Dark Panthers

Hunter gently wrapped Catherine's arms around his shoulder, placed his hand under her legs and lifted her from the ground, along with himself.

"Let's get out of here," he said to the now deceased brunette in his arms.

As he took a step forward, he heard a loud roar coming from behind him, which sent chills down his spine. He had never heard such a bone chilling sound and this wasn't because he was feeling cold. It was different.

Usually, Hunter is able to fend off monsters he comes across because they're as weak as he is. But, he's in a tier 4 dungeon and he's way out of his league. Even with his newfound power, it would barely scrape the beasts that approached him.

Their claws were so sharp that they left marks wherever they set their paws. Their mouths were covered in slobber, inside them, razer sharp fangs and teeth so huge they'd make the big bad wolf's teeth look like they were still in development.

Their fur was charcoal black, blending well with the environment around them. Their piercing gazes, star white and solely focused on the meal before them. Although he had never seen them in real life, Hunter had heard stories of the monsters who stood before him.

"Dark Panthers..." Hunter said as he held Catherine tighter and moved back a few feet.

The dark panthers growled and snarled at Hunter. Unlike him, they had an advantage because of their ability to see in the dark, like all cats. But, he couldn't allow himself to be cat food after fighting the strongest hunter in his age group.

'Well, it was more of a beat down than it was a fight...' Hunter said to himself as he shook his head. "System Rosana, a little help please?" he added as he looked at the floating orb, a faint smile forming on his face.

[You have a dormant skill that was gifted to you at birth. Would you like to view your statistics in order to view, learn about it and use it?]

"As if I have time for that...! What am I supposed to do?!"

[Don't punk out now, Hunter Quinn. I granted you a steel dagger and a spell, didn't I?]

Suddenly, everything clicked for Hunter. After gently setting Catherine down, he reached for a ripple in the air, pulled out his steel dagger and held it in a defensive position.

[System Rosana has gifted you a new skill!

Fast Break:

- Allows the user to quickly dash towards their enemies and deliver a critical hit within the first 3 seconds of activation]

"Hell no, I'm not reading all that. I'm just going to use it!" said Hunter.

Hunter was now surrounded by an intense aura. A second after, he drew his dagger back and dashed towards the dark panther closest to him. Another second later, he landed a critical hit on the monster's head, causing it to bleed out and die before making a sound.

The remaining panthers growled and charged for Hunter. After blocking their clawed attacks with his dagger, he was pushed back and was clawed on his arm. He groaned and jumped back, but as he did, another panther pounced towards him.

"Shit!" Hunter exclaimed.

That's when his dagger was suddenly coated in black flames, which made the panther cease its attack and back away because of the fire. Hunter took note of that held his dagger like a sword, allowing the black flames to rise and to give him some light.

"Looks like you guys aren't too fond of fire. Well, it looks like I'll be having big cat meat for dinner tonight!"

Hunter leapt for the dark panthers and the panthers charged in as well. Thanks to his black flames, Hunter was able to see properly and attack more decisively.

SLASH!

One panther fell to the ground and bled out.

SLASH! SLASH!

Two more panthers fell to the ground and bled. One by one, the dark panthers reduced themselves in numbers. But, Hunter came to face a problem. Using the black flames was taking its toll on him. He was running low on energy.

'No! You can't run out of MP now...! That's right... I was never fighting monsters of this level, so of course I'd run out of energy this quickly,' Hunter told himself.

[Hurry up and get rid of those dark panthers, Hunter Quinn]

"Why don't you help me out instead of-"

CHOMP

As he let his guard down, one dark panther got a bite of Hunter's arm, causing him to scream and stab the panther with his black flames. His left arm was now bleeding and completely useless. On top of that, his black flames were losing strength.

Hunter bit his lip and gripped his dagger tighter. He looked at the remaining three panthers and observed them. Two of them were already in a bad condition because he managed to cut them earlier, meaning only one would give him trouble if he wasn't careful.

That's when he decided to use Fast Break. In the first second, he effectively slashed the first dark panther, causing it's head to fall. In the second second, he pierced the other panther and let it bleed to death.

For the third and last second, he turned his attention to the last panther, but it was gone. His Fast Break ability was already worn out, so he couldn't afford to lose sight of the panther. As he moved his dagger, he felt his heart spike and fell to the ground.

The dark panther emerged from the shadows and opened its large mouth, ready to bite off Hunter's head and put an end to him at last.

FOOSH

The dark panther suddenly hit its head on the stone wall and clawed at the air. Slowly, it bled and eventually met its demise. Hunter slowly raised his head and looked at the dark panther. There was an arrow sticking through its neck.

Hunter turned to the direction of where the arrow was fired, where he saw the silhouette of a person carrying a bow and arrow. Before he could get a proper view of who saved him, he shut his eyes and fell unconscious.

[The next day...]

There was a beeping noise. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the white ceiling above him. The area he found himself had a funny smell that couldn't be described but could be familiarised all the same. He looked towards his left arm and noticed it was covered in bandages.

"You're awake," a mysterious woman said as she looked at Hunter.

Hunter looked at her and realised where he was. The lady sitting beside him must've been the archer who took care of the last dark panther; the one that almost killed him. Hunter sat up straight and continued looking at the young lady.

Her hair was black and she had silver eyes. From what Hunter could tell, she was probably in her early 20s, and boy was she attractive. Looking at her just reminded him of Catherine, which made him remember that she was present in last night's events as well.

"Catherine...! Where is she?!" exclaimed Hunter.

"The girl who died in that dungeon you were in? Her body was collected by the search and rescue team," the young lady replied.

"... I see..."

"Was she someone important to you?"

"She was my girlfriend," Hunter replied with a faint smile on his face, his gaze averted from the young lady's.

"I see. My name is Charlie Hiroyuki. I'm with the Hunting Guild Investigation Force. I'd like to ask you a few questions, Hunter Quinn," said Charlie as she crossed her arms.

"You know my name?" Hunter asked.

"In my line of work, I'm supposed to know who you are. Now, tell me what a tier 18 hunter was doing in a tier 4 dungeon, the exact location where a tier 6 huntress was stabbed?"

Even though he wasn't responsible for Catherine's stabbing or her death, Hunter knew it wouldn't do him any good to try and beat around the bush. Even the truth won't be enough for Charlie, so he had to think fast.

But, what could he say to someone who had the authority to not only revoke his hunting licence, but also put him behind bars for a crime he clearly did not commit?