We woke 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 Lodge, as I had decided to call it. It looked far more like a towering prison than a lodge, though.

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-kept, and a small stream-like moat circumnavigated the main building. Large boulders spotted the well-manicured greens.

We followed the path ahead to a large front door. Since there was no doorman, lifted the heavy knocker and slammed it three times against the heavy wood 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, but these old bones still have some time left on them.”

“Don’t worry about a thing,” 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 club?”

“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. There was 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 head. It had large block-like teeth, its face frozen in a forever snarl.

I guessed 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 mrn didn’t exist.

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

“This way, please,” He gestured to 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 yeh’?” His voice was rough but it had a strange sort of warmth to it.

Cutting right to 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 not to ask.”

“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, yeh’ hear?”

“You will not find my heart lacking, I can assure you,” Ersabet said.

The man only now seemed to realize that he was in a room with a real Dalari and stood taller.

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“I would never imagine any such thing of a Dalari.” He bowed. “You may call me Master Roan. I am the founder of the Hunters. May I ask your name?’

“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. “There’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, I’m sure all the fantastical stories my uncle told me back on the farm are actually true. But Kitz wasn’t a monster. I wondered how many other ‘monsters’ they 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.”

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! I trust you’ll get along with our Kurskin brethren.”

“I fight only monsters,” Ersabet said. “I will not bother them, but I will not allow them to bother me.”

Roan laughed 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 say. “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’s a good way to get people killed. First, we gotta’ 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.”

Roan's toothy smile irked me.

“It’s a fight then.” I sighed. “The sooner we can get this over, the better.” I looked to Ersabet, who nodded. “We’re ready.”

****

An hour later, I was shirtless, wearing nothing but my heavy cloth pants. My body had changed significantly over the last couple of weeks, and while I had a decent physic 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.

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

We were led into a crowd of mostly human men. I spotted two women and 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. Ersabet paid them no mind.

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

“Brothers, sisters, hunters,” 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 the world of the unnatural. But I do not relish sending righteous hunters to their deaths. And so, that is why we must make sure our new friends 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 first and shouted in unison.

“Who among my brethren will stand as the first test?”

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

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

The man came into the ring. 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 applause. I’d have to earn their applause 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 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 stronger opponent. And if, by some miracle, John manages to beat them too, then he will continue to the third and final round and take on one of our greatest fighters among the Hunters.” Roan held up his hands. “Now, this is a test of strength but also your character. Natural life is precious to use, 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, who was a few feet behind me. “Do you understand and accept these conditions?”

“Yes,” I said.

“I accept,” Ersabet said.

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 was dressed similarly to me, with only a pair of pants on. The man cracked his neck and began to limber up.

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

“Benor, are you ready?” Roan shouted.

Benor nodded eagerly.

“John, are you ready?”

I smiled. “Let’s do this.”