Association

Samantha and Lucas stared at Grey, who stared back. All three were dead silent, contemplating the words Grey had just said.

"Of course you can!" Lucas abruptly said, shattering the silence that had drowned the room.

"I agree." Samantha spoke up. She was a little pissed that Lucas arbitrarily made the decision for the two of them, but it was okay because she would have said yes either way.

"Really?" Grey asked, confused. He had expected a little pushback from the two of them. He thought that they would have encouraged him to stay at The Island.

"Of course, Grey. I saw the look on your face when you were there; you were bored. And, your academic scores leave nothing to desire, they're perfect. It's obvious that you know all of it, and, with your perfect memory, anything you don't know you'll figure out in seconds." Lucas gave his explanation, which was followed by Samantha's.

"I'm not entirely okay with it, but you're 17, almost 18, so you're almost an adult who can make his own decisions, and I know that you don't do things without thinking them through."

"I see," Grey said, "still, didn't you both agree too easily?"

"Oh, Lucas said last night that you might do something like this." Samantha giggled.

"Oh." Grey turned to look at Lucas, "I guess you're a pretty good teacher, old man —you can even read the emotions of your students."

"I know, I'm talented. Anyways, we've got to get you your ID, let's go." Lucas practically jumped out of the couch, and dragged Grey by the arm, toward the door.

"Hey, I can walk by myself!" He yelled.

---

Lucas drove Grey to the Hunter Association, a tall building similar to the Hero Association. It was many floors high, all built of paneled glass that reflected the sun. An 'H.A' was placed at the top of the building, advertising to everyone what it was. 

'The Hero Association has a different sign; an 'A.H', I think.' It was a necessary distinction because Hero and Hunter both started with H. 

Grey walked alongside Lucas, heading to the front door. Similar to the Hero Association, the doors were made for giants, standing at 3m tall, and 3m wide. There was a dwarven profession called Mech Riding, and it was sacrilege for dwarves to exit their mech anywhere that wasn't their workshop. It raised a few questions about eating, drinking, and even excretion, but who was Grey to ask those?

Once inside, Grey motioned for Lucas to go sit down; he didn't need him to come along. Lucas smirked, seemingly laughing at Grey, which confused him, but he ignored it. He headed to the counter and as he walked, he looked at the architecture of the building. It had a modern style, yet the building emanated the feeling of a rustic tavern one would find in an adventure story. The walls were white, and the chiseled pillars were black, with white inscriptions on them. The high ceiling was the stars above, and the floor had designs of minerals and even Mana Beasts on it. 

At the counter stood an old man.

"Hello sir, I'd like to sign up to be a Hunter." He said politely.

"Of course, young man. How old are you?"

"17."

"Ah, I see. You'll need a guardian then." The man spoke, which made Grey facepalm.

'If I needed a guardian, why did you not come with, or tell me? Making my life hard for no reason.' Grey thought inwardly, whilst turning around to look for Lucas.

He found him by the cafe, getting a coffee. Whistling to catch the attention of the man, Grey yelled. "Yo, Dad! I need you to be my guardian!"

The whistle attracted everyone's attention, not that Grey cared, but Lucas seemed oblivious to it. He only turned around once he heard Grey's voice asking for him.

The man practically slunk over to the counter, grinning at the boy.

"Oh, my son. Whatever reason could the boy who said he didn't need help, need help for?" He sneered. He had fun seeing Grey go back on his words so quickly.

"Yeah, yeah, just help me, old man." Grey ignored Lucas' mockery, glossing over it immediately. He turned back to the old man at the counter who had patiently waited for him.

"So, now that he's here, can we begin?"

---

Grey stood next to his father by the car. In his hands gleamed a card of black, that had his details written in white. He was measured the same way he was at The Island, so the procedure was fast. On the side was a photo of his face, and underneath that was a box that was ticked. It turned out that you could also take a driver's test here, so Grey chose to get his license. 

Not only that but Grey was given a dog tag. On the tag was his rank: E-. He had improved since 3 months ago, which was good. He had expected his power to increase to E+ at least, before he turned 20, so this was extremely fast. 'I might have been able to reach D by 20.' 

Similar to Mana, but less spoken about, 20-30 was also the age the body saw its strength increase the most. 

"How's it look?" Lucas asked.

"Pretty cool, pretty cool." Grey replied.

"Alrighty then, let's go home. I've got a few things to teach you before I can send you off."

"Oh really?" Grey inquired about the nature of what Lucas would teach him.

"It's a surprise."

"Oh fu-"

---

The next week was hell for Grey. Lucas, as he promised, taught Grey subjects that were extremely important for Hunters: Tracking, Rationing, Foraging, How to spot Dungeon signs, and more. The training was hell for Grey, as all training that Lucas called a 'surprise' was, but he expected it, so it was a little easier. Between each lesson, Samantha took it upon herself to 'spoil' him, as she said. It was more that she smothered him, giving him no time to breathe, but neither dared tell her that. 

Grey was stood in front of the door, with a rucksack containing enough food and water for a few days, and some other supplies. Lucas had generously given him his truck, so Grey stored his weapons, outdoor equipment, and spare food there.

He looked to his mother who was standing just indoors, wearing a robe over her pajamas, and hugged her.

"I'll miss you." She said.

"Mhm, I'll miss you too. Don't forget me whilst I'm gone." He cracked a joke to lighten the mood, before turning to his father, expecting a hug.

What he received was a firm handshake, followed by a pat on the back. No words were spoken between the two, but they came to a mutual understanding. The feeling Grey had from that understanding was more than what words could express, and Samantha stood by the two, watching in sheer confusion.

"Well, then. I'm off." 

Grey moved to the truck, got in, started it, and drove off. He took one last look at his parents and then chuckled to himself.

'Damn, here we are acting like I'm leaving for years. It will only be a couple of weeks, at most.'

- I know, it's rather childish of them, and uncharacteristic of you, Grey. - A voice resounded in his head.

'Hey! Don't insult my parents.'

- My apologies, you oddly acting weirdo. - Fallen Star said.

-Says the voice that only I can hear, who inhabits my soul because It doesn't want to be found by God.' Grey retorted.

- Fair play. -

The drive to the Association was filled with Grey's laughter and the sound of music. Any passerby would have found it strange, but only he knew what was going on.

Grey got out of the truck and walked inside the building. He headed to the counter, expecting to see the old man in the spot he was in last time, but there he found a young woman, maybe 24.

"Hello, I'd like to take a quest." He requested.

"Of course, sir, I'll just need your ID." He handed his ID card over, watching as the woman scanned it to verify the card. "What quest would you like?"

"Uh, I'll take a subjugation-type." He said outwardly. 'Didn't come here to pick leaves, I came to gain experience.'

"Of course sir." The woman tapped on the holographic screen that appeared before her, presumably searching for a quest that matched his rank and type. "You have 3 choices."

She swiped the hologram, which switched its view around, allowing Grey to see the beasts he could choose to kill.

Grey looked at the Mana Beasts; the first was a bear with blue fur, indicating that it was a Water-Fire beast, making it a WaF-Bear. The second was a leopard with dark red fur, telling him that it was a Fire-Water leopard or FWa-Leopard. The third was another leopard, this one with both black and brown fur. This meant that it was an irregular beast, a Dark-Earth beast, or DE-Leopard for short.

- So, they label the species and then label them according to Affinity. Fascinating - Fallen Star commented.

'I'm with you there. But I like it. It's straightforward, easy to understand, and quick to figure out.'

Grey looked up at the woman, her gentle smile still plastered on her face, and asked. "Could I get your opinion on this? I'm new, so."

The woman's smile grew wider at that statement, and she happily told him which one she suggested, and why she chose it.

'I guess most newbies are overconfident, seeing how she reacted.' He thought, listening closely to her advice.

"Well then, I'll take that one, thank you." Grey said, taking his ID card back from her.

He swiftly left the building and hopped into the truck.

'Let's go.' He thought with a smirk. 'Time for an adventure!'

---

Grey drove for 15 hours straight, arriving at a checkpoint where he stayed the night. He had about 30 more hours to drive and since the speed limit on the highway was 200km/h, he still had a considerable amount to go.

2 days later, Grey reached the border. He stopped in the nearest town, admiring the smell of the countryside. In the distance, he could see the tall walls of the border, acting as a frontier against the occasional rampant beast, or vampire attack. 

Hunters were sent not to kill the beasts that rampaged, but to kill those that had a chance to, stopping them from doing so. Beast grew fast, much faster than other species, and so they could quickly become a threat if not taken care of.

Grey settled in a tavern, its sleek brick walls of white creating a nice ambiance that seemed to reflect the joyous atmosphere like white did to sunlight, amplifying it.

'Good night, my best-est pal in the whole universe.' Grey thought to Fallen Star.

- Good night to you too, Grey. -