Lyn finally made it home. He was covered in dust and reeked of blood, the first thing he wanted to do was shower. Sunny and Ren should think this was obvious-

'So why won't they let me go!'

The trio, finally reunited, shared an extended hug for their zombie comrade's reawakening.

. . .

"You really did it!" in awe at the surreal accomplishment Ren stared with pride.

"Yep! Yep! and not one thanks from the ACPP!" Lyn declared, unclear if was truly mad or just joking.

"The ACPP would reward you publicly if they could, no matter the cost." Sunny explained. Ahead of time the two shared their suspicions with the higher ups they had connections with. Even if they were just sharing nonsense the two had a name for themselves and more validity was given to their claim. At that point it was too early to deem it impossible.

"Nevertheless.. we're on probation for a few months." Sunny added dejectedly

"Who could have guessed that endangering the life of someone who was basically a citizen had consequences." Lyn said sarcastically

"At least pretend to have some conscience. No one would believe you if you said it was all our idea. Besides if it was anyone but us they would be gone permanently." Ren retorted.

Of course, she was right. Rumors were bound to spread about the pair's probation as well.

'Had Sunny finally left the singles club?'

'Were they lost in the graveyard?'

'Did that cursed warrior finally drive them insane?'

Of course, the truth however would never reach the public's ears. The truth had a habit at dying to the hands of the ACPP.

In any case, Lyn was ready to sneak out and put himself to the test.

"Let me at least test one skill!"

"No! NO! Life Force is dangerous!"

He couldn't say he regretted his choice of spilling everything to his team, but every part of him wanted to be unbound by Ren.

"We don't even need to be on the record! I know a spot that I can go to myself!" Lyn begged

"And where is that then?"

Sarcastically, Ren heard him out however Sunny was not taking the chance

"Don't fall for it. There's nowhere safe for a Level One."

Am I made of glass to you? I could approach a Calamity with my 'weak' Level One body you know! Not wanting to antagonize Sunny he kept his words to himself.

"Just let me go to the old guild's building, the one with the bug infestation." Lyn had a hunch that the simple bugs weren't about to get their fill even if he could go, but as always he was out of luck.

Weak to the pleading puppy's eyes, Ren sighed and said "I'm not dumb enough to let him off his leash just yet. You're gonna be by our side until you hit Level Three, got it?" She wore a more sinister grin than usual as she was looking to blow off some steam anyway.

"...We can't just let him go. Even if he gets stronger." Unrelenting, Sunny wasn't just able to move on past the events of the previous night so easily.

"Then lets stick to him! He's not our kid, Sunny. He has to grow stronger somehow. No matter how much of a cheat Life Force is, a Level One is a Level One." Ren countered, taking a different approach than submitting to her fears.

Many promising hunters had fallen to Level gaps. Too in over their heads and too reckless to listen to their team, they died without ever showing real results. The fact that these two first year hunters had made it this far only proved their skill and wit. At least on the battlefield.

Seemingly giving up Sunny mumbled "That's just the thing, Life Force could kill him." and got up to leave the room and collect himself. Ren noticing that Sunny had a plan, followed him out.

"So.. can I shower now?" A tied up hunter cried out but no one came.

. . .

A clean trio of warriors set out to get their hands dirty underhandedly. 

"Are you sure no one monitors this place, Lyn?" Sunny said, still showing his anxiety about this whole situation.

"Of course! No one has authorization to enter this place unless they were apart of Streamline anyway."

Streamline.

One of the first five major guilds and the guild with the strongest defense and support forces. At the time Lyn, Suuny and Ren were apart of it, their speed in securing safe zones spread their name far and wide. The romanticism of the hunters life is largely attributed to this guild. The Streamline of the present has taken a completely different turn, becoming more of an information nexus, due to the late guild master's passing and other leadership changes.

'Although the scars of the past remain, I can become something entirely new as well.'

Lyn chose to activate [Spark Barrier] in advance. The invigorating feel of life force reinforced his faith himself. The unstoppable bus that was as prepared as it ever could be, Lyn, Sunny and Ren entered the nest.

. . . 

Emerging from the dark, clicking bugs as big as pigs that looked like hybrids between an ant and a millipede systematically crawled through paths near the entrance of the dungeon. As if they were choosing to ignore the human presence, the bugs continued their journey deep into the hive until...

Woosh!

In an instant, Sunny and Ren shot forward.

Although Lyn had seen their prowess all before, to see the duo focused on one enemy left his mouth open wide.

Where do I fit in with those monsters...?

"Kraayck!" The real monsters screeched only for a moment as they were surrounded by the two humans, unable to move or call for help. When the blurs came to a stop-

Thud!

-The last bug in the area fell to the ground, lifeless.

'Even they were strong for the battle to be over so quick.. the importance of leveling up cannot be overstated.'

Lyn, re-observing his notes on their pair made sure to keep behind them.

"Be careful Lyn! These bugs don't ever stop coming, so keep close until we hit the boss. Then we'll fight together!"

Ren and Sunny came up with the plan to retreat and adopt a support hunting style for Lyn's growth. Although they wanted him to get stronger as quick as possible, in their own ways they both understood that he needed experience that he couldn't get from just watching.

The goal of this exercise was to emphasize awareness and movement. The bugs made the perfect environment to train such a skill with their sheer numbers. 

"We're going deeper now. Follow." Keeping his words concise, Sunny lead the way into the next section.

Milliants who sported an exoskeleton now trudged skillfully through structurally sound paths.

"Focus, Lyn. I'll go alone this time. Sunny, keep the ones behind us from flowing in." Ren didn't doubt Lyn's ability to follow directions and was well aware of his ability to notice the important details in everything, so immediately she rushed forward choosing switch to a blunt weapon instead of slicing apart the armored milliant.

Shwoo-bang!

The sturdy mace slammed down onto the shell didn't even give the pitiful creature the time to react.

'It shouldn't look this easy if you want me to keep my sense of urgency.' Lyn scoffed.

After killing enough of their kin for the milliants to become wary of entering this portion of the den for a moment, Ren pulled out a dagger and cut open the side of the bug underneath it's exoskeleton. Through the viscous yellowish hemolymph, the stronger milliants dropped many shiny beads when their sides were cut open, milliant pearls.

The value of the pearls were very high as milliant nest were some of the earliest dungeons to form. However, since first year after the Awakening Scare they have not continued to form. Before this was noticed however, many of the dungeons were cleared permanently. As a result their uniquely tempered patterns could go for a decent fortune.

Like this, armored, unarmored, and giant milliants were sliced, smashed and dissected relentlessly, but before the boss, something interesting appeared.

[Mutated Giant Armored Milliant]

"Combined and upgraded? Well it doesn't have the Queen's title, so is it a King Milliant then?" Lyn remarked while stretching and shaking off his fatigue.

Excited to finally fight, he stepped forward while, Ren and Sunny watched cautiously while dealing with any straggler bugs.

'It doesn't seem like leaving [Spark Barrier] on drained my mana? Is that how the [Reactive] types work then..'

"[Beginner's Construct]"

Unaware of what mutation the mutant took on by chance, Lyn formed a simple seafoam green cube in his left hand, readied his mace on his right, and carefully approached the King.

"UWAAGH!"

With an awkward cry Lyn attempted to swing down the exoskeleton, like Ren did before, but more dramatically. Unsurprisingly, without her specialized techniques, he only made a small crack in the shell. Ignoring the stifled laughter of Ren, he attempted to swing down again on the same spot, but the milliant with it's giant body slammed into him, and then rolled it's body back to spit.

Fshh!

'Acidic venom!'

Recognizing the trait, Lyn quickly figured of the bug's mutation and twisted his body to avoid the jet stream. 

'Am I not skilled enough to use constructs and weapons together yet?'

While quickly deciding which to give up, Lyn made sure [Spark Barrier] was activated and feigned an attack to bait another venom spit.

Better now than later.

 Fshh!

The attack, feeling more deadly than before because he was letting it come close, Lyn almost cowered when it seemed like his barrier wouldn't activate, however-

Snap! Rnnnng!

-The barrier blocked and evaporated the whole stream, giving Lyn a window to attack while the King was confused. Springing forward while avoiding the mist he dashed around the front facing bug and towards the same small crack in the shell, this time choosing to pocket his mace to not have to get close and shot his cube construct forward.

Crunch!

Shocking the whole trio at the effectiveness of the cube compared to the excellently crafted mace, Lyn wondered just how dense the mana in the cube was to have such an impact.

"KRYAAA!" The King, completely unprepared for the pain rushed away from Lyn.

'Let's keep this pace then!'

Of course Lyn didn't have time to think about the intricacies of his power right now. Not falling behind in terms of speed to the giant, he constructed another cube in his hand and-

Bang!

"KREYAAA!"

'Heh, didn't know it could scream like that', Ren chuckled, surprised by Lyn's performance but even more happy that the use of [Life Force] didn't seem to wear him down during the battle. Sunny sharing her thoughts decided not to speak up yet in case he broke Lyn's focus.

This time the King powered through the pain, screaming in rage and ready to spray it's venom, the bug rushed toward Lyn who didn't waver this time.

"[Spark Barrier]."

Rnnnnng! Rng! Rng!

The barrier repeatedly flashed as the King tried to smash and spray it to no avail. Seeing that the King was right in his face Lyn was ready to launch his cube at it but -

'Let's not destroy the mutant trait.' Lyn thought, swapping his cube for a tear shaped construct, he effortlessly pierced the skull of the mutant milliant.

With a heavy thud it's body fell to the hard ground.

['Mutant Giant Armored Milliant' defeated!]

['Beginner's Construct' skill has increased in efficiency!]

['Spark Barrier' skill has increased in efficiency!]

[You've gained a small achievement, 'First Mutant'!]

"It really was as easy as they were making it seem?" Lyn could only stare dumbfounded.