My father was born in one of the outposts spaced throughout our dungeon, Alaric’s Rest. He used to tell me about his experiences on his level day and how foriegn it was to enter the safe zone of Octrina after growing up fully exposed to the dungeon’s wrath. Few children are born in the outposts and those that survive to their 14th year usually come to their appraisal stronger than their city peers.

My father was no exception. He came out of the dungeon crystal with a score of 5.1. An amazing feet for him as he hadn’t yet become a level 1 slayer at that point. I used to quiz him on how it was possible to start with a level that high, above the skill of most adults, and he would ask me to guess the level of the people living around us. Pointing out how the baker, cobbler, and cook had spent most of their time perfecting their craft in the safety of Octrina and did not have the combat skills to warrant a higher level. To him, starting out above the general population was expected, not impressive. He also attributed the “unexplainable” portion of his level as being based on his potential and general ability which may not be listed in his skills.

Despite this, I still felt joy at being almost average for an adult at only fourteen. 4.8 was a great score for a city born child and I knew a portion of it can be attributed to surviving on my own. It didn’t hurt my ego that the major organizations that control our dungeon were clamoring for my attention. I failed to even understand individual sentences as they fought to grab my attention. I was thankful to have already made up my mind, otherwise I would most definitely have been overwhelmed by the attention and might make a decision without knowing what I was getting myself into.

I looked through the crowd trying to find the scrawny young man I had seen standing next to the Slayer Academy’s sign. I had hoped they would approach me, but the rumors of their selectiveness must be true. Where other groups take in multitudes of youths each year to train, the Slayer Academy focuses on turning the few it takes into elites. Finally, I catch a glimpse of the Slayer representative and begin elbowing my way towards him. Years of scavenging had left me with rather sharp boney elbows that quickly discouraged people from invading my space.

The young man who looked rather sickly up close with greasy black hair and a pinched face, looked up as my shadow fell over the book he was studying. “ What do you want”, he said sharply before immediately turning his head to keep reading. His tone made it clear he did not wish to be answered, but I did not come to sign up with anything less than the Academy and this boy hardly looked like a true slayer. “I am here to join the Academy!” I state proudly, not prepared for the immediate scoff that comes out of his mouth. “You and everyone here, our quota is filled for the year”. Shock ripples through me as he continues on like he hadn’t said anything.

My father told me that anyone with a slayer level can apply for the Academy, so I knew this boy must be lying. Taking my growing anger out on his book, I shove it out of his hands onto the cobblestone below him. He finally gives me his full attention, yet I was not expecting the fear that coursed through me when our eyes met. His were a dark brown and my whole body begged me to run. “You’ve got my attention now girl. What do you have that makes you think your request is worth my time”. My mind is so focused on survival that it takes me what feels like minutes to focus enough to rasp out “level 1 slayer I am, audition my I?” The choppy and jumbled sentence I spit out makes him blink and I quickly look away while I can. My body shakes from the adrenaline and I begin to gasp for breath. He looks at me struggling to regain my composure, bends down to pick up his book, and begins to walk away from the square. I stare at him unable to fully understand what is going on when he turns his head to the side “you coming?”

***

The walk took only about a half an hour to reach the tunnel in the wall leading out into the dungeon towards the Academy. The boy didn’t say anything after his invitation to join him and I continued to follow him out of the safe zone towards it. I had never left the city before and could feel the air become charged as we crossed the boundary. The boy released a sigh of relief and a tension I hadn’t noticed fell from his body. I dared to ask a question, hoping that he may answer and made sure to keep my eyes firmly forward “Are you a slayer too?” “Yes” was his clipped reply leaving little room for conversation, but after living alone for so long, my curiosity won over my admittedly lacking social skills. “I am a slime slayer, what type are you?” He glanced in my direction at that and gave a humorless chuckle “you will be happier if you don’t know, at least as a slime slayer you’ll have plenty of sewer missions to keep you busy”, and “away from me” was the subtle hint in his response. I did not know what to do with his cryptic, but intriguing answer to his slayer type. “I have met slayers before, I can handle whatever yours is.”

He definitely looked at me then, making a morbid coughing chuckle, before stating “ if you must know, I am a human slayer so I wouldn’t tempt me too much girl, I’ve taken out far better than you”. I choke. My mind races. I had thought any human slayers were taken out before they could become too powerful, but I didn’t doubt him. The terror I had felt at his gaze made me wonder if that is how slimes felt looking into mine. The instinctive knowledge that I could and would kill them. I managed to breath out “how?” before regretting not going back to the tense silence. We were almost to the academy and I could have just let it be until I could escape, yet my mind was strangely fascinated by the idea of a human slayer being allowed to go to the academy and even to be the representative at the square.

“You think that all we kill is monsters and vermin? I have met no greater evil than what humans are capable of. Heck, this whole dungeon is the deranged resting place of one of our so called angels, so don’t look so judgmental. If I could slay them all I would”. I wanted to respond to his venomous explanation, but guards appeared in front of us and after seeing the boy, escorted me into a wide cavern. He vanished while I looked around. The guards took my information and left me in a small room with a pretty blond woman whose hair shimmered with a vitality rarely seen underground. She looked at me with a polite smile and asked permission to place her tattooed palm on my head.

“Oooh a slime slayer, haven’t had a natural one of those for awhile. Sewer slimes I assume?” I just stared at her as she continued to murmur about my private status sheet while writing down notes with her other hand. After a minute she released me, leaning back into her seat. “We can offer you the standard student deal requiring five missions of low rating or better a month in exchange for lessons and housing. Food is your own concern and can be paid with merit points earned from additional missions”, she paused to look up at me before continuing, “you will have it easy, slimes can get prolific in sewers if left to form and few members want to deal with unpleasant missions like that. Slayers get priority in missions involving their creature, so you can call dibs on most of those without fighting it out like the others do.” I am surprised after the tension of walking here with the human slayer that it is this easy. I decide to ask her about him before she sends me off “the slayer who recruited me, who was he?”

She riffles through her desk before responding “let’s see, fifth day is…. Here it is, Garath. Oh.” She looks at me sharply and tries to smile “How did that go? Garath is a bit intense for recruitment, but everyone has to share in the assignments like that, even him.” I look at her carefully guarded expression, “is it normal for the Academy to have slayers like him attend”. She inhales and responses without verbalizing his slayer type “slayers like him are… rare, but we always have a few since demand for them means we train any that appear. You’d think being surrounded by monsters that war between humans would not happen, yet there is always some faction asking for the help of a slayer like Garath.”

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

Another person enters the room and the woman says one last thing before shooing me along “My name is Janie by the way, I am in charge of administration here, head out to the left and you’ll find some rooms. Take whatever is available.” After this she turns to the new person and I follow her directions. Finding a room towards the middle of a long tunnel branching off of the cavern I entered in, I set down the small bag I had brought with me to the square that morning. I had nothing of real value in it, just my knives, bits of wire for traps and my spool of string. I took out a piece of wire and wrapped it with string to hang by the door to mark it as taken before laying down in the corner where a raised shelf of stone was carved out.

***

Voices rouse me from my slumber and I listen to them pass by my room. “Did you hear about the Clearmount branch? Apparently, all the slayers defected and …..” I was only able to catch a smidgen due to the rock dampening the sound, but I can not believe what I did hear. There is no way a whole branch worth of slayers would leave. I can’t remember which dungeon has the city named Clearmount, but since I don’t recognize it then it must be far away. Rumors always get skewed the farther it has to travel and so I dismiss the notion of defecting slayers.

Picking myself up off the hard stone shelf and rolling my neck to release the stiffness, I head back to the central cavern. I am definitely hungry, but my body is used to the feeling and can go a day or two more without becoming too desperate. I can smell the tunnel where the mess hall must be and ignore the temptation to watch some men sparing in the far side of the cavern. They are both in their twenties and skilled. Dancing around each other with long blades, they jab and dodge seamlessly. An older girl leans against the wall watching them and I move her way. Claiming a leaning place of my own, I turn to her and introduce myself “ Hi! I am Rhea and just became a student here, how long have you been a slayer?” She raises an eyebrow and moves a lock of light brown hair similar to my own but longer, behind her ear “I’m Leah, ranger, not slayer”. Her voice is even and she turns back to watch the men as the taller of the two scores a bloody stab into the other man’s bicep. I realize my mistake though. I forgot that there is far more support people in the slayer organization than there are actual slayers. While many slayers work alone, it can be dangerous to travel and survive alone in the dungeon, so most work in teams. Usually only one slayer with a few people to aid them. Enough time with a slayer can help unlock a slayer count for a teammate as well if they happen to have a moment of passionate hatred towards the creature, so few mind being teamed with them.

This makes me think of my own need for a team, even if all I get to do initially is sewer missions. I vow to myself to try and make friends with the other people here and Leah looks like a good starting point.

***

A week goes by and I return from my first mission of clearing the sewers under the wealthy district in the city. It was more of what I am used to from my own sewer, just with more vermin/slimes to deal with.

Slayer

lvl-0 :Rodents: 704

lvl-1: Slimes: 548

Boost: 10% acid resistance

5% bonus damage

The mission did not say how many to kill and just requested a thinning of the populations in the sewers, so I headed back after hunting slowed down. After speaking with Janie and reporting my mission as finished I received three meal tokens as a bonus. I take them with a giddy anticipation for real food. I ate the rat meat from the creatures I killed, but it was hardly nutritious or tasty. Nothing could have stood in my way as I hurry down the tunnel where I smelled food my first day. It opens up into a wider variation of the tunnel, but not a cavern like the central hub of the Academy. There are about thirty people sitting at mismatched tables spread in the room. A hollowed out counter along one wall is followed by another tunnel opening that I guess leads to the kitchen. Following another person to the counter, I realize once he begins to scoop up food that it is Garath. A low cough sounds from in front of me and I look up to see a portly woman hold out her hand for my token. I drop it into it before grabbing a plate and following Garath’s example. He goes to sit at one of the corner tables and I panic for a moment trying to decide where to go. All the tables have at least one person at them, this place doesn’t seem to scream friendliness, and I make a knee jerk reaction and begin walking to the corner.

Garath stiffens when I sit down across from him. The table can probably seat five or six people, and has plenty of room for us, but he acts like I have taken up all the room and scrunches backward. I note the strange reaction since it should probably be me hiding from him, but as weird as it is, I fear him less than the unknown represented by the other people at the tables. He could have killed me on the walk here and did not which leads me to believe he won't here in public. I begin eating the food that was sadly little better than mush, and wonder about his ability to resist killing. As a slime slayer with a rodent count as well, I know how the compulsion to kill feels and the rush that comes when I feel a slime enter one of my traps or when I skewer a rat of my knife. I can resist it, but only because with slimes I can’t kill them without using a trap, so the thrill is naturally delayed. With mice or rats however, I find my knife flying before I even think about using it. The bloodlust is intense. He must have a strong will or a specific trigger to resist the urge to kill us all. I am lucky my targets are fully acceptable to slay when they appear. Once as a child, I witnessed a man in the street kill a cat that jumped out of a nearby house. The owners were pissed, but a soldier had the family leave him alone once he realized he was a cat slayer.

I eat slowly, enjoying the sensation of eating while Garath relaxes some and quickly finishes his and heads out. I tune into the voices around me and reseat myself at the table so I can better watch everyone. Sitting in Garath's old seat, I see a pouch along the side. Thinking little of the action, I grab his bag and stuff it into my own to return later. I take a rather chewy bite of food before refocusing in on my surroundings. Some people discuss missions or lessons they saw in the yard, but a particular name catches my attention to focus on a particular table. A bald woman with daggers strapped to her baggy tunic converses with a short man who looks to be a swordsman “The whole organization is enraged over it! I can’t believe a slayer would dare to try and return after leaving”. The man chuckles, “I bet the surface was a huge disappointment. We may be humans like they are, but those sun worshippers can have all the space they want up there, me, there isn’t enough money in the world to make me leave the dungeon. I was born here and I’ll be damned if I do not die here as well.” “That Snake hating bastard didn’t know what he was losing when he signed himself over to them. Good riddance if you ask me. I hope the guards at the outpost threw him back”. I gasp at their words, hoping they aren’t talking about dad. They seem to be done eating though and begin leaving. I rush out of my seat and blurt out “who is the man you were speaking about?”.

The man looks at me strangely, “girl, you should know better than to bother senior members. This is Slayer business and doesn't concern you”. At this point, I am not even thinking about what I am saying and retort “If the man is Skyler Moore then it does. My father is no traitor”. The woman who had been walking ahead and ignoring me whipped around and the man’s hand hit my face before I had the chance to step back. I fell to the ground, nose spouting blood on the dirty stone floor. His feet straddle my sprawled body “You should have kept your mouth shut. Your dad left his team to die before signing on to help those sunlovers encroach on our turf. We would have thought him dead as well if he had been able to do it right, but the traitor failed to even follow through on that. Left a good rogue crippled, but she reported the whole thing to command. He is fortunate that the latest sighting was from an Alaric’s Light guard and not one of ours. He is kill on sight for any slayer member, you included missy.” I gaped up at his scowling face and watched his partner walk up and smirk down at me. “Let’s treat her to a little lesson on civility shall we?” Her foot’s shadow was the last thing I saw before blacking out.