SSSSS-Rank: Negative Leveling

'Level down, a new skill, and 250 NP. That's a pretty good reward for a little bit of work.'

He quickly checked his new status information.

[STATUS]

[Name: Luthra] 

[Level: -3] 

[Title: None] 

[Strength: ???] 

[Agility: ???] 

[Stamina: ???] 

[Mana: 0]

[Skills: Negative Chain Arts Lv. -1, Core Absorption Lv. -1, Negative Weapon Forging Lv. -1, Rock Breaker Lv. -1]

[Rock Breaker Lv. -1] 

[A skill born from shattering an earth-type hunter's defense.] 

[Current Effect: User's physical attacks deal 10% additional damage to earth-elemental defenses and constructs.]

'A situational skill, but I guess it's better than nothing at all. Now for the main prize.'

A small, clay-like packet materialized in his hand. This was the Healing Poultice from the bonus reward.

He looked down at the bloody hole in his stomach, then he unwrapped his makeshift bandage. He tore open the packet and slapped the greenish, cool paste directly onto the open wound.

The poultice was cold but the intense pain that had been bothering him vanished immediately. He watched as his skin and muscles knitted themselves back together at a speed that was clearly visible. In less than a minute, the hole in his stomach was completely gone, leaving only smooth, unblemished skin behind.

'Wow, this is some really good stuff. Much better than going to a hospital.'

With his serious injury now gone, he felt much better. He walked over to the five unconscious bounty hunters and used their own ropes to tie them up securely around the base of a tree.

'Now, what should I do with these guys? Leaving them here seems like a bad idea. But killing them is also a big pain in the ass.' He decided he would worry about it later.

He walked back to the cage where the other captives were huddled together. The old man was staring at him with wide eyes, his mouth slightly open.

Luthra kicked the damaged cage door, forcing it open wider. "You are all free now. You can go."

The captives just stared at him, then looked at each other, but no one moved.

He let out a quiet sigh. 'Right, of course. They are weak and scared.'

He walked over to the bounty hunters' supplies near the dying campfire, and found a few waterskins and some packages of dried meat. He walked back to the cage and handed them over to the captives.

"Here. You should eat and drink something, then get out of here. The city is in that direction." He pointed vaguely into the darkness.

The captives slowly began to take the food and water from him, their hands trembling.

The young girl with the was the last one to walk out of the cage. She stood in front of him, clutching a piece of dried meat in her small hands.

"Um… thank you. For saving me. And for, you know…" She pointed a thumb over her shoulder at the tied-up men.

He looked at her and held out his open hand.

The girl blinked, her expression confused. "What?"

"My cores, give them back to me."

The girl looked down at his outstretched hand, then at the small pouch of cores she was clutching, and her face went pale.

"Oh, right. These are yours."

She fumbled with the pouch, her hands shaking a little, but then she suddenly stopped. She looked up at him, then at the bounty hunters' horses, and an idea seemed to spark in her eyes.

"Wait here! Just for a second!"

Before he could say anything, she ran off, not towards the city, but straight for the horses that were still tied to a nearby tree. She was small and quick. She began rummaging through the saddlebags with a frantic energy.

'What is she doing now?'

The girl let out a small, triumphant shout, "Aha! Found them!"

She ran back to him, her hands now full of not just his thirteen F-rank rabbit cores, but a whole collection of other, different-colored stones. There were murky green ones, a few sandy brown ones, and even one that glowed with a faint blue light. She dumped the entire pile into his open hand with a wide, proud smile.

"Here! I found all of their loot! They had a whole bunch of cores hidden away, so now you have way more!"

He looked at the pile of cores in his hand, then back at the girl. "You didn't have to do that."

"It's fine, it's fine! You saved me, and the other people, so this is a thank-you present! Besides, they were bad guys, so this is just taking back stolen stuff, right?"

He didn't know what to say to that, so he just closed his hand around the cores. He now had thirteen F-rank cores, seven more miscellaneous F-rank cores, and three E-rank cores. It was more than enough.

'This is good. Now I can finally fix my weapon.'

He looked over at the other captives, who were still huddled together, looking unsure of what to do. The old D-rank hunter was helping another man drink some water.

'I can't just leave them here.'

He walked over to the tied-up bounty hunters and began searching their pockets. He found a small pouch heavy with coins. He walked back to the captives and tossed it to the old man, who caught it with surprising quickness.

"There's money in there. It should be enough for you to get back to the city and find a place to stay."

The old man looked at the pouch, then up at him, his eyes wide. "You're… just giving this to us?"

"I don't need it. Now go. It's not safe here."

The captives didn't need to be told twice. They began to leave, moving as a group toward the dark path leading back to the city. The young girl, however, stayed behind.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going with you!"

"No."

"Why not?! I don't have anywhere else to go! And besides, you'll need someone to carry your stuff, right? I'm a really good porter!"

'She's going to be a huge pain in the ass.'

He looked down at her, then sighed. Arguing was a waste of energy.

"Fine. Just, don't slow me down."

"Yay! I won't, I promise!"

He let out a quiet sigh, because the girl was beaming at him with a wide, trouble-making smile.

'Yep, she is definitely going to be a pain in the ass.'

He turned and walked back over to the five bounty hunters who were still tied up and unconscious The girl skipped along right behind him.

"Hey, what are you going to do with them? Are you going to kill them?"

He looked down at the five men. "No. Killing people isn't really my thing."

'But I can't just leave them here, either. Some other monster will probably come along and eat them, and while I don't care about them, leaving a free meal for monsters is a bad precedent. I can't take them back to the city, the guards would ask a million questions.'

He then remembered what the old man in the cage said.

'The Gorgon Mines. A slave mine, far from the city. That's where they were taking us.'

A thought suddenly occurred to him.

'There is nothing for me to do in the city anyway. The Association won't give any quests to an Unranked hunter, so I will just be sitting in my room doing nothing. That is boring. But this mine… a place full of slaves that need freeing, that sounds much more interesting. That sounds like a quest the system would like.'

He turned to the girl, "We're not going back to the city."

"Eh? We're not? Then where are we going? Are we going to live in the woods?"

"No. We are going on an adventure."

He pointed a thumb at the unconscious bounty hunters. "They were going to take us to a place called the Gorgon Mines. So, we are going to go there instead."