On the other side of the street, Kesstel looked over Bethany Wilks’s head and stared straight at me. Man, even in street clothes, a simple black shirt and jeans, he looked like a prince. Was it the way he carried himself? The straight line of his back, yet relaxed through his shoulders, spoke volumes. He knew he was on the top of the world — even while lugging three shopping bags from designer stores in each hand. Did he want to flaunt it that badly? Why didn’t he just put them in his Items Bag?

Beside him, Bethany was dressed to kill in her flower-print summer dress and flowing curls. She talked endlessly at him, not noticing that he wasn’t even looking at her. Her thick lashes lowered coyishly then she peeked up at him, her red lips curling in a smile.

He blinked and looked down at her, finally reacting to whatever she’d just said.

Released from his gaze, I sighed. The power in his stare was so heavy, it was hard to breathe.

“Wow,” Aliya whispered. “They look like movie stars.”

I hummed under my breath and sat back down. “Yep.”

My sister tapped her finger against her chin, thinking. “I know that woman. What was her name? Bethany Wilks, the daughter of the Hunter Council’s treasurer, right? She’s the new face of the Hunters.”

I turned my head and watched their backs get farther away. So she had money, talent, and prestige. What a good catch. What a good pair. What a—

I frowned and killed the thought before it could go any further. I took a huge bite of the chocolate tres leche cake and savored the creamy goodness, letting it lift my mood.

“She’s the one that announced the results of the Gate Surge here. I’m glad that Eden handled it better than other countries did.” Aliya popped the last of her éclair in her mouth.

I froze, my cup half raised to my lips. “What do you mean, other countries?”

Aliya blinked at me. “The Gate Surges from last week,” she prompted. When I continued to stare at her with wide eyes, she frowned. “How can you not know?”

My mouth wrinkled in a frown as I tried to come up with something to say while shock crashed through my mind. “I don’t watch the news and I spend a lot of time in the Gate.”

The news was never on when I ate in the hostel, and I didn’t have a phone or laptop to view stuff like that. Every second of my day was spent trying to level up or sleeping. And since I avoided people, it’s not like I had the chance to learn about anything news-worthy from them.

“The Gate Surge last week didn’t just happen in Eden. Every single Gate in the world had a Surge — simultaneously. Last I heard, nearly a million people have died. And there are some Gates, like the one in France, that aren’t under control yet. I heard they just reached out to the German United Union for help.” Aliya took a little sip of her milk. “There might be more deaths, but it's hard to get information out of the rebel areas, like in the North Mexican Rebellion or the Siberian Wastelands.”

When the Gates appeared twenty years ago and governments collapsed, some cities and countries were taken over by stronge Hunters. Northern Mexico was like that. A gang of Hunters took over the area and even stole part of the southern states that originally belonged to the USA. The US simply didn’t have the resources to get their land back. They were struggling, like all the other countries, just to rebuild their government and control the Gate situation. Even now, reclaiming southern states was low on the priority list.

Some places, it was just too hard to get to, like the two Gates in the Siberian tundra. There simply weren’t enough Hunters in the area to handle the Gates. Everyone was either killed by the monsters or fled, never going back. It posed quite the setback on surrounding territories, since they had to deal with the monsters from their own Gates, plus the ones that came down from the North.

I sat there, shocked at Ailya’s words. “The whole world had a Gate Surge?” Something like that could actually happen? I mean, when the Gates first appeared, it happened. That was the only time. It hadn’t happened since. So why now?

I frowned, thinking of the portal that collapsed. Could that be a reason? By why? There were over a hundred Gates, each with more than a dozen portals in them. How could a single collapsed portal affect them all? And it was a person here in Eden that caused it to collapse.

“At least Eden’s Gate had a warning. None of the other Gates did, they just burst open and people were overtaken.” She glanced at me and frowned. “I heard that the monsters were really hyped up and violent.” Her voice shrank.

I didn’t have to ask to know she was thinking about me being in the middle of the Gate Surge again. It must really be bothering her to keep bringing it up. I sighed and stabbed my last bite of lemon cake then held it out to her. “But that’s in the past. And I’m okay.”

Her lips curled up and she took the last bite. “Right.”

I paused and looked at how she was trying to hide her unease with a smile again. Yep, we were definitely sisters. A thought came to mind and I smiled big. “Hey, I made something for you.”

She blinked, completely distracted. “What?”

I held out my hand. A bracelet appeared in my palm. The light streaming in the window reflected off the red Fanged Snapper scales, causing them to shimmer rosey pink. Silver links connected the half inch scales and secured together with a hook-like clasp that I rigged from a couple links.

Aliya gasped and slowly reached out to pick it up. “You made this? It’s beautiful.” She moved it around in the light, watching with amazement as the scales changed color.

I’d planned to give it to her as a goodbye present, but it seemed I made the right choice to give it to her now. “Yep. They’re Fanged Snapper scales. I got them yesterday. Believe me, the fish monsters they came from weren’t nearly as pretty as their scales. It ended up being just enough.” An identical matching bracelet appeared in my hand. I reached out and showed her how to work the clasp then put my own on.

She grinned and moved her arm around, admiring it. “I can’t believe you made this.”

I laughed. “Well, one of us was paying attention when Mom used to make jewelry.” I really wasn’t going to tell her how many scales I shattered in the process. The only thing I had to use to punch out holes for the links was my kindjal. It took a couple tries to figure out how and where to press before I got it down. There were actually several mistakes on my bracelet since it was the tester while Aliya’s was almost perfect, but she’d never know that.

I downed the rest of my milk and stood up. “Are you ready? Let’s go shopping.” Although we wouldn’t go anywhere near the shops that the perfect couple had just come from, I had faith that we’d still have fun.

Aliya jumped to her feet and helped me collect our plastic dishes. “Right!”

Twenty minutes later, we stepped into the Exquisite Equipment shop. Unlike the armourer shops that I frequented every night, this store was simply for small trinkets like magic or strength-enhancing necklaces and rings. They were cool to look at — as long as I didn’t look at the price tags. Aliya gawked at them but, just like me, didn’t dare get too close. She hugged her arms to her chest and stroked the red bracelet with her fingers, a happy glow on her face.

What I wanted was in the back of the store. As soon as I got there, a woman around thirty with short brown hair and wearing a black apron stamped with the store’s logo, appeared. She glanced at my title bar and then at Aliya who was obviously not old enough, and gave a professionally warm smile. “Looking for a new Items Bag?”

I nodded and looked around.

I knew they could look like a lot of things, but I didn’t know there’d be so many choices. The cheapest were simple red velvet bags like what I already had, but these held fifteen items. Mine only held ten. The most expensive ones were Items Bag rings that held as many as five hundred items. They were so cool looking — some were twisted designer bands while others were encrusted with jewels.

My eyes landed on the Items Bags that were shaped like satchels and purses. They were bulkier compared to the rings and velvet bags, but to make up for that they weren’t as expensive and held a decent amount of items. Another bonus was I could put things in the actual pack too, instead of only the virtual Items Bag repository. Not very big things, because of the size of the bags, but it was still an option that I liked. I couldn’t help but be attracted to the hip satchels on manikins along the wood back walls.

The shop employee smiled, as if relieved that I wasn’t paying more attention to the rings. It didn't take a rocket science degree to know that it would be a miracle for an E to afford something like that. “Our designers just released a new batch of hip satchel, all the latest fashion. Suitable for all types of Hunters and their needs.”

I nodded and walked up to the first one. I liked the leather play on the belt and thigh strap. The pack itself was a little plain looking, but that wasn’t important. A tag hanging from a hemp string said that this hip satchel held fifty items … and it cost one hundred and ten dollars.

I swallowed hard before I could choke on the price. I knew they were expensive, but god! And this was the simplest hip satchel here. The price was a kick in the pants. I stared at the tag, thinking hard. On a normal day, this would be enough. But there were some instances, like during the Gate Surge and one Prine Lake, that it wasn’t big enough. And that was now. Who knew what would happen in the future when I became stronger and needed to take out more monsters to level up?

“Oh, Jyn, look at this one!” Aliya broke through my thoughts.

I looked over to see her holding out a red leather hip satchel. It was very glitzy and feminine. It must be effective because it was being sold, but it was so full of the studs, belt buckles, and thin leather ruffles that I didn’t know how anyone would fight while wearing it. Wouldn’t it be so bulky that it would get caught on stuff? I guess a mage wouldn’t have that problem, since they didn’t usually do hand-to-hand combat, but most melee Hunters wouldn’t touch that with a ten foot pole … maybe?

The shopkeeper beamed and went to Aliya. “You have a good eye. I love that one! It’s our newest release, came out just yesterday. Everytime I walk by, I have to remind myself that I have enough Items Bags already.”

I smiled and mentally shook my head. Well, some women did view Items Bags as purses. They held the same function — to carry stuff — but just had a different name and appearance. I glanced at the rack of purses to my left. Well, sometimes different appearances. The difference is, since the Items Bag was tied to the Hunter through magic, stealing the bags were useless to thieves. The Hunter lost their stuff, but the thief couldn’t extract the items inside no matter what they did.

A black leather hip satchel just to Aliya’s right caught my attention and I walked over.

“Ah, your bracelet is so cute,” the shopkeeper gushed and pointed at my sister’s wrist. I could almost see her thinking, Oh what a cute little underaged girl! And a potential future customer. Then she glanced at me and grinned. “Oh, matching bracelets. That’s so cute. You two must be good sisters.”

I nodded acknowledgements to her as I checked out the black Items Bag. A smooth, thin gray braid decorated the double belt that wrapped around the hips twice. The bag part itself was about ten by five inches with the top half held closed by a slim buckle. The bottom half was decorated lightly with gray stitching that didn’t have a distinct pattern, but it looked nice anyway.

“It’s made with Fanged Snapper scales, right?” the woman kept talking to my sister.

Aliya beamed, completely sold on her flattering words. “Yep! My sister made it for me.”

I smiled and picked up the satchel and ran my hands over the buckle. It didn’t feel that catchy. It should be alright fighting with it on. I mean, Hunters wore bulkier gear all the time. It’s just that my style was turning out to be more sleek and stealthy. I needed gear that could conform to that.

“May I?” The shopkeeper pointed to Aliya’s wrist. When she got a positive response, the woman lifted Aliya’s wrist carefully and looked closer at the bracelet. “Wow, you did a good job,” she complimented me. “This type of scale can be hard to handle. And look, you even managed to get some scales that have magic.” She pointed to a few scales. “I am amazed that they didn’t break when you made this. Fanged Snapper scales that have magic in them are very delicate. Most jewelers won’t deal with them because they shatter too easily.”

I blinked, completely thrown out of any thoughts involving the Item Bag and focused on her. “Magic?”

“What? Where?” Aliya gasped and peered closer at the scales.

The woman smiled. “You must be a melee Hunter,” she guessed, her tone turning kind. “I’m not surprised you can’t see it then.” She pointed at two of the scales. “Do you see how this one and this one shimmer just a little bit more than the rest? These two scales have a trace of magic inside them. Not a lot, mind you. Just enough that I can tell.”

Ironically, the two that she pointed to were also the two that had lopsided holes in them. But if they were delicate, that would explain why they gave me so much trouble. And why, last night, the armourer Maverick gave me such a lowball offer for them. Since I thought the Nixie leader’s bracelet looked cool and I had all the scales, I had wanted to make one for my sister. I paused, remembering all the scales that I broke this morning while I made the bracelets. How many of those had magic inside them? It was spilled milk, since I already threw the pieces away, but I couldn't help but wonder.

I lifted my own wrist and turned my hand around, watching the scales simmer in the light.

The woman looked over and smiled. “Hey, it looks like you have three magic scales on yours.”

As soon as she said it, I could tell which ones she meant. The longer I looked at them, the more I could tell that they were different. They seemed to … glow? Just a tiny bit.

“Wow,” Aliya whispered. “My first piece of equipment.” She grinned and hugged the bracelet to her chest.

The woman laughed. “Oh, so you want to be a Hunter?”

My sister nodded and started to gush about our future together.

Leaving her to talk the shopkeeper’s ear off, I tried on the hip satchel. It didn’t feel constricting or bulky. In fact it felt like it was made for me. I noticed a full length mirror and walked over to do a visual check, turning this way and that, and even did a butt check. “What do you think?” I asked Aliya.

She stopped mid-sentence and looked at me. “I love it! It looks just like you.”

I nodded and finally checked the tag. Honestly, I almost didn’t want to look at it. Inwardly, I grimaced. It held a hundred items, which was great. It was just what I was looking for. But it cost two hundred and twenty-five dollars. After paying for lunch and the pastries today, this satchel was going to completely wipe out my remaining funds.

“It does look good on you,” the sales woman complimented. “Is that the one you want?”

I hesitated. I really did like it. But was it worth being completely broke again? “Um, I haven’t decided yet.” To give myself more time, I started to do some stretches and simple moves, just to see how it felt. I hoped that the hip satchel would give me a reason to not want it anymore. But I was disappointed and pleased at the same time. It shifted with my every movement as if it were a part of me. The leather bent and moved as if it was actually nylon mesh, so each motion was performed flawlessly.

While Aliya watched me, the shopkeeper looked at my sister. “You know, they say that there’s no way to determine if you’re going to be a Hunter or not in the future,” she said like she was spilling a secret. Her tone instantly got Aliya’s attention. “But I have a close friend that swears that the reason why she’s a high ranking mage now is because she always wore a magic necklace that her father gave her.”

“Really?” My sister gasped and looked at her bracelet.

“But it’s not a guarantee,” I added.

The woman laughed. “It’s true. There is no way to know until you’re tested. Just study hard and keep practicing in your Hunter course.” She patted Aliya on the shoulder then looked at me. “Did you want to try on another one?”

I took a deep breath and shook my head. “No, I want this one.”

“Wonderful!” The woman led us to the cash register at the front of the store. “Could you take out your current Items Bag? I’ll transfer everything over for you then help you attach your new Items Bag.”

I set the little red velvet bag and the hip satchel on the counter.

She blinked down. “Oh, this is your original Items Bag?”

I nodded while Aliya stared down at the bag, star-struck. It was easy to tell that she was dying to pick it and play with it.

The shopkeeper smiled. “Well, Hunters get a ten percent discount when they trade in their original Items Bag. Do you want to keep looking?”

Really? I couldn’t feel more relieved. It was only a twenty-two dollars difference, but at least my bank account wasn’t going to be zero. It made me want it even more. “No, this is the one.”

The woman nodded. A blue System window appeared in front of her and she pushed on the screen like it was a touch tablet. “Okay, then —”

“Wait,” Aliya broke in. “I wanna help pay too.”

I blinked down at her. “What?”

She shook her head and gave me a determined look. “I wanted to buy you something today anyway. But before I could, you kept paying for everything. So I wanna help you pay for this. It’s not much, but I want to.” She took out three twenties and put them on the counter.

I frowned at the bills, my heart squeezing tight. “Aliya —”

“It's no big deal,” she said, like money fell off trees. “Half of the money is from Aunt Mina and I’ve been doing odd jobs around the apartment complex, saving up for something like this.” She pushed the money at the shopkeeper then glared at me. “Now say thank you.”

I sighed, but couldn’t resist smiling tenderly at her. I looped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed. “Thank you.”

She smiled and hugged back.

The shopkeeper took the bills and adjusted the total then showed me my portion. I accepted the transaction and watched as the woman placed a hand on the red velvet bag and her other hand on the hip satchel. Her hands started to glow red. The red glow grew bigger then each side sprouted a tentacle that drifted in the air as it reached out to touch the other until a red arch was formed. A moment later, the magic ceased and the woman lifted her hands.

A System notice popped up. [Your Items Bag has upgraded.]

“All done.” The shopkeeper held out my new hip satchel. “It was a pleasure working with you. Come again.”

We thanked her and left. I spent the next couple hours showing Aliya around the city and goofing off. But all good things come to an end. Five-o-clock hit and visiting hours ended. I stood at the South Exit and waved until my sister disappeared. How great would it be if she didn’t have to leave to go home? Maybe I did want her to be Hunter after all. By the time she’d get tested, I’d be strong enough that Aliya wouldn’t ever have to be in danger and I should know what it was the System wanted from me.

Should.

For now, since I’d been in too much of a hurry this morning preparing to see my sis, it was time to go to the hostel gym and get in the workout I’d missed. It was time to figure out how to use my upgraded Mist ability and whatever Mirror was.

*****