Lucan and Gabriel soon stood beside the other workers, each with the same patch and same acronym letters stitched into their red jumpsuits, MHS—Material Harvesting Specialists. Wardens killed monsters but monsters were covered in valuable materials that not only Wardens used, but the world itself. Also, Monster Gates held valuable ore and herbs that couldn’t be found anywhere on earth, herbs that could heal any wound and ore that was nigh unbreakable by earthly means.

Someone had to harvest these valuable resources. Bring in the MHS, the Monster Gate labor force.

In front of the Monster Gate, camera flashes went off like automatic gun fire—reporters taking pictures of the heroes of the day, the Wardens, as they posed with a crystal object in their leader’s hands—the symbol of a gate being conquered.

“They got the Boss Key pretty quick,” one of the workers next to Lucian complimented, looking at what seemed like a sapphire egg. Having the Boss Key meant they killed the most powerful monster inside the gate, the creature labeled as the “Boss Monster”—ruler of the pocket dimension. In destroying the key, the gate could be closed and the people in fear of monsters could be assuaged.

“That’s ‘The Crowned Kings’ guild,” Lucian explained, pointing at a crown emblem painted on the Wardens’ armor, “They have the greatest number of Mid-Tier Anointed out of all the mid-sized guilds.”

Someone scoffed obnoxiously, “There he goes again. Lucian, the expert on all things monster related.”

Lucian’s head turned and saw a man with an upturned nose, an “M” shaped hairline, and three chins covered in ragged stubble.

“Shut up, Mort,” Gabriel retorted, “Don’t be jealous of smart people because you’re stupid.”

“Fucking Mexican…” the three chinned man, Mort, grumbled.

“Okay,” one of the Wardens called out, walking up to them, “Monkey Harvesters, you’re turn.”

Mort immediately groveled, saying, “Of course, your honor. We're ready.” The others eyed his submissive behavior warily. “Monkey Harvesters” was the derogatory term some Wardens used for MHS workers, considering them unworthy to be inside Monster Gates—the Wardens' domain, as some of them liked to think.

Picking up their equipment, the workers of the “Working Ant Company” filed in through the Monster Gate, Lucian among them. The wind kicked up by the spinning vortex blew their hair back and the light of the energy caused them to squint. When Lucian had first joined the Worker Ant Company, he nearly wet himself having to enter a Monster Gate. Now, he fazed through it without hesitation, enjoying the cool winds it emitted.

They soon gathered in an alien place, a cavern of sorts, encased in a gunky substance like slime—from the walls, ceilings, and floors, all of it was covered. Their foreman led them through this slimy cavern and pointed which group would go where, down what passage. Each member had their own expertise. For Lucian, it was taking apart monster corpses.

“Skinners,” Jim called out as they came to an intersection of passages, “Half of you go down this passage,” he pointed down one tunnel, “and the rest go down there,” and pointed at another. Lucian was a part of the Skinner group, the group meant to carve up dead monsters for useful materials. He went with whatever passage was closest. He soon regretted the decision seeing half way through the tunnel that Mort was among them.

“Whoopie, the monster expert is with us!” Mort mock cheered, giving Lucian a small golf clap.

They had entered a cylindrical room with what looked like oversized snail corpses lying about. Slime bodies fell out like liquid from shells, lifeless and transparent.

“Mort, you’re a weak person,” Lucian commented tonelessly as he knelt by one of the snail monsters and brought out his tools.

“What the fuck did you just say to me?” Mort scowled.

“Cut it out you two,” barked one of the senior members of the company, “We got work to do.” He looked down at the shells, calculating the hours they would spend working on them. “It’s going to be a long day.”

Lucian knew what he meant. Some monster corpses were an agonizing struggle to dress. He pulled from a pocket, a thick and sturdy journal with notes and sticky pad paper sticking from its pages—Lucian’s Monster Guide. He had once dreamed of becoming a Warden when he was an orphan, having lost his parents and sister to monsters, but now the dream seemed it would only ever remain a dream. He at least had his compiled notes from researching books written by Anointed and working as a monster Skinner.

“The expert brought out his book again, you guys,” Mort mocked.

“Mort, shut up already!” shouted the senior member, his patience having run out.

“Alright, alright,” Mort submitted with his hands up and disappeared behind one of the snail shells to work.

Lucian turned to a page labeled “Escargrown,” which covered monster snails and provided tips on processing them and avoiding their tricky attacks. After finding a useful detail, he followed its instruction and thrust his arm deep into the snail's shell, fumbling around like someone searching for a lost phone behind their bed. With satisfaction, he yanked out a rock-like substance. As he did, the snail's gooey slime transformed into a less sticky, more manageable goo, almost as if it had been suddenly squished.

Lucian playfully tossed the rock in his hand up and down. His Monster Guide had labeled the rock-like substance as the snail’s core and what gave form to the snail. He looked to the shelled creature’s goop, thinking how interesting that it had healing properties. He would need to scoop it all out—of course with his Gatetech tools. Normal metal tools wouldn’t be able to dislodge any of it.

“Whoa, Lucian,” awed the senior member of their team, seeing what had happened, “How’d you do that?” Others of the Skinner group began to surround Lucian, who had made his snail body more manageable. Lucian had no issue showing them all how he did it. Once their snail corpses collapsed the same as Lucian’s, his fellow workers let out cheers and complimented Lucian endlessly.

The only person still struggling was Mort, his face red, straining to scoop out snail slime. He appeared unwilling to heed the advice of the so-called expert, Lucian, and kept grumbling to himself all the while.

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The cheering workers suddenly quieted noticing a stranger among them.

At the entrance into the cavernous room, a young woman stood with unrivaled beauty. She had long black hair and her eyes held a clear blue like fresh water springs. She wore robes of a magic user, robes made from Monster Gate materials that enhanced her Spells. Her garments were tight fitting, accentuating her curvaceous frame and swaying hips. In her hand was a tall staff made of ancient wood that held atop it, a glowing crystal that spun and shimmered with every color.

The faces of the MHS workers filled with shades of red seeing her loveliness but dared not to look upon her. She was an Anointed, a Warden. Despite being a magic user, she could snap any one of them in half physically. An Anointed’s strength compared to a normal person was like an adult compared to a child. Even the “Base Anointed,” the weakest of Anointed, could toss around a normal human like a used rag.

Mort grinned vindictively at his fellow workers becoming humbled. To him, this was what they get for acting so rambunctiously over such an insignificant thing as Lucian’s advice.

Lucian immediately hid behind one of the giant shells upon seeing the Warden, whom he recognized as Elina. They had once considered each other friends, having grown up alongside one another in the same orphanage. They shared dreams on warm summer nights, gazing out at the more prosperous rings near the center of New DC, dreaming of becoming Wardens and finally leaving the dregs of the Broken Ring behind.

However, only one of them became Anointed. The other was left behind.

As he kept his head down, Lucian could feel her gaze travel over him like the rays of the sun. He knew she was only here to guard them. Sometimes monsters would slip by the Wardens during the Monster Gate raid only to attack a MHS worker later. The New DC government had implemented safety regulations requiring at least one Warden to regularly check on the workers’ safety at incremental times in case of monster attack.

Excitement radiated from Lucian's coworkers, knowing their shift would end early thanks to Lucian's trick with the snail core. While working, they passed the time by talking.

One worker mentioned a rumor to another, “I heard Monster Gate breaks are popping up more and more.”

“You got that right,” agreed another.

Someone exhaled loudly, commenting, “City President Vork, that idiot can’t do his job right.”

Another person bristled and spat back, “What? Vork’s doing the best he can! If it wasn’t for people like you and the city congress always trying to hold him back …”

“Vork belongs in jail for the amount of Monster Gate breaks that’s occurred in the city these past few years…”

Lucian sighed hearing the conversations turn to politics, though a part of him was glad for it. The passionate debates would help pass the time, and indeed it did.

The hours melted away quickly. Lucian and the others who had taken out the snails’ cores had finished. Only Mort remained grunting and sweating trying to combat the unwieldy sticky snail substance with his scooper.

“That was quick,” said a voice coming from up the tunnel.

Another young woman had appeared, this one just as beautiful as Elina. With flowing hair the color of chestnuts and eyes holding the color of soft summer grass, the girl possessed an attractive face peppered with freckles dotting her nose and cheekbones. A mischievous glint shimmered within those green eyes, and an air of whimsical regality surrounded her, as though she had once been a frivolous noble in another life.

“Amelia!” Elina cheered seeing her and immediately hugged the young woman. “What are you doing here? And why are you in a Monster Gate without protection?”

“I just made it back to New DC,” the newcomer, Amelia, answered with a grin. “And why do I need protection when I have sweet Elina here to protect me?” Elina giggled as Amelia poked her side. Amelia’s green eyes then scanned the empty shells and filled buckets, saying, “The MHS guys you hired are quick. Does this mean you can come with me to lunch right now?”

With regret, Elina sighed, “No,” and looked at Mort’s sweaty form, “There’s a slow one. I have to wait for him.” Overhearing them, Mort’s face reddened as embarrassment took him over, causing him to become clumsy. He suddenly slipped on slime and crashed onto the floor, Elina sighed again seeing another setback to her getting off of work.

“Oh, come on. Regulations say you only have to check on them every now and then. You don’t have to hang around like their personal guard or anything.” Amelia looked to the MHS workers trying not to stare at her and Elina’s curvy forms, addressing them, “Are you guys alright by yourselves?”

Each man smiled bashfully in response at receiving her attention and whole heartedly agreed that they didn’t need anyone to worry about them.

“See?” Amelia urged Elina with a wide smile, hooking her arm around Elina’s elbow, “Let’s go. I know a quaint tex-mex place in the Heart Rings that you’ll love.”

Hearing them about to depart, Lucian allowed himself to finally look up from his work. When he did, he coincidentally locked eyes with Elina who looked back at the workers one last time. They stared at one another for a moment before they both quickly looked away.

At Elina’s side, Amelia looked from Elina to Lucian then Lucian to Elina. A mischievous smile grew on her mouth. She and Elina soon walked away down the tunnel, leaving the MHS workers to finish up. As soon as they got far enough away, Amelia turned on Elina, her eyes in wonder.

“You’re going to tell me who that was,” Amelia demanded with a tone that reflected that she knew something was afoot.

“W-who are you talking about…?” Elina stammered, unable to feign ignorance enough to be convincing. Elina suddenly let out grunting and choking sounds when Amelia started to tickle her. “Stop it, Amelia!” she gasped, trying to stop herself from making any more bizarre sounds.

“Are you going to tell me who that was or not?”

Elina said between sharp breaths and the obnoxious noises coming out of her, “I…don’t…know….who…”

Amelia’s fingers dug into Elina’s sides causing her to squeal and snort more, drawing attention toward them from nearby Wardens who were on guard duty.

“I wonder if they’re like me and enjoy the way your big boobs jiggle when you’re tickled,” Amelia wondered aloud, tickling Elina without end, the robed young woman trembling without control.

“Okay...Amelia!” Elina surrendered completely, “You win!”

Amelia let up and crossed her arms, looking at her friend expectantly.

“I grew up with that guy in the same orphanage. There, happy?” Elina pouted with a huff but immediately squeaked seeing Amelia splay out her hands, threatening to tickle her again. “Okay, okay! His name is Lucian. We used to be…friends.”

Amelia’s eyes narrowed, unsatisfied with the answer.

Elina hurried to answer Amelia’s impatient gaze, “Hold on, don’t tickle me. Fine, yes, we were more than that once upon a time. It’s just after we left Gladkid Orphanage, we went down different paths…”

“Gladkid?” asked a new voice intruding into their conversation. They turned to see a young man in tight-fitting leather with metallic armor pieces attached, more for style than protection. Bright feathers covered his collar, and he sported a pair of stylish purple sunglasses that partially obscured his gaze.

He tilted Elina’s head back and stuck his tongue into her mouth, kissing her deeply. His eyes focused on Amelia while he kissed, staring at her lasciviously. She answered his gaze with a middle finger. Amelia hated this man—Elina’s boyfriend.

Elina pulled away and wiped her mouth, chastising, “Marcus, I told you not to surprise me like that anymore.”

“As if you don’t like it,” her boyfriend, Marcus, rasped in a naughty tone. “And what’s this about Gladkid? You want to adopt a little snot nosed brat or something?”

“…It’s nothing,” Elina muttered, turning away and hiding her expression.

“It’s where Elina grew up,” Amelia responded to Marcus tonelessly, her eyes narrowing at him, not surprised he didn’t know anything about Elina besides how her body feels.

Behind his purple sunglasses, Marcus’ eyes widened and with astonishment, remarked, “Damn. I heard they shut that place down because too many kids died there. It was all over the news. The kids they showed all looked like zombies. They had worked them to the bone in their sweatshop.”

“We just met another person who grew up in Gladkid,” Amelia said without emotion, casting a provoking gaze upon Marcus who seemed confused about her tone.

“Amelia…!” Elina snapped, trying to silence her friend.

“He was Elina’s childhood friend and he’s really hot.”

One of Marcus’ eyebrows twitched. His eyes then dashed to Elina who kept her face hidden from him. Marcus bared his teeth as he ground them together. He hated when other men got close to Elina. She belonged to him and him alone.