"Nick! Wake up! You’ll be late!"

Nicholas Xed groaned and threw the covers off his bed. He opened his eyes and took one last look at his room. The walls, covered in posters of pictures taken from faraway places in the universe, also had shelves lined with trophies he took from the monsters he hunted in the woods.

He got up and walked to his mirror on the wall. His bedhead made his wild red hair even more flamboyant. He could barely keep his blue eyes open because of how groggy he was. His galaxy-patterned pajamas covered most of his tan brown skin. He rubbed the crust out of his eyes and yawned.

“Nick! Come on! You have to be ready in time for the ship!” yelled Nick’s Mom from downstairs. Nick groaned loudly and yelled, “I’m coming, Mom! Just let me shower and change!”

After cleaning himself, Nick was finally awake enough to appreciate the magnitude of the day. This is it! I’m finally going to go to Master School, just like you Dad!

After changing into a dark green canvas jacket above a black t-shirt and beige cargo pants in his room, Nick walked down the hallway to the stairs. The walls were brown and lined with pictures of him growing up and his parents on the trips they went on. Nick made it to the dining room/kitchen/living room at the bottom of their house with his mother glaring at him. She had dark skin and red hair like his, but her eyes were brown. She was one head and a half taller than he was and very muscular.

“So, you finally decided to get out of bed, did you? And here I thought you were going to sleep in until the ship was gone and I’d have to take care of and provide for you for another year!” Nick groaned and said, “Mom I-” But Nick’s Mom held up her hand and said, “Save it! Just eat, get your bag, and leave!”

Nick rolled his eyes, sat down at the table, and marveled at what he saw. There were piles of waffles covered in syrup and whipped cream, sausages heaped together and dripping with juice, a huge omelet with cheese folded in, speckled with pepper and a tang-tomato sauce drizzle, and a pitcher of his favorite aurora fruit juice swirling with colors.

Nick gaped at his mother and said, “What’s... the occasion?” Nick’s mother rolled her eyes and said, “Well, since the Master Academy is basically a military school, I assume the food they serve is slop. So, your last decent meal for a few years might as well be memorable.”

Nick was a little confused because he knew it was general knowledge that the Master academy served the finest food gathered from all over the universe and was quite far from a military school, but he decided not to back-talk his mother and have his breakfast privileges revoked... again.

After finishing what was no doubt one of the best meals Nick had ever eaten, he got his bag which he packed the previous night and walked along the cobblestone path to the main road with his mother nagging him all the way. In place of a lawn, they had a huge garden full of the rare plants and herbs his mother cultivated for a living, all grown from seeds his father brought back when he visited from his journeys. Each flowering plant had spritelings, small feminine creatures of many shapes and colors small enough to fit into Nick’s hand, floating between them; only proving that the garden was one of the most well taken care of in all Iaso, Nick’s home dimension.

“Did you pack all the clothes I laid out?” “Yes.” “Your toothbrush?” “Yes.” “Deodorant?” “Yes.” “Soap?” “Yes.” “Mr. Critter?” “Mom! I’m almost twenty!” But yes. “Are you sure you didn’t miss anything?” “Yes! For Almighty’s sake yes! You know Mom, the next time you see me, I’ll be a full-fledged adult, so you better get used to the idea of treating me like an equa- Urk!”

To Nick’s utter astonishment, his mother had pulled him into a crushing hug and was shaking with sobs. “Whatever happens, no matter what trials you face, no matter what monster stalks you in the night, no matter what horror you witness, promise me, promise me, you’ll come back alive!”

Nick was completely speechless. He had only ever seen his mother this vulnerable very few times in his life. First when her pet liger, whom she raised from a cub, had died. Second when Nick had come back bruised and bloodied after his first monster ambush. And third when the people came to their house saying that his father had died on one of his journeys.

“I... I promise Mom.” After a few moments more, Nick’s mother released him and wiped her eyes. Nick’s mom replied in a shaky voice, “I’ll... just be in the house.” Nick’s Mom raced back to the front door and disappeared behind it. Nick took one last good look at the place he grew up at. It was a simple house, two stories tall and not terribly big. The four brick walls held up a slanted tiled roof. Nick was pretty sure his mother was looking back at him from the bottom-floor window. Nick turned around and walked past the entryway in the chest-high wall encompassing the garden and began his trek along the gravel road leading to the central town, his heart full of equal parts excitement and longing.

The fields of the prairies were mostly featureless with the occasional patch of the flowers. Occasionally, there were patches of plants that Nick recognized to be edible herbs and grains. Far off in the distance were the woods that few people in his home dimension dared to tread for fear of the local species of monsters. As Nick was walking along, he heard a shrill shouting coming from down the road that steadily grew louder.

“Help! Someone, please help!” A little girl in blond pigtails and a yellow dress came running towards Nick and stopped to catch her breath in front of him. “Please... please help me.”

Nick bent down to face her and said, “Calm down. What seems to be the matter?” The little girl looked into his eyes and said, “M... M... Monsters took my puppy!” “Monsters? Describe them to me.” The little girl paused for a moment and said, “They were green and scaly, could walk upright and had weird eyes that were pointed and could look in different directions.”

Sounds like a pack of chameleo drakens thought Nick. Chameleo drakens are D rank reptile beasts. Not the strongest monsters in Iaso, but dangerous in groups, especially if they got the drop on you with their camouflage ability. They were also voracious carnivores that didn’t care about snatching prey much smaller than themselves.

“Don’t worry, I know where those monsters live, and I’ll be happy to get your puppy back.” The little girl wiped her eyes and said, “Thank you, I’ll be waiting right here.” Nick turned away from the path and began his trek to the woods.

Nick was pretty sure he was in the chameleo drakens’ territory. Chameleo drakens like to live in places where the underbrush was thick and tall so that if anything came hunting for them, they could use their camouflage to ambush them instead. The sun could barely shine through the thick bushels of leaves on top of the trees, but there was enough for numerous bushes and tall grass to grow on the forest floor. The part of the woods Nick was at was devoid of the usual bird’s chirping and squirrel chattering, only proving that it was the territory of monsters.

Suddenly, the bushes to Nick’s side started rustling. Nick turned and held up his fists to face whatever decided to make prey out of him. Three small shapes scurried out from the bushes and moved to surround him. They had round shells that were green on top with six yellow legs coming from below them. In the front were long yellow necks topped with green compound eyes and a long yellow-green slender proboscis curving downward. Weasel beetles huh? Not what I’m looking for, but dangerous nonetheless.

Weasel beetles are F rank insect beasts. Their primary offensive tactic is to jab with their proboscises and spit corrosive mucus highly concentrated with digestive enzymes. If you can read their movements and keep control of the battle, you can stomp and crush them to death before they can do some serious harm.

The beetle to Nick’s left started crouching. Suddenly it leaped to the air, unfurled its wings, and sailed towards Nick’s neck with its proboscis extended. Nick leaned out of the way and as the beetle sailed over his body, he punched the beetle’s abdomen while jumping up, shattering it to pieces.

Nick turned and jumped back so that the remaining beetles were facing him. One of the beeles, now to his left, extended its proboscis towards him, went rigid and shot a glob of slime towards him. Nick sidestepped out of the way of the corrosive projectile and, while keeping the momentum, ran up to the beetle and kicked with all his all his might, sending pieces of the beetle flying forward in all directions.

The last beetle raised its proboscis and quickly scuttled towards Nick’s right leg. Just as the beetle got within stabbing distance, Nick raised the targeted leg and quickly stomped the beetle flat with a loud crackling sound.

After a few more stomps for good measure, Nick looked around at the scattered segments and splashes of slime all over the clearing. Nick bent down to the last beetle he killed and pulled out the proboscis. He had to do some searching, but he found the other two proboscises and put them in his bag. Weasel beetle proboscises, once cleaned and dried out, made excellent bendy straws. Monsters may be pests and at their worst present threats to entire populations, but their remains are raw materials stronger and more versatile than most things found in nature and more easily processed and longer-lasting than anything produced through artificial means, making them very valuable.

As Nick was preparing to move on, he heard a twig snap and jerked to a defensive stance. He swept his gaze around, looking for anything out of the ordinary. In front of one of the bushes, he saw a shadow that seemed to come from an area where the bushes and ground were slightly warped. He slowly drew a paintball from his pocket and threw it at the hidden chameleo draken.

With a shrill call, the chameleo draken revealed itself. It had a crested skull with a small skin horn on the tip of its slender nose set in front of its pointy, constantly moving eyes. Its torso resembled a human’s but with a more uniform shape with the front having plated skin and the back covered in scales and sporting a long, curled tail. Its hands and feet each had two digits with the ones on the feet being longer, and the ones on the hands with more joints. The chameleo draken hissed at Nick, revealing its hot pink mouth and dark plate-like fangs, got on all fours, and scurried back into the bushes before reactivating its camouflage.

Nick wasn’t worried because he made the tracking paintball from a recipe his Dad showed him, each ball carried a bright red fluid that constantly ran and dripped, making it easy for even an elementary-level tracker to keep up with the target. Nick drew a knife and pistol from his bag and began his chase.

Chameleo drakens may sound intimidating, but because of their advanced stealth capabilities their skin was soft and easily broken, so they never attempted to fight anything as large as themselves alone. They live in packs of about twelve to better secure food, but they always divide any food they find amongst each other after bringing it back to their den. Nick followed the path of paint drops through the brush and long grass.

After another ten minutes, he heard a commotion coming from in front of him and slowed his pace. After reaching the edge of the grass, he parted it lightly and gazed upon the community of reptile beasts. They lived in an area where they flattened out the grass in a circular shape. Chameleo drakens communicated using simple sounds, gestures and changing their colors. The one Nick had tagged was dark grey with its head held low while the others hissed and snapped at it while wearing bright red colors. When Nick surveyed the area, he saw a pile of small animals tied up in simple cordage, one of which was shaggier than the others and yipped constantly.

Nick decided to make his move. He raised his pistol, aimed down the sights, and made six shots in rapid succession. Five of the drakens shrieked and fell over, the parts of their body the shots found their mark on swollen and useless. The pistol was a gift from his father after he found out about his talent for hunting monsters. It’s called a stinger pistol, made from the remains of an insect beast called a hista hornet, a monster who’s stinging causes a severe allergic reaction that makes the struck body part swell up and become immobilized. Weapons made from the remains of monsters, if handled by a competent Artisan, can inherit the abilities of said monsters.

Using the confusion of the drakens to his advantage, he rushed towards the group and brandished his knife. When he took a swing at the nearest draken, he lopped off its head in a small but loud explosion. The knife he was using was a sparking dagger, made from a mammal beast that constantly shed dandruff-like dust that exploded upon sudden impact or pressure called a black powder rat. When dragged across a surface, it makes a low-grade explosion.

The other drakens faced him and shrieked. Firing from the hip, Nick managed to immobilize three more of them. The remaining four drakens charged him after grabbing sharpened branches as weapons. He rushed towards the one furthest to his left, sidestepped it’s thrust and buried his knife in its lower jaw, blasting its face off. Another one leapt into the air and tried to thrust its spear downward into Nick. Nick ran directly under the draken’s body and raked his knife across its chest as it fell, killing it instantly.

Nick turned to face the remaining two, but they had already dropped their spears and engaged their camouflage while he was dealing with the other two. Nick dropped his pistol, drew a handful of dried popping peppers from a pocket and threw them to the ground around him, causing them to burst and send up a cloud of reddish-brown dust.

Popping peppers, once diluted with other seasonings, could make any food have a unique spiciness. But in their raw form, they can severely irritate a creature’s senses to the point where they can’t concentrate at all. The hidden chameleo drakens started hacking and turning random distorted colors. Nick ran behind the one closest to him and buried his knife in its chest. After a muffled pop came from inside the monster’s chest, the draken fell over with black smoke coming out of its mouth.

Nick faced the last remaining monster. It crouched low, started trembling, made a low reptilian rattling sound and had turned bone white. Nick knew from experience that a cornered and desperate monster was the most lethal kind of monster, and he had the scars to prove it. So, he decided to use a trick his Dad had taught him that was so difficult, it ended up not working thirty percent of the time.

Nick bared his teeth, puffed out his chest, spaced his feet apart and held up his arms with fingers in claw-like positions and began to concentrate. Nick brought up images of all the injuries he suffered while fighting monsters and images of all the damage and sadness monster attacks had brought upon his community. A dark wrath began building up in his chest, and he imagined that wrath flowing into the energy surrounding his body. Then, he visualized projecting that energy outward towards the chameleo draken while shouting a guttural holler.

The chameleo draken completely froze and turned bright yellow. After ten heartbeats it scurried in the opposite direction and engaged its camouflage, disappearing back into the bush. Nick bent over in exhaustion and started breathing heavily. His Dad called that technique Intimidation, and to Nick’s utter astonishment it was able to make Iaso’s top monster run away while yipe-ing when he showed it to Nick as an example.

After catching his breath and putting his weapons back into his bag, he walked up to the heap of bound animals and used an ordinary pocket knife to set them free one by one. The puppy, a grey terrier, still had its leash on. Nick stroked the puppy’s back until it calmed down. He grabbed the other end of its leash and led it to the edge of the circle while avoiding the dead and immobilized monsters.

After another hour he found his way back to the prairies and could see the little girl in the distance. When he got within sight of her, she started jumping up and down and clapping. “Oh Skippy!” the little girl cried as she hugged her terrier. When she finished, she looked at Nick with reverence and said, “Thank you so much, mister! I’ll go back to my house and get my parents to give me an advance on my allowance so I can pay you! Masters like money, right?” Nick held up his hand and said, “First off, call me Nick. Second, I’m not really a Master, but I’m on my way to becoming one. So, I’m not really comfortable taking your money.” The little girl gaped in wonder and said, “Wow, you’re one of those people my mommy calls a gentleman, aren’t you? Thanks so much, I’ll be sure to tell everyone about you!”

Before Nick could say anything else, the little girl grabbed her puppy’s leash and raced off with her dog yipping behind her. In truth, Nick didn’t help that little girl out of any sense of chivalry or justice. He just needed to do something to take his mind off the unfamiliar situation with his mother. The ship wasn’t leaving for two more hours and he had time to kill, so when he encountered the girl he thought, why not? He also didn’t like making a big deal about hunting monsters. It wasn’t a job or something he did for recognition; it was his way of life.

Nick sighed and shrugged. I don’t have time to worry about small things like making a name for myself, I have a ship to catch in another hour! Nick turned around and headed for the central town once again.