The Wasteland outside of New DC was abuzz with the bazaar that would be commencing soon. Anyone who was anyone would be attending. There was one of the main attractions at the bazaar everyone was looking forward to, an event that lined the pockets of many—the slave auction. Megacities like New DC were defined by what they could do with the materials their Anointed harvested from Monster Gates, developing technology that even surpassed the imagination of the world before. Gatetech—the technology of the future, inlaid in mankind’s defense, advancement in tech and health, improved life expectancy, improved agriculture, and much more.
The Wasteland on the other hand had slaves.
When technology didn’t work, they used slaves. When monsters broke out of their gates, they slowed the creatures down with slaves. When structures needed to be built, they threw as many slaves as it took to build it.
One would think such archaic practices would pale in comparison to the advanced Megacities, but no. That was because of a specific kind of slave—Anointed. An Anointed slave, pricy and considered luxurious, could work tirelessly compared to normal humans and could work harder, more efficiently than even machines. They would be the most attractive slaves at the bazaar. The high status individuals of the Wasteland required Anointed slaves not only for their work but to display how important they were.
Slavers were on the move all over the dusty lands. If they could get their hands on an Anointed slave, it would mean they could eat and fuck well for a year.
But the happenings of human technologies and practices, no matter vile or righteous, had no effect on monsters of the gates and the Wasteland. Their purpose was one of survival and dominance. When weak, monsters would scratch and claw, using any means to survive. When strong, they sought to kill and consume without regard for anything.
However, sometimes they wanted more than just to conquer the humans or kill one another. Sometimes they wanted vengeance. No matter the severity of slights, some monsters couldn’t let things lie as they were.
At an abandoned construction site, there lingered the remnants of a closed Monster Gate, along with the scent of the humans that had closed it. Hulking, fur covered monsters stoop low to the ground around the site, their wet snouts sniffing. Their prey had come here, yet they had barely missed him. No matter. Soon, they would meet.
It only took one creature to start to laugh before the entire mass of monsters broke out into a cacophony of laughter, maniacal and wild.
***
On the outskirts of ruins that had once been a city, at the border between the Wasteland and New DC territory, a Humvee sat parked underneath a bright sun among worn out, rusted cars in a parking lot of a rundown bowling alley. Up above flew creatures at first glance would be thought of as birds, but the distinct features of horns, bat wings, and spade tails proved otherwise.
“Are those imps?” Amelia asked, blocking the sun with her hand as she squinted upward.
“They’re harmless,” Lucian assured, making sure he had his Gatetech tools secured on his tool belt, “Monsters that break out of Monster Gates become like wild animals, afraid to act as hostile as they would in gates for fear of being caught and eaten by other monsters.”
“Do you know that for sure or are you guessing?”
“…I read about it.”
Amelia could only offer a blank stare in response.
“B-bad idea to wander in the Wasteland…!” Two Tap warned, finding the resolve to speak up. Her brown eyes dashed side to side at the destroyed buildings in fear of potential danger.
Amelia couldn’t hold back her worries either. “Lush, this seems like a bad idea.” No story of wandering the Wasteland, especially in monster territory, had a happy ending.
With a smirk, Lucian plucked out a thick, worn-out book ready to fall apart. “I got all I need right here,” he remarked, holding it up as if his meaning was obvious.
“Am I supposed to know what that is…?”
Lucian shook his head, laughing, as if her doubts before were meaningless, “It’s my Monster Guide. As long as I have this, I’ll be okay. Trust me. I’m a natural at this.” He offered the guide up at Amelia’s request.
Flipping through its pages, she awed, “Wow. You really did your research. It’s like you’re monster scholar.”
“Why thank you.”
She soon giggled flipping to Lucian’s “wish list” at what kind of class he wanted to be as an Anointed. “Or maybe it’s more like monster nerd.”
Lucian snatched the Monster Guide back in a flash, face flushed. “Alright, you’ve seen enough.” He stowed the thick book into his tool belt. “And I also survived two Wild Gates without gear.” With arms spread, he displayed his armor as if it were impenetrable. He’d left the cowboy hat behind as to not damage it. “Now with proper gear, I’ll do more than survive. I’ll thrive.”
His confidence and the Monster Guide wiped away any doubts for Amelia, though her opinion lacked substance. While she held the title of an official Warden, she had never actually performed Warden duties such as slaying monsters, despite participating in gate attacks with Elina’s guild.
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In contrast, Two Tap was shaking her head with worry. Hailing from the Wasteland, she knew the true dangers of her homeland. Without the protection of numbers or the protections of a powerful Anointed, humans were nothing but prey for the monsters, forced to scurry like rats from shadow to shadow to avoid the more powerful creatures.
Her lack of confidence could not form proper words of warning as she watched Lucian spin his metal quarterstaff in circles around him with deft skill.
“You stay,” Lucian demanded and pointed for Two Tap to get back in the car. To Amelia, he gestured forward. “Let’s go.” The two of them would leave Two Tap to hunt a few monsters and return before dark, hopefully with materials to sell.
“No,” Amelia denied and turned to join Two Tap getting back into the car, leaving Lucian stunned.
“M-maybe Two Tap come along instead…!” Two Tap insisted, seeing as she would have to deal with Amelia’s over-lovey personality if left behind. Unseen dangers of the Wasteland or having to cuddle with Amelia again—Two Tap chose the Wasteland. Still, Amelia dragged her back before she could escape.
“What happened to wanting to hang out?” Lucian asked Amelia warily, holding the car door open so she wouldn’t close it.
“I’ll wait to see what happens to you out there then I’ll decide,” she responded with a nod of certainty, “Plus, Two Tap needs me here.” Two Tap shook her head behind Amelia’s back, her eyes pleading for Lucian to take her.
Lucian could see in Amelia’s face that she was holding back for another reason—she was refusing to fight once again. Throughout their time together, she had never engaged in combat, and for what reason, Lucian couldn’t begin to guess.
“Is it fashionable in the Heart Rings to be shrouded in mystery, Melly?” Lucian asked, staring at the beautiful girl as if he could glean a hint of who she really was.
“Why? Does being a mysterious woman make me seem sexy?” Amelia replied with a wink.
“It makes you trouble,” Lucian answered honestly and turned to leave, “I know you’re around me because of Elina. I just don’t know why. Let’s talk when I come back.”
“If you come back,” Amelia joked.
With a grin, Lucian raced off on foot through the cracked lot.
“Alright, Two Tap,” Amelia smiled after Lucian disappeared, to which the feeble Wastelander began to shiver. “We’re going shopping! You’re getting a makeover!” She climbed into the driver seat and turned on the radio, turning past the mariachi music to land on whatever pop song came on first. Amelia began singing along as she revved the Humvee before taking off back to New DC.
“…What about Lush?” Two Tap muttered quietly, watching from the window the Wasteland shrink into the horizon.
***
Lucian skulked at the edges of a once-thriving metropolis now lying in ruin, its towering skyscrapers reduced to crumbling skeletons, with rebar and steel columns protruding like bones. Empty city streets wound through, filled with cars eaten by rust and other decaying remnants of the past. Once bustling with life, the city was now eerily quiet, except for the haunting cries of fantasy creatures echoing through the air, evoking an urban wilderness.
Lucian hid away by clustered shopping carts, remaining watchful. This would be his hunting grounds. Common knowledge among Anointed spoke that the limits of ruins were where the least strong monsters lurked. They would be his stepping stool in gaining strength as an Anointed.
He rubbed his nose bashfully. They’d be his way to make a quick buck too.
A figure shaped like a beanbag suddenly leapt into the air, sending Lucian to hug closer to the walls of a dilapidated structure. The figure became clear as it landed upon a rusted car, crushing the interior, sending shards of broken glass outward. What had appeared was a plump white rabbit with a horn protruding out of its head.
The creature's nose twitched curiously, drawing one's attention to its adorably expressive face as it sniffed its surroundings for danger.
Lucian narrowed his eyes with uncertainty. Pages flipped rapidly as he went through his Monster Guide to identify the creature. In the section labeled “Huge Hoppers,” dedicated to rabbit monsters, he couldn't find any reference to a round bunny with a spiraling horn.
“If it’s not in my book,” Lucian murmured, putting his guide away, a glint of avarice in his hazel eyes, “it must be a rare monster. Rare monster means rare materials.” His luck could not be better. Just thinking about how much he could get from selling the creature’s horn made him feel giddy.
[Angry Gremlin]
His body morphed, growing outward to stretch his leather armor, his eyes reddening, and his hair spiking upward. Lips pursed, he held his breath as the horned rabbit hopped closer, oblivious to the awaiting Anointed. When it readied to hop further away, a shadow descended upon it from above.
Lucian, having leapt out of his hiding place, was in the air hurtling down toward the oversized rabbit. He reached back with his metal quarterstaff as it burst with white energy.
[Goblin Bash]
Lucian landed with a bone-rattling crash, his impact shattering a section of the fractured street into clumps of debris that flew through the air. His Aura, once a focused surge of power, scattered outward like a burst of fireworks, illuminating the surroundings with white light.
Confusion soon set in for Lucian when he realized he had hit nothing but asphalt. The monster had disappeared. His hazel eyes darted in two directions in a confused search, but before he could react, a force erupted at his side, sending him flying across the street and crashing into a broken statue of some historical figure from Old America.
“Shit…!” Lucian cursed, his world blurred, his mind dazed, blood oozing from his side. His unsteady sight caught the large rabbit from where he had been hit, the tip of its horn painted red with his blood. The monster had somehow avoided Lucian’s blow and countered without him noticing.
Asphalt debris shot up in a burst, the rabbit suddenly lunging with incredible speed toward Lucian. He had thought the rabbit had some sort of escape ability that allowed it to dodge him when it reality, it simply possessed unbelievable agility.
Lucian hiccupped in panic as he dove to the side, allowing the rabbit to pierce the statue’s base. Such a drastic difference in speed would only lead to his death. Retreat was all he could think of. Yet, when he attempted to run, he noticed the rabbit didn't give chase. It remained in place, its horn stuck in the stone. Its round, furry form wiggled in its struggle to free itself from the statue, but with no success; its horn had pierced too deep to be dislodged easily.
“Sorry, little buddy,” Lucian said, smirking, “but daddy needs a new fur coat.” His new quarterstaff was about to claim its first monster life when the frantic rabbit cried out, its voice carrying far. Lucian winced, feeling a ringing in his ears caused by its sheer volume.
Thick white furred critters suddenly emerged from a nearby building and around cars like cotton balls being blown in by the wind. They were all white-horned rabbits, similar to Lucian’s quarry, numbering in droves, their red eyes locked onto Lucian as he prepared to burst open the stuck rabbit’s head with his quarterstaff.
“You didn’t tell me you had friends,” Lucian gulped, backing away with his hands up as if caught by the police, “See?” he told the monster rabbits that could not understand him. “I’m not doing anything. I didn’t know you guys ran things around here…”
A sharp, spiraling horn thrust into his abdomen as one of the rabbits lunged forward in a rapid blur, catching Lucian completely off guard.