of mana had gathered in the forest.

For the other creatures, they resided all over the continent.

While some of them seeked refuge in cave-like structures.

Humanity had begun to call these caves, 'labyrinths'.

And these labyrinths were being explored everyday.

More creatures were being sighted and reported in the guild.

And though the rankings were nothing but assessments, it was used as the basis for what sort of party the rankers would form.

"It's all too crazy…"

It was as if the fairy tales that Amelia read had come true.

…And not the good kind of fairy tale.

Turning her head to the side, she looked at the picture frame that was on her table.

It was a picture of her as a child and her father.

Her heart grew heavy as he recounted those days.

"...I miss you, Dad. I wonder how you're doing up there."

If only….

"Haaa…."

If only he had listened to Brandon on that day. Then things would've been a lot better today.

After all, in nine months, there was still no appropriate candidate for the Grand Marshal position.

She was always nominated, but she would always refuse the position.

She didn't feel like she deserved the position at the moment.

"I want to earn it with my own achievements."

Nepotism was out of the picture.

There were several other picture frames on the desk. Photos of her time in her academy with her friends, the events she had participated in and such.

But her gaze landed on a specific picture frame.

A photo of her and a man with pale-white hair and ice–blue eyes.

It was none other than Brandon Locke.

Her junior.

Her best–friend's younger brother.

…And the only student who was deemed missing on that day.

She was fond of him, and she could definitely say that she missed him.

Amelia was well aware of how strong Brandon was. In fact, she wanted to form a squad with him and Belle, once they graduate from the academy and join the Imperial Army.

But fate wasn't so kind to him.

His death made no sense.

And truth be told, her instincts told her that he was still out there.

While Belle had already accepted the fact that her younger brother was dead, Amelia's instincts said otherwise.

As if some kind of strange connection told her that he was still alive.

But still, what happened to Brandon was a tragedy. For that reason, she continued to support and console her best-friend, Belle.

Though Belle had accepted his death, her feelings would pour out from time to time.

Everyday in fact.

"...."

Without realizing she had been deep in thoughts for a while, her stomach grumbled.

"Guess I'll order take out."

With such thoughts, she dialed for a delivery service and quickly ordered her meal.

*

To. Tok—

After waiting for thirty minutes or so, someone knocked on her door.

It must've been her food.

She quickly put on a t-shirt and neared the door.

Creaaaaaak...

What greeted her sight was a woman with wheat blonde hair, and hazel brown eyes.

She was beautiful.

What's a beauty like her, working as a delivery driver?

Smiling, she greeted the delivery woman.

"Good afternoon."

"Amelia Constantine."

"...Yes, that's me?"

Her name was registered in the delivery app. It wasn't weird for the delivery woman to know her name.

"....!"

But what happened next had left Amelia in shock.

Behind the woman, a portal materialized.

How did she do that?

After the calamity incident, humanity had only begun to research these rift portals of some sort.

Yet the woman had done it so easily.

On high alert, Amelia took a battle stance. A sword materialized in her hand and she gripped it tightly, ready to strike at any time.

"Who are you?"

"Calm down. I'm not your enemy."

"What you're doing says so otherwise."

"Don't you want to see him?"

"See who?"

"Brandon Locke."