Ascension Hunter[Template System]

Anastasius lay wounded in complete darkness, his body barely clinging to life as he stared into the abyss surrounding him. The final blow they had dealt him before throwing him from the cliff had left him broken, battered, and bleeding. He didn't know how he was still alive or if these were simply his last fleeting moments before death would finally claim him.

"Damnation," he muttered, his voice hoarse and trembling.

The taste of blood filled his mouth as he tried to move, but his body refused to obey. Pain coursed through him like wildfire, every breath a struggle. Yet even in this moment of agony, his mind wouldn't let him rest.

"When I started feeling even a little happy… What did I expect?" he whispered, tears streaming down his blood-streaked face. "What do they expect from a G-Rank like me? They were all C-Ranks—strong, capable, far beyond anything I could ever hope to reach. And yet, they sent C-Ranks just for me, a worthless G-Rank. Just my luck." His voice cracked as he laughed bitterly, the sound hollow and filled with despair.

The tears continued to fall, mixing with the blood on his face, as a lump formed in his throat. His chest, torn open like a gaping wound, throbbed with searing pain, but the ache in his heart felt far worse.

"The gods are so unfair," Anastasius muttered, his voice growing louder, tinged with rage. "Why? Why would they give me a second life, only to throw me into this endless nightmare? Why would they let me suffer all over again? F*cking hell, damn it all, damn it all!" His voice rose into a scream, his raw emotion pouring out into the void.

He bit his lips so hard that fresh blood trickled down his chin, the taste coppery and bitter. His screams turned into desperate sobs as he lay there, helpless and broken, tears staining the ground beneath him. Blood dripped steadily from his open wounds, pooling around him as his strength continued to fade.

"I tried. I really tried," he whispered, his voice shaking as he sobbed. "I thought maybe… just maybe… this life would be different. I thought I could finally escape the pain, the misery, the emptiness. But no. It's always the same. The world, the people, the cruelty… It's always the same."

He let out another broken laugh, his voice barely audible now. "At least… At least I had one single best friend. She was so kind to me, so nice, even when I didn't deserve it. But because of that… Because of her kindness…" His voice trailed off, and his lips quivered as fresh tears rolled down his cheeks.

Anastasius shut his eyes tightly, trying to block out the memories, but they came flooding back anyway. "At least she kissed me," he whispered, his voice cracking with emotion. "Before we came to this damn dungeon… she kissed me. Why? Why kiss someone like me? A trash, a nobody… Why did she say she liked me? Why would someone like her care about someone like me? She's everything, and I'm nothing."

His voice broke completely as he sobbed, his body convulsing with the effort. "As a man… I should be happy, right? I should be grateful, but… Why? Why do I feel like this? Why do I feel like the universe is mocking me?"

The tears didn't stop, nor did the pain. His face, already broken and bloodied, twisted with heartbreak as he muttered his final words. "I'm humanity's trash… I'm worthless… I don't even deserve to be alive…"

He closed his eyes, letting the darkness take over, his broken heart succumbing to despair. He no longer cared if he lived or died. Death would be a mercy, a release from the endless torment that was his existence. As his breathing slowed and the world around him faded, Anastasius whispered one last thought to the void.

"At least… I got to feel what it was like to be cared for… even if it was just for a moment."

And with that, he waited for death to claim him, his battered soul finally succumbing to the darkness.

Ding~

Just before Anastasius completely succumbed to the darkness, he heard a faint sound—a chime, soft yet distinct. It echoed through the haze of his failing consciousness. The sound reverberated in his mind for a brief moment before everything went black, and he drifted into unconsciousness.

---

Far away, in the safety of the guild hall, an eighteen-year-old girl with hair as radiant as cascading moonlight and mesmerizing blue eyes filled with unspoken depth clutched a communication crystal in trembling hands. Emma Markson, a proud member of the prestigious Markson clan, was frozen in place as her worst fears seemed to come true.

"I... I-It can't be," Emma stammered, her voice breaking with despair as tears began to stream down her flawless face. Her usually composed demeanor crumbled as the gravity of the situation dawned upon her. With panic setting in, she turned her piercing gaze toward Gerald, the leader of Anastasius's party, who stood before her with his head lowered in shame.

Emma grabbed Gerald by the collar, her hands trembling as she pulled him closer. Her voice rose, trembling with desperation and anguish. "Where is he? Tell me, Gerald! No, no, this can't be true! What happened to him? Where is Anastasius?" Her words were almost a scream, the anguish in her tone cutting through the air like a blade.

Gerald, avoiding Emma's tearful gaze, spoke in a voice heavy with guilt. "Miss Emma... The dungeon... It turned out to be a C-Rank dungeon instead of the F-Rank we were told. We—" His voice caught, but he forced himself to continue. "We did our best to protect him, but… the dungeon guardian… it caught us completely off guard. It killed him. Anastasius was swallowed by the guardian before we could even react."

For a moment, time seemed to stop. Emma's grip on Gerald's collar loosened as her knees gave way, and she collapsed to the floor. Her world, which had seemed so full of light, was now shrouded in darkness. "No... No... This can't be..." she whispered, her voice barely audible. Her body trembled uncontrollably, her hands clutching at her chest as if trying to hold herself together.

As Gerald stood frozen, unsure of how to console her, Emma's overwhelming grief overtook her. Her vision blurred, her breathing grew ragged, and she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness. The last thing she saw was the blurred silhouette of Gerald's guilt-ridden face before everything turned black.