A gargantuan shadow enveloped the skies above. The building that housed a great city inside of it had its roof torn apart, making the stars in the night skies visible from the ground below. The people of the city ran around in panic as they desperately looked for shelters. Some of the Giantslayers unsheathed their weapons but they knew it would not even scratch the monstrosity above. The gigantic figure was blurry and was barely visible in the night sky. But every citizen could see its shining red eyes and diabolical smirk. Alain looked up petrified. The red eyes threatened to devour him.

Alain was jolted awake in his bed. His breathing was ragged and sweat covered his body. A traumatic nightmare. How original. He examined his hands in front of him that had not stopped shaking. Alain tried to control his breathing for a few minutes until he could calm himself down. He moved his body to be able to sit on his bed. In front of him, the window of his room showed not only the interior of The Sanctuary but rather the outside world itself. His apartment was constructed on the window sill of The Sanctuary’s second floor. One would think a view of the outside world from his window would be something resembling luxury, but many citizens were too afraid to even look outside, let alone sleep in a room that was mere steps away from it. It was one of the reasons he could afford such a room without any family members supporting him.

Alain could see the sunrise outside. Soon, he knew the gate below would be open as well to allow Giantslayers to hunt outside and bravest of the brave traders to venture to other towns and cities beyond the forest. He glanced at the clock on his nightstand.

One hour until I need to be at The Academy. I should get ready. Alain stood up and went to his bathroom. He stood in front of the mirror to reveal the face of a brown-skinned, relatively attractive young man with short hair. As he wore no shirt, the mirror also showed his toned body that had extensive burn marks covering it. His eyes seemed to be locked in a permanent frown with equally sharp eyebrows. Alain started washing his face and brushed his teeth, he also took a shower and got dressed.

Alain looked at the armor he wore yesterday laying on the floor. I’m probably not going outside today. He ignored it and chose to wear simple leather clothing instead. The armor he wore yesterday seemed to be crafted from the same bones that made up his switch-ax. He gathered some essential supplies in a small satchel hanging from his hip and left the room.

Outside of his room were rows of rooms stretching the entire length of the window sill. He was on the third floor of the apartment, with more floors above him. As most common citizens would not dare stay here, except for some eccentric individuals, this was practically the housing complex of fledgling Giantslayers. Alain left the apartment building with a wooden elevator to find the farming district below. Farm buildings and the gate to the fields were located directly below his apartment. As farming in the outside world would be too dangerous, crops were grown in what was the second-floor balcony of the cottage. A large number of farmers could be seen tending the fields with the help of some types of machinery. Ranged-type Giantslayers also guard the farms in case flying giants would swoop in to attack The Sanctuary or try to eat the crops. Other than the Giantslayers that hunt the meat of the giants outside, these farmers were practically the only other food source supplying the entire town.

The second floor of The Sanctuary was essentially the suburbs to the first floor’s downtown. A lot of the essential housing complexes were here. There was also the attic above which was where people from the high council live and where a lot of the administrative buildings were located.

Alain made his way to the elevator on the spiraling giant staircase and made his way downstairs. As he traveled down, he could see the gates opening in the distance that allowed some amount of sunlight to illuminate the entire first floor. It was an impressive sight with rows of buildings on the wooden floor below connected with the tall buildings on top of the tables and bookcases. The city seemed truly alive. To the old humans before The Final Curse, this city would look like a miniature wonderland with tiny dolls living in it.

He made his way through the busy streets filled with traders and people starting their day. Businesses and restaurants were also starting to be open for business. The stalls of the morning market started to be filled with vegetables and pieces of giant fruits. Alain rode on another elevator leading to the academy above the giant table. After stepping off the elevator, he could see Giantslayer students walking excitedly to the school building. They would finally get the grades of their practical exam, which was practically the final exam of the semester.

“Oh hey! Morning, Alain!” The voice Alain recognized to be from Lasik, one of his party members during the practical exam yesterday, called out. He turned around to face her. Like him, she also changed out of the reptilian scale armor she wore yesterday to wear simple civilian clothing. Lasik wore a ponytail and she was quite short, which would make her very nimble and perfect to be an archer.

“Morning,” Alain replied.

“Did you have a good rest?” Lasik asked.

“I guess. It wasn’t any different from any other day,” Alain shrugged.

“As if! My body is still aching from yesterday! It took me an entire hour to get out of bed!" She stretched her arms as she talked. "Are you anxious about your grade?” She asked.

“I don’t see why I should. Judging from Guru Bram’s comments yesterday, we all did pretty well, at least enough to pass.”

“Well yes but our grade determines the amount of nectar we get! You know how expensive they can get in the free market these days, especially since the shortage caused by the incident last month,”

The nectar, a mysterious type of plant that started growing ever since The Final Curse has been placed upon humanity. Early post-curse humans searched through the records but couldn’t find any information about this particular plant. They were rare, with no clear patterns to what conditions are required for them to grow. Multiple attempts have been made to grow them on the farm to no avail. But the rewards for getting them are great as they power practically everything in the current human society—all the machinery and factories are powered by The Nectar. But perhaps the most important thing is that they grant enhanced power to the Giantslayers, making them capable of standing up to the giants.

Alain went silent for a few seconds. “You’re right. I do need some nectars to last me the entire summer break at least,” He said.

“Are you going to take summer jobs?” She asked again.

“Yes. I’m going to go on the next nectar expedition next week as one of the transporters. I have already applied for that.”

Lasik’s eyes widened. “Holy shit that’s quite dangerous isn’t it!? You’ll be out there for a few weeks at least!

“You won’t get any experience if you spend the entire summer break here. I’m also going to take some easy hunting jobs this week to get me warmed up. You should also consider taking private archery lessons with Guru Valan like what Guru Bram suggested yesterday,” Alain said.

“I guess I should…” Lasik’s shoulder slumped.

“I’m going. See you.” Alain saw a line of students forming in front of the entrance and decided he should join the queue now before it gets even more crowded.

“Wait!” Lasik called out to him but Alain was too fast and disappeared into the crowd. I was going to ask to be in his party for those hunting jobs…

“Name?” A Guru was sitting at a desk in front of the line of students in front of him. He was responsible for delivering each student’s grade and reward for the practical exam. After waiting in line for an hour, it was Alain’s turn. They were currently inside the academy building in one of the main halls.

“Alain. Second-year. Sword-ax wielder. I took the practical exam under Guru Bram.” Alain answered.

“No family name? Alright, let’s see.” He eyed the list in front of him. “File C13!” He shouted to the back where student volunteers were busy rummaging through documents. After a half a minute, the volunteer brought the document to the Guru. It was an envelope that the Guru quickly opened.

“An A score? Impressive. Alain, is it? I’ll remember your name. Your reward is ten vials of nectars. You can pick them up at the next counter. Also, the detailed comments for your performance from your Guru will be in this envelope as well. Anything else?”

“Yes. I need the student pass go on hunts outside. I want to gain some battle experience this summer break. I’m also joining the nectar expedition team,” Alain said.

The Guru raised his eyebrows. “Daring aren’t you? I was also like you, kid. But too much tenacity might get you killed out there. You need to remember that you are human first and Giantslayer second,”

Alain frowned at the answer, “Can you get me the pass?”

The Guru sighed. “Go to the student affairs department,”

Alain nodded went headed to the next counter to pick up his nectars.

Alain went straight to the student affairs office. The academy was large with classrooms, departments, and hallways that formed a maze. Students could be seen moving about with an exciting look to their faces as they discussed what they’d do during the summer break.

Why are you here at the academy if you’re only going to relax. You’ll die out there. Alain had a particular distaste for unskillful Giantslayers. He believed they were the life and blood of settlements, the bringer of vital resources from the outside, and also their protector. One vital mistake would cost them not only their lives but the lives of innocents inside The Sanctuary.

The only gift The Final Curse has given us is that the giants are disorganized and spread out. They have no leaders. It was indeed a gift. One of the changes to the animals and beasts that became the giants was that pack animal were no more. While insects still have hives, which were dangerous in their own rights, animals that were historically recorded to live in packs dissolved and started to live in solitude unless it was breeding season. But it also meant they were unpredictable as each giant was their own unique creature with their own battle scars.

Alain arrived at the student affairs office and opened the door. It was a small office with only a few empty desks and one person inside. A girl with curly blonde hair looked busy working on documents on her desk. On the nametag of her shirt, the name ‘Sanya Silverstone’ could be seen. She noticed the arrival of another person and looked up.

“Yes? What can I help you with?” Sanya acknowledged the new arrival.

“Excuse me. I need the student pass to go out on hunts this summer break.”

“Name and year?”

“Alain. Second-year.”

“Hold on.” She rummaged through her documents. She found the document she was looking for and analyzed it.

“Your record seems good. No misdemeanor violations as well. Judging by your skill level, I can allow you to go hunting two-stars giants. But you got to have a party,” She said.

“That would be good. But I have a question, would hunting one-star giants solo be allowed?” Alain asked.

“Solo? Normally I would say no right away but you seem to be quite capable from your records. But I have to put the students’ safety first…” She seemed quite conflicted.

“Actually, would you be interested in a search-and-find job?” She asked.

Alain raised his eyebrows. “Search-and-find?”

“Yes. You see, this morning someone filed a missing person report to the GIantslayer guild. It seems their child went missing and they insisted that the child must be outside the gate. The people over at the guild didn’t quite believe them as the guards at the gate did not recall allowing any children to roam outside. They also filed a report to the Public Order Bureau, but they still want the Giantslayers to gather a search party outside. The guild said yes out of pity but couldn’t really file it as a real mission so they sent this over to us to see if any student would want to help investigate. I personally believe the Public Order Bureau would be enough but…” Sanya told the story.

“Why do they believe the child would be outside?” Alain asked.

“I don’t know the details myself. You need to go to the guild or the parents to ask.”

Alain rubbed his chin in contemplation. “But taking this job also grants me the student pass and allow me to go outside?”

Sanya raised her eyebrows. “Why do I have a bad feeling from you asking that? But yes I was going to grant you the student pass anyway. And if you have reasons to believe from your investigation that the child is outside the gate, the guild can gather a search party and you will probably join them as well,”

“I’ll take it,” Alain said confidently.

“Really? Great! I asked a couple of students this morning and none of them wanted to take it. I’ll prepare the documents and your pass right away.” She started to write down documents in front of Alain.

I have reasons to believe the child found a hidden pathway out of The Sanctuary, somewhere out of the Public Order Bureau’s patrol. If I can find it, I can go out repeatedly without the student pass and hunt giants solo. Alain smiled in his mind.