-FIRST HUNT-

Horned Rabbit Tower didn't look like much of a tower. An open field lay before me with a low fence surrounding the outskirts. Closer to the center of the field a thick stone wall stands over 10ft tall, barbed wire surrounding the top with a large door on the north wall. In front of the doorway stand 2 guards as stiff as statues. A small table lay next to the guards, a boy my own age dressed in a robe with what can only be described as a mage's staff talking with the man at the table before being let through the door.

I approach the table and greet the gentleman.

"I am here to train, can I go into the gate?"

The man holds his hand out expectantly and speaks, "may i see your hunter license?"

After handing it over and having him check it over, he confirms its legitimacy and lifts his head to speak once again.

"It seems this is your first time entering a gate so I will explain things to you. Since this is a gate for beginners to test their skills there isn't much danger. Inside the gate is a large tower where you may fire your skills from a safe range at the Horned Rabbits. Every 4 hours the dungeon will be shut for half an hour while we collect the cores dropped by these horned rabbits. Once cleared the gate will open again. You are not to leave the tower and explore the gate. You are not to interrupt other hunters in the tower without reason. Do not collect the items dropped by the Horned Rabbits."

Quite a lot of things to remember but I think I can manage.

I nod my head to show I understand. 

"Once you leave the gate please speak to the gentleman inside the walls before leaving to report how many Horned Rabbits you killed so you can be compensated."

"Do Horned Rabbit cores go for much?"

"A Horned Rabbit core sells for 12 credits each."

A pitiful amount. I don't try to hide my obvious disappointment but I nod and turn to enter the walls, nervous for my first time inside a gate.

Inside the 4 towering walls I can see another man standing at a table. He must be discussing the compensation for the archer standing in front of him but it doesn't take my attention for more than a moment as The large purple portal before me takes all my focus. It stands over 7 feet tall, a warm purple glow surrounds the pulsing tear in reality.

Holding my breath I take my First step towards the gate and my vision shifts, the environment around shaking before settling.

The floor is a smooth gray concrete that stretches until what should be the walls but instead of more concrete I see the horizon. Pillars surround the edge of the platform. Some spaces between the pillars have other hunters firing spells into the horizon.

Some hunters are alone, others are accompanied by friends. The mage I saw before entering seems to have a type of mentor with him giving pointers after each ball of dripping fire leaves his staff.

There's plenty of empty spots so I claim my spot a few spaces down from the boy with his mentor.

Looking over the edge I see the fields spread out for as far as I can see, Horned Rabbits are sparsely hopping in the field, holes are visible from the tower where the Horned Rabbits poke their nose out the dens. Arrows and small craters from spells litter the field, small orbs which must be the cores of the Horned Rabbits scatter the field.

With my status window open I carefully monitor the numbers, submitting them to memory. I need to make a mental note of how much mana my ability uses, how many Horned Rabbits it takes to level up and how much my stats increase when I level up. Every class needs a different amount of experience to level up with stronger classes taking more to level up but offering more stat points too.

160 mana and 16 intelligence. Clearly i have 10 mana for every point in intelligence but i will have to spend some points in intelligence to see if that's really true. My goal for today is to confirm my ability and to level up and confirm my theory about my intelligence and mana being linked.

I keep my status window opened as I raise my hand towards the open field and let mana collect in my hand, not aiming at anything specific.

'Long Range Spell'

'Long Range Spell activated: Water Ball'

'Fires a ball of water at the target'

The ball of water is no bigger than the ball of poison I shot back at the target range. It makes a nice arch before falling to the ground and splashing harmlessly.

150/160 mana

So a water ball only took 10 mana… though it didn't seem like a very useful spell i guess it more or less confirms my theory. 'Long Range Spell' really does just that. It fires a long ranged spell. I wonder if it's truly random? Maybe there is a limit to the spells it can choose from. Like maybe there's only 20 or so low level spells to pick from… or maybe it really is random and picks from every spell it deems long range. And if a water ball costs 10 mana then what if it picks a bigger spell? What if I activate something that takes an insane amount of mana like the legendary black hole spell? I don't have nearly enough mana for that so maybe it just won't activate. I should test more.

Raising my arm once again I spotted a Horned Rabbit that just hopped out of its den. My arm is extended in its general direction so I suppose I should try again.

The rabbit sniffs the floor around the entrance to its home checking if it's safe before it freezes in place, eyes wide, refusing to move a muscle. Then in an instant it darts back into its home, clearly spooked by something.

'Long Range Spell: Fear'

'Causes the target to feel fear'

That seems like a pretty good spell but it's a shame to get here where it won't help.

140/160 mana

That also took 10 mana?

I raise my hand once more at the hole where the rabbit darted back into. If I get a strong spell like that poison shot then I might still be able to kill the rabbit. Focusing once again I push my mana down my arm, the feeling becoming more familiar with every use of the spell.

Nothing happens.

I check my status window to see which spell was activated. Maybe I was right and I can't activate higher ranked spells because my mana pool is too small. 

As I looked to read which spell was activated I noticed the feeling of mana still draining from my arm at a slow pace. 

130/160 mana

129/160 mana

128/160 mana

A window suddenly appears in front of me.

'You eliminated a Horned Rabbit'

Looking back out at the field I see no difference so I turn back to the status window again.

'Long Range Spell activated: Blood Boil'

'Heat the target's blood until it boils. Consumes mana until canceled'

Wait… This is a high level assassin technique used by one of the S-Ranked assassins!? I remember there being controversy over this skill since some people deemed it too brutal and believed it would be used for harm against other hunters. How could I activate such a high level skill with only 10 mana? And the mana consumption after it was activated was way too low. It should take at least a dozen mana per second but it only cost me one. That's insane. 

My amazement was swiftly interrupted by the mage I saw at the entrance. He seems to have walked down a few spots to speak to me, his mentor following silently. His robe is a dark black at the bottom, slowly fading into a crimson red at the hood. He draws back his hood revealing a face I really could do without seeing.

"H-hey Eli…"

"What are you looking all giddy for? You haven't even activated a spell after that pathetic water ball. I thought I could see something interesting after I saw how bright green your status window was but I guess you're just another mage with useless spells."

Eli is as charming as ever. He clearly wants to show off his spells so i decide to humor him, curious of how strong he is for someone of the same age as me.

"It's my first time inside a gate so I am a little nervous. Why don't you show me how it's meant to be done."

He smirks and lifts his chin to show his superiority but his mentor stays silent, quietly observing me.

I back out of the way and let Eli take my place, observing to see how powerful he really is. After scanning the field for a moment he spots a rabbit that's freshly exited its den.

"Now watch this!"

He raises his staff and the large red gem stuck on top begins to glow, aiding him and amplifying his attack. Maybe I should focus on earning money for some fancy equipment like that.

What looks like a ball of fire emerges from thin air, condensing and folding in on itself till it becomes a thick almost earthen ball of magma. He fires the ball of magma at the unsuspecting rabbit, instantly knocking it back a few feet before melting its way through the dead creature.

The clear grin and bead of sweat on his forehead show how proud he is. Turning towards me he opens his mouth to gloat.

"That's how a real pro does it. You're looking at a future A-rank hunter! Now it's your turn. Shoot your spell again and maybe you might splash one of the rabbits this time!"

He got quite a kick out of his own joke which attracted the attention of some of the others on the platform who turned to see my spell.

No pressure I guess.

A girl my age, accompanied by a man who looks like he could be her father, turns to watch me, followed by 2 guys in their mid twenties who have been messing around throwing spells wildly and finally a girl in her early twenties with a bow in one hand and an near empty quiver at her waist who seems to have been watching from the start.

A bow seems like a decent weapon to bring to a gate like this but in reality the arrows cost more than the reward for hunting a Horned Rabbit so most people without some kind of magic arrow conjuring skill hunt elsewhere if they can.

Deciding it's time I pass Eli to go to the edge of the platform. I managed to spot his status window which I never saw since his family spent the money to have him awaken early. A dark green, almost a little muddy, colored window means he must be a rare mage class which was pretty obvious from the magma spell he used. Magma is a higher form of fire magic after all so his class must be something like a magma mage. I've heard of a few high level magma mages so it must be a strong class.

Approaching the edge I take a moment to breathe. The small crowd of onlookers is making me quite nervous but I try to shut it out and look for a target. It's a bit far but a rabbit just hopped out from behind a small bush in the distance and I can't see another one any closer. I raise my arm and feel the mana flow once again through my veins and towards my hand.

'Long Ranged Spell activated: Sharp Lightning Bolt'

'Shoots an extremely thin lightning bolt at the enemy'

Lightning crackles in my palm. The Blue lightning begins at my shoulder and wraps its way around my arm, descending to my hand, almost like it's following the flow of the mana in my arm. After collecting in my hand for a moment a beam of pure lightning shoots at light speed from my hand directly into the rabbits eye, leaving a hole no bigger than a coin through the creatures eye,

The sound alone was deafening, as if thunder had struck right next to us. The silence that followed was even more deafening.

Eli broke the silence first, "Wha-what was that?! I thought you only had that shitty waterball. How do you have such a powerful lightning spell too? Let me guess, you managed to buy a spellbook and decided to come show it off here. Well I can do that too! I don't need stupid lightning spells, My magma spells can easily defeat you. You probably used all your mana trying to show off too."

By the sweat of his brow after he shot his spell I think it's safe to assume that he used all his mana trying to show off.

I look at my status window just to confirm the mana usage. 10 mana every single time. This is insane.

I nervously look around at the crowd to see the reactions. The girl and her father look kindly at me with a silent amazement. The 2 fools quickly picked up their jaws and started pushing each other in jest, shooting pretend lightning bolts at each other. Finally the girl with bow continues looking at me but doesn't seem to change her facial expression, instead turning her gaze towards Eli.

"Next time I'll make sure you know I'm stronger."

With his last retort he exits the gate. His mentor gives a deep bow before silently following him out of the gate. Poor guy must have it rough.

The girl with the bow approaches.

"That was impressive kid. I'm the hunter managing this palace at the moment. Thanks for not turning it into a fight, so many new hunters come in and start fights over such petty things so its nice to see someone with a little sense."

Ah so she was the hunter in charge of managing this palace… I suppose she just makes sure people follow the rules and stuff? Either way it doesn't matter right now, I should return to hunting.

"I see, well I don't plan on breaking the rules and having my license revoked so soon after awakening. Anyway if it's alright with you I would like to continue hunting."

"Of course, sorry to bother you. Don't force yourself though. A spell like that uses a lot of mana so don't overdo it."

With that she returns to her post for a moment before another hunter enters the gate, seemingly swapping positions with her, then she leaves. I suppose her shift was over.

I can fire at least 10 more spells before I'm out of mana so let's see how lucky I can get.

END OF CHAPTER 3