Ed flipped through the guidebook and studied a crude map. The settlement was right next to the hole, which according to the map was the only entrance and exit. The settlement stretched west and east all the way to the natural cavern walls, making it relatively easy to defend against mutants. To the north were a series of tunnels that twisted, turned, and intersected with each other. They stretched for many kilometers and led to many other large caverns. It was essentially a maze of death.

With nothing holding him back, Ed immediately set off for the northern tunnels. The shacks grew sparser as he continued north, eventually being replaced by crude forts and towers which were used to guard the settlement against the mutants. It was only 15 minutes before he reached his destination.

"Hunting group of 20! We need 3 more members before we set out! Experienced hunters only!" A fat white man yelled.

"Elite 10-man squad. We need 2 more to leave!" A short black man advertised.

Ed rose his eyebrows in surprise. This place was even more lively than the settlement. There had to be at least a thousand people here. They formed different groups and had to actively recruit members despite most of them already belonging to race gangs. There were even a few groups with mixed members that clearly disliked each other but set aside their differences to hunt together. 'How strong are the purple mutants that it even forces people that hate each other to work together?' He wondered.

As Ed walked through the crowds, the groups actively turned their eyes away from him. No one wanted to recruit a newbie into their group. Even more importantly, they didn't want to recruit a cripple! He calmly walked past all of them, entering the nearest tunnel. Laughter echoed behind him as he went, the men scoffing at the idea of a new cripple entering the maze alone.

'This place would actually be quite nice if it wasn't for all the purple smoke.' He thought as he walked along a winding purple river of lava. The purple smoke coming from it never ceased, causing a stinging sensation over his whole body. However, he was slowly growing used to it. 'I wonder if the smoke is related to the stronger than normal bodies down here?'

After walking for nearly an hour, he exited the first tunnel and entered a large cavern. The purple lakes of lava lit up the cavern, revealing a bare empty land. There wasn't a single mutant from what he could see, but there was a small group of four Latino men. They stood defensively next to a lake, their bodies stiff and their breathing rough. It was as if they were preparing for the fight of their lives.

Ed walked over and glanced at the lake curiously. The men still hadn't noticed him at all. "Yo!" He waved towards them.

The startled men shouted as they immediately jumped to the left and right, turning around to face the newcomer.

"AGHHH!!!" One of the men screamed as a purple tentacle exited the lava and pulled him in.

"Fuck!" A man with a handlebar mustache yelled. He eyed the other two men and they all nodded to each other. They instantly moved back from the lake, retaking their defensive positions next to Ed.

"Hmm?" Ed smiled towards them, not feeling afraid at all. This was another group of weaklings. They likely only had weapons due to joining a race gang. They were clearly inexperienced at dealing with purple mutants.

"Listen up, Pasty." The mustached man frowned. "There's a mutant in that lake, and it's already taken six of our men. Each time we retreat or lose focus, it renews its attack. If you even think of running away, we'll push you down and fall back further."

"Isn't it kind of early in the caverns to already run into mutants?" Ed questioned.

"Of course not!" The man yelled. "Don't you know anything?! All the underground rivers and lakes are connected. Shit! We've really got dog shit luck today!"

'Hmm...' Ed watched silently for several minutes, prepared to defend himself against the men if needed. However, he quickly grew bored. 'I don't think this is the first mutant I want to fight. It looks way too weak. Otherwise, why would it stay hidden within the lava?' He shook his head and waved towards the men. "I'm leaving. Standing here like a statue isn't going to accomplish anything."

"I don't think so!" The mustached man pointed a spear towards him. The other two men lifted a spear and a sword as they encircled Ed.

Ed's eyes glazed over from his lack of interest. He walked straight towards the mustached man and grabbed the spear, yanking backwards as he did so.

The man grunted as he struggled to hold on, causing him to fall to the floor. Several purple tentacles snaked out of the water, shooting towards their group!

"NO! NO! NO!" The mustached man screamed in horror as a tentacle wrapped around both his legs and pulled him backwards. He clawed desperately at the ground as he went.

Tentacles shot towards the other two men as well. The spearman tried to block, but the tentacle easily wrapped around him and pulled him backwards. Surprisingly, the swordsman managed to hack at a tentacle and chop off the tip, allowing him to survive as he fell back.

"Ah, it'll be annoying if you escape and tattle on me." Ed frowned as he stepped forward. He lifted his foot up and lazily pushed it towards the man's chest.

"DIE!" The man's eyes turned red as he rose his sword high and chopped downwards. However, Ed's foot connected first, sending the man shooting backwards like a cannonball. He splashed into the lava lake and struggled to swim out. It was only a brief moment before more tentacles pulled him under, causing him to disappear forever.

'I don't get it.' Ed sighed while he crouched down and picked up the dropped sword of the man. It was mostly black with slight traces of purple. 'Seems to be a pretty crude way of melting manullium into iron. Do they not have ordinary fire down here?'

Suddenly, two red eyes popped out from the lava lake. A jellyfish-like body with over a dozen tentacles surrounding it appeared. The tentacles waved menacingly in the air, as if they were dancing in celebration of the slaughter that had just occurred.

Ed rested his head on his fist while still crouching and lazily staring at the mutant. 'Are the rumors about the purple mutants exaggerated? I guess I can be considered pretty strong within the esper circles by now... but there were plenty of espers just as physically strong as me in the encampment... Whatever, I guess I'll just kill it since it finally came out of hiding.' He stood up and began walking towards the mutant.

The octopus-like creature screeched as it swam to the edge of the lake, its courage growing bolder in the face of a single opponent. It had already killed ten of these weak espers, and it thirsted for more. They were unlike the prey it usually fed on, which had tough bodies and revolting taste. The espers were tender and juicy, as if they had come from another world. It shot three tentacles towards the remaining human.

Ed swung his sword at the first tentacle, managing to sever it as he jumped backwards. 'Things are such a pain in the ass with one arm.' He sighed. 'Maybe I'll make four arms in the future. I have a tendency of losing them.' He glanced down at the sword and opted to abandon it. He hurled it forward like a throwing knife, sending it spinning through the air. It landed dead center on the mutant's head, causing purplish blood to spray out.

"GREEE!!!" The mutant raged as it shook its head back and forth, creating small waves within the lava. A tentacle came whipping towards Ed, tearing through the air.

Ed caught the tentacle, which pushed him back several meters. He tightly held onto it as he began backing up, pulling the mutant further out of the lava lake. Scales covered his body as he defended against more tentacles pressing the attack. He had to dodge and weave while still holding onto the tentacle. It looked like an awkward dance as he spun past one tentacle and jumped back from another. Finally, there was a tentacle he couldn't dodge. Refusing to give up, he allowed it to slam into his face, knocking him backwards.

Unfortunately, he had lost his grip on the first tentacle. However, an awkward grin covered his face. He had bitten down hard onto the tentacle that attacked him, and he still held on. He continued moving backwards, now relying on his mouth to hold onto the mutant. It was much easier dealing with the other attacks thanks to his free arm. Soon, the mutant was completely dragged out of the lake, and Ed dragged it even further.

'This should be about enough distance.' He thought as he finally let go of the mutant. He charged forward, dodging left and jumping right, easily weaving through the legion of tentacles. He landed in front of the mutant's body and raised his fist into the air. His scales gleamed as they reflected the light from the purple lava. His fist formed a claw, and he struck towards one of the mutant's large red eyes.

Purple blood gushed forward like a geyser, soaking Ed within it. The mutant wailed as its tentacles weakly protested, struggling to attack. Its remaining red eye soon grew dark, and it collapsed to the ground. Its body slowly deflated as the blood kept spilling forth.

"Shit burns!" Ed grumbled as the blood covered his body. Just like the purple smoke, it stung horribly. However, the blood was easily ten times as potent as the smoke. He frowned as he knelt down and began digging through the mutant's head, searching for his prize. Several minutes passed as he did so, and the pain of his blood covered arm continually grew greater. Finally, he sighed while shaking his head. 'It's just like I thought. This mutant was way too weak to line up with the descriptions. It doesn't even have a mana-core.'

He stood up and grew depressed as he stared at the mutant. He had gotten his hopes up despite knowing ahead of time he was unlikely to get lucky. His stomach grumbled. It took a lot of energy to kill something like this, and all he had eaten for the past day were the nutrition bars he swiped from the ponytail pilot.

'Guess I'll take it back with me.' He dragged the mutant by a tentacle, leaving a trail of purple blood behind him as he went. The blood fed into the lava and naturally fused with it, as if the two different things were always one from the beginning. He soon reached the tunnel he had entered from. Fortunately, the tunnels were rather large, and the mutant he killed was rather small, so it easily fit through the tunnels.

It was nearly an hour before Ed exited the maze, returning back to the base camp built outside it. Many groups of hunters stared in shock as they saw the lone newbie exit the tunnels with the mutant prey in hand.

"He killed a jellyfish by himself?" One hunter whispered to another.

"Mm. It appears so." The other man nodded. "One of the weaker preys, but a tricky one to lure out and kill. I wonder how he did it."

Suddenly, a brawny Latino stepped forward. He was shaved bald, his head decorated with a tattoo of a bull skull. He stood with his arms crossed and blocked Ed's path. "That was the tunnel my newbies entered. Where are they?"

"Ah!" Ed nodded in understanding. He dropped the tentacle and turned around. He pulled the crude sword out from the head of the mutant and sliced it open. He dug around inside before pulling out a skeleton. It was so dissolved that it was barely recognizable as human. He dug even further and managed to find a few more. It seemed that the first six that had been devoured before he arrived had already completely dissolved. "Here you go." He nodded towards the man. "Free of charge."

The brawny man frowned. "You killed the jellyfish at the sacrifice of my men! Hand it over and I might spare your life!"

Ed tilted his head in confusion. "Your men didn't help at all. They weren't even fit to serve as cannon fodder, so I'll pass."

"Are you sure about that." The man grinned as he stepped forward.

Ed rubbed his chin while examining the man. "You know... I wasn't really sure since I just got here, and I haven't really had time to experiment yet, but does the purple smoke make people retarded?"

"What?!" The man replied in surprise, not having expected such a question.

"Ah, my apologies." He nodded. "Let me rephrase the question. I'm asking if you were retarded when your mother gave birth to you or if it happened after you inhaled too much of this purple smoke? If it's the latter, then I'd like to take some precautions for myself."

Several chuckles rang out from nearby. Some more blatant men laughed loudly, mocking the brawny man.

A nearby white man scoffed, "It's probably as he says. How could those Latinos possibly help one of ours take down the jellyfish? If they were that useful, then why didn't any of them survive? It can't be helped that they can't be compared to our master race."

A black man that appeared to be a part of the white racist's hunting group frowned. "There ya go starting with your bullshit again. Who's the one with the most kills in our squad?"

"That's different!" The white man replied. "You're not like those other blacks. You're actually useful!"

Ed stared stupidly at the conversation surrounding him. He felt like he was actively growing stupider just by listening to it. 'Ah, maybe the purple smoke really does make people retarded? I was half-joking, but this might warrant further research.' He glared at the Latino man. "This is my lunch, so if you don't want to die then you can fuck off."

The brawny Latino grimaced as he looked back-and-forth between the jellyfish and his own squad. Finally, he sighed while shaking his head, wisely choosing to walk away from the situation.

Ed happily dragged the mutant, leaving the square. Returning to town, he managed to sell most of the mutant for purified manullium coins. He bought a small piece of flint and steel, along with some wood to start a fire. He cooked a single tentacle he had held onto. It rapidly shrunk in size under the heat. He greedily devoured the cooked meat, frowning as he did so. 'Tastes awful and burns my throat. I wonder if the meat skewers I saw for sale earlier taste any better?'

He sighed as he stood up. He hadn't even come close to acquiring a purple mana-core. Nor was he close to having enough manullium for the quota. However, he had accomplished two things today. First, he demonstrated his strength. It would be easier for him to join an experienced hunting squad next time. Second, he earned some money. He could buy some weapons suited to one-armed combat, as well as some other necessary supplies.

Ed quickly found an abandoned shack on the outskirts of the settlement. He laid down and closed his eyes to rest. 'It'd be nice if I could set up some defenses or something.' He sighed. It wasn't until now that he realized how dependent he had become on his powers. He was used to setting up strong defenses, underground labs, and more all within minutes. He was also used to staying up for days without feeling tired, but now he felt tired after just a few hours of work. The purple smoke made it feel like he was an ordinary mortal once again, and the thought of such a thing discomforted him greatly. 'I'll just have to get used to it until I can learn more about the purple smoke and mana-cores.' He sighed. 'Tomorrow, I'll go hunting again. I'll definitely get a mana-core before the deadline.'