“Here you go.” Yuki handed a note of currency to the driver that lent them a ride.
“Thank you.” The middle aged man replied.
“Safe travels.” Yuki said lastly before the man sped away with his carriage pulled by a dinosaur looking creature.
“Even the carriages are pulled by raptors…” Matthew muttered by himself.
“Matt, are you really sure about this?” Rose asked him in a whisper.
“Yes, don’t you understand how cool it would be to throw fire or water out of your hand?” Matthew said.
“I understand, but do ‘you’ understand how dangerous it is?”
“Of course I do. I don’t just throw myself anywhere without thinking, you know?” Matthew proudly pointed at himself with his thumb.
“I am doubting that.”
“Huh… Look Rose, if that’s not enough of a reason, here’s another; I ain’t just gonna sit around and wait for a miracle to happen. If I become a Hunter, I can venture about in this world while looking for a way to get back home. You get me?”
Rose flinched after hearing Matthew’s answer. She had never thought of it that way. She did not retort, however, she was still worried.
“Okay, let’s head in shall we?” Yuki interrupted the two.
“Yes!” Matthew answered without delay.
Rose only stared at Matthew with concern, but Matthew reassured her.
“Relax Rose, I won’t die or anything. I promise, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“... I still doubt that but… Hah… You’re so stubborn.” Rose could not go with his attitude now. At this point, it’s useless.
PSST!
The doors slid open smoothly as soon as they approached it.
“Whoa, an automatic door?”
“It functions by detecting motion in a magic field that it emits.”
“Similar to infrared motion sensors.”
Just like the bar they were at before, there was a receptionist waiting behind the counter except that there were ten of them. Most of them were lined with people carrying weapons and clad in armour and fancy looking clothing. People like these were also at the bar before. Matthew saw a few new races in the crowd.
“Welcome to the Hunter Association Headquarters~ How may I help you?” The young woman politely said.
“Listen, this guy wants to be a Hunter, sign him up for the academy.” Yuki said.
“Ah, I see. Then please place your hand over this magic item.” The receptionist stood up and pointed at the orb that was held above the counter by a four-legged ring around it. Below it, she placed an empty card.
Matthew did as he was told and placed his above the orb. Once he did, the orb glowed slightly.
“Whoa~”
The orb then shot out a laser like beam out of its bottom and engraved something on the card, like a printer.
“This thing will automatically read everything about you. Once it does, it will print out all the necessary data onto this card.” Yuki explained.
“I see.”
After a few more seconds, the orb stopped glowing. The receptionist then grabbed the card and inspected it.
“Matthew Dragunov is it?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Okay then, here you go.” The receptionist handed the card to Matthew. “This card shows that you are a non-licensed Hunter yet. A licensed Hunter are those with the official tags. You may work your way up to pass the exam within the period of time the card is active which is two years.”
“Alright, this will be important then.” Matthew stored it away in his pocket.
“That is all, you may spend the time to train and grow before entering an exam. Do you have any further questions?”
“Ah yes actually, I see there are different colours of the tags, what do they mean?”
“The colours show their ranks. Starting from the bottom is Cadet-black, Newbie-purple, Rookie-red, Novice-blue, Experienced-green, Seasoned-yellow, Veteran-white, Champion-bronze, Ace-silver and finally Legendary-gold. Ten ranks in all.
There are a few ways to earn your ranks. Usually one would start from the bottom and make their way up by doing quests. Some aced the exam and got an upper rank right off the bat. Some earn points by contributing to the community by financial or military means.”
“I see. I get it now. So I either have to work my way up or ace the test somehow.” Matthew nodded a few times.
“Yes, are there any more questions you want to ask?” The receptionist asked in confirmation.
“Hmm I don’t think so.”
“Well, then I wish you the best of lu-”
“Wait.” Rose suddenly cut off the receptionist. “I… I also would like to be a Hunter.”
This sudden turn of events shocked Matthew the most.
“Rose, I thought you said you didn’t want to because it’s dangerous.” Matthew immediately questioned her actions.
“I know what I said. It is dangerous, but… Having a companion is good while adventuring right? And besides, about what you said. I’m not gonna wait for a miracle either nor do I want to let you go find the answer alone, cause it’s faster with two, right?” Rose smiled softly with her eyebrows curled and a red face. In heart, she was definitely embarrassed about this.
Matthew did not pick up on these details, but he understood her intention as a friend.
“Well I’ll be. You’re right, doing it alone is quite lonely. Good to know I’ll have some company. Looks like you’re a softy once in a while huh?” He blurted out.
“Sh-shut up!”
“Ahahaha I’m just kidding.”
Yuki only watched in silence as the two made a little commotion.
‘I feel like something great is gonna happen with these two.’
…..
The three of them walked back out of the headquarters and hit the streets. The place was bustling with people of all races.
“What now?” Matthew asked without pointing the question to anyone.
“You tell me.” Rose replied.
“What do you think, Yuki?”
Yuki put a finger on her chin and looked at the sky. “Well… As the receptionist said, you should start training to pass the exam.”
“How often do the exams take place?”
“Once every year.”
“Is that so. Then, how should we go about training?” Matthew asked again.
“Hmm I have a colleague that might be able to help you.” Yuki said with a smile.
…..
CLING! CLING! CLING!
The doorbell rang as the door swung open.
“Welcome, how may I help you?” A female elf with beautiful blonde hair, long pointy ears, a pair of blues and was clad in high-quality and fancy clothing of blue and yellow turned around to greet her customers. She held a clipboard in her left arm and a pen in her right hand.
“Yo, long time no see Layla.” Yuki greeted her with one hand up.
“Ahh! Yukiki!!” The elf, Layla, jumped into a tight hug with Yuki.
“Hahaha! Good to see you too. How’s business going?” Yuki pushed Layla away lightly and asked.
“It’s been going well. What about you? What rank are you now?”
“Still Seasoned. I haven’t been doing a lot lately.”
“Oh~ That’s not so bad Yukiki. I’m sure you’ll rank up soon. Hm?” Layla noticed the two people that were behind Yuki. “Who are these two? Your new party?”
“Eh, no. I just came across them in the forest.”
“Oh? In the forest?”
“It’s a long story. Anyways, guys, this is Layla. She’s a close friend of mine since I became a Hunter a few years ago.” Yuki gestured with her hand at Layla.
“Nice to meet you~” Layla said.
“Nice to meet you too. I’m Matthew.” Matthew had to look up a bit in order to look at her face. ‘She’s really tall’.
“I’m Rose.”
“Matthew and Rose, okay. So what brings you here? Perhaps you want to buy a few magic items? A potion perhaps? Or even a new weapon?” It seems that Layla was now in business mode.
“Thank you, but no thank you. I want to ask a favour.” Yuki said.
“A favour?”
“These two wants to get some training going. Think you can handle that?” Yuki asked.
“Training? I see, yes of course, however, it will cost you a bit.”
“I came prepared.”
“Good then. I will contact my clients later, you all should get going. Yuki, you know where, right?”
“I do.”
“Great then! The total will be 150 000 Bytes.”
“Here you go.” Yuki handed the money to Layla.
“Thank you! And by the way, are you really not going to buy anything?”
“No thank you. See you later Layla.” Yuki had already started walking out of the store.
“Come again soon!” Layla waved happily at them.
“Huh…” Yuki sighed.
“What’s wrong Yuki?” Matthew asked.
“Layla is a good friend and all but.... She just pesters you every chance she gets. It’s tiring to deal with.”
‘An opportunist huh.’ Matthew and Rose thought.
“Well, let’s get going now. Time for school you two.” Yuki glanced back at them.
A few days later, in the bustling city of the Northern Omni Kingdom. Matthew, Rose and Yuki stood before a massive structure that was… “The Omni Hunter Academy.” Matthew read aloud the name of the place that was in front of them. The academy ground was huge. There was a vast field to the left and another one to the right. There were also quite a few buildings with signs of different facilities. People of all races can be seen present walking, chatting, playing and training. Both Matthew and Rose were astonished by this scene and almost stopped breathing. “Hello there.” A soft female voice came from behind them. They all turned around to meet who the voice belonged to. “Are you perhaps new here? I’ve never seen you before.” The woman glanced between Matthew and Rose. “Eh ah no, we’re not new, nor are we
Ten months later…The Omni Hunter Academy secondary field. Almost all students were gathered here for a very specific event today.“Attention! Attention students!” The principal, Grandmaster Algernon, spoke on the megaphone to get their attention.The students slowly died down into a silence. The principal cleared his throat before continuing.“Now, I believe all of you have been informed of what you are gathered here today.”“YEEAAHHH!!!” The students yelled in unison.“Today is a special event that we conduct every year, the Annual Quest Completion. About half a year before the annual Hunter exam. It may not be a requirement,however, we will evaluate your skills and abilities and decide whether you are eligible for the exam. This is, of course, for your safety.” The principal said.
The leaves rustled as the wind blew softly. Only a tiny bit of sunlight was allowed to pass through the canopy of leaves as Matthew and Rose quietly moved under it. Their footsteps moved in the same direction as the footprints left behind by the zombies of last night.“In the end, we followed them the next day…” Matthew muttered.“Sh-shut up! It’s your fault for sleeping last night!” Rose strongly retorted.“Yeah yeah, I wonder just who knocked me out last night hmm?” Matthew glanced at her with an unhappy expression.“I already said I’m sorry!” Rose clenched her hands beside her and shouted.“Well, at least they left footprints behind.” Matthew returned his focus to the quest at hand. “By how they were moving, these guys are definitely under someone’s control.”M
Rose stared at the zombie that had a sword stuck in its head.“I can beat this guy no problem.” Rose extended her hand out and casted a spell. “[Greater Fireball]!”A much larger version of the previous fireballs flew out and exploded in the face of the undead.“!!”To her surprise, the zombie was not even scratched.“That was a mediocre level spell. How?” Rose glanced over at the mysterious figure at the furthest back. “Must be his doing. We need to take him out. How is Matt doing…!!”When Rose glanced over at Matthew, she was surprised to see. Matthew was confronting the big zombie along with the smaller ones at the same time. However, the small ones were definitely faster than before and the big one was also definitely stronger. But Matthew was holding his own against all that. 
Matthew opened his eyes to a world of flames. Around him was just simply an endless sea of fire without anything else in sight. "This dream again…" Matthew did move and only stood there idly. Even though he was surrounded by fire, he did not feel pain at all. One would think that this was definitely just a dream if not a nightmare, but for Matthew who had seen this many times already, it was something different. He could not explain what it was. He just sensed that there was something else about this dream that he had. In the far distance, he saw a gigantic figure of a lizard of some sort. Its eyes were glowing bright yellow in the darkness above the fire. "That thing again… What does it want with me?" Matthew asked himself. RINGGGG!! Matthew's head was suddenly ringing. It caused pain inside his temple that it forced him to
Matthew and Rose walked around the area for a bit since the exam hasn’t started yet. Both of them were ready to go. Though they were both not wearing any heavy armour, it was the setup that best suited them.Matthew wore a normal looking blue shirt with a red short sleeved jacket and standard pants. Though these clothing seem normal, they were made out of specially made mana strings which its durability and strength is partly imbued with the user’s. Other than that, he also wore a pair of gauntlets on his forearm. He carried a sword on his back which had a fiery design to it. He also had a badge with the number 3 on his chest.Meanwhile Rose was wearing a dark blue one piece dress with little decorations of red on the skirt and her abdomen. She also wore a short cape on her shoulders and her usual red rose hair pin. She also had a badge with the number 2 as well.“There sure are a lot of people here.&rd
Matthew, Rose and Cecilia fought through a number of monsters as they made their way towards the hill. Through the fog, a thick forest, a river and finally up the hill, they reached the place in two days, leaving one day before the time ran out.Many people have arrived but it seemed to have significantly decreased from the original numbers."Maybe they still haven't made it." Matthew said."Or they're just lost." Rose added.They were all covered in dirt and dust from their journey. Matthew had a little bit of blood splatter here and there as he was the one that confronted the monsters head on while Rose and Cecilia stayed at the back."Cecilia, how are you holding up?" Matthew asked, but it was not answered.Cecilia looked all around her as if searching for someone.'She's been quiet all this while even though we've been together for tw
Matthew, Rose and Cecilia got back to the site where the first phase of the exam ended just a few hours before the time was up. Matthew was carrying a bag that contained the evidence of their hunt."I'll get the report in, you two can rest up for while waiting.""Okay Matt." Rose replied to Matthew.Cecilia nodded.After he had confirmed their thoughts, Matthew made his way to the field assistant that was in charge. The line was not really long, thankfully.Rose and Cecilia went under a shady tree and sat on one of its protruding roots."Ah~ I'm beat." Rose said as she laid her bottom on the hard root."Me too…" Cecilia said.They both took a breather under the shade as they watched their surroundings."Cecilia, could you tell me something?" Rose asked."Eh umm what is