“Alright, Aquila. Let’s blow this joint!”

Hunter’s companion floated down from the rafters, and Hunter was excited to begin their ghorum hunt. The day had begun spectacularly. He woke up with a notification informing him that he had earned an attribute point in Strength overnight. Since he had slept about eight hours and the amount of ambient mana in the Sanctuary was twice that of the normal Rift, he expected to earn one point every sixteen hours. As the skill leveled, he would earn them at increasing intervals. It wasn’t much now, but eventually, he would hopefully outpace even those with classes.

After that, he had repaired his clothing with a thread and needle taken from the crafting room and earned another point in Maintenance. He had also stored an extra pair of clothes in his storage ring. Equipment in this new world didn’t last long, and it was always nice to have back up.

Now, he was ready to get out of dodge and put his new skills to the test. Well, some of them. If he had to use Second Wind, then he would have failed miserably. He also had little desire to grind the skill by allowing himself to become damaged. He wanted to fight, but he wasn’t a masochist.

When the eagle landed on his shoulder, Hunter pushed open the heavy wooden doors to exit the Sanctuary. Upon leaving, he pulled up his mini-map and decided how to proceed.

There were close to fifty of the red dots. He wasn’t sure how long it would take him since the ghorum kept to their own territories. He estimated that he could complete the quest in two days if he was able to take each one by surprise. His plan for the hunt was to steadily raise his skills and complete another Path. With his gains the previous days, he had a total of eighteen Path Points.

He checked his Paths to remind himself of what he was working with.

Rift Walker (0/100), Greed III (0/50), Monster Hunter (0/25), Mind of Will (0/50), Mana Incarnate (0/100)

“Yikes, looks like I’ve lost most of my Paths.” Aquila tilted its head, and Hunter felt confusion through their bond.

“Don’t worry about it, buddy. I’m just wondering how I’m going to get stronger. As I get stronger, you’ll get stronger too, so I’ve gotta be careful with my decisions.”

The eagle dipped its head and then took off from the warrior’s shoulder. Hunter felt pride throwing through their bond, but he didn’t know if it was about him or just the eagle’s personality.

As Hunter watched the bird ascend, he thought it almost unnatural how quickly Aquila could go from a perch to high in the air. Some magical shenanigans were going on. Likely from Hunter’s Black Wind Evasion, but that was a good thing. Now Aquila wouldn’t be so vulnerable after a dive.

Hunter didn’t find it strange that he was talking to a bird that couldn’t speak back. Honestly, he preferred it that way. He had some companionship, but he didn’t have to worry about impressing the bird or trying to engage in real conversation. From what Hunter could tell, Aquila enjoyed three activities—fighting demons, eating, and preening itself. To be fair, that’s all Hunter had done since coming to the Rift, so he didn’t judge.

He dismissed the list of Paths and set his sights on the nearest ghorum. He took a step and the wind buoyed his feet. Once again, he was figuratively flying over the ground with his cloak rippling behind him.

It wasn’t long before Hunter entered into the detection range of his target. He looked up and saw Aquila circling in the air. It hadn’t drawn attention to itself, and Hunter wanted to surprise the enemy as well. To that effect, Hunter engaged the active portion of Shadow of the Black Wind, and he felt the air solidify around his body to assist him in stealth. Hunter knew it wasn’t perfect invisibility, but it would help. He wished his Progenitor of the Black Wind passive masked his scent as well. He didn’t see why it shouldn’t. It manipulated the air to affect sound; it should be able to conceal his smell as well. It would be something he looked into after his hunt.

Hunter crept closer to his target and found it chewing on the corpse of a tiefling. Hunter was definitely starting to figure out that the quasi-demons were a ghorum’s favorite food group. It had to be by design. If the monsters of the Rift were simply a distraction for the Heavenly Host, it didn’t make sense that the tieflings were their prey. He hoped he would find more information when he challenged the Rift Keeper.

Hunter sat still, watching the ghorum mechanically chew on its meal, while he planned his attack. Satisfied that the demon wasn’t going to move anytime soon, Hunter activated Gale Rush to burst into a stream of black wind. His body reformed in front of the ghorum while torrents of weaponized air swirled around his body and stole strength from the demon. It had half a second of surprise before Hunter used Tempest Strikes to attack weak points identified by his Eye of the Hurricane.

Hunter struck the beast’s face, throat, and hands before launching himself backward to avoid the inevitable retaliation. The ghorum’s massive hands swiped through the space that Hunter had just occupied while it’s crushed windpipe choked on a stifled bellow. Without pausing, Hunter rapidly drew and threw his three throwing spikes in quick succession. The first one pierced the left wrist, the second the right wrist, and the third struck one of the ghorum’s knees.

Hunter had learned from his last fight that the black wind’s degenerative abilities were the most effective when used against body parts that had a lot of complicated components. When thrown correctly, they could disable the enemy and reduce their fighting abilities. Hunter’s strategy was proven effective when the monster’s hands and one leg became useless. It collapsed to the ground from Hunter’s surgical strike.

The warrior heard shrieking as Aquila dove through the air to add its own might to the fray. The eagle crashed into the ghorum’s face like a feathered cannonball. Its talons raked across the demon’s face and ruined its eyes and mouth. The bird beats its wings against the impotent ghorum, and Hunter saw black sparks of lightning collect on its wings before rushing down its legs and crashing against the monster. Wisps of steam ascended from the ghorum’s face as what remained of its eyes were electrified, and the water content in its black blood was evaporated. Before the ghorum could raise its hands to fend off the eagle, Aquila had already moved out of range with supernatural speed.

Now that the ghorum had been rendered relatively harmless, Hunter gathered wind to the tip of his staff and created a Wind Lance. He launched his spear at the monstrosity and watched as it sailed through the air to sink into the demon’s skull. The detonation of wind was everything Hunter wanted it to be. He was awarded multiple level notifications and the now-familiar message informing him that he couldn’t earn any experience.

In total, the battle had lasted for only a minute, and Hunter and Aquila hadn’t acquired a single point of damage. It was a successful start to Hunter’s ghorum safari.

Hunter scrolled through his list of notifications and found that he had acquired 28 Path Points. With a smile, he completed Monster Hunter. After all, it was the only one he could afford, and he was going monster hunting today.

You have earned +5 to Strength and +5 to Vitality.

Congratulations! You have completed the Monster Hunter Path. You have fought enemies far above your level. You have earned the Title: Monster Hunter. This title awards a 5% increase in damage to enemies that are of a higher level than you are.

“Nice!” Hunter pumped his fist. Since everything was higher leveled than he was, that means he had a boost to his attacks no matter who he was fighting. If he guessed right, this kind of title could scale. Likely, he wouldn’t be able to earn the next one until the requirements doubled. Which means he would need to fight an enemy twenty levels above him before he reached level ten. That wouldn’t be hard while he was still without a class, but that made him wonder how high the other denizens of the Rift were. The corrupted bear would probably count. It was head and shoulders scarier than a ghorum. The large demons were strong, but they fell quickly. Fighting the bear had taken forever.

Hunter checked his stat sheet before heading to the next fight.

Name: Hunter Gold

Title(s): Monster Hunter

Race: Human

Bloodline: The Black Wind

Class: N/A

Level: N/A

Experience: 0/2000

Life: 500 (1.75%/Min)

Stamina: 490 (1.5%/Min)

Mana: 490 (2%/Min)

Faith: 0 (0.0%/Min)

STR: 36

VIT: 35

DEX: 35

END: 30

INT: 35

WIL: 40

CHA: 12

PER: 30

FTH: 0

Active Skills:

Gale Rush (Lvl 4), Tempest Strike (Lvl 4), Black Tornado (Lvl 3), Eye of the Hurricane (Lvl 5), Wind Lance (Lvl 5), Soul Bond (Lvl 2), Second Wind (Lvl 1)

Passive Skills:

Black Wind Evasion (Lvl 3), Kata of the Black Wind (Lvl 5), Shadow of the Black Wind (Lvl 4), Progenitor of the Black Wind (Lvl 4), Maintenance (Lvl 3), Black Wind Augmentation (Lvl 4), Breath of the Black Wind (Lvl 2)

Resistances:

Fire (Lvl 6), Shock (Lvl 3), Frost (Lvl 3), Nature (Lvl 3), Pain (Lvl 9)