There were too many hours in a day…

That was the first realization that Sean came to when he returned to the school at some time past five. They’d spent the last seven hours riding in the car and on the way back, he’d managed to doze off. Waking up with a headache was one of the worst ways to wake up, especially if it was induced by the sun. As durable as he supposedly was, still untested for, it didn’t work against the sun.

He never had the time to truly feel that before the System came. It was spent on playing games and studying. Lately, he’d only done much of the latter, and that meant for the last three or so years.

There were too many people, and that wasn’t something he expected. Rather, he expected that, but he didn’t think that there were that many settlements. Just on the west side of the city alone, there were seven of them with who-knows-how-many people in their apartments.

Where they found food, Sean had no idea about.

And contrary to what Sean expected from them —a Mad Max-like wasteland in which everyone was for themselves— most people were content with just being… people.

There were overgrown mosquitos and monsters of the dark prowling around during the night, but during the day, it seemed that life went on as usual minus work and technology. People were alive and well, maybe with several hundred missing person cases.

That was over twenty times the average, probably.

After Sean heard what Liz had to say about believing in monsters, about the large number of people that disappeared every month relative to the size of the city, he was conscious about that.

“So why the sudden change?” asked Chris after Aunt Charlie got off, ever so nonchalant. Marie was still asleep, having fallen asleep on the way back very much like Sean. The air conditioning that they’d completely forgotten about was a luxury that was rarely found.

“What change?” Said Sean, answering the question with a question.

“You know what I’m talking about,” said Chris. He then looked at Sean, like he always did, with one eye slightly wider than the other. He had a beard now, that much was apparent from this close. It was barely a stubble between his lips and nose, but it was there.

“You mean me finally acting like a decent human being in a post-apocalyptic world?” he asked.

“No, I mean when you changed your game plan. It’s easy to tell,” said Chris. He was always more a MMORPG guy while Sean was a MOBA player. Still, they did play together quite a lot, and it was easy to learn about each other when they’ve been playing side-by-side for years, and that was often the only way they played —that was mostly during summer vacation, “You’re all moody for some time and suddenly you’re the loudest guy in the room. It’s impossible to miss.”

“Because I felt like it,” said Sean, not even bothering to lie. It was true, but it was far from a real explanation.

“Changing your game plan means you had some other plan,” said Chris, and it was obvious what he meant. Even without asking, he ended up asking questions. Or at least coercing him into spilling. Having never been the best keeper of secrets, he often did so.

“The other was being a secluded wizard in the middle of nowhere, furthering my studies until my death,” said Sean. That did cross his mind a few times, but it was always a distant what-if situation that would never be consciously thought about —a thought that came up as he was falling asleep, thinking about the ramifications of leaving and alternatives to that.

“You were thinking of dipping. Don’t even bother lying,” he said.

He somehow managed to read his mind…

“Well yes, but no,” said Sean, trying to explain it but he came up with blanks.

“I mean… if you want to become a werebeast or something of the sort, I won’t blame you. No drawbacks and all. In fact, that’s the only logical conclusion. I’d have tried becoming one if mom didn’t stop me,” said Chris. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and put one in his lips. Then he struck a match and lit it up.

“You tried?” asked Sean.

Maybe it was a conclusion many hunters reached.

Chris pushed open the door and he sucked on the cigarette. He pulled out the cigarette from his lips and breathed in again.

Did he just breathe in twice?

“The encyclopedia said that they’re just better humans unless it’s a full moon and they’re going berserk but it’s apparently dangerous if you don’t have a Heart Factor. Said that I might die,” said Chris.

Sean did remember reading something about that, but-

How was Clara planning on having Hugh turn him when he was berserk?

And what was that about people dying if they didn’t have a Heart Factor?

But more importantly, would Aunt Charlie not hold it against him if he did turn into one?

“You have one, right?” asked Chris. The smell of cigarettes made Sean feel something akin to disgust. Only Uncle Jeremy smoked among their family. Chris’s father, Uncle Edmund, also smoked but never near him. There were some of his classmates and those that had the same classes as him in university that smoked, but Sean mostly stayed away from them.

Mostly because of the smell.

Did Chris not have a Heart Factor? If so, that meant Madison had it, and knowing that Aunt Charlie had killed so many… did she visibly regenerate with that much? And that answered the question of whether twins split the Heart Factor or if only one got it.

Sean only nodded.

He had only four and he was hard to kill. Not that it’d matter in an actual fight, but the aftermath was easily solved if he did indeed get injured. A testament to that being the fact that his bones healed far too fast. It wasn’t supposed to heal that quickly, if Sean was correct.

“So you started, umm… smoking,” said Sean. It wasn’t a question and it wasn’t phrased that way. It was an observation.

This was their only real conversation ever since the System came, or rather, after he came back from the military.

“That’s so last year,” said Chris with a small chuckle, if not a snort.

Sean looked down at the ground. It wasn’t the ground, though. It was the bottom of someone else’s car. It was certainly not something that he thought he’d be in. He pushed open his own door and let the wind course through the car to push away the smoke.

“I find it relaxing. So mundane,” said Sean.

There were times like these. It was so calm and mundane that he just forgot for a second that death was around the corner at all times.

“It’d be fun as hell if I’d went to the military this year. Better yet if both of us did, yeah?” asked Chris with a grin.

That was a nice thought. Both of them in some military camp with others their age there. He couldn’t quite say that it was boring with his family, but there was a distinct lack of freedom that he was starting to notice.

Not that it was only because of his family, but it played a big part in it.

“Do you wanna convert?” asked Chris, after a few seconds of silence. It was so out-of-nowhere that Sean’s smile froze. What was with others and dipping? Then he continued, “I’ve been thinking ever since we ran into that Noble. It was so blatantly unfair that I… just can’t bring myself to fight them. Not when we’re this weak. If humans were stronger. No, if they were just a bit weaker. But if we become one of them. Then we can murder them. I just know it.”

“We can do it. As humans,” said Sean, with no expression at all. They just had to… get stronger. He’d study some Magic, maybe. And Chris would maybe work out. It’d be fine. That’s what he believed.

Still, the fact that Chris, too, came to that conclusion made him feel conflict once again.

Which was the more logical conclusion?

“I’d thought as much,” said Chris quietly.

“Don’t even try,” said Sean. Very much like how Chris could almost read Sean’s thoughts, Sean could also get an inkling as to what Chris was thinking. And what he was thinking right now, could certainly not be bad.

“I won’t,” said Chris.

That was a lie.

“You will,” said Sean.

If they’d had this talk a while ago, or even yesterday before he fell asleep, maybe they’d have decided to both run away and get turned into werebeasts. But today, Sean felt that maybe they had a chance, and if they did indeed have a chance, he didn’t want his best friend to be on the other side.

“And what are you gonna do about it? Tell mom? Like you always did?” he asked, his eyes sharp.

This wasn’t the Chris that he remembered.

Sean breathed in slowly, as if smoking, but he wasn’t. It was just a breathing method. Still, it made him feel calmer. Then he let it out. This repeated a few times.

“Sorry,” mumbled Chris. He’d finished smoking his cigarette and threw the husk into the cigarette compartment in the car. It was almost full, testament to its original owner. He licked his lips once to introduce some moisture to them, and looked at Sean.

It was a look of him begging for something, but he was clearly not asking for forgiveness. He was begging for him to come with him, and Sean knew that stopping him would be difficult.

Sean gulped and looked away, at the people in the distance. Aunt Charlie joined them and spilled whatever she knew, like she always did in a far too cheerful manner. Then he looked back at Chris.

Maybe it was a bad idea, but still…

Leaving Clara without news felt wrong, and stopping his only friend from making a life-changing decision also felt wrong.

Everything just clicked together.

“I’m going to the forest tonight. I might manage to get turned by the foxes and I might run away,” said Chris, a bit calmer. Marie was sleeping all the while, and maybe that was for the better, “Don’t bother. I’m leaving either way, some day. You can’t stop me forever.”

“I won’t,” said Sean. Chris looked at him, his eyes wide. Slowly, a smile crept up on his face and a hug came his way.

He felt bad, being on the receiving end of it. It was clear what his assumption was.

“I’m supposed to be at the bridge past the creek back near the mansion. I’m not planning on going there, but if you want to,” started Sean, but that started to feel like a bad idea.

But he’d already started so he had to finish it.

It was only a choice, though.

“If you want to be on the other side… safe,” started Sean…

***

“You have to get there as quietly as possible. Don’t let anyone see or hear you,” said Clara and Hugh only nodded. He’d been in the Undercity for a good while, but he was by no means a part of the upper echelons back then.

The only real way to ‘survive’ was to defect.

“That much, I can manage. As long as there’s a gate open, I can get out in a few seconds,” said Hugh as he sat on one of the chairs around a table. There wasn’t any real food down here —not for the vampires, at least.

They didn’t eat, breathe or just anything that a living being did other than being alive.

He was fed the amount five adult men would be in the human farms and still found it lacking in substance. Eating the meat of humans was far better, and often, he got his treat when someone tried to escape.

Sadly, not many did anymore.

“But why didn’t you add him to the Guild?” asked Hugh, his lips almost pouting. While to the ‘public’, he was the obedient watchdog that doubled as her butler, in private, they were more along the lines of friends.

“He can’t know about the things we’ve chatted about yet,” said Clara, her legs crossed. She sipped on the blood in her small cup, making Hugh roll his eyes. Why did she have to drink so delicately?

“Come on, he agreed to join us instead of protecting his family or informing them. Why would he change his mind because we talked about eating humans?” asked Hugh. He didn’t understand what the big deal about all this carefulness was. Just dragging the kid here should be enough.

“Humans are irrational beings. Even if their minds tell them something, their bodies and consciences react in ways that they do not expect. He was conflicted. Giving him time is the better option,” said Clara. After a few seconds, she added, “You can’t rely on them thinking of their self-perseverance like you would expect a vampire to or their feelings like you would expect a werebeast to.”

Hugh rolled his eyes.

There she went with the stereotypes, again.

His mind filtered that out after spending weeks with her.

Last time that he brought up the fact that werebeasts could make decisions predominantly using their logic and that vampires could make decisions they wouldn’t because of their feelings, a debate that lasted hours ensued.

“Yes, yes, mi’lady. You are far more intelligent than a lowly werebeast or human could ever be,” said Hugh with a slight bow after hopping to his feet. It was filled to the brim with sarcasm.

“Shush. You sound like a playboy,” said Clara and quieted down —she did that when she was uncomfortable.

“Well, I won’t suffer you to stay with me any longer. Better go bring your precious pup to you,” said Hugh and stretched his limbs. Very rarely did he take on his fully beast form, as it was inconvenient. While moving felt natural, most man-made inventions were made with humanoids in mind.

But today was an exception —on nights with a full moon, his transformation would be forced unless he was already transformed.

Hugh started stripping, first starting with his jacket and shirt. Then, he took off his pants, left in his undergarments. There was some hair on his chest but that was scarce. Having a metabolism beyond ordinary humans meant that you were jacked even if you were eating a truck’s worth of food every day, but decent gym instructors would be able to spot the first signs of malnutrition.

Clara snorted and when he looked at her, he regretted it. An attractive girl, a large amount of libido and being naked didn’t go together all that well.

“Don’t worry. I won’t blame you. You are a werebeast, after all,” said Clara with a slight smirk.

“You’re an asshole,” said Hugh and started the transformation process.

She only smiled, the whole expression shouting the word ‘smug’, as if she’d proven something.

His bones creaked slightly, but not that much. It didn’t hurt all that much. His forearms almost merged with his hands. Then, the range of motion was slightly inhibited, now unable to move side to side but down and up was easier.

Hair started to grow in places where there should be no business having hair in and his heels started to grow beyond the point of comfortable. The toes bent slightly, turning into paws. His legs didn’t bend backward and the bottom part of his hind legs were formed by his heels.

Then he felt something touch his head. His fur could sense if something touched it, but it didn’t convey whether it was cold or not unless it went even deeper, down to the part where the gaps between the patches of hair could be touched.

“I would very much prefer if you didn’t pet me,” said Hugh, his canine mouth somehow managing to make the sound. He glared at Clara. That wasn’t difficult, given the fact that he was as tall as a Clara sitting on a chair on his four feet. He was certainly larger than a normal wolf, but he wasn’t as large as he could be —in a decade or two, he’d be as large as a car.

For now, he was the same size as one of the larger dog.

“Oh, sorry. I couldn’t resist,” said Clara and stepped back, only to jump back on him. She grabbed him from the neck and pulled her into a tight hug, “You looked too fluffy.”

Without all this fur, he would have perhaps enjoyed the hug. But in his wolf form, it was nothing but a hindrance.

“I don’t mind getting in bed with you in my fluffy form if you ask nicely, but for the love of god, let me go,” said Hugh and vigorously shook his body, as if he was wet —it also came naturally with the form.

“As a pillow, I hope,” said Clara as she lifted herself up with her wings on the way down. The physique of a werebeast was far beyond that of a Noble in most cases. Somehow, her clothes weren’t damaged due to the wings appearing out of nowhere.

“Body pillow, if I can help it, when you are sleeping without a night gown,” said Hugh and tapped the ground with his front legs a few times, getting used to the feeling of his body. It was like someone driving a car they used to spend most of their youth in after decades.

“Then I am afraid that cannot happen. Mother would not allow that, especially sleeping,” said Clara. She tapped his thigh with a generous amount of force and made him jump forward.

Very much like the meme of a not-so-happy wolf, Hugh stared at Clara with a deadpan look, however that was possible with his canine face.

“Sorry. I couldn’t help it,” said Clara.

Did she realize how much of a hypocrite she sounded like, talking about all of her actions being influenced by her oh-so-intelligent brain?

She would most likely say that it was because hugging and petting him was better for her sanity, like she always did. He debated on using the travel, but that would mean he’d have to be visible. Time would pass quickly but that came at the cost of nearly no maneuverability.

“Well, I’ll be off,” said Hugh. He’d wink, but it was difficult to truly show an expression in his fully beast form. That made him prefer the fully human or at least partially beast form. And with that, he disappeared from Clara’s sight.

The door was open and it was that sweet moment in time when the guards were changing shifts. They didn’t need sleep, unlike the werebeasts, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have to rest. Exhaustion overtook them just the same as any other creature, especially the knights.

He passed by the farms —they were far too close to Clara’s room for his liking. His sense of smell was good, but thankfully he didn’t have to smell the insufferable smell of human sweat. The stench of blood covered that up, but he would undoubtedly smell it if there was no overbearing scent.

And he did, as he passed by the so-called farms. They were large rooms that had large windows in them. Inside, the people were asleep. They were forced to sleep at ten o’clock in the evening, as per the health guidelines of the cattle. Fed and clothed, and often drained of a small amount of blood, it was a life that most people on the streets would appreciate.

Alas, not many did live in the streets.

Being forced to live in a large room with nineteen others wasn’t something the rich and the mediocre would want, for sure. Especially if their bathrooms were shared, with no way to hide anything from each other. The gender ratio was 1 to 1, clearly meant to encourage intercourse so that they could multiply.

Each room was a small biome-like experimental facility, as Hugh liked to view them as. People of all ages were put there, including two children under the age of 10. There was no regard for any original family they had, and they were forced to comply with the placements.

The ones that didn’t comply… they were replaced. They were drained dry of blood, given as a chewing toy to the mindless vampires. They didn’t need blood, really. None of them cared for youth, and the occasional disobedient one being thrown at them sustained them.

Not that anyone would care if a few dozen of them died.

Vampire society was peculiar. They were, quite frankly, weird creatures. Clara was so distinctly human, but only in private. In public, they were like machines following an algorithm. Maybe the others were also human behind closed curtains, but he’d seen none of them outside the stage that was the public.

He dashed as fast as he could, his soft paws allowing him to make little to no noise as he ran. Not that soft, admittedly, but better than shoes. He’d come back just as swiftly after six hours, very near dawn, when the shift changed once again.

After about five minutes of running, Hugh made it to the other end. His speed was increased by the abundance of energy that coursed through his body during a night with a full moon.

The berserk wouldn’t hit him unless he was directly exposed to the light, though.

On the other end, there stood gates. Too many of them. You could only reach some of them by using a ladder or by flying. The wall hit the top of the large underground temple, almost a hundred meters in height, and all were circles that had a radius of around a meter. He pounced and reached a particular hole around ten meters from the ground.

The moment he fully entered the hole, he found himself floating within a dark, shadowy tunnel within the ground. It reeked, but it most certainly didn’t have water in it. Instead, he felt himself float and get pushed somewhere.

It was like sliding down a slide in a water park, but it moved haphazardly. Sometimes to the left, to the right and even up. If it was one of the larger, and more often-visited bridges, it would have had guards.

But this one wasn’t.

And finally, he made it out to the other side. He just appeared there, out of nowhere. Returning would be a struggle, but one that he could manage. Having been turned over a decade ago, as a child, Hugh had started living in the Undercity a good while ago. Getting into and out was a piece of cake, but that was for legal entrances and departure.

This one was illegal, and it would require a tithe to the king…

Now, though, he had to grab the kid and turn him. Sean had a Heart Factor. The smell was unmistakable. He’d be turned with no trouble.

It was awe-inspiring to think what a hunter would become after being turned. It was a taboo of sorts. No one wanted to empower the monsters that managed to hunt down predators despite all odds. Give them power on the level of the predators, and with that, you got a horror story for all monsters involved.

If it was the Huntress that got turned…

Hugh pushed the idea out of his head. He was here on business, and wait for Sean, he would.

The moonlight was far from him. The shadow made by the bridge covered him, and he waited for the smell of a werebeast to come closer. And he waited and waited. If the shift had ended a bit late, then he would have come a bit late as well —but it was already midnight.

He ought to be coming soon.

Despite his common sense telling him to simply enter his travel mode, Hugh’s conscience didn’t let him. While Sean might notice the eerie gray light, he could just as easily not bother to look under the bridge.

Then he heard movement.

What was that?

Hugh’s head turned toward the noise —it was the sound of a twig breaking under the weight of someone. He knew that sound. Even if he hadn’t personally heard it, it was deeply ingrained into his genes.

That ended up happening when you were infected. You were in tune with the world.

Then he noticed the eerie silence. There was no sound, nothing at all, but the sound of the river’s flow. There were no birds chirping or owls hooting. Not even the distant sound of a car, but that was a luxury that they were not allowed anymore.

Maybe it was just the forest settling on itself.

It just happened by itself every now and then… right?

Hugh’s heart started to beat. He was no stranger to fights but he would very much do without it. That was why he ended up finding the little princess to join that side. If he’d found the Empress, perhaps he’d have been weaponized. Clara, on the other hand, let him laze around all day under the guise of being her butler.

Yep, she was the better option.

“Nothing’s there, keep calm,” Hugh told himself, trying to calm himself up. Somehow, his canine physiology let him speak like that. Almost magical, if he could call it that. Or maybe a human that turned into a wolf for some reason could maybe speak all the same as well?

He’d dropped out of middle school because of his nature.

No real need to study, after all.

He had to stay in the shadows, no matter what. Or he’d go berserk. Then he’d ruin Clara’s plan, and she could get outed. Then that’d mean he’d lose his only haven, especially after turning his back on his kind.

Wasn’t this area under the jurisdiction of the foxes?

No matter.

He could take care of two or three.

As time passed, Hugh started to look toward both sides, to see if he was following the river to head there. Being near rivers made him feel better. It didn’t make him invigorated or refreshed, but it was relaxing.

Being near Vampires wasn’t.

Then he started to smell the Heart Factor coming from behind. Hugh let out a sigh and turned around. He started to speak as he started, being the loudmouth he was, “Finally! I’ve been waiting forever.”

But it wasn’t the kid he was expecting.

Hair tied into a ponytail, flailing behind his back and two Damascus Daggers sheathed at her hips, walked the personification of death. Dressed in leather, she’d have looked great despite her age, but that was the last thought on Hugh’s mind as he stepped back —that was a sort of primal fear that instantly sent his mind reeling to find an answer to his situation.

Fight or flight?

Hugh gnashed his teeth and growled while stepping back. His ears moved back, leaning on his head. His tail stopped moving and stood on end, almost, aimed down.

“I’m supposed to drag you back alive so don’t make it troublesome,” said the Huntress, a huge grin on her face. She didn’t seem like she’d take him alive, even if that was her intention.

His eyes turned to the other side of the bridge. In what seemed to be a graffiti style was drawn a vague shape of the word ‘Lock’. The letter O was an entrance which would only allow monsters in unless there was a Troll outside.

The moment he touched that, he’d get away safely.

Did that asshole tattle?

Before his thought process could even finish, the Huntress pounced at the wall and in a far too dramatic fashion, dropkicked the spot. The outer wall caved in, the armature visible.

She wasn’t strong enough to break that, but the concrete crumbled down.

On the way down, she caught herself with one hand and pushed herself up to her feet. The creek that wasn’t even a meter in width didn’t do anything to stop her, nor the five or so meters of distance until she reached that from whee she’d been standing.

Almost like some kung-fu movie.

“See? I know all the tricks in your book,” said the Huntress, appearing inches away from him.

How the hell was a human that fast?

It was like a cheat.

He was pushed into a corner.

Fight or flight?

The choice had to be made immediately. If he bolted, maybe he’d make it. A human couldn’t possibly move that fast for long. It’d be cheating if she could keep that pace. That’d not even be human. That’d be on the level of the scarier monsters —the ones that civilization would rather not touch.

Werebeasts were supposed to be the greatest in terms of physique outside them.

The next bridge was over two kilometers away. He could make it there easily, but that was if he was conscious.

In the moonlight, berserk?

He wasn’t sure.

“I could just jump into the moonlight. It’s easy,” said Hugh as he got even closer to the light of the moon, at the edge of the shadows. He stared at the reflection of the moon in the river and he felt a sudden urge to bathe in its brilliance.

“Trust me, kid. I’ve boxed with werebeasts nearing eighty and I’ve ripped their fangs out with my bare hands,” she said and cracked her knuckles. Then her neck, making nasty popping sounds that sounded uncomfortable.

The older a werebeast was, the stronger they were.

Eighty-year olds could probably rip Hugh to shreds in the blink of an eye.

He looked once at the moon and once at her grin and daggers. Even from such a distance, the silver was making him nauseous. If it struck him, the poison would force him to fall one way or another.

Having his fangs ripped out.

No, that’d take away his get-out-of-jail card right out. He wouldn’t be a full monster again…

“What the hell is your business?” he growled.

Her expression changed from the half-menacing and half-playful smile she had, and turned to an expressionless one. She raised an eyebrow and looked at him, her head tilted slightly.

“Interrogation, of course. Ah, but don’t worry. If you spill the beans easily, I’m sure she won’t even touch you,” said the Huntress, urging Hugh to take another step back.

If he went berserk, at least he wouldn’t feel the pain of dying.

Hugh gulped.

“It’ll be fine,” she said with a thumbs-up and the grin returned, this time fully playful. Maybe it was always so, but this time the menacing part was gone, “Just spill all the beans when you get there and you’ll return in one piece.”

The Huntress against him.

The result of that fight was obvious. She was a boogeyman. The kids in his pack stopped crying when they heard her name and the arrogant Vampires couldn’t utter a word if someone that’d survived an encounter with them slapped their face. Even the Coalition wasn’t spoken of with such fear.

Hugh let out a deep breath and pounced. Both claws were aimed toward the Huntress, trying to rend her flesh apart. She was a human. Maybe she was a tad bit fast, but she couldn’t possibly be all that durable. Maybe he’d be known as the hero that slew the Huntress.

His claws struck empty hair and he felt something hard hit the bottom of his chin, making it clang. She’d dodged, but she wasn’t expecting Hugh to shift back to his human form halfway through the movement.

Bones uncomfortably creaked and some extended while some shortened all the while his momentum was conserved, and he slammed his human leg into the Huntress’ guts, or at least what he assumed was her guts.

She was sent reeling and she spat out a bit of blood.

That was a start.

The Huntress, contrary to expectation, let out a short cackle and put an uncomfortable grin on her face. They seemed red, now stained by the blood. It resembled a werebeast that had just finished eating a game they caught.

She licked her lips and stretched her arms. Using the opportunity, Hugh activated the Class Skill he’d gotten after he reached Level 5. His body started to fade into nothing like a haze in a desert.

The Flash Step Skill allowed someone to move far faster than they normally could. When used by a human, it could possibly let them move fast but they’d be visible. For a monster, though, it could easily go far beyond the speed of sound. It didn’t leave a sonic boom, as the skill was meant for a swift strike.

Hugh appeared right behind the Huntress, claws outstretched toward her. All his momentum died the moment he stopped, an uncomfortable drawback to the ability. If he could use the momentum and slash her while he travelled, this wouldn’t be very much of a fight.

As if she’d expected him to get there, the Huntress lightly tapped the ground with her heels and jumped up far taller than should be humanely possible, just like how she’d jumped that absurd distance.

This was the work of a Class. Hugh was sure of it. If humans were like this… then they wouldn’t be predators. They’d have been waging wars instead of starting hunts.

However, jumping up into the air had a large drawback. It meant that they’d be unable to freely move, lacking any way to move themselves. So Hugh swung his hand toward her falling body, trying to scratch her.

It was then that he realized he’d screwed up.

They were fighting underneath the shadow of the bridge, and that meant she could use the bridge as a ceiling to push herself back. And then he saw her brilliantly weave past his defense and her fists smashed into his face, breaking his chin and in one hefty blow.

Hugh started to recover but a sharp sting on one of his shoulders made his eyes widen —a silver knife plunged somewhere. That hindered his healing process, making him groan. He’d never gotten hurt much before so this was difficult to bear with.

Then he felt something hit his head and his eyes darkened.