Hunter walked out on a stone bridge that crossed a deep ravine. Looking behind him, he saw the Keeper’s fortress for the first time. It was a squat stone structure that was grafted into the side of the mountain. The structure was at least five stories tall and had integrated fortifications. It truly deserved its function as a final destination for a raid boss in a video game. Hunter could imagine how difficult it would be to siege. Even the bridge he was crossing was narrow. Only four people could walk abreast its length. With a horde of demonic forces, the monastery-turned-fortress would be impossible to take. Luckily, Hunter didn’t have to.

He considered the pilfer scuttling behind him and wondered how to get rid of the menace. Hunter wanted to make changes to his stat sheet but wasn’t sure how much of those changes the pilfer could sense. If possible, Hunter wanted to grow in power privately. He frowned as he considered the problem. A shrill screech interrupted his thoughts, and Hunter looked skyward. He saw the silhouette of an eagle against the backdrop of a crimson sun.

Fuck, I forgot all about Aquila.

Hunter looked at his demonic companion to see if the monster noticed his flying friend, but the expression on the pilfer’s body was unchanged. Hunter took the non-response as a positive sign. He cleared his throat.

“I’d like to complete the quest for my master alone.”

Hunter was proud of himself. He was able to address the demon without his voice cracking or sounding unsure. Confidence was going to be the determining factor for his deception. The pilfer raised a palm to stare at the young warrior squarely.

“Oh? Why would you want to do that?”

Hunter shrugged and tried to remain calm.

“I want to be worthy of being a Vessel. If you’re there to bail me out, I won’t grow as much as I need to. How can I truly commit myself to gain power if you’re always there to save me?”

The demons horrific mouth drew into a thin line.

“That’s true. Conflict and danger do accelerate growth. However, if you die, then I’ll be responsible for your foolish actions.”

The demon hadn’t said no, and that was a positive sign.

“Back in the Outpost, James had been able to call you from a long distance. If you can teach me how he did it, I could do the same. That way, I’ll only call you when I have no other option.”

The pilfer was silent for a long time. When the emptiness in the air became uncomfortable, the demon finally responded.

“That is…acceptable,” it finally admitted.

Hunter watched in grim fascination as the pilfer brought one of its baseball mitt-sized hands to its maw. It expertly slashed its own wrist with a jagged fang and then held the hand out in front of it. Hunter saw inky blood well around the wound before the pilfer manipulated its magic. Hunter slipped into his meditative state and saw what was happening. The pilfer was weaving mana and a tiny amount of soul energy around the drop of blood. In the physical world, the blood began to coalesce and harden until it was a sphere similar in size to a soul gem. In seconds, the magic ceased, and the pilfer presented the item to Hunter.

The teenager checked the item with his Eye of the Hurricane.

Pilfer Summoning Token (Lvl 30): This consumable token can be used to summon the Pilfer Demon Mol’godor. This item is a consumable and will disintegrate after one use.

Hunter blinked at the description before taking it.

“You have a name?”

The pilfer didn’t have the right body features to show any human expressions, but Hunter could’ve sworn that the demon was looking at him like he was stupid.

“All demons have names. Knowing a demon’s true name and having an item of theirs is the only way to summon them. Some planes have even used similar techniques to control demons in battle.”

Hunter nodded at the explanation. He should’ve realized that there was more to the Horde than simple fodder. Otherwise, the fight between the Horde and the Host couldn’t have lasted very long. He needed to stop thinking his enemies were stupid. The more he learned about the new world, the more he realized that he still had much to learn. He promised not to forget the lesson.

“Are you the only Pilfer Demon in the Rift?” Hunter asked hesitantly.

The pilfer laughed, and it sounded like three violins with busted stings trying to play at once.

“No, I am one of three. We are the final guardians of the Keeper. When the Rift deepens, we might even be granted the opportunity to become Rift Keepers in our own right.”

The pilfer pointed two of its palms at Hunter and stared him down.

“So don’t fuck this up by dying too soon.”

Hunter nervously nodded. “I won’t. Thank you.”

The demon nodded with its torso and turned around to return to the fortress. It threw a parting comment over its shoulder.

“Don’t thank me, Vessel. I’m doing this for the good of the Horde. Don’t fail our Master. If you do, you’ll wish for a quick death.”

Hunter shivered at the threat. He knew the demon could easily kill him. The threat hit differently when the issuer could squash him like a bug.

After a few moments, Hunter was blessedly alone. He continued walking down the stone bridge until he was on the trail that led down to the Outpost. He found a boulder off the side of the road and took a seat. There was a flap of wings, and then Aquila joined him on a nearby tree. Hunter tried to reach out through their bond, but the eagle squawked, and the young warrior could feel an invisible barrier between them.

Don’t like the whole Infernal Faith thing, huh, buddy?

Hunter didn’t blame the bird. He didn’t like the feeling himself. Even now, he had the impulse to both shoot the bird down and claim its shiny obsidian-colored feather and hug it close to his chest in relief. The opposing instincts were jarring and uncomfortable. He wanted to be rid of his dual Faith dilemma as soon as possible. With that in mind, he brought up his stat sheet.

Name: Hunter Gold

Title(s): Monster Hunter

Race: Human

Bloodline: The Black Wind

Class: N/A

Level: N/A

Experience: 0/2000

Life: 650 (2.55%/Min)

Stamina: 650 (2.55%/Min)

Mana: 650 (2.75%/Min)

Faith: 200 (1%/Min)

STR: 51

VIT: 51

DEX: 51

END: 51

INT: 51

WIL: 55

CHA: 32

PER: 45

FTH: 10/10

Active Skills:

Gale Rush (Lvl 10), Tempest Strikes (Lvl 10), Black Tornado (Lvl 8), Eye of the Hurricane (Lvl 10), Wind Lance (Lvl 10), Soul Bond (Lvl 4), Second Wind (Lvl 2)

Passive Skills:

Black Wind Evasion (Lvl 10), Kata of the Black Wind (Lvl 15), Shadow of the Black Wind (Lvl 4), Progenitor of the Black Wind (Lvl 5), Maintenance (Lvl 3), Black Wind Augmentation (Lvl 10), Breath of the Black Wind (Lvl 7)

Resistances:

Fire (Lvl 20), Shock (Lvl 5), Frost (Lvl 5), Nature (Lvl 5), Pain (Lvl 20)

Hunter was in awe at his new status sheet. If the Infernal Horde trafficked in soul gems, it made sense how they could become powerful without the Archives’ assistance. Apparently, the tieflings he had killed had various strengths. It allowed him to amass points that were distributed fairly evenly across his attributes. Additionally, he had earned points from Breath of the Black Wind. From what Hunter could guess, the last attribute to be empowered by the skill had been Intelligence. That meant that Willpower would be next in the rotation.

The passive growth to his attributes was small but still appreciated. Hunter wouldn’t always be able to rely on a bunch of willing tiefling victims to give him attributes. Although Hunter’s attribute gains were massive, it wasn’t the most impressive thing when Hunter thought about the time it took to level his skills. He had seen rapid growth across the board. It helped that all of his abilities had synergistic effects with one another.

The only skills that were underdeveloped were the ones that related to his stealth abilities. It made sense because he hadn’t been using the skills very often. He resolved to fix that in his upcoming battle with the Outpost. There were too many to take on in a group, so he wanted to practice using the active component of Shadow of the Black Wind. It would allow him to be practically invisible as he stalked the denizens of the tiefling town.

Turning away from his plans and focusing on the here and now, Hunter noticed that he had sixty-three available Path points to spend, so he pulled up the list of available Paths.

Rift Walker (0/100), Greed III (0/50), Mind of Will (0/50), Mana Incarnate (0/100), Kata of the Black Wind (0/25), Pain Resistance I (0/10), Fire Resistance I (0/10), Masochist (0/25), Duelist (0/25), Tempest Strikes (0/25), Eye of the Hurricane (0/25), Wind Lance (0/25), Black Wind Evasion (0/50), Black Wind Augmentation (0/25)

Part of Hunter was annoyed that he had so many new Paths available to him. He never seemed to earn enough points to complete them. The other part of him counseled him to shut the fuck up and stop whining about more opportunities to grow in power. Hunter thought the latter impulse was probably the better response.

It did seem strange to Hunter. The Archives gave him more Paths than he could complete. It seemed to value specialization over-generalized strength. Hunter wasn’t sure if it was a resource-saving method or simply that specialization was better in an eternal war between angels and demons. He would probably never understand why the Archives worked the way they did, so he pushed away the speculation. He needed to focus on his immediate objectives.

The first thing he did was use his bloodline abilities to consume his twenty points of Faith. He felt strangely empty as the points drained away. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His mind felt clearer. There was no longer any impulse to harm his animal companion. Aquila chirped encouragingly when it felt the change in Hunter. The teenager gave it a small smile before deciding how to distribute his new points. The conversion gave him one hundred free attributes to spend.

The first thing he was uncomfortable with was his lagging Charisma. To Hunter’s mind, Charisma was weaponized influence. He wondered if his Charisma could be improved alongside his Willpower to help him being pulled to one faction or the other. He admitted to himself that the Host was looking like a more attractive faction to follow. Sure, the Archivist was kind of a dick, and his actions could’ve killed him, but Hunter’s presence in the Rift sounded like a planned action rather than a petty boot to the ass. On the other hand, the Infernal Horde wanted to suck out his soul and replace it with a Lord of Hell. Still, Hunter didn’t know enough about the war at large to make a true determination. Staying neutral seemed like the best course of action at this point.

With that goal in mind, he poured twenty-five of his one hundred points into Charisma. The large gain brought the attribute into parity with the others. After that, he put fifteen points into Perception to bring it to sixty. Finally, he split his sixty remaining points into ten-point blocks and put them into Strength, Vitality, Dexterity, Endurance, Intelligence, and Willpower.

When he was finished putting points into his attributes, Hunter crashed to his knees. The overall changes to his body were overwhelming. A tingling feeling spread across his entire body. Hunter’s bones thickened and became more dense. His knees sank into the ground from the new weight of his body.

He felt muscles enlarging and flexing. He gained another ten pounds in lean muscle mass to offset the new strength requirements of his body. Hunter felt his tunic and trousers tighten against the new bulk, and he felt like he had the power to bend metal and break rock with his bare hands.

Hunter held up his hands and watched as his skin smoothed and his complexion cleared. There was a ruddy vitality to his body that almost gave it a glow. Hunter imagined that his face had become more refined and perfectly symmetrical. A combination of Charisma and Vitality worked better than any commercial rejuvenation treatment. Hunter pressed a fingernail against his flesh, and it didn’t give in the slightest. It felt like a thin layer of silk on top of sculpted stone. It was both soft and unyielding.

Hunter watched as tendons, ligaments, and veins writhed underneath the surface of his skin like snakes. The connective tissue became stronger and more flexible. Hunter felt like he could perform acrobatics that would make an Olympic athlete jealous. Meanwhile, his veins increased in size and frequency to handle the new demands of his improved body.

Hunter took a deep breath, and he felt energy flood his body. Each heartbeat was a pounding drum that carried strength and vitality through every part of his being. He felt more in tune with his biology than ever before.

His senses were the last thing to improve. His head started pounding as his awareness spread out to blanket the world around him. Every sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste was known to him in intimate detail. A second later, his prodigious Willpower clamped down on the new senses and focused them on only the most relevant details. He could feel the granularity of the earth below him and the chill of the ash-colored snow. He could smell the corpse-like scent of the trees and the acrid taste of the wind. He knew that demons had passed nearby and could identify which species by their scent. Each sound was revealed to him like they were putting on a private concert just for him. He could hear the creaking of skeletal trees, the blowing of a light breeze, and the shifting of worms and grubs in the ground below.

His already perfect eyesight was magnified even further. If he wanted, he could pick out a fly a hundred feet away. He knew that he would be able to navigate in the dark without the aid of light. Every twitch of an enemy’s form would be telegraphed like they were moving at half speed. Hunter could already imagine how much more effective he would be in battle.

With a light release of breath, Hunter contracted his observation of the world until he was focused on only his immediate surroundings. He rose to his feet and picked up his fallen staff. Gripping its length felt good. He felt like he was on the top of the world. It made him wonder how the Sentinel and the Keeper felt. Surely, their attributes were far higher than his own. He wondered what it must like to be among the divine. It didn’t matter. He would be there soon. He decided to save his Path points for later. He would take Mind of Will before the ritual, following the Sentinel’s advice. It would be the surprise that brought the Rift crashing around the Keeper’s ears. Right now, he had an Outpost to clear.