"All right people, you all know what to do."
Bromos, the S Class Hunter in charge of the ship, instructed. His gaze shifted to Alex and the two shared a subtle nod.
Bromos was a one-horned human who recently became an S-Tier hunter. Like many others in this new era, Bromos wished to become a vassal of Alexander. But that meant proving himself.
Being a vassal was the greatest honour anyone could dream of. Aside from the power boost and the ability to use void energy, it made climbing up the levels very smooth.
Imagine his surprise when Alex and his friends decided to join his crew in the exploration of the universe. It was his chance to make an impression — and he was doing a good job.
He made sure to instruct all the crew to treat Alex and his friends like they would treat any other. Though a very difficult task, his crew did not disappoint.
Their current mission was to secure this destination by clearing out the void creatures. Scans revealed that this location had a lot of Class A void creatures and one or two S Class.
Fortunately for the hunters, the S-Tier void creatures were found to be in a separate space within this rogue-planet field. They would have no trouble with those creatures so long as they don't venture in there.
This was where Alex and his friends came in. Bromos created several smaller teams, each tasked with clearing an area of this entire space.
Ross, Julia and Alexander made a team that would be heading for one of the separate spaces to fight the S-Tier void creature.
Naturally, it wasn't going to be smooth sailing from the ship to that destination. They'd have to fight their way through while the others secure the rogue planets.
"Let's go."
Alex stepped forward, coming to the edge of the hangar doors with Ross and Julia by his side. The rest of the hunters stood back, waiting for them to head out first.
There was a fire lit up in the eyes of the younger hunters. They wished they were as close to Alex as Ross and Julia. But it wasn't that easy. They all knew his history with his friends and the hardships he went through as a teenager in school.
The trio let go and moved out of the cloaked ship, floating forward and revealing their presence to the surrounding creatures. A second later, they took off into the distance.
"Hah… If only I was in their shoes…" One of the hunters muttered dejectedly.
"Our situation is even better." Another added. "Imagine sharing a class with him and never making an effort to get to know him as a friend — that would hit differently."
"..."
"Alright, that's enough." Bromos cut his men short.
They couldn't be gloomy and teary when they had a job to do. The S-Tier hunter shooed them away, his gaze coming to linger in the direction Alex and his friends disappeared to.
Ross and Julia flew ahead while Alex followed behind. His role was to simply watch. Alex had more than made his friends overpowered monsters and creatures at the same level as them were not an issue.
Only those at a realm higher than they were could offer a challenge.
SCREECH…!
They quickly caught the attention of the creatures ahead. These creatures numbered in the hundreds, with most of them being at the B-Tier and a few at the A-Tiers in the back.
"This shouldn't take more than a second…"
Ross said, condensing several flame balls the size of footballs around him. Immediately the temperature spiked and the surrounding space wobbled and trembled from the intensity of the flames.
His flames were no longer a mix of blue and yellow flames but had evolved to become a complete blue with traces of purple here and there.
With a thought, Ross directed the flame balls at the incoming void creatures. The blue flames blazed through space at the speed of light, instantly reaching several creatures and incinerating them before they even knew what hit them.
What was left behind was their cores that gleamed with magical energy.
"Show off…"
Julia snorted as she too condensed multiple ice energy balls and shot them at her own targets. Unlike Ross who boasted extreme firepower, Julia was on the extreme cold.
The energy balls of ice made contact and instantly froze the creatures — regardless of size. A snap of his fingers reduced the creatures into ice particles.
"You guys are aware that you're ruining precious materials, right?" Alex asked with a chuckle.
"Oh please…" Julia rolled her eyes at his antics. "With the new resources around, void creatures are not as valuable as before…" She stated facts.
"That's fair…" Alex had no choice but to fold. "What about those ones…?" He gestured ahead, where the A-Tier creatures were rushing over.
"Remember— " Alex wanted to add but was immediately cut short.
"We're to take on the A-Class ourselves and can only team up when facing the S-Tier," Julia said, looking over her shoulders. "Is that it…?" She grinned confidently.
"Hm."
Alex could only shake his head. Suddenly he came to a halt and added.
"I'll be back here and watch… Don't disappoint."
"Yeah, yeah…"
Ross was the first to move, taking the left side as he flew straight for the A-Tiers heading his way. He pointed his right hand out, retrieving his greatsword.
'Let's see how different I am from the older generation of A-Tiers…' Ross silently mused, setting his blade on fire. 'And taking on three at once should be doable…'
Before Ross could charge into his first target, his instincts flared, warning him of danger. Without hesitation, he changed course, diving to the side as space just in front of him rippled and tore open.
BOOM…!!!
A massive explosion reminiscent of a supernova went off right at the spot Ross was moments ago. Had he been a second late in responding, that explosion would have engulfed him.
"The hell…"
Ross came to an abrupt halt several lightyears away, his brows furrowed cautiously. He moved his gaze to one of the void creatures, seeing the remnant attack dispelling from its muzzle.
"Power of space…" Ross realized grimly.
Even if they were stronger than the void creatures, it didn't mean those creatures were weak. Their attacks were still capable of erasing star systems with ease.
One of them had just shown proof of that power…
However, instead of feeling fear or being more cautious in his encounter, Ross rather felt a bubbling excitement rising in his gut.
'Hehe… This is going to be good.'