Behind the hostel was an exercise gym. Well, once-upon-a-time, it was. After so many years of abuse without proper repair, it looked more like an overly large shed. Most of the local tenants trekked to the city gym over in C District so this gym was usually empty.

Henry must have just cleaned it because the air was still thick with cleaner. No amount of bleach and elbow grease would help the faded blue paint on the walls or the dents in the laminate floor. On the right side were a couple sets of free weights, a bench, and several weight machines. There was even a treadmill and a stair climber. But there wasn’t much else — ninety percent of the gym was just open space. There was so much room that someone had a basketball hoop up on the right wall.

I walked to the middle of the room and stretched a bit before opening my menu. After a second thought, I closed it and pulled out my kindjal. Just how far could this thing go before it came back? Curious, I set it on the ground and took a step away. Nothing happened, so I took another step. Then another. I kept backing up until the short sword vanished from the ground and reappeared in my hand.

“Four feet,” I muttered. At least that was the range when it wasn’t in motion. It didn’t make sense to be limited to four feet when I had a Throw ability. I considered that a moment then went to the closet behind the weights and rummaged through it.

“Ah ha!” I cried and pulled out a thick rectangle with a bullseye on it. “This should do. Well, as long as I can actually hit it.”

I hurried over and set it against the wall. When I was satisfied I stepped back and pulled out my kindjal. That was when I paused. I’d never actually thrown a weapon before. And swords weren’t normally used for throwing, but it was the only weapon the System had given me. Maybe there were instructions? I quickly opened my menu and looked at it. The ability description for Throw didn’t give anything extra, so I went to the Guide and looked up moves. And received a shock.

There was a thorough tutorial on throwing knives and short swords. It had to be new because I couldn’t remember seeing it before. But that wasn’t the only new technique. There over a dozen different moves and techniques that I’d never seen before. Most of them were stealth moves and quick hits. The defensive moves involved using the attackers force and movements against them. From the descriptions, all of them were tied to the Warrior of Mist Quest. The System really did want me to become this mysterious Warrior of Mist.

I slowly nodded and opened up the Throw tutorial. According to the instructions, I could throw my kindjal in a straight line or curved like a boomerang. First things first, I thought and read the instructions two more times.

“Here goes nothing,” I muttered and got into position twenty feet away from the target. I arched my arm like it showed and threw my kindjal with all my might. It shot through the air like a bullet … and sank into the wall a good foot from the target.

“Gah!” I hurried over and pulled it out of the wall. “Crud,” I whispered and leaned down. I couldn’t resist poking the clean hole in the wall, trying to block the stream of sunlight with my fingers. That was not what I wanted to do. I cringed and walked a fifteen back from the target. It was cool that I could throw that far, but maybe I should start a little closer and work on accuracy first?

I shook out my arms and focused on the target again. “I can do this,” I chanted over and over. It took another three throws before I actually hit the retactagle pad the target was on. After a quick victory, I held my hand out. I was getting used to how the kindjal came back every time. It also saved a lot of running back and forth. Smiling big, I focused on the target again and arched my arm back.

Then I paused. What would happen if I coupled Throw with Critical Hit? My eyes widened. Oh, that might be cool. Without waiting another second, I activated Critical Hit and threw the kindjal. It soared like a shooting star and sank into the bag, exactly in the middle of the bullseye.

“Whoa!” I cried and held out my hand. I curled my fingers around the newly appeared kindjal and looked down at it. Even with all the abuse I’d put it through, even with the Gate surge and going straight through a wall just now, the steel and crystal blade remained sharp as ever. I hoped that it always stayed that way.

As cool as it was to combine the Throw skill with the Critical Hit ability, it was a crutch that I couldn’t lean on. It was good to know I could do it, but I continued practicing just Throw. I didn’t know how much time had passed, but it felt like no time at all before I began hitting the target every time. It wasn’t always at the center, but that would come with more practice.

I changed to the curved throw after that. That one gave me more grief. The only time I ever hit the target was when I paired it with Critical Hit. After struggling with it for nearly an hour, I pulled up another move and worked on it. Most of the moves involved a lot of footwork. Careful to follow the instructions, I stepped around the gym floor, repeating a motion over and over again until it felt natural to move my body like that. I twisted this way, stabbed that way, and swept my leg out while pretending I was in actual battle.

Sweat dripped down my back and I was breathing hard when I finally stopped. I stood up and put my kindjal away. Mentally, I felt good, but my muscles were complaining about being used a new way. I took a minute to stretch before I moved back to the middle of the gym. Now that I’d practiced my new melee moves, I wanted to work on my Mist ability.

Just before I activated it, the door to the gym opened, casting a bright glare on the floor.

I jumped.

Two women entered, Leticia at the front. For a relaxing day, she was sure dressed precisely for battle. There were scuffs and a couple blood spots that weren’t completely washed off on her armor. Her hair was pulled up and her makeup done light enough it didn’t quite hide the black bags beneath her eyes.

Posse 1 stood a step behind Leticia, her brown hair a lot shorter than last night. Her battered gear also said that she was ready for a fight, but her eyes were puffy and her nose was red.

I frowned at them. Where was the other girl, Posse 2? Then I remembered. I’d heard that a couple of the Hunters that died in the surge were from our hostel. Posse 2 must have been one of them. It was unfortunate that she died, and I didn’t even know her name.

My head tilted to the side as I stared at the duo. “I’m done here, if you wanted to work out.” I stepped forward like it was nothing.

“Oh, we’re going to work out.” Leticia reached behind her and flicked the lock on the door. “And you’re going to help.” She lifted her chin in the air.

I stopped and narrowed my eyes.

“It’s your fault that Judy died,” Posse 1 snarled low in her throat. The names that Leticia called out in Fogmire were Teresa and Judy. If Judy was dead, then this girl had to be Teresa.

I folded my arms. “How does that work? I don’t even know how she died.”

The enraged girl pointed at me. “If it wasn’t for looking for you in Fogmire, we never would have gotten caught behind that crowd of monsters around the Gate.” Teresa’s hand started to shake and her voice broke. “We got seperated and she … she …”

I frowned at her. “Look, it’s sad that she died, but it had nothing to do with me. You are the ones who keep tailing me. And I want you to stop it.”

“Shut up!” A sword appeared in Teresa’s hand and she brandished it at me. “If you didn’t exist, Judy would be alive today!”

It hurt. A lot of people didn’t care much for me from my rank alone. Really, in this violent world, most people were too busy staying alive to care about others' lives. But I’d never been told that I shouldn’t even exist before. She’s just a grief-stricken voice. What she had to say was nothing compared to how much my family needed me. And I wasn’t going to apologize for Letcia’s and her friends’ actions.

“If you weren’t so bent on making my life hell, she would be alive. Her blood is on your hands, not mine.” I dismissed Teresa and looked at Leticia. “Why me? What did I ever do to you?”

“You’re weak.” Leticia stepped forward and flicked her hand out. A rapier appeared in her hand, just as gaudy as her studded leather armor. “Weak insects are meant to be stepped on.” Her heavy-lidded eyes narrowed as she sneered. “It’s time to remind you where your place is.”

I lifted my chin. I wasn’t weak anymore. The window over Leticia’s head showed she was a level 9 and Teresa was level 8. Who was the weak one now? It didn’t feel right to beat on them just because I was stronger, but I’d be damned if I let them walk all over me anymore.

I was a Warrior of Mist now, whatever that meant, and I was a force to be reckoned with.

I pulled my kindjal out and flipped it around my hand, a fun move I’d just learned. Then I shifted into a fighting stance. “I’ll give you one last chance. Leave. Or do you not care about the security cameras?”

Leticia sneered. “Security cameras only work when they’re turned on.”

Cool. That was perfectly fine with me. Now I’d get to actually test out the new moves I’d just learned. My lips curled up as my eyes narrowed.

Something on my face must have pissed Leticia off because she glared at me. “Bitch!” She launched at me like a dart, her rapier out leading the way.

Teresa was right behind her, aiming at my other side, trying to trap me in the middle. They were fast, but not as fast as the Drake last night. I side-stepped the rapier directly into the path of Teresa’s sword. Mid-step, I flipped my kindjal to a reverse grip and deflected Teresa’s blow. She lost her balance and tipped to the right. I whipped around and kicked her back, sending her crashing into Leticia.

Leticia dodged out of the way and thrust her sword at me. I blocked it and our weapons slid against each other until her cross guard and my guard collided.

She glanced at my sword and sneered. “You really think this fake sword can hold up against me?”

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” I smiled at my insider joke. For the first time, the name Her Will for the kindjal didn’t seem so bad.

Teresa jumped to her feet and stabbed at me. I pushed off Leticia and jumped back. Teresa’s blade went right between us. I skipped back a couple steps and thought hard. What moves could I use on them? I’d already decided that I wasn’t going to kill them, but everything I’d learned so far was to do just that. Ah, I just wanted them to go away.

I flipped my kindjal to a reverse grip then dodged around Teresa and lunged at Leticia. She thrust her rapier at me. I lifted my bracer and used it to direct her flexible blade over my left shoulder. I jabbed the pummel of my short sword into her unguarded chest. She gasped and fell back.

Teresa turned and swung out. I stepped to the side, but didn’t make it out of the way. The tip of her blade caught me under the ribs. I hissed in pain then lunged forward. With a flick of my wrist, I knocked her weapon out of the way then threw my elbow into her jaw. She yelled and fell back, right on top of Leticia, knocking her back to the ground.

I walked up to them and stepped on Teresa’s back, pushing down. “Stay down. And leave me the hell alone.”

Leticia glared up at me, but there was another emotion in her gaze that overshadowed the anger. Fear. We both knew how much easier it would have been for me to use the point of my sword instead of the pummel when I hit her. The only reason why she wasn’t dead now was because I chose not to kill her.

Her mouth opened. “Dam—”

I pressed down harder on the girls. Teresa squawked and Leticia gasped, obviously out of breath. “Think about what you want to say. Are you going to leave me alone now? Or are we going to fight for real?” It was a bluff, but she didn’t need to know that.

Leticia’s face warped into something almost inhuman as she tried to swallow the bitter pill of defeat. Then her chin jerked in a short nod.

“Okay. Be sure to remember what you promised.” I stepped back and calmly walked to the door. Inside my head I was cheering with the victory, but there was no way I was going to show that to Leticia — I would just be asking for more. I’d shown her that I wasn’t a pushover anymore. I needed to maintain that if I wanted peace.

Behind me, Teresa whispered with a wobbly voice. “I thought she was the weakest Hunter. What just happened? Are we that weak too?”

“Shut up!” Leticia hissed.

My lips curled into a grin as I left the gym. I would live to fight another day for my family. And another, and another.