Path of a Hunter

"It is not a girls name... It can be both. Obviously. Anyways, you were talking about how corrupt it is here, why don't you just move?" I asked the old man.

"Move? Where to? How would we get there without being hunted down by the Demons? The only people who protect us from the Demons are the Templars of Light, they have the strength to protect us but they don't exactly take requests. Their mission is to guard the city, and the people who inhabit it. I don't like them but at least they do what they say they will. Oh look, there is Anna with another demon sympathizer." The old man pointed, and I saw a familiar face.

It was the woman with the people hunting for me!

It turns out they don't have significant influence here, they are posing as the good guys, and making us heroes out to be traitors of humanity!

It was terrible. I watched with somber eyes from the back of the cart as they carried his lifeless body to the castle walls and hung his head on top a pole. I felt as though his lifeless eyes were following me, warning me to leave as soon as possible.

We drove by, but the eyes of the man haunted me. As if they were a sign of my fate if my identity is revealed.

I shuddered and pry my eyes away from the haunting sight.

"Um, Uncle, do you have any ideas of jobs I could possibly do to make money?" I asked, as we made our way through a busy market. The man was looking for a peddling spot to sell his crops.

"My name is Gus, and there are tons of ways. The most profitable would definitely have to be being a Hunter. But that is dependent on your own ability. It also has a high death rate, but it is indeed profitable."

"Hunters?" I asked, curious if this was indeed like some novels I had read before.

"They go into dungeons and clear them for rewards. These dungeons are ranked from F-Ranked to SSS-Rank, the rank determining how many levels there are and the difficulty of clearing them. If you wanted to become a Hunter, you simply have to go to a nearby Guild to register." The old man said, glancing at me, and then at Myra.

"My name is Myra, I also want to be a Hunter, when I am confident in my strength that is. Or perhaps... we could form a party?" The girl who introduced herself as Myra said.

"A party?" I asked, trying to confirm something.

"Yes, with the party system we would be able to distribute loot and exp would be completely equal."

'So the system is not unique to me! It is a gift given to all inhabitants. At least Humans, I guess I can't really say all. Still, this is interesting, so the world is like a big video game. I should go to the Dungeons and see how reality translate into those HP values.'

"I would appreciate the help, the more allies the better the chances of survival. Then perhaps we can head there while Gus sells his crops?" I asked, looking from Myra to Gus, asking for his permission firstly.

"Haha, you kids go ahead, I'll just sell my crops and then wait for you at the guild." Gus had a hearty laugh, which was surprising considering his small stature.

Myra grabbed my hand and began to drag me towards the guild.

"We'll be back!" Myra shouted, excitement evident in her voice.

As we continued to jog along, she began talking.

"I have been waiting for more than six months to become a Hunter, I never felt confident enough to take a dungeon on by myself, but now that you're here I feel we can at least kill a monster and awaken our innate talents!" She told me.

"What do you mean by innate talents? I don't see anything like that when I check my status." I said, deciding to not treat the system as a secret, since it was not.

"Oh? Has no one explained it to you before? Well, everyone starts as a Level 0, and to become Level 1, you simply need to slay one monster. In our case, we have to kill 2, but after that we will unlock our innate skill. Everyone has an innate skill, that is completely unique to them. Depending on your innate skill, your path forward can drastically change." She explained. Stopping outside a large building that looked like an inn from the outside.

She then walked inside, for which I followed, and the interior is exactly like how I envisioned fantasy guilds to look.

There were booths where attractive women were sitting on the other side, ready to help answer questions and other services. There was the iconic bulletin board with requests or bounties, and guild members were sitting near a bar talking with each other.

It was a quiet atmosphere, and I was pleasantly surprised there weren't any people causing trouble like in the stories.

Little did I know that was only because people who were members of the Guild were usually just like mercenaries, where they risked their lives for money and when they weren't they just wanted to enjoy themselves.

Egos got people killed in this line of work.

However, not all Hunters belonged to a Guild. Many belonged to powerful families, or nobles.

I would come to learn that the hard way.