I didn’t have time to wonder why the message boxes were different colors because the ground started rumbling again, but for a whole new reason. I looked up. Thousands of Hunters came into view, a chaotic stampede to exit the Gate. Monsters mixed into the crowd, running in the same direction. They didn’t even seem to care that they were next to a Hunter, they appeared as driven to get through the Gate to Earth on the other side. Hunters swung their weapons as they ran, taking down monsters. Some were killed, others were simply wounded and left in the Hunter’s dust.

[HURRY!] Another teal message prompted me.

A crowd of monsters surged around the Gate, trying to exit the portal but couldn’t pass through the flat black surface. Hunters crashed into the mass, slicing, forcing paths through. There was no way I could fight my way through, so I jumped as high as I could. I landed on a monster’s back then leaped to the next monster’s head, skipping over top of several with feather-light steps.

I neared the portal threshold and launched off the last monster just as a pulse went through the air. It washed over me, sending all of my nerves stinging. What the hell was that? I twisted in the air and my eyes locked onto something impossible.

In the distance, one of the portals that ringed Gate Vale was swelling, growing bigger and bigger, like a blackhole, disintegrating everything it touched. As I looked, it exploded in a flash, then collapsed onto itself, leaving a huge hole where it was. It wasn’t black on the other side like I thought it would be. It was pale, topaz blue, shining like a star.

As monsters howled in reaction so loud that my ears rang, I soared through the Gate. I gasped as familiar tingles spread over my body, like walking under a veil of cold air. I could no longer hear the howl of monsters but the wail of sirens and cries of people yelling.

I landed on the concrete and staggered to a stop, falling right at the feet of a Hunter. Stunned, I just stopped there, trying to catch my breath. Then I felt the presence of this unknown Hunter’s strength surround me. My eyes widened and I jerked up, staring right into the helm of a Hunter towering over me in full steel armor.

It wasn’t just his presence that smothered a reaction from me, but his intimidating stature exuded a colossal strength. Red magic stones accented the beautiful pattern on his armor and complimented his deep brown eyes. The pattern of a sword made out of red magic stones decorated his right chest — the emblem so iconic I knew exactly who I was looking at. He was, without a doubt, S Rank Blood Sword.

But that pressure I felt wasn’t just coming from Blood Sword’s strength, I could also feel that pressure mounting behind me. I looked around and was shocked to see that eleven other S Rank Hunters circled me — every single one that lived in Eden. I knew who they were based on their armour, even though I couldn’t name a single one because they only ever publicized their nicknames. Of course, none of them acknowledged me. They were focused on their conversation. It was like they couldn’t even tell that dozens of Hunters, like me, were spilling out of the Gate.

I blinked as I caught sight of Jonovan on the outside of the S Rank Hunters, talking with a woman dressed in a violet mage robe. From the symbol on her chest, she was probably the only S Ranked Healer in America.

“E’s are in the back.” Blood Sword drew my attention back to him. His tone was civil, neither condescending, nor encouraging. His words cut through the blaring siren that rang in the air, announcing the threat. He jerked his head to the back of the crowd of Hunters forming around the Gate. “We’ll take care of the big stuff. You’re responsible for catching the ones that slip through.”

As if the sirens weren’t enough, the Gate’s smooth surface suddenly rippled and pulsed. I’d never seen it do that before, but I knew from history books that it was a sign that it was getting ready to let monsters out.

I snuck a glance at Blood Sword and jerked my head in a small nod then ran as fast as I could, sliding between Hunters. I was starting to get stronger, but even I wasn’t stupid enough to think that I belonged on the front line yet.

One of the first things every Hunters learned was how to handle a Gate Surge. The S Rank were responsible for the front line and taking out the biggest threats that came out. The next line of defence was the major Guilds, followed by smaller Guilds. The last line of defense was the unattached Hunters, like me, that would take out the little monsters that slipped through the cracks.

If any monster got through us, the only thing holding them back from the humans in Garden City was a flimsy red brick wall. In the last Gate Surge five years ago, a group of Rocs actually managed to get out of Eden. They decimated three Garden City blocks and killed nearly a hundred humans before they were finally brought down.

I didn’t stop until I was in the very back of the crowd. Not too far from me stood a thin Healer wearing a green cape. He cupped his hands and shouted over the noise of the crowd, “If you need healing, come to me!”

My HP wasn’t awful, but it had been a long day and I didn’t know what was going to come. I walked over to the healer and extended my hand as if for a handshake. “I can use some healing.”

He looked me up and down, obviously taking in my dirty clothes and lopsided ponytail. “Of course.” There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt in his voice. He reached out and gripped my hand. His fingers started to glow gold — not as pure or clear as Jonovan’s, but that didn’t surprise me. Since this Healer was in the back with me, it was a given that he wasn’t strong. But I appreciated the seriousness in his face as he worked.

Snippets of conversation from the people next me caught my attention over the siren and I glanced over.

“Are you for reals?” A woman gasped, staring at the man beside her in rapt attention.

The man nodded. “I heard it right from Blood Sword’s mouth when I walked by. An S went into a portal, wiped out every monster inside, and the portal started to collapse!”

My eyes widened. Something like that could actually happen? Of course it could. I watched it collapse with my own eyes. Was that why the monsters were going crazy?

The Healer next to me paused and glanced over, obviously just as shocked. Something like that had never happened before. I mean, the portals and the Gate were like the sun, an existence that will just always be.

The woman covered her mouth in shock. “Oh my god!” She went up on her tiptoes, trying to see over the crowd. “That’s just — wow.”

The man bobbed his head again. “I know. Only, right after it happened, the monsters went crazy. At least it’s the end of the day, and not in the beginning, so a lot have already been taken care of but still … ” He rolled his shoulders and shifted side-to-side, his features tight.

The Healer released my hand. “There you go.” He gave me a soft smile.

I bobbed my head. “Thank you.” He didn’t heal me all the way — I was at 47/ 50 HP — but I was grateful anyway. I turned and focused on the gossiping man a couple feet away. “Which S Hunter was it?” I asked.

The guy jolted and looked at me, surprised by my interruption. “I don’t know. It’s one that hasn’t published his information.”

I nodded. S Hunters were superstars. Most of them were millionaires, with adoring fans scrambling to snatch up every magazine and poster they graced. S Hunters were the faces of hope, the backbone that kept all the worst nightmares at bay. Even though they used nicknames, everyone knew who they were. But that didn’t mean that all twenty-three of USA’s S Hunters enjoyed the spotlight. A handful of them refused to join stardom, prefering to hide in plain sight.

The ground started to rumble. The noise of the crowd shut off like someone threw a switch as every single eye focused on the pulsing Gate. Tension hung in the air, so thick it was hard to breathe.

Even though I was on my tiptoes, I still couldn’t see more than a couple people ahead of me. I glanced around and spotted a lamppost on the other side of the Healer that helped me. I stepped around him and jumped up. I gripped the pole with my left hand and supported my weight on a small lip a third of the way up the pole. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing, but at least I could see.

The whole of Eden’s population spread out before me, tens of thousands of Hunters all in a giant ring surrounded the Gate. They filled up the flat concert area of Gate Square, some even spilled into the streets that led to here. The melee Hunters gripped their weapons, and mages began summoning their magic causing bright flashes of color to spark above the crowd. It was truly awe-inspiring. Eden was a dog-eat-dog world, but right now every single Hunter was ready to throw down their lives to stop the monsters that would come out of the Gate. This wasn’t just about the Hunter’s duty, it was a safe bet that nearly everyone here had someone they wanted to protect in Garden City.

I couldn’t help but glance in the direction of Garden City. The sirens were going off there too. According to protocol, my family would be hiding in the bathroom right now. I could still remember five years ago, hugging Aliya in the bathtub while my aunt and uncle stood in front of us holding plain swords and staring at the locked door. Since they were normal humans, they couldn’t do anything against a monster anyway, but that didn’t stop their determination. Luckily, the Rocs that got out never got close to us. And I wouldn’t let anything get close to my family this time either.

A pulse of power ripped through the air, blowing hair around and causing loose clothes to flap in its wake. I gripped the pole tighter and pulled my attention back to the middle of the square. The huge two-dimensional black arch loomed hundreds of feet over our heads, pulsing like a ticking time bomb. Its edges rippled like disturbed water.

All at once, it became completely still.

“Get ready!” An S Ranked Hunter yelled from the front line.

A figure fell out of the portal — a Hunter. He flopped onto the ground gasping for air. He was bloody from head to toe, his right arm barely more than a stump. When he raised his head, his left eye was nothing but a bloody, empty socket.

A chill froze my heart and spread to the rest of my body.

“Run!” He screamed with all his might.

A huge, bare foot with yellowed toenails as long as my forearm surged through the black Gate. It stepped down, right on the Hunter.

I looked away knowing I’d never unhear the splat that echoed through the square.

Half a second later, the rest of the monster’s body emerged from the Gate, dragging a battered tree trunk behind it. The thirty-foot-tall cyclops raised its head. Its howl shook the heavens.