"We haven't done proper introductions, have we?" Seth asks.

"No, we haven't," I answer. "And if we had, we might have realized sooner that Kain and I were brothers."

"Rex?" Kain asks in shock, then turns his gaze to Cam. "Cam?"

It has been almost fifteen years since he last saw us, so it's not surprising he didn't recognize us. Since my letters never mentioned we became Hunters, he also probably didn't think it was us, and had probably been wondering who we were.

"Yes," I nod. "Hello, Kain."

I turn my attention to the rest of the Soul Strikers.

"I'm Rex," I introduce myself. "And this is Cam, my best friend. This here is Liam, and now, the three of us are introduced properly."

"I'm Seth," Seth introduces himself. "This is Kris, Pierce, Nathan, and Kain, though it appears you two know Kain."

Seth gives Kain a look.

"You didn't mention they were the Hunters."

"He never told me in the letters," Kain says. "I wasn't sure who they were, but didn't think they were them. Rex, how come you never told me?"

"Five years," I say as we resume walking. "After you left, you hadn't done much more than send letters back. You hadn't visited, you didn't send any trinkets, nothing but letters. So when I became a Hunter, I decided you probably didn't actually care that much about us. You even knew our parents died, and didn't come back. It's why I didn't mention Liam, either. I figured it wasn't important enough for you to know."

Kain turns his gaze away, and I can tell he's feeling ashamed.

"I'm confused," Liam says. "You have a brother?"

"Yeah," I answer. "Just Kain. I never mentioned him because he never gave any indication he would visit us. If he wasn't going to visit us, then it wasn't really all that necessary to mention. Besides…"

I pull Liam against him and ruffle his hair with my knuckles.

"You're my little brother," I say as he pulls away. "I have some memories of Kain, but he did leave when I was only five."

"Sorry," Kain tells me, his voice a little on the quiet side. "When I got your letter, I was still training and stuff. I couldn't afford to pay someone to escort me back. Then I met up with these guys, and your letters made it clear you were doing just fine without me around, that you were happy. I figured it was probably better if I stayed away, but kept in touch."

"Yeah," Seth tells me. "Which is why we told him he was taking us to his hometown. It's been nearly fifteen years since he abandoned you, and we didn't like that he hadn't returned once, only stayed in contact through a letter every few months."

That explains his sudden return.

"And you didn't send a letter," I say. "Announcing you were coming to visit because you wanted to surprise me?"

"Correct," Kain confirms. "The plan was to ask the Elder Hunter where you lived now, but then she told us about the nastiness with the wolf, so I decided to wait until after we took care of that and taught you two and Liam some stuff. I'm sorry, Rex. I know I should have visited sooner."

"It's fine," I tell him. "You had your reasons for staying away, and Cam and I have lived pretty well after."

"How much of what you said in the letters were lies?" Kain asks. "You never said anything about hunting, or about Liam."

"I left information out," I say. "But I didn't lie. Cam's parents took me in temporarily after ma and pa died, as I told you. I helped out with their stuff, but I also started learning how to use a spear, teaching myself. When we turned ten, Cam and I both applied to become Hunters and received our brands. In the nine years since, we've done pretty well, and we're happy with our job and how we help the village. That's about it. I was only telling you the more mundane things in our lives. I'm not the only one who left information out, though, Mr. Soul Striker."

"Yeah," he chuckles. "I couldn't exactly tell you that, though I guess I did leave out some of our more fun adventures."

"Your last couple of letters," I say. "Said you were on another continent. Did you start making your way here right after sending the last one?"

"A few days after," he confirms. "It was while we were returning that they ganged up on me."

"Here we are," I gesture to my home. "I asked the Elder Hunter to send for some builders for it, so that I could have a stone building rather than wattle and daub or brick. The main reason for that was so that it would last through the generations. Since it's at the edge of town, there's plenty of space for training, and I had three bedrooms built upstairs. The hope is that whoever my successor is, when it's time to retire as a Hunter, will live here. An inherited home for Hunters."

Kain already knew about me having my own home, as I told him when I had it built that I had moved in to my own house. I didn't tell him what the house was like, though, so he probably didn't realize it was a long-lasting house, not a normal one.

"Not an uncommon thing," Kain nods. "Hunters who pass the torch through apprentices rather than children do that. It creates a specific place for training in the town, and gives the townsfolk a more permanent comfort. You were thinking ahead just at that age?"

"Always have to," I shrug. "You never know when something might take your life. Like with the gaia wolf. That very nearly did."

"You're right," Kain says. "It's just unexpected for someone so young to."

"I lost my older brother to being a Hunter," I say. "Then my parents to their own stupidity, when I was only five. I became a Hunter as soon as I turned ten, and learned to be a strategy Hunter. Thinking ahead was something I ended up doing naturally."

"Makes sense," he nods, then looks at the rest of his team, before turning his gaze to me. "Do you mind if we go for a walk, just you and me? It seems we have some real catching up to do. I know there's nothing I can do to make up for abandoning you, but I'd still like to talk for awhile."

I look at Cam, who gives me a nod.

"Sure," I say. "Let's head out. You guys make yourselves comfortable. Liam knows where the cards are if you want to play a game, too."

The others head inside, and Kain and I start walking. We're silent, mostly because I don't really know what to say. I mean, we might be brothers, but the only communication we've had in fourteen years has been letters to each other. Yes, he did it mostly to see how I was doing out of concern for his younger brother, but I still felt abandoned.

His expression as we walk tells me that he feels bad for it, especially now that he's actually here with me, face-to-face.

Eventually, we find ourselves at the fort in the woods. It's mostly just a wooden building constructed in a few trees, connected by walkways of wood and rope. Or at least, it used to be. The ropes are frayed, and some of the planks are rotted out. The three buildings themselves are falling apart, probably dangerous to enter.

As I told Liam the other day, the fort hasn't been used in years, and no one's maintained or repaired it. It doesn't surprise me it's turned to this.

I wasn't walking in any particular direction, and I'm guessing Kain wasn't, either. We both just ended up walking here, it seems.

"Did you and Cam enjoy many more years here, at least?" Kain asks, looking up at the fort's main building. "Playing in this, before you became Hunters?"

"Yeah," I answer.

"I'm glad," he says. "I'm sure that stopped once you became Hunters."

"Yeah," I nod. "We still had fun, but we became a little more serious once we began hunting."

"Same here," he nods. "Goofing off during a hunt can become dangerous, and the seriousness of it tends to rub off in our time outside of hunts. We encountered a group of teens a few years ago who refused to take the hunts seriously. They came from a larger town, where there were more Hunters and things were a fair bit safer.

"We were staying there for about a week," he continues, putting a hand on the trunk of the tree with the main building for the fort. "When their parents, Hunters themselves, came to us saying the teens hadn't returned home, and their trail had disappeared. They begged us to go look for their kids."

"So we did," he looks up to the sky, letting out a sigh. "We found them, too. They had decided to goof around while hunting. As they did that, they didn't pay attention to their surroundings. A silverthorn bear had taken notice of them as they taunted some fanged deer. The deer were only Tier One, and were something they could handle.

"The bear, on the other hand," he shakes his head, looking off into the distance in the woods. "It was Tier Two, and just a little out of their ability. They tried. By the powers that be, they tried. Silverthorn bears are naturally smart, though, and that one had trapped them, tricked them into going toward its den rather than the town.

"When we found them," he shakes his head again. "Four of them were already dead. One had died before they even realized they were under attack. The fifth one… well, he won't be hunting ever again. He lost his left leg, and his right arm was mangled pretty bad. I don't know if there's a healing spell in the world that could have mended it."

Kain sighs, then looks at me.

"Four deaths and one person unable to do most work," he says. "All because they wouldn't take hunting monsters seriously. We come across that, from time to time, and try to set them straight before we leave. It's much better to take things seriously while on the hunt and be alert than to goof around and get hurt.

"Some might think," he continues. "That teams that are ridiculously powerful, like Soul Strikers, can afford to goof around as we fight. Maybe we can. But why would we? Hunting is serious business, and it's better to dispatch the monsters than to harass, taunt, or tease them."

He uses wind magic to fly, soaring up into the fort, and I do the same to join him. The floorboards creak under our steps, and we have to be careful not to put a foot through them. For several minutes, Kain and I just walk through the fort, using magic to fly from building to building, until we return to the main building and stand on the balcony, looking out over the forest.

Being here brings back memories of us playing as kids. We didn't play Hunters, like other kids probably did and do. Instead, we played knights and bandits, or princes and wizards. Rather than stuff more modern, we played as if we were from the ancient stories, from a time when monsters didn't rule the world, magic didn't exist here, and things were different.

Of the few stories from back then that remain, the way they fantasized and made up adventures was pretty different. The Elder Hunter told us the stories from time to time, and so did Richard. He had come from a city, not from our town, and so had learned some of them growing up, himself.

For the differences in the stories, I suppose coming from a time without magic and monsters shaped the way they think to be more open to how things could be in a story. Now, with magic and monsters in abundance, every story made is told with the considerations of things really are.

Kain places a hand on the railing surrounding the balcony, feeling it for a moment.

"I would have returned, you know," he tells me. "Even though it had been five years. If you'd told me that you'd become a Hunter, I would have come back. I know it doesn't seem it, but I do care about you, Rex. That's why I kept in contact, because I wanted to know how you were doing. While I can't say for sure, I'm certain that had your first letter made it seem like you needed me after our parents' death, I'd have given up being a Hunter to return and be with you. But it just talked about living with Cam and going fishing.

"As for trinkets," he says. "Souvenirs, I've thought about sending them to you from time to time. But you never asked, never hinted you wanted something. I'm sorry for abandoning you, Rex, and for making you feel as if I didn't care about you. But I really would have returned if you hinted or said you wanted me to. If you said you became a Hunter, I'd have hurried back just so I could help you grow as one and teach you things I had learned that might help you."

He gives me an apologetic, but happy, smile.

"I'm glad to see my little brother," he says. "Has become a responsible young man. I actually exchange letters with the Elder Hunter every week, and she's told me much about you, though she left out you were a Hunter, too. And about Liam. I guess she realized you didn't want me to know about them."

Finding out that he's been keeping tabs on me by contacting the Elder Hunter regularly is surprising to hear. I hadn't expected that at all. There's the chance he could be lying about everything, but I'm doubting it.

"She sees a lot more than she reveals," I nod. "Even if the scan spell only relates to the fights we go through and monsters we encounter, I doubt she would need it to know about the mischief we'd get up to."

"Yeah," Kain laughs. "She even figured out that we were passing nearby, said so in the most recent letter between us. The shorter time between her sending a bird out and it returning was enough to let her know the general area we were in. She had guessed it was us on our way here, too. When we entered her shop last night, she just looked at me and said 'finally decided to visit home, did we?' She also said she ought to bend me over her knee for abandoning you. Wasn't the first time she'd said it, but it was much different coming out of her mouth than it was in writing."

I snort a little at that. The Elder Hunter sounds like she'd say something like that.

"Sorry, again," Kain tells me, then sighs. "I probably should have shown more interest, but you seemed to be doing fine, and the more time that passed, the more I felt awkward about coming back. And now that I finally have, I feel awkward all over again. You're a Hunter, and you have a new brother, someone you rescued who looks up to you. I can see in the way he stuck near you and talked and looked at you that he worships the very ground you walk on, the air you breathe, and everything about you. Much the way you did me when we were little."

"It's a brother thing," I say. "He's looking up to his big brother. I'm sure it will fade with time, especially now that he's a Hunter, himself."

"Maybe," Kain looks out into the forest again. "It makes me wonder how differently things would have been, had I stayed here."

"Ma and Pa were abusing you."

He gives me a surprised look.

"You knew?" He asks. "Did they start abusing you after I left?"

"No," I shake my head. "I only figured it out years later. After I'd become a Hunter, and a little more mature. A few years ago, actually. It was when Cam and I were visiting a city to get some better training and learn a few new spells from their library. We came across a family that reminded me of how you were treated. That made me realize you were being abused, and that was probably why you had left."

"Do you know why they did that?" He asks.

"Why they abused you?" I ask, and he nods. "No, I never did find out."

"My eyes," he points at his bright green eyes, a contrast to my blue ones. "Ma and Pa both had blue eyes, like you. But Pa's pa had green, like me. They hated him, too, because he was a Hunter. Ma married Pa hoping to get some of our grandpa's money, Pa hoping that his pa would give him some of it. He didn't, though. He saw their greed, and left. Then they had me, and my eyes were like his, so they took a disliking to me."

"How do you know about him?" I ask. "Did they tell you?"

"I met him," he tells me. "Once. He's retired now. Level 34. I didn't understand why they treated me that way until he told me. We met by coincidence, he happened to overhear me saying I was from here while we were in the city he lived in. I let him know Ma and Pa were dead, his reaction suggested he didn't feel much different than I did at the news."

Kain shakes his head.

"I'm glad they didn't abuse you," he tells me. "All I felt was relief that you didn't have to go through what I did, when you told me. That was it. I guess our grandpa felt the same, relief."

"I didn't know we had a living grandparent," I say.

"He's settled down where he is," Kain tells me. "His legs aren't good anymore, so he can't travel much. I'm sure he'd have come out this way, had he been able to. I'd told him you were doing well on your own according to the Elder Hunter here, and he seemed happy with that. If you weren't, he might have arranged to come visit."

Kain frowns a little.

"Now that I think about it," he says. "Our grandpa seemed to already know about you. Looking back on our interaction, he wasn't all that surprised to find out he had grandchildren."

"Because he wasn't," an old, slow, familiar voice says.

Kain and I jump, turning to find the Elder Hunter standing there. When did she show up? How long has she been here? Why is she here? It isn't like her to leave her shop, and she's come all the way to the woods on the other side of our town's territory.

"Your grandpa sends me messages as regularly as you do, Kain," she tells him. "I sent him word to the Guild to have them locate him and inform him of his son's death. He sent a message to me after, and when he found out about the two of you, began sending me a message every week. I told him about your departure before their deaths, and how Rex was taken in by a friend's parents. He has made sure you are provided for.

"When I told him," she says. "That you were wishing to have a stone home built at only thirteen, he offered to pay part of the cost. He also knows about you, Kain, and your status as a Soul Striker. Your grandpa is proud of the two of you, for becoming Hunters and relying on your own abilities to support yourselves, rather than hoping to mooch off of others. His reaction to finding out he had grandkids was quite amusing, too. I still have the letter, and read it to myself sometimes when I need an old laugh."

"Hello, Elder Hunter," Kain and I greet her.

"What brings you out here?" I ask. "I've never seen you this far from your shop before, and the location seems rather coincidental."

"Oh, just going for a walk to stretch these old bones," she tells answers. "There are some berries that grow in bushes not far from here, you know. Quite delicious berries that make a decent jam. The next group of merchants to come through might have sugar, and I wanted to pick some berries to use with that to make into jam. I saw you two boys here, and thought I would say hello. Well, I will be off. You two enjoy the rest of your day."

She turns and walks into the fort, and we follow her in, only to find her already gone.

"Man," Kain runs his fingers through his hair. "The Elder Hunters really throw me for a loop. How they can conceal their presence like that, and how they can just disappear once they're out of sight. She probably used some sort of cloaking spell, but still. Not a sound as she walks on the creaky floorboards?"

"Not your first experience with one of them doing that?" I ask as we return outside.

"No," he answers. "We've talked with other Soul Strikers, and they all agree that the Elder Hunters are a breed apart. Some even suspect the Elder Hunters aren't human at all, and aren't actually elder Hunters, but some ancient, long-forgotten race. Anytime there's a new one, they really just moved towns, going far away to decrease the chances of being seen by someone who knows them."

I chuckle at that theory, but I guess I can understand why some people might think that.

"Anyway," Kain says. "Before we head back to your house, Rex, and do some training and trips, I was wondering if you wanted to learn a spell."

"Wouldn't that fall into the 'training and trips' category?" I ask.

"Maybe," he answers. "But this isn't a normal spell. Honestly, it's nearly forbidden."

"I'd rather stay away from anything forbidden," I tell him.

"It isn't forbidden," he says. "But it borders on it with what it does. Only someone with a sacred weapon can cast it. Every Soul Striker is taught how to use it by the Guild. We aren't told to not teach anyone, but it is an absolute last resort spell."

"An absolute last resort?" I ask. "Just what does it do?"

"Consumes the rest of your sacred power and your soul to unleash a powerful, devastating explosion."

I stare at him in shock at that.

"It requires being able to manifest your soul," he manifests his sacred weapon. "Which these are representative of. Because it sacrifices your life, the attack is many times more powerful than you would normally be able to cast.

"It's a last resort because it kills you," he says. "And as such, it's rarely ever used. With it, you would be able to kill a Single-Star monster. I'm only Level 45, but I would be able to kill a Triple Star with it.

"If you want me to teach it to you," Kain tells me. "You'll have to promise that you will only ever use it when things are truly bleak. When there is no hope of rescue from a stronger team and the lives of those you care about are in danger. You have to promise me this, Rex, because I want you to know it, but I also want to make sure it's only used in a true emergency."

A spell powerful enough to take on a Single-Star monster would be useful, but I don't think I like the idea of sacrificing my life to use it. However, if things were that bleak, then I can understand using it. Sacrificing myself to protect others is one aspect of being a Hunter.

The odds of us ever dealing with something that powerful is slim, especially now that my brother and his team took care of the Tier Six. Because of that, there isn't really a reason to learn it. I'm conflicted on this. Should I, just in case? Or should I not, because I'll probably never use it?