Depthless Hunger

Chapter 1: The Trial Begins

The first thing Kai realized was that there were teeth snapping at his face. He stumbled backward as the jaws slammed closed. Before he could catch his bearings, a leathery body crashed into him and he fell onto his back.

There was a monster coming toward him, but his instincts finally engaged. Instinct took the form of actual kicks, beating away the beast that was trying to tear out his throat. It slashed back, its claws raking his shin, but he managed to land a solid blow.

As the beast slid away and Kai scrambled back to his feet, he got a better look at it. The creature appeared like a dog that had been turned inside out. It was hideously mangled, but it had teeth and claws that could easily kill a person. Ruined dogs were common monsters outside the city, scorned by the professional hunters as mere nuisances. Kai realized that there was a big difference between studying them in training and actually fighting one.

When the monster rushed forward again, Kai managed to leap back. The bloody stripes on his shin hurt like hell, but he was used to pain. Maybe he hadn't fought many real monsters, but he'd beaten the snot out of himself on the training yard countless times.

Before it could charge again, Kai scooped up a medium-sized rock in one hand and a heavy stick in the other. The beast was more cautious now, growling and circling around him. He took the time to check the area: no other monsters, no other hunters. He barely even remembered going through the shimmering portal, but there was no more time to think about that.

With another growl, the monster began running toward him. Kai waited until it got close and then hurled the rock at its head. The impact wouldn't have done much good, but the monster smoothly juked to the side to dodge.

Which gave him just enough time to whack it in the face with his stick.

The blow knocked the monster to the ground with a satisfying crunch, but the stick broke on impact. Worse, the creature wasn't dead. Kai had always known that ordinary muscle couldn't compare to spiritually-enhanced strength, but he hadn't wanted to find out like this.

As the monster scrambled up onto its twisted legs, Kai desperately looked for another stick. The best he had was a jagged rock. He grabbed it as the monster began to run toward him and threw wildly.

The rock bounced off the creature's skull and it just kept coming. Kai desperately thrust with his broken stick as if he was holding a practice sword, before he could even think about it. Staring into the monster's enormous jaws, he wondered if that was going to be a fatal mistake.

His combat training hadn't failed him: the stick came up directly into the monster's mouth and the splintered end drove deep into the sensitive flesh.

The momentum from the charge nearly knocked him over, but the monster had impaled itself on the stick. Yet it wasn't dead. Kai felt a claw scrape across his shoulder before he managed to shove it away. He wasn't even thinking anymore, he just rushed after the fallen beast and kicked it in the head until it stopped moving.

After several seconds staring at the body, he dropped to one knee and caught his breath.

Were the Hunter Trials always like this? Kai had never been allowed to watch the previous years, but he'd asked older hunters for advice. He didn't think that trainees were usually thrown directly against a monster like that. If things had gone a little differently, or if he hadn't trained his body for so long, he could easily have died. The goal of the trials was to forge new hunters, not to kill off the contestants.

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Hunters were all that stood between his city, his country, his world... and being torn apart by monsters. Now, staring at the first monster he'd ever killed, Kai realized that he was finally becoming a hunter. For the first time in his life, he could fight against the monsters that made living near the Frontier so desperate.

To do that he needed power, and soon. The veteran hunters could handle the ordinary monsters, but when hordes formed a monster incursion, they threatened to wipe Monskon City off the map. Almost twenty years ago, his parents had died fighting off the flood of monsters. Thirteen years ago, he'd huddled with the other orphans and hoped the city survived. Six years ago he'd thrown rocks from the city walls and wished that he could fight alongside the hunters.

Judging from how difficult it had been to fight a single ruined dog, they'd been right to stop him from joining the hunters. But Kai wasn't a child anymore: he'd been training his entire life for this moment. If he succeeded in the Hunter Trials, he'd gain the strength to fight a horde. Just so long as he didn't get himself killed first.

"Well, that was unlucky."

Even though he knew the voice, Kai still scrambled to his feet and put up his fists. He had no idea what the trials might throw at him. But his mentor stood calmly at a distance: Gunjin Granfian was a grizzled old man whose hair stood up in a gray shock. As usual, he was wearing his sword and armor, both of which Kai could really have used at that moment.

"Normally trainees don't arrive right next to a monster," Gunjin said, "and normally monsters would be more cautious about attacking someone coming in via portal. But luck is part of the Hunter Trials, so it's good that you survived."

"Barely." Kai winced as he got to his feet. The gashes on his leg and shoulder weren't deep, but they were really starting to hurt once the adrenaline wore off. "Am I actually ready for the trials, Gunjin?"

"More than ready. It might have torn you apart, if your training hadn't increased your..." The old man punctuated his own sentence with a wave of his hand. "Never mind, you don't have the spiritual awareness to understand your own attributes yet. That will change, if you make it through the trials."

"Right. Okay. You can't be here to help me, can you?"

"Every candidate is traditionally given an explanation by their sponsor, to orient them after the portal. But we can't lift so much as a finger to help, which was why I had to wait for you to kill the monster. Fortunately, the rest of the trials should be somewhat easier for you."

"Alright, explain." Kai tore off part of his padded shirt with his teeth and began tying it into a rough bandage. He was better at combat than healing, but he'd trained in every discipline he could, just in case fate blessed him with healing abilities. No matter what he received, he'd use it to defend the city.

"Over one hundred candidates have been thrown into the monster reserve. You have three days to awaken your spiritual sight and true Class abilities. If three days of fighting for your life doesn't awaken anything, you're hopeless." Gunjin grinned at him. "You don't need to worry about that. Think of it as a time limit to achieve as many objectives as possible."

The bandage wasn't perfect, but it would do for now. Kai straightened up and looked back to his mentor. "How are the winners chosen?"

"All I am allowed to tell you about the evaluation is that the candidates will be judged based on many factors, including the number of monster cores they acquire. However, I can also say that there are a number of waypoints set up within the reserve. Two of those are dedicated to awakening your spiritual sight and your abilities. Some waypoints are limited to the first candidates who find them, some are not."

"Got it." Gunjin hadn't told Kai too much about the trials before today, but he'd made a few things clear. The best strategy would be to fully awaken his Class abilities first and only hunt for monster cores after.

"One more thing." Gunjin stepped closer and lowered his voice. "The spells on the reserve should prevent you from dying, but they won't stop you from being maimed or crippled. And they can't stop every lethal blow, especially once candidates start fighting one another."

Kai almost said "Got it" again, but he was getting too amped up to talk. This was the moment he had been preparing for, and these three days would define his life. Instead he just nodded and hoped that it looked strong instead of stupid.

"But honestly, Kai, you shouldn't have a hard time. You had such a bad start in life, you've probably used up all your bad luck. The rest should be easy." With that, Gunjin stepped backward into a shimmering blue portal and Kai was alone in the wilderness.

Well, not alone. There were a hundred other candidates out there and an untold number of monsters. Kai cracked his knuckles and got started.