Sepeti yawned and stretched as he shambled past one of the many janky little Peacekeeper huts that dotted the ever-growing perimeter of the city. He coughed as a smattering of sand hit the back of his throat.

He grumbled as he took a swig of the bottle of juice he’d stolen from the impressive spread the Hunters had assembled for the examinees. He was still groggy, it was far too early to be up and doing a damned exam.

He’d hung around at the Practical and was now regretting it. It hadn’t been as exciting being a pure observer and he hadn’t been particularly invested in seeing who won or lost. But it had been enlightening. Somewhat. The only surprising thing that had happened was Malia winning the tournament style exam. She’d taken out Helena with an exhilarating display of staff mastery. The so-called ‘favorite’ of the exam, Jovan, had bowed out in the same round that Sepeti had been eliminated.

“It’s too early for this,” Sepeti mumbled as he yawned again. He’d nearly lost it when Ms. Lina had announced the early start for the field exam at the end of the practical. He’d had to get up just as the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon. What kind of monster would set an exam for so early?

“It’s not that bad,” Malia said as she handed him another bottle of juice. Thankfully, he’d been able to find her before Willa or Niklaus had found him at the early morning meeting. Using her as a social shield was an absolute must at such an early outing. “What does kind of suck is how long they think it might take.”

Sepeti groaned as he was reminded of the expected length of the exam. The assistant instructors who had greeted them at the Hunters Hall had given them an estimate of six to eight hours for completion. They hadn’t even told them any specifics other than where they’d be meeting the instructor running the exam and the expected run time.

“This sucks,” he pouted, dragging his feet and hanging his head. “I only got to sleep for ten hours. That’s nowhere near enough.”

Sepeti continued to sulk, ruminating on his lost hours of sleep as the group of examinees, much smaller than it had been at the beginning of the practical, arrived at the designated location.

“Good morning my little chickadees!” Ms. Lina boomed. Somehow, even at this forsaken hour, the woman was chipper and ready to go. She was dressed in her instructor outfit, a gray on black two-piece suit that Sepeti had to admit was pretty cool looking. The crowd groaned in response to her loud voice.

“So good to see all your pretty little faces again this morning. I hope you’re all ready for a fun and fulfilling day of hunting and gathering, ‘cause I sure am. I’m sure you all had a restful night as you prepared for this eventful exam. As some of you may have already noticed, our numbers have been thinned. And that’s fine, that is completely within expectation.”

Sepeti looked around and did a quick count. Of the approximately one hundred examinees that had been in attendance the day before, there were now just over forty. Most looked just as groggy as he felt. Some looked jittery, eyes flitting all over the place as they seemed to have a hard time concentrating. He noticed Jovan standing near the front of the group, eyes sharp as he listened to Ms. Lina’s every word intently.

How the hell was the lanky man able to always look so composed and cool?

“For this portion, you will all have six to eight hours to fulfill various objectives that we will be passing out to each and every one of you. First,” the instructor snapped her fingers and a piece of paper appeared in everyone's hands. “This is a hunting list, made to mimic the one that is usually provided for all Hunters. You will work off of this list, hunting and either slaying or capturing the monsters on it. While the names have been provided, you will all note that there are no names or descriptions. Learning about each monster will also be factored into your score for the day.”

Ms. Lina pointed at a row of tables that Sepeti hadn’t noticed when he’d first arrived. On the tables were neatly stacked books, notebooks, tools, utensils, and canvas bags.

“Gathering is also an essential skill for all Hunters.” Ms. Lina snapped her fingers again and another list appeared in the examinees hands. “This is a gathering list. As you are out hunting and broadening your horizons with knowledge of our local non-humanoid population, you will be keeping an eye out for plant life and minerals that will be necessary for your growth as a Hunter.”

Sepeti gave both lists a quick once over, suppressing yet another yawn as he read the names on the ‘non-humanoid hunting list.’ They were all technical mumbo-jumbo, full of long hyphens and scientific names.

Who the hell would write a hunting list using the technical names of common monsters?

The name’s annoyed him but he noticed that many of them had a number next to them. He jumped to the bottom of the list and saw that all of those names were more like titles rather than scientific designators.

They-Who-Break-The-Void

Minute Bearing

The Call

He thought some of the last names sounded really cool. These ones didn’t have any numbers next to them and were emboldened, seeming to almost be flashing as his eyes passed them. There was something special about all of the titled names.

“Some of you may have noticed,” Ms. Lina continued. “That the names provided on both lists don’t give you many indicators as to who or what you’re supposed to be tracking down. These are the technical designators our researchers use when they chronicle many items and beasts our Hunters turn in. Another vital component of being a Hunter is the ability to collect and understand information from a variety of different sources. The books there will allow you to narrow down and identify the monsters and materials you will be tracking down. Research isn’t just for the eggheads.”

Sepeti sighed. It was way too early for this shit. It was much, much too early for research. He wasn’t averse to broadening his horizons and learning stuff, he just didn’t want to or like to. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Malia smiling at the list. At least one of them was excited about what was going to possibly be a long, arduous day of plodding through a sea of words.

“Now, usually the field exam is a group only affair. Usually, we allow you all to partner up in groups of up to six examinees. But, this exam is a bit on the special side. We have been given the go ahead to allow solo examinees to strike out and prove their worth as a singular Hunter. Solo hunters will be given a point premium, allowing them to earn two points for every one point that a group of examinees may earn.”

Mumbling rustled through the group as an excited energy woke everyone up. Sepeti found that he was nodding for no reason as he thought about hunting alone. He would prefer it. It would give him a nice little time frame to practice and hone his shadow style without having to worry about exposing his ability to others. He was still worried that someone may have noticed his use of |Shadow Step| during his final match. But he hadn’t been approached about it by any of the other examinees or the instructors.

The part that would slow him down the most had to be the research part. He entertained the thought of jumping around the arid desert, hacking and slashing any monsters he came across, but he had to figure out how many points the research portion would award first. He also wasn’t sure how they would prove that they’d taken out a monster on the list.

“This doesn’t mean that the Solo Hunters will be exempt from the research points. Research will be worth triple for them as the proper way to harvest and collect plant parts, materials, and monster trophies will be noted in the books we have provided. Points are deducted for improper handling of materials, this applies for Solo and Group Hunters. We aren’t saying that a hunter can’t just go out and hunt monsters at random, this is a feasible strategy. But the upper limit of points would be limited for the examinees who ignore the research portion.”

Sepeti looked over the list again and counted. The list of monsters, excluding the titled ones, sat at an even fifty names. The top name on the list had a flickering (30) next to it. The last name before the titled names had a (3). He also counted fifteen titled names. In all, sixty-five names were listed but the actual number of available monsters to be hunted for the exam was a little closer to two hundred when accounting for the numbered names.

The idea of hunting solo seemed more and more appealing as he considered it. He felt a little bad for ditching Malia but she would only get in his way. He had things he needed to test out and this was the perfect setting. Plus, he couldn’t get too reliant on working in teams. He’d never been one to like group settings where strengths and weaknesses were most apparent.

“With that being said,” Ms. Lina said, drawing the group's attention back to her as she glanced at a band on her wrist. It didn’t look like a timepiece but she studied it like it was one. “We will be keeping a live tally of points earned and lost during the course of the exam.”

She pointed in the direction of the tables and a large board rose out of the sand behind them. A magical projection flickered to life and listed all of the examinees' names.

“This will be your base of operations. You can take what you need and range out for whatever your objectives are. We encourage you all to check back in frequently so the board can update and keep a running tally of your points. We wouldn’t recommend hunting or gathering with multiple trophies and minerals stashed on your person as you never know who or what may be attracted to your load.”

The group began to wander toward the board as each person looked for their names. Surprisingly, all of the names were already ranked. Sitting at number one was Malia with a shiny one-hundred next to her name. Sepeti sat in the twelfth spot. He smirked as everyone realized that this was giving them their scores for the previous day's exam.

“All righty, I see you’re all ready to go, so I’ll let you get to it. You all have thirty minutes to make your teams or declare yourself a solo. Then the exam will begin!”

Ms. Lina’s jovial announcement seemed to unbuckle something within the now restless crowd as a rush of voices filled the still air. Malia was still looking up at the board when Sepeti turned and caught the worried look on her face. Normally he wouldn’t care. Normally, this wouldn’t even faze him. But he’d come to like the young woman. He wasn’t even sure why, but he did.

“I’m gonna go solo,” Sepeti said before he had any time to change his mind.

Malia startled like she’d just remembered he was even there. Her furrowed brows drew deeper for a moment before they relaxed. She nodded and so did he.

A small part of him had hoped she would ask for him to group with her again. That small part that he remembered from when he was a kid. Back when he used to watch the other kids playing and they’d never asked him to join.

He crushed that small part as he turned and walked toward the tables with the books and materials. He picked up one of the research books, flipped through it quickly, then tucked it under his arm. He did the same with another and quickly found that he would only need one copy. Thankfully, the archivists and researchers weren’t long-winded and provided very succinct, to the point information and descriptions of all the animals.

Sepeti also grabbed himself a couple skinning knives from the material table and tucked them into his inventory. He gave the utensils a quick look before deciding he wouldn’t need anything else.

“I’m going solo,” Sepeti repeated to the nearest assistant instructor. He couldn’t tell if it was the same one who had been in charge of his line at the practical, seeing as they wore those eerie masks.

“Oh you are?” Ms. Lina’s voice startled him as she materialized next to her assistant. “Good. Because you were one of the reasons the Collective are allowing solo’s in this exam.”

“How?” Sepeti said as he tugged at his eyepatch, adjusting it so it would sit comfortably on his face.

“Special request from on high,” the instructor answered, twirling her index finger like he was supposed to understand. “You wouldn’t have been allowed to make a group if you’d wanted to.”

“Sounds stupid. Why you even telling me?”

Ms. Lina snorted as she draped her arm around her assistant's shoulder and leaned against them. The woman appeared unable to do anything normally as she stared at him from an awkward side eye.

“Because if you die then I’ll have a clear conscience. I, for one, was against allowing any solo’s. None of you, not even Jovan, demonstrated the ability necessary to be a successful solo hunter. And now I have to actively dissuade more than a few numbskulls from going the route that was only really meant for one person, you.”

Her tone was cold and hard. Her eyes flashed a calculating anger as she stared him down. It felt as if she had hated him for ages and he was just now realizing. She was nothing like the bubbly, over-the-top persona that she’d been showing them all over the past day. A shiver snaked up his back. She suddenly moved, pushing off her assistant and getting in his face with a speed he couldn’t comprehend.

“How do you know him? How did you get his patronage? And what the hell did you do to piss him off enough to force you to take a suicide exam?”

“W-who?” Sepeti stuttered as he stepped back. Before his foot made landfall the instructor was next to her assistant once more, arm draped over their shoulder again.

“No one,” she sneered in a low voice. “For your sake, I hope whichever of the titled monsters you run across make it quick and painless for you.”

The woman disappeared. Dissolved, really, as her image just ceased to be where she had been. Sepeti’s stomach quivered as the urge to relieve himself made it grumble.

“There’s a bathroom over there,” the assistant instructor said as they pointed at a small wooden shack.

Sepeti slid along the sparse shadows the morning sun cast. He extended his senses as he searched for traces of the next easy group of monsters. While he hid in the comfort of the shadows, he continued to double and triple-check the passage concerning the monsters he was currently tracking. As far as he could parse, they were some sort of desert frog that were as large as a medium sized dog. It didn’t make sense that there would be damned frogs in a desert, but here he was, tracking them down.

The passage said that they were capable of high speed overland travel using their powerful back legs and were adept at burrowing into the softer sands using their adapted arms. The last group of monsters he’d hunted languored in his canvas bag. They had been a strange snake species that could flatten their bodies out and blended into the terrain with eerie accuracy. He’d tried to see if they were sapient but none of them had responded to his questions.

Killing them had provided him with some much needed information. The list Ms. Lina had provided appeared to be magically enchanted so that it would automatically deduct monster numbers as they were exterminated. He figured he could use this as an easy way to cross-reference his kills with the passages he had to painstakingly slog through. That first one had been a real pain, seeing as so many of the prefixes for different monsters were the same. While it hadn’t taken him long to find the passage he needed, he was miffed at the fact that he wasn’t actively hunting and had to spend precious time reading a book that wasn’t even interesting.

Sepeti passed through a shadow that felt wrong as he propelled himself forward on autopilot. It felt thicker and heavier than the others he’d been riding through. There was something really wrong with it.

A thunderous mewling filled the air as he frantically searched for another shadow to plant himself in. This one just wasn’t right and it made him feel uneasy the longer he spent in it. He needed to get out. As he surveyed his surroundings, he realized that all the shadows had disappeared.

Odd. Why the hell would the shadows just disappear?

Another odd, cacophonous mewling filled the air. Then it turned into an angry bleat as he felt himself being pulled out of the shadows. An enormous figure rose out of the viscous shadow he’d hidden in and dragged him out of it too. He emerged with a wet pop before he was unceremoniously dumped onto the sand dripping wet. The first thing that popped to his mind was the thought that he was being birthed once more. It didn’t feel good or right.

Sepeti spluttered as he scrambled to his feet, sand and mud caking him as he rolled about. The figure continued to rise but he found no shadow being cast over him. He looked up and finally saw what the hell the figure was.

It was a gigantic, nearly ten-foot tall goat standing on its hind legs as it continued to bleat and mewl randomly. Its coat was slick with a film of slime that dripped all around it, leaving huge spots of mud. It lacked a shadow despite its huge size. Its tongue lolled between its oversized teeth as its large head angled so one huge, bloodshot eye could look down on Sepeti. It snorted as it laid eyes on him.

“Meat,” it bellowed in a deep voice.