“Boss... Should we really delve so deep into this place? It was abandoned for a reason!”

The voice was feminine in nature, yet none of her features could be seen below the thick clothes she wore, similar to those of her comrades. The mask covering her face also muffled it.

A large man with shoulders twice as wide as hers turned to face her. His presence was oppressive, and his tone reflected that.

“That’s exactly why we are here,” he said, a slight hint of frustration in his voice. “Think of what we could find! Do you really want to go back to living on the streets? I sure as hell don’t, so shut up and do your job!”

The woman could feel her heart deflate as she heard those words. They rang true; however, she couldn’t shake the feeling that what they were doing would lead them someplace they couldn’t escape from.

“My readings indicate an increase in ambient dust. We may be close to a vein," one of her comrades said as he looked at a small, rectangular device attached to his wrist. It projected a holographic rendition of their surroundings.

“That would explain the government's warning about an increase in Dustborne in this place," another added, grinning behind his mask. "Makes you wonder why we're the only ones here. I'd assume many would come and try their luck, considering the recent tax increase.”

“They’re cowards, basking in the status quo, unwilling to face the risk to improve their lot in life,” their boss scoffed as he walked the empty street as if he owned the place, his large rifle resting upside down on his broad shoulders. “I’d rather die than remain at the bottom rung of society.”

“Haha! As long as I’ve food to eat, women to bang and critters to slaughter, I’m not complaining,” the last one said, prompting his male counterpart to laugh alongside him. The woman, however, found their attitude to be nothing but crass.

Hold it in... she thought. Although these guys are pigs, they're among the best hunter squads. Sticking with them is your best chance not to go hungry...

“Don’t you think it’s too quiet?” she asked, feeling a slight nervousness. “Considering the government sealed this place off, shouldn’t we have encountered some Dustborne by now?

Although her squad mates shared her sentiment, their leader seemed unconcerned.

“We’re barely at the edge of these ruins,” he replied. “I wouldn’t put it past other squads to have already cleaned this place up. If we want to make this trip worthwhile, we can only delve deeper. Seeking rewards always comes with certain risks. Sera! You’re on point. Do your thing!”

Sera offered a weak sigh, if only for herself. She felt a terrifying premonition about this place, yet the thought of growing hunger was enough to overcome it.

She approached a nearby wall, pressing her palms against the crumbling stone and rigid steel facade before her feet left the ground, hanging off the vertical wall as if gravity had reversed ninety degrees. With her feet stuck to the wall, she rose to her full height, standing parallel to the ground before running up the exterior of the building toward its roof, avoiding the numerous holes and dilapidated ornamental fixtures.

In less than ten seconds, she had reached the top of this five-story building, giving her a panoramic view of her surroundings. The scenery was depressing, to say the least, full of toppled buildings eroded by the passage of time and the absence of life within this forgotten city. Almost nothing of its splendour remained except for its sheer scale. Even from her vantage point, these ruins stretched as far as the eye could see.

Yet, none of it was reflected in her eyes. What did the ingenuity of civilization matter when more pressing matters occupied her mind, namely survival? She pressed the device on her wrist using a single finger, which prompted a holographic screen to show up in her sight, which she alone was privy to.

It showed a multitude of biometric data, yet only one entered her mind: her satiety, which was dangerously low. She pressed her device again, prompting it to inject the contents of a cartridge right into her bloodstream. She saw the number go up in real time and felt slightly relieved, yet the feeling was ephemeral.

Only two remaining, she thought. There's no turning back. It's either finding something valuable enough here or starving to death. I became a hunter precisely for this reason. I won't allow myself to die like this... I won't!

“Kid! Stop daydreaming! We won't pay you if you don't pull your own weight. Would you rather we throw you back to the streets where we found you? Remember, countless others could take your place!"

Sera looked down below. Despite the masks covering their faces, she could imagine the sneers beneath. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists hard enough that they turned white inside her gloves.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Always the same threats, day in and day out... Still, there’s nothing I can do about it. Pride is only for the strong; the world is too harsh for the weak to afford to think of such things.

She let out a deep, long breath into the filtration system of her mask, regaining her calm and focusing on the task ahead. Her gaze was fixed on the streets below, taking in all the information she could. Countless screens flashed to life, then dimmed almost immediately as her thoughts raced, peering through it all.

A single spot jumped at her, less than two kilometres ahead, yet the concentration of dust was over five times its surroundings. While not enough to be called a motherload, it was more than they had found in the last few days.

She relayed the information to her comrades, which was then corroborated by another one of them who had also climbed a building on the other side of the street. However, unlike her way, which had been graceful, the man had leapt from hold to hold, punching holes into the structure whenever such holds were unavailable, making quite a few large stones fall to the ground, producing quakes and sound waves that reverberated on the countless glass structures that surrounded them.

Those fools... Do they want to attract the Dustborne so badly? They only see them for the money they can earn and not for the danger they are... Once this is over, I really should find someone else to work for... not that anyone else would want to partner with someone like me with no achievement to her name.

Her own thoughts made her slightly depressed, yet the thought of hunger brought her back to reality. She could endure almost anything to not have to rely on those mass-produced cartridges.

While she leapt from building to building, advancing along what seemed to be a main street toward their destination, the trio on the ground's banter reached her ears despite not even utilizing their comms.

"Boss, what do you think we'll find there? This place's dust concentration is already higher than most. Five times; that is rarely seen. Do you think this could be a vein?"

“Do you think dust veins grow on trees?” the boss sneered.

The duo beside him looked puzzled, even if it couldn't be shown from behind their masks.

"Trees? What are those supposed to be?" one of them replied.

“Hell, if I know," their leader said. "Just some old saying from when this city wasn't in ruins. I just like the way it sounds, for the most part. Still... before we headed out, I did hear a rumour that stated the government was researching ways to grow some artificial ones."

“Grow? Like... living beings? Trees are alive?”

"So it seems, at least, that's what I was told," the large man replied, yet his tone grew slightly impatient. "Drop it, nothing will come from talking about it. Whatever the government wants to do, that's their business. I'll be happy as long as I get my payday."

The other two nodded in agreement while Sera, on her perch, couldn't help but shake her head. Yet, as she did so, she heard a beep from the device on her wrist before a screen popped up, showing a map of their surroundings and three red dots quickly rushing toward their position.

"Boss!" she yelled, gaining the attention of the men on the ground. "We've got incoming. Three of them, 400 metres out!"

"Bout time we see some action," he replied, ousting his rifle from his shoulder while checking his ammunition reserve. The screen on top of it showed a green number, a full charge. He stroked his weapon as he would a lover before barking again, "Type and Rank?"

Sera's gaze was locked on the screen of her device, filtering through the massive amount of information relayed to her before replying, "Quadruped, most likely canine types. One, Red-Three; the others, Red-Two!"

"Small frys..." the boss said under his breath, his disappointment palpable. "Alright, boys! No need to waste your charges. Let’s do this the old way.”

The two men next to him holstered their weapons before bringing out small metallic rods that fit snugly into the crux of their ends. A small red button protruded from its surface, which both pressed simultaneously before a long red blade emerged from those rods.

The blades were thin, impossibly so, almost as if they were immaterial. Yet, their deadliness was all but true. One of the men even tested its edge on a nearby boulder. The blade slid through it with almost no resistance, a pristine cut that left the surface as flat as a mirror, even imparting some of its sheen. Yet, of the twenty green bars visible on its handle, a single one dimmed until it became as black as night.

Upon seeing this, the boss slightly lost his temper and struck the back of the man’s head with his open palm, making him slightly dizzy.

"You fool!" he barked. "Do you know how much those charges cost? Watch me take it out of your cut if I see you waste another!"

The man hung his head, knowing his mistake, yet he couldn't hide his hand gripping the handle of his weapon much too tightly. Such a minute reaction couldn't escape their boss's gaze. Yet, before he could address it, their opponent came into view.

“Boss! They should be right in front of you.” Sera said.

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious. I can see that," the man replied, his tone as dead as the seas of this world.

As expected, three beasts emerged from the corner of a nearby street, rushing toward them the moment they came into view. They were just as Sera described: four powerful legs supported a slim and agile body, and a row of sharp teeth adorned their maw. Wolves—at least the shape of one. Shards of metal haphazardly strewn upon their flesh hinted otherwise.

As fierce as they might have seemed, the three men on the ground made short work of them. The two long blades slid across their flesh, carving it effortlessly, while the large man simply used the butt of his rifle to strike one of the wolves' neck, breaking it almost in two.

The beast crumpled on the floor as if a puppet with cut strings. A cloud of red gas spewed from its open maw as it still sought to sink its teeth into its prey. The man simply steeped on its skull, breaking it into countless pieces before it shattered into a red mist that recombined into a crystal hovering midair.

"It's almost not worth it," the man said, yet he still reached out to it before tucking it away in the recess of his clothes, as did the other two men. "How far to go, still?"

“Almost there,” Sera said, still perched on top of a nearby building, her gaze locked on their objective. “You should be able to see it now. It’s just in front of you.”

Indeed, he could.

As they turned the corner from where the beasts had emerged, what they saw couldn't help but leave the men grinning. A mass of red crystal, as tall as he was, stood in the middle of a plaza ripe for the picking.

“This is it, boys! We struck it rich! With a cut of this, you might even be able to afford some real meat!”

Hearing this, the men couldn't help but salivate. Even Sera wasn't exempt from it. However, she couldn't stop the rising feeling that something was wrong.