Alhen walked through the streets with his mentor and ended up in front of a building with a sign that read ‘The Crying Halberd.’

  It looked inconspicuous from the outside; the building was plain and dark, resembling more of a small fortress than a tavern.

  “We are here; do not look at anyone and stay close to me,” Alaran warned.

  Alhen nodded and entered the establishment.

  The interior contrasted with the plain exterior.

  Gold adorned the tables and chairs, a red carpet lay on the floor, and multiple paintings featuring creatures adorned the walls.

  The people inside, however, looked serious.

  Only a few sported smirks or laughed, making the ambience seem heavy.

  All of them were hunters.

  Their thuls were on clear display, and the majority dressed in leather protective clothing with their moon-blocking glasses.

  Alhen walked close to his mentor’s back, being overwhelmed by the number of unknown people in the place.

  It all felt so alien compared to the church where he had spent practically all his life.

  He waited with his mentor at the empty front desk for someone to show up.

  After waiting for five minutes, he could feel gazes burning on his back and the pressure on his body mounting.

  With nothing to do, he allowed his mind to wander.

  He observed the room and noticed something in common with everyone.

  “Why do the hunters here have no metal armor? Wouldn’t that be better than leather for going out on hunts?” Alhen asked while looking at his mentor.

  “Kid, only nobles or guards use metal armor, as they have connections to get one. Most armors are not available to rejects or commoners.”

  Most top hunters also do not have it, although I believe it is because they have gotten used to wearing leather clothes; it is more comfortable, and metal armor weighs you down and limits your range of motion,” Alaran said.

  “Rejects?” Alhen asked.

  “They are lower than commoners; they live in the Lunar District in poverty and danger east of where we left. Be careful around them; they are dangerous. You will see once we eventually go there.”

  ‘Isn’t that where Henry lived?’ Alhen wondered as he widened his eyes.

  “I had a friend; I think he was a reject, not all of them are dangerous,” he replied.

  His mentor snickered and kept his silence because the receptionist had arrived.

  A fair-skinned, red-haired young woman with green eyes and a clear fake smile approached them.

  She wore a plain brown dress that reached her knees, had her nails painted black, and her cold gaze didn’t match her lower expression.

  “How can I be of help?” She asked.

  The lack of amusement in her voice was evident, talking as if she wanted this conversation to be over already.

  She gave off a vibe that made Alhen’s hair stand on end.

  “I want this kid here to take the hunter initiation test. What are the available contracts?” Alaran asked.

  The receptionist kept smiling as she looked at them and headed out to the back of the establishment without saying a word.

  “It looks like she has no motivation to work. Is she being forced to? That smile of hers didn’t seem genuine,” Alhen whispered to his mentor now that she had left, wasting no time to start asking questions.

  “Do not judge too much; the most probable reason is that she had some sort of trauma or personality disorder. It’s a common thing amongst rejects,” Alaran explained.

  “How do you know she is a reject?” he asked, unaware of whether a discerning quality could tell them apart.

  “She has been marked as one; when she comes back, look at her arm, you should be able to see it,” Alaran said.

  Alhen seemed to understand as he nodded slowly and thought about Henry.

  ‘Did he have a mark on him?’ he thought.

  He couldn’t indulge in his thoughts much as the receptionist came back with four scrolls in hand.

  She handed all of them to Alaran, who looked at the contents in silence.

  He tried to watch with his mentor, but his short height compared to Alaran made it impossible for him to do so, making him frown.

  Having nothing else to do, he surreptitiously glanced beside him at the woman’s arm and noticed that indeed, she had a mark.

  It was shaped like a star, barely visible on her pale skin.

  A second later, an arm covered the mark; it was the woman who had noticed his stare.

  Alhen locked eyes with her, and despite a clear reaction on her face, he could tell that she was feeling uncomfortable.

  “I’m sorry,” he simply said before averting his gaze.

  ‘Crap, I was discovered,’ he thought, and waited for about five agonizing minutes for his mentor, who seemed unbothered by the world around him.

  The woman didn’t acknowledge his words, remaining silent as she looked at the ground.

  Alhen tapped his foot lightly on the floor, growing impatient by the second, wanting to get out of this situation.

  After a few more seconds, Alaran called for him, breaking his trance.

  “Alhen, you will be doing this one.” His mentor handed him a scroll, which he took a minute to read, and furrowed his brow.

  “How can I possibly do this job? It’s an underwater contract,” Alhen asked, looking at his missing arm in the process.

  “Stop whining; you will do it.” Alaran turned to the receptionist after taking the paper from Alhen and gave it to her.

  “He accepts this job,” his mentor said.

  The receptionist looked at Alhen with those cold eyes of hers and widened her smile before retreating into the distance, making him flinch.

  “You might have fancied her eye,” Alaran commented before lightly laughing to himself.

  Alhen didn’t take it seriously; he was nine years old, but it was indeed strange.

  She came back with a pen and told him to sign the paper. He read the conditions and nodded to himself.

  Nothing seemed fishy, only stating that if he died, was robbed, and many other things, the establishment wouldn’t take responsibility.

  Alhen took the pen and wondered what his sign should be.

  It’s not like he had practiced during his stay in the church.

  After a few seconds of consideration, he opted to write some random lines and call it a day.

  He made sure that they were simple enough to remember for next time before handing the paper back..

  The receptionist smiled even wider, with her expression remaining the same.

  Alhen gave a polite smile back in response, but in his mind wondered how someone could smile that widely.

  “Come,” Alaran said before turning to leave the establishment.

  They headed out and walked in the direction of the steel gates where they had left the walls last time.

  “You are still incapable of protecting yourself. I would suggest that you leave romance for another time,” Alaran said, sounding serious.

  “Wait, you think that I was flirting with her?” Alhen asked in response, sounding genuinely confused.

  Alaran nodded without offering a commentary of his own.

  Alhen was about to argue, but a scene in front of them made them stop.

  They were in the middle of the street, a thin line of cobblestone floor where only two people fit side.

  They were cornered by the houses, which were joined to one another.

  In front of them, a group dressed in light yellow fancy robes blocked the path, their attention directed at a wooden door.

  Alhen was about to say something, but Alaran’s hands quickly shot up and covered his mouth.

  He could feel a tug in his jacket before they both hid behind a stairwell leading to a house.

  He wanted to ask questions, but one look from Alaran was all he needed to know he had to keep quiet.

  Alaran motioned for him to peek and watch the scene.

  Alhen, who was curious about what was happening, obliged.

  He peeked from behind the stairwell, and considering the darkness, he doubted that he was visible at that time.

  Alhen remained cautious, however, as he didn’t know about the capabilities of others in this world.

  Maybe they would be able to sense him.

  The men in yellow robes knocked on the wooden door before yelling.

  In the quiet alleyways, their voice immediately reached his ears despite the distance between them.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “This is the Sun family. We order the owner of this house to exit immediately, or we will have to enter by force!” One of the men shouted.

  Silence, Alhen’s heartbeat quickened as he wondered what was going to happen next.

  He didn’t have to wait a long time to find out.

  “Bam!” A man, twice the size of the others with bulging muscles, approached the door and kicked it down effortlessly.

  The loud sound resembling a small explosion echoed in his ears, hurting them a little.

  The men rushed inside, and it was quiet for a few minutes; no sounds were made.

  Time passed, and nothing seemed to happen.

  He looked at his mentor and noticed him signaling to keep looking.

  Without an option, his gaze remained firmly locked on the door.

  It was faint at first, like the end of a whisper that leaves you wondering if you heard something or your mind is playing tricks on you.

  It grew louder by the second, and he noticed there were screams that came from inside the house.

  He paid full attention to the door, and he tried focusing on what the commotion was about, but couldn’t pick up on the shouting inside.

  The screams grew desperate, growing louder and louder.

  ‘A woman,’ Alhen thought, distinguishing the sound at least.

  A woman screamed, and her voice became more audible by the second.

  “M… ki… NO!” He heard her scream, some of the words more discernible than others.

  The sound made his body go cold; this was a scream of extreme emotional pain.

  By this point, Alhen looked at Alaran, asking, “Are we going to help her?” His mentor shook his head.

  “It is none of our business,” he replied coldly.

  Alhen gritted his teeth; he knew that what his mentor said was right.

  They could get deep in trouble if they messed with a crazy group like this.

  Even though he didn’t know who they were, they seemed to be large and unhinged.

  The next moment, more voices were heard, this time they were softer, immature… child-like.

  The men appeared in his vision, a man carried a struggling woman on his back, while others carried two crying children with them.

  “Mom!” They cried, barely looking to be above six years of age.

  Without thinking, his hand shot up to his revolver and aimed at the nearest man.

  His body had acted on pure instinct and rage from what he witnessed.

  All he could think of watching those children, all he could see, was his friend Henry being taken away.

  He was being taken away from him, again.

  His breathing grew erratic as his hand trembled, pure rage reached the deepest parts of his body, clouding his mind and thinking.

  Henry cried, and he started getting further away from him.

  With bloodshot eyes, he squeezed the trigger, but nothing happened.

  The expected sound of a gunshot didn’t ring out.

  With a dumbfounded expression, Alhen looked at his hand and saw himself gripping thin air.

  His revolver had disappeared.

  ‘Quick! Henry is getting away,’ Alhen thought.

  He looked around him, not finding it.

  His body tensed once he felt a hand touch his shoulder.

  His head snapped in the direction of the touch, only to find Alaran with a revolver at hand.

  “Were you searching for this?” He calmly asked.

  Alhen nodded and went to take it, but Alaran withdrew his hand, not allowing Alhen to take hold of the weapon.

  “Give it back!” Alhen screamed, frantically reaching out to take the revolver, but Alaran wouldn’t allow it.

  “You are not in your right mind. Breathe deeply, Alhen,” Alaran said, but Alhen didn’t listen.

  His mentor, seeing his mentee’s efforts growing by the second, sighed before hitting Alhen’s head at such speeds that it was almost impossible to see with the naked eye.

  Alhen fell on the floor, unconscious.

  Alaran waited patiently, one second, two seconds, three seconds, until Alhen’s eyes opened when exactly ten seconds had passed.

  “W-what happened?” He asked, holding his left arm to his head.

  “What happened is that you lost your mind. What you saw back there was concerning for sure, but you should not have reacted the way you did.”

  “If you let your emotions control you, you will die sooner than you think. I never want to see this happen again,” Alaran scolded.

  “But-” Alhen didn’t get to finish his words as one look from his mentor shut him up.

  “The group we just saw was from the Sun family. This group is directly under the orders of one of the sons of King Otis.”

  “If you had messed with them in some way or had gotten their attention, it would have ended badly for you.” Alaran paused, letting his words sink in Alhen’s mind.

  Alhen frowned and held back a curse.

  ‘Damn it! Just because they are royalty, they can do whatever they want. If only I were more powerful…’ he thought about the crying children.

  They pleaded for help, but ultimately, their cries for help fell on deaf ears.

  ‘I need to be more careful in the future,’ he thought, but still, he couldn’t help feeling the way he did.

  He was snapped out of his thoughts once an object entered his vision; it was his revolver.

  Alaran held it out with his right hand, and Alhen took it.

  “Let us resume our walk; you have to finish this assessment job in less than three cycles minimum.

  Alhen nodded and avoided thinking about the situation any longer.

  They arrived at the steel gates where the same guards were posted.

  They recognized them immediately, and Alhen hurled a golden coin their way before they let them through.

  They left the gates and entered the forest, where the atmosphere changed.

  While they walked towards their destination, Alaran began talking.

  “The requirements to be a hunter have become much simpler nowadays. For your first contract, you don’t even have to hunt—what a joke. Back in my day, it was all about it.”

  Alhen rolled his eyes and said, “There’s a chance that there are wihts down there; also, retrieving treasures can be considered a hunt in itself for them.”

  “Do not try to explain it, kid; there is already a group dedicated to treasure and artifact hunting called the ‘Seekers.’ I guess they are the ones who issued the job.

  “I restrained myself to not giving you something that you could not complete in your current state; just make sure to finish it without dying in the process,” Alaran commented.

  “It doesn’t sound hard, it’s just collecting some treasures, right? How hard could it be? I will definitely complete it without problem,” Alhen replied.

  Alaran didn’t comment on his words, and they jogged to the contract location.

  When they arrived, Alhen saw in front of him a huge lake.

  Its water looked red because of the glasses, which brought back bad memories from the day Lord Oros gave him his blessing.

  His body shivered involuntarily, and he gazed at his mentor.

  “Are you sure that this is the only way inside?” Alhen asked, already regretting his life decisions.

  “It is not the only entrance, but the one I want you to take. Most of the creatures in this lake are harmless and should leave you alone.”

  “Also, it will take less time to arrive, considering you do not run out of breath and die hahaha!” Alaran laughed, but Alhen couldn’t find the joke in his words.

  “Wait, what do you mean there are creatures in the water? That’s too dangerous!” Alhen exclaimed.

  “Why are you crying? If something happens to you, I will be there. Now stop worrying and get in the water,” Alaran ordered.

  “Alright… I will, but how will I get out of these waters once I’m in there?” he asked.

  “There should be an exit down there that leads to the surface. You are also going in alone, so always remain cautious; you do not want to be taken by surprise.”

  Alhen widened his eyes and looked at him as if asking for an explanation.

  “Kid, do not look at me like that; You cannot rely on me to keep you safe all the time; that is something that you should do by yourself.”

  “No matter what the father tells me to do, I am not going to baby you; that is not my job; now get in the water.”

  With a worried gaze, he opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

  After a few seconds, all he could mutter was “understood.”

  Alhen made sure his weapons were strapped tightly to his body, checking two times just in case, and took off his boots to enter the water.

  With shaky steps, he dipped into the icy water, feeling his body shiver from the touch.

  He swam with one hand far enough from the coast where his mentor looked at him with that mask of his, not revealing his emotions.

  “Alright, time to do this.”

  He took a deep breath before submerging himself underwater.

  Nothing could be seen in front of him; it was as if he were submerging into the abyss.

  His speed was relatively slow thanks to having only one arm.

  After a full minute, he started running out of breath, and he realized that he didn’t have his Luna Signum activated.

  He avoided panicking and wasting more oxygen than he should.

  The inside of his jacket glowed with a bright white light, and he could feel his lungs capable of holding out for more time without breathing.

  Three more minutes passed, and he neared his limit once more.

  No matter how much he swam down, what he searched for didn’t seem to be in sight.

  ‘Am I going to die here? Please god no.’ Alhen prayed fervently.

  He hoped for someone to hear him.

  If he didn’t find what he was looking for in less than half a minute, he would drown.

  His limit closed in, and after a few seconds, he reached it.

  His lungs burned, his eyes widened, and the cold water started driving him insane.

  Going forward was the only way to live; no turning back for him now.

  His struggles grew desperate, frantically pushing with his left arm.

  His mind became hazy, his eyes started closing, the world fading, until he eventually passed out.

  “Gasp!” His senses returned to him as he gasped for air, his eyes widening once he realized that he was free-falling.

  His heart raced as he could feel the ground getting closer.

  Alhen turned to look where he would fall and saw another body of water.

  He gritted his teeth and prepared for the impact.

  “Oh shit!” he screamed, closing the distance with the body of water until “Pah!”

  His body landed on it, feeling as if he had landed on concrete.

  A sharp pain spread throughout his body, but he didn’t let that stop him from forcing himself above the water.

  Alhen desperately swam until he got out of it.

  He coughed, expelling all the water from his lungs, and breathed heavily.

  He calmed down after a few seconds, breathing a sigh of relief, thinking about his near-death experience and how he had avoided death.

  If there were no water where he fell, he would already be a meat splatter on the ground.

  In front of him lay multiple buildings draped in silver.

  Most of them were in terrible condition, with moss and algae surrounding them, and many were destroyed.

  He currently stood on a destroyed road; he had fortunately landed inside a crack filled with water.

  ‘This could have ended very badly,’ he thought.

  Alhen noticed the lack of safe landing spots, and could only thank his luck for being alive.

  Looking up, he could see that somehow, like a spell, water floated above the city, and it didn’t fall towards it.

  Mesmerized, he stood watching for a few seconds until his eyes widened and his body shook at the sight.

  A massive eye belonging to a creature could be seen looking at the city from above in the water.

  It moved around and locked eyes with alhen, making the hair on his body stand on end.

  The creature retreated shortly after, but that image became ingrained in his mind.

  ‘I swam in those waters without realizing that thing was with me all along.’

  Alhen remembered his mentor’s words, telling him that the creatures swimming with with were rather inoffensive and scoffed.

  ‘Inoffensive my ass!’ Those thoughts were enough to make him never want to set foot in water again.

  He suddenly felt grateful for his limited vision, allowing him not to see that creature and panic during his descent, ultimately dying of suffocation.

  Who knows what other creatures could be in those waters?

  ‘Alright, time to focus,’ he thought before taking a small, long, thin glass bottle from his jacket.

  Alhen unsealed the cork and took out its contents, which were the details for this contract.

  The letter read, “Retrieve artifacts in the recently discovered sunken city of silver. Rewards: twenty silver. Difficulty, lesser.”

  Alhen sighed as he folded the paper and stored it once again in his jacket.

  “Where do I even start? This city is pretty big,” he said.

  After sweeping his gaze over the area, he located his first destination and took a step forward, determined to become a hunter and get out of here alive.