“Report!” Bellowed Erasmus as the two women entered the command center. Victoria looked at the old man. He stood statue straight, his body like iron as if it was daring the monsters of the system to come and break against him.

“We need to look for places of power,” Victoria said. “Lucas, went with the beast and one of the boys overheard her tell him they were going to a place of power.” The older man nodded and grunted as he gestured over to one of the men Victoria hadn’t yet met.

“Call in all of the teams primary and secondary,” The old man said as he strode to the map table that dominated the middle of the floor. It saw three feet off the floor and seemed to have been updated. “Victoria, the issue is we need to know why type of a place to power. Did this boy have an idea?”

“No…” she said trying to think. “He mentioned it would be pretty funny if Lucas was a virgin sacrifice on a lunar eclipse.” At that, the other hunters let out a collective groan. A woman closer to a set of controls walked over and worked over them. Lights bloomed on the map.

“There are five places that match those parameters.” She said. The lights circled the downtown area.

“Wonderful and we have less than twenty hunters in the city right now,” Erasmus said staring at the map, the older man's eye flicked to the teenager. “This is going to be hard for you to accept. You aren’t trained for this.”

The young teenage girl found herself swallowing her disappointment and nodding. She already knew what he was going to say. “I know, is there something I can do to help out though?”

“Outstanding.” She heard a hunter say quietly. She looked around questioningly.

“Most young hunters are very eager to prove themselves,” Sunny said. “It's very rare that we find someone that knows their limits.” The teenager found herself blushing at the faint praise from her mentor.

“So what should I do?” She asked.

The old man and the young woman looked at her, then at one another. “What do you think?” Erasmus asked the younger woman.

“She fights well but has a lot to learn. Some of her spells are intriguing but overpowered. I think for tonight she should be support, as a courier or messenger. But only the last as a last resort. The SAPD is still going to be pissed off at her.”

The old man gripped his beard. Then nodded at the younger woman's words. “Fine get her some armor. Blue jeans don’t count—” He then gave the teen a longer look. “I didn’t ask can you drive?”

“I have my license.” She said brightly.

“That's a no then.” He grunted. “She needs driving lessons and a vehicle.” He said to no one in particular. Though Victoria noticed a quest prompt .

An Iron Horse for the Lady:

Erasmus Osgood the lead Hunter in San Antonio offers you a quest.

Procure a vehicle to hunt monsters in along with the appropriate training to use it effectively

The teenager looked up at the old man beaming in excitement. “Fantastic she said with a broad smile.”

“Don’t be too happy,” Sunny said. “Once you can get around on your own we will be putting you to work.” She said as she gave the teen a nudge in her shoulder. “You can probably expect to be out the rest of the night, so you should probably call home. Then We’ll get you kitted out.”

X X X

With trepidation, Victoria made the call home. “Victoria?” She heard from the earpiece. “Is that you?”

“Yeah, Vincent can I speak to mom?” She asked her brother.

“She’s at the hospital.” He replied. “She went there earlier today.”

“Is dad okay?”

She heard her brother sigh and pause before answering. “Yeah, it's just she wanted to be with him and I wanted to go but—”

“The other night?” She asked.

“Yeah, I mean you sound so, so… calm about it.” Her brother said.

“I’m not. I’ve just had too much going on in my life. I mean hey you are now a magic-using human video game character. Oh yeah, you are an adopted embryo and hey you probably have family out there that don’t even know you exist. Would you like to go hunt monsters yes or no? Oh too bad, you don’t really get a choice the monsters are hunting you.”

“Victoria? Are you okay?”She heard the concern in her brother's voice.

“Yes… I don’t know maybe. It's just too much to process. But the one thing I know is that mom and dad. They are our mom and dad. They raised us. They wanted us and for all our lives they have been mom and dad.”

“That's true.” Her brother said. “Remember the puddle jumper?” Victoria heard a hint of laughter in his voice.

“Yeah, and I figure a man willing to wade into a snake-infested swamp to recover a kids toy…”She let her brother fill in the rest of her meaning. “Tell mom something has come up. I’ll be home when I can.”

“Hey what about dinner?” Her brother asked peevishly.

“Order pizza!”She said exasperatedly. “I love you bud.” She said before she hung up.

X X X

Victoria was looking through her notifications when she saw an update.

You have completed the hidden quest training day:

Your mentor Saundra “Sunny” Beckett has approved your first day of training.

As a reward you receive Hunters starting kit.

Leather Starting Armor.

Starting Weapon of your choice.

2 Healing potions

2 Mana potions

500 XP

You have gained a level!

You are now level 7!

You may now select one ancestral spell.

You have accepted the System quest Dooms Day!

You must locate the Mazaquin named Caroline and end her nefarious plans.

Ashen faced the teen girl returned to the command center where her look caught Erasmus’ eye. “What's wrong?” The old man asked the young girl.

“I have a new quest.” She replied. “Well several but the one that's important is called Dooms Day.” She said her voice flat. Throughout the room, there were deep indrawn breaths.

One voice in the back sighed and was heard to quip “At least its not Ragnarok.” Other voices were heard to shush the joker.

She brightened up and gave a half-hearted smile. “The good news is I passed the quest training day.” The old man and Sunny chuckled.

“Indeed you did child indeed you did. Sunny will show you to the outfitters. Best to get you set as it seems the library is intent on putting you in the middle of the action. Hunter Beckett?” He said gesturing.

X X X

The outfitters were located near the entrance to the building. The room at first glance seemed as small as a phone booth but when she stepped through the door Victoria found it echoed like a vast cavern. She Gave Sunny a puzzled look. “Its special technology we found over in the united kingdom.” She said enigmatically before she rang a bell on the counter. A short heavy set woman walked up to the counter. She could barely see over the top but then she seemed to climb up to where she could see the two women.

“Whadaya wants?” she seemed to growl.

“Starting gear for this young hunter.”

The woman eyed the teenager and grunted. “We’re out.” She said gruffly. “No new hunters until next year. So we don’t have any equipment in.” The woman gave Sunny a glare. “Where’d you find this one.” She said aiming a thumb at Victoria. She stood there and examined the woman. The only thing she was able to observe was her name: Flavia.

“I found her at school. I’m surprised you hadn’t heard about her.”

“Noone talks to me and I like it that way.” Again she gave the teen a glare. “The boss okay with this?”

“Yes, “ Again she grunted then stepped down from her perch.

“Wait here.” She growled as she stalked off into the stacks of material.

“What is she,” Victoria whispered to her mentor.

“Huhm. Of she’s a misanthrope.” Sunny said with a chuckle. “But a natural-born quartermaster. I imagine she has something hidden away for a just in case.” The two women talked as they waited for Flavia to return.

Flavia grunted as she looked once more at the teenager. “Here,” she said, “try this on.” And threw a stack of items onto the top of the counter. Then climbed once more up. “It should fit your level. Its a step above starter gear but then again you aren’t a level one.” She took a scabbarded blade up and opened it to show the teenager. “Leaf bladed dagger. Damage is good but not great no enchantment.”She said grunting. The produced a small satchel. Victoria picked up the armor pile.

Do you wish to equip the leather armor of the Mage Apprentice?

Y/N

She selected yes then examined her reflection. The armor was a blue-black color akin to midnight blue and blue highlights. She did some stretched and knee bends to see how it moved with her body and found it to be acceptable. She examined it more closely.

Leather Armor of the Mage Apprentice;

AC+10

Dodge +5

“This is your starting potions. Two healing and two mana potions.” Victoria picked up the scabbarded knife. It was as long as her forearm and the belly of the blade was nearly as wide. She imagined it was good for stabbing and chopping into a foe.

“Thank you. Flavia.” the teen said as she took the satchel and then threaded the blade on her belt.

The woman grunted. “Just don’t get killed and waste my equipment.” Then once more she stalked back into the recesses of her store house.