Alien Invasion

Legend of the Omni-Ability System User

Chapter One: Weakest of'em all

Level one student, Xin Talen

No matter where he went, this title always followed him around.

Xin's overall strength was almost the same as a regular human being. With the exception of being a bit stronger and his wounds healing slightly faster, Xin was about the same as regular people in every other aspect.

It was par for the course then, that he'd always end up getting injured. He nearly died several times, too.

Of course, Xin had an ability but he was too weak to level up his ability. He has the ability of an earth user and since he couldn't level up his ability, the ability school had to advice him to withdraw. It has been his wish to attend the ability school ever since he was a kid. He finally got his dream fulfilled but he didn't get the time to enjoy his dream as he was eliminated on the first trial test, due to how weak he is.

After leaving school dejectedly, he met some guys on the way who had introduce him to this group. The association of the hunters. Because of some personal reasons and 'cause of the disgrace he faced when he was sent away from school, Xin gave the Hunter association a thought as he finally joined them.

He joined the Hunters but the work was dangerous, a lot of people made fun of him, and to confound the matters even further, the pay was pretty pathetic, as well.

If it weren't for the medical aid paid out by the Hunter Association to the Hunters in their "payroll", he'd have turned in his hunter licence and quit by now, and live his life like a regular person.

Unfortunately, someone like Xin, in his teens, and lacking in any tangible job skills, there was no other way but to remain as a Hunter if he wanted to pay for his mother's surgery fee of Millions of dollars every month.

Should one say that he had no choice in the matter?

That was why, even though he didn't want to, he simply had to participate in the raid supervised by the Association.

*****

Hunters operating within the same area tended to know each other pretty well. In the event of a planet expedition, all the Hunters in the area would be asked to come, that's why.

The Hunters who had arrived early sipped on the cups of hot teas handed out by the Association's employee and shared cordial greetings with each other.

"Oh, hey. Mister Dan, Over here. Here." Mr Gabby called out from afar.

"Oh? Mister Gabby, what are you doing here? I thought you were giving up on being a Hunter?" Mr Dan

"Well, that… My wife is pregnant with our third child." Mr Gabby said.

"Wonderful.. Congrats, for a Hunter to earn big in one go, participating in a raid is the best, isn't it." Mr Dan replied with a smile.

Mister Dan jovially burst out in laughter. Mister Gabby followed suit with a sheepish chuckle, before asking Dan

"By the way, why do I feel like that the Association is calling on us less and less nowadays? Have all the planets been expedited.

No, of course not. That's only because the Students of the ability school are going out for expeditions in planets now. A lot of the green and yellow planets has been expedited by the students and you know we can't go into a red planet like that. Or it would be death for us all.

"Well, in that case, Our today's hunt would be a yellow planet and not a red one right? it should be safe though?" Mr Gabby asked Mr Dan.

Mister Gabby took a glance around as if he was getting nervous.

They can't be sure if the planet would be a yellow one. They would need to go into a red planet, kill the higher beast present and then turn it into a yellow one. Then the students would have the rest of all the beasts all to themselves to kill. But they are not sure about the beast they will be killing, if it would be an higher tier or lower tier, so they should be extra careful.

Of course, nothing in this world was 100% absolute.

It wasn't just Mister Gabby, all other Hunters were nervously glancing around as well.

"Hmm. I wonder…."

Mister Dan finished the rest of his tea while avoiding answering his friend, before spotting a certain someone and raised his hand in happiness.

"Huh! He's here. Hey, Mister Xin!! Mister Xin!" Mr Dan called our for Xin.

Other Hunters also displayed joy at discovering that young man.

"Hello."

It was none other than Xin Talen.

Xin performed a simple nod of the head at the joyous Mister Dan and walked by.

After making sure Xin was well out of earshot, Mister Dan began sniggering while confidently speaking up.

"So, Xin showed up. Then it's going to okay today, too." Mr Dan said.

Mister Gabby's eyes widened up and he hurriedly asked Kim.

"What was that? Is that Hunter Xin really strong?"

"Ahh. Right, of course, you wouldn't know who he is. He's a Hunter who started working shortly after you left, you see. However, every Hunter here knows who that kid is by now." Mr Dan explained.

"He's really that strong? Wait, why is he working for the Association, then? Why not for a Guild or as a freelancer?" Mr Gabby asked.

Dan sniggered some more before narrowing his eyes.

"You know what that Kid's nickname is?"

"How should I know that? C'mon, man. Just tell me already." Mr Gabby requested.

"Humanity's weakest weapon."

"….Weakest? Not something like, the ultimate weapon?" Mr Gabby said surprisingly.

"Dude, that's the nickname for a level one Hunter. That kid is the 'weakest weapon'. I'm pretty sure he's the weakest Hunter in the whole world."

"Really?"

Gabby began frowning deeply.

Why would other Hunters greet this Xin Talen if he was really that weak? After all, didn't they need someone to trust their backs if things went south?

Gabby couldn't really understand the reactions of other Hunters.

When Gabby's head tilted this way and that, Dan chuckled and poked the side of Gabby with his elbow.

"Hey!The Expeditions Xin Talen participates in will only have low difficulty because he's so weak. The Association would never entrust him with a tough job, don't you get that? They don't want to see him get killed, right?" Mr Dan explained well to Gabby.

Only then did Gabby's expression brightened up.

"R-right. Yeah."

His wife was deeply worried about him since this would be his first raid in quite a while. Honestly, even he himself was worried, too. However, now that he listened to Dan's words, he felt like a weight was lifted off his mind.

Dan continued on.

"That guy, there was a rumour not too long ago that said, he got injured participating in a raid of a green planet and spent a week in the hospital."

"A Hunter got injured by a green planet?"

"That's right. No one expected to see a Hunter getting injured during a planet expedition, so they didn't even bring along a Healer, apparently!"

"That's why he spent a week in a hospital?! Pu-hahaha!"

When Gabby began guffawing too loudly, Dan hurriedly hushed him.

"Stop it, man. Mister Xin might hear you."

"Man, I didn't think of that." Gabby tried to cautioned himself.

Gabby cautiously checked Xin's reactions as he continued to giggle.

Thankfully, the distance was far enough and the youth didn't seem to have heard them.

Of course, they were mistaken.

'I can hear everything, you fuckers.'

A bitter smile formed on Xin as he tried hard to ignore them. At times like today, he couldn't help but blame his unusually-acute sense of hearing.

It seemed that he arrived too early and the Expedition was yet to commence.

'Did I arrive too early?'

Xin looked around to while away the waiting time, spotted the Association employee handing out warm tea, and walked closer.

"Can I get a cup of tea as well?"

"Oh.. Hunter Xin, … I'm really sorry, but we ran out of tea just now."

The cold Winter breeze brushed past the tip of his nose.

Xin quietly wiped his nose with his index finger.

What a sad day it was, for the tea to run out as soon as it was his turn to get one.

******

"Why do you persist on being a Hunter, Mister Xin?"

"I'm sorry."

Xin lowered his head and apologised.

The young, beautiful girl using healing magic in front of Xin, Layla showed how unhappy she was with a pouting expression.

"I'm not trying to get you to apologise, you know? I'm only worried about you. If you continue fighting this way, sooner or later you'll be faced with a truly dangerous situation."

Xin glanced past Layla's shoulders and took a look at the other Hunters fighting over yonder.

When one entered through the Portal, one would arrive in a planet. There are three planets, a green planet, yellow planet, and lastly red planet. The only planet Xin is able to defeat the beasts is the green planet. The yellow planet will be hard for someone like him who is weak and in level one.

A dozen-plus Hunters were taking care of the monsters inside this yellow planet without so much as breaking a sweat.

Unfortunately, for a level one ability user, such a feat was nearly impossible.

Normally, the job of healing the injured Hunters from the back fell on the Healers. Since he always got injured during expeditions, Xin was rather well-known among the Healers.

Layla cautiously asked him.

"Xin, Is there a reason why you can't give up being a Hunter?"

Xin resolutely shook his head.

He didn't want to reveal anything personal to other people.

"I'm only doing this as a hobby. If I don't do this, I'll probably die of boredom, actually."

Layla pouted even more.

"If you continue on with this hobby of yours, soon you'd be expediting a Planet in the netherworld, you know?"

Xin was taken off-guard from her remark and ended up chuckling out loudly.

Thanks to that, Layla's nagging intensified.

"Ah, ahh!! Don't laugh! Don't! Your injuries might get worse!!"

Xin giggled before asking her.

"Where did you even learn to say stuff like that?"

"What do you mean, where? It's from Mister Dan way over there."

"s**t that man is something. He really went and did it, didn't he…."

As they chatted and laughed, his treatment was almost over.

It was already too late by then, though. It seemed that the Expedition was pretty much over now.

Xin's expression hardened.

'I only killed a single beast today.'

A basic tier beast, no less. Xin began fidgeting with the basic tier beast crystal in his hand.

The lowest tier beast crystal from a beast fetched less than ten dollars. For something he bet his life to earn, it was a pathetically small amount.

'A beast crystal from a king tier beast can sell for over $1000….'

Too bad, a level one ability user and a weak Hunter such as himself couldn't even attempt to kill a monster with a tier as high as a king tier.

Out of the blue, someone shouted out.

"Uh? Hey, there's another entrance over here."

The nearby Hunters rushed over there.

"Huh, it's true."

"There really is another path?"

Just as that Hunter said, there was an entrance hidden under the large mountain leading underground.

"An Underground Cave , is it… So, such a thing actually exists for real…."

Mister Sunny, possessing over ten years' experience as a Hunter, looked into the hidden entrance and displayed how surprised he was.

The interior of the hidden, cave-like passage was dark and nothing could be seen. Mister Sunny activated his speciality, fire ability, and tossed it further forward into the passage.

The flame flew forward and illuminated the interior. The passageway seemed to go on forever. Soon enough, the flame lost its forward momentum, fell to the ground and smouldered for a bit before flickering out of existence.

The passage was shrouded in darkness once more.

"Hmm….. Everyone, gather around. Let's have a meeting."

The unspoken leader of this raid, Mister Sunny, called for other Hunters to gather around. Xin's treatment was over by then, so he and Layla also joined in.

Sunny spoke up while sweeping his gaze over the gathered Hunters.

"As you know very well, a yellow planet will not be changed into a green one unless all the beasts has been killed. Since the Cave itself is still intact even though we took care of all the beasts here, that can only mean that the master beast is beyond that passageway."

Sunny pointed towards the hidden entrance.

Hunters exchanged meaningful glances and nodded their heads. No one could disagree with that notion.

Sunny continued on.

"Now normally, we're supposed to relay this information back to the Association and wait for their decision first, but… But, if we do that, we might end up handing over the task of killing the master beast to other Hunters, and our takings for today's expedition would decrease by a lot."

The expressions of the Hunters crumpled.

Gabby's face hardened more than anyone else since he needed a lot of cash for his wife's pregnancy.

'Postnatal care eats up so much cash nowadays, you know…'

At this rate, there'd be no meaning behind him risking his life to participate in this raid.

"That's why I'd prefer if we took care of the Master beasts before leaving this planet So, what do you all think?"

Hunters fell into a deep contemplation.

.......

The truth was, no one here could figure out the current situation and so, their safety could not be guaranteed. However, the difficulty of this particular Planet proved to be very low.

So, the hidden caves within it couldn't have been that difficult, either.

"Hmm, hmm."

Sunny coughed to draw everyone's attention to himself.

"Since we have seventeen people here, let's put this to a vote, shall we? Once the decision has been made, no one complains. So? How about it?"

Others nodded their heads after hearing Sunny's suggestion. No one was disagreeing with him.

"I vote for going ahead."

Sunny raised his hand.

And then, other Hunters began raising their hands one by one.

"Me too."

"Count me in as well."

Gabby was the first to raise his hand, followed shortly after by Dan and a few other Hunters.

Of course, those disagreeing were plentiful, too.

"Let's go back."

"I feel that it'd be better to wait for the Association's decision."

The two opposing camps were neck and neck and eventually, the final votes came down to Xin and Layla

"I'm sorry…."

Layla bowed to Sunny and added her vote to 'retreat' camp.

And so, the vote count for 'go ahead' and 'retreat' was at 8:8.

A deadlock.

Sunny asked the hesitant Xin next.

"And you, Xin?"

Chapter Two: The Underground Cave

Everything now depended on Xin's decision.

Xin's fingers grasped tight the basic tier crystal in his hand as he took a glance next to him.

Layla was shaking her head at him. It looked like she was deeply worried.

Actually, Xin was worried inwardly as well. Now normally, he would never try to take on any unnecessary risk. Not only did he lack the abilities to do so, but he was also not brave enough, too.

However, Xin had a younger sister who was about to become a student in the ability school in the coming months.

'I've no money saved up….'

Currently, Xin was Sixteen years old while her sister was fifteen. The normal age for someone to attend an ability school.

He would have been in his second year in the ability school, but fate seems to have it's way.

He was happy that at least her sister was not as weak as himself. She have a strong body and a very good ability. He sure as hell didn't want his little sister to go through the same sacrifice, the same pain as he did.

Right now, every cent was precious to him.

It wasn't only Mister Gabby who needed a big score today.

Xin raised his hand up high.

"I vote for going ahead."

It was then, he heard a soft sigh of resignation coming from his side.

The passageway went on and on forever.

In front, Mister Sunny and other strong Hunters had taken the lead. Sunny had summoned a small flame on top of his palm to illuminate the way forward.

Mister Dan asked him as he walked alongside Sunny.

"We've walked really far, haven't we? Shouldn't we consider the time we need to escape from here as well?"

"How long have we been walking?"

Dan looked at his wristwatch.

"Around…. forty minutes."

"If we can't see the boss in the next twenty minutes, I suggest that we should just give up."

"I guess so."

Sunny nodded his head for a while, before pointing to his back with his thumb.

"Mister Dan? It's dark out in front, so why don't you position yourself behind me?"

Dan stared at Sunny's flames for a second or two, before he wordlessly pulled out his smartphone and switched on the screen.

And then, the passageway got illuminated rather brightly.

Sunny alternated his gaze between his flame and the smartphone, before he too wordlessly began searching for his own phone.

***

The very back of the group was the spot reserved for Xin, who was injured pretty badly not too long ago, and Layla, who didn't possess any combat skills whatsoever.

Xin scratched the back of his neck.

"Pardon me, I… I'm really sorry."

"About what?"

"About, you know, dragging you here against your wishes."

"I'm fine with it, so you don't need to mind me."

Xin cautiously studied Layla's expression. She definitely did not look fine at all.

Xin tilted his head this way and that while trying to read her mood better, before he asked her again, even more cautious than before.

"Are you… really fine?"

That prompted Layla to shift her gaze towards him.

"Of course I'm not. Are you of a sane mind?! If you were stabbed a couple of inches higher, you'd have a hole in your heart by now! And, what about those injuries on your arms and legs? I worked so hard to heal you somehow, yet you wish to throw yourself into yet another beast cave?? Plus, you don't even know where we're going, too!"

She spoke so quickly that Xin felt like his mind was getting numb from hearing her.

However, she was right about everything.

If it weren't for the presence of the outstanding Healer level five, Xin wouldn't have been able to carry on living unaffected, never mind working as a Hunter. It was a small wonder why such high ranked and hard-to-find Healers were valued so greatly within the halls of the Association.

'Wait, now that I think about it, I owe Miss Layla a lot, don't I?'

Layla was a Healer-type Hunter, a rarest of the rare breeds.

Not only that, she was a genius ranked at level five as well.

The Association always asked her to heal the injured Hunters whenever an Expedition took place. And whenever Xin participated in an Expedition, he'd almost always end up sitting down next to her.

"Are you in pain? Please hold on for a little while longer."

"Haven't I seen you before….? By any chance, are you the person from the last time?"

"You're injured again?"

"It's like, we're running into each other quite often nowadays, isn't it?"

"You said that your name is Mister Xin? Well, that… Is it going to be alright?"

"Maybe, uhm, this life of a Hunter doesn't really suit you…."

"….You're here again."

"Show me your arm. No, not that one. Use bandages on that arm. I meant the other one with the bone fracture."

At the moment, it was way past the point of Xin feeling grateful for everything she had done, and firmly into the territory of him being apologetic for inconveniencing her.

When Xin looked dispirited, Layla also felt a bit bad about scolding him just now and her attitude softened up considerably.

"You're really sorry?"

"Yes, I am."

Layla fell into a deep contemplation for a bit, before she began gazing at him with the corner of her eyes and her lips slowly arched up.

"If you're really sorry, then… how about you buy me dinner sometime?"

Now that was a totally unexpected offer.

Xin looked at her with an expression of surprise and found a teasing smile etched on her face like a teenage girl.

'A teen girl, huh…..'

The truth was, Layla was still a young girl who was of the same age as Xin. She had quickly finished her two year ability school training and by luck, she got selected to become an healer under the Hunter association.

Didn't she say that she'd be seventeen on october? The month after my month.

If her long hair was replaced with something shorter, and her current attire was swapped out for a school uniform, she'd completely look like high school senior.

His wandering mind pictured the image of Layla in a school uniform and his face reddened up somewhat.

When Xin hesitated with his answer, Layla's cheeks began puffing up like a balloon.

"What the… You don't want to buy me dinner?"

It happened, right then.

Suddenly, it became quite hectic out in front.

"We found it!!"

"It's the Master beast's chamber!"

Xin's and Layla's gazes automatically shifted to the front.

And they saw a huge stone door blocking the passage.

Hunters immediately surrounded this door.

"What is this? Why is there a door at the end of the cave?"

"Have we ever encountered a cave with a door before?"

"This is definitely the first time, I'm sure of it."

"This… Doesn't this feel strangely dangerous?"

Hunters began to express their doubts and fears one at the time.

Since their own lives were on the line here, they had to be cautious and meticulous.

However, if one were to become too cautious, one would end up failing to grasp the heaven-sent opportunity in the first place. Mister Sunny figured this was one such case.

"Are you all planning to return empty-handed after coming this far?"

Sunny placed his hands on the door.

"If that's what you want, knock yourselves out. I'm pushing ahead, even if it means I'll be going alone."

Sunny is a strong Hunter with ten years of experience.

If it weren't for his age, which was over sixty, he'd be making a killing in a big Guild by now thanks to his excellent skills.

And when a Hunter like that voiced his opinion with such confidence, others began to feel less anxious than before.

"Wait a minute."

A couple of Hunters began recalling rumours of Underground Caves.

"I heard that there are incredible treasures hidden within underground caves."

"Yeah, I heard that a certain small to medium Guild found a underground cave and grew into a large Guild almost overnight."

"Beasts inside a dungeon always possess roughly the similar tier no matter where they are located, so the hunt itself should not be too difficult…"

What if there were incredible treasures hidden with the underground caves just as the rumours said, and the beasts beyond this door were about the same difficulty as the advance tier beasts they fought until now?

'I can't let that old man monopolise all the treasure.'

'No freaking way.'

'Postnatal care, the school fee for the first born kid and second kid, and let's not forget, this month's rent is almost due, too….'

The opinions of the Hunters were now on the same page.

Xin too, steeled himself.

'I can't return home with just a single basic tier crystal. At a bare minimum, I gotta kill an intermediate beast no, one more basic tier beast!!'

It didn't even have to be a beast, too.

'If it's treasure instead….'

Treasures or rare loot found in a cave would normally be divided equally among all the participants in an Expedition. It was quite a different way of sharing the rewards where one could only take possession of beast crystal one procured by themselves.

'If we score big today, then things might improve at home for a while.'

Xin nervously swallowed down his saliva.

Layla saw his determined expression and asked him.

"Is that how the expression of someone who's a Hunter as a hobby looks like?"

Xin shrugged his shoulders.

"Who'd bet their lives in their main line of profession nowadays? Unless it's a hobby, obviously."

"…..Eh?"

Just as a dumbfounded expression formed on Layla's face, Sunny pushed the dungeon's door and it creaked open.

There must've been some sort of mechanism installed on the heavy-looking door, since the physical strength of a sixty-year-old man was enough to easily open it.

Slam!

Now that the door was wide open, the huge open interior revealed itself. Hunters hurriedly rushed in.

"Let's go in as well."

Xin feared that he'd fall behind, so he grasped Layla's hand and took the lead.

"Ah….."

Layla's face reddened slightly as she followed after him.

***

As soon as Hunters sat foot inside, flames erupted on the numerous torches packed tightly on the walls all at the same time. Thanks to that, the interior brightened up considerably.

"What's the heck? The lights came on by themselves?"

"First time seeing a cave like this one."

"Something's…. different about this place."

Hunters cautiously studied their surroundings. The overall atmosphere of the place was similar to that of an ancient temple.

Not only that, an old and somewhat decrepit temple, something that might be buried and hidden beneath the ground; moss and weed could be seen sporadically on the floor, walls and the ceiling.

Several Hunters shrunk back and shuddered slightly.

"it's a bit creepy in here, isn't it?"

"Doesn't it feel like we're being watched by someone?"

Leaving behind the scared Hunters, the three, four strongest of the group went in deeper.

"Tsk! Don't say something that might jinx us, will ya?"

"Let's end this quickly and go home."

The interior was nonsensically huge. The chamber was shaped like a giant dome. It was as large as several Olympic stadiums, the one found in the United States, were put together – no, maybe it was even bigger than that.

However, one couldn't help but feel that it was still inadequate.

The reason for that was rather obvious.

"That…. that thing over there…."

"N-no freaking way that thing's the master beast right?"

In the deepest part of the dome, something so logic-defyingly humongous sat on a throne just as big as itself. It was none other than a huge stone statue of a god!

"Oh, my God…."

"Wow."

Shocked gasps leaked out from the Hunters.

The first image popping up in Xin's head was of the Statue of Liberty in New York. If that statue sat down on a chair, wouldn't it be as big as that statue of the unknown god?

Well, Liberty was a woman, while the one sitting on the throne was a dude, though.

'No, hang on. Maybe it's even bigger than that…'

Hunters began nervously swallowing their saliva near the foot of the god statue. The taut and heavy apprehension and anxiety were clear to see on their faces as they worried about this statue being the Cave master.

However, the statue did not budge an inch.

What a fortunate thing that was.

"Whew…."

Even Sunny spat out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, everyone. Spread out."

Now that they found some leeway, Hunters split among themselves and began searching around the vicinity.

"I don't think there's a single beast in here."

"You think so, too?"

"Never mind a beast, I can't even see a single bug, too."

The chamber of the stone god statue might have been massive, yet its actual inner structure was on the simpler side. On the walls, countless torches could be found there. And in front of these walls, more stone statues, slightly taller than a human being, stood tall and unmoving.

"They are all rather beautiful, aren't they?"

Objects held by each of the stone statues were varied and different.

Some held weapons, there was one with a book, some carried musical instruments, and even torches.

"It's as if…."

"They are like statues of a holy temple or something."

Sunny finished what Dan wanted to say.

"Mm?"

Then, Sunny found something beneath his feet.

"This… Isn't this a magic formation?"

He found a magic formation that he had never seen before located in the middle of this temple.

"Excuse me, Mister Sunny? come over, something's written here. Can you come over here and take a look?"

One of the Hunters discovered a statue that was different from others and called out to Sunny.

Sunny stopped studying the magic formation and got up from the floor. Other Hunters all gathered around the statue Sunny was headed off to.

Only this statue featured a pair of wings and carried a stone slate. What the Hunters focused on was the letters carved into this slate. Sunny took a sweeping look at the slate and muttered to no one in particular.

"It's Tune alphabet."

Words that could not be found anywhere on Earth, and found only within caves; only the Hunters who had 'awakened' the magic-related professions could decipher them.

"The laws of the Deathstale temple."

Sunny read the very first verse.

With a deeply nervous face, Xin listened to the contents of the slate, as read out by Mister Sunny.

However, someone suddenly tugged at his arm.

When he looked back, he spotted Layla and her deathly-pale complexion.