One morning I received a message from the guild informing me that I needed to turn up for an escort mission. This mission seemed as simple as any other; in fact, much simpler. The job was to defend a collection group, a very simple job, as I said. While I would be doing this job, a different team would be out hunting, eliminating the Monsters on the hunting ground overseen by the guild. As it wasn't very complicated, there would only be six Guardians, between escorting and hunting. Four of us would be chasing the creatures, while the other two would keep watch. The four collectors, meanwhile, would extract the useful items from the beasts' bodies. As this was a very time-consuming process, more monsters could appear attracted by the smell of blood.
As the field we used to use had already been conquered, there were no difficult Monsters in sight. The guild just spread bait to attract more of them and kill them to collect the materials. The collectors would extract the hide, the essence and depending on the type of beast, the blood. Many of these items could be used to create basic weapons, such as arrowheads, and could even be used to improve the Guardians' abilities. We spent about two hours between hunting and collecting. About 40 monsters were killed. We had everything that day. I must confess that I really wanted to be part of the Dungeons group. As well as more materials to help with my improvement process, I could gain a bit more experience than hunting in those outer fields.
Unfortunately for me, being weak was a mortal sin. Sticking to easy work was the same as getting paid less, and I couldn't do any other kind of work. I was weak, the monsters that appeared during the escort missions were the softest. What I really wanted was to join the hunting party, feel a bit of the thrill of battle and escape this monotonous life, but I never passed the guild tests.
Today's job was different: it was a request from the Ore Enhancement Association (AAM) to check on the state of a new cave that had appeared. There was little information since it had only recently been discovered, but due to our guild master's friendship with a Magistrate from the association, we were able to take on this patrol request.
Dungeons, as I mentioned earlier, were where Monsters emerged like a cursed horde of demons. The hunting grounds were usually on the outskirts of a Dungeon, yet it was still difficult to find these caves. Some of them were very well hidden, and you couldn't feel the heavy energy they exuded. Some Djins could sense this energy and they were highly sought after by guilds, so much so that today the largest guilds have monopolised these Djins.
Monsters were born from the Dungeon Boss, but it was in the heart of the cave that the real problem lay. Over time, this core accumulated a lot of this strange energy and the Monster population grew almost infinitely. This was the real phenomenon that caused the Dungeon to burst. For a long time, this information was unknown and the problem seemed like it would never end.
A few times a month, Guilds would enter the Dungeons and destroy these hearts before they were ripe. Our guild wasn't one of the most influential, compared to the others it was even small, but we did this kind of work well. To gain access to the heart, the core of the Boss had to be carefully removed and used in a part of the Dungeon to unblock the passage that led to it. Hordes of monsters had to be taken down to open up a safe path. The biggest problem was removing and transporting the core, as it was very volatile, one mistake and the whole thing would go up in smoke.
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Dungeons have always caused many problems for society. The accumulation of this strange energy was still not understood. Specialised guilds were often sent to patrol. If they couldn't deal with the threats, a clean-up order was issued to a larger guild available. As I said, this work had to be done frequently, if we faltered, the number of monsters around the Dungeons could get out of control. On the outskirts of the low-level Dungeons, the guilds in each town already maintained a tighter control and were able to provide food for the people, but at first it was a nightmare. Entire towns went hungry when the First Wave of Monsters came.
At the time, humanity wasn't ready for such a threat. The Guardians, few in number and experience, led to a deep crisis. Over time, more Guardians appeared, easing the situation. It was a funny thing, the "world" always seemed to know when we were one step away from collapse and gave humanity a boost to resist, but over the years this miraculous intervention became scarcer. The Guardians' current struggle was to contain the advance of the high-level Monsters around the newly discovered dungeons, but the normal Monsters of that place were too powerful. You may have realised by now that humanity couldn't live without the Guardians' protection, their political control of the world was already entrenched and growing stronger by the day. There were already Guilds that controlled some countries.
We were doing a great job that day, we'd probably get a bonus from the guild management, and yet something was bothering me. I was getting restless, the hunting party hadn't been in touch for a while and that was making me worry. Every 15 minutes we sent signals to each other, but we hadn't been receiving them for two cycles, and soon it would be the third. We had to fight a Monster during this time and the collectors were taking material from its corpse. There was a radio in case of emergency, but using it could give away the location of the other group and that would jeopardise their hunt.
— I'll pass them a radio – I said to my companion.
— They can complain... – she said with a sigh – You know those guys very well.
Yes – I replied – but it's been a long time since they've sent a signal. I'm starting to worry!
Shrugging, she didn't look like she was going to stop me, but her countenance was clearly uncomfortable. As she and I didn't have very high positions within the guild, we were treated like doormats by the other Guardians. I passed a radio to the other group and waited for an answer that never came; I grew more apprehensive with each failed attempt; I even checked the frequency, thinking I might have changed it without meaning to, but that wasn't the case. Moving away from the collection group was an idea that crossed my mind, but it would be dangerous to leave my companion alone. Just as my distress was getting to the point of driving me crazy, one of the hunters jumped out of the bushes. He was sweaty and blood was dripping from his clothes. His armour had a few fresh scratches all over it; I was scared, there shouldn't be such a troublesome enemy in this place.
— What happened? – I asked tensely.
— I'll tell you on the way! – he brayed – You there, we're leaving!
— But... – one of the collectors retorted.
— Hurry! There is no... – he started to shout angrily, but something went through his chest. We all went pale when we saw that, and the gatherers started running for their lives. The members of the hunters' group had the highest level of our group, and they were obviously the strongest of them all. If one of them was killed so easily, the gatherers wouldn't stand a chance. Still paralysed by the surprise attack, I watched as the hunter's body was suspended in the air and tossed aside like a doll. His killer turned out to be a giant reddish scorpion.