Border

Grey woke up the following morning to the sound of birds singing, with dew drops reflecting the orange glow of the morning sun, its dawn light shining through the canopy of trees that were next to the tavern.

He took care of his hygiene and went downstairs to enjoy breakfast; the food served was a delectable lamb shoulder that had been pulled to make sandwiches. The lamb had absorbed the marinade perfectly, and the ingredients added to its taste, leaving Grey with only one word, 'Scrumptious'.

Next on his agenda was getting details from the Hunter Associaton Branch. As he planned out his day, Grey was reminded of something he had heard when at the Academy.

'50% of people can't make it past F, and of the 50% who do, only 30% get past E.' It was something Drakell had said in passing and was what he figured caused there to be a request for an E+ Ranked Beast. Usually, people ranked under D+ had to take posts at the front line or work in the private sector because there were few Beasts that the frontier guards couldn't kill, and those were all high-level Beasts. For there to have been an E+ Ranked quest implied that the frontier was short of people, and that was never a good thing.

'Oh well, I'll figure it out when I get there.'

Grey walked out of the tavern and headed down the street, the Associaton Branch located on the corner not far from him. He said hello to those he passed by, enjoying the tight-knit community of the village. In the Arkusia City, the capital of the Human domain, people kept to themselves, and they were mostly human, but here at the border, there was a mix of humans and elves, and they blended seamlessly, ignoring the barrier of culture and lifestyle.

'Fascinating.'

The short walk to the Association helped clear his mind, and he felt a sense of harmony that he had never felt before.

The door to this Association was regular-sized, and so was the building. It was a large building no doubt, sticking out like a sore thumb in the village, but in the city, it would have merely looked like an average company that was situated on the corner. 

Entering, he found himself in a regular reception hall, the receptionist greeting him with a smile and a wave. There were two comfy-looking orange couches in the corner, with a table and a potted plant, but there was nothing else. 

"Hi, can I get the details for my quest?" He asked politely, showing him his card.

"Of course, sir." The man replied. As he scrolled through his hologram, looking for the quest that was attached to his details, he asked Grey, "You're rather young, are you strong for your age? We don't get many youngsters aiming to be Hunters, you know, that's usually for after you get past B Rank."

"I'd like to think I'm strong for my age, and I became a Hunter because I wanted to gain experience," Grey replied. 

"I see, that's a rather smart decision. What were you doing before this, secluded training?... Ah, I found it." The man joked, keeping the small talk going. However, before Grey could reply, the man flashed a hologram in front of his face.

Grey read the details quickly, and then smiled at the man, before going to the exit. "Thank you, sir!"

"No problem! Be safe!"

---

Grey slowed the truck down, arriving at the wall that separated the temperate plains of the Human Domain from the cold, winter tundra of the Beast Domain. He parked in a random spot, got out, and headed to the trunk.

"Hm, sword, spear, or bow?" Grey's training had gone splendidly with the bow. As he had predicted, training with a bow proved to be much easier than with a sword or spear. It was still a little difficult, but he managed to breeze through each aspect of the manual his father gave in a mere 3 months.

'I'll just take all three.' Grey was unable to choose, so he opted to don all three. He placed his falcata on his left side and hung his spear on his back. It was then that the predicament came.

'Where do I put the bow and quiver?' This was a problem Grey knew he would have, and he knew it would get worse when he learned the axe, yet he had been unable to find an answer. He had to do so now, or he wouldn't get anywhere.

'Okay, think. You can put the axe on your other side, so that's simple, but the bow...'

- Why don't you cross the quiver over the spear, and carry the bow in your hand? As long as you draw the spear straight, you won't face any difficulty with equipping it. - Fallen Star suggested, interrupting Grey's musing.

'I mean, that could work, I guess.' Grey followed what Fallen Star proposed, but then another problem came. 'The supplies.'

- Ah, right. -

---

In the end, Grey placed the spear and the bow back into the truck. He would have to stick with his sword. It was only after he placed the items back that he realized that neither the spear nor the bow would have been useful to him. The spear would take too much space to maneuver, especially with 'Ares' Cry', and the bow would only be useful if he was skilled enough to only take a day or two at most. The quiver on his back would limit the amount of rations he could carry, forcing him to use a pouch or two on his hips.

He packed his rucksack with more supplies, and placed the sleeping bag on top, securing it with the clips on the bag. The tent went into the bag, as it had been made foldable, taking up the space of a bag of chips. 

'Well then, off we go!' Grey announced in his mind, the thought in the purview of Fallen Star only.

The parking lot was just a short 20 meters from the wall, next to the gate, so Grey didn't have to travel far. He saw what looked like a shack just to the left of the entrance.

'Must be the gatekeep.' Grey swiftly moved to the shack, and as he assumed, the gatekeeper was in the shack, a line of glass separating them. 

"Hello!" Grey said cheerily, for he was about to step out of the Human Domain.

"Hello. Please state your name and your purpose at the border." The man said in a bored tone.

'Must be pretty boring to be a gatekeeper, I guess.' Grey thought.

Outwardly, however, he said, "My name is Grey Heart, E+ Rank Hunter, here for a subjugation-type quest."

He deftly gave the man his answer, handing him his ID card, and flashing him his dog tag.

"I see. Off you go then." The man touched Grey's ID with a piece of glass, and a hologram appeared within it, showing two circles, one with a tick and one without. "When you come back, come here so I can sign you off. I have to keep note, so."

"Of course, thank you," Grey said. Immediately after, he dashed to the gate. 

Now that he was up close, right next to the border wall, he could see its full size. It was awe-inspiring, easily spanning 600 meters in height, and he couldn't even see the end of it, on either side.

He knew that it was tall, considering he could see it from the village, and he knew it was long, considering he couldn't see the end from the village, but it was still so much more shocking once he was next to it. 

It was made of grey rock, something he learned was made from the mountains of the Dwarven Domain, and he had heard that it was strong enough that a B Rank could only hope to scratch it.

CATHUNK! CLUNK! RRRR!-

The metal gate roared to life, its mechanisms clunking inside the wall. The gate split down the middle and was hundreds of meters tall, but it wasn't what moved. Only the first 10 meters of the gate opened, which puzzled Grey.

How had the metal split to allow only a certain amount to move? He could see no partitions on either side of the gate door, so the contraption enraptured him. One of the subjects he had spent studying was Engineering, yet it hadn't covered metal that could divide at will.

Once the door had opened enough to let maybe 20 cars fit through with ease, all at once, it stopped. Grey jogged through to the other side and marveled at the last aspect of the gate.

Its width. Grey had to jog for a full minute to reach the other end, and taking into account his speed implied it was at least 200 meters wide.

CATHUNK! CLUNK! RRRR!-

The gate closed, its machinery whirring again, and Grey stood and watched it.

Right after, he turned around to look at the taiga biome of the Beast Domain.

Coniferous trees that were hundreds of meters tall were all he could see when he looked up, and he could feel the cold through his clothes. He had worn a grey, thick, long-sleeve turtleneck and a fluffy jacket on top, alongside thick, black sweatpants, and tall army-style black boots with fur on the inside, so he hadn't expected the cold to reach him. 

Grey marched further from the gate, into the canopy, and glanced around.

At ground level were tall shrubs that were covered in snow like a sweet treat covered in powdered sugar. The floor was coated with a thick layer of snow, reaching his knees, but it only made moving slightly harder. 

"Hm, how do I start?"