Her expression quickly reverted to normal.

"Are you prepared, Mr Abel?" the woman asked tactfully.

Abel nodded.

"Follow me."

She led Abel to the elevator.

Realising that they were going up, Abel was curious about where she was taking him. His curiosity quickly became satisfied as the elevator came to a stop with a soft, ’Ding.’

And the doors pulled open.

As they stepped out, Abel saw that they had arrived at the top of the building.

At the centre of the roof was a sleek black aircraft the size of a jet.

It was more advanced than anything Abel had seen in his previous life.

Looking up, he saw another ceiling high above, indicating that this wasn’t the roof of the building, but instead, it was one of the upper floors of the Hunter Facility.

During his time adapting to this world, he had learned how wealthy the Hunter Association was. They were the foundational block of every city during this apocalyptic period. The only reason the government existed was to cater to the needs of the ordinary citizens and every other mundane thing that the Hunters found tiresome to do.

Abel spotted the three familiar figures he had seen during the Hunters’ registration.

The woman, previously dressed in a flowery top and a jean skirt, now held a staff with a robe over her attire. The other woman held a bow and arrow. The man wielded two long swords strapped to his back.

They each wore a combat bodysuit similar to his, but with their own distinct styles.

Another person stood beside them.

A man dressed in a pair of black trousers and a white shirt with folded sleeves, with a sword sheathed at the side of his waist. He wore a pair of gold-plated sunglasses.

They turned their gaze in his direction the moment they stepped out of the elevator.

"I’ll take it from here," the man nodded at the woman.

The woman turned and left through the elevator.

Abel noticed that on the man’s breast pocket was a badge depicting a shield with a sword, arrow and staff crossed over it, and wisp of the several elments on it, marking him as a member of the Hunter Association’s staff, as he had seen on several others in the building.

"I’m Philip. Or you can call me by my Hunter name, ’Silver Sword’," Philip shook Abel’s hand, studying him as he looked up at him with a raised brow.

"Abel," Abel responded.

Philip spotted Abel’s weapon and the shield wrapped in chains strapped to his back and asked with a raised brow, "Are you certain that you would be able to fight with that?"

"I’ve had some training using them," Abel responded.

Philip’s expression shifted into surprise before he nodded. "That’s good. I won’t have to worry about your safety then. Let’s go. We don’t want to run late."

"Follow me. I’ll lead you to the next phase of your registration."

He gestured for the others to follow him as he led the way into the aircraft’s rear ramp.

They entered the jet, and the ramp closed behind them.

At the centre and along the sides were several rows of seats.

Two men sat in the pilot seats at the front of the aircraft.

They glanced at them as they entered, nodded, then refocused their gaze forward.

Abel and the others took their seats beside one another and strapped themselves in.

"Preparing for takeoff!" A hoarse voice sounded from the speakers lined within the aircraft.

The sharp sound of the engine roared to life, echoing from outside the aircraft as it took off, manoeuvring through the space before it and soaring into the sky.

"For those of you already aware, or not, or who had already guessed, the next phase before you will be able to receive your Hunter license is to prove that you’re capable of surviving in a dungeon," Philip spoke with a smile, as he scrutinised each of their expressions.

"This would mean that if you were to fail to fulfil the conditions to pass, you’ll have to retake this test over again until you succeed. Although we need every Hunter we can find to protect the city, it’s useless if they die prematurely or on their first dungeon run. Of course, there is no certainty that you would die in a similar way once you complete this test, but it reduces the risk of dying by a certain percentage."

"This information is kept secret to prevent runaways who think that they can throw themselves into a dungeon and become the next big thing."

He made a circle with his two index fingers over his right eye.

"And if you refuse to get your license and become a runaway, once captured, you’ll be severely punished. One of those punishments entails being thrown into a newly discovered dungeon and used to explore it, providing valuable information for our professional Hunters."

The man with two longswords raised his hand.

"Go ahead."

"Since this is a test, will our lives be threatened in any way? What happens if we are found in a life-threatening situation? Are there any safety measures in place to rescue us?" the man asked.

"That’s a good question. Yes. Since this is a test to confirm whether you’re able to become professional Hunters, you will be challenging this dungeon by yourselves. However, there will be a professional Hunter accompanying you. They will only be there to provide support if you’re injured, or help you escape if you’re incapable of conquering the dungeon," Philip responded.

Abel remembered the Hunters who were killed during his Final Boss Persona Dungeon run. They were experienced Hunters, along with newbies who still possessed enough strength to clear the dungeon. If not for his possession of the Dungeon Final Boss, they would have survived by using the intelligence they had gathered to exploit its weaknesses.

This meant the Hunter Association’s method for training Hunters was effective. It was just that they had encountered an unpredictable variable.