Chapter 10

"Well, that was anticlimactic." Korra deadpanned, staring at the battered dungeon boss lying motionless before her.

Despite its speed, the wendigo had only lasted a few minutes before Kaede swiftly ended its life, along with the rest of the guards. Not a single one had managed to lay a scratch on her.

"The fact that I’m still baffled, even when i knew exactly what would happen… I'm not sure what I expected." Kanae sighed, shaking her head.

Korra glanced at Kaede, who had begun gathering the corpses of the fallen monsters. Her brows furrowed. "What’s she doing?"

Kanae narrowed her eyes. "She mentioned this earlier… Is she really going to do it?"

"Do what?" Korra asked, before her expression twisted in horror. "...She's eating them?"

A wave of disgust washed over her as she gagged.

Kanae pressed her lips together, resisting the urge to recoil. "She has the ability to absorb the power of anything she eats, including their abilities."

Korra turned to her, eyes wide with realization. "That means she’ll continuously grow stronger the more she eats. A Hunter with no limits… except for how many enemies she can devour." She wrinkled her nose. "Still disgusting, though."

Meanwhile, Kaede hummed in satisfaction as she tore into one of the wendigo guards. The meat had a strange texture, like frozen fish, hardly pleasant, but she wasn’t about to complain. The benefits were well worth it.

---

AGILITY +3

Acquired Skill:

Speed Up LV 1 – Increases speed by 5% for 1 minute. Costs 1 MP per second after the first minute.

---

Kaede’s eyes lit up as she swallowed another bite. "Nice, more agility. And a speed boost skill… That explains why they were so fast. They must all have this ability."

She immediately stopped eating the first guard after gaining the skill and moved on to the next. There were still thirteen more to go.

"Oh my god, she's eating another one." Korra whispered in horror.

---

AGILITY +3

Speed Up LV 1 -> 2 – Increases speed by 10% for 1 minute. Costs 1 MP per second after the first minute.

---

It took Kaede a few more minutes, but she methodically devoured parts of the guards. After the seventh, she stopped gaining stats, only leveling up her speed skill.

---

AGILITY +21

Speed Up LV 2 -> 4 – Increases speed by 40% for 1 minute. Costs 1 MP per second after the first minute.

---

With the guards taken care of, only the dungeon boss remained. Kaede carefully extracted its essence stone, only to find something else embedded within its corpse, a rune.

---

Rune of Frost

---

"A rune, huh?" She examined the glowing stone in her palm before glancing at the wendigo’s lifeless form. "Do I even need it?"

Shrugging, she stashed the rune in her inventory. "I’ll figure it out later."

And with that, she dug into the boss.

---

AGILITY +33

STRENGTH +10

VITALITY +10

PERCEPTION +5

Predator’s Instinct LV 1 – Enhances reaction time and senses. Slightly increases evasion and critical strike rate.

Speed Up LV 4 -> 6 – Increase speed by 60% for 1 minute. Cost 1 mp per second when the 1 minute mark has passed.

---

By the time Kaede finished eating, she was drenched in blood, her entire figure looking more like a creature from a nightmare than a hunter. Korra let out a sigh before pulling her toward a nearby water source, using her abilities to wash her clean.

"Thanks, Korra! You're the best!" Kaede cheered, now refreshed.

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine… Just, next time, maybe do that in private, okay?" Korra said, rubbing her temple. "I'll go check on the others. You two should get moving, we’ve been in here so long that the dungeon might close soon."

Kaede nodded before following Kanae toward the dungeon exit. As they stepped out into the cool night air, she turned to her sister with a grin. "So? How’d I do?"

Kanae gave her an amused look. "I’d say you’re about as fast as an A-Rank now. You’ve definitely improved. You have the Provocation skill, right?"

Kaede nodded.

"Good. That means you won’t always need to rely on speed all that much. But that doesn’t mean you should neglect your physical training. Starting tomorrow, you’ll attend the gym daily," Kanae stated firmly. "You may be strong, but you're still quite a ways from the top of S-Rank."

Kaede pouted slightly, but Kanae only smiled. ‘Not that I can tell her she’s probably already one of the strongest S-Rankers in Japan… That would just give her a big head. And then there’s Goto…’

As they exited the dungeon, a group of people in formal suits was waiting just outside. The moment Kanae and Kaede stepped through the gate, one of the men hurried over.

Kanae raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

"It’s an emergency, ma’am," the man said, his expression grim. "Earlier this afternoon, seven A-Rank Gates appeared simultaneously, each of them near the upper limits of A-Rank. All available S-Rank Hunters are being dispatched immediately. You’ve already been assigned a gate; two other S-Ranks will be waiting for you there."

Kaede’s eyes widened. "Seven A-Rank Gates? That’s not normal, is it?" she asked Kanae.

Her sister shook her head. "No… it isn’t." She turned back to the man and nodded. "Alright. I’ll be on my way."

The man gave a sharp nod before returning to his colleagues.

"I'm coming with you," Kaede stated, looking Kanae directly in the eye.

Kanae blinked, then smirked. "Okay."

Kaede was mid-sentence when she processed the response. "I know I’m just a new S-Rank, and I’m not as strong as the rest of you yet, but with my defense, I can... Wait. Did you just say okay?"

Kanae chuckled. "Well, duh. I’m not letting you out of my sight. Otherwise, you’ll probably do something weird."

"You sound like Sally," Kaede said, smiling fondly.

"Who?" Kanae asked, but before Kaede could answer, Korra approached.

"I’m assuming you two already heard?" Korra asked.

Both sisters nodded.

"Good," Korra said, crossing her arms. "Then I’m coming with you guys. It’s probably safest that way."

---

That night, Japan was in an uproar.

Not one, not two, but seven high A-Rank Gates had manifested at the same time, each one hovering dangerously close to the realm of immeasurable.

They had to be cleared. Immediately.

But the real question wasn’t how to deal with them.

It was why.

Why had the Gates appeared like this?

Why now?

What force was at play?

And more importantly, was this just the beginning?

---

A few minutes later, Kaede, Kanae, and Korra arrived at their assigned gate in Tokyo.

It was massive, far larger than the one Kaede and Kanae had entered earlier that morning. The swirling blue portal loomed over them like a monolithic structure, nearly the size of a small complex.

Kaede's eyes flicked to the two figures standing nearby, dressed similarly to Kanae, well, one of them, at least. The other had his upper body completely exposed, his skin covered in scars that told stories of countless battles.

'S-Ranks.'

That much was obvious. As they approached, one of them, a man with short brown hair and a rugged, battle-worn face, smirked.

"Oh look, she's here," he said with an easygoing tone.

Kaede recognized him immediately. Kenzo Tanaka. One of the stronger S-Ranks in the Blade Guild, known for his reckless combat style. His body bore numerous scars that hadn't faded over the years, the most prominent being two crossed marks on the right side of his face.

"Hey, Kenzo," Kanae greeted casually. "So you’re the other ones assigned here?"

Before Kenzo could answer, the second S-Rank, a woman with light brown eyes and orange-brown hair styled into twin buns, spoke up.

"Oh hey, Kanae!" she greeted cheerfully before gesturing at Kenzo with a mock sigh. "Considering how often this hothead tries to get himself killed, I didn’t really have much choice in where I was assigned."

Kaede recognized her too. Akari Shimizu. The Blade Guild’s main healer, and more importantly, Japan’s only S-Rank healer.

Kanae gave her a nod, her expression unreadable. "So, is this everyone?"

Akari, who had been half-heartedly scolding Kenzo, turned to them with an amused look. "Oh? Yeah, this is all of us. Although..." Her gaze landed on Kaede and Korra.

"I see you brought two extras," she noted before smirking at Korra. "Hello, Korra. As always, I assume you’ll be adhering to the rules of needing my services?"

Korra clenched her jaw. "Don’t think I won’t wipe that smug look off your face, Akari."

Akari merely chuckled before shifting her attention to Kaede. "And who’s this?" Her eyes lingered on Kaede for a moment longer than necessary before she introduced herself. "I'm Akari, and I couldn’t help but notice your... presence. If you ever need healing, just know that my services don’t come cheap, okay?"

Kaede blinked. "...Okay?"

Kanae sighed, already used to Akari’s antics. "Ignore her," she told Kaede before turning back to the healer with a knowing smirk. "And I think you'd be very surprised."

Kenzo chuckled, crossing his arms. "I'll believe it. She's strong," he said with a grin. "I can tell." His expression turned eager as he gestured toward the massive gate behind them. "Come on then, let's go. Show us what you've got."

Kaede took a steady breath, unstrapping her shield from her back as she moved to the front, joining the other tanks. The rest of the team followed suit, falling into formation.

With that, they stepped forward, into the A-Rank dungeon.

The moment Kaede crossed the threshold, a strange sensation prickled down her spine, like static dancing across her skin. She frowned. "Whoa... that felt weird."

The others barely had time to react before the gate behind them flashed.

Purple.

Then, just as suddenly...

Red.