A few miles away from the hunters, Natsuya went to find an E-Grade realm while checking the Labyrinth Denizen's Horn Dagger, with ambiguity.
Natsuya: "A boot knife and fists were ineffective from that realm. Let's find out the real strength of this dagger."
He continues walking until finding a normal E-Grade realm, with low difficulty. It looks easy for him to clear, but he always has to check what is inside.
He looked up at the portal, a blue-and-yellow spiral with ominous energy, awaiting the hunter. He pulls out The Labyrinth Denizen's Horn Dagger from his inventory and walks through the portal with confidence.
The tunnel between the world and the realm forms as Natsuya walks in the mysterious realm. The realm appears in his eyes, down in a giant crevice with a dark sky.
Natsuya: "Should I try climbing up?"
He remembers Arayuki talking about climbing up to the surface in the realms.
Arayuki: "*Flashback* If you think you can outclass the demons in a realm by going up to the surface, that is a widely asked question other than obscure. Many people tried doing that, but there is a mental barrier named Realm Tether. When you enter a realm, it's radioactive, but if you're near and it still holds you, you're safe. But if you go far away, even going up to the surface, it breaks, and you can absorb the immense radiation of the air, and possibly be fatal. Many hunters tried to do the same thing, but they died. So that's why they always stay down and close to the tether."
Natsuya tries to find where the tether is until the Hunter System shows him the tether meter.
Hunter System: "Tether Meter: 89%."
Natsuya: "It's like an air bubble..."
He sees demons lurking in the shadows. He quickly gripped the Horn Dagger, ran to the demons, and swung it. The Horn Dagger dealt moderate damage, as it shattered the ground and instantly killed the E-Grade Demons.
Hunter System: "Level Up. Current Level: 20."
Natsuya: "That's the damage it does? As long as I wield it flawlessly, it would have potential for high-grade realms."
A demon giant was about to crush Natsuya from above with its foot, until he notices the sound and goes under the state of Precognition.
He sees the demon with its disfigured shape and spikes on his shoulders midair, and jumps high to its body and giving waves of slashes relentlessly with the Horn Dagger, before the state fades. The demon giant had its body eviscerated and the organs spilled out. Natsuya lands and quickly runs from the demon's blood and organs.
Hunter System: "Level Up. Current Level: 21."
Natsuya sprints until encountering a morbidly obese demon brute, three times bigger than him, holding a mace.
Hunter System: "Boss: Demon Horde Leader. Level 15. E-Grade."
Natsuya prepares to attack, as the Demon Horde Leader stands in position, rumbling the cave as it stomps.
Hunter System: "Precognition: Cooldown: 30 Seconds."
Natsuya: "I've been using that countless times. Let's settle this fight, lardo!"
The Horde Leader runs towards Natsuya, as he quickly dodges and slices its leg. It can't walk or run, as its legs were cut by the Horn Dagger Natsuya was gripping.
Hunter System: "25% Mana. Skills can be used infusing the mana."
It collapses to the ground before Natsuya learns a new move granted by The Admin.
The Admin: "Available Skill: Spiderweb. Draw the blade with immense speed, slashing the air 20 times per second until forming a spiderweb-shaped slash. Once finished shaping, the spiderweb will blitz to the enemy, going through their body, and sticking it to the ground. It could be sticky and springy. The enemy will bounce off the spiderweb, ready for another attack the user would make."
He slashed the air at blinding speed, the blade forming a web that pinned the demon to the ground.
Natsuya: "Lead the demons in hell."
He draws out the Horn Dagger, stabbing its stomach, and damage is dealt over time, as said in the description of the Horn Dagger. The Demon Horde Leader is deceased after Natsuya pulls out the Horn Dagger swiftly.
Hunter System: "Level Up. Current Level: 22."
Daily Quests: "23 hours, 32 minutes remaining. 2/5: Clear E-Grade Realms. 22/50: Level Up. 0/1: Clear the C-Rank Diamond Dimension."
Natsuya: "That little? How?"
The Admin: "The Leveling System is very complicated, as each level increases the experience capacity by 5%."
Natsuya: "*Storing the Horn Dagger back into the inventory* Makes sense, they should somehow make it so you gain more levels from killing bosses."
The Admin: "If the capacity doesn't increase, then the mana absorption would be unstable, and possibly be fatal."
Natsuya: "Everything is strict in this system. Why can't they explain it clearly?"
The Admin: "You have to get used to it and adapt to this protocol. You would eventually understand."
Natsuya walks out of the realm, with only 3 E-Grade realms left to clear. He senses one nearby, as it was next to the corner of where he cleared the E-Grade realm the first time. He walked in front of it, only seeing it as unstable.
Arayuki: "*Flashback* Unstable portals mean it's been out here for too long. This means the realm isn't cleared yet. It would crumble and summon a deadly horde of demons. If there were hunters inside, they would be trapped in the realm forever. This could last for a few days. If it looked orange to red, immediately take action."
Natsuya checks the color of the portal, which Arayuki said was orange, and it has been left out there for too long. He runs into the portal quickly, as he worries it would destabilize.
As he was aware of what was inside, he prepared himself to kill the demons, looking forward to more levels and clearing the realm.