We woke up early the next day and met for a quick breakfast. When it was finished, I hugged Tara and wished her luck. She'd be visiting her father today. I hoped I was right about him welcoming her home with open arms. Whether Tara stayed with him or not was up to her. After all the shit she had been through, I wanted her to have a chance to choose the life that she wanted to live instead of the horrid false life that had been programmed into her.

  Ersabet and I made our way to the Hunters Guild.

  The gate to the grounds was unlocked and unguarded, so we simply continued our way forward. I was dressed in my basic clothes, not wanting to display the fine leather doublet that I had stolen from one of their dead members.

  The lawn was well-maintained, and a small, stream-like moat surrounded the main building. Large boulders and blue pines spotted the manicured greens.

  We followed the path ahead to a large front door. Since there was no doorman, I lifted the heavy knocker and slammed it three times against the heavy door.

  A long moment later, the door slowly opened, revealing a dimly lit interior and an older man dressed like a butler.

  "My apologies," he said formally in Ersabet's direction. "I'm not as quick as I used to be. These old bones need a moment to warm up sometimes.”

  "Don't worry about it," I said. "Might I ask, is this where one comes if they wish to become a beast hunter?"

  "Indeed, indeed. May I presume that both of you are interested in our joining our order?"

  "You may," Ersabet purred.

  He clapped his hands. "Wonderful indeed. Please, please, come in."

  I admired the stone walls as we followed the butler to wherever he was leading us. The walls of the entry were lined with taxidermized beasts, wolves, bears, and other unusual creatures. My eyes were drawn a monstrous elk with a set of abnormal horns that cut into its face and neck. The poor thing must have lived a horrible life.

  At the center of the wall was what could only be described as a troll. It was just a head, but I doubted I could even wrap my arms around its bulbous green dome. It had large block-like teeth, its face frozen in a forever snarl.

  It looked like even more of those fantastical stories my uncle had told me were true.

  We passed through a door and continued down a long hall, which had a few rough-looking men walking in the opposite direction. They paid me no mind, but their eyes lingered on Ersabet, who acted like the men didn't exist.

  The butler knocked on another door, announcing himself. He placed his ear to the door and smiled when the muffled reply came.

  "This way, please," He ushered us inside.

  This new room appeared to be an office of some sort. Stacks of paper were on the desk before us, and there were more stacks of documents on a table against one of the walls. A few weapons hung nearby on two large weapon racks.

  Sitting at the desk was an old, grizzled man who could be fifty or seventy. The weathered lines on his face and full beard made it difficult to tell.

  "Interested in joining the Hunters, are you?" His voice was rough but had a strange sort of warmth to it.

  Cutting right to the business. I liked that. "Yes, sir. My companion and I seek adventure, and after discovering your group, we thought to ourselves, “Who else could offer more adventure than those who call themselves Hunters, and for it all to be for a worthy cause, well, that just made it impossible for us to resist."

  "Aye, we got plenty of adventuring for you here, but there is no story-book happy tale out there. The adventures my men go out on ain't for the faint of heart. You hear me?”

  "You will not find my heart lacking. Of that, I can assure you," Ersabet said.

  With Ersabet’s attention on him, the man brushed himself off and stood taller.

  "I would never imagine any such thing of a Dalari." He bowed. "You may call me Master Roan. I am the current Master of the Order of the Hunters. May I ask your name?'

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  "You may call me Ersabet."

  "And I'm John," I stuck my hand out to pull his attention away from Ersabet.” I kept to my in-game name for Ersabet and Tara's sake, but it galled me that I still needed to use it. At least with Val, I was Ethan.

  He shook my hand, but his eyes were still on Ersabet.

  "There are many monsters in the world," Roan said. "They're a plague upon mankind and an affront to the Creator. It is a Hunter's duty to exterminate every last one of them." Roan crossed his arms. "Tell me, do you believe this is true, as I do?"

  There were real monsters in this world, but Kitz wasn’t one of them. I wondered how many other 'monsters' these people hunted that were, in truth, no such thing.

  I put my hand to my heart. "I believe as you, Master Roan."

  He nodded to me and turned his eyes to Ersabet.

  "As do I,” she said.

  His face twitched at her lack of formality, but he moved past it and clapped his hands together once. "Welcome, Hunters! I'm thrilled to add both of you to our noble ranks. And a Dalari! How exciting. I trust you'll get along with our Kurskin brethren."

  "I only fight monsters," Ersabet said. "I will not bother them, so long as they show the same respect to me.”

  Roan waved her statement away. "I'm sure they'll play nice. There's no rank among the Hunters. We're all equal in our shared crusade."

  "There is still pay, correct?" Ersabet asked.

  "Oh yes, oh yes. Some monsters pay more than others, and some Hunters are better than others. It can be quite lucrative if you're good at it, but money is secondary to our noble cause."

  "Of course," I said. "May I ask what our next steps are? Are we assigned hunts?"

  Roan laughed and shook his head. "New recruits are always in a hurry to dive in. We learned quickly that it's a good way to get people killed. First, we must test your mettle. See how tough you are. What you're good at. That way, we can assign you an appropriate hunt."

  "Test our mettle, huh? That sounds fun," I said. "When will we get our chance to prove ourselves to you?"

  He held out his hands. "Whenever you're ready. There are plenty of Hunters here who would enjoy watching a good fight. Or perhaps some of them will throw their hat into the ring to test you themselves."

  Roan's toothy smile irked me.

  "It's a fight then." I sighed. The sooner we can get this over, the better. I looked at Ersabet, who nodded. "We're ready."

  ***

  An hour later, I was shirtless, wearing only my cloth pants. My body had changed significantly over the last couple of weeks, and while I had a decent physique in my previous life, it was nothing compared to the body the system was helping me build. My muscles were more prominent, and for the first time in years, my abs were noticeable again.

  Ersabet had no armor or weapons on her body to relinquish, and she was allowed to wear her current outfit, which was nearly as revealing as my current getup.

  We were led into a crowd of mostly human men. I spotted two women and at least five Kurskins among the bunch. The Kurskins were staring at Ersabet like she was a piece of meat. I couldn't tell if they wanted to kill her or have sex with her. Either way, their gaze was off-putting, but Ersabet paid them no mind.

  The crowd parted, forming a ring around us, which felt all too familiar. The ground was cold, solid stone, and it would not be forgiving if I were taken down.

  "Brothers and sisters," Master Roan said to the crowd. "These two have asked to join us in our fight against the monsters of this world. I welcome all who seek to purge Erda of the unnatural, but I do not relish sending righteous Hunters to their deaths. That is why we must make sure our new comrades have what it takes to be a Hunter, to fight against some of the most terrifying and brutal abominations on Erda."

  The crowd pumped their fists and shouted in unison.

  "Who among the Order will aid in this test?”

  Multiple arms rose with urgent shouts to be the one chosen.

  Roan pointed to a man a bit shorter than me, but he had a stocky build and looked like he could handle himself.

  The man entered the ring, and Roan gestured for me to come forward.

  "Good luck," Ersabet whispered into my ear as I left her side.

  "It is my honor to introduce you all to our newest prospective Hunter. His name is John." Roan looked at me. "I don't think I ever got your last name.

  "Miller," I lied. I didn't want to risk triggering any of the Kurkins in the audience with my in-game name.

  Roan grabbed my arm and held it high. "John Miller." There was a smattering of unenthusiastic applause. I'd have to earn their respect in the ring, it seemed.

  "Here's how this will work," Roan said to the crowd, but the instructions were meant for me and Ersabet. "There will be up to three rounds of hand-to-hand combat. The round will continue until one of the fighters falls unconscious or yields. If John wins the first round, he will continue to the second, where he will fight a new opponent. And if, by some miracle, John manages to beat them too, then he will continue to the third and final round where he will take on one of our strongest Hunters." Roan held up his hands. "Now, this is a test of strength, but also your character. Natural life is precious, so no fighting dirty, and do not attempt any attack that could lead to severe injury or death. If your opponent dies, you will be exiled from the Hunters and will not be allowed to return."

  Roan looked at me and Ersabet a few feet behind me. "Do you understand and accept these conditions?"

  "Yes," I said.

  "I accept," Ersabet echoed.

  Roan clapped his hands together. "Then, let's not waste any more time."

  Roan scampered out of the center of the ring, leaving me and my opponent. He dressed similarly to me, wearing only a pair of pants. The man cracked his neck and began to limber up.

  I made some mock stretches, but my body was always ready for action these days.

  "Benor, are you ready?" Roan shouted.

  Benor nodded eagerly.

  "John, are you ready?"

  I smiled. "Let's do this."