"This isn't really my specialty," an annoyed woman's voice complains somewhere above me.

I don't see her, since my eyes are closed. My eyes are closed because I’m lying on the ground, in a ton of pain. The woman's soul is interesting; jagged and sharp on the top, bubbly and ever-shifting on the bottom. It’s fun to watch.

"Well learn to make it your specialty, and learn fast," Remus, aka the asshole who beat the shit out of me, gravels. "You're going to be your squad's last lifeline, so you need to be good at it."

"I didn't say I wasn't good at it," the woman grumbles, kneeling down next to me.

"Cut the backtalk and heal her," Remus snaps back. "She's going to be your first line of defense, so do it right."

"Ugh. This pipsqueak?" comes the muttered reply, but she puts her hands on me anyway.

The familiar tingle of magic pushes itself into my body, and I let it. ‘Letting it’ wasn't a thing I could do before, but Rowan helped teach me that, as well. The strength of my will can and will fight against magic being cast into my body, and my defense is apparently above-average. I could lower that automatic defense if I know what I’m doing, and I do so now. No sense making it harder for this girl to heal me.

"...Are you sure, Remus? She's so weak."

This bitch...! I open my eyes and glare at her, putting my magic resistance back up. Her spell fizzles, its effects banished from my body.

"You're not good at the no-backtalk thing, huh?" I ask her.

She turns red with embarrassment, looking pissed. One look at her face and I already don't like this girl. She's got blonde, curly hair, and it's styled like someone who actually has the time to style hair. Loops and swirls, all bobby and fancy. Her clothes are expensive as hell, and while I see some impressive armor underneath it, she’s very much going for form on top of her function. What a waste! And that round face... she's probably never starved a day in her life. Not that... I mean, it wasn't bad to not starve, but still! She’s attractive, rich, and comfortable. She’s everything I‘m not. AND her soul is bigger than mine!

...Though that probably means I shouldn't piss her off too much.

"I thought you were asleep!" she snaps. "Why didn't you move?"

"Was comfy," I answer simply, dropping my resistance again to let her literally work her magic.

"Vita, this is Penelope," Remus says. "She's part of the team you'll be on. Your biomancer. Penelope, Vita will be your scout."

Aw, shoot. I’d definitely better step way back on the hating-her thing. Lyn told me twenty times not to piss off anyone I need to stay alive.

"Thanks for the heal," I mutter, giving her a thumbs-up. How did people become friends again? They ask questions about each other, right? "Um, if this isn't your specialty, what is?"

She snorts derisively, hands moving over the outside of my shirt as she wills my body to start repairing itself.

"Necrotic diseases and cellular degeneration," she says, scowling.

"I don't know what that means."

She rolls her eyes.

"It means you die. Taking a body apart is much easier than putting it back together. And therefore a better use of my time and energy. The monsters can't wound you if they're dead."

Now I knew that wasn't true. Probably a bad idea to correct her, though.

"Mmm. Well thanks for putting me back together anyway.” What’s next? Compliments? Compliments are good. “Did you biomance your hair to look that good or is it naturally pretty?"

She blinks, turning away a little.

"Well, I'm a natural biomancer, so..."

So she biomanced it. Ugh.

“Is making your hair pretty also a better use of your time and energy?” I say before I can stop myself.

"Oh, would you shut up?" she snaps back. "Quit yammering while I work. You're beat half to death. How did you lose this badly? You can't possibly be old enough to work here."

"I'm sixtee—"

"Oh, like hell you are. I bet you don't even bleed yet."

I shut up, scowling. Don’t hate the biomancer, don’t hate the biomancer… she does actually heal me, at least. Five minutes later, I’m crazy hungry but otherwise not in any more pain. So better than average!

"There. Done," she says, turning and immediately moving to leave the courtyard. That’s fine by me, I suppose. Remus looks down at me as I sit up.

"You're going to live here while we train you. You got anyone to say goodbye to?"

I nod. He nods back.

"Then we'll get you some food and you can go talk to them. If you're not back in two hours, don't come back."

I nod again, following him as he exits. He throws a whole loaf of bread at me, and I munch on it as I jog back to the shack. Tearing off half the loaf, I share it with the kids, hugging them all before heading down below. Half a loaf of bread probably isn’t enough to eat off that biomancy heal, but that’s not as important. Rowan and Lyn are waiting for me below.

"Vita?" Lyn says, looking my way as I jump down the ladder. “How did it go?”

"The people in the Hunter's Guild are all assholes," I complain.

"Most people are assholes," Rowan says slowly. "So...?"

"I spent the whole time getting beat up and insulted."

Lyn’s smile looks a bit fragile.

"Bah, you don't look beat up!" she says.

"Well, no. The insults were from their biomancer. She's some sassy rich bitch."

I kick at the floor, looking despondent. A little bit of dread creeps deeper into Lyn and Rowan's faces. But honestly, I can't hide the huge smile inside me for any longer. It blossoms on my face, full and joyful.

"But fuck her. I did it. I'm in."

Despair swaps to shock and just as quickly into uproarious, whooping cheers. Lyn and Rowan rush over and grab me, picking me up into a gigantic hug sandwich.

"You did it! You really did it?" Lyn cheers.

I nod rapidly, returning the hug to both of them. I can really squeeze now.

"You little scamp!" Rowan chastises happily, nuzzling me. "Don't scare us like that! You do it enough as-is!"

I laugh, too happy to protest at how childishly I’m being paraded around the room in Lyn's and Rowan's arms.

"I love you guys. I promise I'll make good on our agreement. They want me to live there, so... one less mouth to feed, right? Once they pay me, I'll pay you back. As much and then some! So stay safe, okay?"

"Stay safe? You're telling us to stay safe?" Lyn laughs. "You'd better not fucking die out there, Vita, or I'll become a necromancer myself just to bring you back and kick your ass!"

"I won't die," I promise. "No matter what it takes. I'll live."

"Good," Lyn responds. "That's what I wanna hear."

I catch Rowan's smile dip a little, though. Just for a second.

"Just be careful, Vita," he says. "Please. Don't get in over your head."

"I'll try," I say. But I don't promise. That's not really a promise I’ll be able to keep.

Eventually, the celebrations end. We head back upstairs and explain to the other kids I’m leaving to become a hunter, to cheers and salutations. I hug them all again, then very carefully grab my best friend Rosco the Crow Stuffy and shove him inside one of my pouches. As if this was a perfectly normal event that warranted no further attention and certainly not the poorly-hidden grins of my whole family thinking I’m adorable, I punctuate the action with a question.

"Hey Rowan, what does 'necrotic diseases and cellular degeneration' mean? It's what the biomancer said she specialized in."

"Uh," Rowan says, blinking. "It sounds like she destroys people’s bodies with magic diseases," he explains. "You may have found someone almost as creepy and disturbing as you, Vita."

I scowl and punch him in the leg. He laughs.

"Don't be mean! She's gonna be on my team, apparently, so I wanted to know. Anyway, I should get going. I don't have much time left."

"See you, Vita," Lyn says, saluting. "Knock 'em dead, kiddo."

"Not a kiddo," I say, smiling back. "But that's the plan."

At that, I head out, taking a deep breath to steel myself for the return to the guild. I still haven’t really seen much of it, just the courtyard where I got my ass beat and the hallway between there and the front room. It was way bigger of a place than that, two stories tall and large enough to be a noble’s villa. The secretary behind the desk gives me directions to what is apparently my room when I return, and I race up the stairs gleefully.

There are already two other people in the room, go figure, but they aren’t what catches my eye when I first walk in. No, what catches my eye is how huge the room is! I can’t get over it! There are three beds in here! Each with a frame and a mattress! A mattress! Is one of these mine!? That isn’t the only furniture, either. There are little desks and nightstands and chairs and real pillows on the beds and—

“Are you just going to stand there gawking?” Penelope asks impatiently.

She is, of course, one of the two other people in the room. My room! A room where only three people slept and they slept in beds!

“I-is one of these mine?” I squeak, pointing.

“What? Oh, for watcher’s sake, yes!” Penelope snaps. “That one is yours. This one is mine. And the one with a person on it is hers.”

“Hey,” the person in question says, flicking a hand in a wave. She’s another girl, and she is massive. Nearly two feet taller than me, at least. She lounges on her bed, arms behind her head. Her dark hair and darker skin are contrasted by the white cotton shirt she has on, which shows off a stunning amount of muscle. Her soul has a warmth to it like Lyn’s, though it flows like water. Despite its flexibility, though, it feels hard, almost unbreakable. Penelope’s soul is way bigger, but they are both much stronger than me.

“You must be Vita,” she says, snapping me out of my stares. “My name’s Norah. Nice to meet you.”

“Um, n-nice to meet you too,” I murmur, heading towards my bed (my bed!) to store what little stuff I had.

I’m not really sure what else to say; it’s kind of weird having strangers be happy to see me. I pull Rosco out of the pack I stuffed him in, carefully placing him under the covers. The act puts a goofy grin on my face. Is it comfy, Rosco? I bet it is.

“See, Norah?” Penelope says mockingly. “I told you she was ten years old.”

Blood rushes to my face in a furious blush. I turn on her immediately, ready to give her a piece of my mind.

“I am not! I’m sixteen!”

She snorts.

“Honey, you carry around a stuffed animal. You are a child, and you should not be here.”

One hand goes to the spear on my back.

“Leave Rosco out of this!”

“Woah, woah, woah!” Norah says, hopping up from her bed. Holy shit she is tall. “How about the two of you cool it, okay? We just met, we’re gonna be working together whether you like it or not. Let’s learn to like it.”

“We can’t just be okay with this!" Penelope snaps. "She’s going to get us killed, Norah. She’s a fucking child!”

“I am not!” I shout back.

“I am a biomancer!” she retorts. “Do not fucking lie to me! You hit puberty maybe a week ago! You’re not even five feet tall! Your lie is fucking ridiculous!”

“Well I’m sorry I was too busy starving to grow big, floppy tits like you! I barely survived my life, you rich bitch! I don’t get to decide when my body wants to do that shit!”

“Please you’re not starving,” she sneers. “You’re plenty fit, for a child.”

“I said to fucking cool it!” Norah shouts, shutting both of us up. “Penelope, just take Vita at her word for now, okay? Vita, just… calm down. Not every tease is a personal attack.”

I almost snap at Norah too, but manage to stop myself, taking a deep breath. Right, right. Don’t piss off the team. Especially don’t piss off the biomancer.

“Okay. Sorry, Norah. Sorry, Penelope.”

Penelope just snorts.

“Come on, P,” Norah prompts. “Maybe an apology back?”

“I’ll apologize if there’s a reason to,” Penelope snaps back. “Stop trying to tell me what to do.”

She turns back to her desk, where she was writing something that would take way too long for me to figure out how to read. Her section of the room is stacked with books, a couple of inkpots, a well-worn quill, and most notably to my senses, a large cage with four rats in it. Much like Penelope herself, they look much better-fed than the ones I’d find on the street.

Well. Maybe I could try to start a new conversation? To take the edge off?

“Um, w-why do you have rats?” I ask slowly, standing timidly behind Penelope’s chair.

She turns to glare at me.

“I like rats. Is that a problem?”

“I like rats too,” I respond, technically not lying.

She smiles back, though it isn’t a particularly nice sort of smile.

“Oh? Do you? That’s wonderful. I find them to be my preferred test subjects. Plentiful, and decently similar to humans on a biological level for their level of convenience. Very easy to replace when they die.”

“Oh, okay,” I say, noncommittally.

I’m not exactly bothered by the prospect of mass rat murder. Besides, that certainly explained why three of the rats felt all drippy and strained. They were dying, and their tiny souls were desperately trying to keep their bodies together. Poor things were exhausted.

“So what kind of experiments are you doing? Are rats really that similar to humans?”

Her frown drops, and she returns to writing at her desk. She looks... disappointed? Was she trying to unnerve me for some reason? That’s going to be difficult for her to do.

“I’m researching,” she snaps. “Which is to say, contributing to the foundation of all human knowledge. Now leave me to it, and stop asking inane questions.”

“Oh. Okay. Sorry.”

I head back to my bed, lying down on it, spread-eagle. It’s soft. Not even Rowan and Lyn have a bed this soft. I can’t help but feel a little bad, after all the effort they went through to get me here.

“Have you met the boys yet, Vita?” Norah asks, prompting me to look up.

“Boys?”

“Yeah, the boys. Our other teammates. They have the room next door.” She points at one of the walls. “You want me to introduce you to ‘em?”

I perk up at that, feeling out the souls in the room next door. A big one, pulsing red and spinning without ever slowing. A small one, even smaller than mine, dark blue and cold like a pool of water.

"Two of them, right?" I ask Norah. "One's got a lot of energy, and the other is kinda quiet?"

Norah blinks.

"Oh. Yeah, that's them. You've met 'em already?"

I shake my head, smiling a little. It was a bit of a lucky guess, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that how a soul felt to me meant something. I’m trying to pay more attention to it.

"M'the scout!" I announce proudly. "I feel 'em through the wall. I'm not strong like you and Penelope, but I'll make sure nothing hides or sneaks up on us."

"Huh," Norah says, seeming impressed. "That's handy, V. I've never heard of a detection power that lets you sense someone's personality."

Oh. Shit. Was that a bad thing to share?

"I dunno if I'm, uh, good at it. That was my first time trying to guess. Everybody just feels... different?"

Norah shrugs.

"Yeah, natural shit is weird like that. Let's get going."

Oh. Okay, phew. Norah heads to the door, promptly, and I raise an eyebrow.

"You don't wanna like... put on pants first?" I ask, staring pointedly at her undershorts.

Norah scoffs.

"Why? I'm technically dressed. If they wanna stare, I look forward to their jealousy."

She poses, flexing, and I can’t help but giggle. I guess that’s one way to look at it. I’ve always looked more depressing than anything; a starving Vita without her shirt was about the furthest thing from attractive. I guess… that might be changing soon. The pair of us head out, Norah leading the way. She knocks on the door, calling out.

"Yo, get your pants on and come meet the last member!"

Apparently her clothing policy doesn’t apply to the boys. After only a brief shuffle, a lean, tan, white-haired young man opens the door.

"What makes you think our pants aren't..." his voice trails off as he stares at Norah's thighs. "Ah. Well. Come on in, I guess."

She laughs and follows him in as he opens the door for us. He’s the one with the small soul, though, so as I enter my eyes quickly search for the other guy in the room. This becomes incredibly easy as he moves rapidly towards me and picks me up in an enormous hug.

"Ha-HA! You must be Vita!" he announces boisterously, spinning me around.

"P-please put me down!" I squeak back, my body already in full fight-or-flight mode. What is happening!? Did normal people do this?

"Sorry, sorry!" he apologizes, setting me down gently and patting me on the head. The head! "You're just... ah! You're very small! I couldn't help myself!"

A blush on my cheeks blooms as I glare up at him. He has such a big smile, though, my scathing reply dies in my throat.

"My name's Bently!" he announces proudly. "This is Orville!"

Bently is an incredibly wide-shouldered young man, tall but not as tall as Norah. He has a blonde peach-fuzz beard, short hair, and a grin that absolutely will not stop. His musculature rivals if not exceeds Norah's.

"It's great to meet both of you," Bently continues, apparently content to supply all sides of the conversation by himself. "I'm in the front! Oriville's our ranged fire support! Is that a spear? Are you with Norah and I? You look a bit frail for that, but I guess it's never good to judge by appearance!"

He laughs some more. I have to wait for him to breathe so I can get a word in edgewise.

"I'm... okay with the spear, but I'm mostly just the scout. I sense things from really far away."

"Oh! Great, a scout!" He slaps me on the back boisterously, which hurts. "That's wonderful! I'll be counting on you to watch my rear, Vita!"

"Uh, y-yeah... I'll be counting on you to, um, watch my front I guess."

"Hah! I won't let you down, and neither will Norah! She's tough as nails! I couldn't even scratch her!"

"And you never will," Norah says, grinning right back.

"We'll see about that!"

"If you two are fighting, please leave the dorm this time," Orville comments, already disengaged from the conversation and over at his desk.

"So, um, what does everybody do exactly? Do you all have magic or special things? I know Penelope's a biomancer, but I don't know about anyone else."

Bently laughs.

"I've got nothing but grit, determination, and a very large axe! It's all I've ever needed so far!"

Hmm, that doesn’t seem right. It feels like Bently has some kind of talent, but it doesn’t sound like he’s lying either. Oh, well. It’s probably passive, like Lyn’s. Maybe he doesn’t even know about it.

"I have magic, but I don't have any 'special things,'" Orville comments from his corner of the room, nose still in a book as he answers. "I had to learn it all the hard way."

I nod.

"That's cool. Someone important to me is like that, too. What kind of magic do you use?"

He turns my way at that, giving me a more considering glance.

"Aeromancy. I use it to enhance my bowmanship, and a few other things. I'm far from an expert, but Remus thought it was good enough, I suppose."

I nod, turning to Norah. She grins confidently.

"Stab my shirt with your spear."

"Huh?" I ask, blinking. Is she serious?

"Stab my shirt," Norah repeats. "As hard as you can."

I frown, but draw my spear and stab it at her as instructed. It goes "clink!" against the cotton, as if I stabbed a boulder. I stare up at the mountain of a woman.

"What?" I ask.

"It's my natural magic!" she says, grinning back. "I call it 'reinforce!’ I make things tough! It also makes them inflexible, though, and doesn't work on living things."

Not living things, she says. Don’t ask, don’t ask, don’t ask...

"What about dead things?" I ask. "Like, if you kill a monster, can you pick up a corpse and use it as a shield? Um, hypothetically."

She frowns.

"I dunno. It works on leather, so... I'd assume so?"

"Neat," I say, keeping as straight a face as I can.

Trying to distract myself, I look around the room to see if I can spot damage from the fight that Orville mentioned. Sure enough... stuffed in the corner, there's some smashed wood that looks like may have once been Bently's missing nightstand. What a waste of such a nice piece of furniture.

"Have you guys known each other long?" I ask.

"A few weeks, I think!" Bently answers boisterously. "Enough to be friends, though I suppose we don't know each other all that well."

"You and Orville are the newest hires," Norah clarifies. "Orville joined... what, five days ago?"

"Six," Orville corrects, back to otherwise ignoring the lot of us.

I fidget a little. Ugh, I really don’t want to ask. But I also don’t want to die.

"...Can you give me advice for getting along with Penelope?" I ask. "We keep making each other mad, but I don't wanna be on bad terms with the healer."

Bently scratches his cheek, looking mildly embarrassed.

"...Well. You certainly shouldn't try to hug her. She gave me ulcers for a few days."

"It's not just you, Vita," Norah adds. "We're all struggling to get along with her a bit. She... really seems to look down on everyone else."

"I guess that makes sense," I say, frowning. "She's like, way stronger than everyone else here."

"Hey now! You'll hurt a man's pride saying something like that!" Bently comments, only half-joking.

I shrug. It is what it is.

"You’re the next strongest, Bently. But Penelope feels closer to Remus than she does to you."

"Wh— hey!" Norah comments. "What do you mean Bently's the next strongest? I kicked Bently's ass!"

"Oh, um. It's just what my senses tell me. It doesn't mean you can't win."

"It makes sense to me!" Bently responds , laughing. "Norah's the rock to my scissors! When she's in full armor, she's basically invincible! But... hrm. I suppose the paper to her rock would be..."

"Penelope," Norah finishes. "Yeah. Doesn't matter how tough my armor is if she just completely ignores it. Biomancy is... scary. She's probably used to getting what she wants. Who would want to talk back to someone that can just casually rot your eyes out?"

If only I could get that kind of respect from my powers.

"...Okay. Thanks, guys."

"Yeah, no worries, V," Norah says, squeezing my shoulder lightly. "You're not the only one that got in a shouting match with that bitch day one. We're on your side, here."

I smile, nodding.

"Thanks. So, when are we going to be doing hunter stuff? What kind of monsters have you guys hunted already?"

"Er, soon and none," Norah answers. "Most of our time here so far has been Remus kicking everyone's ass. Well, except Penelope’s."

Geez, not even Remus? That is so unfair!

"It's not that bad!" Bently says, grinning. "I'm way stronger now than I was before! Remus is a good trainer!"

I consider that for a moment.

"I guess he didn't break too many of my bones, which was nice of him."

If he had really wanted to hurt me, he could have done a lot worse. He must have been holding back on purpose. Bently laughs at my comment, though, much to my confusion. It wasn't a joke?

"We have a full team now, so the hunts will probably start soon," Orville chimes in. "We were just waiting for someone with skills like Vita's to show up."

Huh, well that's neat. I actually got a bit of luck in my life! It’s no wonder Remus accepted a wimp like me if I was the last piece of the puzzle he needed. Let’s see… that was just about all the questions I had, and I’m not actually sure how else to talk to people. So.. what to do now? I’m not tired, I can’t go help Rowan, I’m not hungry...

No, wait. I’m super hungry. I’m just not starving. That is going to take some getting used to.

"...Is there food we can eat here?" I ask.

"There is!" Bently says happily. "It's quite good, too! Would you like me to show you the mess hall?"

I nod rapidly, following him. Bently’s going to get me food! We’re friends now.

He leads the way downstairs and into a larger room. A half-dozen hunters with souls much larger than my team’s eat at a table, and a few weaker cooks mull about. The smell in the room is so incredible, I can feel my mouth watering already. What is this? Stew? Fresh bread? Vegetables? Is that fruit?

"Right here, Vita!" Bently says. "Help yourself! As much as you want!"

I stop walking. No way I heard that right.

"What?"

"You can take as much as you want, Vita," he repeats. "Just don't overeat. We have to be fit to fight in case Remus ambushes us!"

Is that a thing that happens? No, wait, I don't care.

"...I can have as much as I want, right?" I ask.

"Yep, that's right!" Bently says.

"Can I, uh, take it back to my room to eat?"

"Er, well, I suppose so, sure. There aren't any rules against that, or anything."

“So I could take the food somewhere else to eat, too?”

“I suppose?”

I swallow. No way.

"...When do you think Remus is gonna want to see us?"

He strokes his chin.

"Mmm... probably not for another half hour, at least. I think he's out right now. Why?"

I don't answer. As fast as I can, I grab as much food as I can carry and sprint out of the Hunter's guild.

I have a debt to start repaying.