Dry branches cracked in the fire. Four small, stocky figures sat on the fallen trunk, staring into the heat of the flames. Two of them fought for food, while the other two laughed at them. Although the harsh blizzard and cold did not strike, the heat from the flames warmed them pleasantly at night as they roasted pieces of caught meat. At most, the wind was whistling through the vegetation. A greenish light flashed in the distance. A green arrow flew through the temple of one of the characters. Blue blood splattered his companion as the tip emerged from his skull like a worm eating its way through a rotten apple.

“Akally!” Doi ordered.

The red-haired boy held out his hand palm up in front of him. [Strengthening] A miniature ball of white energy began to form in the centre of his palm, instantly enlarging to outgrow his figure, a wave of magic spreading into the air, hitting everyone around Akally.

“I feel a slight difference in strength. That’s what it feels like to get a buff,” Doi said surprised.

“What are you talking about?” Kris didn’t understand.

“Sorry, old habits die hard. While playing online games, all the positive effects that somehow strengthened us were called buffs,” Doi explained, blushing a little at the memory of the years spent on the screen.

“Buff,” Kris said thoughtfully, “sounds like a beef. I can work with that.”

Doi waved his hand at her silly note. [Preparation] He ran his fingers three times from the end to the tip of his wand. [Marking] He pointed his wand in front of the running orchies, their anger at killing one of them suppressed fear of dying. A round rune appeared above each of them. [Lightning] Doi’s hand twitched back with a recoil. Three lightning bolts shot out of the wand at once. They avoided all obstacles in the way as if they had their own will until each of them hit their target. It threw each orchie away, but it didn’t kill them.

“I must have overestimated myself. Even with Strengthening, I can’t kill three at once,” the bald magician sighed in disappointment.

The hooded girl stretched the bowstring of her bow. A green arrow of pure energy formed between the string bed and the bow handle. Without a word, she aimed and fired. The arrow pierced the heart of one of the three remaining monsters.

Kris was already preparing for the rest, but Doi stopped her: “I think it’s time for Akally to make his first notch.”

The lad gulped loudly but went against the danger. He knew that sooner or later there would come a time when he would have to fight. The Strengthening was still active, yet it was a question of how much his skills had improved. He gripped the weapon he had received from the mask. He attacked with it. A hard blow struck the orchie. The small creature fell stunned to the ground. The joy didn’t last long. The remaining orchie on his feet jumped on the lad and knocked the redhead to the ground. Akally tried to defend but couldn’t shake the monster down. The end of the rod the young hunter sank to the ground. He grabbed it with both hands and twisted the weapon as the girl in the mask showed him before entering the portal. The weapon lengthened, hitting with the other end the orchie’s chest, but did not pierce it. The staff flung the monster away from Akally. The shaken redhead got on his feet. With a scream, he began pounding furiously into the orchie with the weapon. Although his blunt wounds did not cause serious injuries, his technique was terrible and he could not put the right strength into any of the blows, he managed to knock the orchie unconscious. He did not stop. A faint trickle of blue blood flowed from the corner of the orchie’s pale mouth. He did not stop. The bruises took on darker shades. He did not stop. He kept beating him. He did not stop. The sounds of beating into the limp flesh continued. He did not stop. Kris pushed him away and turned to her: “Enough! It’s over.” She shook with him until he finally recovered. The young man’s eyes reflected madness and despair. Sometimes the hunter is overwhelmed with the instinct of self-preservation, during the fight he loses control and in affect he ceases to perceive the world around him. But Akally seemed worse off.

“We should take a rest now. The last two camps remain, there is no need to rush,” Doi suggested. Kris and the girl in the mask nodded. The four of them walked to a freshly emptied fireplace to sit down. They sat in silence in a circle and did not make eye contact. There was an obvious desire to say something on their faces, but no one knew how to begin. Kris broke the silence: “I will ask because I see that no one dares to do so. What was that supposed to mean? I’ve seen a few newcomers lose their temper, but you looked like one of them,” she nodded at the blue-blooded dirt. The young man clenched his fists. He wasn’t sure if he should answer that question. He looked at the others. Their questioning glances, except for the girl in the mask, were clear. They didn’t want to force him, but they wanted to hear an explanation. At another time in another place, a similar fit of rage could result in the death of not only the person concerned. Revealing why this happened is a good way to dispel doubts. Two months have passed since that event. It seemed like years ago, but Akally’s memories of the evening remained vivid. [Last survivor is waiting for your words.] Words? What does he mean? I don’t want to talk about it, Akally thought. His Patron was silent. Other times he didn’t miss a chance for the biting remarks, but this time he didn’t even offer advice. It seems that the decision is up to the boy himself.

“Before I became awakened before I could think about a hunter’s career, I worked at Mr Kartz’s shop. Kartz is – was - a pretty annoying old man. He kept cursing me for not being able to straighten cans. He always said, ‘Akally, turn it around, the logo must be visible!’ he always lectured me,” the lad smiled sadly, “once he let me rearrange the entire shelf because he didn’t like the colour order of the jars. When I had to visit my mother the next day, he let me leave work earlier: ‘Your poor mother. She’ll think I’m working you till death. Get home so you don’t have eye bags! I’m not going to spend the last years listening to that girl’s lectures.’ I always had to listen to him talk about his youth and watch the news with him. He was cursing at the screen and telling reporters they were wrong,” Akally took a deep breath to hold the dam of grief inside him. “On one of those days, Cursoros escaped from the alter. He sent me home early because he was scared, even though he comforted me he wouldn’t get here. He smiled as always. I realized that I had forgotten my keys in the store. When I returned,” the lad couldn’t hold back his tears, “it was too late. There was nothing I could do.”

Doi handed him a cloth handkerchief and stroked his back. The masked girl in the grey hood put down her mask for the first time. Her smooth skin, along with her pink thin lips resembled a doll, the flickering flame reflected in the malachite of her eyes, and a braid of light maple syrup hair fell over her shoulders. “A lot of hunters have a similar story. Especially the first generation that stood up to the Dawn of Darkness gained the strength to protect us after most people died,” the expression on the beautiful face became gravely serious, “but even so, there were those who saw only money in their own pockets.”

“People made money on worse things - wars, weapons, the sick. It doesn’t surprise me that anyone would find a way to make money on the apocalypse,” Dee remarked ironically and shook his head.

“As a girl, I saw dozens of people dying before my eyes, and those who had the power to change something were not willing to sacrifice even a small part of their wealth. It was as if it mattered when dragons roamed the skies and a pack of wolves in the woods is the better way to die. Patrons did not distinguish between rich and poor. They distinguished between people who had and did not have the will to fight,” the girl confided. Her worldview was not necessarily wrong, but the situation is never completely black and white.

“Why did you decide to take off the mask?” Kris asked, breaking the gloomy silence.

“Because he threw away his,” she looked at Akally, “usually my face gives me more problems than advantages. We wanted proof from him that we could trust him. He deserves to know why he should trust us.”

Kristinaa and Doi looked at each other embarrassed. They forced the grieving boy to talk about the past, even though they tried to forget theirs for whatever reason. The girl in grey hadn’t said a word to them all the time, they didn’t know anything about her, but she’d seen through them long ago.

“Unlike a lot of people, I didn’t lose anyone, I had everything in my life. But I could no longer watch the others suffer. I decided to do something about it and my own family rejected me. The others didn’t take me seriously. Even when I awakened, no one took my abilities into account. Everyone thought I was a rich little girl who took it for granted. Instead of looking for people I could trust, it was easier not to trust anyone.”

“Even though I understand your reasons,” Doi began, “it’s hard to believe that someone capable like you would appear on the portal of the light green difficulty, the lowest. It was clear to me from the beginning that this would not be your first rodeo, but now it makes sense.”

“Wait, Dee, you know her?” Kris asked.

“I had my suspicions, but there are a lot of weirdos in the world, especially among the awakened ones. I’ve heard of an experienced masked hunter appearing in rookie teams. No one knew who they were or why they would waste time with their skills completing the portals for greenhorns. It never occurred to me that anyone like that would actually exist.” The girl stood up and walked around the campfire to the redhead. “My name is Dea,” she reached out her hand.

The young man accepted her gesture in surprise: “A-Akally,” he said.

Kris smiled triumphantly: “I think it’s time to get to work,” she grabbed them both by the shoulders, “let’s go kids!”

The atmosphere in the group has improved dramatically. Doi suggested that the redhead avoid fighting. He has no fighting abilities and losing his supportive abilities could be a significant loss. In front of them was one of the last two orchie camps. Dea showed them to crouch down and move forward quietly. Doi nodded, agreeing to be more careful. After the previous experience, the orchies no longer posed a threat to the four hunters.

They approached the target discreetly. Akally thought it would be a good idea to make some preparations to make up for the previous situation. He used [Strengthening] without instruction. The white glow his magic evoked alerted the six ugly creatures. Doi wanted to shout at him, but it was too late. All the warty fatties were already heading for them. Dea pulled back to increase the distance between her and her target. Dee began to prepare his lightning magic. Kris, on the other hand, lunged forward proudly. She swung her axe with tremendous force, the gusts of wind alone were able to stop even the enemies, who were not even touched by the blade, from running. One of them, who tried to attack Kris from behind, was hit by Dea’s arrow. It was not a fatal blow, but she could temporarily stun him with pain. Two of them were struck by Doi’s lightning. He burned them to crisps. Akally watched the whole situation, which he had caused, in disbelief. It was foolish to think that he could estimate the situation on his own. Kristinaa was right, he was supposed to follow the instructions of the group leader, but now it was too late.

Half of the hideous six orchies were defeated. Doi was getting ready for more lightning when Kris chopped up the pale monster. The fight seemed over. Doi’s summoned lightning whizzed through the forest. He baked another attacker. The last shot belonged to Dea, whose arrow flew through the body of a lone camper and stabbed into the trunk of a tree behind him. Exhausted, Doi wiped the sweat from his forehead. The unexpected loss of the opportunity for a sneak attack surprised him as much as the others. Fortunately, he did not lose his temper. He remained calm, assessed the situation, and knew in an instant what he should do. He had to fix everything that the redhead spoiled as an inexperienced hunter before anyone got hurt. “Are you crazy? You should have waited for my instructions. If you used Strengthening a moment later, Dea wouldn’t have to run away, Kris wouldn’t have time to run up to her, and I wouldn’t have time to attack. We were lucky to only have a cold sweat behind our necks. Or that we even have a neck at all,” the experienced group leader scratched under his chin. The boy knew Doi was right. It was a reckless mistake. Instead of making up for his recklessness, he made it worse. There were good intentions for his actions, but that does not excuse him.

“I-I-I’m sorry,” he bowed his head in defeat.

Doi grabbed him angrily by the edge of his hoodie and pulled Akally’s face closer to him, “Wake up, boy. This is not a picnic. I know you lost someone and I’m sorry. But you won’t find him here. You better try not to lose someone else.” Kristinaa wanted to get into the situation, but Doi motioned for her to stop, “Do you know why the awakened aren’t called the hunter right away? They must deserve it. They must fight alongside the others. They have to carry the weight of those around them and trust their team. You don’t have it, Akally. Pursuing revenge will not bring you back to anything. You could have lost something else now. Think about it.” he released the boy’s blue sweatshirt and took a few steps back.

“You didn’t have to do this, Dee,” Kris said, but this time her cheerful smile faded.

“Oh please! You know I’m right. Not everyone has it.”

“This is his first expedition. Most of the newcomers shit their pants when they look at a first monster. Thanks to him, your strategy is more effective, and we can take more risks,” Kris stood up for the redhead.

“Risk more? Kristina, the risk is to enter the alter. His role is to support us in combat, heal wounds and help. He shouldn’t give us any more worries or problems. If I can’t count on landing on soft ground, I don’t want to risk a fall at all.”

“He has been able to take care of us so far. He made a mistake, you made a few of them, and he certainly didn’t mean it wrong. “

“That’s not the problem here. He threatened us all,” Doi shouted at Kristinaa.

…

They shouted at each other. The sounds of the forest were completely absorbed by their quarrel, which echoed far and wide. Dea watched them both uncertainly. She wanted to resolve it once and for all, but she usually didn’t talk to people. She didn’t know what to say. She looked at Akally on the other side of the commotion. His wounded puppy’s expression paled. His eyes widened. He seemed to be catching his breath. He jumped forward towards Dea. Late. The pointed fangs bit into the young girl’s tasty neck. A stream of blood gushed like a fountain. Black eyes like two beads set in an ugly white face with mischievous joy watched the shocked boy’s body fall to the ground. The girl’s knees broke. She sank into fallen branches, leaves, and dirt. “No,” the boy whispered. A blond mountain of muscles swirled around him like a tornado. She crushed the body of the bloodthirsty monster with an inaccurate chop. Anger darkened her judgment. She spared no strength. The small casing and organs flew around. The orchie’s body did not resemble the state after meeting the axe’s blade but was like being beaten with a blunt heavy stick. Doi’s muffled voice echoed in Akally’s ears. He didn’t hear the words. He felt like he was drowning. He couldn’t breathe. His heart was beating so fast it could jump out of his chest.

A huge hand grabbed him and pulled him closer to Dea’s body, “Sa…! Sa…! Sa…!” Kris’ voice tried to reach him. Someone was shaking with him, but his eyes focused on the pool of blood spilling between the roots of the plants. Flash. He felt a sharp stabbing pain. Again. He grabbed his red face. “Come to your senses!” Kris slapped him again, “Save her!” He didn’t think, sat down at her wound and started pushing on her. [Healing] He screamed. A greenish glow formed between his fingers, which soon disappeared. [Healing] He begged. The green glow intensified before hopes went out again. [Healing] He begged. The glow appeared fainter. [Healing] He begged for every bit of strength. He received nothing but disappointment in the form of extinguished light.

[Last survivor tells you annoyed that she died.] “Annoyed? Annoyed?! Are you fucking kidding?!” the saint was angry.

[Last survivor turned his head offended because he didn’t like your tone.]

“Kiss my ass with a bad tone! Why do I have this power if I can’t save her? You promised me strength! You promised me the power to change it! Liar! You bastard! Asshole! Cunt!” Even though Kris and Doi didn’t know what Akally’s Patron was saying, they knew it was too late. Kris couldn’t keep her emotions in check. She hugged the head shorter Doi and sobbed softly into his shoulder. He stroked her golden hair while he himself had trouble holding back tears.

[Last survivor rejects your claims.]

“You have no right to refuse anything. You have no right to teach me,” replied the saint in a furious voice.

[Last survivor says he promised you another chance.] Before Akally his Status opened. The young man looked at it.

Name: Akally

Title: Saint

Patron: Last survivor

Health: 100/100

Mana: 167/200

Attributes:

Strength: 10

Swiftness: 15

Endurance: 10

Magic power: 20

Abilities:

[Rise] Level A – Resurrects the dead person and heals all injuries.

[Healing] Level E – Heals small injuries.

[Strengthening] Level D – Increases attributes of allies.

„You bastard,” he swears as tears of joy run down his cheeks.

[Last survivor suggests that you consider a different name.]

Akally clasps his hands in prayer and says the name of his ability: [Rise] Dea’s body is covered with a golden-white glow. The wound on the neck heals. The chest moves slightly up and down. There is a jerky movement under the lids before they open hard. In front of her, Dea sees a grumpy boy, a tamed mountain and a proud hypocrite trying his best to stay strong. She stroked Akally with her weak hand across his cheek and smiled: “I’m back.”

Black. Darkness. Silence. Dea looked around. She didn’t know where she was. The last thing she saw was the horrified expression of the redhead and a pair of arguing dogs barking at each other. All she could feel was a pain in her neck, and when she opened her eyes, she was here already. “Hello?” she called. There was no echo. She walked through a quiet empty space. Suddenly she heard footsteps behind her, accelerating. She turned. A little girl in a blue dress ran through her like a ghost: “Run, Daddy!” she laughed.

“Run as fast as can, Dea! Daddy’s going to catch you!” a man’s voice laughed as well.

“Are these my… memories?” Dea asked.

[Fox outlaw nods.]

Dea winked. She found herself in the middle of a large modern office. An older man in an expensive suit stood by the glass wall, which overlooked the entire city. He was on the phone with someone when the double doors on the other side of the room opened and a brown-haired girl in a red shirt and black skirt came in. The man turned and apologized to the caller, “We’re going to have to finish the deal later, an urgent matter had just arisen. Yes, thank you for your understanding.” he hung up. “If you came because of that idiot who shoots the magic darts, don’t bother. He has already signed the contract. Nobody can change it.”

“How can you be such a monster? How can you rob people who have decided to protect us?” she moaned.

“Protect us? Yeah, that’s how you see it. Hunters protect us from a rabble from the alter and we have to bow to them. And they do it all for a good feeling? No, they do it for them to be rich because it’s us who pay them. I protect you and our good in my way. There is a need to adapt to this world. Akashic Company did it, so you have to, too.”

“Are you hiding behind the company again? The same company that exploits hunters. You make them work three times more for two times lower wage than anywhere else,” she banged on the table.

“Don’t get mad at me as a kid. You’re not one anymore, Dea. They came to see me when everyone rejected them. I just gave them a chance,” the man defended. “You were their only option. Either slavery or starvation. Quantity over quality, Father. I’m not surprised that the government has allowed guilds to be set up for hunters. If corporations like Akashic decided everything, if the alter didn’t kill the hunter, blood would be on your hands. You don’t protect anything but your wallet!”

The man pulled a chequebook from a desk drawer. He took a richly decorated pen from a pencil jar and wrote something quickly. He pulled out a cheque and moved it across the table to Dea: “Before I forget, this is your pocket money,” her father smiled condescendingly at her.

“You can’t be serious,” the daughter looked at him in shock.

“You don’t like it? Fine,” the man picked up the cheque and added another zero to the multi-digit amount, “better? I can do this because I’m the bad guy. Thanks to everything you hate, you will sleep in a soft bed today and eat dinner from one of the best chefs.”

The speechless girl picked up the cheque and left. Before she could close the door, her father was on the phone: “So where did we end up? What? Oh no, I’m just raising my only child.” Dea bit her lip to quell the urge to get angry. She would only show him that he is right in calling her child. She tore the cheque to pieces and dropped the papers on the navy-blue carpet of the office.

Another wink. This time Dea is on the street. She looks around: “Is this what I think it is?”

[Fox outlaw nodded.]

At the end of a narrow alley between houses sits a dirty girl in torn clothes. She strokes her greasy auburn hair. Dea’s father’s face appears on one of the billboards: „Director of Akashic Company made a statement on the theft of hundreds of millions, which were anonymously donated to accounts of hunters who are employed in the company. According to him, this is internal sabotage, through which the person concerned wanted to harm the company. However, recently published contracts of these hunters point to the intervention of justice against Akashic. Inhumane working hours, the lack of benefits offered by every hunter guild and the lousy reward are some of the practices of exploiting hunters of rank F to E. Failure is severely punished here, but high-performance bonuses cannot be expected. Yet these hunters have no choice because they have been rejected by other companies. Likewise, guilds based primarily on good reputation cannot accept weak hunters and novices, as this would weaken their position. You can find out more about this report in the evening news. Now for sports…”

The girl smiled mischievously: “Your castle is crumbling, daddy.” A black sign with gold text appeared in front of her. [Fox outlaw is amazed by your actions. He, therefore, offers his help. Do you accept?]

The girl looked at the message in surprise: “Patron?”

[Fox outlaw nods. He wants to support you in other activities. Do you accept?]

“What other activities?”

[Fox outlaw feels you two are similar. He wants to reward your determination. Do you accept?]

“I didn’t do it for a reward,” Dea snorted.

[Fox outlaw saw what you did. You could help others. Do you accept?]

“Others?” she got to her feet, “You should have said that right away. I accept.”

Dea, who was watching everything from the outside, pulled the cone of light upwards. “What’s going on?” she asked confused.

[Fox outlaw waves to you.]

She opens her eyes. She’s back in the woods. The redhead is sitting next to her, and Kris cries. She looks around exhaustedly. She is covered in blue blood. Seconds, before she had woken up in that strange space, flashed in her head. The orchie they hadn’t noticed crept around. He jumped on her and bit her in the neck. He pulled her to the ground. She died. But now she is alive and not in pain.

[Fox outlaw welcomes you back to the living.]

“I’m back.”